>>33853 “Y’know, I kinda want to go back and buy one of those festival shirts. We can head back to camp after that, or I can just meet up with you later.” you declare. Ben looks like he’s about to say something, when his stomach loudly growls. He starts to laugh, and shakes his head. “I was about to say sure, but how about this? I’ll go buy some grub for us all from one of those food trucks, and you can buy an extra shirt for me. Sounds good?” he offers. While you weren’t exactly hungry right now, you might be when you got back to camp. “Sure, sounds fair. Mara, what do you want to do?” you ask, turning towards the fox. She places a finger to her lips, looking lost in thought for a moment. “Hmm… I’ll go with you, Anon. There might be some hidden gems mixed in with all that clothing.” she replies, a smirk on her face and a twinkle in her eye. You grin back, you recognize the look of a deal hunter. Your sister would get the same gleam every black friday. “Works for me! We’ll meet back here, unless there’s a line, I don’t think I’ll take more than ten minutes.” Ben says. With everything settled, your group heads back down the path, splitting at Merch Lane. As you look for the festival merch booth, you idly scratch the back of your neck again, which reminds you of that odd tingle you felt earlier. “Hey Mara… I got an odd question for you.” you start. The fox simply nods for you to continue. “Well, since we got here, every once in a while I feel this really strong, but odd tingle on the back of my neck. It almost feels like som-” “Someone’s staring daggers into you?” Mara pitches as a suggestion. Actually, yeah, it felt exactly like that. You nod, and the fox’s wider-than-normal smile appears. “That’s because someone is staring at you. Your third eye is being coaxed open, meaning your Intuition is growing. Tell me, do you know if this tingle feels malicious?” she asks. You ponder for a moment, and shake your head. “Not really. Just… intense.” you reply with a shrug. The kitsune laughs softly. “That’s not a surprise, really, especially around here. Some monster has her eyes set on you, and she wants you bad.~” she answers. Oh. “Can you recall when you first started feeling it?” she follows up. You start to think back to earlier in the day, when your train of thought is cut off by an angry shout. Glancing around a few times, you find the source of the yell at the official Lunapalooza Merch booth, and make a beeline towards it. As you get closer, you begin to make out distinct voices from the dull roar of the crowd. “-dred for the hoodie?! The fuckin’ tag says eighty, and that’s still a rip off!” you hear an irate male voice yell out. “That’s our base price. Tsuki’s an excellent weaver, and this one was enchanted by my new business partner a few booths down. Therefore, it’s a premium product. Two hundred.” a bored, but slightly irritated and heavily accented feminine voice replies. As you pass by the last of the crowd and arrive at the booth, you see the source of the argument. A younger guy, you’d estimate that he was probably in his early 20s, was glaring at the booth’s merchant, an asiatic looking brunette woman with fluffy animal ears and a thick, ring patterned tail flitting behind her. The hoodie in question they were arguing over, bore the Lunapalooza logo, and the tye-dye coloring kept shifting hues, like some tacky RGB lights on a computer. “I could give two shits about which cunt sewed the clothing. I have sixty in cash right here. Give me the hoodie.” he demands, and slaps a few bills onto the sales counter. Getting a better look at the dude, besides his demeanor, his whole appearance just screamed ‘Gay Cowboy’ and ‘Yuppie Douchebag.’ Designer jeans, what looked like a brand new leather bomber’s jacket, an obnoxious Stetson pulled down over one eye, and a really fruity looking orange scarf around his neck completed the ensemble. You do a double-take, as you just now notice there’s a woman gripped onto him, hiding behind his back. She didn’t look especially noteworthy, a pale human looking girl with a bad blue dye job in her hair being the most visually striking thing about her. Considering it looked like she wants to be anywhere but here, it didn’t surprise you much that you didn’t notice her. “Billy, let’s just go…” she says almost imperceptibly, lightly pulling on his jacket. “Shut the fuck up, Gina! You wanted the hoodie, let me get the god-damned hoodie!” he turns and barks at her, causing her to cower more behind his back. A deep frown crosses the shop-keep’s face. “My my, how rude. Four hundred. Firm.” she states flatly. The yuppie douche went red with rage, looking like he was about to pop a blood vessel. He started to aggressively point at himself. “That’s bullshit! Do you know who I am?! I’m Jamie and Leto Larson’s son! Hello? The owners of Chord Studios!” he brags while furiously pointing at himself. Now that name rang a bell. Chord Studios had once been a premier video game company, but the last few years of poor creative and financial decisions, caused primarily by this douchebag’s parents, led to their dramatic fall from grace. A smug grin crosses the raccoon merchant’s face. “I can’t say I know who or what that is, but I will say…” she begins, standing up to lean over the counter, her face inches from the yuppie’s. “I could give two shits about which cunt you popped out of.” She then sits back down, still grinning. “Four hundred. Firm.~” You see one of the eyelid’s on Billy’s face twitch a few times, and from the way he’s winding his arm back, it seems like he’s about to strike the raccoon girl. A loud cough, however, stays his hand. https://youtu.be/8BYeBvkbiIA?si=odeYRx5Ck26zczh0 “Is there a problem?” a baritone voice asks, cutting through the noise. Everyone turns to look at the source, which was a rather burly looking ginger guy in ripped jeans and a leather vest loaded with patches. One of those patches caught your attention immediately, as it was a black patch with bright red lettering that read “WAR HOGS MC”. Next to him was a pale woman who had more of a punk-rocker look, with wild silver hair and bright brass colored eyes, wearing studded leather straps over a ripped shirt and similarly torn black leggings. Oh boy. “It’s not your business, dude.” Billy says dismissively, turning his attention back towards the raccoon shopkeep. “Wrong. You made it everyone’s business the moment you started throwing a tantrum like a spoiled brat.” the biker says, taking a few steps closer. “So, do we have a problem?” he finishes, stopping within swinging distance of Billy. The yuppie glared at the biker, his arm still cocked back, when the punk-looking woman stepped behind the biker. She leaned her head over his shoulder, and wrapped her hands around his chest. “C’mon, try us, boy! I’ve been itching to taste blood since Sturgis.~” she taunts, and starts to reach a hand under the biker’s vest. He firmly, but gently, grabs her wrist, and holds it in place against his chest. “Not here, Nikki.” he says softly to her, and looks back at the yuppie. “Well?” Billy stares at the two for a few seconds longer, scoffs, and lowers his arm. “Let’s go, Gina. This place isn’t worth our time.” he mutters, and with a harsh yank, starts to drag his girlfriend away from the booth, much to the chagrin of the raccoon shopkeep, as well as the punker gal. “That’s right, ya alp-bait-bitch! Keep runnin’!~” Nikki screams at him. The biker gently starts to pat his hand on her wrist. “Okay, that’s enough babe, the little nepo shit ran off.” he says to her, then looks at the merchant. “Apologies for stepping in. Nikki and I can’t stand pissants like him.” he explains, a sheepish grin across his face. The raccoon just smiles and waves her hand. “It’s alright, thank you. Please, take all the time you need.” she replies. As the biker and his punk wife resume perusing the wares, Mara and yourself step closer to get a better look at what’s available. The first thing that you were drawn to were the variety of t-shirts. All of them bore the full Lunapalooza logo in one form or another, but beyond that and a few colors, the base shirts were pretty simple. Next to those was a selection of enchanted shirts. One in particular that caught your eye had the logo dead center, but the text around it is what you were focused on. It read “I Got ___ at Lunapalooza, and all I got was this stupid shirt.” While the phrase was a common one for souvenir shirts, the fact that the blank portion was swirling really piqued your interest. Next to those were the enchanted hoodies that the yuppie had been arguing over. There was a bluetooth speaker below them playing a basic drum beat. but it made the enchantment effect obvious; The colors of the hoodie were sound reactive, and would change hue and intensity with the music. It reminded you of those cuttlefish you saw on a nature documentary once. Well that’s kinda neat. Below those were stacks of different hats, mostly ball caps and knit beanies, all of various colors and bearing the festival logo. The portion of these that were listed as enchanted apparently had a form of hearing protection, allowing the wearer to stand right next to a speaker stack without discomfort or potential injury. Seems pretty handy. Next to those were a display of festival branded steel water bottles, some of which gave off a slight blue glow. It reminded you a little of the glow you saw back at the beer tent. The ones that were enchanted were listed as “EverHold”, so whatever temperature a drink is when it’s put in, is the same temperature it will be when it comes out, even if it’s years later. So, essentially a really fancy thermos. You found that quite tempting, considering your old work thermos was accidentally crushed under your truck last winter. Next to those were a stack of pillows and sleeping masks. While they didn’t have an obvious glow or shimmer to them, they were both advertised as being woven with weresheep wool, while the pillows were also stuffed with gandharva feathers. You had no idea what either of that meant, but you guessed it was probably to help the owner gain a deeper sleep. These were piled next to a stack of colorful weresheep wool blankets, which you assumed had a similar effect. Next to those were some thick, furry white blankets that were labeled as- “Dirk! Dirk! They got bunyip blankets!” you hear Nikki exclaim, quickly pulling her husband over to the display of furry blankets. “We could get all sorts of nasty on this and it won’t stain!” she explained, bouncing excitedly. The biker raises an eyebrow, and the punker girl rolls her eyes and smiles. “You could change your bike’s oil over this thing, and it won’t get dirty. At all.” she added. The biker’s eyes widen a bit, and he turns to the shopkeep. “We’ll take two.” While the raccoon was helping the biker couple, you were still mulling over what you might want to buy. Mara still has that bargain hunter’s gleam in her eyes, so she might be able to help you barter for a cheaper price. 1. Shirts (Base: $35, Enchanted $65) Key Item 2. Hoodies (B: $80, E: $200) 3. Hats (B: $20, E: $40) 4. Water Bottles (B: $25, E: $50) 5. Weresheep Wool Sleeping Masks ($20) 6. W.S.W. and Gandharva Feather Pillows ($80) 7. W.S.W. Blanket ($120) 8. Bunyip Fur Blanket ($450)

>>37402 A biker bitch vampire? Cool. Anyway, I think the hooies are a little too expensive without some of that bartering (haggling?) Definitely want the swirling t-shirt, key item or no. That and the water bottle are of interest to me. So... 1 and 4? Ben wanted a shirt, so get him just a regular one. That'd come up to $150 altogether, before Mara starts arguing with the tanuki. That's a solid third of our funds.

>>37402 Now I'm curious about that intuition, I want to roll to see if we can find out more about it, maybe a lead on where it's coming from. That enchanted hat sounds pretty appealing too for such a low price.

>>38164 >>37402 Please tell me we can have another anon roll again.

>>37402 That's a bit of an interesting specimen. I'm sure we'll have to deal with him later. As for the shirts, i'm a bit apprehensive about the fact that they say "ALL I GOT was this stupid shirt." The fact that they are enchanted doesn't mean they aaren't cursed to be a self fulfilling profecy so that nothing else happens for the rest of the festival except for us getting that shirt. Nah that sounds too schizophrenic. Don't know if Mara is getting something for herself. The fact that her paying doesn't affect out funds means her funds are separate from our own. Along with an enchanted water bottle, and one of those anti ear bleeding hats, should come to 210$, which should be bearable if Mara's haggling is successful. A pack of Camels is definitely something a Danuki would want, and i'm sure Mara can make it seem rarer than it actually is. Hopefully she has more tact than the last guy and doesn't end up having the prices raised, which is a real possibility if we are to consider that first segment as "subtle" foreshadowing. >>37779 Were you intending to buy the normal water bottle? 20$ for a normal water bottle seems very steep.

>>38474 >Were you intending to buy the normal water bottle? No? Now hold on >1 shirt, base ($35) = $35 + >1 shirt, enchanted ($65) = $100 + >1 water bottle, enchanted ($50) = $150 Pretty sure my math checks out.

>>38512 Oh, i guess i didn't think about buying Ben an unenchanted shirt. To me it feels like we'd be cheapping out you know. A shame we can't telepatically ask him.

>>38168 If someone else wants to, they can. 2 is not really a bad roll here, though. >>38474 >The fact that they are enchanted doesn't mean they aaren't cursed to be a self fulfilling profecy so that nothing else happens for the rest of the festival except for us getting that shirt. >Nah that sounds too schizophrenic. I might be nuts, but I can assure you I'm not that nuts. For now, at least. The shirts will not curse you, I can guarantee that.

>>38736 >If someone else wants to, they can That seems very lenient with the rolls then. If someone gets a bad roll we can roll again. Perhaps you might want to set a hard limit of rerolls per day. Anyways, i think i'll abstain from that for now. If there is anything weird or strange, i'm sure mara would tell us, so it's a good moment to see what a bad Perception roll looks like. >>38736 The reasurance is not needed. I think it's natural for the PC to have a certain skepticism towards mamono magic, which is unknown to him. Can't trust random strangers too much, ya know. It's pretty obvious such a thing wouldn't happen. Having 7 completely uneventful days in a festival isn't something any writer would do, least of all one that's trying to be and have fun. The exaggerated skepticism is mainly for roleplaying the character a certain way. I think it's fine if there is a certain realistic uncertainty around magic items.

>>38813 >That seems very lenient with the rolls then. Well, yeah. It's one of the reasons I went with a D6 system, but also why we have a stat cap currently set at 7. There's only so much information we can glean as an average human. Some situations will have a limit, but here in this instance? There's not much reason to. >The exaggerated skepticism is mainly for roleplaying the character a certain way. Oh I'm aware, I was mostly just joking about my mental state as the author and potential inclusions of misdirections/red herrings.

Alright, next part is currently in-progress. If you have any changes on what to purchase and barter with, voice them now. So far it appears we've settled on two shirts, one water bottle, and possibly one hat, as well as leaning into our intuition for a clue about our possible stalker.

Next part is taking awfully long aye...

>>40604 In the immortal words of Gabe Newell: these things... take time.

>>40630 Gabe Newell is the last person you should be quoting.

>>37402 https://youtu.be/3tDI11wEzfw?si=ZvmYo_0LeVjUJIA2 You were definitely getting yourself one of those enchanted shirts, you had to satisfy your curiosity. It was probably a good idea to get Ben one as well. The hat and water bottle also seemed like good ideas, and when you began to do the mental math, you frowned. That was a good hunk of your funds right there. You could downgrade Ben’s shirt to a normal one, but you felt really conflicted on that. Mara, sensing your dilemma, leans in closer to you. “Not the cheapest selection around, hmm?” she asks quietly in jest. You grumble slightly, still in the middle of your shirt choice. The fox taps you, pulling your attention back, and points at the shopkeep. The raccoon was just finishing up with the biker couple, and while both parties were leaving the exchange happy, she didn’t seem to be as enthused as her customers. As soon as they were out of earshot, she let out a sigh, rubs her eyes, and begins to recount the money. “She looks like she needs a smoke break.” Mara observes, and gives you a nudge. What does that have to do wi- oh right! The Camels! “What did you want to buy? With what we both have to trade, I’m sure I can talk her down quite a bit.~” she explains, and you quickly rattle off your shopping list. The kitsune is then lost in thought, doing her own mental math, if her finger counting is any indication. “We’ll need to do one large purchase if we want the best deal, but I should be able to figure out your share from the final price. You can pay me back afterwards.” she continues, then begins to tap her fingers in the palm of her cupped hand. “Get your cigarettes ready, on my signal I want you to present them.” she finishes. You nod, and fish out one of the packs from your drawstring pack, palming it. Now ready, Mara turns and the two of you begin towards the merchant, pulling her attention away from her money counting. “Found something you like?” the raccoon asks, hastening her money counting. “A few things, yes. If we were to, say, purchase over five or six items, would that net us a slight discount?” Mara asks in a probing manner. The merchant narrows her eyes, but a smile appears on her face. “Perhaps… depending on the items in question… what did you have in mind?” the merchant inquires back. Mara’s deal-hunter grin grows, and she leans closer. “Well, a few of those enchanted shirts look quite enticing~ My companion was also interested in your hats and bottles, and one of your wool blankets caught my eye. I am also curious if you happen to have any small squares of patterned cloth available?” the fox begins to explain. INTUITION CHECK: STALKER I:2 + T1 + D2 = 5 When she uttered ‘Companion’, that odd tingling feeling on the back of your neck returned. Knowing now that someone is probably staring at you, you decide to lean into your intuition, and see if you can pinpoint them out of the crowd. You weren’t exactly sure how you would accomplish this, so for now you close your eyes, and decide to focus on the sensation. The conversation Mara was having with the raccoon began to fade into the dull roar of the festival crowd, which sounded almost like waves crashing against a shoreline. That tingling feeling intensified, but became more pronounced on the right side of your neck, just above your shoulder. As casual as you could appear, you open your eyes again, and begin to look around the booth like you’re shopping again. When you glance over towards the source of the stare, you see a commotion in the crowd and hear a yell. Near one of the other merch booths, you see a quick flash of creamy white that disappears into the crowd, but not without knocking over a couple patrons. “JEE-ZUS! Watch it, lady!” one of the patrons, a lanky guy with shaggy brown hair, yells back into the crowd. He then helps a woman up with similarly shaggy hair, only hers was more of a dark chocolate brown compared to his. Instead of normal arms, she seems to have wings, like the harpies you’ve seen in Moorhead now and then, only hers were more fleshy than feathery. You assume from how she immediately hugs him when pulled up, that she must be his girlfriend. “You do sound rather exhausted. Have you had a break for lunch, or even just for a smoke, yet?” you hear Mara’s voice speaking up through the crowd’s roar. You then feel the tip of her tail brush against the back of your hand palming the Camels. That must be the signal. As casual as you could be, you begin to slap the top of the box against your other palm, packing any loose tobacco tighter into the cigarettes inside. “Oh c’mon Mara, why do you gotta mention smoking? Doncha’ know that kicks off my cravings?” you add for effect. The raccoon’s eyes were glued to the box in your hands, and once you stopped packing, you began to tear off the cellophane. The rich odor of fresh tobacco began to permeate the air, resulting in the merchant sniffing the air, her ears flicking slightly. “Sorry, I know you’re trying to quit. You did bring an extra pack, right? You know those are usually hard to come by on festival grounds.~” Mara layers on. “Hmmm… since he is cutting back, would you be interested in his spare pack, as an additional payment? You would be doing him a favor, after all~.” The merchant narrowed her eyes at the box in your hand, seemingly still unsure. As a final push, you take one of the cigarettes out , and hand it to the raccoon. She rolls it between her fingers, possibly examining how fresh it actually was. She then brought it to her lips, and it was then you realized you didn’t have a lighter with you. The fox had you covered though, and with a snap of her fingers, a blue flame appeared above her thumb. The merchant leans towards the flame, lighting the cigarette and taking a long drag. A moment later she exhales, and a smile appears on her face. “Gods, I needed that.” she says, her posture beginning to loosen. “I am more of a pipeweed person, but this will work. If you are offering the whole pack, I believe I can reduce your final cost down by, oh…” the merchant continued, the gears turning in her head. “Now wait one moment, I have one more proposition for you.~” the kitsune interjected. The raccoon rose an eyebrow, but nodded for Mara to continue. The fox’s tail swished again, and a small stack of business cards had appeared between her fingers. “I happen to be a business woman as well, and I believe we could agree on a… mutually beneficial arrangement.~” The raccoon takes one of the business cards, her eyes scanning across it slowly. “...Go on.” the merchant says, glancing back up at Mara, and takes another drag from the cigarette. The fox’s trademark too-wide grin appeared again. “Let’s say, one of my customers decides to have an hour long reading. Once wrapped up, I could send them your way, with one of your business cards, with the promise of, ohhh… maybe a ten percent discount?” Mara proposes. “With a minimum item amount?” the merchant immediately asks. “Naturally~ Ten percent would be wasted if it was just on one item.” the fox continues, and sets her stack of business cards down. “On the reverse side of things, if one of your customers spends an amount you deem fair, you could give them one of my cards, and I would offer a fair discount in exchange.~” The raccoon stared at the business cards, while tapping her finger on the table, lost in thought. “If it helps to sweeten the deal, I could also give you a reading, at no cost.~” “Tsuki as well.” the merchant stated simply. The corner of Mara’s smile twitched ever so slightly. “Facets of my personal future do not concern me too much, I would rather not ruin the gods' surprises. Business insight is another matter entirely.” the merchant continues, and takes another small drag. “Tsuki, however, has a near-crippling shyness with men. If you can help her, I would be most grateful.” Mara’s smile softened a bit, and she nodded. “I’m sure I could provide some helpful advice.~ Just how shy is she, though?” the fox asks. The raccoon smirks, and turns to look deeper into the booth. “Tsuki! Did you find those fabric bolts yet?!” she yells. The sound of something tumbling can be heard, followed by a feminine yelp. A moment later, the yellow and black spider girl you saw earlier in the day skitters out from behind one of the displays, with a few rolls of patterned cloth in her hands. “I found these! I think these are the ones we got last mon-” Tsuki begins, setting the bolts down on the table, when she suddenly notices you. She was pretty cute, her pixie cut dark hair looked mostly black, but had a deep midnight-blue shimmer when caught in the sunlight. The autumn rising-sun patterned kimono she wore was quite modest, and complimented the natural coloring of her spider carapace. Her light blue eyes were locked to yours, and when you gave her a smile, her face immediately flushed red. With a barely perceptible squeak, she skittered back into the booth behind the displays. Mara lets out a slow and low chuckle. “My ohhh my… I wouldn’t have said that’s near-crippling, but to each their own.” she observes, and shrugs. “Sure, I’ll give her a reading as well. Do we have an arrangement then, along with our purchase?” the fox finishes. The raccoon chews her lip for a moment, takes one more small drag, and nods. “We do.” she states simply, while holding her hand out. “Hiroko Shirai.” The kitsune grasps her hand, giving it a quick shake. “Mara West, happy to be in business with you.~” she replies. “Now, what was that final bill at?…” Barter Funds at $395, 2 Packs of Camel Wides, 3 Packs of Wunder Purples Gained: Stupid Shirt, E-Pro Beanie, Everhold Bottle Minutes later, the two of you were heading back towards the forked path sign, richer in merch but slightly lighter in pocket. Mara had paid Hiroko via her credit card, and your share of the bill had been a little over a hundred bucks, along with the pack of Camels, of course. You were wearing your new shirt and hat, while your new water bottle was clipped to one of your belt loops. The shirt you chose had an interesting blue and green tie-dye pattern, with the blues appearing in sharp, angled lines, while the greens being more wispy. It reminded you of the ‘Winds and Lightning’ comment from your tarot reading earlier in the day. When you put it on, the swirling portion morphed into hand writing, which was your own, curiously. The full phrase now read “ I Got a Chatty, Heavy Buzz at Lunapalooza, and all I got was this stupid shirt”, though you noticed the writing get fuzzy at moments, as if another message was trying to form. You’ll have to mess around with that later. The hat you chose, a navy blue version of the knit beanie, was more appealing than the ball caps, mostly because back home it was practically freezing for two thirds of the year, and you could get away with wearing it at work. You were pleasantly surprised to find that the hearing protection was adjustable, simply by running a finger along the edge of the lunar eclipse patch. Sliding your finger across the face of the patch had an additional effect of clarifying nearby voices, probably so you could have a conversation with someone right next to a blaring amp stack and hear them just fine. That will probably have a lot of uses! Mara had the lion’s share of merch, starting with her own enchanted shirt and hat (“These ears are far more sensitive than you would think~”), along with a whole blanket-pillow-mask sleeping set. The square of fabric she bought, compared to everything else, was surprisingly mundane. It was about the size of an extra large bandana, and bore a rather tacky psychedelic eye pattern dyed into it. While most of her merch she carried in a plastic bag Hiroko provided, the cloth she held in her other hand, taking a moment now and then to stare at it for a few seconds. “Soooo… what’s with the bandana?” you ask. The fox ran her thumb across the fabric, a soft smile on her features. “I wanted a new cloth to place my cards on, at least when I’m not back at camp. But that’s not what you’re curious about.” she explains, then closes her eyes. “The pattern happens to remind me of someone I knew from years ago, and a dumb joke of theirs…” she trails off, her smile wavering slightly. The fox then takes a deep breath, and lets out a heavy sigh. You weren’t sure, but you thought you saw tears welling on the corners of her eyes. “You uh, you gonna be alright?” you follow up in a softer tone. Mara nods, using the bandana to wipe her eyes. “I’ll be fine. I’m just… tending old flames and lamenting what was.” she replied cryptically. You must have given her a perplexed look, as the fox let out a soft, albeit pained laugh. “It’s a long story. Maybe for another day.” the kitsune added. You simply shrug in response. It was her personal life, so you didn’t pry any further. Mara’s ears began to flick and twitch, one of them swiveling to face further up the path, as a warmer smile graced her features. “I believe I hear Ben, and a few others with him.” Who the heck did he find now? Passing by a few more groups of festival goers, the two of you eventually gained sight of the signpost. Sure enough, Ben was sitting cross-legged on the ground, leaning against his wagon. He was in the middle of what appeared to be a very animated conversation with three girls forming a loose circle with him. The most striking feature of the girls that you noticed, is that they all wore open back shirts, exposing folded gossamer wings and smaller, tail-like segmented abdomens. “Ope! There they are!” Ben yells out, waving you over. The three girls turned to look in your direction, and as you got closer, you were able to make out more features. The tallest girl, sitting closest to Ben, had jet-black hair, tied back into a loose pony tail. Two large, black antennae poked out through her hair, bobbing and twitching now and then. You noticed that her black and white striped abdomen had a gnarly looking stinger at the end of it. She kind of reminded you of those territorial hornets you’d get in the corner of your yard every summer. The shirt she wore was a modified black-tee, with a faded logo on the front that read W.A.S.P., which made you chuckle. She gave you a quick nod of acknowledgement, and turned her attention back towards your friend. The other two girls kept their undivided attention on you, though. The middle girl had a similar black-and-white style to her, albeit with more stripes than the hornet girl, along with rose colored jewelry that added more accents. Two feathery, gray and red antennae poked out from her short, flapper-styled platinum blonde hair that ended in crimson tips, and were bobbing and twitching in your direction. Her striped abdomen lacked a stinger, but it did have a shiny red, heart-shaped mark on it, which almost looked transparent. You couldn’t tell what was on the front of her shirt from this angle, but just like her companions, it was black in color. The last girl, the shortest of the three, was far more colorful than her friends. Her chitin reflected the sunlight in hues of sapphire, gold, and emerald, which complimented her jade, pig-tailed hair. Her antennae were more spiked, yet also wispy, and like the girl before, were locked onto your location. A deep blue colored willowy fur ran along her upper back and shoulders, giving her the appearance of wearing a feather boa. The top of her shirt read “The Offspring”, and you believed the artwork below it was from their Americana album. A lazy smirk was across her face, and with an exhale, a plume of smoke escaped from her nose. In her hand was a small, brass, sherlock styled pipe, which you recognized was Ben’s. So that’s what they’ve been doing. It figures that Mister Green Lung would find some like-minds to kill time with. “I got you guys some bacon poutine!” Ben said as you and Mara got closer. Sure enough, cutting through the odor of weed was the mouth-watering smell of fried bacon and potatoes. “Poutine? There’s canucks here?” you asked with a laugh. Ben grabbed two large, unopened cardboard containers, with plastic forks taped to the top, and handed them to you and the fox. “Yeah, they had a big food truck with a Canadian flag on the side, it was run by a bunch of elves and reindeer girls.” he explains, then turns to the hornet. “What did you say they were, Yvonne?” “Whitehorns.” the hornet named Yvonne said, and gave you another nod. “So you’re the Anon and the fox Ben keeps raving about.” she adds with a grin. “Oh yeah, Anon, this is Yvonne, Rochelle, and Morgan.” he explains, pointing at the hornet, the striped girl, and finally the colorful girl. “We got to gabbin’ about some of the bands we wanna see this week while we were waitin’ on our food, and it turns out they haven’t even found a place to camp yet. I offered a spot at Pyrite Lane, but I told them we needed to see what you two thought first.” he finished. “Those stuck-up bees and flower cunts in The Garden said they didn’t want us ‘Punks’ throwing off their folksy, indie vibe.” Yvonne adds, and spits on the ground. “Ya figure other monsters would be the last ones to judge you by appearance, but whatever. We wouldn’t have met Ben if they didn’t shoo us out.” You look over at Mara, who seemed to be scrutinizing the trio. “They seem alright to me, I’m not picking up any bad vibes.” she said quietly, just loud enough for you to hear. Glancing back at the three, you leaned back into your Intuition once again. A peaceful feeling crosses over you, with no other lingering thoughts or sensations following. You guess that means they passed the gut check. So, do you want to bring them back to Pyrite Lane?

>>41039 >You were pleasantly surprised to find that the hearing protection was adjustable, simply by running a finger along the edge of the lunar eclipse patch. Sliding your finger across the face of the patch had an additional effect of clarifying nearby voices, probably so you could have a conversation with someone right next to a blaring amp stack and hear them just fine This is pretty cool. >So, do you want to bring them back to Pyrite Lane? Sure, whatever punk rock nonsense they get up to can't bother us with our trusty magical ear protection equipped. Now let's eat. That stuff looks pretty appetizing.

>>41039 Man, Mara is scary when it comes to business, isn't she. >you see a quick flash of creamy white that disappears into the crowd, but not without knocking over a couple patrons. Aha, so our stalker is a giant icecream girl. Sounds very apetizing. As for the wasps, i get the feeling they'll be trouble sooner or later, but i personally have no reason to outright reject them, as long as they don't go around snooping in places they don't belong. Usually they are agressive, but if weed can pacify rapehounds, it can pacify hornets too

>>41039 Bring them back and give Ben his shirt.

>>41039 >>42558 That reminds me, is the Stupid Shirt mentioned among our items the shirt we're wearing or the one we got for Ben?

Any updates and/or response to anon's (>>42633) question?

>>42633 >>43509 Ben's shirt is currently in Mara's bag with her stuff, and both his and Anon's are Stupid Shirts, just different colors. Next update is in progress, and should hopefully be posted somewhat soon-ish.

>>41039 “Sure! Why not? Our camp could use more folks.” you say, popping open your container of poutine. Damn, it looks even better than it smells! As you begin to chow down, Morgan hands the little brass pipe back to Ben, who taps it out into his palm. “And the bowl’s cashed, so that’s another reason to head back.” he adds, pocketing the pipe, then turns to Yvonne. “We got a lot more White Widow to smoke and some beers n’ booze back there, too. Y’want a Big Friendly?” he asks. A smirk crosses the hornet’s face, as she places a hand on his bicep. “If it’s your Big Friendly? Anytime~” she flirts back. Ben simply laughs and stands up, helping the black and white bug to her feet. While being the tallest of the bugs, she was just a smidge shorter than your friend, but not by much. Rochelle and Morgan follow suit, the smaller bugs stretching their arms and wings out. “Let’s get a move on, then! We’ll do a lil’ more partyin’ and start catchin’ some bands afterwards.” he replies, moving to grab the handle of the cart. Yvonne heads to the other side of it, and tosses a couple luggage bags towards her friends. Rochelle catches her bag, a large black duffel with a red cross on the side of it, while Morgan has to jump to grab hers, a well-worn khaki canvas backpack that had a metallic rattle when jostled. The hornet then hefted her own luggage, a mottled gray seabag, over her shoulder, contorting her wing to rest up and over it. On the side pocket were two large, embroidered black letters that read ‘G.K.’ Underneath that was a smaller set of embroidered black letters that read ‘Y. DuBois’. With her other hand, she lifts up an even larger blue duffel, opting to hold it by the carry straps. You were guessing that was probably their tent. https://youtu.be/QMOPQInpOCU?si=KtxfuFDEwbiowdXr As the group starts to move, Ben, Yvonne, and Mara take the lead, while you hang back with Rochelle and Morgan. From the quick snippet you hear, it sounds like Mara is already asking the hornet if she’s interested in a reading session, making you grin between bites of poutine. That didn’t take long. “Heeeeey! Sooooo, Ben says you play the flute?” you hear Morgan ask on your left, her stoner’s drawl grabbing your attention. The short colorful bug girl kept pace with a brisk stride, occasionally hopping or skipping a few steps ahead. You swallow the last bit of potato and cheese left in the forkful you took, and clear your throat. “Eh, I’m alright at it, I can at least play a few songs.” you answer somewhat modestly, your grin turning a bit sheepish. “Hmmmm… Ben said you were reaaaallllly good, not just alright…” you hear Rochelle reply skeptically in her own drawl , and you look over at her. The striped girl’s russet eyes were half lidded, a lazy but content smile crossing her face. Like Morgan, she was also walking somewhat quickly to keep pace with you. “Maaayyybeee… you could play us a song?~” she suggests, stepping closer to your right side. You feel the tip of one of her feathery antennae brush against your arm. “Oooooh! Yeah! Do that, that would be cooooool! ” Morgan adds, practically skipping at every step now. “I can hold your food while you play!” she then offers, sidling up closer to your other side. You start to feel one of her antennae tapping against your arm holding the poutine container. “Don’t do thaaaat… her gut is a bottomless pit…” Rochelle counters. “You can give it to meeeeee… I’m more…” she continues, and slowly looks you up and down. “...Thiiiiirsty than hungry, right now…” she finishes with a smile. You can feel your face starting to turn a bit red. “Heeey! I wouldn’t eat the whooooole thing! Maybe just a nibble~” Morgan jabs back, tapping your arm faster with her antennae. You look back over at the shorter girl, her hazel eyes wide as her eyebrows twitched upwards twice. “I might have an appetite, but I’m a gooooood girl. I’ll only do what I’m told~” she flirts, the lazy smirk from earlier returning to her face. “Besides, right noooow? I’m craving some cake.” Her eyes scan over your arms and hands, while her antennae slid down your upper arm. “Sooooo, how’d a beefcake like you end up picking flute over anything else?” she asks without missing a beat. Your face grows hotter, and you choke back a cough. “Uh, well, my flute’s been handed down through my family for a few generations now. I think it’s my great or great-great grandfather who originally bought it.” you explain, your free hand scratching the back of your neck. “I ended up being way more interested in it than my brother or sister when we were kids, so my Dad ended up letting me have it.” “Mmmmm… a family heirloom~” Rochelle observes, and you feel her feathery antennae brush against part of your arm again. “Soooo… that means you plan on having kids… riiiiight?~” she asks you. You cough, and you feel your face burning bright red. “Okay sluts, stop layin’ it on so thick!” Yvonne yells back over her shoulder with a laugh. “Poor guy’s gonna pop a blood vessel if you keep it up!” Morgan sticks her tongue out, while Rochelle smirks and gives the hornet a rude gesture. They did, however, both step a little away from you, giving you more breathing space. You’ll have to thank Yvonne later. After a few quiet moments, you feel a poke at your side. “Welllll?~” Rochelle prods, giving you a soft smile. “Um… eventually.” you mutter, and awkwardly clear your throat. “Anyway, I can probably play something when we get back to camp.” you then offer, causing Morgan to begin skipping again and Rochelle to hum in delight. It at least gave you time to finish your poutine, too. From there, the conversation flows a little easier. Morgan had asked you what you did for work, and after explaining to the girls what all an electrician did, the girls shared a little more about themselves. As it turns out, Morgan, due to her strong sense of smell and taste, is an excellent forager, as well as an aspiring chef, who wants to share her passion for tasty food with as many people as she can. Her current hurdle in her craft, though, has been appearances. While her culinary attempts end up being quite tasty, they look anything but. (“It all looks like puke, but it tastes like heaven!” Yvonne piped in.) Rochelle, on the other hand, is training to be a nurse. From a young age she had always desired to help others, a drive that her parents encouraged by having her apprentice with the village healer. This resulted in her discovering an affinity for blood magic, yet she still wants to learn more mundane methods of care. Since crossing the portals, she’s been looking into Earth’s medical practices, which has also given her an addiction to old TV hospital dramas and soap operas. While you conversed, your group passed by the fork heading towards the second stage, and the sound of a single funky percussive bass line echoed slightly over the crowd noise. That sounded kinda cool, so you hoped whoever it was, was just doing a sound-check for a later show. Further up the path your group was on, you started to see the edges of the campground, with tents and the occasional camper or RV popping up. From this side of the camp, it seemed there was more of an even mix of humans to monsters, and while many spots had been taken, there was still a lot of space for more groups to settle in. One of the sites on this side of the campground reminded you of the War Hogs camp, although way more country. A couple camper trailers, horse trailers, and tents had been set up in a loose circle around a large bonfire. Seated around the fire were some men, a few holstaurs, a couple centaurs, what looked like some sheep girls, one out-of-place looking blue-skinned woman in tan robes and with a skeletal-looking arm, and one very tall looking rabbit girl in an oversized 10-gallon hat. One of the camper trailers had its window open, and the sounds of Johnny Cash’s troubles filtered out from it. A little ways down from the cowboy camp, was a site that had more of what you would call an asiatic theme to it. There were only tents here, but each and everyone sported colorful patterned tapestries, a few of which you recognized from earlier. You guessed this was probably where Hiroko and Tsuki were camping when they weren’t working at their booth. Like the previous site, this one had a large bonfire, though unlike the last site, there were not as many campers seated around it. A massive, olive-skinned spider woman with horns was resting as close to the blaze as she could, a look of pure bliss on her face. Seated behind her on her furry carapace was a small, nerdy looking guy, who was in the middle of giving her a shoulder rub. Next to them, was a woman with features that reminded you of a panda, sharing a drink with another woman who had long, purplish-auburn hair. Said hair seemed to move of its own will, almost giving the impression of octopus tentacles. The last campsite that stuck out to you, was one that seemed the most mundane (all things considered), but something about it just seemed off. A lot of small cheap tents that sported hand-painted pentacles, a thick haze of intensely strong smelling sage, and the tinny sound of some bad new-age music coming from a broken speaker assaulted your senses. There were a few human-looking women milling about, muttering to themselves and waving around smoldering bundles of leaves. The words ‘Gypsies’ and ‘Wiccans’ ran through your head, making you wonder how much of that was intuition, or simple profiling. It wasn’t too much longer after that when you arrived back at Pyrite Lane. As soon as you passed the tree line, you heard Rochelle gasp. “You guy’s found a pooooond?!” she exclaims, her eyes widening. Cackling with glee, she drops her bag, and jumps into the air. Her wings immediately become a blur as a loud whining-hum fills the air, as the mosquito zips towards the water. A splash soon follows, cutting off the hum, only to be replaced by more giggling. “This week’s gonna be aweeessooooome!” she yells, spreading out to float on her back. Yvonne shakes her head, but you hear her laugh. “Hey, don’t get distracted! We gotta still gotta set up the tent!” the hornet yells back, while setting down her gray sea bag. With a clatter, Morgan drops her backpack, leaping into the air to buzz around the place. After a few passes, she stops above a small cluster of trees a couple yards from your tents, and waves at Yvonne. “These trees look goooooood! I think it’s the best we’re gonna get!” Morgan shouts. The hornet nods, and makes a running leap with the tent bag, her wings sounding like a roaring engine as she flew, joining Morgan to hover above the spot. Just what the heck are they doing? You look over at Ben, your eyebrow raised, and he simply shrugs. “We won’t know unless we look.” he says, and starts pulling the wagon towards the tents. Mara was wearing a smirk, and began to move towards her shelter with her bag of merch. “You two go on ahead. I need to find the right deck for Yvonne, once they finish up, she wants to know what her future holds.~” she explains, disappearing inside her dwelling, only to step back out a moment later. “Oh, Ben! Before I forget.” she starts, stepping quickly over to him. “Here’s your shirt, Anon and I were able to get an enchanted one for you, as well.” she continues, handing him the bundle of red and gold fabric. “Sweet, thanks!” he replies, unfolding it. You could tell from here the writing on it was starting to morph, but you couldn’t see what it said. A grin crosses Ben’s face, and he glances over at you. “Yeah, that’s dope. I’m gonna toss this on quick.” he says, his eyes flicking down to your shirt. “Though… I think I’m gonna toss on a hoodie over it. I dunno how much I wanna advertise how fucked up I’m gonna get to everyone.” he adds. You glance down at your shirt, and notice that it now says you have a Chatty, Slight Buzz. Huh, he’s probably got a point. “Ya know, that’s a good idea, I’m gonna toss on something over mine, too.” you say. The three of you return to your respective tents (Ben and yourself taking a moment longer to undue the padlocks you set), and you rummage through your duffel until you find something suitable. You had heard nights in the desert could get cold, so you packed a few button-up flannels and long sleeve t-shirts. Finding one of your lighter flannels, you quickly tossed on the blue and black patterned shirt, buttoning it up part way, followed by rolling up the sleeves. The writing on your tie-dye shirt was now partially obscured, but you could check it easily when needed. Returning outside, you join back with Ben, who now wore a dark green zip-up hoodie over his red and gold tie-dye shirt, though at the moment, he left the hoodie unzipped. His shirt read his status as Cross-Faded, which you figured was probably from his weed combining with the beer from earlier. Making your way behind your tents towards the trees where the bugs were planning to set up, you were at first confused, as you could see their tent bag on the ground, but nothing else. Ben tapped you on the shoulder, pointing upwards when you glanced at him. Looking up, you feel your jaw drop at the sight that greets you. Strapped tightly between three of the trees was a fabric floor, easily large enough to fit the girls, and possibly a few more people. Morgan was inside the structure, holding up the supports while Rochelle and Yvonne hovered outside, securing the poles to the anchor points. Once finished with that, they quickly began to set up the rainfly above the shelter, and soon, the livable habitat was complete. You hear Ben let out a low whistle of appreciation. “That’s sick. I hope they brought a ladder so we can check it out!” he says. You were hoping so too, but there was no way in hell you were climbing up there unless you were Stone Sober. Yvonne slowly buzzed downwards, landing in front of Ben, a satisfied smile on her face. “Alright! So are we gonna party, or what?” she asks, giving your friend a playful nudge on his shoulder. A gasp from the bug’s tent catches your attention, and you look up. Morgan is leaning out of the door, staring at you with a wide eyed gleeful grin. “LUUUUMMMBERJACK!” she calls out, and begins to giggle. She leaps out, hovering for a moment until Rochelle joins her, and the two zip down to land in front of you. The fly’s eyes are locked onto your arms again, while the mosquito is giving you another lazy smile. “Soooo… how ‘bout that sooooong?~” Rochelle asks. Gained 3 Campers. Current campsite capacity is 6 of ??? Camper Skills Yvonne: Bouncer Morgan: Forager, Chef (Student) Rochelle: Medic (Student) What kinda song do you want to play for the girls? 1. Something Rock 2. Something Pop 3. Something Classical 4. Something Vidya Also Pre-game options before the first show (Can select multiple): 1. Drink a beer? (Y/N) 2. Drink some liquor? (Y/N) 3. Drink some water? (Y/N) 4. Partake of the White Widow? (Y/N)

>>44189 Okay then, time for the pied piper to make his debut. I'm assuming anon isn't Ian Anderson and can't play Bouree, which is classical AND rock together. Classical would probably be easier since that's what the instrument is associated with, even if the present audience might not be into it. So I'd say 3. What are drinking though? Water's a boring option, hard liquor and weed a little too much. Beer would maintain our buzz. We just ate, so it's not like we'd be drinking into an empty stomach. So 1. Y

>>44226 >I'm assuming anon isn't Ian Anderson and can't play Bouree Half-correct, Anon might not be Ian Anderson, but he can play Bouree, albeit not flawlessly. If we were to say Ian is a 10 out of 10, Anon's flute skills are about a 6 to 7, giving us plenty of room for improvement. Being an heirloom instrument as well, Anon's family has had him listen to more than just classical pieces. So yes, Jethro Tull is on the table. Get him drunk enough (a risky maneuver) and he might start singing like Ian, too.

>>44313 Then let's go for Bouree!

I guess it's dead, then?

>>45930 >I guess it's dead, then? It's been one week. Updates have been coming out in about 2ish or so weeks, so, next part is in progress. Writing isn't magic, it takes time. Alternatively, you can help by posting and encouraging discussion regarding our current options and what we might possibly encounter down the line! That would help a lot more than a bump with a 'it's dead, Jim' comment.

Definitely drink some beer at least too, we here party

>>44189 “Uhh, sure! Let’s get a fire going first, though.” you reply, and turn to Ben. “How long does it take to set up that portable pit you brought?” you ask, causing Ben to snort. “Seconds! I’ll have it started by the time you fish out and put your flute together.” he replies, and gestures back towards the rest of the tents. “I’ll set it up by the pond, if the fire gets outta hand for some reason, we’ll have enough water to handle it.” “I’ll start looking for sticks and leaves!” Morgan exclaims, her wings buzzing again as she flies deeper into the woods. The rest of your group heads back to the clearing, with Ben disappearing into his tent for a moment, returning with the cooler, along with the collapsible pit and his cajon drum on top. After a few strides and a quick glance around, your friend seemed satisfied with the spot he chose, and began to build the pit. He wasn’t kidding, either, by the time you managed to get your flute case out of your drawstring bag, he had the pit assembled. As it was just five inter-locking vented metal plates, it wasn’t the most difficult thing to put together, but the speed was still impressive. When your flute was finally ready, Ben had some of the kindling that Morgan was gathering smoldering in the pit, and was beginning to place some of the smaller dried firewood over it. Mara had returned from her tent, bringing a small camping chair and pop-up fabric table with her. Yvonne retrieved her sea bag from where she had left it, rummaging through it quickly to pull out three folding tripod stools. Rochelle moved the wagon closer to the pit, then went around staking a few of the mana torches around the edge of the pond. With not much else to do after that, she decided to simply stand by and admire your flute, a soft smile gracing her features as you play a few scales to warm up. Moments later, with the fire finally burning merrily, Ben cracks the cooler back open. “Who’s thirsty?! Other than beer, we got Jager and Whiskey!” he asks, then adds. Yvonne was immediately at his side, looking down into the cooler. “I’ll take a beer. What’s Jager?” the hornet replies. Ben hands her one of the tall red and gold cans, making her eyes widen. “HA! They really are called ‘Big Friendly’s’!” she exclaims with a grin, popping the can open right away. “Told ya!” he replies, then pulls out a familiar large square green bottle from the cooler. “This is Jagermeiester. If you like black licorice, you’ll love this. It’s not as versatile as whiskey, or as strong, but it’s tasty!” He then twists the cap off, cracking open the seal, and lets Yvonne sniff from the bottle. A curious but perplexed look crosses her features. “Huh. It kinda smells like the jelly sweets my father likes to snack on.” she mutters, as Ben reaches back into the cooler. “Who else wants a beer?!” he calls out. You hold your hand out, and with practiced ease, Ben immediately tosses a can right into your waiting palm, which you cracked open a second later. “Mara?” The fox shakes her head, and holds up a small plastic water bottle. “I’m good for now, thank you, though!” she replies, setting the bottle back down on her table. She had that eye-patterned fabric spread across the top, and was in the middle of shuffling a few of her decks. “I’ll take one!” Morgan shouts over the buzz of her wings, returning from the woods with another armful of kindling. She lands next to the wagon, dropping the bundle and skipping over to the cooler. “Ro, you’re still thirsty, right?” she then shouts over her shoulder. The mosquito in question was still focused on you, and murmured something nearly inaudible. “Ro!! Do you want a beer!” Morgan yelled again, a giggle warbling her sentence slightly. Rochelle’s attention on you breaks for a moment, as she turns to the fly. “Uhhhhh… yeaaahhh! I could go for one, I’m feeling prettyyyyyy…” the mosquito trails off, her attention turning back to you as you finish your warm up scales. “...parched.” she finishes, licking her lips. With another giggle, Morgan snags two cans from the cooler, takes two of the stools from Yvonne, and skips back over, handing one of each to Rochelle. Both bugs crack their cans in unison, each taking a few big gulps. With a satisfied sigh, a lazy smile crosses the blonde bug’s face. “Sooooo… what song are you gonna play?~” she asks, setting up her stool to take a seat. You take a sizable glug of your own beer, and place it on the ground near your feet. SPIRITS - Temporary Resolve sustained. Tolerance 4(-2.2) [Casual Drinker] = Chatty Cat sustained. Temporary Intuition still at +1 “It’s a little piece called Bourée. Kind of an old song, but it's been revamped in a bluesy style.” you answer, then nod at Ben. “I just need a beat, when you’re ready.” Your friend had just put the bottle of Jager back into the cooler, and was pulling out a beer for himself, along with a large mason jar containing both the White Widow and an herb grinder, which he hands to Yvonne. “One sec!” he replies, then fishes his brass sherlock pipe back out of his pocket. “Could you pack this for me?” he asks, handing it over to the hornet. She gives him a nod and a grin, as he sits down on his box drum, and rolls his shoulders. “A one, two, one two three four!” https://youtu.be/tbg7U9tIC88?si=H4cbYkfzByS9OGEZ While you were playing, Yvonne set her stool up between Ben and Mara, with the fox beginning to draw a spread for her. The hornet already seemed deeply invested, casually preparing the next bowl while her eyes were locked to the cards. Glancing down at the table, you see The Fool, The Star, The Lovers, and the Three of Cups face up, with a fair number of cards still face down. You then turned towards the shorter bugs, the girls sipping their beers, wide smiles across their faces as they stared at you. Rochelle’s gaze seems to bounce around you from one place to another, but Morgan’s eyes stay glued to your arms. Soon, the flow of the music begins to take you, your own eyes closing to focus on the tune. Minutes later, you finish the song with a slight flourish, and open your eyes. A flutter of applause comes from the girls, with Morgan and Rochelle clapping the loudest. Yvonne starts to cough out smoke, and passes the lit sherlock pipe back to Ben. “Ohhhh yeah, that was goooood! Better than ‘just alright’.~” the mosquito teases, causing your face to turn slightly red. You pick your beer back up, and take another decent swig. “Waaay better! You don’t gotta be modest!” Morgan adds, then smirks while bouncing her eyebrows. “Though Ro and I do think modest guys are veeeerrrry cute.~” the fly finishes with a wink, turning your face more red. Rochelle lightly pushes Morgan with her elbow, followed by a half-serious ‘shhhh’. “Uhh, thanks.” you reply sheepishly, and take another nervous swig. You then hear a yell towards the edge of the camp, near the banner, and turn. You see a somewhat busty goat girl in shutter shades, a neon green halter top, with matching cargo shorts, waving at your group. With her is a shirtless brown haired guy in denim shorts, carrying a backpack and a forty (which at this distance appeared to be a High Life) . They both smile wide as they catch your group’s attention. “Heya, neighbor! We thought we heard songs from the woods!” the goat yells, as the two make their way into camp. You snort and start to chuckle at the new girl’s comment. “Wrong album, but close!” you reply. She gives you a quick, perplexed look, but shakes it off, so you move on. “Anyway, who are you two? You said you’re neighbors?” you ask. “Yeah! I’m Bryce, and this is my wife Thalia.” the shirtless guy answers. “Our group’s set up a few minutes down and away from the main path. We heard you playin’ right after we left camp to check out who’s on the main stage, and she kinda dragged me here.” he explains with an awkward laugh. “I can’t ignore another flautist when I hear one!” Thalia says, playfully flicking his ear lobe. Bryce immediately reached and pinched the goat’s ear in return, making her bleat and laugh at the same time. She then bats his hand away, and stifles a giggle. “Anyway, we thought we’d say hi before heading to the show! Are you guys staying here, or going to one of the stages? We wouldn’t mind some new friends joining us and sharing our wine!” she adds. 1. Finish Pre-game, join your ‘neighbors’, and go to the Main Stage 2. Finish Pre-game and go to the Second Stage 3. Pre-game for a little longer, then go to the Main Stage 4. Pre-game for a little longer, then go to the Second Stage

>>46628 >ou see The Fool, The Star, The Lovers, and the Three of Cups face up, If only I knew how to read the tarot, I could see how this relates to the current situation. Three of Cups = the three bugs maybe? Well anyway. I'm a little curious about these new people, and them being a married couple means they're probably "safe" to be around, even if the goat doesn't recognize Tull references she makes herself. So should we just go to the main stage, get some actual music in? Experience what the festival is all about? If we stick around for any more "pre-game" we'll just get more inebriated. Or maybe that'll happen anyway. But 1. for now

>>46628 >>46668 Man, good thing you mentioned "fly" and "mosquito". Here was me thinking they were just weirdly colored wasps, all three of them. Guess it makes sense that there wouldn't be repeats. It's nice that we got some cool people to hang around now, starting to feel like a party already. Like the other anon said, Pre-gamin much more than this is going to get us too smashed and weak to resist temptations of any kind(if we aren't already). Although, before deciding where to go, do we know what's going to be on the Main stage. There was a funky bassline from the second stage, but i don't think we've heard anything from the main stage yet.

>>46668 Also, don't know what the fool would mean, but perhaps stars and lovers would mean just "star crossed lovers"? Just throwing it out there.

>>48210 Now if I remember my tarots right, The Fool is always (You)

>>48244 Welp, if we are going to go deep into this, Wikipedia says this about the three of cups: >This card often carries the meaning of joyful social contact,[1] although it may be considered to be rather superficial, unlike the Two of Cups which is considered more personal. There's agreement, general harmony, frivolity, and sometimes it is associated with birth, especially if it comes up with other birth-related cards such as The Empress. >The Three of Cups represents groups coming together to focus on a common emotional goal Which makes sense in context, although there is no way of knowing if Festival anon is using that meaning or some other, custom one. Either way it seems to be referring to our group having a good time. Researching the other ones, the star and lovers mean "Loss, theft, privation, abandonment; another reading says-Hope and bright prospects," and "Attraction, love, beauty, trials overcome.", so depending if it was upright or reversed it means good or bad news for her.

Looks like next update is going to take a while, so tell me, what do you think about the girls that we've seen until now? Festival-anon, avert your eyes. Wouldn't want to influence your decision making. For me, whatever happens, happens, and we'll react accordingly. In no particular order. >Mara: I usually like Kitsune, but Mara hasn't done much particularly for me. She's been more a supporting character than anything else. I'm sure she'll get more development later, but i think festival anon expected us to interact more with her. >Eros catgirl: Cute, but catgirls aren't my thing. >The group at the bar: Nothing that catches my eye there, although we don't have much to go off. I personally get lost when too many characters are introduced at once. I think it was comprised of two Onis, a mouse and another one. >Stalker: AKA giant icecream girl, very likely a Hebi. Could go for her, but for now we don't have much info about her. Though she's going to need to get a bit agressive thanks to our snake fear, or we'd need to get quite drunk. >Bartender(Lakini): A Merrow, i think. Don't know how her MGE mechanic would come to play, if it even does. Maybe we'll catch her peeking at us while bathing. Honestly hope so, she's very flirty, and i quit like her. >Danuki: I find them boring. Not for any weird reasons, it's just usually they get relegated to shopkeeps and not much else. >Spider in the back(Tsuki): Top candidate for now, i love bugs, and these ones particularly. If we encounter her at night something is very likely to happen, and we could always say we will try to help her with her fear of men, although i get the feeling it's less fear of men and more fear of what she could do to men, so afraid of herself. I could be wrong though. >Boog trio: Yvonne seems very focused on Ben, and Ben on Yvonne, so of the other two. Morgan is cute but a bit of a pothead, and Rochelle is cute too, and more responsible. They both are very "voracious", which i like, and they might(?) come as a bundle, although i wouldn't want to assume that and then just anger both at the same time. I like them too, but they aren't the highest on my list Hope i didn't miss any.

>>48785 Well, I've been playing Silksong so much since it came out that I might be biased in favor of bugs because of that. But these bugs seem like a fun bunch.

>>49006 Oh they are definitely a fun bunch.

Any news on the next update? It's taking quite long.

>>49275 It's still roughly within the timeframe festival anon gave >>45934 >2ish or so weeks

>>49281 It's been 20 days...

>>49289 That's still a couple of days over the 2 weeks and he said it's 2ish or so, not exactly 2 weeks. What I'm trying to say is that we shouldn't pressure him as this board has a history of anons getting burned out from trying to keep up a pace of writing.

>>46628 “Sure, we’ll join ya. We were just havin’ a couple drinks before going that way, anyway! I’m Anon, by the way.” you reply, taking a swig of beer, and then briefly introduce everyone to the new couple. Ben stifles a couple coughs, leaning over and handing his lit sherlock pipe over to Morgan. “Do you happen to know who’s playin’ on the main stage, anyway?” he asks, smoke wisping out of his mouth. “I haven’t even looked at the set list since we got here.” Thalia reaches into her cargo shorts, pulling out and unfolding a thick pamphlet. “Well I know there’s two bands, one does covers and the other’s got all original stuff…” she starts, her finger running down one of the pages. “Ah, here they are! Steve ‘N’ Seagulls and Dirtfoot.” Morgan coughs lightly, passing the lit pipe to Rochelle. “Dir-” she starts, before a harder coughing fit runs through her, expelling all the smoke in her lungs. The fly shakes her head, clearing her throat. “Sorrrryyy~ Dirtfoot? What’s their stuff like?” she asks, wobbling slightly in her stool. The goat simply shrugs. “Bryce and I haven’t heard ‘em, but the pamphlet describes ‘em as being some kinda gypsy punk. All I know is they got a sax player, and that’s enough for me to check them out!” Thalia answers, making all the bugs perk up. “Hey, that could be good! I’m down!” Yvonne pipes in. The hornet’s attention returns back to Mara, the fox flipping over the last card on the table. You were able to catch a quick glance at the spread, when you feel something poke your arm. Looking back over, you find Rochelle offering you the lit sherlock pipe, that lazy smile still on her face, smoke escaping from the corners of her lips. Your brow furrowed for a moment, an odd familiarity itching in the back of your mind, but you shake it off. Giving the mosquito a smile, you take the pipe, but opt not to take a puff. You glance at Ben, gesturing at the couple, and he nods in response. “Do you two smoke, by the way?” you ask, offering the pipe to Bryce, who was the closest. He eagerly took the pipe, a wide smile on his face. “Fuck yeah we do, thanks! I haven’t had earth-grown weed in years.” he answers, taking a small hit from the pipe. His odd comment made your eyebrow rise. “Years? The portals have only been open for, what, a year and change?” Ben asks, beating you to the punch. Bryce nods, passing the pipe to his wife, who also took a small hit. “I have an ‘Oh’ of that, by the way, you don’t need to take small puffs. Appreciated, though!” your friend adds. “Noted, thanks! And yeah, Thalia and I have only been on this side of the portals for… shit, a couple weeks now, I think?” Bryce begins. “It’s a bit of a story, wanna walk n’ talk to the main stage?” he then asks. “May as well! Does anyone want an extra beer for when we get there?” Ben replies, then asks, leaning over from his seat to crack open the cooler. A cluster of ‘Yeah’ and ‘Sure’ sounds out from the bugs and yourself, though you notice Mara shaking her head. “I might have a beer later, but I think I’ll stay here for now, and keep watch over the fire. I have a feeling a few more customers may come by while you’re away, and I would be most disappointed to miss them.~” the fox says, and turns to your camp neighbors. “If you two are interested after the show, I’d be delighted to read your fortunes.~” she offers, and with a flick of her wrist, another business card appears between her fingers, which she then hands to Thalia, in exchange for Ben’s sherlock pipe. The goat looks over the card, her eyes slightly narrowed, but a smile still crossed her features. “Maybe! I’ll let our friend Cici know, too, she’s really into this kinda stuff.” Thalia replies, pocketing the card. Mara’s signature wider-than-normal smile appears, the fox nodding. “The more the merrier!~” she replies, and returns her attention back to Yvonne’s spread, handing the bug the smoldering pipe. “Remember that the decision is ultimately yours, but you may find more stability than you initially expect. Look for guidance amongst those living in a similar situation. No matter the choice, you will find joy.~” the kitsune finishes, collecting her cards back together. The hornet seems lost in thought for a moment, then closes her eyes, letting out a sigh and grinning. “It’s gonna be a long, fun week, that’s for sure at least!” she says, and takes a hit off the pipe. Suppressing a chuckle, you see Ben take one of the cold cans he just pulled from the cooler, and in one smooth motion, presses it against the hornet’s neck. With a hacking cough, she immediately jolts upright, her hand slapping against the offending metal can, while her wings sputter and flex. “Here’s your extra beer!” Ben says with a snort. Yvonne turns to him, laughing. “You fucking prick! You just killed my high!” she playfully scolds as her face turns a light shade of pink, making your friend roll his eyes. “Oh nooo! What are we gonna do now?” he jests back, pointing at his pipe in her other hand. “I guess you’re just gonna have to smoke more of my weed, but that’s a sacrifice I’m okay with.” he adds, smirking. You kinda hoped he was being serious about that pelvis insurance from earlier, if the deeper red blush and the hornet’s bit lip were any indication. Mara has temporarily left the party. She will stay at Pyrite Lane until another camper in your group decides to return. You can ask Mara to rejoin the party later if you would like. If you need her counsel while away from camp, you can attempt to call or send her a text, but if she is with a customer, you may not hear back from her until their session has finished. She will answer if it is an emergency, however. Once everyone was ready (your flute once again cased and in your bag, with the extra beers in Bryce’s backpack), the group began to make its way towards the Main Stage. Ben’s pipe had another fresh pack, and was still in rotation, though you maintained your decision to abstain for now. This time, you took the lead on the path, with Morgan and Rochelle flanking your sides once again. Behind you was Bryce and Thalia, followed by Yvonne and Ben. You hear your shirtless companion clear his throat, gaining the attention of the party once again. “Anyways, the girls won’t know, but do you guys remember that second big American eclipse, years ago?” he begins. Both Ben and yourself nod, and Bryce continues. “I went camping by myself that weekend in Ouachita National Forest. I thought the best way to see it was somewhere quiet and out in nature. So, after some hiking, I ended up finding this awesome clearing with glowing mushrooms all over the place.” At the mention of mushrooms, the bugs begin to giggle. “Glowing mushrooms? That’s how most outlander stories usually start.” Yvonne teases. “So where’d you end up popping up at?” “The Riphean foothills, but I’m gettin’ there.” he quickly answers, waving his hand dismissively. “So yeah, a couple nights later, those glowing mushrooms got a lot brighter and started to pulse. At first, I thought I just smoked too much and greened out, so I went to bed early. Next morning when I wake up, I find myself in a completely different forest, and I am freaking the fuck out.” At this, Thalia wraps an arm around his waist. “This cute dumbass is sooooo lucky I found him out there when I did! I was out on a whim looking for wild berries when we crossed paths.” she pipes in, leaning closer to nuzzle into his neck. “He was on the other side of the river, heading down stream, a few days from the next village. I had to convince him that going to my village was a better idea.” Bryce starts to chuckle, and gives her a brief peck on the top of her head. “Yeah, well, asking me if I needed a bed to stay in, followed by rippin’ your top off, was a very compelling offer.” he points out. “You’re still jumping ahead a bit, hun, I was wandering the forest for days before I saw you. By that point, I was out of food, and I wasn’t quite ready to eat some weird drippy-looking fruit and hope for the best.” The goat lets out another bleating-laugh. “You say that like prisoner fruits aren’t your favorite thing to snack on.~” Thalia teases, getting another playful pinch from her husband. “They’re my second favorite. There’s a certain peach that’s my all time favorite.” he teases back, resulting in another bleating-giggle from Thalia. “Soooooo… what was up with the other village, anyway?” Rochelle asks, bringing the flirting couple back to the present. Thalia simply smirked. “It’s an amazonian village.” she answered. This got a laugh from the whole group, though since you weren’t smoking, your laughter faded sooner. “You said you’ve only been back for a couple weeks, right? What’d you two do before coming here?” you ask, and a wide smile crosses Bryce’s face. “What’dya think we did? I got back in contact with my folks! Trying to get letters across the portals over the last year has been a bitch and a half cause of all the government red tape, but they at least knew I was alive!” he answered, and took a gulp from his big bottle of High Life. “Not gonna lie, I was a little worried they’d want nothing to do with Thalia or Portia, but they were absolutely ecstatic to meet them.” “Portia’s our little girl, she’s spending the week with her grandparents while we’re here.” Thalia adds, smiling as wide as her husband. “Awwwww! How old is she?” Morgan asks, stepping closer to your side. You feel her antennae start to tap and brush against your arm for a few moments. “She turned three a couple months back, and she’s already a gabber. Kid made a big deal to my mom about how we’re getting her a little brother or sister this week.” Bryce answers, smirking. Thalia lets out a wistful sigh, and places her free hand over her belly. “That’s the plan, at least if Bacchus and Eros decide to bless us! We’re hoping the festival’s energy and the eclipse give us a little extra boost, too.” the goat adds. You’re reminded of that couple from earlier in the day, Freddie and Renee. Weren’t they aiming to become parents this week, also? https://youtu.be/OiBmb5INGxA?si=vHKN0ejU3AHHu57_ Your group continued on the path, past the campgrounds and down the Upper Bazaar/Main Stage pathway at the fork. Bryce and Thalia shared a few more stories from back home, mostly about their daughter’s antics with her cousins, when the sound of amplified music began to reach your ears. You weren’t quite at the main stage yet, but you found the source soon enough. A large, open air canopy was set up, with eight benches, arranged in three rows and two columns, with a smattering of occupants. Towards the other end of the canopy at the head of the aisle, was a skinny blonde guy in swim trunks and a tacky Hawaiian shirt, holding hands with and kissing a much, much larger white & blue skinned woman, with pointy fins along her arms, and a thick, shark-looking tail. Around her arm you noticed what looked like a belt that had a slight blue glow to it. She seemed to be a little unsteady on her feet, though curiously enough, her legs appeared to have the same slight glow as the belt on her arm. Behind them and standing at a raised podium was another smiling woman, though beyond the lavender hair and dark blue fins behind the ears, you couldn’t make out many more details. At the very least, this was definitely a makeshift chapel. At the edge of the canopy, there were three musicians standing next to a small stack of amps, all wearing clothing in shades of pink. The first was some kind of harpy, a bass guitar held in the crook of one wing, while the talons on her other wing plucked the strings. Next to her was a short tan girl with magenta hair, sitting on and playing a cajon that didn’t look as beat up as Ben’s was. You couldn’t make out any monsterish features on her, but you got the vibe she wasn’t human, either. The last musician was- You blinked. It was the pink cat girl again, singing and strumming away on her guitar. She was still wearing that massive backpack, and you idly wonder if she’s had it on for the whole day now. It wasn’t long before she notices you, eyes locking to yours, her smile and eyes widening. She breaks her gaze with you for a moment, flicking to either side of you, then locks onto you again. Her smile changes ever so slightly, a slight edge creeping into her eyes. You get a very distinct tingly feeling, the phrase ‘Challenge Accepted’ runs prominently through your mind, when that fluttery feeling hits your stomach again, hard, making you stumble slightly. Morgan and Rochelle step closer to either side of you, helping you to reorient yourself, as well as not-so-subtly ushering your group away from the chapel and further down the path. “Did she get you with the glam-eyes?” Rochelle asks, her tone less playful than it was earlier. She had a grip on your forearm, her thumb gently rubbing circles on your skin. “The what?” you ask, raising an eyebrow. “Is that why it felt like my gut was doing backflips?” “Yeahhhh… if they see a guy they like, Eros Cultists will nooooooot hesitate in using their goddess-given Glamour.” Morgan answers, slightly pouting. “I think it’s unfair, Eros gives ‘em a skill that eeeeeeven succubi use very sparingly.” the fly adds, her grip on your other arm tightening. Her antennae begin to frantically tap away on your bicep once again, which even the mosquito notices. “Relaaaax, Mo… at least we know who our competition is.~” Rochelle says soothingly. “Besiiiiides… we have our own… advantages.~” the mosquito then points out, her thumb rubbing your arm a little firmer. “Ro, you’re right!” Morgan gasps, and tugs your arm, getting your undivided attention. “I’m making you jambalaya tonight!” she exclaims, her hazel eyes sparkling. “Weeellll, I’ll make eeeevryone jambalaya, but you get to dish up first!~” she elaborates, the bounce in her pace picking up. “Uhhhhh… is that the beeessst idea, Mo?” the mosquito asks cautiously, which the fly dismisses with a wave of her free hand. “I knooooow!” she growls, and locks eyes with you again. “Wear a blindfold, it’ll just looooook bad, but your tongue won’t know that!” “Ooooh! Well if you want, back at our camp, we got some melting veggies and raging mush-” Thalia starts to offer, but Morgan quickly shakes her head. “Nooooooo! No tricks! I want Earth-realm ingredients oooonly!” the fly insists, causing the goat to chortle. “It’s okay, I get it~ If you change your mind though, we brought plenty of produce from Hyperborea!” the goat finishes with a wink. “I got some chorizo in the cooler, you could probably use that.” Ben pipes in. “There’s some bacon and potatoes too, but I’m saving some of that for breakfast this week.” “That should woooooork! I brought some rice, but we miiiiiiiight need more, and we’ll definitely need veggies, maaaaayyyyyybeeee another kind of meat…” the fly starts to plan. You couldn’t help but smile at the fly. “Let’s go enjoy the show, first. We can find what you need when we head back.” you say, the fly practically vibrating at your words. “Yesssss! Party first, then weeeeee can look around!~” Side-Quest Active: Help Morgan find/forage for ingredients between shows. https://youtu.be/elHcYm4oYg0?si=5ispJ_iHCU5gaXxM Minutes later, your group was cresting a large hill, the dull roar of music blended with a crowd reaching your ears. Below and a ways from the hill was The Main Stage, where at the moment, it appeared the band coming on next was setting up. At a smaller stage just off to the side, you could see the first band, a group of guys in denim overalls and straw hats in the middle of a jam. There were jumbo-sized video screens set up above and around both stages, showing off the current group in better detail. Towards the front of the stage was most of the crowd, you wouldn’t quite call it a mosh pit, but it was definitely a lively, dancing crowd. Midways from the stage and the hill was about a third of the audience, most having set up picnic blankets or folding chairs to watch the show. At the top of the hill, where you were now, were only a few groups of folk sitting around, casually enjoying the music. Now and then along the top of the hill you noticed some small platforms, and on each of these was at least one or two cameramen filming the performance. One of these pairs caught your eye, making you smirk. You weren’t surprised at all to see Gus and Tilly here, the former standing on the latter’s carapace, operating a tripod-mounted camera. The scruffy guy appeared to be changing out lenses, while his wife was doing something on her tablet once again. They looked a little busy, but you were kinda curious to see what pictures they might have taken since the beer tent. Where do you want to enjoy the show? 1. Get close to the stage 2. Settle down in the midground 3. Find a spot on the hill crest 4. [Chatty Cat] Sit by and talk to Gus and Tilly

Apologies for the delay, I recently completed another solar cycle (yes, I'm phrasing it that way for a reason) and that kind of threw a wrench into things for a bit.

>>49347 Happy solar cycle day!

>>49275 >>49343 Speak of the devil...

>>49343 >Look for guidance amongst those living in a similar situation. No matter the choice, you will find joy Well at least this I can interpret just fine. >“Glowing mushrooms? That’s how most outlander stories usually start.” I feel like this is something that should be investigated further. Teleporting rings of mushrooms have something to do with fairies, I think? Mythically speaking, I mean. >Side-Quest Active: Help Morgan find/forage for ingredients between shows. Neat. We'd be remiss not to take advantage of our status effect, so I'm voting 4 for now, figuring out the best place to view and listen to a concert is a different matter.

>>49343 Looks like stuff is starting to get heated, huh. Mara is slowly starting to scare me. There is something a bit uncanny about the way she always smiles whenever she gets a new customer. I'm starting to think she's less reading someone's fate and more "influencing" it. The boogs are working quite hard i see. If we lower our guard too much we might get snatched up too soon. At least we'll have a full stomach. I'd say we chat up the photographer pair and ask everyone else what they want to do. I'm down to dance if they are down to dance, and being in the crowd during a concert is something to be experienced at least once.

>>49420 >I feel like this is something that should be investigated further. Is there anyone specifically you want Anon to ask about this? Different folk might provide different details... >>49491 >I'm starting to think she's less reading someone's fate and more "influencing" it. Tomato/Tuhmahto. You could say that shining a light on something that's been in the dark is still an influence. Now, what could someone possibly gain from that?

>>49614 Ominous.

>>49614 Well Yvonne's the one who said it so it'd make sense to ask her