Welcome to the Tales from the Crit podcast. We are an actual play podcast featuring a
revolving cast of players making our way through micro RPGs, highly narrative tabletop games,
and the more popular, and less known, RPG systems from a wide variety of genres. Content
may not be suitable for children, and content warnings can be found in the description.
I'm Riley Groves and I'll be your host, your guide, your GM on this episode of Tales
from the Crit.
Welcome to the Tales from the Crit podcast. Tonight we are playing Kids on Bikes. This
is a game by Jonathan Gilmore and Doug Lewandowski. You can pick it up anywhere. It's a rules
light, highly narrative RPG system that brings back the nostalgia in all of us. Tonight at
the table we have Mikey, Connor, Derek, Rebecca, and myself, of course. So we're going to start
the episode by going over, well actually, this is our debut episode. This is the first
one that we put out. And we are very excited to play and have you guys all with us here
tonight. We appreciate you guys all tuning in. We're excited to be able to play for you
guys. We're going to start out each episode by answering one question from our pod deck,
interview deck here. And the question for tonight is, if you could be guaranteed one
thing in life besides money, what would it be? Mikey, why don't you go first?
I'm going to have to say guaranteed at least one to three pizzas a week. Just dropped off,
hot and fresh. Just don't have to worry about it. I will live forever.
Okay. All right. Never going to starve.
Yeah.
Good.
Good pizza.
Good pizza. Connor, what about you?
It's hard, but I think that it would be guaranteed access to a nice clean bathroom wherever I
was whenever. Sometimes you're out camping and there's like, oh, there's a porta pot
and you're like, oh, I think the woods are safer. Or if you're traveling, I just feel
like that would be a great guaranteed thing to have access to. Just like, oh yes, here's
my key or my doorway to just the pristine bathroom.
All right. Magical toilets.
Cool.
I could not agree more.
I am at 100%. You put a shower in that bathroom.
Can I change mine?
Derek, what about you?
I would have to go with health and or longevity.
That's a good one. On the non-material side.
Yeah.
I like it.
Well, I was going to go with food, but now I'm thinking all our renfair LARP stuff. New
stuff every day. Not every day. There'd be so much stuff. Every month I get one free
thing and then I get to pick.
Free Amazon package shows up.
Yeah.
All right. Back to the material things. Yeah. I would probably choose healthcare and or
EpiPens. That is something.
But if money is no object.
No, no. It doesn't say money is not an object. It says you can't choose money as the thing
that you want to have guaranteed in life. So you're guaranteed renfair clothing. You're
guaranteed period clothing at least. You'll never go without clothes. Yeah. Those are
some good answers, I guess. Cool.
So let's jump into it. We're just going to go around the table, introduce our characters.
Your name and age is fine and your relationship to any other characters at the table. Mikey,
who are you playing?
I'm Jack. I'm 11. I've got a cool older cousin named Danny.
And Danny is going to be played by Connor.
Yes. I'm Danny. I'm 15. Jack is my younger cousin. Our mother is our sisters.
Awesome. Derek, who are you going to be representing tonight?
I am playing Josh. I am 10 years old. I go to school with Jack. And for some reason,
we have grown very close to his cousin Danny.
And Rebecca, who are you playing?
I'm Andy. I'm 17. And I'm a senior. And I kind of know Danny. He's a sophomore. And
we go to school together.
Cool. Here's a town map that I've made for all of you guys. This is like one of those
touristy visitor maps, you know, that's got like some of the local things, not everything
labeled on it. But it is a map that is given out by the Moravian Cafe and Bookstore. And
more, most specifically, it details the trail on which their ghost walk tour takes around
the west end of the town.
Are the silk mills, apartments, garbage, or nice? How nice is this town?
It's not like a gross town.
It used to be really nice.
It used to be really nice because there used to be a lot of money in there. Now, the only
things of real extravagance, the Hotel B is a very upscale hotel. It's very nice. The
silk mill apartments, I mean, I don't know anything about apartments in the 90s. So I'm
going to read a news broadcast and then we're going to jump into you guys being in school.
Good morning people of Bethlehem, PA. Or is it?
We regret to tell you that we have a missing person alert.
Ali Griesmeier, a college student, went missing after leaving the White Horse Pub last night
and has not been seen since. If you have any information, please contact police immediately.
It's been 25 years since our beloved steel mill shut down, sending the town into an economic
spiral ever since. Despite that, our brave community endures.
Local former sheriff Anthony Gray goes to court next week, standing trial for accepting bribes
to turn a blind eye to many recent crimes in the neighborhood. This has left the local
sheriff's station in confusion and chaos.
In later news, Halloween is just one day away and the Moravian Cafe and Bookshop still has
plenty of tickets for their annual ghost walk tour with showings tonight and tomorrow. The
Sheriff's Department has put in place a curfew for trick-or-treaters tomorrow night and the
streets will shut down after 8 p.m. for anyone under 18 years of age.
I'm Don Toliver and this has been the news.
The school bell rings and we find ourselves in Bethlehem Junior Senior High School where
we are going to go to both Josh and Jack first thing in the morning. What is your guys' first
class?
English. English class first thing in the morning.
I wanted to say art so bad.
Because of the drugs?
Narrate a little bit about your school day.
It's kind of a slow start to every day because it's English and it's just immediately wake
up and start reading.
I wake up five minutes before the bus gets there and plow through getting dressed and
run out the door, get there just in time for the class to start, feeling like I just ran
a marathon and then totally terrible at English. I have to pretend to read for the next 45
minutes.
Trying not to get called on.
Yes. Hiding. Making it look like we're paying attention.
Yep. Kind of messing with each other.
When really I'm drawing. Just drawing in a notebook.
I'm looking. We're drawing competing comic books.
What's up Josh?
Not much. Did you do any of the reading last night?
I didn't.
Neither did I.
I did not. I have no clue what this teacher is about to hit us with.
Yeah I read about half of the first page and then...
I couldn't do it.
I went and did something else.
I couldn't do it.
So do we have a test on this today?
No.
Pop quiz everyone. Books down.
You had to say something.
Yep. Do we go on to fail this pop quiz?
Oh yeah sure. We got brains right? Or something like that.
Yeah. I have... How do we do on question one? What's the name of the book?
We're not going to go through each question.
The book the pop quiz is on, To Kill Mockingbird. The book that you've been reading for the
last two weeks in class. I'm going to set the...
Sounds like a high school book. Man. It's going to be tough.
Wait how old are you in year 11th grade? Or when you're 11?
Fifth grade.
Fifth? Oh shit. Yeah no you should be reading. Wait it's the 90s. What books were popular
back then?
I mean...
Huckleberry Finn. Nope. Racist.
Somebody give me a non-racist 90s book.
Goosebumps.
Or Goosebumps.
Goosebumps. Are Goosebumps.
Was Goosebumps that early in the 90s though?
The Outsiders? Romeo and Juliet?
I don't know. I know To Kill a Mockingbird was becoming a movie at that point so we would
have heard about it but yeah that's too late for us. We were learning... I mean back when
we were in school we were learning about explorers in fifth grade and the basics of the constitution
I thought.
So sixth grade was the Greek Gods wasn't it?
Yeah sixth grade was Greek Gods.
I don't remember having any assigned reading in fifth grade at all.
I don't think it was like that either.
Yeah no.
And World War II for some reason.
It's like a lot of short stories back then.
Okay so the book that you guys are going to be quizzed on is going to be The Odyssey.
Okay perfect.
We would have read that right?
Yeah that was sixth grade but...
I mean it would have been an abridged version or some shit.
Okay yeah. Wishbone. You guys watched The Wishbone of The Odyssey.
Awesome. Okay you guys both have brains. What is your brain score? What is Jack's brain
score?
Uh Jack has a 12 in brains.
Okay. Eight. Pass this pop quiz on The Odyssey. You have to get an eight or higher. No. Eight
would be a hundred. Get a six or higher to pass.
Yeah I'm a solid C student.
But you got a 12 in brains.
I got a six.
I got a four.
I passed.
And what's the dice that you roll for brains?
Eight.
Oh okay. So you got a four?
Yep.
You got a six?
Alright Jack you passed the quiz just barely. You got a 70. 65. No 70. We'll give you a
70. And Josh however you failed.
58.
Yeah 58. Miss Valley hands you your pop quiz back and says Josh now again you remember
you're gonna have to have your mom sign this and return it to me to acknowledge you failed
yet another test.
Okay.
And then we jump to gym class later in the day. It's around fourth period. And we find
both Danny and Andy in the same gym class playing soccer.
Playing soccer. Alright.
Andy's a gym class hero. She's all over the front lines. Play left wing.
Danny's just trying to stay out of the way just in the back like oh I hope nobody passes
to me. I don't really like this.
Andy's also on the soccer team. She does a lot of sports and stuff.
Danny's just kind of watching Andy running back and forth just repeatedly getting past
everybody and just like oh yeah I'm just gonna stay out of the way. Watch Andy all day.
Casually like running around the field just a little bit but trying not to get the ball.
Doing enough to make it look like I'm trying.
Yeah.
Just to get the points.
Right now and then like kick the ball if someone kicks it to me I can just kick it right back
like oh yeah here you go great job.
Teamwork.
Okay so do you have a high I guess brawn for what would be like for playing soccer. What
trait would you use for soccer?
I mean I could feel like I would be using my flight because I would be trying to just
run around just evading the ball and just kind of like you know.
That's a good one. I'm gonna say also Andy does all these sports and stuff but she's
very average at stuff. She tries real hard.
What's your highest stat?
Charm.
Oh.
Followed by brains.
Nice. Okay.
Mr. Brown the gym teacher he sees Danny he sees you just kind of like running in a circle
in the back and he's like Danny move up to the front lines we need some more out of you
you get you get up there and he pulls another student back and don't worry you can just
run in circles wherever just don't be Danny.
Danny get up there get up there with Andy go score a goal. Andy score a goal.
Danny as soon as you hit the front lines the ball comes flying up to you like it is at
your feet and there are multiple opposite team members coming right at you.
Coming right at me?
Yeah.
Okay so I look around and I see Andy off the side like Andy and I kick the ball to the
left and kind of fall over but the ball gets most of the way to her.
Okay. Roll for grit.
Roll for grit.
Is this grit your worst one?
No I have a 20 in grit.
Oh shit.
Alright yeah.
Keep it low.
All you got to do is get a 6 or higher.
I got an 11.
Alright cool.
You were mega successful.
Andy Danny kicks the ball right to you.
Open goal.
It is up to you.
Open?
I'm that close to the goal?
Sure.
Soccer works ways.
Alright I'm gonna be like Danny this is your goal and I'm gonna kick it back to him.
Oh you're gonna kick it back?
Yeah he deserves this.
Alright well call it a 6 on grit again.
My grit?
What's your grit at?
It's a D8.
It's a 4.
You failed but not too badly.
You kick it back but there was still a bunch of people running directly at Danny and so
the ball like kind of gets mixed up in like two defenders as well as Danny.
Like you're right there.
But I'm kind of inspired because she even knew my name and so I get like a little extra
pep but I'm like oh my god Andy I gotta get I can't let her down I gotta score this goal
so I you know run in between them and try and score the goal.
You're gonna call it an 8 you have to beat.
You can roll what you think is in my mind it would be fight or grit.
I mean if you're gonna say grit I'm gonna roll grit for a 17.
17?
Fuck yeah man.
So in your only not your only but your most recent triumph in gym class something that
hasn't happened to you since like you were 6 or something you split these defenders charging
down fueled by a hot girl knowing your name you rushed down how do you make the goal?
I see when Andy passes the ball and the two other defenders come from either side I kind
of just rush between them I get the ball and kick it right up over a third guy's head and
it just curves into the goal.
Fuck yeah and nobody really goes wild except for you and Andy.
Yeah I'm very excited.
Yeah I got it!
Go Danny!
Yay!
Nice man.
Thank you.
Great pass.
Thanks.
So we find ourselves after sixth period and Andy your little brother who has just made
it into the middle school comes running up to you and pokes you at your back on your
locker.
Hey Billy what's up?
Hey I found this on the ground and he holds up a tarot card.
Oh one of these.
Cool which one is it?
Do I know what it means?
It's death.
Oh god it's scary.
Ugh Billy where did you get this?
I was running around outside.
Where?
Outside during gym.
Okay so like the soccer field?
No in the woods.
Okay why were you in the woods for- okay.
I like being alone.
Okay well anyway was there anything else around there?
No.
Was there any people in the woods with you?
No.
Okay I'm gonna keep this.
Okay what is it?
What do you think it means?
It's a big card.
Yeah it's- don't worry about it Billy it's fine.
Thanks for handing it over.
Ugh okay can I have it back?
No.
And Billy walks away.
Billy is furnished in a superhero.
Not any stripped one but he's got a cape and everything and he just takes off down the
hallway.
Okay well that was weird.
So right before the final bell rings the school announcements come on.
Happy Friday afternoon students of Bethlehem Junior Senior High!
To start this afternoon's announcements we're announcing the winner of our raffle.
The winner gets four tickets to the Moravian Cafe and Bookstore's Ghost Walk Tour.
And the winner is...
Josh Davis!
Come down to the office and grab your four free tickets!
As another reminder the school's Monster Mash dances tomorrow night and it's the only event
for people under 18 that is not subject to the town's trick-or-treat curfew so keep
that in mind if you want to have a late night.
Well that's all for our announcements have a happy Halloween!
Soon as I hear that I won I grab my shit and bolt out the door.
It's an excuse to leave.
Um yeah I'm like right behind him.
I gotta- Office called me.
I gotta help him.
Sit down Jack you do not have to help him you can go to the office himself.
Yeah but I- what if he needs help?
Sit down!
What if something happens and I'm char- but I'm charming.
Okay see if you can get out of class five minutes early.
From the pants office teacher.
No please don't.
No don't.
Twelve.
Okay cool yeah twelve she fine it's only five minutes.
Have a great Halloween!
I just started scramming on my gear.
School bell dings and class is out of session and you know it's the 90s so you guys just
get to go.
Like you live in a city not like a large city.
Your house is a couple miles down the road where the residential centers are.
I run into Jack in the hallway on the way out and tell him that his mom asked me to
watch him after school today for a little bit.
Cool.
What's going on Jack?
Not much.
Uh me and uh me and Josh got let out a little early cause he gets to go grab tickets to
the ghost walk.
Oh that's right you won!
Congratulations!
Who you gonna bring with you?
I don't know.
Alright well your mom told me to hang out with you after school for a little bit today
so.
I guess that means you gotta go on this ghost walk with us.
Is that today?
Is it today?
The ghost walk is tonight and tomorrow night.
Yeah you have your your pick.
Oh.
Oh excellent yeah I mean if that's cool I'll go on a ghost walk.
Thanks Josh.
I guess he's too well then who's the fourth one going with us?
Yeah we got time.
Okay.
Cool.
How'd you get out early?
Did you win something too?
The bell rang.
Class is over.
You guys are just really slow.
Okay.
Cause he's taller than us.
Um just then Billy your classmate who is Andy's younger brother comes running up to you guys.
This is the kid in the superhero outfit.
Yeah.
Hi Jack!
Hey Billy.
Hey.
What's going on?
Not much.
Getting ready to head out of here.
What are you doing?
Why would you guys be in for Halloween?
Um I was gonna go with probably a cowboy.
A cowboy?
Yeah.
You were a cowboy last year.
It's my Halloween costume.
I have one.
Don't you want to be somebody better?
Cowboys are pretty cool.
Alright.
Well um hey Josh.
What's up?
Hey what are you being for Halloween?
I'm going as John Connor.
Oh sweet.
Yeah I haven't seen that one yet.
I want to get to the movies.
Andy doesn't take me.
Hey I don't know you as much.
You're not in my class.
You're older.
No.
You're uh Andy's little brother?
Yeah.
Oh yeah.
I'm Danny.
You know I have gym class with your sister.
We made a goal today.
You made a goal?
That's sweet.
One day I'm gonna make a goal.
But I don't play soccer.
My name's Billy by the way.
I'm Danny.
Nice to meet you Billy.
Nice to meet you.
What are you gonna be for Halloween?
I'm gonna be a superhero.
A superhero?
Yeah.
Excellent.
Everybody loves a superhero.
Yeah that's what I tell myself.
What are you gonna be?
I'm gonna be a skeleton.
Oh creepy.
Oh cool.
Um well who are you guys going trick or treating with?
Well we're gonna go on a ghost walk.
Oh you guys are going on the ghost walk?
Yeah.
I heard creepy things about that.
You got a fourth ticket?
You wanna invite this kid?
I guess we...
Yeah sure.
And I just hand him all the tickets.
Excuse me for a moment Billy.
Yeah.
What do you guys think?
You wanna invite this kid?
Hey Andy!
Hey Billy.
Hey.
Oh hey Andy.
That's my sister.
Hey Danny.
Are you friends with all these children?
This is my cousin and his friend.
Oh.
Hi.
They won tickets to the ghost walk tonight.
And we got four of them and we're just trying to figure out what to do with them now.
And your brother just came up and introduced himself and told us he's gonna be a superhero
for Halloween.
Yep.
He loves that superhero costume.
Oh not this one.
I'm gonna be a different one.
Oh yeah?
Yeah I told mom.
Okay.
So give me a costume.
Okay well.
Have fun.
It's like this one but red.
Okay.
How about you Andy?
Are you gonna do anything for Halloween?
Are you gonna dress up?
Um I'm probably gonna stay home and get some homework done.
A lot of AP classes.
That sounds like fun.
You should come on the ghost walk.
Um okay.
Can I bring my girlfriend?
Buy my own ticket.
There's only four tickets.
Only if mom's paying for her.
Can you ask mom for me?
No.
Come on.
Jamie would love to go.
Fine.
We'll ask mom.
We'll ask Jamie's mom to buy the tickets.
No I'm not gonna do.
I'm afraid of Jamie's mom.
Oh I understand that.
Alright well we're going on the ghost walk tonight?
Sure.
Alright cool.
Ghost walk.
Alright cool.
Hopefully.
Should we tell your mom?
Should we tell my mom?
Should anyone's mom need to know?
You said my mom said you were in charge.
No I said she said to hang out with you for a little bit after school.
Oh.
Just make sure you don't chop your toes off or something.
She's fine.
It's fine.
We hang out all the time.
The ghost walk doesn't go to the steel mill does it?
I don't know.
Take my car and we can leave a note for your mom.
Cool.
It doesn't go to the steel mill.
Oh good.
Good.
Why?
What goes on at the steel mill?
I don't know.
I was there last night and I just didn't want to go there.
I heard.
Why were you at the old steel mill last night?
No no no I wasn't there.
I was just near it.
You're not supposed to go that far from home.
I saw the light.
So you just went to it?
I went.
No I just went to look.
I was only right outside the house.
I went out the back door.
I could see the steel mill from the house.
It's over the lake.
That's not true but whatever.
Okay.
Anyway.
At this point all of you flip over your cards.
So how powered characters work in this game you each have two traits that will allow you
to take control of the NPC at a relevant point.
Some of them are powers while others are like traits traits.
I've got two traits traits.
Yeah that's okay.
There are other cards to come.
So you have a pool of seven power points right now and what those do if you need to use or
are going to use the power any of the powers let me know.
I'm going to tell you how many tokens it's going to take in order to do that.
When it drops down to like zero the person just passes out.
If you want to be like I want to create an earthquake so big that it destroys the whole
town you're probably going to kill the person right.
It's going to take too much.
They probably won't be able to do it anyways.
If you want to just take control like if you go to the candy store or some shit just turn
your card sideways and then you're going to assume control of the character.
What do you got over there?
I have love's caps and wind control.
Oh.
Right in the dark and earthquake.
I have can't read and ice breath.
I have love's candy and clumsy.
So you guys what do you do after school?
So we probably got a little bit of time before the ghost walk starts.
The ghost walk would be at like eight o'clock.
It's got to be now.
I wanted to stop at the hardware store and get the stuff that dad ordered for the Boy
Scout projects.
Okay that's on the way home so hopefully it's not a lot of stuff you wouldn't be able to
carry by yourself luckily we're all with you now.
Yeah it's not going to fit in my small little car.
Just fine.
Are we meeting up with you later?
Oh yeah I guess.
Me and Billy will go home and we will get changed and ready.
I'm not going to change.
I'm changed.
I thought you were wearing a different costume.
Halloween's tomorrow.
Oh.
We'll go with these three first.
Okay.
So we're going to swing by the hardware store real quick and pick up the dowels and gluing
screws and stuff.
Yeah.
What are you guys building in Scouts?
Trebuchet.
Oh Trebuchet.
Excellent.
I have to let me know how it comes out.
Miniature Trebuchet.
All right.
I've never been to the hardware store before have you?
Yeah my dad orders stuff here all the time.
Puts it on his tab and I pick it up and bring it home.
All right.
No he hardly ever pays it.
So they get mad at me and yell at me to yell at him.
Well that's not nice.
No.
You get to the hardware store it's a pretty normal interaction.
He hands you a box of dowels.
Inch thick dowels.
Screws, glue, whatever.
Random assortment.
Yeah.
Nothing major.
Just some wooden fasteners.
All right.
Let's take this stuff home.
I carry.
You guys are neighbors right?
I carry it.
Yeah.
I can help carry it.
What is your mode of transportation for you three?
We're walking.
I thought we had bikes.
This is the question that I am asking.
I took the bus to the airport.
I'm going to go to the airport.
I went to it in this house and I'm walking and I'm asking him in there listening to
me.
Okay.
Let's see.
I cut off the axis so it can stack out.
What's this other part?
This half way that goes, I can give him that
I mean near the end of the car.
Then get dressed, tell my parents I'm leaving and grab a bike. Grab my bike out of the garage.
Yeah.
I'm gonna have my backpack. My not school backpack.
Two backpacks, wow.
Andy and Billy's house. After a few minutes Billy comes up to you Andy.
Um, can we pick up Jamie too?
Okay.
Please.
Yeah, when are we leaving?
Anytime.
Do they tell you what time this is?
It's at eight o'clock later. It's not for a long time still.
Okay, yeah we can pick up.
Did you know the girl that went missing last night? I heard it on the news.
I kind of knew her. She's older than me.
Does it scare you?
Um, no, I don't really go out that much.
Yeah, that's good. Don't go out. Don't go out that much.
Um.
Well, we're going out tonight though.
Yeah, we're going out tonight.
So what do you want to do? What do you want to do? Are you bringing somebody?
Why don't you have a boyfriend?
I don't need the answer to you. I don't need the answer to you about my boyfriend life.
I'm gonna go call Jamie.
Okay, you call that girl. You make her walk here then.
People are getting stolen left and right and you're gonna make my girlfriend walk?
She's only 13.
Why is she so much older than you?
I don't know.
I don't know if you should be dating a girl this old.
I don't know. We all go to school together. It just made sense.
She's gonna have expectations but that's okay. Anyway.
I have expectations too.
Oh my god, no.
I expect her to be nice and kind like mom.
Okay, we're gonna pick her up later.
No, go call her and tell her we'll get her at 7 40.
7 40? We're gonna be late? What if my new friends order Philly without us?
This town's not that big. How long is it gonna take to get there?
I don't know. How long does it take to get anywhere?
Not very long. God, Philly, just call your stupid girlfriend.
She's not stupid. You're stupid.
You're stupid. I'm not stupid.
I'm not stupid. Hey, can you sign my quiz?
No.
Instead of mom. I don't want to show mom.
Give me it. I can do her signature.
Okay, thanks.
He got a 32. Sign his English top quiz.
Thanks. I didn't want to show mom that one.
Damn it, Billy.
What? I can't read.
That's technically Connor if he wants to take over.
I can't read. What can he expect from me?
We should stay after school or something.
With a teacher, but she smells funny.
Well, pick a different English teacher.
There's only one. That's the high school one.
There's only one. She'll help.
There's only one English teacher.
Yeah, in the middle school.
I have a different English teacher than you. Do you know that, Billy?
What? Who's your English teacher?
This is the Schwartz.
Oh, what does she look like? I've never seen her.
She looks like a super nerd.
Will you ask her if she can be my teacher?
No, you ask her.
Will you help me with my English?
I want to get better at English. Yeah, I'll help. I'll help.
Okay. Can you show me what I did wrong in this test?
Everything. You've got your name right. Kind of.
I know that one.
You have two L's in Billy.
Oh, okay. I'll remember that next time.
Two L's.
Billy, I really think you should show mom this quiz.
She might take pity.
And new...
Just tell her you can't read because it's a real problem.
Okay, maybe later.
I'll talk to mom.
But you already signed it.
I'll talk to mom. Yeah, don't show her that I signed it.
We'll just... We'll tell her I need some help.
Yeah, well, I'll tell her you need help for sure.
Tell her they're not doing a good enough job at the school.
Blame it on them. It's not me. I try hard.
Yeah, the public school system's not great.
They should have caught this in like second grade.
I pretend real good. Sometimes I look over and I can see Josh's paper.
I don't think Josh is getting the right answers either.
Maybe that's why I'm not doing so good.
Wait, did you fail the test or did you pass?
I failed.
Oh, that's right.
Okay.
Billy's not like he's crying, so I'm gonna go comfort him.
Billy goes and gets on the phone and he calls his girlfriend, Jamie.
Andy said she'd come and pick you up at 5 30. We'll be right there.
Damn it, Billy.
I'm sorry. I got nervous. Can we go pick her up?
No.
I like holding her hand.
Fine, but you're staying in the living room.
What do you mean?
And I'm telling dad that she's coming over.
Don't tell dad.
Dad's a big military man.
Ew.
I'm not telling Billy that. I'm telling everybody.
I didn't know what he did.
He's not around much.
Well, he's busy.
Can we go pick up Jamie?
Yeah. Yeah, fine. Fine.
It's not a very far drive over to Jamie's house and she's sitting on the stoop outside
when you pull up and she hops into the back seat where Billy is too. He sat in the back
preemptively. He didn't even sit in the front with you and she gets in and she goes, oh,
hey, Andy. That's the same voice. That's more of a boy's voice than the boy's voices.
It's okay. All kids' voices sound the same.
That's right. She's 13. Nope.
Leave that in.
Oh, hey, Andy.
Hi, Jamie.
That is the same fucking thing.
Hi, Andy. How are you doing today? Thank you for picking me up.
Hi, Jamie. No problem.
That's cool. I heard we're all going on the ghost tour later.
Yep. Did you bring money from your parents?
Yeah. I've got a couple of dollars.
Okay, cool. Let me drive away.
Billy goes, hey, do you still have that card that I gave you earlier? Jamie, I found this card.
And he starts hitting you in the head. Give me the card.
I handed it back to him.
Ah, hey, look at this. And Jamie goes, oh, yeah, that's a tarot card. The psychic lady,
the fortune teller lady down in town, she has those. She deals with those.
She goes, I found it in the woods. It was by itself.
Was it by itself? Because you sound suspicious when you say that.
Yeah, it was by itself. Maybe we should give it back. Maybe it's hers.
You can't be driving in circles. Fine.
It's not circles. You did that once. Remember when it was snowing and we spun in circles?
Yeah, but you can't tell anybody about that.
I just told Jamie.
Okay. Well, don't tell Jamie.
Okay. You start sweating. You guys walking home with a box full of dowels and wood glue and screws.
A couple mile walk. Are you headed down to the town?
Yeah.
Okay. You pass these three. You see them as you're coming up and they're walking
to the house portion of the town. I've grabbed one of the wooden dowels out of Josh's box and
threw it to Jack and grabbed one and was like sword fight. And so we're just like
whacking sticks at each other. Yep.
I'm going to pull up to them so coolly after he's to beat this and be like,
Hey, what are you guys up to? Oh, oh, hey, Andy, just, you know, just walking home.
Wham. Smoked in the chest.
Don't break my stuff.
Yeah, we're just having some fun with these guys.
Do you guys need a lift?
We're going to the fortune teller. Hey, Josh. Hey, Jack. This is my girlfriend, Jamie.
Hey, Billy.
Why does everybody have a fucking Jamie?
Hey, Jamie.
Oh, hey, hey, hey guys. Hi. Who are they? I don't know them that well.
No, I think you're a great ahead of us.
Yeah. Or two.
Well, you guys can all fit in the back seat. Your little go on.
I gotta drop this stuff off at home and we'll get there.
That's going to get 20 bucks from my dad.
We'll get there. The town's not very big.
If not, it's only a couple of miles.
Yeah. For high school students, we would drive back and forth all day long.
Yeah. Pop the trunk.
Okay. I'll pop the trunk, but I have to get out. It's an old car. I have to get out.
What kind of car is it?
I don't know. What's a good small 90s car?
I was going to say like an old mobile.
Like a tiny little Camry.
Fucking this thing is probably not new.
No, I want everyone to have to cram into the back seat.
There was no Camry.
No, there was a Gioniac.
A Gioniac.
A Saturn.
Saturn. Saturn was tiny.
Yeah. Yeah. Let's do a Saturn.
A little silver Saturn.
A little saturn.
Two or four seater.
Two or four door.
Four door.
Two door.
Yeah, two door.
Two door.
You gotta climb over the seat.
Before we all climb through, that's my whole childhood.
Billy's actually sitting on Jamie's lap.
Yes. And it's the seatbelt so the kids keep stepping on him. So me and Danny keep getting
like strangled a little bit because the kids are getting wild in the back seat.
It's just laying down across everybody's lap.
I'm a superman.
It's you two in the front seat and what, four of us crammed like this in the back seat.
It's a little cramped back here.
Just hold your breath. It makes it easier.
I can't breathe.
My windows rolled down all the way for fresh air because these boys smell.
They're getting to that age where they smell.
Oh no. You can't smell me in my superhero costume.
I can especially smell you in your superhero costume.
You wore that during gym class.
I wear it all the time.
You stink.
Jamie likes it.
He's been wearing it for a couple of days leading up to Halloween.
Can he change into a new one?
I can, I've got another, I've got a new one. We just have to go back home.
Well, let's stop at this fortune teller's house.
Oh, we're going to a fortune teller.
Yeah, we got to stop there because-
Yeah, we found our card. I think it's hers. We got to give it back.
Give back a card for a two dollar.
You think it's hers? Where'd you find it?
In the woods.
When were you in the woods?
Gym.
Gym?
Turned gym.
Man, Mr. Brown, he's going to keep his eye on these kids.
Yeah, Mr. Brown kind of lets us do whatever we want as long as we're up and active.
Where'd you find it in the woods?
Was it just like sticking to treated?
Somebody give it to you in the woods?
No one gave it to me in the woods.
No one gave it to you?
Yeah, it was just, you know, the trails behind the school.
Yeah, the trails.
Yeah, it was off of one of those.
Were you smoking cigarettes?
No, I don't smoke.
Okay.
Do you?
Sometimes.
None of your business.
Did you guys told his mom? No? You're just going to let him do this?
You're just going to let him kill himself?
Hey man, they're good for you.
It's none of your business.
Anyhow, this card, yeah, let's go. This looks kind of spooky.
Yeah, it definitely is. I think it's hers.
Okay.
Can we get out of this car?
In a minute. We're almost there.
Anything to get out of this car.
I drive slower.
Stop stepping on the seatbelt.
Well, just then a black cat darts in front of the car and pass.
Oh my God. I slam on the brakes. Oh no. Billy loves cats.
Billy's like, ah, ah, ah, I love cats.
Oh my God. I stopped the car.
And he starts like clambering onto your head trying to get out of the car.
I stopped the car.
Billy jumps out and runs into the street to try to catch this cat.
Can I roll? Do I roll for catching the cat? What's the plan?
You can just narrate what happens.
You narrate and take over Billy as the NPC.
Oh, uh, Billy runs out into the street and grabs the cat really fast,
but the cat scratches and runs and goes all crazy and he drops it.
And it darts into the woods.
Oh my God. I got it. It scratched.
Then Andy's like, Billy, get back in this fucking car.
I don't want to. Anyways, it's right there.
And he just like walks across the street to the fortune teller.
Okay, well you're covered in blood.
Brother just jumps across my lap and out a window.
Yeah, he really likes cats.
Jack and I are laughing because we just saw a miniature superhero chase a cat and get mauled.
We're like, oh my God.
That's what's happened.
And I was, yeah. And it's like, I also felt a little bit better with one less person being in the seat.
I was like, can we get out and go and can we get out?
Yeah. I mean, we get out. I'm holding the sliding door for him.
Let's give this card back to the lady.
I just want to stretch for a second. That was cramped.
Nope. Pile out.
You've been in the car for two minutes.
Felt like two years.
Not the way you drive.
All right. That's be nice.
You don't even know how I really drive.
You just said you drove slower to piss us off. So that's all I've, that's the only reference I have.
Inside Griselda's Palm readings express, you guys hear the tones of some sort of mystical radio.
It's dimly wet, kind of smoky. It smells like nog chompa in here.
And from out of the back, curtained off area, a large woman comes out.
And as she spreads the curtains, it makes some jingling bell noises.
Oh, children, children. What can I do for all of you today?
A palm reading perhaps or a tarot reading or, or we could ponder my orb and see what lays in your future.
Well, all of that sounds, you know, very interesting, but actually, um,
young Billy here found something that he thinks might be yours.
You wanted to bring it back.
Something of mine. What could it be?
Um, Billy bring, you have that card, right?
Yeah. I don't want to give it to her.
And he pokes it.
I take it out of his hand and I hand it to her.
Oh, what is this?
My brother found this in the woods by the school.
And she turns it over and reveals that it's the death card.
She lets out an audible gasp as she kind of jumps back.
What do you mean it was just found? This is, this is my exact card. It wasn't missing.
Where was it? Where did you find it? He said behind, behind the school.
Behind the school?
The trails behind the school.
This is a very bad omen indeed.
What do you mean a bad omen?
Well, the day after my card goes missing, a child goes missing and now it is brought back.
This is the card of death. This is a terrible omen for any that hold it.
So you only just lost the card?
Yes.
Before the girl went missing?
Yes.
Yes. Did she come to get a tarot reading from you?
She did. And this was the last card that she drew.
But I swear I put it back in my deck. But then when she left, it was no longer on me.
Okay. When was the last time you met at the eye doctor?
Probably at the eye. I don't have insurance. So a long time ago.
So she could have done something slight of hand. I heard she was kind of sneaky.
Jack, she probably stole it.
But she stole it. Well, serves her right then.
And she talks the card back into her into her pack.
So anything else that I can do for any of you?
I mean, I was going to get a tarot reading, but I don't know now.
I mean, last person to go is missing.
Yeah, I don't think so.
No, we're all set.
Did you know the missing girl?
A little.
Oh, you did.
We went to school together.
Oh, and did she seem like a floozy?
Maybe.
Well, hopefully she's all right.
It's been a long time since anyone went missing in this town.
What do you mean a long time?
When was the last time someone went missing in this town?
Oh, years ago. Years ago. I can't remember the exact date.
Did they also get a tarot reading from you?
No, no, I was quite younger then. I was only six.
Oh, okay.
Yes.
How many years ago was this?
Oh, I don't remember. 20 at least, I think.
You're only 26?
At least.
Maybe more. Maybe it's been more years than that.
I can't remember. Like I said, I can't remember. I was a child.
What happened? Do you remember any particulars of that case?
Yes.
When? I remember it was around Halloween time, about the same time now.
There were, I think there were three people that were kidnapped that year.
And I can't quite remember what happened to them after that.
But they were saved. They were found.
But I can't remember any more particulars than that, really. I was quite young.
Okay, they were found, that's nice.
You don't remember who they might have been? Any names?
They were kids. They were all, you know, weren't quite adults. I remember that.
But once again, I was very young.
Well, thank you for this information. I think we got a couple things to do still,
so we'll let you enjoy the rest of your day.
Well, good luck. Be safe.
We will do our best. You two the same.
I will. I'm going to stay here with the drawers locked now when I close,
which isn't until later. This is a very evening-oriented business.
I'm sure, especially with the holiday, you know, the increased traffic from the,
do you usually get a lot of business from the ghost walk?
Quite a bit. This is our most popular time of year, yes.
Well, good luck tonight.
Jack's just staring into the crystal ball.
Was there anything weird that happened when she was here for her,
really, other than drawing the death card?
You know, she was, she seemed to be out of sorts when she came.
Anyways, it was my first time ever seeing her. A lot of the people end up being repeat customers.
She came in blabbering about something in the lake and some lights,
but then she said she was forgetting all that because she was going out
to the pub later with her friends, as college students typically do.
But besides that, you know, nothing too unusual.
I'm going to look at Billy and say,
Billy, didn't you say there was lights up at the lake the other night?
There was lights at the steel mill.
Interesting.
Yeah.
We should go.
And the frog man.
And then Billy walks out the door.
The frog man.
Come on, Jamie.
Okay. Well, bye.
Good luck tonight.
See you around.
No, will you?
She pulls out a card.
Maybe.
Maybe not.
And puts it back in the pack.
Oh, that was weird.
All right, guys, come on, we got to get out of here.
We got to go.
All right. Um, I'll get back in the back seat of that car.
Where's the next stop we got one?
Anything else you want to do in this part of town while we're here?
Does anyone have to go to the bathroom?
I don't want to go back home.
Why?
I like the town better.
Plus mom's home.
Okay.
And you got to talk to her about my grades later.
So I don't want to go home.
Well, I'm not going to talk to her about them now.
We can go back to my house.
I was going to get money to go to the diner.
Okay.
Do you have any candy?
Should we check out the library first and see if we can find any information on the past missing
past missing person?
If we can find out any names, maybe talk to them.
Sounds like a good idea.
Billy's like, hi, I want to go to the bookstore, the cafe and bookstore.
Okay.
I want some candy.
I don't need candy right now.
We're going to get candy later.
I would like some candy.
We're going to get candy later.
We could.
Jamie and I want candy.
I don't care.
We can just walk there.
You can just pick us up later.
Nope.
It is right near the library.
You could drop them off there while I run to the library real quick.
Fine.
Okay.
Billy makes his way down to the Moravian Cafe and Bookstore.
Inside, finding that there is copious amounts of candy and he fucking loves candy.
He fucking loves candy.
All right, kids, you can go wherever you want, but we're going to leave here in like an hour.
Okay.
I mean, we got to, yeah, we got to come back here anyway.
Danny, you want to go to the library?
Yeah. I think they have like old newspapers and stuff there.
Oh yeah. We can use that Flippy Machine.
Yeah. The Flippy Machine.
Microfilm reader.
Microfiche. Yeah.
Let's go.
Jack, I can't believe you knew that.
He's a nerd.
Yeah. I read a lot.
Join in the AV club?
No. No. I like, I like our class the best, honestly.
Okay.
Danny, you want to go to the library now?
These kids are weird.
Yeah, the kids are weird.
All right, you guys go have fun in the bookstore.
Don't, you know, make a mess.
Be disrespectful.
We're going to go to the library.
We're leaving here in an hour.
We'll be fine.
Can we pause?
What's with this little, is this fine?
Yes. Those are adversity tokens.
That's for failing roles.
So you can use those later on.
Sorry, I forgot to address this.
It's okay.
I thought we did good because we were mentioning the story.
My bad.
Damn it.
That's for doing poorly.
Poorly.
We'll go to the library for us.
Hi, Mrs. Zelinsky.
We're here to look through some old newspapers.
Do you know where we could find some of the newspapers
from around the last time they were missing people in the town?
Missing people?
Why are you looking for the missing people?
Well, it could be connected.
Connected? That was, that was too long ago.
How long ago exactly?
It was 20 to 25 years.
I can't, I can't remember so long ago.
We're working on a school project and we just wanted to, you know,
find out if any of the papers mentioned people's names
and if any of them still live in the town so we could talk about it.
Yeah, probably.
Yeah, downstairs in the basement, round the corner,
take three rights and then it's on your left.
Okay, three rights and then it's on the left?
Yeah.
All right.
All the way down the basement?
Yeah, all the way down in the basement.
Unfortunately.
Okay. All right. Thank you.
Yeah, you're welcome.
Downstairs, you guys rifle through the newspapers.
Won't you both give me brains?
I'm rolls.
Gum AF over here, by the way.
Okay, we'll have you go first then.
I have a D4 for brains.
Okay, this is, this is going to be unfortunate
because I'm setting this at at least an eight.
So I'll try to blow up these dice.
I'm going to try.
It's a three.
Okay.
I also got a three on a D12.
We are not finding much.
I said it's an eight.
Yeah.
The failure is bad, but it's not a disaster.
Can I use one adversity token to find a useful item?
Also, do I get another one for failing that roll?
You will get another one for failing that roll.
So let me, let me tell you what happens first.
For both of you, it's bad, but it's not a disaster.
So what happens is you guys start using the
newspaper flipper thing.
However, neither of you have actually used it before
and you're not good at it.
So you almost immediately break it.
Now you can still have all the stacks of local newspapers
that you can get through and look through
if you want to, you know, do that.
But it's every month's newspaper
or every day's newspaper for the last like 30 years
down here in piles.
Danny, do you think we should mention to the library
that we broke this machine?
I don't think so.
I was just going to casually leave it alone.
Yeah, I mean, it was like this when we got here.
That's why we looked through the newspapers a little bit.
Okay. Yeah, that makes sense.
Yeah. I guess I'll take these two stacks over here
and try and see if I can find when she say was 20, 20ish years ago.
Yep. I guess we'll go with between 20 and 30 years.
So we'll just take a look and see if there's any major
headlines that stick out for us.
If not, we got to go check on those kids because.
Okay. It's getting to be time.
Yeah. All right.
Can I use my treasure hunter?
Yes. Give me that token.
And we will say you very quickly are able to narrow down
which stack would be about 25 years.
And you're just going through October's things a lot quicker than him.
He started at January.
Danny's like looking at January, January 2nd, you know, February,
just going through really slowly looking at them all.
You're able to narrow it down.
And after a short investigation,
you find a newspaper from October 31st, 1966.
And the front cover page is about the local sheriff at the time.
His name was Scott Tarni.
And he is the one that uncovered three kidnapped girls in 1966.
Define uncovered.
He discovered.
He discovered them. He didn't uncover them.
He found them, you know, alive.
Okay. Still.
However, the newspaper doesn't go into a lot of details of too much.
It says that they were found at the old steel mill.
Scott Tarni is the one that found them along with the rest of the police force
and arrested the kidnappers.
Holy shit, Danny. Check out this article.
Oh, wow.
Scott Tarni.
We should talk to him.
They arrested the kidnappers.
So maybe they can't be connected.
Is Scott still around?
I don't know.
But if it's part of that cult they talk about.
I have heard rumors.
Are there any names of the people they rescued in there?
Or pictures that might look familiar?
There are names of the three kidnapped victims.
They are Mary, Melissa, and Pam.
They all have last names too, but they don't matter.
They're not of any that you recognize.
For anonymity's sake, Mary's last initial is V, Melissa's is P, and Pam is S.
We could talk to the victims too.
Yeah, I don't recognize any of these names though.
Well, we could look them up in the phone book.
There's a phone booth outside.
All right. I'm down.
I think that's a good idea.
I guess phone books go by last name though.
Oh yeah.
Well, I mean, it's a pretty small town.
We could at least go check it out.
Yeah, we could look in to see if the sheriff's still around.
Mm-hmm.
We know his name.
We go back upstairs and just gonna ask the librarian.
We go out like, do you know if Scott Tarni's still around?
Tarni?
Yeah, he's around sometimes.
He's a bit of a homebody.
Yeah, I don't know where else.
I haven't seen him in quite some time.
He was like two sheriff's sheriffs ago.
Do you know where he lives?
I don't.
I think he just lives down the road like most other folks.
Yeah, I think he was in a trailer park district.
Okay.
Sunside Acres or something.
Sunnyup Acres.
Sunbakers.
Sunbaker Acres.
Yeah, Sunbaker Acres.
That's it.
Oh, yes, that one.
That's the nice one.
Yeah.
All right.
All right, thank you.
Thank you.
No problem.
But did you find what you were looking for?
We did get the film machine down there.
It wasn't working, but we found a newspaper.
Not working?
I had it working and she just storms off.
Thank you.
At the cafe and bookstore, we run into Josh and Jack and Billy and Jamie.
I have just given up on the two older ones and I'm just gonna start eating candy.
Yeah, and Billy just dives right in and starts eating candy.
He's just, you know, I fucking love candy.
I fucking love candy.
It's the best.
Yeah, I'm just gonna have a wrap a couple and chocolates and eat them
and a couple of little chewy pieces things.
Billy, slow down on your candy.
Hon, don't eat it all.
Give me some too.
Do you have any peanut butter stuff?
Yeah, what do you want?
You want Twix?
You want the caramels or the chocolates or what?
What do you want?
I want the nougat.
The nougat?
Give me the nougat.
All right, here you go.
We're gonna look so cool in our superhero costumes tomorrow.
I'm gonna put some in my pocket for later.
Oh yeah, good idea.
Good idea, in case you find any cats.
Yep.
Yeah.
Cats love chocolate.
What was that thing you said about frogmen earlier?
Oh, they were frogmen.
They were frogmen, there were lights at the lake
and there were no lights at the steel mill
and I could see it over the lake and they were frogmen.
Oh, I thought we were gonna talk on the phone last night
and you never called me.
Yeah, I had to go for a walk.
More chocolate.
He's got like a ring around his mouth.
Yeah, I just I had to go for a walk.
I just had to go.
Okay, well don't stand me up like that again.
I'm sorry.
Let's go look for this book.
And she drags, Jamie drags Billy to a different part of the bookstore
when Danny and Andy both enter finding Josh sitting eating candy
just like with a pile of wrappers in front of him from from Billy.
Oh, Jack's there too, but you guys these are the first two that you see.
All right, hey guys.
We found something at the library.
We're ready to go.
What did you do with the other two?
Hey, hey, hey Danny.
Hey, hey Andy.
Uh, Billy ate all this candy
and then they went over there to touch books with chocolate hands
and I walk away from the pile.
We should get out of here
and I'm just gonna grab Billy's hand and drag him out of the store.
He is desperately grasping a book.
Well, I imagine I'm stronger than him.
Wait, Andy, wait, this, wait, wait.
What?
Look at this book.
Do you have money for all the candy you just ate?
Yeah.
Do you?
Yeah.
Okay, what's the book you've got?
It's called Modern American Haunts.
I thought maybe it could help.
Okay.
Is it because you got chocolate all over it and I have to buy it?
Is that why you're saying it'll help?
No, it was and I found it in the historical section.
And I can't read.
I can't read.
I thought maybe I was being helpful.
Okay, now I'm going to flip through it.
Inside, you find an article on Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
You read it?
Mm-hmm.
Okay, I'll let you read it.
Yeah, I'm gonna read it out loud.
Yeah.
And you get a suspicion that Billy might be lying about how much he can read.
A lot of words here, a lot of difficult words here.
It was 1966, the last time Bethlehem, PA was plagued by a mysterious set of attacks.
The population was set into a panic as three juveniles were kidnapped and sent to be sacrificed
by a secret so-called Cthulhu cult.
The three teens were found right before the calamity happened,
with then-Sheriff Scott Tarni finding them tied up in the local steel mill.
Some people say they still see frogmen roaming in the area from time to time.
Billy, you said you saw frogmen.
What a- what?
What a frogmen?
I saw the frogmen down by the lake last night.
Did they come from the lake?
I don't know, they were like in the lake.
I could see their heads.
How did you know they were frogmen?
They looked like frogs.
One of them walked around and was like plop plop plop.
That they walked like people?
Were they the size of people?
I don't know.
They were far away so they were like this big.
Okay, that's helpful.
Thank you, Billy.
Yeah.
I'm gonna go up and pay for the book and all the candy.
Oh, thanks, Andy.
Thanks, Andy.
Yep, I meant to pay for you too also.
So, yep, and I'll dig out more money.
These are my new friends.
Okay, that's good.
I'll help you have friends.
We're best friends.
All right, Billy.
Is it almost time for the night walk?
The ghost walk?
We're getting close.
We gotta go back home first though.
As Billy mentions, the ghost walk, the owner purveyor of the cafe and bookstore comes over.
Oh, did you guys say the ghost walk?
Are you going on it later?
Yep.
You can purchase tickets here.
Well, I'll purchase the ticket for me.
Oh, excellent.
The rest of them already have tickets?
Yep.
We won for...
And Jamie said she's got her own money.
Jamie's gonna pay for her own ticket.
Jamie hands over the five bucks.
Okay, I'll buy Jamie's ticket.
You don't have to do that.
I've got it.
No worries.
Thank you though, Andy.
I thought she handed me the five dollars.
No, she handed it to the guy.
Oh, never mind.
Yeah, she's good to buy it herself.
Okay.
She actually handed you ten dollars.
He can't read and she can't count.
Oh, excellent.
So we will not be visiting the old tower anymore that we stopped at this season.
So if you were on it before and saw the old tower, then don't worry about that.
Structurally, it's not sound like it used to be, hence the name old tower.
It's old and hasn't been quite historically refounded like a lot of the buildings.
But that's what made it so much fun.
Well, can we at least go and see it?
We can stand outside it.
Yeah, if you have a Polaroid or another type of camera that needs film develop,
like an instant camera or something, you can take pictures of it, although it's dark.
So remember, picture quality matters, but we cannot go inside it.
However, we'll be visiting all the other buildings and local haunts and taking a look at them ghosts.
Okay, cool.
I guess that's all right.
Cool.
Excellent.
But we'll be back because it's still only like six o'clock.
Okay.
Yeah, it's still.
Yeah, we have some time.
Don't wait around here unless you're going to spend more money.
Nope.
Nope, these kids have spent enough.
We're good.
Okay, great.
Josh, where do you live?
I live up Main Street at the end of the houses.
Okay.
Down the residential area.
And you drive there.
We all cram back in the back of the car.
Jamie, you can sit on my lap.
All right, you guys drive back home.
Drive back to Josh's house.
I run up and push the little button on the garage and open it and pop the trunk.
Yeah, I pop the trunk.
She gives out and opens the trunk, put the stuff in and I run into the house.
Dad, I need like 30 bucks for tonight.
What's your dad like?
He just doesn't want to be bothered.
So as long as I annoy him enough or give him enough of a reason, he just do whatever and go away.
$30 is so much in 1990s money.
Yeah, well, you doubled the amount of people that were in the car.
I thought I was only paying for these two, so I was going to ask for 20.
Roll a charm.
Roll a charm, great.
Roll a charm.
Four, we'll make it kind of low.
If you get 30, you need a six.
Great.
Yeah, he gives you 20 bucks.
All right, I'm going to go get a six.
He gives you 20 bucks.
All right, get out of here.
I got things going on.
You got calls to make.
Thanks.
And I just grab my shit and leave.
Same thing since we're neighbors.
Me and Danny run over to my house real quick and I hit my folks up for some money.
Okay.
And I was like, hey, mom, dad, a bunch of us are going to the ghost walk tonight.
I was going to see if I could grab a couple bucks.
Oh, the ghost walk.
I remember the ghost walk.
Yeah, I was going to see if I could get a couple bucks so we could grab some candy apples or something.
Uh, how much do you need?
And he puts his hand in his pocket.
I don't know.
I think everybody's got usually a little of their own money, but somebody doesn't.
Maybe 30 bucks, 40 bucks.
What do you think?
40 dollars?
I don't know.
40?
I don't know.
That would have cost me a whole day's work.
Let's call it 30.
Roll the charm.
Remember, you'd get a cheeseburger back then for like five bucks.
12?
All right.
Then it gives you 30 bucks.
30 bucks.
Thanks, dad.
You want anything?
You want me to bring back anything?
Yeah, a bookmark.
A bookmark.
Yeah.
Shaped like a ghost.
Cool.
Thanks.
Thanks, kiddo.
No problem.
All right.
Hey, Danny.
Nice to see you hanging out with your cousin.
Oh, yeah.
Your ex-wife called me to hang out with him after school today for a little bit.
Hey, don't mention Marcia.
Hey.
She's my mom's sister, all right?
All right.
I can't do anything about that.
How's she doing?
You know what?
I don't know.
Ah, that good, huh?
All right.
Get out of here.
Go do kid stuff.
All right, pops.
All right.
Now I'm going to grab my backpack and my rollerblades.
We're not taking bikes.
You were a rollerblader?
It was the 90s, dude.
Okay.
What about the rest of you?
Yeah, I mean, I'll throw my skateboard in the back.
All right.
I was going to say I also have a skateboard.
I don't trust that I'm going to be able to rely on these two to get us home tonight.
Like, yeah, did you stick around while all this happened or did you take off in your car?
I stuck around.
Oh.
I thought we were doing stuff.
You and Billy just sang a Madonna in the car.
I'm going to go get changed.
Okay.
We'll just leave.
Come on, James.
Oh, we all leave?
We're leaving.
Okay, you guys are like around the block.
Yeah, it's not far.
It's not far.
It's not far at all.
Anything you want to do at home?
I am going to change.
I'm going to wear the ghost, the sheet costume.
Okay.
Are you guys ready?
Jack, you could totally just make a ghost bookmark for your dad.
Yeah, but I didn't need that much money either, so.
Just saying.
It's like he bought himself a bookmark.
Think about it.
I mean, you know what I'm saying.
I'm just going to get it for him.
You guys ready?
Yeah.
Yeah, let's go.
Yep.
I'm just going to grab like a couple candies out of the dish that's on the counter for when
he gets trick or treaters for like the three of us.
We never set up a time with those guys.
Should we just kind of walk around the block and see if they're ready?
Yeah, we could just go skate outside and see when they come down.
All right.
Yeah, sure.
We skateboard around the street.
As you're skateboarding around the street, headed down towards town,
you guys do run into a group of senior high schoolers,
senior citizens.
That's where I thought we were going.
Senior citizens.
No, we're leaving all senior citizens out of this here.
We got to fight these guys now.
Greatest generation.
They're from the Caribou Lodge.
You are soon stopped as you guys are biking and rollerblading through the town,
skateboarding.
Was anybody biking?
No bikes.
You guys are stopped as you're skateboarding and rollerblading down towards Main Street
by a group of jocks led by none other than senior class president Tommy Garvey.
Hey, what's up, nerds?
Hey, Tommy.
Hey, Danny.
What are you doing with these two little punks?
It's my cousin and his friend.
Just going to the ghost walk, man.
You're going to the ghost walk?
Wasn't actually going to tell me you're trick or treating tomorrow?
I mean, they might be.
They're kids, dude.
Are you coming to the Monster Mash tomorrow?
The Monster Mash?
Yeah, the dance.
The dance?
I don't know.
Hey, because nobody wanted to go with you, right?
Hey, yeah.
Who was going with you?
Who's going with me?
Shelly.
Oh, it's Shelly.
Yeah, it's Shelly.
I've heard she's been going with everyone, so have a fun time.
Oh, is that so?
She's been going around.
I heard Shelly has it.
Tommy moves to push you off your skateboard.
So he's going to roll fight versus your grit.
Okay.
Well, I got a 20.
I just like step out of the way.
You've got a 20 on grit?
Yeah, I took it.
I'm true grit.
Fantastic.
All right.
Yeah, he only got a seven on his fight.
Oh, yeah.
As he goes to push me, I just kind of step back and out of the way
and just help him topple himself over on the ground.
He slips and like busts his lip a little bit.
He's like, what the fuck, man?
Oh, sorry.
I didn't see you lose your balance.
Guys, fuck these guys up.
And so all of these seniors spring to pit you and like move you kids away from them
because they don't want to hurt you.
You're very little compared to them.
What time is it?
730.
Can I trip one of them?
You can try.
Okay.
So it'll be their fight versus your grit.
Cool.
Let's get a one.
16.
Oh, shit.
All right.
You trip the one that comes to grab you.
Jack, you fighting?
You fighting?
You getting manhandled?
You getting apprehended by older kids?
I mean, yeah, I can't charm my way out of this one.
I mean, you can try.
I'm fighting.
Okay.
So you're going to, since he's coming at you, he's going to fight against your grit.
My grit?
I mean, you can try and charm and say, hey, that guy just fell.
Let's all go on our way.
Six.
Yeah, he rolled a seven.
So he picks you up pretty easily underneath your arms and like skewts you far away from
Danny and the other kids.
Tommy jumps back up, tries to jump on you with two other kids.
And he's trying to get them to hold your arms while he comes up
and punches you in the face for making a fool of him.
What do you want to do?
I'm going to try and struggle to get free and say, hey, come on, you just fell.
We don't need to do this.
These are children here.
So he'll go against your grit then.
You got a nine.
He got a one again.
So I just kind of slip out of his friends who don't hold me very well.
And I, you know, just kind of step back and like, come on, man, like, just, just go on your way.
We're just trying to go to the ghost walk here.
You know, I'm sorry you fell.
Are you going to try to run away if he comes back at you?
Yeah, I'm going to try and like, you know, grab the kids and usher them along.
Okay.
Roll flight then.
Five.
Okay.
So he beat, he beat your flight.
So he grabs you.
He pulls you back.
They still have a young Jack here grappled.
Josh, what are you, what are you up to?
I just see these guys.
Did I just see him run?
Yeah.
He tried to grab you and pull you along.
And there's nothing happening with him.
He just sat down.
No, he's fully grappled.
Like he's held.
Oh, he's held.
Yeah.
Okay.
I'm going to run up and from behind, kick the one that's holding him in the balls.
So it's my fight versus his grip.
What'd you get?
I got an eight.
I got a nine.
Okay.
You kicked the one that was holding, holding him.
Okay.
Oh, cool.
Jack, run.
Okay.
Both of you roll flight.
Eight, two.
You have a really bad flight.
What does he need to get?
Cause I have loyal, which I can pay one thing to give him a plus two.
Can I grab him as I run by and like drag him in his flight?
You can do that.
He needs four total to match, but that's all right.
If he fails by like one or two, then he'll like, I mean, if he's got a two and I pay my one
adversity token because I'm loyal to my friends.
Yeah, it'll get him up to four.
So I'm going to pay that.
Jack, you go to run away.
The only thing that happens to you as Danny helps you out, trying to put himself in harm's way
instead of your attacker, you get pushed down.
You are going to get a scrape like down the length of your arm.
But you're fine.
And you're able to run away with Josh.
I'm a quick healer.
There's no long-term consequences of that.
Danny, you still trying to flee?
Uh, yeah.
Four.
On a four, these guys managed to get you and Tommy gives you one good punch right to the gut.
And then, and then he's like, let's get out of here guys.
These guys aren't worth our time.
Fuck you, Danny.
You're a real jerk, Tom.
And then he like kicks your skateboard into a yard.
What a jerk man is trying to walk you.
Trying to walk to town.
You guys okay?
I'm good.
All right.
I'll be all right.
Don't, don't tell your mom about that.
Yeah, no.
No, don't tell Andy.
I think Andy and Billy and the other kids come driving by around the corner.
We'll stop.
Hey guys.
Hey.
Hi.
Still hanging out in the street.
Oh yeah, we were just walking.
Just skating.
Yeah, skating to town.
Oh, you want to ride or?
Yeah, let's uh, let's get going.
It's almost time for the ghost walk, right?
Yeah, let's go.
It's like not much further to town.
I'm just going to hold on to the back of the car and my skateboard.
He's thinking the same thing.
Perfect.
They're all big fans of Back to the Future.
Lock here, my arm inside the window of the car and just stand on my skates.
And so.
Yeah, you guys get back to town.
It's very nicely decorated.
Like this town gets very into their holidays.
So fall and Christmas obviously are big ones.
But for the fall and the Halloween, they have everything decorated nicely.
Looks like actual lamps are put out.
Plenty of jack-o-lanterns and leaves have fallen nicely at this point.
And it's pretty nice, but it is dark now.
And as you guys move down towards the cafe and bookstore,
you can see that there is a small crowd of a couple of people standing outside the store.
Is this the whole crowd for the ghost walk?
Yeah, yes it is.
I'm glad to see you guys back.
You weren't just bullshitting that you were coming later.
All right, if you've got your tickets, form a line and we'll get on our way.
Everybody take a map.
We'll see that's where you guys got the map from.
Everybody take a map and let's get ready to go.
Make sure you get your snacks and your drinks from inside and then we can begin.
I grabbed Billy and I think we're not getting more candy.
You had enough candy earlier.
I didn't have any.
That is some bullshit.
All right.
I'm gonna run and grab a hot chocolate two-sided donuts.
I'm not sharing.
Yeah, I'm gonna do the same.
That sounds good.
I'm gonna grab one side of donut from each of them when they get back.
Thank you.
You get half because I don't let go.
I get the whole one from Jack though.
I give it up.
Well, all right.
If everybody's ready, we're gonna begin our tour here.
We're gonna head first down to the Moravian Historic District.
Excellent.
Yeah, not that the whole town isn't historic,
but these are the oldest buildings in Bethlehem.
They are right on the river.
They have been historically redone.
However, that does not dissuade the ghosts of eras past from visiting time to time.
And sometimes they can be seen through windows
or even in the same hallway that we wander down ourselves.
Now, everybody make sure to leave your flashlights here.
We want a nice authentic pure light.
I've got a good lantern here that'll light our way.
Everybody stay close in a group and let's go see some ghosts.
Okay, let's go.
At the group, there is six of you.
And there's about four other people that are on the tour too.
So there's only about 10 in total, including the tour guide.
And you start making your way down to the old historic buildings.
Some of them are old dorm buildings.
Some of them are old industrial buildings.
Nothing too crazy.
They all are pretty nice inside.
They've been historically redone.
And you visit about four before the tour guide.
And he says, well, we haven't had any luck tonight,
but perhaps through the old ruins or the cemetery,
we'll have some better luck, spy some spooks and haunts.
And we're going to go by the old tower,
but we're not going to go into the old tower.
Yes, it seems.
Oh, was there a ghost?
Anyways, let's continue on.
Everybody be careful when crossing the street.
And you guys cross the street to go towards the old tower.
Everybody give me a brain's roll.
We're looking for a check of 12.
What?
Oh, shit.
So I got a four.
Oh, shit.
I got a four.
I got a four as well.
But you get to explore the rest.
I got a four.
And a one.
So it's a five.
So five.
You all got four?
Oh, shit.
I also get plus two diversities, not one every time.
Oh, shit.
How many should you have now?
Two more.
I don't know.
I should have at least two.
Okay.
But everybody failed?
Yes.
So remember, when you get the maximum on your die in this game,
you get to roll again.
Is this a perception thing?
Yes, I guess.
Definitely.
Okay, because I got intuitive.
Spend one token to ask the GM about surroundings.
Okay.
So would this help me with that?
Sure.
I'll give you something.
Is there something about this particular building area
that we just walked through that we'll leave in the significant?
Not significant.
Not exactly what it is.
The Historic District, there's nothing significant to the plot here.
Okay.
You've heard a lot of rumors over the years about people seeing ghosts in here.
A lot of it comes from college students and people that are on this ghost walk.
The Old Tower does have caution tape wrapped around the door.
However, you do notice that the door is actually a jar,
but it is dark inside.
Okay.
Can I sneak over and stick my head in the door when they're not looking?
Like if the door moves away a little bit?
I mean, you can.
You can do anything that you want, really.
Even if I just see like an old water pump or something,
it's still worth like...
I still have to go see in the tower.
Yeah, you poke your head in.
There's like an old chair and it's just in the pump station piece.
It's really...
It's a water tower, right?
No, it's just a tower.
Like more like a watch tower than anything.
It's just a little busted chair.
Yeah, it's just an old tower.
Is there like a history to it that we would all know?
Yes, definitely.
It is supposedly where somebody in the Revolutionary War
was always stationed in there and another very famous historical person
rode through the town shouting,
they're here, they're here, but you can't remember the whole part of it.
You might be getting messed up with somebody else in Boston, but you're not sure.
There's a lot of history that mixes together down here.
Okay.
Yes.
I'm gonna lean over to Danny and be like, maybe we should sneak in here later.
Yeah, I was gonna say you want to check out the abandoned tower.
Yeah, that sounds pretty cool.
Where did Josh go?
Jack, where'd your friend go?
You're gonna disappoint.
I guess we'll go check out the tower now.
Oh, okay.
Josh, what are you doing?
Everyone, the tower is closed.
The tower is closed.
Come on, back to the group.
It's very obvious when one person goes missing.
All right, those kids were, you know.
Trying to get the kids back.
There we go.
They're trying to go over there.
Is anything cool in there?
No, just a chair.
What kind of chair?
A broken one.
Oh, a broken chair.
All right, well.
All right, well, we're gonna make our way down through the old ruins here.
They're shaker ruins.
They were an old group of people that used to get together.
They had some strange views on the world and how to create progeny,
which they didn't do.
They just wanted people to assume a little more than we need to know.
Anyways, there's been lots of ghosts sighted down through here.
So keep your eyes open.
Head on a swivel.
Okay.
Sure.
Where do you usually see them the most?
In the dilapidated old townhouse.
Dilapidated old townhouse.
And this is safer than the tower?
We're not going in the townhouse.
We're just gonna walk by.
Just stick to the path.
Follow me.
Single file, please.
Maybe that's why we're not seeing any ghosts.
They're in the places.
Well, you can't go in the places.
You can see them from the outside.
Trust me, this is a very successful tour.
We've seen four ghosts this year alone.
Oh, where?
Here, there, and everywhere.
Well, we've seen one here.
One in the historical district and two in the graveyard.
All right, well, we're not seeing anything here, so let's get along to the graveyard.
Yes.
And he leads you into the graveyard.
And it's a pretty old cemetery.
It's got, you know, a number of mausoleums in it.
It's pretty big.
You guys know that this is like the only place in town where people get buried
and have been getting buried here for a long time.
You know, I've never actually been in this graveyard as long as we've lived here.
That's weird.
Yeah, I try to avoid it.
I've been here.
I be fucking kidding.
Hey, be nice to my brother.
Hey.
I can say it.
I thought we were friends.
We are.
That wasn't me.
Who said that?
Billy, why are you so creepy?
Must be the ghosts.
Why are you being in the cemetery?
Oh, but there was a cat.
And just as he says that, a black cat runs through the cemetery.
And he runs off chasing it.
Billy.
I'm going to run after him.
Jamie's going to run after her.
After too.
Oh my god.
Should we go after him?
We got to stick to the path.
Maybe we should wait here.
The tour guide's going to yell at us again.
Do I catch him?
We're going to stay here.
You guys go ahead.
I'll wait slightly behind and make sure they're okay.
I'm going to stick to the tour.
You're sticking to the tour too?
Yeah.
I already got yelled at.
Yes, you did.
Good call.
So yes, you eventually catch Billy, although he's pretty sly moving through this graveyard.
But it's very dark and you're having a hard time seeing.
And as you get further and further from this single lamp light from the tour guide, you
eventually get to Billy behind a mausoleum and you grab him and you're able to shake
him and he's like, ah, Andy, there was a cat.
Yeah, I know.
But we can't chase it.
No, but we can't chase every cat we see.
But I like the cat.
Okay.
Well, there's other cats and I'm going to drag him back to the tour.
So as you guys are all turned looking from where Andy ran off of, suddenly it goes pitch
black.
The lantern light goes out and the tour guide is like, oh, oh my, hold on one second.
The lantern went out.
Andy, all of a sudden you hear a high pitched shriek from several yards behind you.
I jump and try to run back towards where I think the group was.
Where's Jamie?
Shit, I don't know.
Billy like begins pulling you around.
Where's Jamie?
She was right here and I'm going to start yelling for her.
Oh, Jamie.
You don't hear an answer.
Okay.
Andy, Billy, Jamie.
We're over here.
What happened?
Who was that?
Was that, is everybody okay?
We lost Jamie.
You lost Jamie.
Yeah, and these tour guides told us not to bring flashlights, which was not good.
Hold on, hold on.
What?
Somebody's missing?
And then finally his torch or his lantern comes back and he runs over to where you guys
are.
What do you mean?
We've lost someone?
Yeah, one of our kids is missing.
Isn't that your job to make sure they don't go?
Well, yes, you weren't supposed to run off.
There's supposed to be single file.
Danny, Danny, I have a flashlight in my backpack.
You have a flashlight in your backpack?
Yeah, I turn the backpack towards him.
I take it out and turn on the flashlight.
Okay, well, let's look.
What was her name?
Jamie.
And you guys scour through the graveyard for a few minutes.
Did she run off?
What happened?
Where was she?
Why were you so far away?
My brother ran off after a cat and then she ran with me to go get him.
And then it went dark.
We have to call the police.
Oh, okay.
Yes.
Well, that's what happens when kids-
Go call them then.
Don't you have a walkie talkie or something?
A walkie talkie to the police station?
Well, to the bookstore.
No.
They have a phone.
I don't have a phone.
Call the police.
We're going to keep looking around here.
Who's the oldest?
Me.
Okay.
You go call the police at the bookstore and I'll keep looking for this kid.
Are all of you going to be safe?
Yeah, man.
Make a decision.
Go.
We'll be fine.
Safe as we were before, somebody just went missing.
How safe are we?
I know the rest of you won't go missing.
You don't.
Just please go call the cops.
Just go back and call.
He runs off.
Everybody that wants to live, come with me.
I think he's being dramatic.
Is the tour over?
I think it is now.
I think we just ended it.
Best tour ever.
Billy, why do you have to chase that cat?
I love cats.
More than your girlfriend?
No.
Well.
I don't know what love is.
Start looking for her.
I'm looking.
Did she have a bag?
Is there anything that we might be able to find on the ground, Billy?
Did she have a bag with her?
Like a purse?
Search the ground.
A satchel?
Seeing anything?
Yeah, she had like a satchel.
Where did you find Billy?
What was the path?
Over here, by this hill.
I used Josh's flashlight and looked over the hill for anything,
but I just see some disturbed grass and not much more.
Like, I don't know.
These could just be our tracks.
I can't see anything.
Should we get back to the group?
Yeah.
Now we're just having a little dissimilar cherry.
I mean, we're just looking for her.
I don't...
Jamie?
I don't see or hear anything.
Can we roll to look?
Yeah, but you gotta be, you know, you can roll to look.
You gotta tell me what you're looking out or for.
Do you find any signs of...
We're Boy Scouts.
Come on, man.
Yeah, I'm looking for...
Do we see any broken sticks, tracks on the ground that look like they're deeper or weird or...
Or knocked over gravestone?
Move anywhere.
Everybody rolled rains.
Rains.
Five.
Eleven.
Six.
One.
Jack, you are the only one that, as you're walking around,
you get a particularly foul odor in your nostril.
It smells very fishy as you're like walking around past some of these gravestones and mausoleums.
Particularly around one large mausoleum.
I smell something.
It wasn't me.
No, not like people.
Then I go and I like, I smell it and I open it.
Can I open it?
Is it locked?
It's very stiff.
You can try to open it with...
He's a pretty brawny child.
Try to open it with your brawn.
Ten.
Okay.
Set at 14.
I got a ten.
You can roll again because you blew up, right?
That's a D10.
Okay, so your dice is blown.
I got a three.
And I help him out.
I see him trying to pry this thing open.
I say, what are you doing, Jack?
Let me help you.
I'm almost at it.
Pay one of those to give him a plus two.
You guys, I made a shoe.
I grab a stick and help him pry it.
It creaks open.
On the floor there inside the script, there is a lady's cardigan.
Does it look like the one that Jamie was wearing?
It is not Jamie's.
Andy, you were friends with that girl.
You knew that girl that went missing.
Does this look like something she would have wore or her size?
No, that does not look like anything she was wearing tonight.
No, not Jamie.
Oh, sorry.
The other girl.
The college girl that went missing.
Oh, Ellie.
It could be.
I mean, I guess it's her size.
Well, let's look around.
Is there anything else in here that looks interesting?
Yeah.
Do you guys smell that?
Yeah.
What is that smell?
I smell it too.
It smells gross.
It does smell pretty gross.
Like a swamp?
Maybe you two should stay out here.
Let me go look.
I'm going in.
You boys stay out here.
Okay.
It's not a very deep mausoleum or anything like that.
There is a couple of family names up on the wall.
What are they?
One of them is Tambor.
One of them is Scott.
There's like four NPCs named Scott.
Yeah, his last name is Scott though.
No, his last one is Wyatt.
I don't recognize any of these names.
I don't really see anything else interesting in here.
Weird that a cardigan was in a behind a door that was so hard to get open.
If they called the cops, we should at least bring this sweater back there
and try and get headed back towards the cafe.
Yes, I agree.
Yeah, by the time you guys get back there is a sheriff's car parked outside.
He's talking to the tour guide.
Should we tell the cops about this cardigan?
Could be that alligator.
Yeah, probably.
We have no reason not to tell them.
So we approached the tour guide and the cops.
It was someone in our group that went missing
and we found something while we were searching for, but I don't think it's hers.
And where were you when this happened?
On a tour?
On the path in the cemetery.
And why did you have this girl's sweater?
We just found it while looking for...
We've been looking for...
This is very incriminating.
We've been looking for Billy's girlfriend.
Who's Billy?
That's Billy.
The whole reason we called you was that girl was missing.
Yes, that is why I'm here.
And now we're presenting you with more evidence.
When was the last time that you saw her?
When she ran away.
So you were the last one to see her?
We all saw her like 10 minutes ago before the light went out.
And the cardigan was where?
In a mausoleum that was stinky.
A stinky mausoleum.
Okay.
Interesting.
We think the sweater might be Ally's.
Ally's?
Ally's.
Ah.
Yep.
How do you know? Did you know the girl?
Did you know the missing girl?
Not really.
Hmm.
So it may or may not be.
It's her size.
It's a girl's sweater, man, and it's in a mausoleum.
It's creepy as hell.
It smells like frogs in there.
It is creepy.
We may have to shut down the ghost tour for tomorrow night.
This is the second time someone went missing in the area.
Okay, thank you, kids.
Be on the lookout for more cops that want to talk to you and get your official statements.
And he goes off with the tour guide down towards the cemetery and the old ruins.
I can't believe that guy. He didn't sound very interested at all.
No, he seemed pretty quick to blame us.
He just let you keep what is obviously evidence.
Yeah.
Well, I guess telling them was pointless.
We're gonna stuff it in the backpack for later.
No, he took it. He did take it.
Oh, he did take it?
Yes.
Okay.
He did take it.
Holy shit, he did not.
He didn't take that card again. He thinks we're fucking with him.
All right. So we gotta try and figure out what's going on.
We lost Billy's girlfriend is gone.
My girlfriend is missing?
Like Billy's hysterical.
They found the last missing people at the steel mill.
Jack and the Reese Candy.
We can't leave her down there.
How far is the steel mill from here?
It's to get there. You probably gotta drive about 10, 15 minutes.
Plus it's in a very gated off place.
We probably don't need to go there to look for Jamie.
Should we continue looking for Jamie?
She's my girlfriend. We have to look for her.
We might do better than the cops.
Yeah, let's at least try. He didn't try at all.
So let's go back to where we think we are.
So we're in like the middle of town.
Where should we start? Back at the cemetery?
The old tower.
Yeah, the cemetery.
It's about 930 at night now.
Just like that.
I'm a teenager. I don't care.
I'm already in trouble.
Yeah, you're gonna have to tell mom.
It's fine, Billy. Don't worry about it right now.
Are you gonna tell her about the kidnapping?
Yeah, probably.
Oh, she's gonna be so mad.
Oh, probably not, but all right.
We have to tell Jamie's parents.
We have to call her.
No, that's the cops job.
We have to call her.
The cops get to tell Jamie's parents.
Don't worry about it.
Do we just please look?
Do we see any indication of somebody being dragged?
Tell me what you're looking for.
I am looking for like spots where the grass or the...
Where specifically?
I thought we were working our way back to the cemetery.
Are we moving our way back to the cemetery?
Yeah.
Correct?
Yeah.
As you move down there, the sheriff is down there.
And he goes, kids, kids, what are you doing back down here?
This isn't where kids go.
This is a crime scene.
Active investigation.
Get out of here before you're next.
You see them all by yourself.
We really want to help.
We're concerned for our friends.
We got reinforcements coming.
And we're here now.
You're not reinforcements.
You are kids.
Yeah, but we've got eyes.
We can look.
All right.
We got a clubhouse over here in the woods.
We're going to go play and we've got a mind.
We're done with this.
And where is this clubhouse?
Couldn't we be harboring a fugitive?
Nope.
It's all about a sawmill.
We start walking away.
I start walking.
Yeah.
I'm just going to follow.
I'm going to go towards the...
Is the tower nearby?
The tower is closer to the historical district.
It's on the...
It's right off the street.
It's not far.
It's like you can see it from the graveyard.
Yeah, let's head back towards the tower.
Since you already broke all the rules, you might as well look in there again.
And we're out of the cops' sight.
Are you going to the Monster Mash tomorrow, Andy?
The school dance?
Yes.
Yeah, I have to go.
And who are you going with?
Nobody.
Nobody?
No, I'm going because the soccer team has the snack booth.
I'm obligated.
So should we just go home and let the cops take care of it?
Several more cops do pull up to the graveyard as you guys are leaving.
Yeah, I guess we leave.
Yeah, I mean, someone just got kidnapped.
Maybe we should get these kids back home.
Yeah, that's a good idea.
Just as you're moving towards your car, Fred, one of the more popular kids in school,
that is also a senior, comes walking by you, Andy.
And he's like, oh, hey, Andy.
Oh, hey, Fred.
Hey, what are you guys doing down here?
Well, we were enjoying the ghost walk, but then a kid went missing.
A kid went missing?
Yep.
Who?
My brother's little girlfriend, Jamie.
Oh, I don't think I...
I don't know her either.
I don't know anybody.
We'll just transfer it here last year.
Oh, that's true.
Are you going to the Monster Mash tomorrow?
Yeah.
Yeah?
Yeah, I'll be there.
Did you have anybody to go with?
No, I was just going to sell some snacks and probably go home.
Oh, well, maybe...
Maybe if you wanted to have a dance tomorrow, we could get a dance together.
Have a dance together.
Okay.
Oh, cool.
Sure, maybe.
All right, cool.
So I'll see you there.
Yep.
All right.
That's all right.
See you tomorrow.
All right, cool.
Cool, cool, cool.
Bye.
Is that your boyfriend?
No.
Shut up, Billy.
That guy was weird.
Yeah.
He's nice.
He's nice enough.
I'm probably not going to dance with anybody, but...
I don't even know if I'm going to go to that dance.
Yeah, I have to go.
Are you guys going?
Jack and Josh?
Are we going to the dance?
Yeah.
Like after trick-or-treating?
I'm just going to go with my girlfriend.
Do you guys have girlfriends?
No, I wasn't planning on going.
Oh.
I was just going to go home.
After trick-or-treating and eat candy.
Oh, you guys can all go trick-or-treating together.
Then we can go to the dance together.
Billy doesn't have his girlfriend to go trick-or-treating with anymore.
We're going to find her.
We're going to go trick-or-treating to the dance tomorrow with you.
We're going to hang out until we find Jamie.
Where did you see the lights the other night?
They were coming from the steel mill.
The steel mill.
And you found the card.
And you found the card in the woods by the school.
Yeah.
Those things are far apart.
I just still confuse as what's going on.
Andy, we have to find Jamie.
Yeah, hope.
Since we're on the side of town, should we just head towards the steel mill?
Go towards the steel mill and see if we see any lights?
Yeah.
Or frogmen?
Did the paper say frogmen?
It's a book.
The book was talking about frogmen.
Do you want to read the book?
And I'll hand him the book.
Okay.
I'm going to read the book.
I mean, you don't have to read it.
No, I just got to take a peek real quick.
She's just testing to make sure you can read.
I just look and there's a picture of a frogman, like just an illustration.
Like, oh yeah, frogmen.
I believe it now.
So let's...
Billy, you said you thought, where did you see the frogmen?
They were on the side of the...
In the lake.
Oh, in the lake.
In the lake.
I was looking at the steel mill because I saw the red lights and then I saw the frogmen,
you know, in the water.
And the one was plop, plop, plop as you walked around.
Okay.
Maybe we should park far away from the steel mill and walk quietly to the steel mill.
Sounds like a great idea.
And not right next to the lake.
Yeah.
We'll avoid the lake.
All right.
Well, let's all get in the car and at least the eyes won't be so squished in the back seat.
So...
She was sitting on his lap.
That made no difference.
I'm just sitting on my lap. Please don't ever say that to me again.
Keep those things to yourself.
Yeah.
You guys drive to the steel mill then?
Yeah, we like park like a half a mile away.
Okay. In front of you, this steel mill is dark.
It is cold looking.
There is a large fence all the way around it, pretty high up.
It's like, you know, just a building that's been shut down for 25 years.
No sounds, not much coming from it.
All right, guys.
So you don't know this about me,
but my secret power is actually finding holes in fences.
So I think we can maybe get a closer look.
I'm going to walk around this fence, kind of knocking on a few of the poles.
Is it a chain link or is it like a raw iron?
Okay, this is a chain link fence.
Yep.
Okay. So I'm going around and I find one pole where the two parts of the chain link can kind of meet
and I try and, you know, work it apart a little bit on the bottom.
There's already one of the little clips that holds it together.
It's already kind of busted a little bit.
So I try and work into it a little more and see if I can bust it open.
Okay. What do you, what stat are you using?
I'm going to use the grit because my street smarts.
Okay.
I'll bust through this.
Pretty, pretty high roll here.
We're going to give you a 12.
Add a 12. Exactly.
All right. 12. Yeah, you succeeded getting it.
Awesome. All right, guys, I found a spot where we can get it.
If you want to take a closer look, I say just loud enough for them to hear me.
Go up and sneak in through the fence.
That's the hole in the fence.
Yeah, we'll send the kids through.
Okay.
You just made.
Okay.
Kids go first.
Send the ones in through first.
Nice.
All right.
You got, it's a very large, it's a very large building.
It takes considerable amount of time, like walk around.
You only have one flashlight amongst the group.
Is that right?
And I have a Polaroid camera.
Okay.
With a flash.
Are you snapping pictures every once in a while or?
Every once in a while.
Just like, oh yeah, guys, I've got this camera too.
We can kind of see for a minute.
I think we should all hold hands and one person have a flashlight.
I think we should hold hands also, Andy.
Who's holding Billy's hands?
I am.
Okay.
Billy's hand is like very sweaty and like, yeah, kind of covered in stuff.
It's okay.
I expected this.
Yeah.
He gets nervous.
Yes, he does.
Jack and I are holding sleeves.
I'm holding Jack on the other side.
Yep.
So that means that.
I'm on the end.
You, you have the flashlight.
Are you holding the flashlight in the front?
Oh, sure.
I thought you were.
I thought I gave it the flashlight.
I can be.
I'll be in the front.
I thought you were holding a flashlight in your little brother's hand.
It's been about 45 minutes.
So it's probably around almost 11 o'clock.
It took us 45 minutes to hold hands.
No, to walk around before, before this next thing happens.
Jack, go ahead and roll a brains, I guess.
Pretty low roll.
Roll a four.
Three.
Do you have anything that could help you out?
What are your strengths?
Lucky and cool under pressure.
What's lucky give you?
Uh, two.
These tokens to reroll a stat check.
You probably used them.
I want to use that to reroll.
12.
Nice.
So that actually explodes.
But anyways, it was a very low roll.
As you're walking through, you're the only one that notices that you get the same scent
in your nostrils as you did down at the mausoleum.
It smells fishy again.
I'm going to tell everybody.
I'm like, can I smell that again?
Oh, now that you mentioned it.
Yeah, it smells fishy.
It does kind of smell like where we found that sweater earlier.
I look around and you hear from kind of far away.
And we will see you next time.
Actually, next next Tuesday.
See you next next Tuesday.
Next time on Tales from the Crit.
You swing with your hammer and unfortunately you miss completely sending the hammer like
flying through the complex and you get barreled into and like pushed into the door
and there's a frog man on top of you.
And as Billy, I'm going to yell and my ice breath is going to come out and start freezing
the gender.
Let him go.
You do manage to pick this lock and get it.
All right.
Oh, nice job.
Cool.
And you guys are right.
There is a tunnel behind here.
Here?
No.
Didn't you guys say these guys smelled like fish?
Yeah, but I don't know if I want to break into their house.
Tales from the Crit podcast is recorded in the Wolfbeard Games Studio in upstate New York.
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We've enjoyed our time with you today, and we look forward to seeing you next time at Tales from the Crit.
We're going to do good.
We're going to do our best.
Yes.
It's going to be entertaining and quick.
Title of my sex tape.
It's just entertaining but quick.