Roleplay For One | The Delivery

You're about to listen to the first experimental season of our show, formerly called Nat One Presents the Podcast. For better audio quality and our current ongoing DD campaign, skip ahead to season two featuring the Daft Monks. On this episode of Nat One Presents.

I'm a little blitzed right now. I've been having a hard time.

Yes, well, I surmised that from the letter opener and just sticking out of that man's juggler.

I swear he had no eyes. You believe me, right? You looked at it.

Adventure. Heartwarming stories. Role-playing that could only be seen by the gods. Here at Nat One Presents, you get all that and more. Now join us as we start another epic tale of Cond.

Just kidding. This is Nat One Presents, a tabletop role-playing game podcast that takes your favorite nerdy games of pop culture icons and ruins them with improv. Hello and welcome to Nat One Presents. Today we're going to be doing a little thing we like to call RolePlay 4-1. It's going to be a Call of Cthulhu adventure that I wrote. And it's set up in a way where if you only have the one player and a DM, it should work out all right. But we're going to try it and see how it goes. So if you have no friends, this is perfect for you. All you need is one person or your mom or just somebody who's really required to uh interact with you. Or play with your cat.

If you're like a cat person, play with your cat. That'd be great. So to start us off, I'll go ahead and um do the whole introduction of where we're at and what we're doing, and then you can come in, introduce your character, and then we'll get rolling into it. So uh I title this The Delivery. Ooh, I know, I know, I'm excited. So the year is 1920. A detective in Atlanta, Georgia has been given a task from an archaeology professor. A Professor Reginald Fairweather of the Emory University has asked you to deliver the box to his mentor, Professor Herman Flitz, at the Miskatonic University in Arkham, Massachusetts. It is extremely urgent that this package be delivered to him in person. It is valuable, and I'm afraid I can no longer trust the post.

He's offered to pay you $40, $20 now and $20 upon delivery. An easy enough task. How could you refuse? Um after accepting his offer, he hands you one train ticket that departs tonight. I hope this gives you adequate time to prepare for your journey. But like I said, it is urgent and you must leave tonight. You have around three hours to gather your supplies and items you might need for the three-day trip to Arkham and back. You gather what you need and head for terminal station. Um it is a giant building that to you kind of resembles Buckingham Palace, large open archways and two large skyscraper-esque towers that loom in the darkness. Uh, you arrive at the badge baggage check with no problems, and then head for the platform.

In front of you is a very large emerald green locomotive, the Crescent Limited, the nicest train you have ever been on. Its route takes you from New York to New Orleans, and it stops at all major cities along the way. Um, and then from here, Nate, if you would like to introduce your character. I would. I'd just like to point out real quick, uh, I took some notes. Fairweather, flits, one ticket, terminal station, Buckingham, Looming, and Emerald Train. Yes. Yes. So perfect. Got it. I got it all. I got it. He's got it, guys. Um, so I'm playing uh Mr. Shirley Devlin. He's uh an agency detective, private eye. And yeah, he's uh he's a middle-aged, 33-year-old, um, kind of southern, not very attractive looking man.

Yeah, I rolled real bad, like a two and a one, um, plus some bonus. It's it wasn't great. So yeah, I'm gonna, if I don't scare off the passengers of the train um or wherever we're going, uh then it'll it'll be a good day. I think I'll call that a success. Yes. Okay, so now we can get right into it. So you approach uh the ticket taker, and his name is uh Rupert Hill. He's a short and fat, middle-aged man with an exquisite mustache. Ho ho, sir, I see you've been given a state room access. That's the nicest room on the train. Uh we don't do this for everybody, but uh I will gladly guide you to your train car if you would like. Hello hello hello, Shirley Devlin here.

Yes, we don't do it for everybody, but we do do it for one Shirley Devlin here. So, yes, please, if you'll take me right to my boxcar, I will be quite ecstatic. Well, follow me then. I will give you a a guide along the way. There are some cars that you probably should know about. So then um he takes you through the train, boom, boom, boom, doors open up, you start to go in. The first one you actually walk into is going to be. Oh, I should have highlighted my notes, apparently. Um, here we go. Uh the first one's going to be a drawing room. An actual drawing room on um the train. There's a fireplace, some nice high-back chairs. It's basically like uh a living room for people who don't know. I like it.

I like it. Very homey. Yeah, so like a very nice living room on a train. Uh, the next car he's gonna bring you into is going to be the dining car, so very elaborate table set out, and there's kind of like a buffet bar set up on the side. Well, I do love the placement settings here. They are very nice, like all silver. And it's like thinking like the Titanic, but on a train. Ooh, before it crashed. And then he's gonna take you through um some smoking and library cars. So that's exactly what it is. There is a library on the train, as long as some um smoking cars where people just hang out and read said books and smoke cigars and do whatever men did back in the 20s, drink brandy.

No, they didn't, no alcohol, and beat their wives, yes. And then uh let's see, and then so after all that, he finally brings you to your stateroom. And the stateroom is just a very elaborate bedroom on the train. So, like if you got a hotel room uh on a train, like four-post bed, super nice, anything you could want out of a room. He yes, this will do quite nicely, Mr. Hill. Oh, I'm glad I could be of service. Is there anything else that you require of me?

Hmm.

And he's gonna like slowly walk around, like run his finger like along the windowsill, and be like, no, this will do. Well, uh, nuzzle up and uh we'll be departing here shortly. I'm gonna wink. Oh, you sir, are not a very attractive man. Thank you. And then he leaves. Um, so with that, we're gonna uh jump in and say that like you kind of get comfy in your room and everything because it's late at night when you uh boarded the train. And then uh something my gym jams. So then uh you fall asleep, and then these things happen. These things happen. Sometimes you need some things happen. Sometimes you need a nip and nap. Okay. So now for those of you at home, this is where like that's all intro stuff.

Like now we're really getting into it. And I do just want to interject. I know we want to get right to it, but internet. I love trains. Like, I love trains. So, like Polar Express, Express, Snowpiercer, um, midnight on the Orient Express. Like, if it's about a train, I watch it. I [expletive] love it. I don't know anything about them, how they work, still a mystery to me, but I love trains. I'm so excited for it. Snowpiercer was so good. Snowpiercer was great. I love it. I didn't see any of it coming. I'm so dumb. When the guy got his arm frozen out of the side. Wow.

Wow.

Okay. Sorry. Tangent. Okay. So all of a sudden, Shirley, a man, correct? So they know Shirley. Yeah. Shirley, yeah, Shirley Devlin is a man. Okay, okay. Shirley is uh awakened with a sudden jolt. The train seems to have stopped. Um looking out um and go. Go for that. Yeah, suddenly you woke up. Well, oh, who's there? Anyone? Anyone there now? Oh. I'm gonna like collect my things. Um, you notice that the box is gone that you're supposed to deliver.

Oh no.

Oh no. Oh, oh dear, oh dear, Mr. Hip. What time is it? What time? Like, I I'm gonna like look out the window. Uh, as you look out the window, um, it is completely pitch dark outside, and there's like you can't see anything except for a hint of your reflection in the class. Ugh. Oh, that's me. Well. Uh, give me an investigation check. Sure. Or uh spot hidden. Yeah. What game are we playing? I know, I mixed it up. It's an 82. Um, yeah, that's just a regular pass. Regular pass? Okay. So um you do notice that the box is gone, but you find this on the floor. Can I read it? Yeah. Okay. There's a great picture of a guy randomly off the internet. This will all be on my Patreon, by the way.

Uh Professor Reginald Fairweather reportedly found in an ancient Sumerian box on his last expedition to the Nile. Professor Fairweather believes the box contains secrets that are beyond his comprehension. He has asked his mentor and colleague, Professor Herman Flitz, currently working on Sumerian artifacts at the Miskatonic University in Arkham, Massachusetts, maybe a fresh set of eyes, a new perspective will help to uncover the secrets of this artifact, says Professor Fairweather. The box in question will be delivered to Arkham within the week. We'll keep you updated on any progress. I know. It's pretty cool. Pretty bummed. So this was a report, like a It's a newspaper clipping that somebody had folded up and apparently dropped inside your room because it does not belong to you. There is a game afoot. A mystery on a train.

I do declare that somebody knew about my delivery and perhaps even the contents of my my possession. Hmm. Mm-hmm.

Um, is there anything else that you want to do uh while you're in the room?

Uh gosh. So I was robbed, right? So just the box. Do I know that just the box was taken? None of my other possessions. Yep, from your regular spot hidden. Everything else seems to be in place. It doesn't seem like forced entry or anything like that. And uh just the box is gone. Okay. Um well, I I guess I'm going to go out and and explore um carefully. Okay. So um, as you leave the stateroom, you notice that it is very quiet, like too quiet. There doesn't seem to be anybody else on the train right now.

So then you um move forward, if you will, because it's kind of just out into the hallway, and there's just a hallway with your stateroom, and you move in, and then you walk into the um uh what was it? It's it's like uh one of the drawing rooms you come up to, and then um actually uh give me a listen check. Sorry. Yeah.

Listen.

It's not looking good. Um no, I failed it. And then we can always remember you can push if you want to push, or you can use your luck points. Yeah, I guess early on it's it's uh it's important. I'll use some of my luck. I guess. Okay. It's up to you, you don't have to. What does pushing involve? So pushing is you roll it again, and then for something like this, it's not that big of a deal. But if you're actually trying something and push your luck and you still fail, then something bad could happen to you, right? I'll push. Okay, that's uh pass. Okay, perfect. That's a that's a good pass, right? It's a good pass.

Okay, so up ahead, you can kind of hear an old timey, well, not for you right now, but compared to us, an old timey radio going on in the room next to you. And you can kind of see like a little bit of faint glow coming through the window, like an eerie yellow light. Hello, hello, some someone over there. Nothing, just the radio playing right now. And then uh maybe when you get closer to the room and open up and go inside, you can see what it is. Okay, yeah, so I'll uh carefully approach, trying to be apprehensive about it, because it is odd that nobody seems to be on the screen. Okay.

And then uh you go into the next room and there is the radio sitting there, a nice bright yellow glow coming off of it. And it seems to be like some kind of baseball game or something. Like a magical glow. Like, why is the radio glowing yellow? It just seems really off to you. Like you've seen the tubes before that have like a certain glow to them when they're on. Okay. But this radio right here seems to like be a little bit brighter than what you're normally accustomed to.

Yeah.

Okay. Oh. And uh, as you get closer, the uh baseball game that's on there kind of scrambles a little bit. And then Hello there, friend. Lost? Looking for something? Is there any way I can help you through your dire times? Uh are you talking to me, Mr. Radio? Well, of course I am. Who else would I be talking to? There's nobody else here in the room. Well, that is a good point. Uh yes, well, uh I do happen well, I I I'm not lost. Uh uh, this is the train I entered on its way to Arkham. Do you do you know is this the train to Arkham? Oh, very much so, but not really the train you're on now. To get back on that train, you're gonna have to find something that you've lost.

Oh, yeah, the box. Oh, absolutely. I do what I can to help, but I am only a radio. Well, uh I do suppose that that is true. Uh well what what can you do to help, Mr. Radio? How can you help me locate that box?

Uh that's pretty much about it for me. I'm just a radio. I don't have legs or anything like that. Skitscat scroll dead, flip, flea. Um, I kind of just sit here and tell you things about what you might need.

If you ever have any kind of questions, feel free to come back and talk to me when I'm available. But as of right now, you're missing a box. You need a box, you need that box to get back home. Wow. Yeah, it's lots of chew on, Mr. Radio. No problem. Glad I can help. Okay, well, thank you very much. I I suppose. Uh could you maybe point me in the direction uh I should maybe start heading in, perhaps uh the drawing room or maybe the the kitchen or the library.

Nope, can't help you there, friend. You gotta kinda do these kind of things on your own.

Just like tune, like click it off. Yeah, as you go to click it off, um the glow is still bright yellow, but then it scrambles back to the baseball game and then just shuts off. And then uh give me uh some whatever kind of check you want to give me. I don't give a [expletive]. Just give me some kind of check. 18? Oh, perfect. Yeah, you follow the chord back, and the cord to the radio wasn't even plugged in the whole time. Very peculiar, very, very peculiar. Uh actually give me a sanity check too. Holy [expletive]. Alright. Where's my sanity here? Here we go. Oh, you're fine. I'm fine. Yeah, you're fine. I'm perplexed, but not completely thrown off right now.

Okay, uh, well, uh I guess I'm just coming to terms with I am on some what appears to be a ghost train with ghost radio man, flimsy flimsy, flip. Um and I need to find this box before I either die or be trapped here for return. Yeah, I don't, I'm just going to assume the latter. Um, so yeah. Alright. Right. And then uh also uh when you followed the chord down, you did notice, um, because I didn't read far enough ahead in my own [expletive] story. Uh there are some blood traps that lead to the next car. Oh well, well, uh yeah. That sounds ominous. Um, and I don't believe I'm armed very well, but I am a very great brawl gentleman. So uh yeah, I'm I'm gonna go ahead and follow those those drops.

Uh, can I do a listen to hear it's in the next car? Uh that the blood drops. Yes, go for it. Do a listen. Uh yeah, it's a regular pass. Regular pass. Uh you hear some shuffling and a grunting noise coming from the car next to you, and then it stops, and then it's back to silent. Yes. Uh I'm gonna like where the doors like slide.

Uh, yep, yep.

And then uh for you at home, this was one of the first trains that actually has an enclosed uh to go from car to car. And that was all the rage back then because your hat wouldn't get blown off moving from train car to train car. Uh well. Did a lot of research on this [expletive] train. Not wearing a hat, but I do have a very delicate scarf around my neck, which I can also use to cover my face on occasion. So, yes. Uh that's a good thing with that apparent. Well, then I'm going to so knowing there's like a connection in between, it's still like slide open your enclosed area and then slide open the next, right? Okay, yeah.

So I go through the first one not thinking about it too much, but if do I encounter anything in that that no, there's nothing in that room or anything like that. So the second one I'm gonna be more like stealthy. In fact, if you want, I'll even roll like a stealth check. Yep. Um, it's not very good numbers, we'll see how that goes. No, I failed the stealth check. Okay. I think I'm being stealthy. Okay. I'm going to like slowly pull back the door and just kind of oh wow. Okay. And then uh you look inside, and this is going to be um the library car. Okay. Did you want to?

Oh yeah.

Hello, and welcome back to part two of the delivery, our single player, our role-play adventure. Um we last left off. Just watch the last episode. Nate found some stuff. Uh, Shirley, the detective, and then now we're Shirley Netlin. We're just moving along now. He's uh heading into the library car now. Okay. So once inside, the interior seems a little bit different than before. All the gas lamps that are on the walls are now dim and they're putting off a very yellowish-green hue that wasn't there before. And as soon as you walk in, there is a body laying face down at one of the desks. The lamp next to him is flickering on and off. That old classic horror style. Ah, you know. Just flashing on him. Um, then yeah, no.

What do you want to do? Well, first I'd like to point out that I took a police kind of package backstory. So I'm not, I don't have to make a sanity roll for the dead body. Normally that would probably be an actual thing I would have to do. Um well, yeah. I'm gonna start by doing maybe uh not investigate, like a spot hidden. I just want to I just want to basically investigate the body. Okay, see what's going on. Um, I'm getting closer to the body. You notice that a knife is sticking out of the back of the man's neck. You recognize this man as Rupert the ticket taker from earlier. Rupert. Mr. Hale? Is that his last name?

Uh I think so. Okay. Yeah, it was Rupert Hale.

Rupert. Nothing. No sign. It appears Are you okay? Uh you get closer to the body? Yeah. Okay. Um you get closer to the body. I don't touch him, but I'm like kind of like listening. Okay, so as you get closer, uh a voice comes out from the shadows of one of the behind one of the chairs. Don't and then a slender red-haired flapper girl appears from the side of the bookcase. Well, hello, darling. Where'd you come from?

I was hiding over there. He's not who he seems to be. But get it together, Kitty. Get it together. My name is Kitty Vanderbilt of the Boston Vanderbilts. And things are just not as they seem on this train.

Well, I'll agree with you there, Kitty Girl. Uh who this is Rupert. You said his man isn't as he seems, but this is Rupert Hill, the the ticket taker. He escorted me to my room. He was a fine gentleman.

If you look closer, you'll see this man doesn't have any eyes.

I look closer. Um give me a spot hidden or whatever [expletive] role you want to do. Um it's an okay pass. An okay pass? Okay, so as you get closer to the body of Rupert, you notice that he in fact does not have any eyes. And also, from where Kitty stabbed him, it left a weird trail of blood on the desk. And that blood actually made a symbol that looks like this.

Oh wow.

Nate, you're an artist. Just want to say that. That's the actual symbol for one of the um I put a lot into this because. Do I do I notice the symbol? Are you like you it's safe to say? Yeah, you know, you know, you don't I don't know what it is, but I notice this is an unusual splattering of blood. Correct. Absolutely. Okay. And if you wanted to, you could make an occult roll on it if you wanted to. I don't. Okay. I don't think that's really in in Mr. Devlin's. Repertoire? Repertoire. Okay. Oh k kittygo. So you killed this man. What did you do to stab this man?

I really don't remember. I I I woke up on the train. I remember from before the train, but I woke up on the train, and this man was just yelling at me and yelling at me, and th then I realized he had no eyes, so I reached for the closest thing I had, and it was a letter opener. And then I just stabbed him in the back of the neck. I'm pretty shooken up about the whole thing.

Yeah, it's a pretty traumatic experience, Miss Kitty. Miss Kitty Vanderbilt.

Uh but luckily a big strong hand um fellow came to rescue me.

Oh, you're broken up the wrong tree, dear, but thank you. Uh uh, well, uh everything is very peculiar on this train, and by normal circumstances, I would not trust you as far as I could throw you, which is not very far, Miss Kita Vanderbilt. I am not very athletic, as you can probably surmise from my face.

Oh, but I was light as a feather.

Hmm, yes. Well but you see, I'm in a bit of a fried pickle here. You see, uh, I'm missing a box. Would you know anything about that?

I do know that um before I had my little bit of a tussle, there was another man, but he came running in and ran right out through the train again, like he was running from something.

Can you describe this man, Giddy?

Um he was it was really a bit of a blur, but he seemed to be taller than your average man, decently built. And dark hair.

It's not a competition, Kitty.

Oh, sorry. Um, but he was carrying something, I noticed, but like again, I was too scared to really get a good decent look at him. Plus all the lights dimmed as soon as he entered in the room.

Yes, uh very, very normal, I I suspect. Uh so you said you you didn't get a feel for what he was holding, but it was it maybe about the shape of yay, big.

I guess it could have been, yeah. To be completely honest with you, I'm a little blitzed right now. I've been having a hard time.

Yes, well, I I surmise that from the letter opener and just sticking out of that man's juggle.

I swear he had no eyes. You believe me, right? You looked at it. It's still no eyes, right?

I forgot. He did in fact have no eyes when I looked. Yeah. Yeah, cool. Kitty, I can't argue that he does have no eyes. Whether that that was a death sentence or not, I don't know, but.

Well, it's just very off-putting, you know, with these troubling times.

He had eyes when he brought me to my room, I'd just like to say. At one point, this man had ocular balls in his face.

Well, I too have balls in my face all the time. You don't get to be Kitty Vanderbilt and not have that kind of problem.

Yes. As she flutters her eyelashes at you a little bit. Kitty, you've been a delight. That absolutely will not work on me. I will leave you before you try to assault me with any other uh sharp object not fast.

Well, I promise I won't hurt you. Um, is there any way that we could like stick together throughout this? Like, I'm just I'm just a frail woman and I am scared.

Yes. Uh is there any like an equivalent to like an insight check in in call cathere? Uh psychology. So I got something. Yeah, let me see. Something's better than nothing.

Thanks, mate. You're welcome.

Oh dang. It actually I had a 30 and I got 29. Yep, so that's a trying to do it. So, do is she trustworthy? Do I get the vibe? Do you trust her? From looking at her, you get the vibe that she is really shooken up about something, but something also does seem very off about her. I'm gonna keep her close. Like your friends close and kitty closer. Okay. So yeah, yes. As long as you stay directly in front of me, Miss Kitty. Uh, you may accompany me on my journey.

Uh but a gentleman would go in front of a lady, would he not?

Yes, well, there's two ladies in this boxcar, Miss Kitty. So if you'll please. Uh but before we do, could you tell me, have you spoken to the radio man, Mr. Radio?

No, I have not. Um He sounds like that. To be completely honest with you, uh I remember waking up and I haven't left this train car. I remember beforehand, uh, me and my friends were on an adventure in the the Nile, and there was some other professor there who was going on and on about some box that he found.

The Nile. Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes. You're on your way to the Nile. Yes, yeah. Not Arkham, Massachusetts. No, no, no. Where is this train going right now? I have no idea. I just because last time I remember, we were on this boat, and it seemed like we were on the boat for a long time.

And then I nodded off a little bit, and then when I woke up, I'm here on this train car, and then this eyeless guy is yelling at me, so I stab him in the back of the neck. And all that seems a little intense now that I'm looking back on it.

Pow, right in the kisser. All right. Exactly. Well, uh, you have been very helpful. Um I go ahead. I I guess I will uh be the gentleman in this situation as as as much as I may not uh be reluctant. But uh yeah, if you will follow me, what's the next car in front of me? Do I know? It's uh you remember from the your tour going back, it's going to be the dining car, is going to be the next. I'm not ready yet though, but I just wanted to know it's the dining car. Okay. So this was uh this was the library, right? Yes. Okay. So you said the gas lights were putting off some like weird dim, like yellow greenish light. Yeah. Okay.

I want to try to um extinguish one of the lights if I can. If I can I don't know.

Okay, so you go up um to the lantern and give me uh I have uh mechanical repair.

I don't know.

Yeah, that's fine.

Roll that [expletive] went in Rome. Went in a ghost train. Uh 31 mechanical repair, 40. Yep, that's where we go. Perfect. Um, so you go up and you adjust the valve underneath the lamp, and nothing's happening. Yes, just like the radio.

Yep.

And then it kind of fizzes when you get closer to it. And then they do grow a little bit dimmer, and then now they're bright, boom, back to full light. Just but you know from your check that it was nothing that you did that adjusted these lights. Yes. Teach a man uh change a gas lamp, but um, all right. Well, next what I want to do, I'm gonna walk over and just kind of like, hmm. I'm just gonna gaze with this symbol, kind of like prolong for a moment, and then I'm gonna see maybe if there in this library is some kind of book that would uh something that has like an occult symbol. Oh, perfect. Uh roll library check. I put a lot of points in library checks.

So I'm just I just keep like getting just under, all right. Good thing you put a lot of points in library check. Um it's uh yeah, it's a it's just a regular pass. Okay, so as you get closer to the books, um, you realize that you can't really see any titles on them. And then you grab one off the shelf and open it up. And as you open it, the words that are in perfect English text suddenly begin to morph. And then it like slowly turns into like this alien-esque language that you've never seen before in your life. And I'm gonna need you to roll a sanity check on that. God damn it. Alright. Oh my heart. Uh yeah, it's passive. Dang it. I know on the sanity ones. Should I dab that here?

But yeah, there is um nothing in this book. And the more you look at the pages, and as they transform, the words almost like scroll by themselves, like they are reading to you, if that makes sense. Kiddie, kiddy, come here. Uh what can you tell me what does this say? And I like hold the book out.

Oh, I have no idea. As a proud Vanderbilt woman, I've never had any interest in reading. I've always had people to read for me.

Are there any like shapes uh statically on found on these pages, or perhaps maybe a little illustrate like a movie film? What what does it look like?

It just looks like some squiggly lines to me.

Okay, thank you, Kitty. Oh, any time. It was really more of a rhetorical, but.

Oh, I'm just glad I can be of help. I'm just happy to be here. I'm glad I'm not on that boat anymore.

Okay, can I I want to do like a spot hidden just to see if there's anything else I might be missing in this library? Mm-hmm. Go for it. I'm gonna use one luck point to pass the spot hidden. Okay, okay. So yeah, it's uh I exactly own the number. So um, as you look around, there's really nothing else out of interest, but there is a black feline, so a black kid, um, kind of up on top of the bookshelves, kind of its tail just swaying back and forth, kind of staring at you. Kitty. Is that a kitty? Yeah, that's a kitty, it's a black one.

Okay, okay.

Devlin, surely, surely, it's okay.

What's wrong with Mr. Devlin?

I may have had an experience in my younger days, um, and I'm terrified of black cats.

Oh well, I've seen that cat here, you know, the whole five minutes I've been here, and he hasn't done anything bad or anything.

You are a very unreliable source of information, Miss Kitty, and I I do not trust you or even remotely believe you. That cat is uh clearly some kind of messenger of the devil.

My dad said the same thing about everything.

Yes. I do believe I've read clippings about Mr. Vanderbilt. Actually, is there like a maybe a history check?

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Do I want to know if I know anything about uh kiddies like family?

Okay.

Um is there there is a history?

Um, there is.

I have literally nothing, so it's a 0-5.

Okay.

Oh I got more. Yeah, thanks. Uh we're gonna go. It doesn't matter. Yeah, I failed. So uh never mind. So I know nothing about kiddies. Right, you've never heard of the Vanderbilts. Yeah, okay. All right. Uh well, all right, Kitty. I think we're good here. Uh uh, why don't we head ourselves over the kitchen, maybe make myself uh maybe a sandwich, and we we try to crack this case.

Uh, that sounds great. I'm starving.

Yeah.

Okay, yeah, I'm gonna start to approach the next car. Okay, perfect. Um, that's gonna wrap it up for episode number two of single player RPG. Hello, and welcome back to Nat One Presents Roleplay for One. Uh, this will be part three, right? Part three? Part trace, Nate. Okay. Uh Nate, give us a little summary so far of what's been going on. Sure. So Shirley Devlin, uh Private Eye, has been tasked to deliver uh a box to a professor in Arkham, a Professor Flutz, um, from Professor Fairweather. So I I was seated on the train uh uh en route to Arkham and I went to sleep.

And when I woke up, the box is missing, and I appear to be in some kind of like mysterious train realm where certain bits of science don't seem to make sense. I have radios talking to me, I have um we, you know, I try to extinguish the lights, the lights come back on, nobody's around except for just a couple people on this entire train. So something fishy's going on. I I think, you know, I'm I'm kind of I feel like I'm in like another realm. I'm trapped somewhere. Um, and I've just come across, uh, I found the person who escorted me to my room is dead, has no eyes.

Not really sure the connection there, but I did find a Miss Kitty Vanderbilt, a very uh a very, very delightful, very ear-headed, not educated uh kind of uh comrade that I don't know if she's gonna be very helpful, and I don't know if I totally trust her. I get that.

I get that.

Did I get it all?

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. Great.

So now we uh Nate was just got done in the library, I believe, and he's moving on to the dining car. Before we do that, I want to bring Kitty to the radio. Is the radio only in that first drawing room? Yes. I want to go back to the drawing room. Okay. So um you take Kitty back to the drawing room and you go through the door, Kitty follows you behind. But as soon as you get into the drawing room, you look back and Kitty's not there.

Oh.

Okay, okay. Hmm. I want to step back into the other room. Does she appear? Uh, you step back into the room, and it's the exact same scene you've seen before. And she says, Stop!

Don't go any closer to him.

I'm gonna just I'm just gonna walk back out. I'm picking up what's going on here, uh, and I'm just gonna leave that be. But I do want to go talk to the radio man. Okay. Mr. Radio Man, phim flam blam. And then the the tubes glow bright again. Hello there, friend. What can I do for ya? Uh yeah, yes, friend. Uh, what's going on, Miss Kitty Vanderbilt? Why is she reenacting the same scene over and over again in the in the in the library? Oh, I'm afraid Miss Vanderbilt's a lot like the other poor souls that are stuck on this train. Nowhere to go and can't remember a thing. Well, I become like these other poor souls if I do not find them in my box. I'm afraid so, and time is of the essence.

How much time exactly do I have, Mr. Radio Man? How am I supposed to know? I'm just radio. Yes. Well, I g I guess that'll do. Thank you.

Oh, no problem. I'll be here, you know, sitting here, because I'm a radio, nowhere else to go. I don't have legs.

Yes, yes. Thank you for pointing out the obvious, Mr. Radio Man. Um, well, I I'm sure I'll be back. Alright, no problem. You know where to find me. Yeah, stay tuned. And remember, nine out of ten doctors prefer camel cigarettes and then the radio cuts out. Awesome. Okay, so I'm going to walk back in the room, walk directly past Kitty, not getting ignored. Don't go any closer to him. I'm just going to the next room. Poor Kitty. Okay. Um, so now once you enter into the dining car, uh, obviously Kitty's not there. And then um, actually give me a sanity check for all that that just happened. Making this hard for me, Nate. Sorry. Uh no, it's a fail. Ooh, awesome.

I finally gotta do a so let's do uh ooh, four minus, let's say two, so six points of sanity lost. Unbelievable. Things are just really weird right now. Okay, I don't have a lot of sanity to be with. Okay. Um, so yeah, I'm spooked a little bit. What am I what's spooking me? Um, just the whole the setup of everything. Like you don't really have an affliction or anything like that yet. This is the kitchen? Yeah, this is the the dining car. The dining car. So there's like a buffet on the one side. This room is actually packed full of people, but none of them turn to look at you. They are all just focused on themselves. And then you do notice somebody does look at you.

And he is a uh average height, a little bit above average height man, uh, dark hair, two kitty. And then he sees you, and then immediately you need to roll me a Dex save. Alright. I'm going to use four points of luck to pass it. Perfect. So a knife comes flying at you. Sound effects, people. Sound effects. Sound effects. But you are able to dodge it just the last second. Barely mix your shirt. Your nice suit, you gotta get it. Can I like karate chop him with my bra? Like a judo chop his like knife hand. Yeah, you can. But he's he's still so like uh distance-wise, you just walked into the car and he's kind of like at the mid to back of the car. Wait, did he throw the knife? Yes.

Oh, he threw the knife. Okay, okay. He just grabbed it off the table and threw it in. Gotcha. Alright. Alright, yeah, so I'll just like kind of you dodge it. I'm gonna just kind of give him like the glare.

Um, so then okay.

So is there anything you want to do? Because he had just threw the knife, and the look you're seeing on him is he's ready to flee again. I'm gonna take out my handgun and shoot him in the leg. I'm gonna try. Okay, go for it. I am a private eye, so I've used this tactic more than once. Not always successfully. Go for it. Um, so I have to beat a 20. You're a terrible detective. Oh, I gotta say because it's not the two. No, no, it's a real bad thing. Yeah, it misses and goes wide and ding ding in the train car. Did it like hit anybody else? Did it just like phase through them or anything like that? No, it didn't hit anybody.

It hit like kind of the edge and then kind of bounced off, and then like it just goes flat. And then uh with that, he turns around and immediately leaves this car and goes into the next one. God damn. And but now um, give me a give me some kind of check for like looking around your environment. Um there's a navigate. Uh yeah, I pass a navigate. Perfect. Um, you notice that the dining car seems like double its length of what it was when you originally went on the tour. Odd. And then now everybody that was once ignoring you at the table are all turned and facing you. And you notice that they have all of them are dressed differently, like very old.

Like some of them are like Egyptian style clothes, and then different different clothes of that nature that says like they are from all walks of life, but from all different time periods. Okay. And they are all just vacantly just staring at you. May I have your attention, please. Dinner has been cancelled this evening. Uh, we will be serving our our meals inside of your your estate rooms. Uh so unless you are here uh under investigation, um, I will ask that you please uh step out of the dining car.

Give me a charm or fast talk, whichever one you think you can.

I think I have a stronger fast talk, if you don't mind. Like flip-flap flip-flap-flip flip. Can I push? Yeah, you can push. Alright, so I stumbled a little bit, but so I'm gonna just maybe clarify a little bit more. Like, like this is an emergency, this is not a drill. Please return to your car unless you are under investigation. Okay, that was worse. Ooh. So after that, they just turn away from you and then go back to what they were doing. But it's dead silent in this entire um dining car. Okay. Well, I appear to not uh be able to charm these people. Clearly, in a different time, they didn't have urgency or humor. Um excuse me, sir. I'm gonna go to just like the first male um. Um what does he look like?

Um let's say he is like Egyptian type, so like nice, like dark skin. Looks kind of like me, but with eyeliner, you know? So like, but maybe I was gonna give a yes, but then uh it got a little weird. So sorry. Not not as emo, maybe. Yeah, but um, as you talk to him, nothing is just stone cold. It's like you're not even there. It's like he's not even really a person, the way he's just staring off. It's almost like he's just a real life mannequin. Okay. I'm going to I'm still at like the beginning of the car, right? Yes. Going to walk out and walk back in. Okay, perfect.

Um, you walk out, and I'm and if I do this, uh I'm expecting maybe a knife to be thrown at me again, just to see. Okay, okay. So as you walk back in, no knife. Okay. But the people do not turn to look at you and they are still just going about their business. It's like it's almost like bad extras in a movie where it's like they're eating in the background, but they're not really eating. Yes, yep. Peace and carrots, peas and carrots. Um but now go ahead and give me a uh listen check. Ooh. Yeah, it's a password. You're a great listener. Thanks. Um, you hear some like guttural noises and gasping coming from underneath one of the tables, like oh gosh.

Yeah, I'm gonna quickly like duck down and like push through the people towards the noise. Okay. And then uh you get to where you it it sounds the strongest right now, and it's like right underneath this uh rounded table with the white, nice drop cloth over it. It sounds like it's coming from underneath. Can I do that thing where like in the shows they like pull the like the curtain without like the dishes going? Yeah, give me a um a just a dex, I would say, but make it the hard one.

Oh [expletive]. Okay.

That'd be a 92, ladies and gentlemen. What happens? I'm gonna do it still. Yeah, what happens with like all this shows? So, like uh the people that are sitting around this table um don't move at all. And you yank this thing out, and their food goes flying, water comes over, like a fork actually flings up and like pokes some guy right in the eye, but he is unfazed, he's just sitting there. I'm like, there was a spider on your uh table I took care of before you. You actually do get the fork guy to turn and look at you. Does he have eyes? Yes, he does. Okay, and then he just turns back to like kind of what he was doing. Okay.

And as you uh look underneath the table, there is a guy in a um chef's outfit, but something is wrong with his face. It seems distorted in a way. He has like tentacles coming off of his face on one half and coming down, and they're moving freely around, while this one seems unfazed by his affliction. And after seeing this, he's like gasping like he can't breathe. But I need you to make a sanity roll for me again. That's pretty intense. No, okay. Okay, okay, okay. So you lose three more points of man. Damn it. All right. Uh okay. And he starts coughing.

Kill murder.

Oh god, Mr. Calamara, man. Oh. Uh I'm not a murderer. Um, but you clearly are uh indisposed at the moment, not looking well. Um what can I do to help you? Uh I don't want to kill you, sir. Don't open the bar. Wait, what do you know about the box? No, I like grab him and shake him like, no, where is the box? Uh one of his tentacles uh flaps you in the face. Oh, I just I just drop him and I kissed. It's like a little bit of like slime going on your two popping.

Oh, and his head like slams on the and after uh roll damage. What is it? I think it's just a D3, a D3, yeah.

So just a D4. Yeah. Okay, so that'd be two and you don't have a damage opponents, right? No. No, I'm just gonna say uh with that two damage, he was already looking pretty rough. And so you you finished the job, you murdered the tentacle man. So you pushed it. I don't even know. I'm just like wiping myself, I don't even realize like, no, but the box, I need to know. Uh oh, oh. And as you look down, like his hand that was kind of drifting, like it also is like a long tentacle arm looking thing. It kind of like wrapped around your leg for like comfort. I'm just gonna like delicately untangle and then like let it go and be like, well, I do believe I'm on the right track. Um I'm gonna uh investigate.

Is there anything else on his any possessions?

Um yeah, give me a spot hidden.

Yeah. Ooh, that's uh that's a that is a two, folks. That is almost as good as it gets. Awesome. Um, so with that, you notice the same symbol is actually where his name tag should be on like his chef's uniform or whatever like that. And I'm gonna take the new tag. Okay, yeah, you can take it. And I'm trying to think of something else because I didn't put anything. Um something else besides baseman.

Yeah. Um, okay, okay.

Okay, okay, okay. He actually has a um notebook stuffed on the inside of his uh chef jacket as you're going through him. Yeah, I'm gonna take that. Okay. And then uh as you go through and read it, um, it doesn't list his name or anything like that, but he does have it's a bunch of scribblings from like uh a madman. Um and it looks like it was written with a tentacle hand, so it's a little hard to read. This has been going on in some spots. Yeah, and then um so while you're sitting there reading it, everybody else is just looking forward and doing their own thing. And I still like huddled under the table. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And they're just still sitting there like you're not even there.

And then uh so you find out it's has something to do with a man named Haster, and then that design is scribbled in his notebook numerous, numerous times. And then from the makings of it, actually, uh give me a library use, I think, to kind of 39 that's kind of so um from what you can decipher from it, it seems that every soul is trapped here on this train willingly at first. Um, and then as you're reading it, that's pretty much all the info you can get from it, and then the lights start flickering on the train. And then all of a sudden you can feel the train pick up, and now it's moving again. Oh [expletive]. All right. Wow, not to digest here. Alright, so a couple uh just problem-solving techniques here.

So I'm going to step out, step back in, what happens? Uh nothing. The the table is back to how you had it, and nothing else. Everybody is still exactly the same. Checking under the same table as the guy there. He's not there. Okay. And then the assassin, tall, dark-haired, handsome gentleman who I want to have my babyslash return the box to me. He's also not there. Correct. Okay, great. Um, I'm gonna go back to the radio cart. I'm gonna walk right by Kitty, just not ignore.

Wait, get away from him.

Okay, and then back to the radio box. Um, and I'm going to tap the radio. Hello there, friend. Yeah, yeah, that's fine. Listen, so I'm gonna describe this symbol. So it's like three, like two curly tentacles, and then like this other one around this like little center blossom. Like, what is what is a symbol, Radio Man? I have really no idea what you're talking about there, fella. I don't have eyeballs. I can't see. I'm a radio. I just described it to you. Don't need eyeballs, Radio Man. Let me really think about it. I'm having a hard time picturing what you're putting down. Listen, you said you were gonna answer some questions, Radio Man. Oh, feel free to ask all the questions you want. At what point?

What uh why you uh it appears that people enter this train willingly, but well, I guess I did too when I uh aborted to bring the box to Arkham. But what what changed? What changes between being trapped here and coming willingly? I guess from what little bit I can tell you, it all has to do with the box. At the end of the day, you're gonna want to open up that box. And that's all we ask of you. Every person on this train did not open up that box, so they chose willingly to stay.

Does that make sense there, fellow?

Yeah, it sure does. Alrighty. I I see I have a dilemma though. Don't open the box trapped on a train. Open the box. Tentacle face. No, not necessarily. He I guarantee you, if you ran into your old tentacle face, he did not open the box. Every other person on this train has not opened the box. But he told me not to open the box. I don't know what he's talking about, friend. He's probably lying to you. I wouldn't trust the tentacle face, man. You can trust the guy on the radio, that's for sure. Yes. Okay. Alright, uh, I'm just not even gonna bother with the radio, just walk away. Um, in the future. Close. Hi, kitty. Walk by.

No, get away from him.

Uh back into that room. Is there anything else? I'll do one last spot hidden. Okay. Ooh, 20. That's a good one. Yep. Um, the last thing you notice is that when you're looking down at all these people's food and everything, um, it's all just rotten and dingy. It seemed like the first time you came in, maybe you weren't paying as much attention, or it just looked like normal food. But now that you've been back to this car numerous times, you're starting to see things kind of for what they are, and the food is all just broke down and moldy and gross, and still nobody pays attention to you, and they are just kind of like zoned out in their own little world. Okay, okay, got it.

All right, I think I'm ready to head into the next train. All right, that'll be another drawing room. Okay. Uh, let's go ahead and take a quick pause uh and find out what happens in the next drawing room. Dun dun dun. Hello, and welcome back to Nat One Presents Roleplay for One. Um, this is gonna be our Call of Cthulhu adventure, part number four. Nate, if you want to give us a recap of what Shirley Devlin has been going through. Shirley Devlin is having a hell of a night, let me tell you. He's traveled on some kind of ghost train.

And in the most recent car, he was in this kind of dining room filled with tons of ghost people who could not give any kind of time of day or even just like acknowledgement of his existence. But a few things happened. We had an assassin who seems to be the gentleman that Kitty uh described, uh, who might have the possession of the box. He threw a knife at me that I narrowly dodged. Um, and then upon leaving and re-entering the room, the scene kind of reset, and I found this kind of squid man hiding under a table. Um, clearly somebody who didn't open the box, according to the radio. Um, I found more of the mysterious symbol.

And it seems to be that people enter the train willingly and then get trapped there if they don't open the box. This is what I've been able to surmise so far, and now I'm ready to proceed into the next, I think it's a drawing room we said is the next room. Yes, the drawing room. Alright, yeah, that's where we're at. Alright, so now as you enter, the drawing room is has the elaborate fireplace that is lit. There are a few chairs that lie along the wall, gas lamps hang on the walls, as well as oil paintings and some other exotic decor, including a giant stuffed bangle tiger.

Uh there are some potted plants and a few other items that make up the rest of the room, and there is an elderly gentleman sitting in the chair by the fireplace, a broad man and an adventurer-looking type, uh muscular for being older, great mustache, grey hair, and also has a monocle.

Hello there, good sir.

Would you be looking for your friend by any chance? Which friend, good sir? He kind of scoots his chair back a little bit, and then you can see the um tall guy who threw the knife at you, hogtied, right there at the like the base of his feet by the fireplace. Why, yes. Where how? How do you know how did you find it? How did you tie him down? Well, first of all, he was an extremely rude fellow.

So I I'm afraid I had to put him down, much like any other rabid animal I would encounter.

Uh put him put him down. Is he is he dead? Are you gonna investigate? Yeah. Okay. You get go ahead and get investigated. Um I don't know. What what do you think spot hidden or just whatever? No, it's a pass. Okay, okay. So uh you just kind of lean around and look a little bit closer and you can see blood coming from underneath the the hog tied man and like kind of leaking out, but it does leak out into that symbol. In that same symbol. Yep, of course. Um so okay, I I'm going to quickly like look around, search for the box, and uh while I'm doing that, also ask questions to the gentleman of uh uh did did you find the box? Did he have a box with him?

Did he say anything about a box?

Uh I'm afraid I didn't uh see any box. Um very curious, this man. He doesn't seem to be from parts, I reckon. He wanted to just talk and talk and talk as I was tying him up. So I have all of um that information if you need it.

But feel free to check the body or anything like that. Yeah, tell me more about this information. And have I I I'm assuming I wasn't able to locate any kind of box. Oh no, the the box was um on his person. Oh, he did have it. Perfect. Ah, okay, okay. Don't open it yet. You can't open it yet. Yeah, but I do want to just give it some angles, some van of white hair. It's very heavy. Um, let me see. Secrets. Heavy with secrets.

He said his name was um Horace, and he was a contractor. He's a contracting thief. And that really made it a whole lot easier for me to kill him. You see, I don't partake in such nefarious means. But he said he had the clipping of a delivery that was supposed to be made, and he was to interject into said meeting.

And uh that's just his voice, or is he doing like a weird, like he's doing like a weird jowl shake thing? Yeah, like it's like a tick or something from being on the train. And um and uh then he just kept rambling on and on about how he couldn't get off the train, and then finally I gagged him, and then I didn't like the cut of his jib, you could say, so I just took my knife and just let him have it. Wow, you are an outstanding gentleman. I have been searching all night for this box. That man tried to kill me, he threw a knife at me. Well, extremely rude, and how rude of me to not introduce myself. Henry Appleton, adventurer extraordinaire at your service. Ah, Shirley Devlin, private eye. Beautiful name, Shirley.

Yeah, thank you.

I once knew a woman in Calcutta named Shirley, and she could do things to you that would blow your mind.

Oh, well, Shirley and I have something in common. My mother wanted a daughter, but here I am.

Oh well, that thing you found there, that's very interesting. I used to own a box just like that. Do you mind if if can I see it? Oh, yes.

And I just kind of like I don't hand it to him, but I just like He's like reaching out to take it from you. No, uh oh, I I worked so hard, Mr. Appleton, to get this back. I would be ashamed to lose it again. As grateful as I am for your noble service. Um with that he's like now please, sir.

I've been awfully courteous to you in apprehending this nefarious criminal. If you could please do me the favor and just hand me over the box so I can give it a once over. It looks very interesting to me.

I'm gonna run back into the dining room. Uh as you run back, the lights on the side of the train, the uh fireplace dims and the gas lights go up. And then from his side of his chair, he pulls out a [expletive] elephant gun and turns to go point it at you. And then uh you approach the door and it seems like it's locked. God damn it. Alright. Uh now, sir, please turn over that box before this gets ugly. So I'm not opening yellow. Okay, okay. No need to get hasty, Mr. Appleton. I was just testing if you as you can see, I I'm a little distrustful based on the gentleman over here who who happen to have uh tried to steal this box from me. So I'm gonna like approach slowly.

Um, and then as I get closer, I'll be like, here, I am more than happy. I'm gonna throw it at his head. Okay. So uh There is a throwing, I think, actually. There is a throw, yeah. I didn't put anything into it, but let's give it a shot. It's a thought that counts.

It's a 20, and I got a 20!

Okay, so with that, you throw the box. It hits um what the [expletive] did I say his name was? Henry Alton. Henry Albleton hits him right square in the face. He's gonna take. And while this is happening, I'm readying my gun now. You thought I was bad, but nah, I'm gonna. He's gonna take four points of damage from the box to his face. And then I wanna take out my pistol. Okay. And what is oh yeah, I need to do uh firearms. Right? Yep. Hen gun.

That's not even close.

That'd be a 90 when it dies. Yeah, I'm gonna miss no amount of luck. Okay. If I used all my luck, I would still not pass it. But with that, the lights on the gas lamps go back to black. And the only light in the room now is from the dimly lit fireplace, the embers coming off. And you start to hear a weird cracking noise, like bones breaking. And now it's a low growl coming from behind where Mr. Appleton was at. And with that, the gas lamps turn back on. And where that stuffed bangled tiger was at. Um, it seems to have morphed into like a half-animal, half-human hybrid, and it seems to be going after um Mr. Appleton. Okay. Right? Is that yeah, Henry Appleton. I [expletive] wrote these characters. I can't remember.

And he seems to be going after him. So Henry stands up and points his gun at you and doesn't notice the tiger man behind him. And then all of a sudden he screams, while that's happening. I want to like go to pick up the box, like quietly. Okay, like give me a stealth, yeah. Or something like a track or something. What's higher? Neither of them are great. Neither we're great. Stealth. No way. I got a three guy. Internet. I am rolling great today. I am rolling great. Okay, I am stealthy. Yep, perfect.

You were able to grab the box, and in the meantime, uh a little bit like a blood splatters on you from the tiger man, like chomping onto the back of the neck of uh uh Henry, and he is like screaming in pain, and the elephant gun goes off boom, but completely misses the Tiger Man. Okay. Um, can I try to sneak towards the other door in the other direction? So I tried to go backwards, I'm trying to go forward. Uh, not without getting in the way of their tussle. Oh, okay. Um and with that uh kind of like seeming like it knows what you're questioning in your head, the gas lamps are like dim and then bright, and then they like pulse back to where you came from. [expletive].

I think it's time to open the box. This is about time. I think I'm gonna open the box. It's up to you. Um I don't know. I don't want this [expletive] thing coming after me, but my firearm handling is not it's not great. I'm gonna open the box. Okay. Uh you reach down to open up the box and you crank it open. Yeah. And inside the box is a symbol. It's completely empty, except for the symbol painted on the lid. It's perfect, guys. Internet. It's the same. Same symbol. Same symbol. And um with that, you could your eyes kind of readjust and you're back into the radio room. But now the box is closed again. Hello there, friend.

Looks like you found what you lost.

I sure did. I did exactly what you told me, radio, man. I opened the box.

So now here's where it comes down to a little bit tricky business.

There's rules and guidelines that we have to follow. Now I want you to open the box, and I believe the whole world wants you to open that box. Now, it teleported you back here, but you kind of need my assistance to get off of this train. So I just have to, for whatever reason, it's the will of the gods that I need your permission to help you open the box again. If that's okay with you. Is there a window nearby? Um, yeah, there's uh several windows along the back side. Um there's that black cat kind of up on top of a shelf somewhere dangling. But when you look outside, um it's still just pitch black. And the train, you can feel the train moving still. Can I open the window? No, you cannot.

[expletive]. Okay.

What are you looking for, friend? A way out? I already told you the only way out is to help me help you, and let's open this box together. I don't suppose I have a choice now, do I? Oh, of course you do. If you wanna, you know, stay here on the train for a while, you just keep that box closed. Alright, alright, alright. Let's open the box. Very well, sir. And then uh with that some like spectral energy comes off of the radio. Whoa. And then like kind of goes into your skin a little bit across your hands, and then now you're holding the box. And then now feel free to open it if you want. I can feel the power, folks. It is coursing through my veins. Boom.

And with that, the symbol inside begins to glow super, super bright. And boom, you wake up, you're back into your your stateroom. Is it daylight? Dark. Uh it's still dark out. It's uh it's like you almost just went to uh through one stop. Okay, and then uh with that, we'll just we can wrap it up. Uh with that, the train comes to a stop again. Um you can go Okay, we already did all that. So yeah, we skipped that. So um you open up the box, you wake up. Uh when you wake up, the body of Horace, the uh contracted thief, is actually dead at the foot of your bed with his throat slit. And then uh the box is closed and locked.

And as you get up to go lock the door, a man in a very nice dapper yellow suit stands into your entryway and he takes one look at you and says, Do I recognize this man? No, absolutely not. He doesn't look like the nail clipping or no, nothing. Nothing. Okay. He says, That's a fine box. And I just want to tell you thank you for releasing one of my pets. And he kind of like gives you a hint, and then a small flash of yellow comes across his pupils as he dips his hat and then just turns and walks away. Uh give me another sanity roll. What have I done? Um, that's real close. Hold on. There'd go. 40. Uh can you use luck to p nah? Okay, I failed.

Just barely, but okay, so just uh just two points of sanity lost. Got it. And with that, you now have a dead body in your room. You still have the box, and that pretty much sums it up. And a lot of unanswered questions, right? Because there will be a part two. Dun dun dun. Nay, this is great. I think uh I have a lot a lot more questions. I'm I already want to jump right into part two. Uh, but this is a good time for for roleplay for one. I dig it. I dig it. Heck yeah, me too. I had a lot of fun making it, and I think uh we got right in our window that we were looking for, and I just think overall it was a lot of fun.

I like making the props. I I have so many questions. Like, I want to know, and if you can't because it will spoil part two, we don't have to, okay. Okay, uh, kitty. Like, what was that whole drama? Like you didn't have eyes, what was going on there? Okay, okay. So Kitty was on a boat, and the professor, okay, so let's rewind a little bit. So the deal with this box is to get it open, you need to be asleep to get it open. So you fall asleep with the box, and now you kind of go through this sequence of events. And all the other people on the train fell asleep near the box. So that's why they were willing. They fell asleep near the box. That's their own fault.

Got it.

And they all were given the choice open up the box with the power of Radio Man or whatever it was in their time and release this thing into the world, or keep the box closed because you're unsure and unsafe and you've seen some weird [expletive] going on in train. But sacrifice himself, right? Basically, to keep the box closed. So is it safe to say that everyone before Shirley Devlin kept the box closed? Absolutely, yes. So I'm the first [expletive] bag to have opened the box. Absolutely. Yep. Wow. I think Radio Guy has been working uh on his deception too. So yeah, he was. I mean, how could he say no? Right. But also Shirley didn't want to die. It was too soon. He's too, he's too, I would say young.

He's too no, I wouldn't say handsome, right? But you know, he's got a lot of other things going for him. I'm sure his mom told him, like, you'll grow into your looks someday. Yeah, yeah. No, he didn't he didn't grow much either. He's he's not very tall. Um, but all right. Well, I look forward to uh the next time where Shirley Devlin tries to redeem maybe himself and humanity if possible. Ooh, yes. Um because now that um Shirley Devin has like he is on Haster's uh radar. Blip, blip, blip, blip. And then he just has released this monster out into the world. A monster which we could have seen, but we did not. So we did not. Okay.

Uh we're gonna put all this stuff if you want to see Shirley Devin's character sheet, if you want to read the backstory names prepared, or even run this campaign with your own friends. Yep. Uh box not included. Sorry, guys. Sorry. Uh check out our Patreon, check out our YouTube channel, go ahead and hit like, subscribe, and thanks for playing with us. Awesome. Thanks, guys.