Murderous Ghosts (2025 Halloween Special)

Kenzie Tartaglione:

Welcome to queeRPG's 2025 Halloween special, starring Kenzie Tartaglione and Ashley Westover, an actual play of murderous ghosts by D. Vincent Baker and Meguey Baker.

The Majors Inn is an abandoned Victorian hotel in a forgotten town in upstate New York. It was built in elaborate Tudor revival style with 50 bedrooms, a great hall, two reception halls, a dining room, a restaurant, a bar, a billiards room, and all the attendant servant quarters, and access ways. Like many resorts like it, it didn't survive the Great Depression. Now it's been closed and shuttered for decades, crumbling. Some kind of terrible violence happened here.

Ashley Westover:

My name is Sam. I'm 23. I'm visiting my hometown for holiday break from college. I've not been doing too well in college, even though I consider myself very smart. It's hard for academia to keep me engaged, pretty much. I'm a very more hands-on person. I do a lot of sports. Pretty like extroverted and athletic, but there's not as many friends up here in my hometown as there are like back at college, and so I'm trying to find things to do. I'm an urban explorer and tonight I've been exploring around this old abandoned major's inn.

There's an open ground floor window that I sort of like, snuck my way in through and I've been going upwards for a while. There's like this really grimy narrow staircase and I think I've finally gotten to the top. I've kept a rough track of the turns and the staircases and I'm pretty sure I'm not lost. It's, you know, a fairly standard layout as well. If the MC could please turn to one in your book.

Kenzie (MC):

You have climbed through this window and entered the Majors Inn, passing through a collection of rooms. When you come into one, everything in the house so far has been pitch black. There are no lights in here. know, the electricity hasn't been on since this was condemned. And you walk into this room and all of sudden, all of these wall sconces alight in a warm, very welcoming warm glow. As you see this polished oak bar curved and wide, mirroring the giant round table set in this alcove. There are dusty bottles on the back shelves and you can smell in the air this lingering smell of cigar smoke. There is a stone fireplace roaring with heat, but there isn't anybody within the room, despite that it feels like people might have just got up and left. You see remnants of wine in a glass on a table. You see an empty beer bottle rolling across the floor into a corner. And you also see as your eyes kind of follow that beer bottle this drag of blood across the floor as if somebody had been carrying and sliding something large and bloody across the uneven stones.

Ash:

Things were fine until they weren't.

Kenzie (MC):

You can turn to page two.

Ash:

What’s the worst thing this suggests to you? When they first walk in and the lights turn on and they see like the bar top is polished and there's like signs of people that have just been here maybe their first thought was like god is this like some secret meetup for like the local kids or some sort of weird like illuminati society. Like there's other people here and i've interrupted something important and then as my eye falls on the rolling bottle and the smear of blood the like the worst suggestion that this is to me is a threat to me. Because I'm under the impression that maybe there are dangerous people here and there is something bad happening. have- my brain hasn't jumped to anything supernatural. I'm just an urban explorer. I'm not a ghost hunter.

Tell the MC the best thing you've done in your life so far. I think the best thing that Sam has done so far is just get accepted into into their dream college. I'll say it's NYU. You know, they went from upstate to NYU and now they're back up again. And they got a sports scholarship in track and field. And so they're very proud of themselves for that.

And now I have to draw. On your first draw of the game, this is a free draw. No matter what card it is, count it as 13 to 20. I drew was six, so I guess that's good. If you haven't seen a ghost here, tell the emcee to turn to 3 in her book.

Kenzie (MC):

As you see this rolling bottle in this room, I'd say that you're still kind of like at the doorway just having entered. What do you do? Because there isn't anything else necessarily from your vantage point that's drawing your attention. Because there is no ghost here yet, or there is no ghost here anymore.

Ash:

First instinct when I took a step in the room was to be like, hello, but then I that the words quickly died on my tongue when I saw the blood and now I'm like, maybe I should just get the fuck out. And so I'm just gonna like turn back around and try to leave the room quietly so I don't notify any person to my presence. Plan to like call the cops after I get out or something like, hey, there's maybe violence happening in this little house.

Kenzie (MC):

You leave this bar, this parlor room of sorts, and you enter back into the hallway. The hallways here have all been similar in the sense that they are rather long. There are doors ever so often intermittently sparsed. And there is like a carpet of a color your eyes can't quite tell in the dark here that runs the length of the floor on top of what is a wooden old creaky floor as you step across it.

Ash:

Can I start walking along the edge of the hall where it's less likely to creak?

Kenzie:

Yeah, so you start making your way down this, we'll call it the East Hall. I need you to draw a card.

Ash:

I’m at a 10 right now.

Kenzie:

You see down the hallway as you kind of walk. You hear it too, you hear like the sound of creaky wheels. And you see this figure kind of grayed out in the bad lighting, pushing a housekeeping cart down the hallway toward you. You see that its hands are gripped tightly, thin, bony, pretty long around the cart's handle. It is a, also like the body of it is fairly slender. It's not tall or anything, but this individual is like, seems not well nourished.

Ash:

Does it seem solid or can I see through it?

Kenzie (MC):

It’s not translucent. And even though you are trying to kind of slowly tiptoe your way and avoid the creakiest parts of this floor, this building is old. And you step your foot down on a plank, it goes. And the ghost's head whips towards you very fast. Eyes completely locked on yours. After that movement happens, it just goes stock still staring at you. Its eyes like black voids.

Ash:

Is there a door next to me or is this just like a solid hallway?

Kenzie (MC):

It's not a solid hallway. There are doors every so often. But if you were to go to the door that's closest to you, it's the one like directly across from the ghost.

Ash:

I think I'm also just gonna freeze and stare at this ghost. If it starts running at me, I'm gonna run back behind me to try to get to the next closest door. But then if it just seems to like... I don't know, I think Sam at this moment is just like, okay, now we're in official... What the fuck is going on in territory? Because that's not how a person is supposed to move and look. They're freezing up for a moment because they're sort of stuck and not sure what to do here.

Kenzie (MC):

The long fingers slowly kind of curl up and away from the handles as the arms go down by their side. Their movements are very rigid as if they're walking on some sort of invisible path. And they turn like completely 90 degrees and take a couple steps and then turn 45 degrees towards you and begin approaching you. I need you to turn to number 17 or sorry, I turned to 17. And then you go to 14.

Ash:

What do you most hope it doesn't do? If I turn to it and I say,

Ash (Sam):

That room needs extra towels.

Ash:

And just like point at the door that it's closest to, just trying to be like maybe this is like they needed a task?

Kenzie (MC):

Its mouth kind of opens as if it's going to respond to you, except what you see inside of it is like its eyes. It's just a black void and it begins to stretch bigger and as it does, it reaches its right hand out, the long fingers curving towards your throat.

Ash:

What I most hope it doesn't do is follow me.

Kenzie (MC):

Okay, so you get to draw another card

Ash:

I pulled a five-

Kenzie (MC):

Fifteen- you get to tell me what it does.

Ash:

I'm interested in showing what it's hiding.

Kenzie (MC):

Its hand turns from where it's like, looks like it's going to curl around your neck and instead closes except for its pointer finger, which reaches forward and presses its nail, long nail against the middle of your forehead. And in the moment it comes into contact with you, your entire body feels like it's slammed into a wall behind you. Your eyes fling open into this afternoon lit room where there is a figure in front of you who is probably a man in his late 50s, very well kept facial hair, a full three piece suit on in a not in a navy - like a middling blue color, and his hand is currently wrapped around your neck as you're up from the floor and your hands are scrabbling at his hand as you feel the air being cut off from your lungs. And all of a sudden you feel like you're dropping a hundred feet and your stomach goes up into your throat and you slump against the floor in this darkened hallway of the Majors Inn. And there is not a ghost or a cart in this hallway. What do do when you see this and your kind of heart is beating, your breath is coming fast.

Ash:

I think I'm gonna like scramble to my feet. I think at this point I'm freaked out and I'm just trying, I'm not trying to sneak anymore, I'm just trying to run because obviously it's not like people or anything here. Sam is just gonna use their track and field scholarship legs and book it.

Kenzie (MC):

As you raced on this hallway to the staircase, you hear a sound. It's kind of like a breath. And you raced the stairwell and you pound down them and you went up this stairwell before. And you didn't notice this door on the way down that's not a door onto a different floor, but next to one.

Ash:

I think Sam is of the mind of like, no that's freaky, I'm just gonna get the fuck out. Like, weird doors appearing, ghost housekeepers, good dudes in suits, like killing me in a sunny afternoon. No, nay nay. Nay nay I say, no thank you. I will mind my own business and get the fuck out is the goal.

Kenzie (MC):

You race down to the bottom of the stairwell, which is the second floor of the inn, and you come bursting out of it into this narrow gallery that looks down over a grand room where like 200 guests could dine.

Ash:

So to be cleared the governor's in his three stories total and I'm on the second story now.

Kenzie (MC):

Actually, that's super interesting, Sam. You went down a lot more stairs than three floors worth. And as you come in here and you race across the gallery, a movement catches your eye. And you see a woman, early thirties, in this, what looks to be, again, it's like in a gray scale, but what looks to be this gorgeous gown, twirling by herself, but like arms up as if she were dancing with a partner around this room below you. Her hair is like up in pins behind her head. Her eyes are closed and you can hear almost faintly as if she's humming a song you can't hear. Her voice like beautiful and lilting up with the movement of the song. You need to turn to four.

Ash:

So the gallery above the ballroom. Like how far up the-

Kenzie (MC):

The ballroom is like two stories high. So you're like one story up. So you're probably like 10 feet from the ground.

Ash:

And there's no other music or any other sounds, but are there any like lights in here?

Kenzie (MC):

How you're seeing is the moonlight coming through these like huge floor to ceiling windows, curved windows across. I would assume you would have a flashlight as well.

Ash:

I would use it in the pitch black stairwells and things like that, but for rooms like this I feel like would just draw more attention to me so I click it off whenever I enter a room that has light of its own. The way the gallery is that I come down from these stairs, do I see where another set of stairs that goes down is from here? Where's my exit from this spot?

Kenzie (MC):

So there aren't any actual stairs to the ballroom floor from the gallery. There are two doors. So the door you entered and then across this gallery, there's a door on the other side that it looks exactly the same.

Ash:

Run quietly. like, speed is more important than sneakiness, because I'm hoping to just get out of here still. Sort of like, adrenaline's pumping. Fight or flight has kicked in and we are for sure in flight. What do you most hope it doesn't do? I really don't want her to open her eyes and look at me. I'll go ahead and just draw, and we'll see. I'm probably going to bust, but I want to... Oh no, I didn't! Okay, cool. 13 to 20, it does none of them. Tell the MC to turn to 13 in her book, as I'm scurrying across to the other door, the door on the other side of the gallery.

Kenzie (MC):

I would say that you are trying to avoid the ghost's attention while doing something that might attract it by running because you said it's less about stealth and more about speed. You need to turn to 30 and tell me where to go.

Ash:

So I'm going to recall and shuffle. A 10. I press on anyway. Tell the MC that the ghost reacts to you. Tell the MC to turn to 17 in her book.

Kenzie (MC):

This ghost's eyes snap open and the song it's be humming turns into this strangled screech as it starts to fly directly towards you on the gallery. I'm going to have you turn to number 10.

Ash:

Ask the MC what the ghost is capable of doing to you.

Kenzie (MC):

I think there are many things. This ghost, as it's careening towards you, you see that it is not this very well put together young woman anymore, but it is instead a woman whose makeup is smeared across their face and there is a large dripping gash across the front of their throats. You are certain in this moment that two things could happen to you. It could rip you off the gallery ledge and throw you to the floor below, or it could possess you.

Ash:

I don’t like either of those. The king plus a ten. Face cards at 11. This is a bust. I'm going to scramble back the way I came.

Kenzie (MC):

When there's like a person that you know isn't real, as in terms of like, like an alive, weighty human being sort of thing is what I mean by that. And they are coming at you so fast, flying upwards diagonally from a lower floor. You wouldn't anticipate them to have actual abilities to interact with the physical space around them. That just doesn't seem like a possible thing. It feels like they would be floating through things, obstacles in their way. That is not what happens here. What happens here is that this hand reaches out and grasps your shirt around the collar by the neck, rips you up off the ground and is stronger than you would have expected as well. And it's getting ready to send you sailing over the floor and down below. I need you to turn to number forty.

Ash:

Queen. That’s eleven. You can't escape the ghost assault, but tell the emcee what you do to try to survive it. As she's going to toss me, I feel that, and I try to like just grab onto her. Like the wrist, like one hand on the wrist that she has on me, and another hand to grab like at her bodice and like like her clothes to try and have an anchor. That way when she tosses me, either I don't get tossed or like we both go and it like softens my-

Kenzie (MC):

You grab on to this ghost so you guys are kind of one and as her momentum is going forward to throw you over this balcony edge you grab and with the force of grabbing onto her pull her with you unfortunately that weight still sends you toppling over the edge of the balcony and you kind of like flip over one another flip over one another until you come smacking into the floor below. You’ve both managed to collide on the side on your shoulder. So it's not like your head smashes into the ground, which is what was more the most concerning part about this fall was blunt force trauma to the head. She is still struggling viciously against you. She has not let you go and she is turning you over onto your back with her hands still clasped around your collar, shoving you into the ground. I need you to go to number 42.

Ash:

You've survived the ghost attack. Eventually it goes leaving you for dead, but... 16. I am disoriented and lost. And then MC needs to go to 33.

Kenzie (MC):

You feel yourself being shoved onto the ground and you actually feel drops of this blood from this open gash wound in her neck drip onto your face as she's above you shoving you into the floor. And then unlike the previous ghost you've seen, her eyes are her eyes even though there is mascara streaked everywhere. And there almost is like a moment of recognition that comes across them. And you feel the weight against your throat leave, and she stands up, her arms up like she is partnering with somebody and spins away from you.

Ash:

I want to just like start like rolling slash crawling towards the closest wall. Don't mind me, I'm not here. Go back to your dancing. Sorry, I interrupted you in the first place. And then just like get to the closest wall and catch my breath and then look around at this level to see like what my options are. I'm imagining the ballroom is like rectangle or something. And so like when we crashed out of the ground fairly close, like one of the edges, I'm just gonna like finish like getting myself all the way to one of the walls. Take a breath and then look around to see like where the doors and exits and anything else that might be important are.

Kenzie (MC):

You have the windows, but they don't seem to be openable. And then you have this large double door set into, so say like we're on a rectangle, this is the window side. Across from the windows, there's this large wooden double door set in the center of that wall.

Ash:

The double doors are are they open or closed?

Kenzie (MC):

They’re closed.

Ash:

There's no guarantee that they're like not locked or something because I don't did I go through this this room when I first entered?

Kenzie (MC):

Mm-mm.

Ash:

I have the plan of like crawling over to the windows holding my flashlight in my fist wrapping my jacket around it and then just like punching open the window and then just scrambling out and running across the lawn. That's my goal. That's my plan.

Kenzie (MC):

You slam the flashlight into this window and you hear instead of a shattering of glass, you hear [ghostly shriek] exploding across the space like some sort of supernatural alarm. And you feel eyes on you and you turn around and you look over your shoulder. There has to be 60, 100, 120 ghosts of all different ages, staring directly at you. And all of them look to be angry and you are the culprit of that anger. Any of the reasons that these ghosts are here in the Majors Inn, you're why they're here and they all know that.

Ash:

When I the window, did it feel like I didn't even really hit the window? Just like this magical arm?

Kenzie (MC):

So you hit the window, instead of it breaking in a crash of glass, this happened instead.

Ash:

Does it feel like I can't break the window? I guess is my question.

Kenzie (MC):

You're not getting out of this room through the window. All of these ghosts begin to come towards you in some manner. The one that is closest is this boy, probably in the time that he was alive would have been considered a man, but in our modern day times, 13 to 15 years old. You see that it looks like he's crying.

You see that it looks like all of his fingers have been broken. The tears streaming down his face don't stop the snarl and the glare and narrowing of his eyes towards you. I need you to go to, we'll do number six this time.

Ash:

Tell the MCs something you wanted the chance to do before you died. I think that they wanted to win gold at their track and field competition in the spring. Not to specifically win gold in track and field, but like, make my team proud. I wanted to make my friends proud and I wanted to celebrate with them after we won.

Kenzie (MC):

Why didn't they come with you here tonight?

Ash:

Either people either like normally stayed at the dorms for winter break or they went back to their hometowns and I was the only one who was who lived in this like you know small upstate town in New York. It’s just the fact that none of my friends also lived up here that I made in college what do you most hope you don't do now lash out because I feel like lashing out would actually make the ghosts more angry. A four.

Kenzie (MC):

Our sum of 1 to 5 is a bust.

Ash:

Bust, you do the one you hoped you wouldn't, so lash out.

Kenzie (MC):

How do you lash out against the young boy coming towards you?

Ash:

I'm not trying to hurt him, I'm just trying to shove him out of the way and shove anyone out of the way so I can get to the exit.

Kenzie (MC):

Turn to 34 please.

Ash:

I've drawn the two, that's a six. Tell the MC that the ghost assaults you. Tell the MC to turn to 29 in her book.

Kenzie (MC):

This young boy's crying turns ferocious and turns to a level of pitch that makes your ears start to bleed. Crazily enough, through the pain of that and through kind of grabbing your head to try to stop the sound from entering it, you notice that the boy's voice is also affecting the other ghosts in the room. And while they're not necessarily bleeding out of their ears, you see it as if their existence in the physical space is flickering, like they're losing touch with it.

Ash:

Do I get the sense that it's like loud noises in general or this boy is special?

Kenzie (MC):

I don't know if you've had enough experiences to say yes or no to that question, but it's definitely something you should keep in your back pocket to try if necessary. This ghost hasn't attacked you already, so you go to number 40.

Ash:

I drew a three, that's a nine total. You can't escape the ghost assault, but tell the MC what you do to try to survive it. I feel like bleeding ears is fairly painful and assaulty-y, and so like, the way I'm trying to survive this is just, as these ghosts are like flickering in and out, of like glitching around me, just like, shove my fingers in my ears and run for the door to try and get out of here. This strategy hasn't really worked so far. I keep just running into more danger, but I don't think Sam has an idea of what else to do. They're not gonna try to sit and talk with these ghosties. That seems wild to them.

Kenzie (MC):

Also, if we know one thing about Sam, it's that she's a track and field star, so...

Ash:

She's a runner, As long as both of her legs are working, she's gonna use them.

Kenzie (MC):

Shoving your fingers and ears and running away from the sound realistically will let you survive to get away from this ghost assault. So I need you to go to 42.

Ash:

You've escaped the ghost attack, but draw. Okay, I'm only at nine right now. So as long as I don't have a face card, and there's his face card.

Kenzie (MC):

21 is a bust, not 20, so you got a 20. I like the fourth one.

Ash:

I also like the fourth one, because I think I think I've abandoned my light. I think after getting tossed and everything.

Kenzie (MC):

Flashlight's gone.

Ash:

Go to 31 in your book, please.

Kenzie (MC):

You bust open these double doors and they slam shut behind you and as you're breathing heavy, you are in this, which doesn't really make sense to you, because you, why would, hmm, odd. You're in a dark and twisting stairwell that should not be right outside the doors to the ballroom.

Ash:

I was hoping for an entry hallway.

Kenzie (MC):

On one wall on this twisting stairwell, it's all glass with like shelves and there's a lot of things on these shelves from what looked to be like first edition books, a bird skull, an over flowering potted plant. It seems to be a case, a tall case of knickknacks and odd collectibles hidden away in this stairwell.

Ash:

What first edition books?

Kenzie (MC):

They are of a theological nature.

Ash:

The first Bible!

Kenzie (MC):

Theological and the occult in how they mesh.

Ash:

Okay, okay, interesting. Like a a grimoire or the witch hunters guide.

Kenzie (MC):

Not like a spell book necessarily, but more of like a ritual book or even just like philosophy or like a dissertation on why people are so drawn to such workings in the world. Do these workings exist? What is the relation between humanity and the dark?

Ash:

Sam is a jock in the middle of a panic attack and is gonna clock that and go, cool, keep running.

Kenzie (MC):

You are starting to go up these stairs. The twisting stairway is of like, wrought iron spiral staircase going up. What type of shoes are you wearing? Tennis shoes? Boots?

Ash:

Yeah, I think just like, sneakers.

Kenzie (MC):

I think still just with the force and the quickness that you're going up, it still kind of clings in this small area as you go up. I need you to draw.

Ash:

Six.

Kenzie (MC):

You see as you look up that the staircase stops at the top and there is a figure sitting on the top stairwell with a book open in their lap. There's an overwhelming smell of like honeysuckle and dirt earth like gardening. As you get closer you notice that even though there's not a lot of color in this space due to the darkness, the pallor of the face of this ghost is much whiter than the rest of it. And as you pound up these stairs...

Ash:

Can I stop as soon as I see him?

Kenzie (MC):

Sure. It kind of lifts its head up from its book and looks down the stairs at you through the steps and the grates and the steps and goes,

Kenzie (Book Ghost):

Oh, hello.

Ash (Sam):

Hi.

Ash:

Just like out of breath, like this one's not immediately trying to kill me. That's a step in the right direction, I guess.

Kenzie (Book Ghost):

You found my hiding spot.

Ash (Sam):

Yeah, sorry, I'm just trying to pass through. I'll let you get back to your book.

Kenzie (Book Ghost):

No, no, don't leave.

Ash (Sam):

Alright, so, wha- what are you reading? I'll take like, step forward. Wow, yeah, that's- that's fascinating.

Kenzie (Book Ghost):

Well, why don't you come here and look.

Ash:

I’ll take like a stop forward.

Ash (Sam):

Yeah, that’s fascinating.

Kenzie (Book Ghost):

You can't even see it from down there.

Ash (Sam):

Yeah, you know, just, I- I- I'm a little out of breath, uh, uh, up the stairs so far. Uh, apologies.

Kenzie (Book Ghost):

Well come up and sit.

Kenzie (MC):

And kind of scooches over and taps the seat next to them.

Ash:

In their head they're like, okay, I'm just gonna get up there. they'll like, as far away from the ghosts as they can, they'll like go up and then sort of like squat down. That way they're still in position to able to like spring up and bolt at like the first sense of things going wrong. But like, maybe this guy is a friendly ghost and can get them some more information or whatnot. But they've just almost been murdered like five times, so they're not super testing.

Kenzie (MC):

As soon as you squat next to this individual, they slam the book shut, look up at you and go,

Kenzie (Book Ghost):

Thanks for coming. No one leaves.

Kenzie (MC):

I need you to go to 16.

Ash:

What about it still seems most human to you? I'm gonna say it's voice. He just- he does sound like someone who was just annoyed that like I'm in their spot now. He doesn't seem very sorrowful or scared or angry. Or he's a kind of angry. He seemed more like, haha, got you instead of actually mad. So I'm like, fuck. Okay, 11, 17. Tell the MC that you don't reach out to it in any way.

Kenzie (MC):

As it says that, it shoves you. But instead of falling like down the stairs, you're caught as around your neck a noose forms, hanging from the ceiling, dangling just off the stairs enough that you can't quite reach it with your foot. I need you to go to 40.

Ash:

Alright, I'm at seventeen now. No I don't have a very good chance, so I'm gonna shuffle. Eight. I can't escape the ghost assault, but tell the MC what I do to try to survive it. Is the ghost guy still here?

Kenzie (MC):

Mm-hmm.

Ash:

I think what I do is instead of trying to reach the step, I like reach up and try to like grab the noose to like pull up and give myself some air and then like kick out to try and like kick the ghost to give myself some leverage and and and then then like like like get enough leverage to like slip it off of my head and fall to the ground hopefully not down the fucking stairs but…

Kenzie (MC):

Based off of the fact that swinging isn't really getting you closer to where you want to be, go to 44.

Ash:

I drew a three, so the 11. Ask the MC to choose one. I'm badly hurt, most likely dying. I can't stand, let alone walk. I'm disoriented and lost. Or I'm cornered with no way out.

Kenzie (MC):

You're cornered with no way out.

Ash:

Now you go to 33 in your book.

Kenzie (MC):

You have managed to lift yourself up so that you're not actively being strangled, but you haven't been able to kick yourself enough to swing close and grab on. And so as this is happening, the ghost who is watching you kind of just smiles, believes that your strength is going to give out and you will just succumb to this, kind of folds the book into their side and begins walking down the spiral staircase slowly. Hey continues to go down the stairs until you don't hear their footsteps on the ground anymore. But you also don't hear like the door at the bottom open and shut. You just don't hear or see their presence anymore. What do you do? The ghost is right in its assumption that your strength will fail at some point and you can't figure out how to reach the ledge.

Ash:

What is the rope attached to above me?

Kenzie (MC):

There is a like woodwork lattice across the ceiling.

Ash:

She's just gonna try to climb up to the top and like, either like get on top of the latticework or like find a way to like untie herself. She's gonna try to like get up on.

Kenzie (MC):

You can't fit through the latticework, but you can hold on to the latticework hanging there.

Ash:

Can I like swing my legs up and like dangle by my knees and then untie it?

Kenzie (MC):

You could fit your legs in. So you pull the knots and loosen the knots and are able to slip it off over your head. And now you're dangling upside down like a bat with this drop to the stairwell below.

Ash:

So looking along this latticework, I'm assuming there's no like obvious exit from…

Kenzie (MC):

Not along the lattice work. You could crawl and drop back onto like the top landing of the stairwell where there is a door.

Ash:

Is this a physical rope or is this like a ghost rope?

Kenzie (MC):

It feels like a physical rope.

Ash:

Can I like untie it from the beam and then take it with me?

Kenzie (MC):

Sure. You find yourself in the pyramid room of the Majors Inn, which is the peak of the corner tower to this building, the topmost room of the hotel. The tiny landing of the stairwell opens on to one side of this large square room with steeply sloping sides - a pyramid - of yellowed wood with small deep windows with a small deep window high in the north wall. It's kind of one of those small ones too that you can like find in basements or attics so like a person couldn't fit out of it but it is there to see out of if you would like to.

Ash:

Is there anything else in this room?

Kenzie (MC):

This room, as you look around, it looks like it had multiple uses at some point. It's a big room, but it feels like an attic. But with the furniture in here, it looks like maybe it had once been like a bedroom, maybe at one point a nursery. Like you see a crib in the corner, but there's also just like a bunch of boxes and crates and like a bunch of furniture that has like sheets thrown over it. So it's almost like it was out of use or became a storage room at some point. But there is like a twin bed in here and there's like a lamp and a writing desk and things like that.

Ash:

What time is it?

Kenzie (MC):

You came here at night. So looking out of that little window, it is nighttime, but there's enough light from the moon. So you of course have a phone. It is just after one in the morning.

Ash:

Awesome, so not enough time for me to like hole up and wait for the sun to rise. If it was like an hour I might have attempted that but I think six hours is is a bit too much to try to survive. Is the the door I just came from the only door into and out of this room?

Kenzie (MC):

There is another door in this room if you'd like to open it.

Ash:

I'm gonna look around a little bit first. I'm not gonna fuck with the nursery bed or the beds in general. I'm just gonna look at these like boxes and crates. Do any of them have like labels on them or are they like open and I can see what's in or what I have like?

Kenzie (MC):

There aren't any labels on them, they're like old wooden crates, you know the ones that you need like a crowbar to kind of like actually open, but there are like a few vintage chests in here. You open one and you just see like a bunch of linens inside of it. You open another one and it seems to be like an assortment of like candelabras and like half used candles.

Ash:

The candelabras... are they silver?

Kenzie (MC):

Some of them are, yes.

Ash:

Can I grab a silver candelabra?

Kenzie (MC):

Sure.

Ash:

And so they're gonna be like, all right, I have a rope and I have a silver candelabra and it's better than before when I had nothing. And they're gonna look around and see if there's anything else that they can use as like a weapon or more rope. If they get to a place where there's a window that like can be opened that they can rappel down from, they're looking for like ways that can either help them fight or escape.

Kenzie (MC):

I think you can definitely find more rope here. I don't think you find any weapons of any sort here. But in this search, as you kind of are moving things around and searching for stuff, there's a little mark on the ground that looks like it was burned into the wood. It’s not a marking or a symbol you necessarily recognize but it's very clearly there.

Ash:

How big is this mark?

Kenzie (MC):

Probably the size of my palm. It like fits easily on like one board of wood across the floor.

Ash:

I know that it's suspicious because you the GM have pointed it out. But I think Sam in this in this room wouldn't like pay to to - they would might maybe like notice it. But I don't think that they would think of it as anything odd or two or too out of the ordinary. If there is a way to like see if any of these wooden floorboards are like hollow and like are hiding things underneath them. I think maybe they'd be like, oh that's weird on the wood floorboards. Oh, maybe there's stuff under the floors somewhere. Like they like knock on a couple of people to see if it's like hollow in any spot.

Kenzie (MC):

You find, as you're knocking, a hollow, and you open it, and it's like stuffed with straw, and there is a small knife with very old dried blood on it. It's like dark brown at this point on the blade. There is a small, very thin, soft notebook. inside as well. And there is a piece of maroon fabric that looks like it was harshly ripped. I need you to draw a card.

Ash:

11, 12, 13.

Kenzie (MC):

When you find this, what do you do?

Ash:

They're like, oh this is clearly a murder weapon and some evidence that someone like hid. The knife seems like a good idea to have as like a weapon, but because it's still covered in like the bloody don't know if that's going to like notify a ghost of their presence or whatnot. The maroon fabric, they're not quite sure what to do with. And so they're going to reach for the soft notebook and read like the last entry in it first before maybe deciding and reading others, but they're going to be like, maybe if I could figure out with the box of these ghosts, can get them to leave me alone.

Kenzie (MC):

There's not very many pages in this book, so the last entry in this book, there's only like a few pages of blank space left after it. But the handwriting is almost like doctor scribble. It's like so hard to read and to make out. But you can kind of just like looking at it and trying to parse it that it is kind of medically related in the sense of a person, an unnamed individual, was being observed. There aren't any actual medical notes of heart rate or scientific data or anything like that. It just sounds like someone was being observed. It says, “I didn't know how each person would deal with the harnessing of power differently. But it has become the conclusion of this examination that the harnessing of said power leads each person to the same end.

Ash:

You said there's not a lot of pages in this notebook anyways.

Kenzie (MC):

No, it's small. And if you go back to the front, it looks like this is the last in like a... a series of something.

Ash:

Can I glean any other information by reading the rest of it?

Kenzie (MC):

There are no names in it. Anybody is referred to by initials only, there aren't full names. And in this one specifically, there are only, aside from the author, two separate people being referred to. The only other thing about it is that they were being compared to one another in some way. Like day one, this happened to this person and this happened to this person. Day 15, this happened to this person and this happened to this person.

Ash:

What were some of the things that were happening?

Kenzie (MC):

Day 1, RK, there was no significant changes discovered. Day 1 for SW, there was a change in eye color. Day 15 for RK, there was significant disillusionment with reality. Day 15 for SW, they were showing signs of concerning self-harm. There's like gradual, like not normal shifts in physicality and human behavior.

Ash:

Does it seem like any of the physicality like- like, does changing eye color is wild? Like, do these people get inhuman traits or their human traits shift?

Kenzie (MC):

It doesn't seem like that. seems like human traits shift and or their human traits become warped, but not like they grow a tail or they grow claws or anything like that.

Ash:

And then the mental stuff, is it like deteriorating?

Kenzie (MC):

I think it's hard to tell if it's a deterioration or a shift.

Ash:

The maroon fabric that torn is it looks to like torn from a more feminine or masculine piece of clothing.

Kenzie (MC):

I don't think you can tell, it's just kind of cotton.

Ash:

And then the knife is there besides the blood, is there any like writing or etchings or like engravings or anything on the handle of blade?

Kenzie (MC):

There aren’t any engravings. The handle looks well made though but it's not like super intricately designed it just looks like it could probably cost a bit more money but it wasn't like a collector's piece or anything of that sort

Ash:

Was this under the floorboard that had the burn mark on it?

Kenzie (MC):

No, there was nothing under that floorboard.

Ash:

Going to take the book and a piece of maroon fabric and put them in my pocket and then I'm going to take the knife and just sort of like... see here's the thing I don't know if getting into like a conflict with a ghost with this knife would make them like scared of me or make them want to listen to me or if it just piss them off because so far they just tend to get pissed off but so I want to try something different so I'll take the knife is it like foldable or is it just like?

Kenzie (MC):

It's not collapsible, the blade is out. As you're kind of grabbing these items, kneeling on the floor, the door to the room crashes open. Running really fast into the room is a man probably late 20s, he also has facial hair but it's not as well kept as the man in the memory that you saw, wearing a top hat and like a suit with tails. Comes dashing into the room, muttering to itself in a language that you don't understand and can't speak, but that sounds kind of like vaguely like one of the romance languages. I need you to draw a card.

Ash:

20, okay!

Kenzie (MC):

This individual runs to the opposite side of the room, runs to kind of a large dresser and like just begins violently to pull the drawers out and like toss stuff in a haste behind him, desperately searching for something. You have to go to four.

Ash:

What do I most hope it doesn't do? I think stop still. I'm at 20 now here so I have to reshuffle. 6 of 12, it does one of the others. So it either looks at me, it reaches out to me, or speaks. So I think it's going to... speak? And then you go to 15 in your book and take branch B.

Kenzie (MC):

It doesn't stop still, but there's a shift in a pause in its like violence of ripping things, like it's hurry almost. And it kind of like straightens up a little bit and you hear,

Kenzie (French Ghost):

I thought I told you. not to come here.

Ash:

Is it speaking to me?

Kenzie (MC):

It's not looking at you, but you're the only other person in the room.

Ash:

Knife behind back, candelabra in other hand, rope like across across my chest, book and fabric in pocket.

Ash (Sam):

(terrible British accent) Right sir, I'll- I'll- build more way then to try and like imitate another ghost.

Kenzie (MC):

You say that and this ghost turns around on the spot, almost kind of like militarily steps and turns around.

Kenzie (French Ghost):

It would draw too much suspicion on us you being here.

Ash (Sam):

(terrible British accent) I'll leave then. Which way would you…?

Kenzie (MC):

His eyes are drawn to the open boards of the floor. He takes his couple steps towards you as he does so,

Kenzie (French Ghost):

Are you hiding things from me in the floor boards of the room?

Ash (Sam):

(terrible British accent) No, you can look in the floors and you see there's nothing there. It's just a loose board. I was going to maybe fix it up.

Kenzie (MC):

Steps a couple more steps close to you. I think what's disconcerting about this is that the other ghosts' presence changed when they became violent and angry. Like you saw a shift in their expressions or they became more ghostly, supernatural, murderous, intense. What Sam is getting from this is that… this is the nervousness of being a woman with a man in an alley at night. It's almost like that is his supernatural power of like that just rolls off of him in waves that almost have Sam freezing in spot with fear because he's slow and meticulous and his steps are on hurried like he knows he has a rabbit in a cage already. I need you to go to… hmm, we've done all of these already. Let's go back to, let's just start over. You go to 14.

Ash:

From what I can gather does look like this guy is a medical professional like what is he wearing like does he is he wearing any…

Kenzie (MC):

He looks like he's some sort of like necessary profession whether that is a doctor but he's not in like doctor garb or like a lawyer or maybe he's just like a rich fool who inherited lands and now like his entire job is keeping a manor somewhere. He's not in a uniform he is in a in a coat with tails.

Ash:

What do you most hope it doesn't do? I think touch me is the obvious choice there and I'm not gonna shuffle 18 does none of them when he gets close to me I'm just gonna go and like just aim for his like gut.

Kenzie (MC):

I'm deciding that this is provoking the ghost to violence because you are committing violence against him. Or I guess, I guess actually we could do you are confronting the ghost. Maybe that's a better one to do. So you go to 34.

Ash:

I need to get between a 6 and a 12, so I'm going to recall and shuffle because that gives me the better statistical chance of not dying instantly. Watch it be 2.

Kenzie (MC):

Watch you pull a 1 to 5.

Ash:

4! Go to page 35 tell the MC the ghost assaults me and is going to murder me

Kenzie (MC):

Unfortunately, the ghost does touch you now. He reaches out fast as lightning, grips your biceps so hard, his fingers dig in and they're gonna bruise. And you watch him pull a knife from his pocket that is 100 % the knife that you have behind your back. And he brings you very, very close to him and puts it under your neck as if he's gonna shove it up through your throat and into your brain. I need you to go to 40.

Ash:

Draw. 12. You can't escape the ghost assault but tell the MC what you do to try to survive it. I think I'm going to try to just mirror his action because he's grabbing my bicep and I'm just gonna try to like take my hand other hand and like stab it underneath his chin first. The knife that I have.

Kenzie (MC):

I don't think that this action will let you survive. What's so interesting is that as you plunge the dagger up, even though his body feels physical, there's no obstruction at all. There's no force needed to get this knife into this ghost's neck. It just goes and it punctures and it bleeds, but there's no expression on his face acting like he noticed it happen.

And you witnessed that before you noticed that there's a knife in your neck. And then there's a moment of [choking] as the blood comes up filling your mouth. And you can see his face and his lips twitch into a smile of satisfaction as he watches you, his head kind of cocked on his neck a little to the side and watches the life slowly drain from your body. And he holds you up like that until your last breath and then he drops you and your body crumples to the

Can you go look at 46?

Ash:

You’ve been murdered by ghosts! The end. Thanks for playing!

Kenzie:

Well, thank you all for listening to this episode. This Halloween special, our three year birthday. Super excited to continue on a whole another year of queer PG. We still have our press pause series coming out this fall into the winter a little bit. And then next year, I'm not going to announce it right now because I don't know when we're going to announce it. Probably in the next month, sometime in November. So I'm not going to do it early now. But in the new year, we've got some awesome, really awesome coming at you from the get-go. Very excited to announce that, so keep your eyes peeled. If any of you are going to be at PAX, Ash and I are going to be at PAX U, you should come say hi. Are we doing anything else this fall? No.

Ash:

No. I’m tired.

Kenzie:

Absolutely not.

Ash:

I’m tired.

Kenzie:

I'm going to just go to bed for the winter. Hibernate like a bear.

Ash:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Kenzie:

Yes. We're working on some cool things. You also probably at this point have seen our new updated Patreon stuff. So check that out, it's going into effect on November 1st. So if you haven't, if you're not on our Patreon, you can go see what the new stuff is gonna be over there and join us for a good time.

Ash:

All our little goodies.

Kenzie:

But yes, thank you so much for listening and for following us all these years. And if you're a new listener, thanks for joining us for this. Until next time, everyone.

Ash:

Bye.