Eustace & Hitomi and the Case of the Rambler's Inn, Chapter 10. Cat and Nurse.
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| AMY PATEL STILL NOT FOUND AFTER THREE DAY SEARCH. From Maidenstead Monitor. June 19, 1996. "Chief Elmer Raylon states all available manpower is dedicated to find the young woman." |
- "Previously on..." and Campaign Summary
- Chapter 10. Cat and Nurse.
- Things that Follow
- Wheels within Wheels
- Sending A Message
- Shootout at the Dog Pound
- Raylon Comes Clean and Eustace Goes Dark
- Hitomi to the Rescue
- Updates to Progress Tracks and Threads This Session
- Doug's Commentary
- Mechanical and Story Notes
- Credits
Previously, on Eustace & Hitomi and the Case of the Rambler's Inn
Milly Delmont brought her brother pants (first time he's had them since Chapter 6) and refuses to leave. Hitomi, Daphne, and Morgan went out to visit Hitomi's dad, Pastor Maurice Meyer. Raymond and Jenny get supplies. It all sounds so idyllic. But a man in a well-fitting black suit has been growing steadily closer to finding Eustace. Whenever returns, Eustace (and Elly and Milly) are gone with a cryptic note left behind. This chapter is the other side of the situation...
About Eustace & Hitomi and the Case of the Rambler's Inn
See the "..and the Case of the Rambler's Inn" campaign-arc page for more information.
It is 1996 and Eustace Delmont is a geek in his mid-20s who has moved back to the town of Maidenstead and now drifts as a slightly big fish (with curly hair and a beard) in a small pond. One day, while helping a minor electronics kerfuffle at town's main landmark—the weird and overlarge Rambler's Inn Hotel—with a long and storied past, Eustace met the girl of his dreams: Hitomi Meyer. Staying with her estranged father and step-sister, Hitomi is down and out and distressed as she gets caught up in a scheme to help launch a subscription VHS ghost hunting video series. Eustace and Hitomi team up, and fall in love, while trying to solve a constantly spiraling collection of mysteries.
Content Warning: Smoking, Drinking, Drugs, People Being Held Against Their Will, Dog Theft, Foul Language, Murder (?), Other Crimes, Violence, Sex, Pornography.
This post is in the standard Doug Alone post style. See Anatomy of a Post for more details. The Image Oracles described in the post (gamemaster phases and mechanic notes, especially) are from the Maidenstead Mysteries one-sheet. They can be seen on the Tricube Image Oracles page.
Attribution for the tools and materials used—including the splash art—can be found in the Credits below along with some details.
Chapter 10. Cat and Nurse.
Down in the park
Where the mach-men meet the machines
And play 'kill-by-numbers'
Down in the park with a friend called 5
I was in a car crash
Or was it the war
But I've never been quite the same
Little white lies like I was there
— Tubeway Army, "Down in the Park"
Reminder: whenever Jenny and Eustace start working on the Disruptor, the roll will be Standard Brainy Challenge and require two total successes. This was determined in the previous chapter (the entire "glitch" theme) but for reasons this scene was moved into a different context.
The SPARKS for this Chapter will be (1) 8,6 Self (2) 2,2 Costumes (3) 8,1 Rewards.
Setting the Scene. Things that Follow
Saturday, June 22, 1996. 3:27pm.
On the road towards Maidenstead General.
Chaos Factor: 5
Expected Scene: Eustace and Elly work on the disruptor while Jani Blum approaches (semi-Keyed).
Scene Test: 2 → Interrupt scene. Random Event = 94 Current Context. The scene is related to whatever is currently going on. The current context is that Special Agent Jani Blum is hunting Eustace (and the tape) while they are working on the disruptor. Let's try the new online Random Realities oracle and look at some Scene > Complications: Break (tool, limb, bond, trust, flow, promise) + Harm (reputation, body, relationship, morale, perception, memory).
Actual Scene: Eustace and Elly were working on the Disruptor, but at some point Eustace got hurt. Now Jani is trailing them in his very fancy car.
Things that Follow
Saturday, June 22, 1996. 3:27pm.
On the road towards Maidenstead General..
on a gathering storm comes a tall handsome man...
"Second smoke kills," says Milly from the back-seat. Elly is lighting the second cigarette after getting Eustace into the car. Her left hand holding it keeps shaking. Eustace recognizes the sign. Elly is the most wonderfully confident woman in the world and capable of a lot, but things falling out of order cascades across her nerves. He keeps an ice pack pushed against his forehead where he slammed into the shelving while helping her to adjust the magnetic alignment on the Disruptor. He was in the middle of saying he was fine when blood poured out on the desk. He must have nicked something. [1]
"Milly, baby, do you need me to put it out?," asks Elly, already rolling the window down more to air out the car.
"Just get Eustace to the emergency room and I'll be fine. You can explain me the stuff you were doing while he's getting his dumb head amputated," the teenager says, pulling Hitomi's headphones back up and turning the volume up to drown out the song Elly is playing on the car's audio system. [2]
"I would like to point out that she listens to you better than she does me," Eustace says, glancing back at Milly. Well, not exactly at Milly. He first spotted it a couple of turns back. A nice black car. He doesn't know the type, but it says "money." It has also been behind them since Ralph's despite Elly's slightly winding path on the way. [3]
"I think she regrets that you didn't ask me to marry you back in high school," says Elly, smiling while glancing at Milly in the back. Eustace's sister has taken off her hooded jacket and seems to have enjoyed hanging out with the both them for the afternoon. As Hitomi was getting ready to leave, Milly asked to borrow the Walkman and some tapes until Hitomi got back. Hitomi said yes while being slightly embarrassed-happy.
"I think I regret not asking you to marry me," says Eustace distractedly.
"Oh, Mr. Delmont, you do give a woman the vapors." Elly uses her Southern Belle accent she has worked on since middle school. They are at a red light and she takes a moment to stare at Eustace while taking a long drag. It is clear she has been trying to figure out words for at least a day. Lot longer, really. Maybe all the way back to a certain night after a Junior Fall Dance when a couple of dumb teens learned they had been preparing for the wrong future.
here he comes through the ghettos and the barrio and the bowery and the slum a shadow
"Eustace, I am so sorry."
He looks back over at her. "This?," pointing to his head, "This is 100% my fault. You were amazing. You completely reworked the design and improved it. I was the idiot slamming my fingers into the equipment and then...well, this." [4]
you'll see him in your nightmares you'll see him in your dreams he'll appear out of nowhere
"No, not the injury. That was you. I mean...us."
"Elly, look, now might not..."
"Let me talk, ok? You shut up for half a minute and just let me talk."
"Ok," he says, glancing back and seeing that car there, stopped behind them. Which was strange. The light had turned green but Elly hasn't noticed and usually this where the person behind would be honking or shouting. Who is it?
"Back when...well, when we tried...and it didn't...I was heartbroken. We thought we knew. Everyone thought they knew. And afterward it was just 'guess again, do not pass go', so...awful..."
"Hey, El...you need to..."
"I'm not done! Please! I'm just saying that since then, I don't think I've let it go. Not let you go, I mean. And it's not fair to you or Jenny or anyone and...where in the hell are you going? Goddammit Eustace, I..."
Eustace has gotten out of the car in the middle of Elly's talk and despite her sudden rush of anger and panic that she has pissed off the man that 17-year-old Elly was convinced she was going to marry, she has missed his actual concern that is causing to not be a spot on listener for once. He leans back in and says to her, "Please drive. Keep Milly safe."
She turns around fully and Milly catches on that something is happening finally and glances back to see what Elly is looking at. Eustace is approaching a car and saying something about "just come out, I guess..."
From the driver side a man somewhere in this mid-30s (by way of mid-20s to late-40s) gets out and faces Eustace. The man is dressed in a black suit and as he starts to button it, Elly can see the firearm holster underneath.
"Elly?..." Milly might not have seen that last detail but she can feel the potential danger of the situation.
Elly tosses the half smoked cigarette out the window and takes three deep breaths. The first for the past. The second for the future. The third for now. And then she turns to Milly and says, "If you got shot, Eustace is never going to talk to me again and it would make me very sad to never talk to Eustace again, got it?" [5]
"Umm..."
"I love you, Milly. You stay the utter fuck behind me at all fucking times, you got it?"
With that, Elly gives up on having to chose between which Delmont sibling to love more and gets out of the car, ready to protect both. How she is going to be a body shield to a teenage girl already a few inches taller than her, she does not know.
She is moving towards the back of the car to try and get Eustace so they can all flee when she stops and notices that Dark and Dangerous is examining Eustace's injury carefully. He has a flip phone in his hand and his voice is not as cold and cynical as his overall dress code or black car might suggest but more a warm southern drawl. "Luca, I've made contact with The Delmont. Boy's bigger than you and looks like he brought his head to a knife fight. Nah, we'll get him checked up and then maybe he'll take my offer to join me for a cup of coffee. Send my love to Sofia, eh, and let me know about Black Sheep if she starts to move?"
The man in the suit then gives Eustace a pat on the shoulder before turning to stare at Elly and Milly as they join. Despite the abrupt shift in mood, Elly is in a fighting stance. "I was going to borrow Eustace for a minute but if seeing as you look like you are going to punch me and she might join in, y'all want to join us?"
Where do they go after the hospital? Using the Features: Places list → 7,7 Rambler's Inn. Jani isn't playing around.
Setting the Scene. Wheels within Wheels
Saturday, January 22, 1996. 4:45pm.
In the parking lot of the Rambler's Inn.
Chaos Factor: 6
Expected Scene: Jani Blum is in his car and demands a tape.
Scene Test: 8
Actual Scene: As expected.
Wheels within Wheels
Saturday, January 1996. 4:45pm.
In the parking lot of the Rambler's Inn.
They drove to Maidenstead General. Jani spent about half a minute chatting with the nurse behind the desk and Eustace got VIP treatment. Mostly superficial nick across his forehead. Slap a bandage on it and ice if it hurts. Call back on Monday. Jani walked away talking about his Sunday night be full.
Then the four — Elly and Milly in the backseat of Jani's pristine kept car and trying to not touch anything that they might smudge — headed to the Rambler where they parked in the back of the lot. Half empty for a Saturday, but the word around town is that folks coming in for next Saturday's dog show will fill the place up over the next couple of days and the rest of the week.
"This isn't coffee," Milly says, back to her surly put-upon voice, holding Elly's hand and still following Elly's orders.
"No, ma'am, it is not."
"Why do you talk in that accent? That's not your normal accent. You sound like you heard it on TV."
Jani turns to stare back at Milly at second, his eyes slightly narrowed. Right around the time she is afraid she crossed a line, he lets her know it is ok by giving her a smile. "Are you Delmonts all like this?"
"Like what?," Milly asks.
"Always trying to sort the world into things out of place and things in place?"
Eustace has been quiet most of the way since the hospital but finally feels it is time to save someone from someone. Just not sure who. "Milly, stop flirting. This man is much too old for you. Agent Blum, can you please ignore the bottle of teenage angst in the back seat and tell me what it is you need from me?"
Jani laughs at this, but when he starts talking his voice has shifted slightly. Still southern. Still friendly. Just less downtown Podunkia and more suburban.
"Yeah, must be genetic. Mr. Delmont, you have a tape that I need to take from you before you and your friends get badly hurt by bad people."
"No, I do not have a tape."
"Now now, let's not lie to The Man. I am very good at what I do and what I do is find things like that tape and the people that have it and every thing says both things involved finding you."
"I gave it to a lawyer."
"A lawyer, but why?"
"What do you think is on the tape? Elly, you ok?"
Elly, in the backseat, has realized that while she normally only smokes a few cigs a day — and outside of social gatherings, that only tends to be when she is in Elly the Engineer mode — that trying to have an honest conversation with Eustace leading to this mad conversation is making her wish she could give Hitomi and Daphne a run for their money. She had started patting her pockets with her free hand before realizing that no way would she dare in a car this well kept and so has kind of just continued patting her pockets until she catches up. "I'm, um, fine. Agent Blum, if Eustace doesn't have the tape can we go. I need to smoke and I need to scream and a whole list of things that are not normal for my Saturdays."
"To answer both your questions, I have no precise idea what is on the tape but I know it's something someone doesn't want to get out and who has already found a lot of tapes related to it. As for going, as soon as Mr. Delmont gives me the tape then sure. What lawyer, can you get it back?"
"It's my...friend's lawyer. A church lawyer. The agreement is he would only give it back to her."
"Back to the why question then."
"Because someone dies on the tape."
"Someone dies?!," Milly shouts out from the backseat.
"Can we maybe make a rule that only Mr. Delmont and I talk and he talks to only me for a few minutes?"
Milly nods, but now she is holding Elly's hand even tighter.
"Thank you. Mr. Delmont, are you sure someone dies. I was told this was a place where they made...special films." Jani cuts his eyes back towards Milly and tries to measure what he says.
"There's a whole factory for making those films in there. Well, under there. Only this tape, something went wrong."
"Can you tell me anything else?"
"Ariel Patel. Sorry, Doctor. Dr. Patel. The Ariel one. Not the Roman one. She died in there and her husband did something bad to try and hide it and I think it made things worse."
Jani lets the facts resettle into his head. The case is more complicated than he thought. His case only initially only briefly touched upon any of this and now he might need to go deeper than he liked. Only he has three civilians in tow and one is a teenager.
"I need that tape. Can I have your friend come with me to get it back?"
"What if I raise you?"
"What do you mean by raise me? It was a yes or no question."
"There's missing people and a tunnel of love and somewhere in that place is a control center where those two things come together. You want to crack the Rambler open, you need to find that."
"I don't think I can just go in and ask them to show me their secret villain's lair."
"No, but I think I know how to find it."
"Mr. Delmont, I..."
"No, call me Eustace. Also, let's get Elly something to drink so she can smoke and stop crushing my sister's hand. She looks like she is going to explode. I have a chief of police that hates me and a chief of security that likes me and both them and a whole host of other folks have tried to stop me in particular from getting inside."
"If you like, I'll let you hold my badge and practice your Tough Agent voice but I am not going to risk a civilian on something like this."
"Pass. I wasn't really asking. What I was asking is if you would help?"
"How can I help?"
"I don't know, FBI shit. Secret disguises or something like that. I want to know what is about me that makes them nervous."
Jani sighs but somehow expected this conversation to happen just like this.
"Let's get your friend, this friend, not the other friend, something to drink a chance to smoke. Then we'll talk about this FBI shit. And safety. And maybe dropping that one — pointing at Milly — somewhere safe." [6]
"Fine, but we have to make a stop first."
"Any other demands on my hospitality?"
Eustace shakes his head.
Jani backs up and heads back to the street.
Setting the Scene. Sending A Message
Saturday, June 22, 1996. 5:30pm.
Ralph Harley's Back Room Shop.
Chaos Factor: 5
Expected Scene: Eustace and Elly have a few seconds to leave messages and try to plan.
Scene Test → 7.
Actual Scene: As expected.
Sending A Message
Saturday, June 22, 1996. 5:30pm.
Ralph Harley's Back Room Shop.
Eustace and Elly are moving quickly to gather the equipment. Eustace has a couple of boxes out and packing up the new and improved Disruptor. Elly is packing up a few batteries and other equipment to power it since its higher output will require more power.
Special Agent Blum has given them 10 minutes while he runs down to the Cupcake Boutique to get two coffees and two teas. Milly went with him.
"Are you holding my sister hostage?," Eustace asked, clarifying the situation.
"Would it help you to do what you are told if I was?"
"No. I'm already in. And Elly agreed to help."
Elly, at the time holding a cigarette in her mouth and looking actually excited instead stressed, nodded. "Wonder twins powers activate." Then Eustace and Elly did a fist bump stance. [7]
After shaking his head he (and Milly) left them to gather up the stuff and after a flurry of activity, they had only a few moments left to chat. Elly looks up and sees Eustace fiddling with the map he and Daphne drew of the Rambler.
"Eustace?"
"Yeah, El?"
"Our conversation earlier?"
"Ok."
"I just want you to know that I'm glad we are still friends and I'm sorry I am a shitty one."
He turns around from his extra doodling and faces her while brushing the red chalk off his fingers on his pants. "I don't think you are a shitty friend. If anything, I'm the one who keeps screwing up everything you..."
"I just want to say that I love you."
"Elly, I love you, too, but..."
"Has anyone told you that that water stain looks just like a turtle?," asks Jani from behind them. Elly begins to wonder if God is real and if he is punishing her for past sins.
Milly is holding the drinks and the group starts gathering up stuff and getting it ready to go. Eustace grabs his lockpick and drops the bag into the top of the box.
Jani glances at the Disruptor. "You made this, Miss Lopez?"
Elly shakes her head. "No, I just made it a lot stronger. No clue who made it."
"You ever thought about working for the Agency, we need tech nerds."
Milly, sipping her tea and looking even younger than fifteen, taps Jani on the shoulder.
"Yes, miss?"
"Can I ask you why this needs to be Eustace. He's just a geek that thinks he's the Doctor. Surely you have other special agent men who could do it better. Even if he is pigheaded and doesn't know when to shut up."
Jani looks over at Eustace. "Doctor? No, Miss. Your brother isn't the doctor. Doctors show up in white coats and clipboards and tell people what to do. Ms. Lopez," he says pointing at Elly, "She's a doctor. She's in charge. Your brother is the one who actually sits with the patient and keeps working with them until he is sure they are well. You know what I'm saying, Miss Delmont?"
Milly shakes her head no.
"Mr. Del...Eustace. He's not a doctor. He's the nurse."
He said the line! But ok, we need to figure out progress really quick before I forget. The plans with investigating the Rambler should be worth 2. I also think that the improving the Disruptor and learning more about it should be worth 2. This brings us up to 14 and the next scene or two should have the final mid-Flashpoint.
| The Mystery of the Rambler's Inn | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5F | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10F | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15F | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20E |
| P | P | P | P | F | F | P | P | F | F | P | P | P | P | ||||||
Now on the scene we are at.
Setting the Scene: Shoot Out at the Dog Pound
Saturday, June 22, 1996. 6:22pm.
Isaac Gibb's Doug Pound.
Chaos Factor: 5
Expected Scene: Eustace and Jani are breaking into H & L Smith's to get the plans.
Scene Test → 2. Interrupt Scene. 67 Close a Thread. Can't be the central focus thread so between the others it is...Amy Patel is Scheming.
Actual Scene: Time to get the classic southern noir trope of cops gone back. Jani suddenly has to pivot (with Eustace) saving Amy from a cop who has decided to take things too far.
We need a flashpoint and so now's a good time.
Which cop? Can't be Raymond (right now) and I think Tiffany feels like a good'un AND I don't want to make a new one so { Raylon | Jackson | Tom | Sue } → Chief Elmer Raylon. His and Amy's partnership has gone south.
Does Raymond actually know that something is up and has just been playing dumb? (50/50) → 65. No. Raymond is in the dark.
Who is the Chief's chief accomplice? Arc Characters → Ariel Patel (Deceased). Ok, he was working with the mom to do [his thing] and after her death has pivoted to try and get the daughter to help. Where Ariel and Elmer having an affair? (50/50) → 92 Exceptional No. Why was she helping, then? (Motivations) → 34 Group 19 Disrupt. Ariel was a willing participant in the sex + porno ring but was also wanting to back out of it and felt it was easier to have it destroyed from the outside [with herself, and her family, protected] than try backing out herself and risk Martin and company using it against her.
Amy suspects something has happened to her mom, but does she know her mom is dead? (Very Likely) → 15 Exceptional Yes. Not only does she know but she just found out and that's why stuff is breaking down. Raylon had been lying to her.
Finally, where will this all take place? Feature Places → Isaac Gibb's dog pound. Perfect.
This explains why there were hints of a shoot out coming up earlier. Raylon's third biggest trait behind being a secret bastard son and hating Eustace for no good reason is that he's a conspiracy nut. A literal man-in-black is showing up to chase him.
What kind of challenges will be required? Jani is just better trained than others so he'll downstage his task by one. All will need 2 effort.
- Jani = Agile + Brawny. (Standard - 1) = Easy.
- Eustace = Brainy. Standard.
- Elly = Charming. Easy.
Shoot Out at the Dog Pound
Saturday, June 22, 1996. 6:22pm.
Isaac Gibb's Doug Pound.
The gunshot rings out causing everyone to duck down, including those who were already crouched behind the car. Milly has a hand over her mouth and is curled up on the floor board of the back seat. Elly promises the teenager all the ice cream in the world once the Nice FBI Agent handles it. The dogs still at the pound are barking in a pure panic. [9]
The four had been on their way to Gulf Shores where Eustace was going to break in to H & L Smith's to steal the plan. But Jani got a call. Someone named Luca had been tailing Amy while Jani was acting around Maidenstead. For some reason, Amy had decided to drive straight into Maidenstead and met up with a policeman. Only, rather than drive her to jail or any place that felt savory, said policeman had driven Amy to a dog pound and forcefully dragged her inside. Jani said he was on his way and Eustace knew just the place and suspected who it was. A suspicion that is confirmed when Elmer Raylon shouts...
"You ain't selling my testicles to the invaders!" Another gunshot fires off.
Jani looks back at the two Maidenstead folks with him. "What in the ever-loving hell?"
"Raylon thinks you are working for aliens and that you want his testicles," Eustace explains, helpfully.
"No, never mind. Help me out here, how did he see us approach from inside a brick building?"
Eustace points out the camera. "His secret half brother has an entire persecution complex. Comes from stealing rich people's dogs."
"Oh," responds Special Agent Jani Blum, "Ok." He even nods a little to show Eustace that every mad thing right now is just fine in the world.
A somewhat larger man, smaller than Eustace but big enough, runs up and joins the hunched folks. Jani does quick introductions. This is Luca. Eustace is surprised that Luca is not dressed like an agent but more like a...
"He's a tattoo artist," Jani explains leaving out the years of history the two have had. How he saved Luca's wife from a blackmail scam. Another time Agent Blum ignored the rules and procedures. It would take too long to get into.
"Fair enough. Here's the plan. I'm going to take the Disruptor and shut down the ability of Raylon to see. Secret Agent Man will do his secret age thing. Elly will keep my mister safe. No one will shoot Amy or the dogs," says Eustace with enough confidence that even Jani is impressed.
"Um, Jani, why is the fat kid in an Office Depot shirt calling the shots?," asks Luca.
"Zip it, tattoo, you heard my boy," says Elly, "Only, I'm not sitting this one out while you do all the work. I have a plan!"
Elly jumps up and runs over where there is no chance of a random bullet hitting her and shouts, "The Astronomy Club has made contact with the Galaxyons, surrender quietly and let them have your sperm!" Inside, Raylon shouts something and the back door slams. [10]
"Hey, Lopez, why are we taunting the crazy man with a gun?," Jani asks.
"Because if he thinks the enemy is out here, he might forget he has a young woman in there that is a hostage. What alien cares about a petty human hostage?"
Eustace has already taken the queue and runs over to the fence to start aiming the Disruptor at the security system. Trusting that it works, he takes off running for the front door. [11]
"If anything happens to that very insightful and very frightened girl in the backseat, the fat nerd is going to be very cross with the world and that thought slightly scares me. Watch her, Luca." Jani leaps over the fence and gets right up to the door. A few seconds later he has shot out the lock and kicked the door in. [12]
Eustace is already inside, his body in front of Amy and trying to protect her and as many dogs as possible as he can. Raylon is on the floor, covering his head with one hand and his crotch with the other. The flickering lights was his last grasp on the present situation.
As Jani keeps his gun pointed at the wayward police chief, Amy asks from beyond, "Um, Johnny, who the hell is this?"
"That, Miss Patel, is the man who just earned your reward money. Let's just call him The Nurse."
Ok, final stretch. Flashpoint is marked.
| The Mystery of the Rambler's Inn | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5F | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10F | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15F | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20E |
| P | P | P | P | F | F | P | P | F | F | P | P | P | P | F | F | ||||
Setting the Scene. Raylon Comes Clean and Eustace Goes Dark.
Saturday, June 22, 1996. 7:42pm.
Isaac Gibb's Dog Pound, Outside.
Chaos Factor: 4
Expected Scene: Eustace heads back to the workshop to take care of Amy.
Scene Test → 4. Interrupt. Random Event Focus: 54. Move toward a thread. Arc or Feature? Arc. We have just two left. FBI Investigation. What is Jani trying to investigate for real? Image Oracles → 5,3 Jigsaw Puzzle + 6,3 Strongbox. { Roman | Martin | Raylon } → Raylon has been moving around departmental resources in a way that triggered an FBI investigation. We'll leave specifics aside. Jani actually has his actual target. He had discovered that some of Raylon's money was coming from Amy Patel's account and hence why he sought her out.
Actual Scene: Jani is going leave the story, here, with an additional moment spent gathering up Raylon. Eustace is free to go (with others).
We'll keep it simple and keep this brief. Jani needs a Standard Crafty Challenge to get Raylon to start confessing.
Raylon Comes Clean and Eustace Goes Dark.
Saturday, June 22, 1996. 7:42pm.
Isaac Gibb's Dog Pound, Outside.
"That's that. Raylon has agreed to share all the paperwork and explain all if we don't give him to the little green men. Other agents are on their way." Jani is sitting near his car. Raylon is in the backseat. Milly is pestering Luca about tattoos and how to get one before she is nineteen. Elly has been resetting the Disruptor while Amy smokes several of Elly's cigarettes. Amy has been standing near Eustace, seemingly convinced that he is some sort of bodyguard but her mood has crashed. Whatever anger she had built up about folks hiding her mom's death from her has been replaced with the tiredness of faking her own disappearance for several days and then nearly being a hostage, especially since she just found out that her secret assassin thief investigator was an FBI that she did not spot. Maybe she needs some experience before hitting the scheming part of her character arc. [13]
"Well, Nurse," says Jani to Eustace who is, as always, waiting for Elly to tell him what to do, "I think this is it. No way will I get away with arresting a local police chief without immediate paperwork. Sorry, bud."
Eustace thinks about it. "I'm still going in. Whatever Raylon did, he wasn't at the start of this. That's the Rambler. FBI is tied up. Police are about to be in disarray. I don't want anyone else hurt like Amy."
Amy tosses the cigarette and stands next to Eustace. "I'm going, too. Fuckers are going to be lucky if I don't burn the place down." [14]
Elly, at that, looks up and takes her cigarette lighter back before she's an accessory. "I'm going, too. At least, I'm going to the Gygax and running support. But, someone needs to get Milly home." [15]
Milly shakes her head. "No, you'll need help to make sure Eustace makes it. I can't run away if it means either my big brother or my as of right now officially big sister gets hurt." [16]
Jani sighs. "You really do get all the people to follow along, don't you, Nurse? Luca?"
"Um, I want to go home to my wife and eat lasagna."
"Can you drop these kids off and then manage to not say that you did to anyone so we can play dumb?"
Luca shrugs, not really wanting to say yes but still feeling like he owes Jani a few hundred favors, "Ok."
"If anyone asks, Luca took you home. You ignored my instructions to go home. If one of you gets hurt, I'm kicking Nurse in the balls. If Nurse gets hurt, I'm kicking him in the balls twice. Got it?"
The four younger people nod and then start heading towards Luca's truck and crawling in the back.
"See you around, Nurse!," Jani calls as Eustace and the others leave. Jani Blum finds himself really hoping that it's true.
Setting the Scene: Hitomi to the Rescue
Saturday, June 22, 8:32pm.
Eustace's Workshop
Chaos Factor: 3
Expected Scene: Hitomi has spotted Eustace's map notes and figures it out.
Scene Test → 1 → Altered. Image Oracles → 6,4 Swipe Card + 2,6 Footprint. First thought in this case is a hotel room card. Those did exist in the 90s so Gunther has upgraded. The alteration is that Hitomi is making Daphne help out as payback.
Actual Scene: Hitomi shows off the map notes AND demands Daphne come along to help out.
Hitomi to the Rescue
Saturday, June 22, 8:32pm.
Eustace's Workshop
Hitomi leads the others to the workshop and points out the Rambler map. The letters "E" and "U" have been added. "There also blood over there," she points out.
"What does this mean?," Raymond asks.
"What this means is that Morgan and you are about to go and get me the clothes and equipment that we bought. Then Daphne is going to make up for being a dick to Libby and kicking her out by helping her sweet and beloved sister do what needs to be done."
"What do you need, Hitomi?," Daphne asks.
"Get your hotel key card. If you run into Frank tell him to fuck off but we have to get to the Rambler."
Daphne balks a bit at this last bit but Hitomi shushes her. "Shush it. I had this whole speech planned about Eu and I were going to take it slow and spend wonderful months drinking tea and watching Doctor Who together until we fell in love the proper way but if he dies or gets put in jail before I get that chance, I am going to lose it."
"Wait, you and me?," Daphne asks, missing a few beats on the way down and still not quite putting together what the map is saying.
"Get the damned key card. We are going to go rescue my future husband."
Updates to Progress Tracks
Since Amy is the best thing besides a map, two more progress points.
| The Mystery of the Rambler's Inn | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5F | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10F | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15F | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20E |
| P | P | P | P | F | F | P | P | F | F | P | P | P | P | F | F | P | P | ||
DOUG'S COMMENTARY
January 11, 2025
We are definitely approaching the end-game. It probably only needs another chapter to finish out but I want some space to give at least a nice epilogue. Maybe about as long as the prologue with the idea to throw it back to 2027 Hitomi Delmont. A way to bring the various stories forward into at least a few months time.
How am I feeling about it at this point in time? Pretty good. The story is a good deal different than it could have been but I think most of the arcs and characters are falling into the right place. The Eustace & Hitomi as a team aspect essentially will not get to show up but the implication from the start is that this is a series of books and we are just seeing the origin story. Molly, Jenny, and Raymond remain a bit beyond my grasp to bring in. If, and it is always a big "IF" for me, there ever is a second "novel," it will probably just be Eustace, Hitomi, and maybe another character with everyone else purely as support roles in a scene or two.
I think the mystery around Amy, Raylon, and her mom is perfectly valid. It was fun solving it. The story about why any cares about the Rambler? Well, I'll have to wing that pretty hard next time. Expect fewer yes-no type rolls and more "the answer is" type statements.
Due to the interrupt scene that had Jani go off and do his own thing to complete his thread, we missed a potential scene of the ever loud and ever horny Daphne meeting him. There was bound to be a comment or two about how Eustace attracts very attractive men in uniform. Ah well, one of the other MillionBillion Dougs can make that joke.
RE: The Eustace and Elly Situation. The original version of the scene, before it got interrupted and then stuff kicked off, was to try and work through that more. With the major comment that it is absolutely possible for friends of any sexual orientation and gender composition to be close, loving, toxic, or whatever: I feel like the slightly more jokesy "Eustace doesn't date, he is just always at the beck and call of a friend who is otherwise in a committed relationship" that might have worked fine in a 5-chapter quicker campaign had started to feel a little odd when I backed up a step and tried to make characters generally real world reasonable in their actions.
We have established that Eustace and Elly hang around so much that (1) several members of the town|city think they are dating, including Morgan, who is good at reading people, (2) that Elly tends to call on Eustace before she calls Jenny for help and support, and (3) there was a point where Elly was out of sorts until Jenny helped her to moved forward (after which Elly almost immediately went back to Eustace as a major emotional pillar). Thinking back around this made me feel like maybe they had been dating. At some point — the night of the Junior Fall Dance — they finally realized that they weren't going to be compatible romantically. Maybe they just had their first kiss. Maybe it was more serious. Maybe it was just sat down and talked. I don't know. At that point, their long assumption that they were a couple began to crumble and fade.
Except rather than go away entirely, Elly and Eustace latched on to each other and over-compensated with a kind of awkward better-than-besties energy.
At this point in the story, Elly has decided to "break up" with Eustace and let him be more free. In fact, she is letting him take a bit more charge with things. She might finally be able to give Jenny a more dedicated relationship. They probably need some degree of couple's therapy, though.
CHAPTER 10'S MUSICAL SHOUT OUT: One of the problem of playing an album on loop is that these episodes have a lot of bits floating so they can take easily two- to four-hours to play. A good number of 90s albums are only around forty- or so minutes. This means I tend to hear an album on loop at least three or four times. Maybe more. I figured it might be best to try two or three albums for this episode and going forward.
In this case, the two albums were Tubeway Army's 1979 Replicas and the 1996 compilation Songs in the Key of X. I knew nearly nothing about the Tubeway Army in '96 but I listened to Key of X a lot. A lot a lot. The combination of the two helped to play off inherent paranoia of an FBI agent up to something where we didn't really know exactly what he was doing until he was done (by design). There were two shout out songs. The first was "Down in the Park" (which shows up on both albums, but by the Foo Fighters on Key of X). I heard the Foo Fighters version first and it was one of my favorites until I learned it had a history several years later.
Though my absolute favorite from Key of X was Soul Coughing's "Unmarked Helicopters," I felt it was time to give a shout out to Jani's ties to my fandom of X-Files. In the episode "Ascension" the song "Red Right Hand" is playing. This kicked off the whole notion of making a CD full of music inspired or in the theme of the X-Files. Therefore, in a nod of another creator using 90s music to help tell a story, Elly and Eustace are playing either Let Love In or Songs in the Key of X. Presumably Milly was rocking out to Replicas in the back-seat.
MECHANICAL AND STORY NOTES
- Using Mythic's yes|no to generate intensitity. How severe is it? (Unlikely) → 15 Yes. Notable. { head | arm | chest | gut | hips | leg } → head. How did it happen? Image Oracle → 6,5 To Think + 3,6 Magnet.
- Milly's response to this whole injured Eustace situation is (Actions) 59 Leave 66 Pain + 65 Open 42 Idea.
- Let's go for an opposed roll. Jani's Crafty vs Eustace's Alert. Jani gets a 5 and a 4. Eustace gets two 5s. Eustace wins.
- Elly got two successes right off (completing it). All of it was her.
- What is Elly's gut instinct (which she might not act on)? (Actions) 09 Attain 49 Interior + 13 Betray 10 Burden.
- Does Jani already like Eustace? (50/50) → 49 Yes. What are Jani's (Actions) → 21 Communicate 53 Location + 06 Arrive 85 Success.
- Does Jani agree to this? (50/50) → 37 Yes.
- Is Elly ok with the plan? (50/50) → 59 Yes, actually.
- Using Mythic for intensity again, How is Milly handling the violence? (50/50) → 62 No = Not well. Not in complete panic mode but definitely in over her head.
- Elly gets two successes right off and greatly confuses Raylon.
- Eustace gets two successes. The Disruptor works well enough it is impacting other systems inside the pound.
- Jani gets two successes. The group just crushed it. Raylon is completely overwhelmed.
- Jani gets a success right off. Interrogation clenched.
- Does Amy want to go to? (Very Likely) → 55 Yes.
- Does Elly want to go? (Nearly Certain) → 75 Yes but just barely.
- Does Milly want to go? (Unlikely) → 05 Exceptional Yes.
CREDITS
Eustace Delmont and The Case of the Rambler's Inn is played primarily using Richard Woolcock (Zadmar Games)'s Maidenstead Mysteries Tricubes one-sheet and Tana Pigeon's Mythic Gamemaster Emulator is used to handle a lot of the scene management and basic oracle checks. Various tables Tricube Tales Solo (also by Woolcock) and various articles from Mythic Magazine also show up.
Other sources used include:
- Cesar Capacle's Random Realities
- Madeline Hale's Table Fables: Modern
- Matt & Erin Davis's Book of Random Tables: Modern, Book of Random Tables: Eldritch, and Book of Random Tables: 1980s - 1990s
- Zach Best's Universal NPC Emulator.
ART CREDIT AND EXPLANATION
The newspaper photo in this case is from a photo by LONG PHAM from Pixabay. Finding it involved the slightly surreal and potentially fraught task of matching a real life human to fit roughly but also not really to the Dean Spencer stock art used in the prologue of The GLOW: 1996 Johnny Blue. From there, we know Amy takes far more after her mother (while Roger takes much more after Roman) [in fact, he's not her biological dad, that's still up in the air]. However, the Alabama Weird Amy would not have quite the brutal edge of The GLOW — nor the glowing green eyes or the giant red mantis — so I wanted it feel less like an antagonist and more like a younger person who might one day be mean but for right now is just another 23-year-old in a world where a lot of young adults are solving things for themselves. The woman in the photograph is Vietnamese, but I'm ok with Amy's mom being born in Hong Kong but of Vietnamese heritage since the rest of the photo hit the vibe I wanted. The whole campaign features a lot of people combining different backgrounds and deciding their identity for themselves.
As usual, I used a few tricks to crash out the colors and quality and then ran it through a newspaper filter, downsized it, and then re-upsized it.
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