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CYOA: Honeyman's quest

Repressed Homosexual
Joined
Mar 29, 2010
Messages
17,867
Location
Ottawa, Can.
You venture around the darkened house. You cannot discern anything coming from inside, except a faint light. You suddenly realize how scary what you are doing truly is: you will trespass into a criminal kingpin's house after night has fallen. And to look for what exactly? You don't know. But the criminals who are hunting you like a dog haven't exactly given you much of a choice. And it's not exactly like Frank could file a criminal trespassing complaint against you anyway.

You nervously approach the sliding back door. You cannot discern much, so you use your cellphone camera as a lamp.

You put your hand on the sliding door and attempt to slowly side it to the left... and find out that it isn't locked.

You enter and move your phone around to distinguish your surroundings. You are currently in the kitchen, and find that the place has been totally ransacked. Evening is upside down. Old clothes, dishware, flyers... there is a mess everywhere. Apparently, the Skull Riders or whoever was out to get Frank already came here long ago, and if anything worthwhile was to be found, they took it. Or they sacked everything and couldn't find it, and just left.

As you assess the situation, you hear some sort of knock coming from the bedroom, from which the faint light emanates! It seems that someone or something must be there? But what is it?

Do you...

A) Go back to hide outside the house.
B) Wait in the kitchen to see what will happen.
C) Enter the bedroom to see what's inside.
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
B) Wait in the kitchen to see what will happen.

Should try to listen in?
 
Repressed Homosexual
Joined
Mar 29, 2010
Messages
17,867
Location
Ottawa, Can.
The noise makes you pause completely. You stand in the kitchen in relative obscurity, and wait for further activity to come from the room.

You do not have to wait much further.

You quickly hear some of the loudest, most unsettling, most surreal screams you gave ever heard in your life. Screams of sheer madness, despair and terror. It is so disturbing that it is absolutely unbearable. You rush into the bedroom.

The bedroom is in an equally messy state as the rest of the room. In the corner, you see a disheveled redheaded woman. She is the one screaming out of control. It truly is a sight to behold. The woman almost seems possessed by a demon.

But you now understand what is going on: the woman who looks like she's been on the streets for a long time, was squatting the house. She got high on what is probably speed, and is now crashing.

Seeing as she probably has had a very rough existence and been addicted to such dangerous drugs for a long time, it is not surprising that the lows now have such absolutely devastating effects.

The woman stops screaming, looking completely disoriented. She crumbles on the bed. And starts convulsing out of control.

She is vomitting. The vomit is stuck in her mouth, and she is now starting to choke.

Alarmed, you try your best to help her. You're not sure how to proceed, but in a haste, you make her sit, you sit behind her, and push on her tummy while pushing her head downward. After a while, the woman throws up her vomit on the bed, then throws up some more. She is still shaking so you try to hold her still. After a while, the convulsions seem to die down. However, the woman is now totally passed out. You worry, but find that the woman is still breathing.

What just happened? It all went so fast! Somehow, you were the right person at the right time. Without your care, the woman would now surely be dead.

Try as you may, you cannot leave her here. You think of leaving her to the nearest hospital. But how to explain such a fishy situation? Furthermore, you know full well that hospitals tend to kick such undesirable patients out as quickly as possible. You're worried that if it happens, the woman will hit the streets again, do whatever she usually does to get her next fix, and it could start all over again.

You decide that the best course of action is to drag her back to your car, and bring her to your hideout, so that hopefully she can be nursed back to health. If the woman ends up being too unruly when she comes back to her senses, then you will have no choice but to leave her in downtown Winnipeg and part ways.

Fortunately for you, the woman is very lightweight, almost skeletal in appearance. The rough street life and constant drug usage has not been able to erase her beauty. But, you put aside any such thoughts as you carry her in your arms. You leave the house, and begin walking to your car.

As you are a few houses down, you see a young man who stops to stare, visibly taken aback by this strange scene.

"Do you need help sir?"
You panic, but then think of something on the spot:
"Sorry man, my girlfriend's totally drunk and has passed out. I need to drive her home. Sorry for the little scene."
"Oh! Well, good thing you're here for her then. Take care man."

The man then goes his way.

Phew! You dodged it.

You arrive in the car. You make the woman sit on the back. Her head bobs sideways. She is snoring.

You see what appears to be a wallet dropping from her pocket. You wonder if it could contain some sort of identification? Well, it contains a few cards. Not much in the way of money except for a few loonies. Finally, you see a Manitoba Health Card. On the card, you see a name: "SONIA BLACKBURN".

You now put the wallet back in her pocket and drive away.

After about 45 minutes, you are back at the hideout in Ste-Agathe. It is now almost midnight. You are just glad to be far away from that terrible place. Even if you have this most unexpected "discovery" with you.

Once home, you decide to put her in the bed. You wash her face. You put the comforter over her. She now seems to be sleeping comfortably. You go sleep on the couch, which you don't mind.

You wake up pretty early the next day. You decide to cook breakfast and make a portion for Sonia. You enter the room, and leave you poorly made eggs, mashed potatoes and ham on the night stand, along with a glass of orange juice. Then you go to the kitchen to eat yourself.

You browse the news and see an article from the website of the Winnipeg Times "WINNIPEG KINGPIN FRANK RAMSAY POSSIBLE MURDER VICTIM?"

For sure, George didn't waste any time to act on your scoop. You read the article but it doesn't contain much, other than "sources said" like George promised. The police has refused to comment on the ongoing investigation.

You then turn on the TV to change your mind. You ponder your next move.

After a while, you hear utensil noises coming from the bedroom. Apparently, Sonia has awakened and decided she was hungry.

You timidly decide to knock on the door. "Can I enter?"

Then you hear a puzzled woman's voice: "Uhhh... yeah?"

You turn the handle and enter...
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
You decide that the best course of action is to drag her back to your car, and bring her to your hideout
Also known as abduction.

I wonder how secure it is to take a druggie squatting in the house of a recently murdered crime boss and take her with us when we are hiding from a killer on a farm that doesn't even belong to us. Is our character even remotely aware of the potential consequences?

If the druggie does not prove the most reasonable of people (and if being a druggie at all does not hint at the possibility, then getting high in a kingpin's house surely does) and doesn't want to stay, or listen to the strange dude that took her to a half-abandoned farmstead away from the city... then our character has no choice but to let her go, and now she knows where we live. So does anyone who finds her, and she is not very conpicuous. And even if we change our hideout spot, this place belongs to our friend who would almost certainly be targeted. Remember, they sent a killer after a random acquaintance from the bar!

That's a pretty massive risk to take and to subject others to just because you don't trust hospitals. What makes him think he is up to the task of rehabilitating a drug user, and that the woman won't hit the streets again if we take her in? Are we even in a state to look after anyone when we ourselves are on a run?

...I suppose we are in need of evidence, and this girl is all we managed to find in Frank's house, so let's hope she knows something relevant.
 
Repressed Homosexual
Joined
Mar 29, 2010
Messages
17,867
Location
Ottawa, Can.
As you enter, you see that Sonia looks absolutely puzzled and terrified.

"I took a huge gamble here. I found you and we were in a very difficult situation."

You tell her everything that happened.

"Come to think of it, when I woke up, I had a small taste of vomit in my mouth... I don't remember much from last night. In the last few days, my consumption got worse and worse. I have gotten kicked out from my apartment. The guy who was pimping me got too violent, so I was scared. I've known Frank before, he treated me decently, so I thought of going to see him. I entered and found the house in a state of complete disarray and his car was not there. I decided to wait for him but he never came back. Then I decided to use the last of my drugs."

"Well, I have sad news for you. Here."

You hand her your phone with the news article from the Winnipeg Times.

"Oh wow, really? Unbelievable! And to think I went to that place. What happened to him exactly? He was the man they found burned to death?"

"I don't know... I got mixed up with him too. I need to find information about a man he knew."

You mention David Johanson.

"No, never heard of him, sorry."

"I have to ask you: what made you spiral into such an uncontrollable situation?"

At this point, Sonia looks embarrassed.

"I know. I didn't mean for things to turn this way. But my father kept beating me when I was young. So when I was just 16, I eloped with my boyfriend. Little did I know that in reality he was a pimp. And things just escalated from there. You know that these guys like to use drugs to control the girls. Then at some point the drugs turns you into an animal."

Her story is a little similar to yours. Sonia put herself through a string of terrible situations. But so did you. And you got lucky of escaping relatively unscathed from the mistakes you made in your youth... well, until now.

You start getting angry. At everything. You remember that biker gangs control much of the drug trade. Without their shameless milking of human misery for profit, there wouldn't be as many Sonias in this world. And Frank was actually a significant part of it. The man who you struggle so much to honor the memory of wasn't exactly a saint.

"What kind of man Frank really was?"
"Everyone was scared of him. I won't try to defend some of his behavior, I know it's inexcusable. But, I suppose I saw a side of him that he never showed others, in order not to show weakness."
"Do you know anything that might help me find that strange acquaintance of his?"
"I'm not sure... well, there might be something. Frank frequently hung out at a bar called Sword and Shield, it's downtown. You might find someone who knows more about this there."

"Again, I'm sorry. Perhaps leaving you at the hospital would have been the right move. Perhaps this was selfish of me. I'm on the run, and a friend lent me his place. I'm just determined to get to the bottom of this. And somehow, I wasn't comfortable leaving you to your fate.

I'm still worried now that you'll turn back to your old habits. Even though you cheated death.

I won't cast judgment on your circumstances, or on your so called profession. In fact, when I was young, I dealt a little speed, briefly. I was a troubled youth too.

However, I would hope that you can now see yourself as a person, as a woman. Those people in your circle, if they loved you, they wouldn't treat you this way.

I can tell you that you didn't look pretty last night. You were absolutely demented. Please, never get to this state again."

Sonia looks away in embarrassment.

"I don't know what to say. I know this is all true. I can't touch this garbage ever again. I will leave Winnipeg for a while. I have a girl friend in Selkirk. I will go away from this bad environment for a while until I can figure things out."

You spend the next few hours conversing with Sonia, who grows into better spirits. She is not such a bad girl actually. She even jokes around a lot. You do not get the sense that she is a bad person.

You end up deciding to drive her to Selkirk, which is north east of Winnipeg. You tell her that since this place does not belong to you, you will blindfold her for about ten minutes. She agrees.

After more than an hour, you are in Selkirk. You leave her at a designated location. She contacted her friend who agreed to take her in. Before she leaves, you have her install the encrypted app, and exchange phone numbers so you can contact her if needed.

Sonia prepares to leave and looks at you.

"I owe you my life. You took risks to make sure I was safe. I'm so thankful to you. Almost every man I ever knew scorned me, used me for my body or beat me. Thanks for showing me that good people are out there too.

If I ever learn anything, I'll contact you. Take care."

After that you leave. You decide to call Julian and tell him what happened.

You expect him to be very concerned or even upset.

"Haha, so you have a girlfriend now? Now wait until I tell Steven."

... unbelievable. That guy is UNBELIEVABLE.

"I hope she thanked you properly for your invaluable assistance?"

"Oh cut it out, will you? It's not like this at all."

"Alright, alright, it was too much, I agree. Still, good thing you were there. I don't know what I would have done in your place."

"She doesn't know where I live. Who knows, maybe she can help us."

"Oh by the way, I remembered last night that I had a spare key for your apartment. So I took the liberty of going there myself to see if we could find anything."

"OK. And?"

"Well what do you know... I didn't find anything unusual there. From what you told me, I kind of expected there would be traces of blood, but I didn't find any. Your apartment looks completely undisturbed! It's as if nothing happened."

Well, that is pretty unbelievable.

"So, was this girl useful?"

"Well she told me about Frank's favorite bar, it's called Sword and Shield. Tonight, I intend to go there and see if I can find out anything about this David Johanson guy."

"Really? Isn't this like throwing yourself in the lion's den?"

"Whatever, I'm fed up, and pissed too. I'm tired of cowering. I'm going to go there and find out whatever they know."

On that night, you drive up to Sword and Shield. This is a small bar downtown that people usually do not pay attention to.

You enter.

Now do you...

A)Interrogate the barman.
B)Talk to the other patrons.
C)Have a drink and wait there awhile.
 
Last edited:

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Then at some point the drugs turns you into an animal.
"turn"
"Well what do you know... I didn't find anything unusual there. From what you told me, I kind of expected there would be traces of blood, but I didn't find any. Your apartment looks completely undisturbed! It's as if nothing happened."
Did the guy we whacked on the head take his time to clean up the shards and spilled whiskey? My, how conscientious of a hired killer! (Wasn't there also blood?)

Or was there no killer, and we just experienced a vivid hallucination? Are we the killer!? :M

C)Have a drink and wait there awhile.

Let's see what kind of place this is.
 
Last edited:
Repressed Homosexual
Joined
Mar 29, 2010
Messages
17,867
Location
Ottawa, Can.
You order a beer and take a seat. Sword and Shield is similar to your Moonlight Haze cafe, a pretty relaxing place. You start drinking, and look at the surrounding patrons, who are guys in their late forties-fifties. They are speaking loudly and animatedly and you frequently hear them swear.

You start looking at the sports channel that is playing on TV. Tonight, there is a hockey game.

You are taken by the hockey game, but at some point, you notice somebody touching you.

You turn your head and find that all 8 patrons of the bar are now surrounding you.

Oops.

"Mr. Honeyman! Fancy having you here!"
"Same for me."
"My bosses would like to have a word with you. You have been surprisingly hard to get a hold of as of late."
"Allow me to be skeptical. Your last guy didn't exactly come to see me because he wanted to speak."
"There's nothing wrong with having a friendly chat, is there?"

The men that surround you have a chuckle and look at you with an evil smile.

Are you screwed now?

Just as one of the men grabs your arm, there is a commotion.

You turn your head towards the entrance, and you see Julian and Steven barging in!

The men and the barman have a confused look on their faces as Steven shouts: "Hello LOSERS. How's it going? I'm HUNGRY!"

The barman says: "Bruno and his merry men! How delightful!"

To which all the men in the room start laughing.

Steven replies nonchalantly.

"So you don't want to give me FOOD? Never mind, let me get you guys a beer!"

Acting with breakneck speed, Steven rushes to the barman and grabs him.

"Barman, I'll have a pint of WALL PLEASE!"

He pushes the barman's head violently against the wall. The barman hurls.

The men are no longer laughing.

"It's my treat tonight! Who wants a good pint of CHAIR?"

Before the guys can realize what is going on, Steven grabs an empty chair, rushes the men, and makes a swirling move with it, hitting three different men, who crumble on the floor in pain.

Steven's typical outlandish demeanor appears to work surprisingly well. The remaining men now have a terrified look on their faces. Seemingly they are terrified of his unpredictable attitude, loud voice, and eccentric moves.

Most of them are older and not in the best physical shape. Suddenly, you think those odds don't look so hopeless.

Steven goes on and shouts loudly, hitting the men in his surroundings. "HOW ABOUT A GOOD DOSE OF PAVEMENT NOW WHO WANTS SOME?"

Julian joins the fray. And so do you. Now it's payback time. Time to put the lessons you learned to good use.

How will you enact vengeance?

A)Kick the guy closest to you.
B)Punch guys laying on the ground.
C)Push the men still standing up.
 

ERYFKRAD

Barbarian
Patron
Joined
Sep 25, 2012
Messages
28,242
Strap Yourselves In Serpent in the Staglands Shadorwun: Hong Kong Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
You uh, may wanna give people some time to read and vote though. Time zones et cetera, y'know.
 
Repressed Homosexual
Joined
Mar 29, 2010
Messages
17,867
Location
Ottawa, Can.
You uh, may wanna give people some time to read and vote though. Time zones et cetera, y'know.

I know. I just thought that once two people have selected a certain option, based on the number of people replying, the option wouldn't change. Although there seem to be one or more new posters now, so I'll have to give more time.
 
Repressed Homosexual
Joined
Mar 29, 2010
Messages
17,867
Location
Ottawa, Can.
This time you can finally shine. These guys might be the one who made you live in fear for days, with their incomprehensible manhunt. There no longer is any need to hold back.

Recalling some of the moves taught to you by Steven, you kick your closest opponent multiple times. Unlike in the practice you've had with Steven, this man is fat and slow, so he is no match for you.

Julian as well is going all out.

Soon, the bikers start panicking. They stare at you in fear and awe. You hear them swearing, and one by one they leave the bar, leaving only the barman.

The barman is laying on his back on the pavement. He stares upward at Steven who approaches closer and closer, with a triumphant look on his face.

"Any more servings?"
"Nooo, NOOO! I'm sorry, I'M SORRY! I don't know anything! I just know that those biker guys showed me a picture and told me to look for that guy! I don't know anything more than that!"

He looks absolutely terrified. Steven's demented moves and unpredictability have him cowering in fear. And pathetically so.

You don't feel an ounce of pity for him. But sadly, the barman doesn't seem to know much of anything.

"Well, thank you guys for the help."
Julian speaks
"After you told me you were going there, I found out that this place was a hang out for Skull Riders, so I got spooked. I asked Steven to accompany me, so we could go and look out for you."
"That's very much appreciated. Well, there's nothing else for us to do here. Let's leave."

As you three leave the bar, the barman shouts "Don't worry guys I won't bother you anymore! Sorry again! Please don't be mad at me anymore!"

Such a sad spectacle.

Now the three of you are standing outside. All the men seem to be long gone. You look at each other disappointed. Steven though, still seems to relish the encounter. As if he had been dying to act out a Bruce Lee movie in real life, and now his dream finally came true.

You then hear a voice

"Psssst! Guys! Over here!"

The voice seems to come from a nearby alleyway.

You follow it. When you arrive at the alleyway, you see one of the men who took part in the bar fight. The man motions you to come closer.

You initially worry. Is he hiding a gun? Sensing that you are suspicious, the man puts both his hands in the air. He seems sincere. You decide to hear what he has to say.

"Hey man, I want to say, I don't agree with the way you were treated. That's just not right. We low level guys don't really know anything, but we just knew that some of our superiors somehow REALLY wanted to find you. We thought we hit the jackpot when you walked in.

You said that you met a guy that they sent after you?"

"He almost killed me. I barely escaped. I've been on the lam every since."

"Wow no kidding? That's messed up. If I was in your shoes, I would have wanted more than kick our asses. I would have wanted to kill all those guys. I would have seen red!

Anyway there's been lots of infighting and strange things going on for a while. I tell you all this because I was about to leave, this is too much for an old fart like me. I'm going to just go live in Florida.

I'm not sure what happened with Frank, but undoubtedly be was at the center of some of the infighting and weird schemes."

"So, who is David Johanson? Frank left me a note to look out for him if he was killed."

"That's odd. Sorry, I have no idea. But, I know where you might learn something more.

There are two places that might be worth checking out.

The first one is a warehouse (he gives you directions). I know that sometimes they stash contraband there. And sometimes there are even sensitive documents.

The second one is a house in a suburb (he again gives you directions). It belongs to one of the lieutenants. I know it's in an isolated area and there's nobody there during the day. I've been there and I don't think the guy has any security. Maybe you can find something useful there too.

Well on that note, I'll leave. I'll be on the first flight to Miami tomorrow. Won't miss this cold, unpleasant town one bit. Hello sunshine!

Farewell."

He salutes you and then leaves.

Well, that man sure made your little escapade worthwhile. You explain the situation to the others.

"Hey by the way Steven, you were really awesome in there. I don't know where that crazy attitude of yours comes from, but it totally freaked them out. We kicked their asses, thanks to your furious lead."

"Oh that, haha. Well believe it or not, I learned this very young. When I was a little boy, in school, I was the smallest one in the whole school, and with glasses. I was also one of the very few chinese students in the school. So, I was a prime target for bullying.

One day, to compensate, I decided to act all crazy. And it actually worked! It took them off guard. They stopped messing with me."

"Haha, that's great!"

"It's great that you found leads tonight, but with what we just went through, I think you really need more training.

It seems like they're at a dead end anyway and can't find whatever it is they're looking for. So just lay low for a while. During this time, we can train every day if you want. Then afterwards you'll be ready."

Julian chimes in

"We can't be there forever to have your back, sadly. So I think Steven has sound advice. Just don't rush it, and train like hell, so next time, if someone ambushes you, you'll be ready to face it."

You all look at each other very enthusiastically.

Then you all leave to have a good night's sleep.
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
That's the third person in a day randomly popping in to help us when we get stuck with our investigation. Who knew detective work would be so easy!

A remorseful ganger (from the most prolific criminal gang in Canada, no less) who gives away the location of a contraband stash to the guy they were sent to beat senseless. Yeah, right. Maybe it's time we embraced our inner kung-fu protagonist and went to shake the Skull lieutenant for answers once we'll have studied karate for a whole week.
 

hello friend

Arcane
Joined
Feb 26, 2012
Messages
7,847
Location
I'm on an actual spaceship. No joke.
"Wow no kidding? That's messed up. If I was in your shoes, I would have wanted more than kick our asses. I would have wanted to kill all those guys. I would have seen red!
Man just low key called us a bitch.

You uh, may wanna give people some time to read and vote though. Time zones et cetera, y'know.
Can confirm : (
 
Repressed Homosexual
Joined
Mar 29, 2010
Messages
17,867
Location
Ottawa, Can.
Repressed Homosexual
Joined
Mar 29, 2010
Messages
17,867
Location
Ottawa, Can.
For the next month, you do not make any further attempts to get more information from the Skull Riders or their entourage. You decide to focus almost entirely on training. Steven accompanies you in this process, and he does his best to show you all his best moves. During the day sometimes, he invites you so you can spar with some of his other students. Little by little, you become more and more focused. During the day while you are not training with him, you practice the moves you were taught. You sprint. You jog. You buy dumbbells so you can have stronger muscles. You really give it your absolute best. After the month has passed, Steven says he is impressed with your progress. Other students in his group are impressed too. You were really determined, and now it is starting to pay.

You converse every now and then with George Godfrey. He says that the police is remaining tight lipped about the murder. Although, word from his sources is that everyone knows it is Frank who was the victim. But, they don't know exactly what warranted him such a brutal end, other than he was about to do something that would have been really, really bad.

Along with Steven and Julian, you decide to meet with Sonia every now and then. You are determined to be positive influences in her life. You are pleased that so far, she said that it was extremely painful, but that she has not relapsed. She still lives with her friend in Selkirk, and has started working at a barbershop. The four of you go out to discuss and have fun from time to time. Who says life has to grind to a half completely, right? During one of these outings, she says that she has "become more religious now", and started praying again, in memory of her Christian past when she was a child. All in all, you three are encouraged by her progress. Although of course, Steven and Julian tease you mercilessly about her. They press so that you "take things further", but you don't really think this is a good idea.

After all this is done, you think yourself ready to face further dangers.

You have the location of the warehouse. It apparently hosts smuggled material, but you do not have any interest in any of it. You only want to try to unearth clues that could directly help your situation.

There is also the house of the lieutenant, in the Saint-Boniface area of Winnipeg. According to the Skull Rider who decided to leave the group for greener pastures (since apparently he had become disgruntled with the turn they took and it was all too much for him), if you go during the day, you should be undisturbed. However, you start to think that if you could talk to the lieutenant a little more... forcefully, although that could entail a brutal and possibly way more dangerous confrontation, maybe that would constitute a more helpful lead.

What do you intend to do?

A)Visit the warehouse at night.
B)Visit the lieutenant's house during the day, to look for documents/clues.
C)Visit the lieutenant's house during the day, to ambush him when he comes back.
 

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