In Progress [LP CYOA] Tower

[Nevill]

Can I get dates for the arcs? What year is it? I don't have a solid grip on the timeline, which is how I missed we turned 14.

We started at 10, then spent half a year (?) with Father McClellan, then had our adventure for a couple weeks, then spent about a year (?) in the village and moved to Vienna when we were 12 or so, then spent some time in the Institute, then two more years in the hospital. Is this correct?

I forgot, is Liz a year older than us?

Also, judging by her vampiric condition, did she go into torpor from the lack of blood? Jury is out on whether she'd be able to recover without the Hound's intervention (if we somehow fed her blood), but was she ever really in danger of dying? Would she stabilize in an unconscious state, or would she eventually "disconnect" from the living/waking world and expire?

Also also, if we are 14 then Rain must me 9, which is just a year younger than we when we started off. We need to set her up with a demon to kill. You can't deny kids opportunities for self-actualization!

Edit: Rereading the quest...

“Anyway, if it’s not vampires,” says Elizabeth, more quietly than before, though no less irreverent. “How did you get your burns?”
[...]
“There was a fire. My house burnt down.” Your response is simple and short.

“Oh, I am sorry to hear that,” says Elizabeth. “You know, I have heard that the cities have doctors that can do wonders with burns. Why don’t you go and get your scars healed?”

It was all foreshadowed! The city, the hospital, the fire and the vampires!

...scars healed when?

 

[Non-Edgy Gamer]

The vampires were heavily foreshadowed yeah. Forgot about the city and the hospital though. Looks like none of us noticed the line at the time. Surprised we didn't make getting our scars healed a priority.

 

[treave]

We started at 10, then spent half a year (?) with Father McClellan, then had our adventure for a couple weeks, then spent about a year (?) in the village and moved to Vienna when we were 12 or so, then spent some time in the Institute, then two more years in the hospital. Is this correct?

That would be broadly correct, yes.

A - 3
B - 10

Looks like the Bs have it. Let's hope there's no smart ass hunter lying in wait at the back doors to round up any monsters or seemingly guilty culprits trying to sneak out that way.

 

[Azira]

You never know, do you. It could even be grammy Tlalli.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

You never know, do you. It could even be grammy Tlalli.

Probably covered under smartass hunter.

 

[Nevill]

Probably covered under smartass hunter.

Nuance is important. It was spelled "smart ass hunter".

Could be Alexei.

 

[ItsChon]

treave Just wanted to say that I read the prologue chapters to my girlfriend and she thought it was actually pretty great. You're really doing an excellent job with these updates and this is some quality writing here. If I may say though, I do miss the longer, more verbose nature of the earlier updates in comparison to the more succinct updates we get now. They're still great, and I understand you're dealing with some time restrictions/real life obligations, but the earlier chapters did have a bit of a different feel to them and they were especially gripping. There seems to have been a shift, and forgive me if it's intentional, just thought I'd mention it.

 

[Nevill]

Character interactions are by far the best part of these LPs, and I'd like to see more of them. It builds characterization, provokes waifu wars and Theseus hunting, ramps up speculation and paranoia, and in general rejuvenates the thread. Going back and rereading the bickering between Sophie and Liz (God, I miss Sophie), or our first encounter with Uridimmu ("Come you have to my throne unbidden") is as much of a joy as it was back when they first showed up.

All in all, whatever allows the CYOA to keep going after a year and a half hiatus, but the more meat the updates have the more DISCUSS they generate, and isn't that one of major motivations for continuing?

 

[Absinthe]

Eh, sneaking out the back door isn't necessarily suspicious at a time like this. It's just the smart way to escape the disaster. We can let Liz handle the talking if it comes down to it. As long as our character only answers the basic questions, giving the reasons why he's usually there, and stays silent the rest of the way, letting Liz do the lion's share of the talking, we should be okay. Liz doesn't know we were behind this so she's not going to be giving off signs of deception and we're all young enough to avoid major suspicion anyway. Maybe Tlalli's letter would help us out.

Well, let's see what happens.

 

[Nevill]

It's not the sneaking that's suspicious; it's that we are alive at all when grown-ups are dying all around us. Plus, our right eye is showing, and Liz is covered in entrails. One would be worried about our safety and mental state, and likely surprised when they find that we are perfectly fine with everything that's going on.

Also, Liz is higher than a highschooler at a frat party, so perhaps we should be the one playing damage control. What's a bed-ridden patient (isn't she in her hospital gown?) doing giddily running around? At least we have the excuse of working here.

I am more glad than worried about having a hunter show up (are they here because of whoever it was whose body we stole?), but if it were a choice at all I'd keep my mouth shut. The less we talk, the less we give away -- and three kids amidst a zombie plague elicit a "help now, ask later" reaction.

...I have a feeling that Uridimmu might come along at some point and make things difficult just for the fun of it.

 

[Absinthe]

It's not the sneaking that's suspicious; it's that we are alive at all when grown-ups are dying all around us. Plus, our right eye is showing, and Liz is covered in entrails. One would be worried about our safety and mental state, and likely surprised when they find that we are perfectly fine with everything that's going on.

Eh, that's the part we probably wouldn't bother hiding and couldn't hide from Hunters anyway. This disaster has been changing people anyway so we won't come off as too special there, and we have Tlalli's letter vouching for us so they shouldn't do anything too crazy. The way I see it, if they don't ask, we don't answer. If they do ask, we answer and blame the anomaly, which wouldn't even be a lie.

Also, Liz is higher than a highschooler at a frat party, so perhaps we should be the one playing damage control. What's a bed-ridden patient (isn't she in her hospital gown?) doing giddily running around? At least we have the excuse of working here.

I'll easily take drunk/high Liz doing the talking over our MC trying to talk his way out of this shit. She's a much better talker than our MC. Considering how far shit's gone tits up, Liz being in a strange state of consciousness will just come off like another part of the weirdness happening, which is pretty much the truth anyway. Giving confused answers is not a problem as long as the state of confusion is reasonable. And Liz doesn't know our involvement in causing this mess, so she's less likely to come off as having something to hide.

I don't think they'll instantly know she was a bed-ridden patient as opposed to just a patient, and a bed-ridden patient up and running about wouldn't even rank in the top 10 strangest things happening in the hospital right now.

I am more glad than worried about having a hunter show up (are they here because of whoever it was whose body we stole?), but if it were a choice at all I'd keep my mouth shut. The less we talk, the less we give away -- and three kids amidst a zombie plague elicit a "help now, ask later" reaction.

Keeping MC's mouth shut is definitely the way to go. If talking proves necessary, I want to default to Liz handling it.

Our MC is just bad at talking in general, let alone talking his way out of suspicious circumstances where we definitely have something to hide. Keeping his mouth shut and face impassive is his one strong suit. Presumably that kind of self-control keys off of Willpower rather than Charisma anyhow.

...I have a feeling that Uridimmu might come along at some point and make things difficult just for the fun of it.

Might happen, yeah, but I'm hoping we at least avoided the worst of that by dodging the clusterfuck A would've brought us to.

 

[Non-Edgy Gamer]

Might happen, yeah, but I'm hoping we at least avoided the worst of that by dodging the clusterfuck A would've brought us to.

I'm not sure it would have. We may have been able to get out before the hunters got here.

I have a feeling we just missed a fun "red wedding" scene with the three of us slaughtering our way through the hospital's trash mobs and dashing off into the night to find Uridimmu or to get Liz into the shadows before the sun comes out (which btw, we should remember to do).

 

[BlizzardStockholmSyndrome]

Just wanted to say that I have been lurking this thread for 2 years and seeing it get resurrected made me join the Forums. I can't wait to see where we go from here.

 

[treave]

treave Just wanted to say that I read the prologue chapters to my girlfriend and she thought it was actually pretty great. You're really doing an excellent job with these updates and this is some quality writing here. If I may say though, I do miss the longer, more verbose nature of the earlier updates in comparison to the more succinct updates we get now. They're still great, and I understand you're dealing with some time restrictions/real life obligations, but the earlier chapters did have a bit of a different feel to them and they were especially gripping. There seems to have been a shift, and forgive me if it's intentional, just thought I'd mention it.

No worries, it's definitely something I'm aware of, and there's a few reasons for that. The first and biggest reason is simply that I'm extremely out of practice, so the words don't come as easily as they used to. That might improve the more I work at it. Hopefully. Meanwhile, I'll see if I can mimic earlier updates stylistically, fake it till I make it.

Second reason is linked to the first; while I have notes for the endings that we can arrive at by the end of the story, the road there is long and not planned out. Figuring out what I was thinking 2 years ago from the notes I have and trying to work in the main plot threads is actually my main goal for this series of Bedlam updates. It's not like I have amnesia or anything but I do need to re-familiarize myself with both the setting and the characters very, very thoroughly. Currently just flying by the seat of my pants here, it's going to take some rehabilitation.

Thirdly, the character of Wrinkly is stoic, and while perhaps a refreshing change from awkward, snarky or asshole heroes, his nature lends himself to less wordy updates in general. He is also quite out of his depth, having muddled himself into a very urban location over the past few years of his young life instead of being in the wilds where his childhood experience might have come into play in writing more often. Of course, it's my responsibility to set up situations where he has lots to do or think about, so that's something I'll have to work on moving forward.

 

[Absinthe]

Might happen, yeah, but I'm hoping we at least avoided the worst of that by dodging the clusterfuck A would've brought us to.

I'm not sure it would have. We may have been able to get out before the hunters got here.

I have a feeling we just missed a fun "red wedding" scene with the three of us slaughtering our way through the hospital's trash mobs and dashing off into the night to find Uridimmu or to get Liz into the shadows before the sun comes out (which btw, we should remember to do).

Or we could have ended up pinned in a difficult situation trying to get past a no man's land of too goddamn many beasts for us to handle under our own power and ended up stuck there. Or we could've succeeded, only to draw way more attention to ourselves through the front door than we would trying to get out through the back door. Maybe we'd've gotten cripplingly injured, or lost someone. Maybe we'd end up going with the human shield plan and get other people killed to save ourselves, causing an entirely different slew of problems. Maybe we'd reach the front door only to get caught in the crossfire of a giant battle between Hunters and beasts. Maybe we'd find Uridimmu raising hell and get our connection to him outed. Who knows. The only thing I'm reasonably certain of is that it wouldn't have been that easy.

Also, you just had to remind me of the legendary Brown Wedding scene in Legend. I regret my part in not voting for it.

Just wanted to say that I have been lurking this thread for 2 years and seeing it get resurrected made me join the Forums. I can't wait to see where we go from here.

Welcome. You're just in time to wait on the next update. If you're new to the Codex, don't worry. This is a pretty casual place. It's just that we casually give each other shit too, from time to time. Having a thick skin is to be expected, but it's not like you need to act like an ass to fit in or that we will carry grudges and get offended easily. Just relax and speak your mind and you'll be fine.

Thirdly, the character of Wrinkly is stoic, and while perhaps a refreshing change from awkward, snarky or asshole heroes, his nature lends himself to less wordy updates in general. He is also quite out of his depth, having muddled himself into a very urban location over the past few years of his young life instead of being in the wilds where his childhood experience might have come into play in writing more often. Of course, it's my responsibility to set up situations where he has lots to do or think about, so that's something I'll have to work on moving forward.

On this note, I feel like pointing out that Wrinkly/Cloud/Nameless has spent nearly two years working as an orderly at the hospital, so he should know the hospital, know the people here, and recognize how much things have been flipped upside down so quickly. He might be out of his depth normally but he should know this place pretty well. He also knows all about hunter-prey relationships, so there is that to inform his perspective too. And then there is the question of what he knows about Uridimmu and how that might color thoughts.

The way I see it, MC is more of a cool-headed, methodical kind of guy, especially in crisis situations, so right now he should be taking in information, trying to get a read on the situation, and devising some small plans of action accordingly in order to achieve his objective? Basically approaching it quite a bit like he would a hunt or trek in dangerous woods.

 

[BlizzardStockholmSyndrome]

Just wanted to say that I have been lurking this thread for 2 years and seeing it get resurrected made me join the Forums. I can't wait to see where we go from here.

Welcome. You're just in time to wait on the next update. If you're new to the Codex, don't worry. This is a pretty casual place. It's just that we casually give each other shit too, from time to time. Having a thick skin is to be expected, but it's not like you need to act like an ass to fit in or that we will carry grudges and get offended easily. Just relax and speak your mind and you'll be fine.

Thank you very much for the warm welcome! I'm an oldfag when it comes to the web so I roll with punches.

When it comes to wrinkly, I like to imagine him as the bell curve meme but on the left hand side. Him going with his gut and having folksy wisdom (good thing he didn't join the Karl Marx foundation). With enough investment he could be pure instinct.

 

[Absinthe]

Good to have you.

Folksy wisdom is one thing I don't really see him having a lot of though, because his childhood teacher didn't seem the sort to have any wisdom to spare, and he didn't spend all that much time in Scotsfield either. I guess he'd know some proverbs from McClellan and a bunch of quotes from the Institute of Karl Marx? This guy didn't exactly have any family wisdom passed on to him. His wisdom's mostly self-taught, or learned the hard way, from life experiences.

Hunting is mostly patient, methodical stuff too. A good instinct does help, but most of it is about reading tracks, reading the environment, reading behavioral patterns, avoiding giving yourself away, and lining up kills. The instinct usually comes from these skills turning into an ingrained pattern recognition to the point you can tell "something's off here" and read your odds and circumstances intuitively.

 

[Nevill]

I have no idea what you mean by folksy wisdom, other than common sense without the embellishments and dishonesty required for navigating complex social interactions. He knows that if it is an enemy, you need to kill them or drive them off; if it's a friend you have to stand by them (he doesn't have a lot of those); and that it's better to have friends than enemies. But he is not one for anything more profound; he is a rather simple individual.

I doubt the Institute would have changed him much; most likely, he'd be the silent and reliable asset who'd likely base his decisions on personal loyalty rather than any ideological underpinnings. Then again, who can say what we'd be after spending our formative years like that. I still don't know if us going with the path of a hospital helper change anything in regards to our character. Did we get any kind of impromptu medical education? Have we shifted away from our hunting roots? It's too early to say, as our only on-screen acts in the hospital have been getting in trouble with suspicious men, sneaking around and fighting -- not much different from what we did before.

I want to know what our prospects for character development are, now that we missed the chance to go to the Academy. Or... have we missed it? We made a promise to go there with Elizabeth, so maybe now that she is awake we can still apply? It'd be harder, but we'll have someone to have our back, and that counts for a lot.

Or maybe the plot will twist in another direction entirely...

 

[BlizzardStockholmSyndrome]

Nevill You described what I meant perfectlly. Maybe saying folksy wisdom was not the best example but he is not burdened by social interactions. Take for example the kids at the begining of the LP, if Wrinkly had had more points in charisma or persuasion he would could have been hoodwinked by the twins or the alpha kid (the one that became Alexei's....squire), or Wrinkly could even become the alpha kid of the pack if he was more of a social butterfly.

This is the XIX century where protocol is a matter of life and death even if i's 90% useless fluff, with Wrinkly being almost feral when it comes to social interaction that's a blessing in disguise: he cannot be bargained with, he can't be bought, he can't be charmed, flattered or besotted. Long story short, he is immune to social manipulation. At least that's my take on him. The exceptions are: an elder god that he can communicate telepathically and the doctor which touched the Elizabeth button.

My point is that Cloud (I think that was his name) worked for 2 years as an orderly and he hasn't made a single friend as a co-worker. Maybe there was no one his age so no one paid attention to him but no one really talked to him? Not other orderlies, cooks, cleaning staff, maintenance personnel?

 

[Nevill]

This is the XIX century where protocol is a matter of life and death even if i's 90% useless fluff, with Wrinkly being almost feral when it comes to social interaction that's a blessing in disguise: he cannot be bargained with, he can't be bought, he can't be charmed, flattered or besotted. Long story short, he is immune to social manipulation.

It's the beginning of XXth century, and protocol... doesn't mean much for common man. What did any of this matter when we were back at the village? It's more complicated in the city the higher up you go, but we are still at the lower rungs of society.

The lack of communication and experience absolutely leaves him vulnerable to manipulation, and I bet Liz and Rain can twist him around their little finger (would he refuse them anything?), they just don't want to. Liz in particular has been flirting with him constantly, and he's been receptive to it so far. It's not that she tells him what to do, but let's say she'd have little trouble making him see things her way.

He is less prone to being fooled by strangers, but that's mostly because life taught him to be careful around unknowns, and a little flattery or money don't change that.

The easiest way to get to him would be through his friends. Both the doctor and the doggo used Elizabeth's state to make him do their bidding.

My point is that Cloud (I think that was his name) worked for 2 years as an orderly and he hasn't made a single friend as a co-worker. Maybe there was no one his age so no one paid attention to him but no one really talked to him? Not other orderlies, cooks, cleaning staff, maintenance personnel?

He doesn't reach out to people by himself, and people tend to avoid him based on appearance and low status.

All of our connections were forced on us in some way -- we got tied at the hip with Rain since the beginning; Sophie was our "adoptive sister"; Liz' basically barged into our personal bubble because we got her interested; and Tlalli took custody of us when we got lost in the woods. Wrinkly is not the most sociable, and more importantly, he is fine with that.

Also, Cloud's the name Rain gave us; our nametag still says Wrinkly. Even though there isn't anyone from the village left to call us by that name, save for Elizabeth. Perhaps we just didn't care enough what name people use?

 

[BlizzardStockholmSyndrome]

The lack of communication and experience absolutely leaves him vulnerable to manipulation, and I bet Liz and Rain can twist him around their little finger (would he refuse them anything?), they just don't want to. Liz in particular has been flirting with him constantly, and he's been receptive to it so far. It's not that she tells him what to do, but let's say she'd have little trouble making him see things her way.

He is less prone to being fooled by strangers, but that's mostly because life taught him to be careful around unknowns, and a little flattery or money don't change that.

The easiest way to get to him would be through his friends. Both the doctor and the doggo used Elizabeth's state to make him do their bidding.

They don't want to because they are friends/family. Unless rain turns to be Patrick Bateman in disguise, I see no reason for her to abuse Wrinkly. Since Liz is a vampire/thrall/ghoul now, she will be seduced to do more undead things and will string Wrinkly along. I bet once he gets burned once, we can discard him falling for it again.

Since he is not socially adept he will never be able to charm anyone but if any snake oil salesman tries to scam him it will be tougher based on how reserved Wrinkly is. For example, you could manipulate someone into buying your product by faking a sense of urgency or appealing to the buyers ego or saying that their neighbours will be jealous. This wouldn't work on Wrinkly.

I can explain my point with the following Seinfeld clip:

 

[ERYFKRAD]

once he gets burned

What, again?

 

[BlizzardStockholmSyndrome]

What, again?

Vampires are vampires and Wrinkly is a nice, juicy bag of flesh and blood. It is inevitable at this point, it's in her nature.

 

[Kipeci]

It’s a more honest & exciting means of sucking him and his future potential dry than this years of withering in the hospital crap so we should deliver a headpat for the improvement

 

[Absinthe]

At least we got Elizabeth back and a shiny new astra for our troubles. If we hadn't picked the hospital, she might've died to the mad scientist we met earlier and the whole place could've gone to shit in a much bigger way from his experimentation.