About this Episode:
Gabriela was not the only person missing in Roseville Beach, and with the appearance of September Brown and the case of her missing girlfriend, the Roseville Beach trio sets out on a path of magic and mystery.
Content Warnings: grief, loss, missing persons smoking
You can find us here.
Moonlight on Roseville Beach stars Alexander Christopher as the GM, Valiant Dorian as Arion, Dan Pyxel as Alyx Cho, Kenzie Tartaglione as Lou Wells, and Candace McAfee as September Brown.
This podcast episode as produced by Kenzie Tartaglione and Ashley Westover. Edited by Kenzie Tartaglione with theme music and lyrics by Lisette Amago and vocals by Ashley Westover. Character art by Tanlynn Morgan.
Episode Transcript:
Kenzie Tartaglione:
Last time on Roseville Beach…
Valiant Dorian:
I am attempting to make pancakes.
Dan Pyxel (Alyx Cho):
He’s been making pancakes for like four hours, please tell me you have literally anything else to do.
Val (Arion):
Is this your not girlfriend person you’re speaking to again?
Dan (Alyx):
Oh, we’re calling the not girlfriend?
Kenzie (Lou Wells):
It’s not like that! It’s not like that. Annie’s a friend. She’s not my non-girlfriend. She’s just my friend. There was some shit going down at work today that I thought was kinda weird.
Alexander Christopher:
Its the same kind of scent that you experienced at the Pearl last week. It is a sickening scent. And then all three of you receive a psychic feedback and all you see is the shadow, something lingering over Luis.
Dan (Alyx):
Someone is causing trouble. They have an extremely powerful ability to do it.
Kenzie (Lou):
A disappointment in that anybody in Roseville Beach, no matter who they are, can and will be affected by the strange happenings in Roseville Beach.
[“queeRPG’s Moonlight on Roseville Beach Theme” plays]
Alex (GM):
We open up our episode inside of the beach house, behind our secret door in a room which we use to track all of the mysteries on Roseville Beach. You made a startling revelation last week that these mysteries might not be disconnected. Around you, you have several artifacts almost of these investigations. And just kind of like panning over, right, you can see the spell scroll, or the research notes, I should really say, from Oh Shit, granting the possibility of eternal life. You see the camera, which was used to track down magical individuals. There is the painting, which you have taken from sort of the coven home and brought it to your house. You also have the sledgehammer from last week. You have had incidents at places like the Roseville Pearl where you have taken on maybe not a physical artifact, but promises to find people who are responsible.
Kenzie:
Lou hasn't fully lost her anger from the last time and brings a little bit of that with her to this conversation in which she goes,
Kenzie (Lou):
Listen, if people in this town have decided that they want to give themselves over to some unspeakable entity of unknown origin, then that's their fucking problem. And sure, yeah, do we have to step in because we're the fucking mystery crew of the island? Sure. But I'm just saying that I don't have a lot of pity for that.
Val (Arion):
Lou, my dear, yes, but also some of these entities, of these powers that be, so to say, they're powerful and ancient. I heard tale, immemorial of mortals falling prey to siren songs, to allusions, to power and to a form of justice. I understand your anger, but if there is something external that is able to call all these people to do a bidding, we cannot discount its power. And we have to recognize that maybe the will of these people were however strong were not enough. Resident witch?
Dan (Alyx):
I don't know if there's a strong enough, honestly. Like I said, we've been very, very lucky. And I think that's gonna stop (chuckles). Cause we've definitely gotten in the way directly twice, if not indirectly more times. Eyes are on us now. And that's not great.
Kenzie (Lou):
The common thread is there is something quote unquote controlling people. Even if my sense is that all of these people have given willingly, there's still something there.
Dan (Alyx):
It’s an in. It's not a possession. No, it's not a possession. It's more… God, how do I even describe it? It's like… It's a bit like puppeting. But you're still - it’s like you're a puppet, but you know you're a puppet. You kind of had to say yes to not get completely obliterated and you kind of see what happens after they're like separated, so to speak. Like I don't think anybody who's gone through it has had a good finish out there. If I'm tracking this correctly, right? Luis is in a coma. Paintbrush lady, I'm pretty sure we yeeted her into the other dimension.
Val (Arion):
That’s a good point. If we, for a moment -
Val:
And Arion gets up, like, pours us all glasses of wine and then sits down, swirls the wine before taking a sip.
Kenzie:
Once again, Lou takes a sip and is just like,
Kenzie (Lou):
(coughs) This is the worst thing I've ever drank in my life.
Dan:
Alyx just summons the cubes out of the icebox and just drops them in there just because she knows you're not going to be able to handle it otherwise.
Val (Arion):
Consider for a moment. We are heavily focused on the methodology upon which this entity is moving about the space, but we haven't thought enough about what they're trying to do here. With the incident with the paintbrush, they were attempting to lock the hordes of people away, right?
Kenzie (Lou):
I was in a painting.
Dan (Alyx):
Yeah, and what was that petition you signed originally for? It was returning art.
Kenzie (Lou):
I actually couldn't tell you. Somebody put a piece of paper in front of my face and I just put my name on it.
Dan (Alyx):
That about tracks. In Luis's case, he was getting revenge for people who were putting his company under. Am I understanding this correctly? Like you knew him better. They were leaving his crew to join another, but were both building towards the same things.
Kenzie (Lou):
Yeah, sorry, I just don't buy his fucking story.
Val (Arion):
At the heart of each is a betrayal. At the heart of each there is - if we are to take Luis at his word, there is a wrongdoing that is attempting to be righted. I think if we are able to find more incidences around Roseville Beach, where people have been robbed and feel very strongly about it, we might at the very least be able to preempt what is about to occur rather than just react.
Alex (GM):
As if you had summoned trouble, Arion, there is a knock that is loud and echoes through the beach house at your door.
Kenzie (Lou):
You guys stay in here, I'll go get it.
Dan (Alyx):
Okay.
Kenzie:
Kind of like come out of the secret door and I close the bookcase behind me and then I go - was it the front door or was it like the porch door in the back?
Alex (GM):
It’s like the front door.
Kenzie (Lou):
Well, that's weird.
Kenzie:
Because everybody we know I think comes around the back and up to the porch door. So I go and I open the front door and go,
Kenzie (Lou):
Hello?
Candace McAfee:
When you kind of peek around or peek through your little peephole, you see a light brown skinned femme standing there. They are very statuesque, probably about 5'10". You can't tell if they're wearing heels. If you open the door, they are not. They're in little sandals, like flat sandals. They have their hair kind of pulled up and back into two big Afro puffs with lots of little clips in to kind of hold all their strays, lots of little cute curly cures of hair framing their face. Their makeup is a mix between something very bubblegummy and disco, but also very goth at the same time. And they are covered in tattoos. You can still see like bare bits of skin here and there, but they have like a really beautiful kind of collection that they are rocking. They're wearing a little halter top with their midriff showing they have like a little bit of a pooch, a little sexy pooch, very curvaceous and voluptuous figure wearing little short shorts and kind of like looking expectantly. And I think like as they're looking around and they realize that someone might be watching them, they kind of flick their eyes toward the peep hole and like move their face in really close.
Kenzie:
Lou opens the door as you move in and you see this not actually much shorter than you but 5’9”, really badly dressed butch. She is wearing a white tank top, blue and green flannel around her waist, not reaching knee jean shorts and then ankle high like timberland boots.
Kenzie (Lou):
Hello, I don't know you.
Candace (September Brown):
No, you don't.
Kenzie (Lou):
Okay, I know like everyone on the beach, so...
Candace (September):
Do you only look at single girls?
Kenzie (Lou):
No, no, actually I feel like the only person I thought I knew that was single I just found out last week wasn't single and also most of the people that I know on the beach are like men.
Candace (September):
Oh, well, I mean I can't say that I've been hiding.
Kenzie (Lou):
Okay, I'm just surprised I fixed like a bunch of houses. So I'm surprised I haven't seen you around.
Candace (September):
Oh, Samira’s really handy. She fixes a lot of stuff.
Kenzie (Lou):
Oh, okay.
Kenzie:
Do I know that name, Alex, or not at all?
Alex (GM):
Lou, you don't know that name, but Alyx, you definitely do. It's one of the artists at the tattoo shop.
Kenzie (Lou):
Oh, another person I don't know. Weird. I gotta fix that.
Candace (September):
Maybe you don't get out much. I mean, I used to go-go dance at the bar. I actually bartend now sometimes, especially on ladies night now, I make a lot of money.
Kenzie (Lou):
Oh, yeah. So there's like a couple bars that don't like me coming around. So maybe that's why we haven't met.
Candace:
September looks at your boots and goes,
Candace (September):
A troublemaker.
Kenzie (Lou):
Sometimes I don't have the funds to pay for my drinks.
Candace (September):
Mmm, I see.
Kenzie (Lou):
What? But you- why are you here? Do you need help? Like, what's going on?
Candace (September):
Yeah, what do you guys know about the tattoo shop?
Kenzie (Lou):
Well, I don't have any tattoos. I probably should have some. I feel like my vibe gives off that. But I don’t. But my roommate, Alyx, has a bunch of tattoos. She might know some stuff.
Candace:
September hears that and walks into your house.
Kenzie:
And Lou lets it happen. So many people have just walked into our house before. We had once threw a party that was being haunted by submarine man, like it's not unusual for strangers to be in our house. So that just happens and she shuts the front door and she goes,
Kenzie (Lou):
Could you, would you mind closing your eyes for a second? We have like one secret.
Candace (September):
Are you gonna do something weird to me?
Kenzie (Lou):
No.
Candace (September):
I’d prefer to know before you did it if that's okay.
Kenzie (Lou):
No, no, I'm gonna get my roommate, but we have like one secret in this house. And if you don't close your eyes, I will be broaching the secret to you and I don't think that's responsible.
Candace (September):
Okay, I will turn around. I will not close my eyes.
Kenzie (Lou):
No, yeah, that's fine. Turn - that's fine.
Candace (September):
I’m just letting you know that I have pepper spray. I recognize that we're about the same height. And so I don't really have a lot on you to like pounce if I need to, but if you do something weird, we're going to have a problem.
Kenzie (Lou):
Okay. Well, you, I'm not, I promise you, and you don't have to believe me. I'm not trying to do anything weird. So if you just want to turn around, you're going to hear a little bit of like a creaking noise and then Alyx will be here.
Candace (September):
Yeah. Okay. Well, you know, enjoy the view or whatever.
Candace (September):
And she turns around and rolls her eyes.
Kenzie:
And you just like stare into our kitchen and Lou like -
Kenzie (Lou):
(frantic breathing)
Kenzie:
- and then opens the bookcase into the secret room.
Kenzie (Lou):
Alyx, I need you out here right now. I'm floundering. There's like a, there's like a new person.
Val (Arion):
But we have a guest. Can I not come?
Kenzie (Lou):
No, no. Sorry, Arion. You can come too. But like she's specifically asking for Alyx.
Val (Arion):
Ooh.
Kenzie (Lou):
Tattoo stuff, tattoo stuff.
Dan (Alyx):
Tattoo stuff?
Kenzie (Lou):
Tattoo, you know tattoo stuff!
Val:
Arion trots forward. He's excited about a guest.
Kenzie:
If you come out of the room, just see Lou like sweating and then in the back of an individual you do not know.
Kenzie (Lou):
Oh yeah, sorry, you can turn around now.
Dan (Alyx):
Hi?
Candace (September):
Okay, yeah. Which one of you is- are you both the roommate?
Kenzie (Lou):
We’re all roommates. This is the one I'm talking about, Alyx. They know tattoos.
Dan:
You see a much shorter than you, a 5'2", mixed Korean woman. She has on these ridiculously baggy pants with too many pockets on them and a studded belt that is doing its job somehow. She's kind of wiry, but she's very small. She's wearing a tank top that shows the fact that she has a full sleeve of like floral tattoos down her left arm to her wrist. And you would actually notice that there is a fresh tattoo on her right arm, on her forearm, of a long dagger. Avery ornate seeming dagger, which is what she did at the tattoo shop this past week for reasons.
You also see she's wearing a thick black velvet choker. She has a long thick braid going down one side and it's shaven on the other. And her face has like piercings and other random scars around her body that you can just kind of see. She kind of looks to you like,
Dan (Alyx):
Do I? I'm sorry - I don’t. Lou was not specific on, I have tattoos, I don't know what -
Kenzie (Lou):
I don't know her. I don't know her and I know everyone.
Dan (Alyx):
And you let her in house?
Val (Arion):
My my, aren't you a vision.
Candace (September):
Oh!
Val:
And you see before you, he's not that much taller than you, maybe by a couple of inches, but you see a slim, slender-framed young man with warm brown skin and very, very soft features. has these bright honey-colored eyes, manicured eyebrows, and shoulder-length wavy hair that curls and it just falls in a dreamily fashion. And right now he is wearing a crop top and high-waisted trousers and is carrying and nursing a glass of wine that he just took a sip from.
Candace:
September’s eyes kind of like light up they they linger on Alyx for a second and then scan right back to you and then take you in and then they look back at Lou.
Candace (September):
As much as you don't know me I somehow don't know any of you and I'm very surprised I don't know you. I feel like with that outfit alone, we should probably be friends.
Val (Arion):
I agree. I suppose you've not found yourself over to The Cabana at any point?
Candace (September):
No, I mean, I... Listen, let's be honest, I don't buy my own drinks. So I really just go wherever the money is sometimes.
Val (Arion):
Well, I perform there regularly and you just let me know when you're in for a good night. I'll make sure you get good seats.
Candace (September):
You perform?
Val (Arion):
I sure do.
Candace (September):
Wow.
Candace:
You can see her taking like a mental note in her mind.
Alex (GM):
Alyx, one of your comforts was the tattoo shop. How often did you hang out there or did you just go there to get your work done?
Alex (GM):
I think Alyx was very much like the kind of person, like one of her established traits for a while was keeping herself distant from people that she couldn't get a trust for. So probably wouldn't have been around until like the twelfth session or whatever, for her sleeve, where she would have been even like a little bit friendly with anyone there. She would go there a lot but I think she only would have been hanging out there very, very close to the end of its tenure, before it was abandoned.
Alex (GM):
Do you think you would have gotten something done by like every person every artist from there or do you do like the same artist every time?
Dan:
For the sleeve is the same artist every time. think her other random tattoos she got before she came here. I think she got those. I think she had some back when she was 18 and just sort of bumming around from place to place. So the sleeve is a recent addition. And it's the only one she got done here.
Candace:
I think they kind of look at you and as they turn their attention back to you, their expression softens a little bit looking at your ink and they kind of invade your personal space to take your non-fresh arm and kind of look at it.
Candace (September):
Yeah, yeah, they do really nice work, huh? I've seen you around, but this looks new. And it, well, it's indicating to me that you're the person who broke in.
Kenzie (Lou):
If I may speak for Alyx, what?
Candace (September):
Your friend, Alyx, do you see their fresh ink?
Kenzie (Lou):
Yeah.
Candace (September):
There’s one tattoo shop on the island.
Kenzie (Lou):
Right?
Candace (September):
Everybody there vanished.
Kenzie (Lou):
Huh?
Candace (September):
They broke in. Right?
Dan (Alyx):
Is it breaking in if the door isn't really even locked?
Candace (September):
Technically, yeah, you know, disturbing the evidence, for example.
Kenzie (Lou):
Wait, Alyx, did you tattoo yourself?
Dan (Alyx):
One at a time. Yes, we can talk about that later.
Candace (September):
If you go into a place where, I don't know, people are looking for clues, for example, it's possible that you can, I don't know, what do they say, taint the evidence?
Dan (Alyx):
That place has been shut down for an incredibly long amount of time.
Candace (September):
I don't think you need to rub it in.
Dan (Alyx):
I’m sorry, are you upset?
Candace (September):
A little bit, yes. I mean, I've been trying really hard to figure out where everybody went.
Dan (Alyx):
I meant about the break-in thing, but-
Candace (September):
Yes!
Kenzie (Lou):
Is Samira- Did she disappear?
Candace (September):
Yes.
Kenzie (Lou):
Oh, see that is helpful to know because now I understand why you're upset.
Candace (September):
Well, you know what, I, it's, it's, it's a little, it's a sore subject and I’m doing my best to just kind of keep it together. And when I went there today to commune and try to, I don't know who speak with, maybe a spirit or figure out if I could dust for prints… whatever! I was trying to do whatever it is that I can do to fix this problem and find my girl. But unfortunately, I realized that someone had been there touching things.
Dan:
First of all, when you say the words commune and spirit, Alyx's eyes like go wide for a second and then they narrow and her face goes very stone cold.
Kenzie (Lou):
We tried to exercise a ghost last week.
Candace (September):
Did you?
Dan (Alyx):
Lou.
Kenzie (Lou):
Sorry.
Dan (Alyx):
Don’t volunteer.
Candace (September):
Not at the tattoo shop.
Kenzie (Lou):
It was not at the tattoo shop. I'm sorry. I'll keep my mouth shut.
Candace (September):
Okay. All right. I want to get back to you in a minute because I would like more information about that actually. It's pretty interesting.
Dan (Alyx):
Okay, we'll we'll cover that. Number one, I thought I kept tabs on every witch on this island.
Candace (September):
You keep tabs on witches on this island? Don't you have? Surely, I mean, you look like you have a much more colorful life than that.
Dan (Alyx):
Don’t overestimate me. Look, are you a recent arrival?
Candace (September):
I mean, I've been here for a little while, I... My story doesn't matter, I have a complicated past, but...
Dan (Alyx):
Join the fucking club?
Candace (September):
Why are you so suspicious of me? I'm the one who came here to talk to you about your break-in and entering.
Val (Arion):
Forgive me, everybody. I'm a little confused of the present set of circumstances. People disappeared from the tattoo parlor? You tattoo yourself? When did this happen?
Dan (Alyx):
Which one do you want to answer? They’re two different times.
Val (Arion):
The disappearance first.
Candace (September):
Yes, everybody went missing. It was about a month ago, maybe two at this point.
Val (Arion):
We really ought to have heard about this.
Candace (September):
I tried telling people, I tried talking to the authorities. They looked at me like, well, maybe she left you. And I was like, would you leave me? Please.
Val (Arion):
Of course not.
Kenzie (Lou):
Number one, yeah, of course not. Number two, I'm simply floored by the amount of things happening on this beach that we don't know about. It kills me every time I find out about them because I'm literally everywhere. And people went missing a month ago and I didn't know about it.
Candace (September):
Why didn't your friend tell you? They've got all kinds of information, don't you, Alyx?
Candace:
And her eyes kind of narrow at you back like no mean mugging, but just like sus.
Kenzie (Lou):
Well, I was in debt for a bit. So maybe that - maybe she didn't want to tell me, but I'm not anymore.
Candace (September):
Oh, I mean, I can understand. That’s bigger a fish to fry. Look, you don't look dead. I mean, some of your fashion is borderline, but the rest of you, don't look dead. Actually, are you polyamorous? Are you a provider?
Kenzie (Lou):
Me?
Candace (September):
Yeah. Do you like take girls out and like treat them nice and treat them right and make sure that they're taken care of and you know, are you like husband material?
Kenzie (Lou):
Whoo! Well, I haven't taken a girl out in a while, but I do work a lot.
Candace (September):
A hard worker. Okay. Well, I mean, I would have to obviously ask my partner if she's okay with me, like, you know, taking other callers, but I don't know if you are a hard worker.
Kenzie (Lou):
Oh, well, I’m very flattered.
Candace (September):
Maybe you take me to Arion’s little Cabana or something. I could take in a show.
Kenzie (Lou):
We could definitely go see a show at Arion’s Cabana. He performs incredibly, by the way. You would love it.
Dan:
Alyx throws out both her arms to either side of her, interposing between September and her roommates because she has whiplash from how quickly this has gone back and forth.
Candace:
The second you open your arms up, September like flashes back to you.
Candace (September):
Yes. Can you tell me why you seem inconvenienced by my presence? I will leave if you can tell me why you were there.
Dan (Alyx):
Number one, I like everybody else. Thought they packed up and left. Apparently they've been missing and that's been covered up. So new information, great to know. Makes me suspicious and I actually do want to hear more about that. But two, before I get to the tattoo shop thing, Lou, I need you to stay focused. Do you understand me?
Kenzie (Lou):
I don't really know what you're talking about. I'm so focused.
Dan (Alyx):
Yes, okay. That's about as good as we're gonna get. And Arion, at least, wait. As for this, we almost died. I had the sads. I don't know if there's a better fucking word for it. And yeah, but I didn't put my hands all over shit. I just... for fuck's sake, there's no secrets here.
Dan:
And she like snaps her fingers and like summons the the wine glass from down off the table and like back into her hand.
Dan (Alyx):
Huh? You get it.
Candace (September):
Jesus. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Okay. I get it.
Dan (Alyx):
So I didn't- I didn’t paw around shit.
Candace (September):
Alright, alright, maybe I was little hasty in my accusations. Excuse me, I didn't know what I was dealing with here. You obviously are a femme who knows what she's doing, so I- I don't- Excuse me, I- I apologize, I'm just- You can understand why I'm a little surlier than normal, right? I'm very stressed out. I have been trying to make my own money now for two months, and- Well, yes, I do somehow pull it together. I would really rather not. Okay. I would, I would really rather not.
Kenzie (Lou):
I can lend you some money if you need some money.
Candace (September):
Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. I don’t want to take any money, I want to earn it in I don’t know favors and smiles. I don’t know, I’m really not meant for the kind of life where you live alone and you struggle. That’s… that’s not really - that’s not really my baga.
Kenzie (Lou):
Do you want to move in here?
Val (Arion):
What!?
Candace (September):
I’ll be real with you. I mean, that's actually a really generous offer and I might need to if I can't find my goddamn girlfriend because you know, when I lock myself out, who lets me in?
Kenzie (Lou):
Yeah, no, we want to figure that out first. We want to find Samira.
Candace (September):
Please, please. She's so hot. Oh my god. She's so beautiful.
Kenzie (Lou):
Can you give us a description of her so that we can find her?
Candace (September):
She’s - well, she's shorter than me. She's my little short king. She's like a really sexy stud. She's dark skin. She has big bright eyes. She has short hair. It's like kinky. She has tattoos all over, million dollar smile. She actually has boots like those. I think they're like a Doc one and not a Timber one.
Kenzie (Lou):
She does sound like my complete and utter opposite.
Candace (September):
Well, yes, but also variety is the spice of life, think someone said once.
Kenzie (Lou):
Cool.
Kenzie:
And Lou runs their hand through their curly mullet.
Val:
Arion steps in. He holds out a comforting hand, should you wish to take it, but it's just more like a symbol of comforting you in the sense, and just says,
Val (Arion):
I hear your plight of missing a beloved, separated from them by strange and mysterious.
Val:
Within Arion's internal mind, there is this deep, real empathy, but there's also this pull after making his oath with Atticus that kind of forces him to have to turn over every rock and stone to find any leads. But the feeling he gives you, the comfort he gives you is genuine, feeling separated from a beloved.
Val (Arion):
I, for one am extremely, extremely inspired by your story and I would love to assist you in whatever way I can.
Candace (September):
Oh, you’re so friendly and sweet.
Val (Arion):
And I would also like to volunteer both of my roommates to assist me.
Candace (September):
Listen, I don't think that you...
Candace:
She kind of like looks over one shoulder at Alyx and then leans in closely.
Candace (September):
Listen, I really don't think that you should upset or take for granted this one. Because, you know, she seems really fucking ferocious. I know she's small and that would probably make you think, well, you know, the small, you know, maybe not, you know, the most vicious person in the world. But also, did you see the magic? Did you, did you see the magic with your eyes?
Val (Arion):
Oh, absolutely.
Candace (September):
I’m sure you're used to it by now, but I'm just saying that's, that's a lot of power. And I just don't think that like it's necessary to like, you know, egg her on, because I don't want to upset them.
Val (Arion):
But if I do not encourage her?
Candace (September):
I’m pretty sure that they're in that other coven, and I don't think that like, they take my coven very seriously, is the thing.
Dan (Alyx):
(noises of disapproval and aggravation)
Candace (September):
Do you see? So flabbergasted!
Val (Arion):
Nope. No, but she would love to, right, Alyx?
Candace (September):
She seems very serious, though. I'm just saying. I'm not the most serious person. I try sometimes, but...
Kenzie (Lou):
Do you want to talk to the ghosts in the house?
Candace (September):
Does the ghosts travel?
Val (Arion):
No.
Kenzie (Lou):
No. No, but I just thought maybe you would want to talk to them. Sorry, I was trying to offer something.
Candace (September):
I mean, well, once I find my girlfriend, like, I would love to honestly talk to you ghost because like usually I try to commute with my planchette and everything and I get very mixed results.
Kenzie (Lou):
That sounds great. I'm sorry. I was just trying to contribute.
Candace (September):
Oh, thank you.
Candace:
She gives you like an oh honey.
Dan (Alyx):
We would be thrilled to help you find your girlfriend.
Candace (September):
Thank you. I can pay you in tattoos when we find her. I know that that's what you like, so...
Dan (Alyx):
You know what? Thank you.
Kenzie (Lou):
Should I get a tattoo, Alyx?
Dan (Alyx):
We’ll talk. Let's go over some things and let's see what we can do for you. I know we maybe haven't got off entirely on the right foot, but I promise you we're actually somewhat capable at figuring weird shit out.
Candace:
She like puts an arm on your shoulder and leans into you.
Candace (September):
You’re capable? That makes me really comfortable because I am, well I am less capable than other people might be sometimes. you know, Samira was, Samira is really capable.
Kenzie (Lou):
I know of capable people, I believe you. We gotta look into this.
Dan (Alyx):
Sit down. Let's go over what you know and let's see where we go next.
Candace (September):
Okay, all right. Where should I start? Okay, so that morning for breakfast, I had strawberry pop tarts and I was eating one. I was standing there minding my business and I was like, you know what? You should just go to the tattoo parlor. You should check on everybody. You should just go in there. You're not working until tonight, but you should go in now. So I'm eating that and I got some crumbs on me. So then I changed my outfit and I put something else on because I don't want to look disgusting like a ragamuffin or something. And so then I got to the tattoo shop and I opened the door because I have a key and it was still locked, which was strange because usually people unlock the door. And when I went inside, nobody was there. So I was like, oh I guess I'll just open. And then I was there all day and I ate two more Pop Tarts and no one came.
Kenzie (Lou):
You only ate three Pop Tarts all day?
Candace (September):
I meant packets of Pop Tarts, but I really didn't want you to judge me.
Kenzie (Lou):
No, I don't. I was concerned for your health and safety. So I'm glad you ate more than three Pop Tarts in a day.
Candace (September):
Yeah, was very stressed out. But nobody ever showed up. So I called the police and I was like, hey, nobody showed up. And they were like, you're telling us that a bunch of drunken Tom Fuller in tattoo artists went missing? ha. Call me back in 24 hours. And so then I waited some more.
Kenzie (Lou):
You can't trust the Roseville Beach police within arm’s length.
Candace (September):
Yeah.
Kenzie (Lou):
Is that the saying? Is that the saying?
Candace (September):
I mean usually like -
Kenzie (Lou):
As far as you can throw ‘em, is that maybe the saying.
Candace (September):
I know that if you lead a police officer to water, you can’t make ‘em drink. I think that might be one of them.
Kenzie (Lou):
Okay, that sounds about right, yeah.
Val:
Arion is unfortunately noting both those expressions. However incorrect.
Dan:
Alyx is in hell.
Val (Arion):
But you say you've been investigating. What did you find before Alyx broke in?
Candace (September):
Well, before Alyx broke in, I'll be honest with you for like a good solid two weeks. I just kind of sat in there and cried for a while. Really frustrated. I went to the library. I tried to look up disappearances, missing, gone, vanished. But all I saw over and over again were just ads for people who went missing and were gone, which that's not what I'm looking for. I know who's gone. I'm looking for her. I want to know what happened to her because it feels like it's like, I don't know, without a trace, like gone, gone. No forwarding notes. And honestly, even if she did leave me, like wouldn't she have at least left a note? I mean, she's a gentleman.
Kenzie (Lou):
Have you been in touch with an individual named Gabriela at all?
Candace (September):
Gabriela? I don't think so. I mean, that's like a fancy name though.
Kenzie (Lou):
Okay, that's actually probably really good. She just sometimes isn't involved in things that shouldn't be happening, so it's probably good that you're not involved at all.
Candace (September):
So if I meet someone named Gabriella, I should let you know.
Kenzie (Lou):
Yes. But I think that means that we can fully focus on this. Like it's not part of some bigger thing. It is this. And that's super helpful.
Val:
Arion looks at you questioningly. And like looks over to where our secret room is and then back to you about how this is not connected to a larger thing.
Val (Arion):
This sounds like a trip to the tattoo parlor is in order, I think.
One, two, three, four pairs of eyes might be able to guilt some greater information that you weren't able to find in your grief and your sorrow and Alyx in her criminal proloining of the premises.
Candace (September):
Thank you for understanding. I appreciate it. It means the world to me to know that I'm not just like talking into the outersphere or stratosphere or toposphere or whatever. It's really good to know that like someone gets it because you know the criminal element I was surprised I have a lot of respect for Alyx but also you would think you know knock first or ask, you know.
Kenzie (Lou):
I love an even number.
Candace (September):
Me too!
Dan (Alyx):
Tattoo parlor it is.
Dan:
And Alyx is like, so shook. This has just been like 8,000 miles an hour and she is not ready for it. She's just gonna like slowly get to her feet.
Dan (Alyx):
I’m gonna get my flannel. We can go. We can go.
Kenzie (Lou):
Are we gonna walk?
Dan (Alyx):
Yes.
Kenzie (Lou):
Okay, cool.
Candace (September):
Y’all and your summer flannels. I mean, you know, whatever floats your boat.
Dan (Alyx):
Uh-huh!
Kenzie (Lou):
September sometimes. What's really fun about it is that you don't wear it and it's like an accessory.
Candace (September):
Oh, it’s like your art. You're like showing me who you are in your clothes, like in your expression, in your fashion.
Kenzie (Lou):
Always around my waist. Like it's a - yeah.
Val (Arion):
What’s that supposed to tell me, Lou.
Kenzie (Lou):
I don't know. It's just what I do.
Candace:
I think as like they slide their arm into Arion’s, they like look over their shoulder at you, Lou, and they say,
Candace (September):
Well, you know, you never know when a cute girl is going to get cold, right?
Candace:
And then like start leading them both out the door.
Alex (GM):
So you step out into the night, and you make your way to the Eye of the Needle, the tattoo parlor. It's not too kind of crazy, you know, I think I told you previously, like your side of the beach, the beach here is not the one that's like crazy populated. When you get into town, there starts to be more people. Alyx, you can definitely tell, and you've been able to tell this for the past couple of weeks, but there is more gathering of the witches you have tabs on and they are all sort of like heading opposite of you towards the sort of the old library that would be the coven meeting location. And in a way that's like there's definitely a coven meeting called today.
Dan (Alyx):
September, was your whole parlor a coven?
Candace (September):
No. To the best of my knowledge, just me.
Dan (Alyx):
We’re you in a coven around here?
Candace (September):
Maybe.
Dan (Alyx):
Well don’t be coy now.
Candace (September):
We might meet, I don't know, in a store, in the basement. Maybe.
Dan (Alyx):
Which store?
Candace:
She like looks at you with this very, “why are you asking me so many questions? I'm not on trial here” face.
Candace (September):
Bookstore.
Dan (Alyx):
Okay.
Candace (September):
Where’s your coven?
Kenzie (Lou):
Alyx doesn’t have one.
Val (Arion):
A non-affiliated freelancer.
Candace (September):
A covenless witch? Really?
Dan (Alyx):
Yeah.
Candace (September):
Is that on purpose?
Dan (Alyx):
You could say that.
Candace (September):
There’s more to that story and I'm gonna get it after I find my girl.
Dan (Alyx):
You’re welcome to try.
Candace (September):
Hmm.
Kenzie (Lou):
Has anybody ever told you that you sound like you're in movies from the 1950s?
Candace (September):
Not so sweet of you to say! That's those are my pageant days coming back. I was Miss Pennsylvania, you know.
Kenzie (Lou):
Unsurprised.
Candace (September):
Oh my goodness. Alyx, how do you get anything done with these two?
Dan (Alyx):
You know, I don’t know.
Candace (September):
Ideal roommates.
Val (Arion):
You know, I am coming around to the idea of an additional roommate.
Kenzie (Lou):
I made the offer.
Candace (September):
I don't have many requirements other than the fact that I need the biggest bedroom with the vanity.
Kenzie (Lou):
You can have mine, that's fine.
Candace (September):
Well thank you, you're so sweet. Are you gonna stay in there with me, or is it just mine?
Kenzie (Lou):
Oh, no, I was gonna just... it would be given to you.
Candace (September):
So generous! Generous, hard worker, alright, I'm keeping tabs.
Kenzie (Lou):
I can sleep in the attic, I like that place.
Dan (Alyx):
The attic's haunted.
Kenzie (Lou):
I wouldn't say it's haunted, Alyx.
Candace (September):
Is that where the ghost lives?
Dan (Alyx):
One of them.
Kenzie (Lou):
Wel, one of them. And she’s just a very kind little girl.
Candace (September):
You got a lot of ghosts.
Kenzie (Lou):
We have two, which is I think definitely more than we should have.
Candace (September):
Yeah, I would argue that more than one is a little excessive.
Val (Arion):
It’s a lively habitat.
Kenzie (Lou):
The little girl in the attic is super nice and we talk all the time. And I think she would love if I lived up there.
Candace (September):
Ugh, no. Better you than me. I don't do kids.
Kenzie (Lou):
Yeah, that's what I'm saying. You don't have to live up there. You can have -
Candace (September):
Alright, okay, that seems alright.
Alex (GM):
We’ve chatted our way to the Eye of the Needle. So the door was left unlocked, Alyx, right? And that's how you got into it. How did you know that there was a break-in September?
Candace:
September would have left the door unlocked having had the key because god forbid they came back. I don't want them locked in the store. That’s her logic. So I think there would have been like a piece of tape or something that she would have put on the bottom and the top of the door to know if it had been disturbed when she came back.
I think there's like a real lack of awareness of how this works and how seriously people are taking this. People aren't taking it as seriously as they are. And they're like worried that like teenagers are gonna come in there and mess with the stuff and she's trying to keep it as pristine as possible. I wanna say like maybe twice a week they've gone in there to like wipe everything down, to keep it like as nice as possible so that like if everybody comes back they can just jump right in. Really no thought to, what if it's something horrible and traumatic that they're coming back from? They're not gonna want to get to work. She's just like, I'm just gonna keep up appearances, and does her counter shop girl stuff every day when she goes in there.
You get to the store, the front door has a really big traditional style rose that someone has painted on the shop on the inside of the window. The leaves kind of flow over to the door itself, the glass door. There is a beaded curtain just inside that's made of like little cowrie shells and little pieces of like, almost like driftwood. And when you walk inside, there is the smell of like strong disinfectant, that almost like hospitally smell, but also stale cigarettes and like a Nag Champa incense, like the remnants of all of those kind of smells in here. When you get to the front, there's a couple of chairs to the right, like a little seating area for people who wait. To the left is another little area with a sofa and like a little coffee table where you can see the pictures of the flash and things like that, little Polaroids and other like representations of the artwork of the people that work there.
Right in front is like a little glass booth that has like a wooden frame with glass pieces inside that has their array of like interesting jewelry and like suggested aftercare and things that are kind of really interesting finds from like all over the world, as well as some old tattoo guns, like some vintage looking stuff and some stick and poke and some traditional materials as well, like from different tribal cultures.
Beyond there is a wall with like a little window on each side. So there's like a big doorway in the center that's open that has another similar curtain in it that goes into the back where everybody would work. But there are two windows, one on either side that are almost like pass throughs, like from a kitchen to a dining room. But you can see beyond there, like the seats that the person would sit in and then the station that the person has all their stuff set up in and all of their colors there in a row.
The shop isn't huge, like it's not like a big kind palatial place. There's probably four chairs for people, four like booths for people to work in. And then an office in the back with a break room.
Alex (GM):
You’ve left this place intact, ready to get back to work, right? It truly is. mean, you still have equipment plugged in. still have cash in the register. You know, I imagine you probably are like counting it and closing it every day, you know, to make sure like it's all the same, just ready for people to jump back into work. You have investigated, but really have been focused on keeping this place ready just for that day everyone comes back, because it's going to happen, right? Almost in like a state of denial about the situation. I would love to know how we're investigating.
Candace:
I think September puts on an album. Probably like Fleetwood Mac or something. There's a little record player like next to the coffee table and like the plants that are there.
Candace (September):
You know, just in case like we need mood music to like, you know, spur us forward in our respective efforts.
Kenzie (Lou):
I love it. Thank you. It's my favorite thing. Good choice.
Dan (Alyx):
Okay. On the day that everybody disappeared, everything was in place. was just like nobody came in to open.
Candace (September):
Yeah, I got here and I expected it to already be open and it wasn't. I woke up a little bit late and I just kind of wanted to swing by and say hello to everybody. I had a shift that night and nobody was here.
Alex (GM):
And you left everything exactly the way it was that morning, right?
Candace:
I mean, there's definitely a bunch of pop-tart-like rappers in the trash, but other than that, yes.
Alex (GM):
Something that you would immediately notice, all three of you would immediately notice, is that the store was being opened. Things are in places as if people were getting ready to work. They are not put away. They are not sort of like in their spots where you would need to pull them out. They were already pulled out and they are still.
Val (Arion):
Right before anything could happen. How strange.
Kenzie (Lou):
I have a bit of a theory that I don't think I'm the person to test out.
Val (Arion):
Oh.
Kenzie (Lou):
Is it possible that actually everybody is still here and we just can't see them?
Candace (September):
Oh my god! I thought about that! I haven't felt any ghostly presences, but I could be wrong. I don't- I'm not necessarily the most sensitive person when it comes to that. Like I said about the planchette earlier, I'm not really- that's not really my specialty. But I- I talk to her. I talk to her all the time, just in case. I talk to her all the time.
Kenzie (Lou):
As you should, but like maybe less ghost and more like trapped humans.
Val (Arion):
I’m sorry. You talk to her all the time. Does she reply?
Candace (September):
No. I just want her to know that I'm here if, you know, she's on like another dimension or something? Like some kind of transplanar, extraplanar...
Dan (Alyx):
Sounds like an interesting place to be.
Val (Arion):
Perhaps you should work on preempting like we spoke about before. Did your friends here in the tattoo parlor, did they have people they were not on good terms with or people that disliked this place for whatever reason?
Candace (September):
They’re a certain kind of class of person, you know? Have you ever met people who do tattoos there? They tend to be tough, you know? They're not all aggressive. Obviously, my babe is not aggressive unless, like, you know, she needs to be. But most of the time, she's kind of a mouse, but she's like the sweetest one out of all of them. There's like two big burly dudes. There's like another cute, well, honestly, maybe if we find the people, you might have somebody to look at. They're pretty, they're a knockout. He is handsome as heck. Oooh! But you know what I mean, there’s like other people who work here and they're, they got checkered pasts. People from all over that have done things, but I mean, I talked to all of their clients. They've come in here looking to get work done.
Val (Arion):
I don't know how I'd feel about tattoos. I'm a little scared of the needle.
Candace (September):
Oh, well, I mean, you won't be afraid of Richie. They're, um... Hold on a second.
Candace:
And they like go into the back and bring out a little photo, and you see like the three other tattoo artists. There's like the picture of her kind of like in the frame, like she's trying to like take like a selfie, but like has a camera that's way too big for that. And so you can like see like the Afro Plus kind of sticking up a little bit. And then you see the four tattoo artists, like right out in front of the shop. One of them is Samira. And then one of them is this like beautiful, very androgynous to masc leaning person, that's also tall and dressed in like a terry cloth polo and like these immaculate, like high-waisted pants that are like tucked in, looks like similar vibes to you, but like dangerous. Has kind of a scowl on their face, but very handsome. And then there’s a very kind of masculine, also androgynous, but closer to femme, but very like stacked with like a little bit of a beard. And they're kind of posed like really hot. And then there's another person, like a black guy next to them that's like a little bit short and has a bald head and is wearing like sparkly eyeshadow.
Val (Arion):
Oh, my, you're right.
Alex (GM):
There are immediately several things that you clock, Alyx, as Lou and arion are honestly, they’re September occupied so you can get to work. A few things you clock, immediately on the wall there's a painting missing from the artists. Significant only because of what you have in your house right now, and that thought immediately connects. Additionally, there are... all around the room, all around the building actually, written in the part between right where the floor and the wall meet are chalk symbols, sigils, magical runes, which have been drawn in such a way that anyone else would miss them, but you and your sort of expertise are able to decipher and see these invisible runes. And they are holding some kind of ritual. You can't tell what kind of ritual it is, but you know that they're holding some sort of ritual in place.
To the left when you enter next to the couch there's all of the paintings, all the artists and the one that is missing - they have like little plaques on them of people's names - this one is from somebody that you've kept tabs in who is a witch on the island.Dan:
She’s gonna walk back over to the group.
Dan (Alyx):
September, you didn't... you didn't like ward this place, did you? You didn't put down any kind of spellcraft on it?
Candace (September):
No, I'm still kind of working on that detail. I'm doing my best though. I have a couple of wards around our apartment, but I haven't really done... Wait, did you... did you find that in here?
Dan (Alyx):
This place is marked by something, for something, and it's active.
Candace (September):
You know I didn't even think to ask my coven.
Dan (Alyx):
You know, hold on to that thought.
Candace (September):
(sighs)
Dan:
Was I able to figure out what the runes were doing specifically or?
Alex (GM):
How much of a tab do you keep on the coven?
Dan:
I don't keep close tabs. I just keep enough to know who they are and where they hang out.
Alex (GM):
So you would know that this ritual was performed. Something would have happened, and it is still active. That's all you can really tell.
Dan (Alyx):
Y’all wanna break a rune?
Val (Arion):
Yes.
Dan (Alyx):
Cool.
Kenzie (Lou):
I don't know what that means, but I actually think I have something that could help.
Dan (Alyx):
Sure, Lou. What do you got?
Kenzie (Lou):
Well, if we ever need like, you know how I'm super strong?
Dan (Alyx):
Yeah?
Val (Arion):
Yeah?
Kenzie (Lou):
Yeah, so I have a hammer. And I can just really go to town.
Dan (Alyx):
Okay, though I think... You know? Yeah, get the hammer. I think the hammer might be useful.
Kenzie (Lou):
I can't just get the hammer. It will come to me in time.
Val (Arion):
That’s not how hammers work.
Dan (Alyx):
Is that a metaphor or something like - we aren’t going anywhere, you can - you can go back. We'll just like get things set up if you want to go -
Kenzie (Lou):
No, honestly -
Kenzie:
- and Lou reaches into her back pocket and pulls a screwdriver out. She's like,
Kenzie (Lou):
- this will be a placeholder. And then once the hammer is needed, it will come to me.
Candace (September):
I mean, I've got a toolbox, I think, in the back.
Kenzie (Lou):
September, I have so many toolboxes hidden around this beach you don't even know.
Candace (September):
Okay, well I mean you do seem prepared.
Kenzie (Lou):
The sledgehammer in particular does not necessarily abide by the laws of physics.
Dan (Alyx):
Sledgehammer?
Val (Arion):
Sledgehammer?
Kenzie (Lou):
Yeah, sorry, did I miss that - Did I miss that adjective? Yes. I have a sledgehammer.
Val (Arion):
You mean the sledgehammer, my dear?
Dan (Alyx):
The cursed sledgehammer?
Kenzie (Lou):
Well, I don't know if I would call it a cursed sledgehammer, but sure.
Candace (September):
You keepin' a cursed object?
Kenzie (Lou):
No, no, we were at a place and we were doing a thing and I touched this hammer and now I've found that the hammer just comes to me.
Candace (September):
I mean I think you should ask it for consent personally. I mean you need to set up boundaries. I don't know what kind of hammer this is but...
Kenzie (Lou):
Oh my goodness, you're so right. Because I do ask for it to appear, but do I know if it wants to? I don't know.
Dan (Alyx):
Lou, sweetie?
Kenzie (Lou):
Yeah?
Dan (Alyx):
Did you make a deal with a very magical object?
Kenzie (Lou):
I didn't make a deal, I just picked it up.
Val (Arion):
Sometimes that is all it takes.
Dan (Alyx):
Were you - did you do that when you were like really angry or?
Kenzie (Lou):
So when I was, you remember I was really angry that night -
Dan (Alyx):
Yeah.
Kenzie (Lou):
- and then I dropped it and then you used it?
Dan (Alyx):
Yeah.
Kenzie (Lou):
Yeah. So then, but after that was what, when it happened. So like I didn't, I held it once and then I dropped, I was mad and I was like, I'm leaving with this guy and I'm not gonna deal with any of this and then you picked up the sledgehammer and you used it? It was like a couple days after that I got really mad in the middle of building those record boxes and then instead of having the hammer in my hand that I thought I had, I went (destruction noise) and I completely destroyed with the sledgehammer the album box I was making. It was like a whole day's work setback.
Dan (Alyx):
We’re going to unpack that afterward.
Kenzie (Lou):
Right, but I'm letting you know, right? Like that's helpful.
Dan (Alyx):
You know, we can work with that. We're going to investigate that a little bit when we find Samira. And until then…
Val (Arion):
Let’s break a ritual.
Dan (Alyx):
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Kenzie (Lou):
Yeah. I can break it with the hammer. Yeah. I got you.
Val (Arion):
No, maybe, maybe -
Kenzie (Lou):
We’re good. We’re good.
Val (Arion):
Between Alyx and I we could-
Kenzie (Lou):
Once again, not involved in the witchy stuff, I get it.
Dan (Alyx):
If you're going to call the hammer, step outside first.
Candace (September):
Please don't break the glass.
Dan (Alyx):
Please don't break the glass.
Kenzie (Lou):
No, no, it's fine. I'm good. I'm good. I'll just go sit out in the lobby.
Alex (GM):
Alyx, Arion, we're breaking a ritual. This is gonna be a feat of magic. And the three of you as in September, Arion and Alyx can work together to cast this ritual. I would like you to pick a point person amongst this sort of impromptu coven to be the one to lead the ritual. They will be the one to make the roll and everyone else can help them.
Val:
Alright September, it's all on you. We'll give you our magic to help.
Alex (GM):
Do you think that you're scared in a way that inhibits your magic?
Candace:
No.
Alex (GM):
You don't have a origin for this, you are a special guest star with sort of that same origin. take another one. Do you have the sorcery skill?
Candace:
No.
Alex (GM):
How many words of power do you want to use for this spell?
Candace:
One.
Alex (GM):
Are you willing to take an inconvenient amount of time?
Candace:
I guess yes.
Alex (GM):
Yeah, you got at least two people helping you with sorcery skills, so take two more dice for that. It's a special time and a special place, so take two more die. We're rolling for Magic, which is on that table. And if you go one page back, you're also rolling for Goal, Scares and Clues as well.
Candace:
A four, a four, and a three.
September sits down in the middle of this room and focuses their energy. You can see her eyes kind of close. Her chest starts to rise and fall very rhythmically. And she starts to kind of hum, like this kind of low intonation to focus her energy. And as they do that, there's kind of like a little bit of a sparkle that happens, like in the air around her. And like this kind of - almost like fairy lights start to kind of like sparkle in the air as she kind of is mumbling,
Candace (September):
Radiance, hmmmm, radiance.
Candace:
And like using that word as like a focus. Some of them start to fizzle out, appearing like little motes of smoke as she is clearly a little bit rattled and loses her cool a little. I think she like, breathes deep -
Candace (September):
(deep breaths)
Candace:
- really clearly trying this. You hear them whisper the word ush, radiance, push, radiance, curse. And their arm twitches a little bit and you see the moon and sun kind of... It's a tattoo that is like along the length of their forearm that has like the phases of the moon with like a sun on the opposite side of the moon right in the center. And this creeping kind of black ink fills in all of the details.
And I'm going roll again.
Alex (GM):
I’ll let you keep some dice that you liked the roll of and reroll the rest.
Candace:
A six in magic. A five in goal and sixes in the other two.
Alex (GM):
The spell was already taking a long time, and I think having expressed this magic word, you are going to sort of take on... it's not a physical Injury, and it's not like a Scare necessarily, but it’s a sense of dread. You sitting in the center of the room with Arion with Alyx aiding you in this magic, the Radiance sort of illuminates all of the runes that only Alyx could see. And it illuminates one, two, three, five, ten, twenty. All around the room. The radiance sort of begins to burn it away and you can hear - Lou can hear this too - as the runes begin to burn. The ones closest to you first and hte moment one of them completely burns out, you all feel a sudden whelm of power beneath your feet. You can choose to stop the ritual now or keep going.
Candace:
I think September's eyes kind of snap open and like they immediately look over at Alyx.
Candace (September):
Surely you must feel that.
Dan (Alyx):
Yep, yep. You keep going. I will take a look at this. Nice and easy.
Candace (September):
Okay. Alright.
Kenzie:
Lou peeks their head into the room.
Kenzie (Lou):
Are we good?
Candace (September):
I don’t know!
Val (Arion):
Oh, my great strong lesbian. Please watch our back.
Dan (Alyx):
Maybe have the hammer on hand.
Candace (September):
Yeah, now would be a good time.
Dan:
I want to know what the source of that is. I want to know its name.
Alex (GM):
Magic, Goal, Clues.
Dan:
One six is going to Magic. Let's go six for Clue, four in Goal.
Alex (GM):
This is something that you have read about but you've never encountered. This is the conduit point for a ley line. This is some serious magic that has been underneath the tattoo parlor, and people who get their hands on this can use it to weave serious magic. But it is unstable. You can tell immediately these runes have been placed here to protect the town.
Dan (Alyx):
Oh, oh, oh, oh, stop, stop, stop.
Candace (September):
Yes, yes, yes, what?
Dan (Alyx):
Those are good things.
Candace (September):
Oh! Oh, shit, okay. Do you think we're alright how we are, or do I need to do a thing?
Alex (GM):
The one that has been burned away, the floorboard, has begun to almost like disintegrate as there is this wisp of arcane energy, almost like a tendril, that has begun to move out of the floorboard.
Kenzie:
I don't know if this will work, but would it be possible for Lou to conjure the sledgehammer and then like almost like in a reactive way, try to pull the wood of the floorboard back together by holding the sledgehammer above it?
Alex (GM):
When you cast magic and you want to summon the sledgehammer, you can just get the sledgehammer in hand. You don't need to roll for it. The sledgehammer is doing that magic for you. It does count as a magic item when you are working magic. And if you are using that word of power, you can add that as well. So in this case, yes, you're using Call SledgeHammer specifically because you're using the sledgeHammer.
Kenzie:
A five for Magic. I am going to do a five for Goal and then I'm going to do a three for Injury.
I feel like what happened was I was like, I'm gonna go in the lobby. And then I heard all the shit going down and I was like, fuck that. And I kind of like ran in and in the moment of like seeing the part of the wood decay, it was almost again, like involuntary in which I just reached out with this power I don't really know that I have. And so all of a sudden over the top of this portion, I am holding this sledgehammer and I'm trying to use it to like, reform the spell that was there.
Alex (GM):
The Injury that you're all going to take might benefit you. You are Leyline Infused. And that's going to add one die to all Magic you roll while you are infused.
Dan:
You’ll probably have noticed that like Alyx was looking like a little, like, hollow-eyed for the last like, couple of weeks. If you're really paying attention, even before the Pearl, but definitely up till now. She’s like kind of glowing just a little bit, which almost never happens. She doesn't notice this, but there's like a very slight sparkle coming from around her choker in the front.
Val (Arion):
Alyx, you're looking good today.
Dan (Alyx):
I feel better.
Candace (September) & Kenzie (Lou):
You look better.
Candace (September):
Jinx, you owe me a coke.
Alex (GM):
As you're holding the sledgehammer over it, there is a surge of power that channels through your feet into the sledgehammer. It's the leyline. You are tapping into the leyline. And unknowingly, somehow, you manage to work the wood so it has the memory of the room. The sigil [fire burning sfx] casts, but not perfect. It's temporary. It is not a permanent fix, but you have enough time to figure out one. Or to figure out if this ley line is the reason everyone disappeared. Alyx, September, this sort of magic needs to be worked on, not just by a coven, but by a coven leader.
Kenzie (Lou):
I don't know what I'm doing but I've tried.
Val (Arion):
Way to go!
Val:
Arion pats you on the shoulder with an unnatural strength.
Val (Arion):
You’re so strong. My favorite lesbian. Well done.
Dan (Alyx):
I’m so hurt.
Val (Arion):
You’re my favorite witch!
Dan (Alyx):
I’ll take it. So... Awesome. Terrifying. Did you know this was here?
Candace (September):
No. No, I don't. I-I-I didn't. I...
Kenzie (Lou):
There’s like ley lines and I don't know a lot about those, but I do know that they're important power-wise.
Candace (September):
Yeah, I mean, maybe that's why I always feel so like strong and better when I'm in here? I don't know.
Val (Arion):
If there's a ley line here… are we a little too, perhaps, under-supplied to be working on this?
Kenzie (Lou):
Yeah, no, we need somebody who's not one of us to fix this, I think.
Dan (Alyx):
We need bigger guns.
Candace (September):
Bigger guns.
Kenzie (Lou):
Lou is holding a glimmering sledgehammer like she like the most out of sync person in the world.
Dan (Alyx):
Is everyone okay?
Candace (September):
Yeah, feeling really good, honestly.
Kenzie (Lou):
I think okay physically. I think we just maybe have a bit a bit more of a story to go along in terms of like actions to take.
Val (Arion):
I don't know anyone with the kind of strength here in this part of town.
Kenzie (Lou):
So another part of town?
Val (Arion):
It has to be probably Alyx's part of town.
Dan (Alyx):
Yeah.
Candace (September):
I mean, you just said that you keep tabs on all the witches, so I feel like you might have like the most intel on who to ask. If it's somebody in my coven, I can ask for an assist.
Alex (GM):
Your coven's currently leaderless. Your leader died a couple... a little bit back.
Candace:
I feel like there's like a turf war or like a war for power in there, like a feud. There's factions. There's like three different people that are like, I want to be the leader. And everybody's trying to decide. And it's been going on for a minute.
Alex (GM):
One of them disappeared a couple of weeks ago.
Candace (September):
So I should probably take this moment to let you guys know that there might be some magic people, well, a magic person that went missing. So far, you know, two out of the three that are going for coven leader, they are, they're still fine, but there's one who maybe also disappeared. You know, it's really silly it didn't occur to me that like maybe those would be related. Cause like witches, tattoos, it's like apples and oranges. Sometimes you eat them together, but they're the separate things, you know?
Dan (Alyx):
No, yeah, actually though.
Kenzie (Lou):
Sometimes things don't occur to me that should absolutely have occurred to me, so I get it.
Candace (September):
I appreciate that, like, I'm not alone in this. Miss Over Prepared here, though. Mx Over Prepared, excuse me! Alyx!
Dan (Alyx):
Eithers fine.
Candace (September):
Did you notice that this person was missing?
Dan (Alyx):
No, but that's interesting to know.
Candace (September):
Yeah. Yeah. I, um, I feel like maybe, maybe they are connected now that we know that there's like sigils in here and you know, like this is, this is a little different than I expected. I thought like, you know, again, I thought maybe there was like some kind of a, I don't know, a spell or like a wizard or I don't know. Maybe they found like a portal that like opened up like. I mean, that sounds like honestly a really cool movie, like a portal opens up and you go through it and you're somewhere else all of a sudden, like the Wizard of Oz or something. But I don't think, I don't know if it was, if it was that fun.
Val:
Arion looks so stressed.
Dan (Alyx):
I think either your friends here were guarding something and they knew it or they didn't know and someone's trying to take everyone out of the way.
Val:
Mà tḕn Athēnân, mà tòn Poseidôna.
Candace (September):
Everyone?
Dan (Alyx):
Everyone.
Kenzie (Lou):
Everyone.
Candace:
She like wraps her arms around her waist and kind of holds herself tight.
Candace (September):
Everyone.
Dan (Alyx):
If your coven is still figuring out leadership, then we have to go to one of the ones that's solidified because either they know something or they're next in line.
Candace (September):
Can you do the talking, please? I'm not - I’m feeling a little freaked out if I’m hoenst with ya.
Kenzie (Lou):
I can do the talking.
Dan (Alyx):
I think we're gonna let them do the talking.
Dan:
And points to Arion.
Val:
Arion is muttering to himself, like thinking about this. We were talking about all the specific mires that are existing in Roosevelt Beach and hearing what happened to September's coven and all these other pieces with the fire, like everything is coalescing in his mind in a, this is a very, very deeply damning situation to be in for a location. And he just like, in a language none of you understand just starts like begging for help.
Val (Arion):
(praying in another language) Ugh, yeah, who am I speaking to?
Dan (Alyx):
We’re going to talk our way into the coven down at the bookstore and see what's going on there.
Val (Arion):
Are you sure you want me to be the one doing that? Considering the last conversation I was -
Dan (Alyx):
If they know who I am, they probably don't like me very much.
Candace (September):
Which you’re perfectly pleasant.
Dan (Alyx):
I don't make a good first impression.
Candace (September):
Well, yeah.
Kenzie:
Lou like puts the glowing sledgehammer away and goes,
Kenzie (Lou):
And I don't have any magic.
Dan (Alyx):
We should be fine as long as you don't sing.
Candace (September):
You sing? So many performers in this house. That's amazing. What do you do? Do you juggle, Alyx? What is your skill other than the magic, obviously?
Dan (Alyx):
I beat up drunk thugs when they try and crash my bar.
Candace (September):
Oh, that’s very powerful. Wow. Okay.
Dan (Alyx):
It’s honestly quite refreshing sometimes.
Candace (September):
Yeah.
Val (Arion):
I will not sing, but there are aspects about me that are, you know.
Dan (Alyx):
Yeah.
Candace (September):
I don't know.
Dan (Alyx):
Catch 22.
Kenzie (Lou):
September, you'll find out.
Val:
Arion looks at it like, no, no, they will not.
Dan (Alyx):
If we get there and you want me to try it, I'll try it.
Val (Arion):
No, let’s let's go. We'll try it. But, you know, if a palette knife is in my face again, just. Help.
Kenzie (Lou):
I got you.
Alex (GM):
The lot of you rush to get to whatever that meeting was, which started like an hour ago. Hanging back for a moment September, once everyone is gone, you feel your arm begin to burn. And there's a twitch in the muscle. And the light from across the street, the street light, it sort of bends and it warps and it casts your shadow across the room, up the wall and you turn to hear a familiar voice.
Alex (Shadow):
September, you're running out of time.
Candace (September):
I know, I know I'm doing my best.
Alex (Shadow):
bAre you?
Candace (September):
Yeah, I mean, got some...
Alex (Shadow):
I could help you.
Candace (September):
You could, but I...
Alex (Shadow):
September. I told you -
Candace (September):
I just, I just want to make sure that I can, I can try my best, my hardest. I just want to... I found people to help me, you might not need... You might not need to do your whole thing, so...
Alex (Shadow):
While you wait, while you spend your time here, Samira…
Candace (September):
Yeah?
Alex (Shadow):
…is out there... hurting... waiting...
Candace (September):
She’s... She's hurting!
Alex (Shadow):
Oh yes.
Candace (September):
Oh.
Alex (Shadow):
But take your time. I'll be waiting.
Kenzie:
This series stars Alexander Christopher as the Game Master, Valiatn Dorian as Arion, Dan Pyxel as Alyx Cho, and Kenzie Tartaglione as Lou Wells. This episode’s guest start was Candace McAfee as September Brown..
If you liked it, share, rate, and review. You can join our Discord. And make sure to check out our Patreon for this season’s character advancements, after shows, bloopers, and so much more!
Meet your hosts:
Kenzie Tartaglione
Creator/Producer
