https://youtu.be/WFztMq_aQtQ?si=4VKhBuXUmKU6B5hl “Hey dude, wake up, the GPS is making me take a detour, and we gotta gas up. Wanna stretch your legs?” You awake, bleary-eyed, stiff back, and bladder full. Glancing at the clock, you let out a yawn, and rub your eyes. Is it really midnight? “I was out for ten hours? Jeez. Yeah, sure, I gotta take a mad piss. Where the hell are we, anyway?” you ask. Ben glances over at you with a smile, seemingly unphased by the nearly half-day drive. With a jittery finger, he points towards the map on his phone mounted to the car’s dashboard. Figures, he’s probably finished off that big thermos of coffee by this point. “Kansas, we’re getting close to Colorado.” he says, moving his hand lower on the dash to turn the radio down. “Colorado? I thought we were cutting down through Oklahoma and Texas?” you ask. Ben shrugs, and drives into an exit lane, heading directly for a truck stop. Your stomach growls. Gas station food sucks, but a cheap breakfast burrito doesn’t sound bad right now. “The GPS said there was some gnarly accident on our route, and if we went through it, we’d be in the thick of all that traffic going west on I-40. Trust me, you don’t wanna be stuck in bumper to bumper in Amarillo.” he explains, pulling up to a gas pump. As soon as Ben put the car in park, you unbuckled and hopped out, shaking the cramp out of your leg. Not wasting time, you went inside the truck stop, making a beeline for the bathroom. After finishing your business, you grabbed the only burrito left under the heat lamps at the hot snacks counter, a can of cold coffee and a bottle of water. By the time you got to the register, Ben was inside as well, filling up his thermos with more coffee. You hope he didn’t plan to stay up for the whole drive. Once you actually got to your destination, you still needed to get through the festival check-in and set up your tents for the week. With that thought lingering in your mind, you grabbed an energy shot off the impulse display. If he was gonna crash when you got there, you at least wanted enough energy to set up your own shelter. The werewolf girl running the register was only half paying attention to your transaction, and seemed more invested in talking to her coworker who was stocking smokes. With how she was clearly undressing him with her eyes, you couldn’t help but frown slightly. It’s not that you disliked how overt some monsters could be, you were honestly just kind of jealous of the guy. Like the werewolf here, all the monster girls you saw back home near Moorhead were gorgeous, and seemed like a perfect ten in all accounts, but they were always glued to the hips of their boyfriends. When the portals opened, and the monster leadership made their intentions clear after the initial chaos, you still found it odd that there weren’t more single monster girls showing up around where you lived, but you chalked it up to being in a small city far from the main portals. But hey, wasn’t finding a single monster girl half the point of this trip anyway? The werewolf finished your transaction, handing you your change and wishing you a good night, snapping you out of your thoughts. You grabbed the bills and your bag of goodies, heading back towards the car, this time taking your place in the driver’s seat. You counted out your change while Ben made his way back, and a big grin spread across your face. If miss thirsty werewolf had been paying attention, you wouldn’t be twenty bucks richer. Score! Roughly nine hours later You yawned and stretched your neck, waiting for a red light at an intersection in Albuquerque to turn green. Ben had thankfully not drank his coffee, and was saving it for later in the drive, deciding to sleep as much as he could before morning. He made it through most of the way through Colorado, only waking up when you swerved the car to avoid hitting… something. You weren’t sure if it was your eyes playing tricks on you, or if that gas station burrito wasn’t agreeing with you in a weird way, but some big furry thing on two legs ran across the road as you were getting close to the New Mexico border. Listening to old episodes of Kold Calls probably didn’t help matters, either. Ben kept joking that it was probably a Grizzly chasing her husband, or soon to be husband, but you weren’t so sure. Whatever it was, you put it out of your mind the closer you got to your destination, and by the time you got close to Albuquerque, the both of you were starving. Ben messed around with his GPS for a few seconds, and now, you were moments away from stopping at a Waffle House. You hoped it was as good as it had been hyped up to be. Minutes later, the two of you were seated at a booth, and had placed your order with the Holstaur waitress. Ben was looking up the festival schedule for the day on his phone, swiping through page after page. “It looks like the first bands go on around noon, a couple small acts on the side stages, and the EDM tent doesn’t kick off until dusk. If there isn’t a traffic jam heading eastbound from here, we should have enough time after setting up our campsite to wander around and get a feel for the place.” he said, and a flutter of movement over his shoulder caught your eye. Glancing behind him, you saw a pale woman wearing an amber sundress in the next booth over. She had long, jet black hair, and a pair of similarly colored furry ears poking out of her head, one of which was still twitching. She turned, her brown eyes making contact with yours, and a wide smile grew on her face. In less than a blink, she was at your table, sidling in alongside Ben, who was looking as bewildered as you probably did. “Hello! I couldn’t help but overhear you, but are you two going to Lunapalooza?” the strange kitsune asked. You noticed a single black fluffy tail curl around from behind her and settle into her lap. Ben blinked, and nodded. She then looked back at you, her eyes locking to yours. You found it a little unsettling that it seemed like you couldn’t look away. “Uhh… yeah, yeah we are. Why? And who are you?” you mutter out. The kitsune let out a small laugh, and placed a hand on her chest. “Ah, excuse me! I am Mara West, fortune teller by trade, and you are?” she asked back. Ben and you quickly introduce yourselves, and she smiles. “Wonderful, it is good to meet you! This may sound a bit ‘out there’, but I believe you two are the ride to the festival that I have been praying for. You do have enough space in your car for a third person and a large bag, right?” she continues, leaning closer to Ben. “Whoa, lady, slow down. We haven’t even gotten our breakfast yet. What makes you so sure we’re your ride?” he asks. Her smile grows, and with a flick of her wrist, a deck of cards was in her hand. She began to shuffle them quickly, and laid three of them on the table, one for each of you. “Well, I would owe you greatly for the ride. My plan is to share my skills at the festival, for a price of course, either at my tent, or wandering around the festival grounds. For you two, I would offer no charge for my skills during the duration of the festival. But! Talk is one thing, a demonstration is clearly in order. If you would, please flip your cards.” she elaborated, while continuing to shuffle. Ben flipped his card, which showed a smiling man staring skyward, carrying a bindle, with the sun behind him. You drew your card, and it was a robed man with a staff, holding aloft a lantern. Mara flipped her card, and it was a woman in a blue robe and winged headdress, sitting between two pillars, one black, and one white. “The Fool, The Hermit, and The High Priestess. Very fitting!” “That doesn’t quite prove to me that you’re some kind of soothsayer…” Ben mumbled. Honestly, you kind of agreed with him. Mara giggled, and laid a spread of cards face down in front of him. She gestured for him to pick one first, and he did so, but she stopped him before he flipped it over. “That card is how you got your tickets for Lunapalooza.” she stated simply. Ben rolled his eyes, and flipped the card. It was The Wheel of Fortune. He stared at it for a few moments, then chuckled and shrugged. “Good guess, I suppose.” he said. The kitsune looked back over at you, and gestured for you to draw from the spread. You tried to pull one card, but another stuck with the one you grabbed. You went to take a different one, but Mara waved her hand. “If they’re stuck, they’re meant to be together. Take them both. It represents your leg of this journey.” she explained. You did as she said, and drew the two cards, flipping them over. One was The Chariot, the other was The Moon. “Something you can’t quite explain crossed your path early this morning, did it not?” she asks, grinning as she watched your expression change. Your mind went back to that thing at the border. “Okay, that’s fucking weird. Maybe you are a fortune teller.” Ben said with another chuckle. Mara joined in with his laughter, and nodded. “I will admit, it puts some people off, but I find fate brings me across the paths of those most receptive to my skills.” she added, and looked at you. Or at least it kind of felt like it, but it also felt like she was looking past you. “If you’d like, I can give you a small background reading right now. You could consider it a… '‘Status Check’'.” she finishes with a smirk, gathering her cards back up, and beginning to shuffle once more. Roll 7 D6s for your SPIRITS stats. Any skills, interests, abilities, and so on may also be suggested. For example, Ben is decently skilled in drumming, and has brought along a Cajon box drum.

>>22339 >>22340 So it is one character whose fate is decided by our collective mind? Regardless, rolling for stats, and I suggest Anon's instrument of choice is the flute, and he's bringing his own flute with him.

>>22339 >>22354 Seconding anon, i think it's best if you explain how this generaly works, for the uninitiated. Will you take the first roll, an average of rolls, a random one, the best stat, or is it a separate character for whoever wants to participate. In terms of decisions, will you do polls, or perhaps we have to decide between ourselves?

>>22385 >Will you take the first roll, an average of rolls, a random one, the best stat, or is it a separate character for whoever wants to participate? >In terms of decisions, will you do polls, or perhaps we have to decide between ourselves? >>22339 >Player interaction will be relatively simple, there will mostly be multiple choice options, depending on the scenario, stats and/or roll checks will be enabled. If consensus on a choice isn't reached, we will roll for a tie breaker. Bingo. It's one character that everyone is controlling. With how spaced out updates will be, the idea would be to banter back and forth on what options, rolls, and ideas pitched are worth while to go forward with. I'm avoiding polls for now, as in previous CYOAs I've done and participated in, they're far too easy to fudge if one particular player wants to wrestle control from everyone. >>22354 > I suggest Anon's instrument of choice is the flute You have no idea how much this is making me grin.

>>22467 I see. Sounds very free form then. Guess we can all roll and select the best roll, or conversely, the most unbalanced one. Don't think anon's profession was mentioned yet, so how about making him an electrician? It's probably bound to come in handy.

>>22467 >the idea would be to banter back and forth on what options, rolls, and ideas pitched are worth while to go forward with I suggest changing participation method from consensus to deciding by dice rolls, as in anons post their choices and whichever option lands with the highest roll is automatically chosen. Something resembling the ancient >giganigger has escaped, only quads can stop him /b/ roll threads would be far more accessible, at least for me. Expecting us to hold our own debates feels like putting responsibility on the participants.

>>22790 >I suggest changing participation method from consensus to deciding by dice rolls That's where the tie-breaker roll kinda comes into play. If everyone is very staunch about their own choices, and we've been simmering too long, it'll come to that. I won't rule out doing purely "high roll wins" only options, though. >Expecting us to hold our own debates feels like putting responsibility on the participants. Bear in mind that right now, we're coming up with Anon's background (which, with what's been pitched so far, he's a flautist and electrician). So some back and forth for that would is ideal. Future "debates" would hopefully be more along the lines of "The only options listed are A, B, and C, but I noticed something else peculiar, let's do ____ as option D". Besides, what fun is an adventure without some secrets to uncover? Anyways, I'm going let this sit for just a little longer before posting the next part, partly due to capybara being a slower board, and partly cause it's a holiday weekend in the states. If it stays at just the two current rolls with no further discussion or additional rolls, I'll coin flip on which one to go with.

>>22794 Hopefully someone else rolls because the first two were kind of low.

>>22842 I think it's fine if they're low because it may lead to absolutely hilarious situations.

Here it is! Anon has his profession and creative outlet, and he also has a personal interest in rocks and minerals and will be on the lookout for anything cool kicked up in the dry dirt. He's okay with spiders, but is deathly afraid of snakes and snake-like objects in his periphery. Good thing everything he's seen so far has been furry.

>>23186 Now that's a roll. Having an interest in rocks is going to be a fun avenue for Anon. Anyways, while I'm currently working on the next part to post, you can still post ideas for interests, hobbies, and what else Anon may have brought along with him. Anything considered "critical" (tent, clothes, etc.) is already accounted for.

>>22340 https://youtu.be/njpzJDTYBPk?si=JqxMO-CojcalIvLd Mara seems to sense your agreement before you could utter it, dealing out another spread of twelve cards face down. It formed a circle, and the kitsune flipped the card closest to yourself. It was The Hermit once again. She continues on, flipping the cards in a counter-clockwise fashion, until they are all face up. Following The Hermit was the Four of Pentacles, the Four of Wands, Justice, the Two of Cups, the Eight of Pentacles, the Two of Swords, The Magician, The World, The King of Pentacles, The Queen of Wands, and finally, The Devil. The fox smiles. “While not the most socially outgoing, you’re a pretty hard-working guy, though one who’s been too stuck in his routine. You keep your nose buried in the grindstone, doing what you can to survive, always preparing for the day when the other shoe drops.” she begins, pointing towards the first two cards. Her finger traced over to the next card. “The upcoming festival will change you, that’s a given. Try to keep your wits about you, eyes wide open and head on a swivel. You’ll find much amusement across your path, but some things can be permanent.” Her finger stops at Justice, and she taps it twice. “Your family has raised you with a firm moral compass. You may not be outspoken, but you won’t stand for seeing someone getting kicked when they’re down.” “This doesn’t seem exactly small for a reading…” Ben mutters. While you were a bit entranced, you were starting to think the same. Hopefully your order doesn’t show up before she’s done. Mara lets out another laugh, and shakes her head. “Sorry, once the cards are down, I kinda get into the zone. It also helps to stretch out time if your client is paying by the hour. Anyway, the cliff notes version then!” she explains, and moves on to the next set of relevant cards. “Your work and play is a balancing act of skilled elements… one moment.” The Kitsune suddenly had another deck of cards in her hands, and in her quick shuffling, a few cards fell out, landing face down on certain face up cards, including the current pair. “Oracle cards. These will add further detail.” She flips the first one over, and the card displayed a scene of violent weather, dark and ominous clouds from which lightning struck down at wind whipped trees. “The Century Storm. You are the Winds and the Lightning. A force to be reckoned with. How that ties into work and play…” she trails off, briefly glancing at your hands. “I get the sense you’re a kind of handyman by trade, that’s the lightning. Therefore, the winds must be your play. A passion for wind instruments, perhaps?” Her finger points to the next pair. “Your soulmate will be the one you’ve hoped for, your sun to your moon, your counterbalance. She is..” The fox flips the next face down oracle card, displaying a misty road, obscuring strange, shadowy shapes. Her eyebrow raises, and she smirks. “...Unknown, naturally. I get the sensation that the Gods are having fun with you here.” She waves her hand over the last four tarot and two oracle cards of the spread. “Along with your soulmate, you seek to expand your mind, not just for creative purposes, but you wish to advance in your trade, new strides that no one has considered before. You want to utilize…” She flips the next oracle card, which shows precious gemstones pouring from the mouth of a cave. “The Jewels of the Earth. A proverbial dragon’s hoard. Your new community can help you achieve these goals, but you will need to face your shadow, and what you fear most.” She then flips the last oracle card, placing it at the foot of The Devil card. It was a coiled snake, ready to strike at a moment's notice. You frown, and squirm in your seat. Mara notices your discomfort, and flips it back over. “The Angered Serpent. I don’t believe I’ll need to elaborate too much here.” You mull over the reading for a few moments, and let out a sigh. “God damn.” You didn’t quite grasp all of the symbolism, but some of the more obvious stuff stuck out. Your flute hobby, your electrician trade, even the damn fear of snakes. Suppressing a shudder at that slithering mental image, you watch Mara gather the cards back together, and thought back to her comment on advancing your trade. You had been toying around with a couple of ideas using tourmaline and quartz, but nothing you’ve tried seemed exactly feasible so far. By the time the fox finished putting her cards away, your waitress returned with your order. Now that’s some damn good luck! “Alright, two all stars with extra bacon and eggs…” the holstaur said in a sing-song fashion, setting down Ben’s dish first, followed by yours. “...And the triple chicken and eggs breakfast for the lady!” she finished, and set down a massively stacked plate of food in front of Mara. Ben’s jaw went slightly slack, while the fox just smiled, a little wider than you thought was possible. She then turned, and handed a credit card that just seemed to appear in her hand to the waitress. Where she kept all those cards and decks hidden in a sleeveless dress, you had no clue. “Thanks, love. Would you bring us some more coffee and sweet tea, please?” Mara asked the waitress. The holstaur nods, and takes the fox’s card, heading back towards the counter. Your attention was briefly captured by the swaying of her hips and tail, but the fox cleared her throat, bringing your focus back. “Anyway, since I have proven my skills, may I accompany you two for the rest of the journey?” she asks. You honestly didn’t see the harm in it, especially if she’s offering you free readings the rest of the week, but it was Ben’s car at the end of the day. “Eh, why not?” he says with a shrug, and begins to cut up and mix his bacon and some syrup into his eggs. “Having a fortune teller with us probably won’t be the craziest thing that happens this week.” he paused to take a bite of his concoction, and waves his empty fork in a circle towards Mara. “So, do you live around here, or did you just get stuck here while travelling?” “The latter, although I prefer temporarily delayed.” she says with a smirk, adding a few shakes of pepper to her breakfast. “I live and work in Sedona, and I recently got my festival ticket as a gift from a thankful client. It was my luck that my friend and her husband are visiting family out here, so I tagged along.” The fox then takes a small bite of her eggs, and grins. “I honestly haven’t been waiting too long, though, a couple hours at the most…”

>>24847 https://youtu.be/eQimWdMRDH8?si=iJSao5Gge4LxTOAV Roughly three hours later Breakfast went rather quickly after that, and in the small discussions during it, Mara shared a few stories from her job and around Sedona, while Ben and yourself told her a little more about your own lives. The fox insisted on paying the whole bill, and not just her portion as you had initially thought, as another thanks for letting her tag along. After rearranging luggage in the car to fit her and her bags in (along with one last pit stop at a convenience store), you had hit the freeway. Traffic for the rest of the trip was pretty normal, until you were a few miles out from the festival, where it finally slowed down to a steady crawl. By the time Ben pulled up to the entrance to the grounds, you were itching to get back out of the car and stretch your legs. Check-in at the festival was set up in stages. At the entrance, the attendant had directed Ben to follow the line of cars heading towards the parking shelters. The other line of vehicles were mostly SUVs and trucks that were headed directly for the far side of the campgrounds, many with camper trailers in tow. While probably a more convenient way to camp, their line was going much slower, so you didn’t envy them too much. Minutes passed until the parking line was split again, and your group was directed towards one of the quickly-filling shelters. They were basically open-air tents, set up to protect vehicles from the harsh New Mexico sun. Once you were finally parked, Ben fished out a collapsible wagon from the trunk of the car, which was quickly filled with everyone’s gear that couldn’t be carried. From there, it was about a ten minute jaunt to one of the ticket stands, where your passes were exchanged for blue and yellow fabric wrist bands. They seemed to give off a slight glow, and felt perpetually cool, as if it had been pulled straight from a fridge. What sort of magic was involved, you weren’t sure, but it helped to ease the discomfort of the desert sun. After that was the last checkpoint with festival security, and after a brief chat, they directed your group towards the campgrounds side of the event. Even with it being early in the first day, you were still surprised at how many people were already here. Many spots had already been completely filled up, but as you walked down the trail, you noticed a few areas where the three of you could set up. The first place you saw had a few tents already set up, though not the typical ones you expected. These were large canvas tents, ones that gave the distinct impression these were not originally used for camping, and a few tarps were propped up between them, creating an entirely shaded area. Under the shade, there was a pale blonde woman in a black t-shirt and shorts reclining in a beach chair nursing a drink. Near her were a few tan girls wearing surfer hoodies and fishnets, dancing to some drum and bass beat coming from a bluetooth speaker. There was also an odd chill to the air, reminding you briefly of the cold winters back home. The next spot was a thick grove, one that could have only grown with the mana permeating the Oasis. You noticed different colored hammocks strung up and around on the various trees, and a slight sound of buzzing and rattling could be heard from deeper within the trees. A brunette woman with long pointed ears was in the middle of setting up one of the hammocks, and she waved at someone higher up in the canopy. You looked up, and saw another woman with red hair securing a second hammock higher in the trees. It was only when you noticed that her lower half was long, bright green, scaled, and wrapped around the tree, that you noped out of there as fast as you could. The third place you found had a lot more people (mostly couples from what it looks like), as two camper trailers, an RV, and a few more tents formed a semi-circle for their camp. There was a strong smell of backyard barbeque and beer in the air. You were pretty sure these folk were bikers, as most of the men were wearing leather vests with a large “War Hogs” patch on the back. The women, mostly orcs if the ears and tails said anything, were wearing their own eclectic leather garb, though they also bore the “War Hogs” patch in one way or another. It half reminded you of a bunch of Mad Max cosplayers and an ad for Harley Davidson. The fourth spot was one that Mara had found. It seemed to have a perpetual, smoky haze in the air, that had the vague smell of sage and some unknown herb. It made you feel a number of mixed sensations, the most prominent being a faint tingling in your extremities. The source of this haze came from a woman who was lying halfway out of her tent, smoking a hookah that was set up on a small table. From what you saw of her upper half, she had pale green skin, two-toned violet hair, and wore a loose cream-colored blouse. Her tent was set up next to an old VW hippy bus, the side door of which was wide open, as someone inside was tossing out different bags onto the grass. There was one more tent on the other side of the bus, but you could only hear someone moving around inside it. The last place you came upon was one that Ben had found. Tucked around a row of trees was a small clearing, next to one of the Oasis ponds. No one had set up any tents here yet, and it was far enough from the main walk path that noise wouldn’t be too much of an issue. It seemed perfect, and because of that, there was a strange, uneasy feeling that lingered in the back of your mind. It was probably just paranoia. Probably. “So what do you think?” Ben asks, glancing around the area again. “I doubt we’re gonna find another spot like this, but we can always ask one of the other camp groups if we can join them.” Choose your camp site. Note that picking one does not prohibit you from visiting the others. 1. Shady Tombs - Mostly undead, some demonic campers as well. Not too active in the sun, but the party kicks off after dusk. Magic is a bit thick in the air aroind here. 2. The Garden - Snakes. Why is it always snakes? Conquer your fears before visiting. 3. Warhogs Den - Bikers, Orcs, and an eclecitc menagerie of other monsters that are part of their Motorcycle Club/Tribe. You won't get much sleep here, but you'll be well fed, have plenty to drink, and your chances of getting dosed with something are very slim. 4. Hippy's Slice of Wonderland - A lot quieter and relaxed than the other sites, but you might find something slipped in your tea if you're not paying attention. 5. The Unclaimed Spot - Offers most versatility, at the temporary cost of not having fellow campers to trade with immediately. More people will filter through and set up as the festival advances, but you have say on who stays and who goes. If chosen, highest roll gets to name the site.

>>24848 when you dont like any of the choices given to you, might as well not choose at all. lets make our own spot. where you can get to sleep at a reasonable time, dont have to check every direction for a scaly man-eater, can actually hear what people are saying over the music and wont get a nonconsensually pre-arranged meeting with the entities. and we'll call it Pyrite Lane.

>>24848 Shady Tombs sounds like a chill place, as far as cemeteries are concerned at least, and hey, if there is one race that's gonna find some cool rocks, surely it would be the one with the type of people who slept underground many undead types are known for being originally buried with the jewels and gems they possessed in life or are part of the nobility, so I imagine it's more likely for there to be some people with shared interests in there.

>>24848 >>24871 I'm pretty sure there is no such thing as a coiled snake tarot card, so whatever trick this fox is pulling, i don't like it. She also just "happens"to find out the druggy campsite, i say she's not to be trusted, so i'd recommend ditching her at the first opportunity, or at least staying far away from her. I also agree with >>24871 that we should make our own place and take the unclaimed spot. Calling it the Lighning Rod is too on the nose, so let's go with Lodestone Hill.

>>24848 Were we supposed to do something else besided pick the camp and choose an name? It's taking quite long for the next update.

>>26387 The next part is in progress right now, an update will be out at some point soon(ish).

>>26461 Looking forward to it.

>>24848 https://youtu.be/VBagA0PxVUo?si=513IhdFuTGOKvNFe “Yeah, we’ll stay here. Since you found it, why don’t we call it Pyrite Lane?” you reply to Ben, nodding in agreement on choice. There really wasn’t a better spot, paranoia be damned. Ben chuckles, and grabs his tent from the wagon, heading towards where the trees were closest and most uphill to the pond. You grab your tent and follow, hearing Mara in step behind. “Works for me! We can jury-rig up a sign post later. Do you want to be closer to the water?” he asks, and you shake your head. Ben simply shrugs back, and begins to set up his tent a few feet uphill from the pond bank. Roughly a handful of minutes later, there were three tents in a slight semi-circle, with your tent at the center position. It wasn’t anything too fancy, but you could comfortably stand in it, and it had a small entrance vestibule that you could sit under. Ben’s tent was a bit shorter, but made up for it in surface area. You were pretty sure it could fit a queen air mattress, if one didn’t care much about head clearance. It was Mara’s tent that surprised you. What you had initially thought was a small two person A-frame had been unrolled and opened up into what appeared to be a six, maybe eight person teepee style tent. You were pretty sure she was using some sort of magic to keep the damn thing packed as small as it was. The front entrance was currently staked up to form a large awning, one that could comfortably seat about four people around a small table. On either side of the awning, the fox had hung up some light tapestries, giving it more of a shaded open room feeling. Funny enough, while it didn’t appear that she was done finishing her entire set up, she still had managed to stake a small sign in front of her tent. It read “Wisdom of the Third Eye: Tarot, Runes, Palmistry, and More” at the top, with a list of services and prices. Your eyes nearly bulged out at some of the half hour and hourly rates. While you didn’t exactly know what an average price for a tarot reading was, you were pretty sure $150 for an hour was pretty steep. On the other hand, Mara seemed pretty skilled in her trade, and you knew from personal experience, you don’t sell your skills for cheap. You reminded yourself to at least get your palm read or something later. She did offer you her services for free, after all. Hearing a light clunk followed by a clatter of ice, you turn back towards Ben’s tent. Having finally unloaded the wagon of most of the gear, Ben had opened up the cooler you shared, settled between both of your tents, and was pulling out two red and gold tall cans. “Hey, it’s a bit before five, but want a beer?” he asks. You mull over it for a couple seconds, and nod. “Fuck it, why not?” you reply. He tosses you one of the tall cans, and you catch it and crack it open immediately, taking a generous gulp. Damn, that’s refreshing! SPIRITS - Temporary Resolve +1, Tolerance 4(-1) [Casual Drinker] = Chatty Cat. Your Midwestern charm has been dialed up a notch. More conversation options may appear. “Mara! Beer?!” Ben yells. The fox had just finished fastening another tapestry to obscure the interior of her tent, and poked her head around it outside towards the two of you. “Maybe, what do you have? I’ve never seen that in Sedona before.” she asks, leaving her tent and walking over towards Ben, with some bundle clutched under her arm. He fishes out another tall can from the cooler, and hands it to her. “Grain Belt Premium. We call the tall ones ‘Big Friendly’s’ back home.” he explained, cracking his beer open and taking a long sip. Mara shrugs, and follows suit. She glances back down at her can, and after a few moments, gives a small nod of approval. “That’s not bad. Better than the swill my friend’s husband used to drink.” she replies, and takes another drink. You take a sip as well, and gesture to the bundle under her arm. “So, what do you have there?” you ask. She smiles, hands her can to Ben, and pulls the bundle out. “Well, since you mentioned it earlier, and we’re mostly settled in…” the kitsune begins, and unfurls the fabric into a decently sized banner, just a bit longer than the span of her arms. “...it’s not quite a signpost, but I do hope you’ll approve.” The banner was a field of swirling blues, with “Pyrite Lane” embroidered in shining gold thread across the middle. Your eyes nearly bugged out again, and you hear Ben let out a low whistle of appreciation. “Jesus Christ, that was fast. Do you have a sewing machine hiding in that tent?” you ask in jest. Mara smiles that smile that’s just a bit larger than should be possible. “I just used my mana to manipulate the threads to go where they need to, that’s all.” she says. You hear Ben chuckle again. “Well ain’t that some pretty convenient magic!” he says, and takes a long drink. The fox’s smile just grows wider. “Yes. Yes it is.” she says, and gives you that strange look that’s at you, but past you. She then blinks, bundles the banner under her arm once again, and clears her throat. “Anyway, I have a good feeling on where to place this.” The fox turns, and points from the pond back towards the start of the tree line. “We would be claiming a lot of land, but in the long run it might behoove us to do so.” You glanced around, and Ben rose an eyebrow. Sure, the clearing was a little big, but it could fit maybe three, maybe five more tents. Mara seems to sense your collective apprehension, and lets out an amused huff. “No, I mean…” She gestures again at the pond, and circles her arm around wide. You follow it, looking past the water into the thicker line of trees behind most of it, and the other small bank on the far corner of it. Okay, that is a bit of land. “How’s the banner gonna help us claim that, exactly? And why do we need the whole area around the pond?” Ben asks, and Mara smirks. “Let me show you.” the kitsune says, heading back to her tent. Reaching in beyond the tapestry, she pulls out two tall wooden stakes, and walks towards the start of the tree line. She looks around the ground for a few moments, and nods, pushing one of the stakes deep into the ground with the heel of her hand. You felt your jaw drop slightly. The Oasis ground was kinda soft, but not ‘hot knife through butter’ soft. Ben just laughed again, and chugged the remainder of his beer. You took a long drink as well. “Man, monsters, right? I am so glad I shelled out for that new broken pelvis coverage my insurance started offering.” he said, grinning smugly. You coughed, choking briefly on your beer, and cleared your throat. “Wait, is that shit real? I thought you were pulling my leg.” you reply. “I’m not done yet!~” Mara yelled back in a sing-song voice. With the banner secured firmly between the two stakes, she gave another nod of approval, and grabbed the bottom corner closest to her. With a tug, a blue thread pulled free, and she began to pace backwards. “This thread will act as a barrier; Anyone who wishes ill-will or harm towards us will be unable to cross.” With her free hand. she reached behind into the fluff of her tail, and pulled out a tightly bound bundle of gray leaves. With a pinch between her thumb and forefinger, the end of the bundle smoldered and smoked, and you soon were able to smell sage in the air. Now ready, the kitsune began to hop and dance backwards, humming a strange tune, dragging the thread around the perimeter while waving the sage bundle through the air. You glanced back over at Ben, and he just shrugged. You guess if it works, it works. Mara continued her way past the tents, working into the woods around the pond, before eventually making her way back to the other side of the banner. When the thread in her hand touched the other corner of the banner, you suddenly felt a cool breeze, and a feeling of calm settled over you. With the barrier complete, the fox walked back over to the two of you, and grabbed her beer from Ben. “Now that that’s settled, shall we see what the first day of the festival holds for us?” “May as well. Unless you can literally conjure up a campfire, we still need to get some firewood, and we still need to get a better lay of the land.” Ben replied, and began to move the cooler and the last of the gear still in the wagon back into his tent. When he came back out, he had a drawstring bag slung over his shoulder, another beer, and two small padlocks in his hand, which he immediately turned and used one on the two zippers of his tent. Once finished, he turned back around, and handed the other to you, along with a spare key. “I know this won’t exactly stop someone from cutting open your tent, but at least then we’ll know if someone stole our shit.” You took the lock, and headed back to your tent. After considering it for a moment, you grabbed your own drawstring pack, tossed your flute case inside it, and locked your tent. “Just so you’re aware, my barrier would also stop potential thieves. That does fall under ill-will.” the fox adds, sipping her beer. Ben chuckled again. “Fair, but it doesn’t hurt to cover as many angles as you can. Plus, that’s locked property now. I highly doubt we’ll need to deal with the police, but they’d need a warrant to search anything of ours that’s locked up.” Ben explained. An impressed look crossed Mara’s face. “I’ll admit, I didn’t consider that. Why would you be worried about the police, though?” she asked. “Actually, yeah, what’s got you worried? The guys at your work didn’t get you hooked on booger-sugar, did they?” you followed up. Ben scoffs. “Fuck no! I avoid that shit like the plague. I got enough expensive vices that are mostly legal, I don’t need to add to it.” he explained, cracking open his second beer. “All we have is that case of beer, the Jager, the Craig, and I brought an ounce of White Widow. Oh! I also have these.” he continued, pulling open his drawstring bag and rummaging inside it. He then handed you a couple small boxes with a familiar logo on the front. “Camel Wides? What made you splurge on these? I don’t smoke, and I know you’re cutting back.” you ask. “I bought a carton to barter with. I got those and some monster smoke called Wunders.” he answers. Mara seemed to perk up at the mention of the latter. “Barter? What, is this fucking prison or something?” you joke. Ben shakes his head. “Hey, you never know what you can find, and you’ll want something to trade with if you don’t wanna spend cash.” he replied, smirking. “What kind of Wunders did you pick up? Reds?” Mara asked. Ben reached back into his bag, and pulled out a couple of the packs, the fox deflating slightly at the sight of the purple and black striped boxes. “Purples. Why, are they like menthols or something?” he asks. Mara shakes her head. “More like cloves and a few other flavors of spice. The red ones are fun, they turn you on, and then some.” the fox explains with a smirk, then gestures towards the purple packs in Ben’s hand. “Purples, on the other hand, keep you simmering, just right at the edge. Now, other than maybe the river in Egypt, denial is not exactly my thing. Around here though? You will find some other monsters who would be interested.” she adds. Somehow, you were not surprised that even monster cigarettes had something to do with sex. “Huh.” Ben mutters, amused. Without a word, he places one of the packs, along with a pack of Wides, into his cargo shorts. He then reaches back into his bag, and hands you a few packs of each. “Well, if you do trade for something, all I ask is that if it’s pretty good, share a little bit of it!” You take the packs from him, and toss them into your bag. ''Items for Barter: 3 Packs of Camel Wides 3 Packs of Wunder Purples $520 in cash'' https://youtu.be/0cLI65FwHzs?si=d7mTs4LU6LkEljoU With everyone ready, the trio returned back to the main pathway with the now empty wagon in tow, following the flow of foot traffic towards the festival crowds. With all different tents and structures, half of which were selling one thing or another, the hustle and bustle of the crowd, along with the variety of monsters and styles of dress (or damn near lack thereof) you saw them in, you couldn’t help but be reminded of a busy day at the Renaissance Fair Bazaar. You idly wondered if centaurs jousted for sport, when you felt a tug on your sleeve. You glanced over, and saw Mara pointing further up the path, towards one of the wooden structures. A hand painted sign mounted on the roof that showed a simple campfire. That must be the supply store. Weaving through the crowds, you started to make a beeline towards it. As you got closer, you started to hear a pair of voices in the midst of an argument just outside the hut, as well as someone strumming an acoustic guitar nearby. “Renee, honey, breath. It’s just one spot, and it’s still early in the day, we’ll find somewhere to set up.” you hear a male voice say. “It was PERFECT, Freddie! We would have had plenty of open sky for the eclipse, the breeze that rolled through was refreshing, and it was quiet. Now there’s a bunch of… ruffians and hooligans mucking about there!” you hear a female voice with an odd accent reply. Breaking through the crowd, you see a tall man, easily over six feet, wearing a black ball cap that read “HAKEN” in white letters. His hands were on the shoulders of a tanned girl with dark chestnut hair style in a bob cut, with similar colored fluffy ears poking from the top of her head, and a similarly colored tail waving erratically behind her. “They’re just bikers, honey, I’m sure they’re not that bad. Besides, have a little faith! One missed spot isn’t going to ruin our week. Relax.” the man named Freddie replied. Taking your attention off the couple, you glance towards the source of the guitar music, and see a cat girl strumming away with her claws. She wore (in various shades of pink) an open zip-up hoodie with a faded t-shirt underneath, shorts, a lime-green bandana (one of the few non-pink items she wore), and rose-tinted shades. Behind her was a massive backpack, still strapped to her shoulders. At her feet was an open guitar case, with a few dollar bills and coins inside. On the inside lid, a piece of paper was taped up that read “Donations for the Kitchen of Eros are greatly appreciated!” You glanced back up at her, catching her gaze and making eye contact. She gave you a warm, inviting smile, and you felt a slight flutter in your stomach. “Hey, after we get some firewood, do you want to explore more, or should we try to catch one of the first shows? I don’t think any headliners are playing til after dusk though, but there’s still probably some good tunes playing.” Ben asked, breaking your focus on the cat girl. 1. Keep wandering the festival grounds 2. Head to the Main Stage 3. Head to the Second Stage 4. Head back to camp for now And 1. Talk to the couple? Y/N 2. Talk to the Cat Girl? Y/N

>>27004 Oh wow, that's a pretty hefty update. Mara sure's proving herself to be worth her weight in gold. I'm going to vote for 1. Keep wandering the festival grounds, gotta get a better feel for the area first methinks. And sure, I'll also be a good samaritan and go Talk to the couple. Am I supposed to roll? Might as well.

>>27004 Feels strange to have a more dialogue options when we haven't had any previously to compare them to. Wonder what that's about. No point in going back to camp, and there probably isn't much going on in the stages, so i'd say we keep exploring the festival, look at the tents and see if they have anything interesting to buy or barter, or someone interesting to meet. Before that however, i say we talk to the catgirl, and give her some donations in exchange for a song. It's good to get on Eros' good side. I'm somewhat apprehensive of talking to the couple. Best to leave them and their marital affairs alone.

>>27169 I suppose this is where we'd have to come to an agreement onto what to do. I'd say we give the catgirl a quick chat, and then head onto the couple? Maybe we could ask her for some advice on how to help her, or maybe the catgirl already knows what's going on.

>>27668 I'd say sure, but is going for both the cat girl and the couple even an option? I assumed we'd only have time for one of those things. Also I'm not sure if there is really much we can help with the Cat besides a donation, but asking her for advice on how to help a couple we don't even know is just plain weird.

>>27668 >>27685 >I'd say sure, but is going for both the cat girl and the couple even an option? You can. If there's a time constraint on an option as far as talking to people goes, I'll try to have an "Or" listed between choices.

>>27685 >Also I'm not sure if there is really much we can help with the Cat besides a donation, Well, she works for the Eros Kitchen, so i'm sure we could offer to volunteer there, meet some people, etc. As for the couple, they mentioned a biker gang, so what i meant is if the catgirl already knows what's going on, as she's probably been there for a while. Although maybe that's unnecessarily indirect when we can just ask the couple.

Alright, I'm going to give this another day or so for deliberation, but so far it sounds like alongside wandering the festival grounds, we'll be talking to the Eros Cat first (as well as getting any input on the couple from her), followed by talking to the couple. If there's any changes or anything we may want to mention from the get-go to either, post it now.

>>27941 Not directly about the current decisions, but how constrained/free are we in terms of what we can do? If there is someone or something in the scene that is not in the options, can we still do something with it?

>>27941 Sounds good to me.

>>27981 >If there is someone or something in the scene that is not in the options, can we still do something with it? Of course, Perception is very important, if you notice something that sticks out, mention it. There's some things I would like to elaborate further on, but I don't want to ruin any potential surprises.

>>27004 You think about it for a moment, glancing around the immediate area again. Since you were still pretty unsure how much there was to do around here beyond catching some shows, it was a good idea to keep exploring. Once you feel pretty confident about the layout, you might draw yourself a map for reference later. “Let’s keep looking around, there’s probably more to do, and I doubt we’ll be missing much for tunes right now.” you answer Ben, and gaze back at the pink cat girl, followed by the bickering couple. “Why don’t you grab some firewood and anything else you think we might want. I’m gonna hang out here for a bit.” you add, and finish off the last of your beer you were still carrying. Ben and Mara look over at the cat girl, and they both smirk back at you. “Sure man, we’ll take our time combing through what they got. Good luck.” Ben said, and heads inside the hut. Mara gives you a wink, and follows behind him. Now alone, you turn back towards the feline troubadour, and make your way to her. Her warm smile grew as you approached, and she gave you a nod. “Well hello~” she greets you, winding down her song. You smile back at her, and look down at the open guitar case. Without too much thought, you pulled out your wallet, grabbed a five, and set it down in the case. Barter funds at $515 Her smile widens. “Thank you, Mother Eros blesses the charitable~” “You’re welcome.” you reply, still smiling. She begins to strum again, a tune you recognize, which gives you an excellent excuse to stick around for a few moments longer. Now that you’re a bit closer to her, you picked up a few more details regarding her and her apparel. https://youtu.be/01AqU5a9RHI?si=-s_NmSrcJGiEFYii The immediate thing you noticed was that her fur was a darker shade of pink than her clothing, and had occasional white highlights flecked throughout. At first you thought this might be a dye-job, but it appeared to be completely natural. The lime green bandana she wore on her head had a lighter-green paisley pattern across it, and it was tied to cover most of her hair, letting her fluffy pink ears poke out on either side. The rose-tinted sunglasses had large round frames, and you couldn’t make out her eye color from behind them. She had a dark fuzzy pink choker around her neck, one that matched her fur. It seemed a little warm for the weather, but you figured the festival wristband she wore was helping her keep cool. Her faded pink shirt was stretched tight across her bust, and while you couldn’t make out the scripture at the top, you could make out the image, which was a skeleton wearing a crown (and surrounded by) roses. She starts to lightly bounce on her paws while you examine her shirt, which was… very distracting, to say the least. The lighter pink zip up hoodie she wore was zipped together at the very bottom, resting just above her shapely hips, while the sleeves were pulled up, just above where her fur gave way to bare skin. With the song reaching it’s close, you look back into her eyes, her smile still the same as earlier. “That was pretty good! How long did it take you to learn a song from this side of the portal?” you asked. She giggled, which gave you that fluttery feeling again. “Oh, I learned that one a few years ago. It’s kind of a long story…” she trails off. You rose your eyebrow, but before you could ask her to elaborate, your mental train of thought was derailed by a pained wail. Turning your head, you saw the tall guy named Freddie hugging his wife Renee, who appeared to be sobbing. “Uffda. What’s their deal, anyway?” you casually mutter. “She’s too work-minded.” you hear the cat mention, and turn back towards her. The feline shrugs, bearing a slight frown. “She’s an anubis, it’s one of their cultural hang-ups. Everything has to be done as efficiently as possible, as every waking hour is sacred. It’s why Eros blessed her with her husband. Look.” she continues, and steps closer beside you, her free paw pointing towards Freddie. You couldn’t help but notice the cat smelled of some unknown incense and patchouli. “He’s relaxed, but in control. He knows everything will turn out fine, but she’s too obsessed with her schedule. She can’t see the forest for the trees.” she observed. You kinda noticed what she was talking about, as the jackal girl seemed rigidly stuck in place, while the taller man held a loose posture, hugging his wife and rocking side to side in an attempt to relax her. “Odds are, she’s trying for a litter this weekend. If she stays stressed like that, it’s doubtful his seeds will take root in her garden.” she finished, a hint of dismay in her voice. You look back at the cat, your eyebrow raised yet again, and she gives you a knowing look. “I’ve been helping the Church of Eros for years, one picks up on these things after some time.” You look back at the couple, and frown. Well, that sucks if that’s actually the case. Mulling it over, you decided that while you’re normally not a nosy dude, you felt like you could help out, somehow. Before you realized it, you were already walking in their direction. Deciding to roll with it, you waved, trying to get Freddie’s attention. The taller man eventually saw you, and gave a small wave back. “Hey! I couldn’t help but overhear, you’re having some troubles finding a campsite? What happened?” you call out as you approach. Renee reluctantly separated from her husband, and turned to face you, still sniffing back tears. Freddie straightened up, and cleared his throat. “Uh, hey. Yeah, you might have seen them earlier, but there’s a big group of bikers camping out at this spot Renee’s cousin scouted out for us. I keep trying to tell her they’re probably decent folk, but she wants to be somewhere that’s a lot quieter, and she’s dead set on that spot because of the view.” the tall man explains. “I’m sure if I talk to Lapis, she can pass the word to Najia and make them change spots, it wouldn’t be that hard!” the anubis exclaims, Freddie’s eyes widen slightly, and he looks down at his wife, shaking his head. “Honey, no. That’s a dick move, and you don’t do that to bikers.” he said firmly. Renee let out a whine. “But, but, what else can we do? It was a perfect spot.” she pouts. 1. Convince Renee to camp with the bikers. 2. Convince Freddie to let Renee’s cousin pull some strings. 3. Tell them of the Wonderland Hippies’ campsite. 4. Invite them to Pyrite Lane. (Gain +2 Campers. Skills and Barter options available.) 5. [Chatty Cat] Invite? Lead them there! You can get to know them and share some stories from back home. You’re pretty sure you can get back before Ben and Mara are done shopping. (Gain +2 Campers. Skills and Barter options available. Temporarily split from group.)

>>28408 >3. Tell them of the Wonderland Hippies’ campsite.

>>28408 Well, that took a turn in several unexpected directions. I'd say we invite them to Pyrite Lane. It's peaceful, so it wouldn't be too difficult to convince them, and we could use some company. Though we shouldn't separate from the group just yet. i'm sure they could use a pair of arms to carry the firewood. We can chat them up later at night. I'm not quite sure what it means to have +2 campers, as if they are a resource to control, not that that's the reason why i chose to invite them.

>>28434 I think having some friends and getting to know people is nice.It's going to liven up the place.

>>28987 She sounds like more trouble than it's worth, who knows what other demands she might make until she's satisfied. Besides, there is already a place that seems to fit what she's looking for. I don't think jumping on the first opportunity we see to increase the number of campers is necessarily a good idea if there's a precedent they might cause trouble for others in the future.

>>29154 Well, we are here to have some fun, not to spend all day inside the tent, safe from anything and anyone who could possibly disturb peace. Give adventure and fun some opportunities. With that attitude you might as well just stick your dick into the ground until a dorome picks you up. I can assure you there won't be any trouble after that.

>>28434 >>28443 >>28987 >>29154 >>29262 While I will say the point of Anon's week at the festival is to have an adventure and just about everything that could possibly entail, it does pay to be wary about things. Remember, details are important, all things mentioned, seen, felt, or heard may play a part in a decision now, or one further down the line. It is still Day One of the festival, by the way. That's all I can say for now. Anyways, I'll let this sit for another day or so of deliberation, and go from there.

>>29262 Nah man, there is plenty of fish in the pond, no reason to get hellbent on this wan. First tiny obstacle she finds in a place meant to be chill and she wants to go straight for the use of authority on people who have literally done nothing wrong just sends off the wrong vibes.

>>29419 >>29453 Very well, if even the writer tells me it's a bad idea far it'd be from me to argue the virtues of being a good samaritan. We'll tell the the sandwan to pound sand.

>>28035 https://youtu.be/bIF_a8F-Y0Q?si=sxSKV6ZrQXWaXwYU While you did want to help, the jackal’s immediate leap in wanting to use high authority to fix her issue was a bit off-putting. Best to stay cordial, at least. “I’d invite you back to our camp, but my buddy and I plan on playing some tunes late into the night, so we might not be the quietest option. However, I’m guessing y’all didn’t see it, but there was a pretty quiet place that some hippies set up at. Just look for the painted VW bus. It seemed like it had open skies, although you may want something to fan away the uh… smoke.” you mention to the two. A slightly confused look crossed Renee’s face, while Freddie let out a laugh. “Hey, that works for me! I don’t mind stoners, and Renee could probably benefit from the contact high.” he says with a smirk. “The what now?” the anubis asks quickly, her attention snapping to her husband. He just smirks at her, and runs a couple fingers behind her right ear, scratching it and causing her to shudder slightly. “Don’t worry about it. We’re having fun this week, and you’re gonna relax. Those were the top two priorities on your task list this week, remember?” he says affectionately to her. She nods, leaning into his fingers. He looks back at you, giving you a nod and a smile. “Thanks for the tip, I owe you a drink! I’ll have my mini-bar set up later tonight, so swing by.” “Will do! If you happen to play any instruments, you’re welcome to jam with my buddy Ben and I, we’re always looking for more folk to play with.” you offer back. You felt an odd tingle on the back of your neck, like you were being watched intently. Shaking it off, you glance back at the supply hut, and see Ben and Mara exiting, wagon in tow loaded with firewood, and a bundle of what looked like tiki torches, just a bit more “gothic” in appearance, with a skeletal hand posed open at the ends. “Speak of the devil! What’s with the torches, halloween coming early or something?” you ask. Ben hefted the bundle up, wearing a massive grin. “Who cares how they look, these things are fucking awesome. Show ‘em, Mara.” he answered, The fox smirked, rolled her eyes, and waved her hand over one of them, causing a bluish-purple flame to appear in the palm of the skeletal hand. Okay, yeah, that was pretty cool. “Oh sick! I think we’ll need to get a couple of those for our tent, too. What do you think, Renee?” Freddie added, taking his hand away from the anubis’ ear to point at the torch. The jackal shook her head, seeming slightly dazed. “Hmm, wh-what now? Oh, Mana Torches, yes, we could use a couple.” she mutters, starting to focus again. Mara immediately zoned in on her, closing the distance between the two in moments. The kitsune, wearing that slightly wider than normal grin, leaned in very close to the anubis, who was now wearing a familiar bewildered look. She grasped Renee’s right paw, turning it over to glance down at it. “Hmmmm… my, oh my!” Mara said in a sing-song fashion, and looked back up, locking her gaze with the stunned jackal. “I see triplets in your future! Quite the boon from the gods, would you agree?” the fox exclaims. Renee’s jaw drops slightly, and her face began to take a reddish hue. “I-I.. wha-... t-triplets?!” she manages to stammer out. With a swish of her tail and flick of her wrist, a business card appeared between Mara’s fingers, which she set down in the anubis’ paw. “Indeed! If you would like to know more, here’s my info. I’ll be here all week, so take your time to think it over. I will say though it would be a pleasure to do business, as there is much to discuss!” the kitsune explains, and taps the card in the anubis’ palm. “I do not wish to keep you and your husband waiting, though. You still need to buy your torches and pitch his tent~” she finishes with a smirk. The anubis’ face took on a deeper blush, but she nodded all the same. “Y-yes, you’re right, thank you!” she exclaims quickly, and turns to Freddie, who just seemed perplexed with the whole ordeal. “Well, let’s buy what we need, and we will seek out these… hippies.” she says, and pauses for a moment. “By the way, what are ‘hippies’, anyway?” she asks. This made him snort, and shake his head. “You’ve been here for over a year and you haven’t heard of hippies yet? Hoo boy…” he replies with a chuckle, as they turn to enter the hut. “Thanks again, we’ll be in touch!” he says to your group with a nod, before passing through the doorway. Ben and you turn to look at Mara, who had a smug, satisfied look on her face. https://youtu.be/D8yiAKqTYlw?si=lODnEYTtEp0O8Ay2 “That was fuckin’ slick. I can see how you make a killing in your craft.” you mutter quietly to the fox. She stifles a giggle, and begins to walk deeper into the festival bazaar. “Quite, although it is the truth, she has triplets in her future, at some point in time. I will need to do a few spreads in order to even narrow down the pertinent details, and all of those will take a lot of time. So! I feel that gaining an inevitable customer is worthy of a small celebration, and I know there’s at least one libations tent around here somewhere. Shall we?” Mara explained. “That sounds like you’re buying, in that case, yes, let’s! We’ll get something to go and check out the rest of the place.” Ben says with a grin, and tugs the mostly filled wagon along behind him. You turn back to look around the hut, only to notice the pink cat is gone. Ben pauses for a moment. “Oh yeah, did you get that guitar chick’s number?” he asks. You felt your heart stop for a second. “God damn it. No.” you sulk. Ben shook his head, and started moving again, gesturing for you to follow. “Hey, don’t worry about it, the week’s just starting, she’ll probably pop up somewhere. C’mon, let’s get that drink Mara’s buying us.” As the fox had predicted, your group came upon the beer tent in a handful minutes. It was a stone’s throw from a large first-aid tent, which you found mighty convenient. The walls of the beer tent were rolled up for now, allowing as much customer and air flow through as possible. From the front to about midway, there were multiple round tables set up. At the backside of the tent there was a makeshift bar with stools, and behind that, was a row of beer trucks parked just outside, allowing the bartenders to pour fresh suds while staying in the shade. As it was still relatively early in the festival, the beer tent was lively, but not crowded. Your group strolls up to the bar, and you glance around at some of the other patrons. At one of the tables, you notice two of those tan surfer-hoodie-fishnet girls from that oddly cold camp you passed earlier in the day, along with a skinny pale guy wearing a red beanie. He, and the tanned girl to his immediate left, who you noticed had small horns peeking out from dirty-blonde bangs under her black and orange hoodie, were both engrossed in some game they were each playing on their own pc decks, nudging each other and playfully shit-talking, from the few snippets of conversation you caught. The second girl, a platinum blonde in a gray and electric blue hoodie, was looking slightly irritated with her two companions, while she sipped what looked like some kind of slushy booze through a straw. She tapped her red stained fingers rhythmically on the table, rolling her eyes on occasion. You couldn’t blame her really, who brings a game system to a festival, anyway? A few tables up from them, you saw a large red-skinned sandy-blonde woman with stubby horns, engaged (and winning) in what looked like a drinking game with a slightly larger, green skinned azure-haired woman with tall silver horns. Seated between them was a much smaller, auburn-haired girl with large mouse ears, who was puffing away on a small pipe. She seemed to be egging on the green skinned woman, growing more smug every time she wobbled. All three were wearing the same shirt, a black tee bearing the simple picture of two crossed swords, with the text “G.T.G. Contestant” above the swords, and “Lunapalooza ‘2X” below it. A tall and busty blue-skinned woman, wearing a white tee that read “Lunapalooza STAFF” on the front and back, was in the middle of setting down another round of drinks at their table. On the opposite side of the tent towards the edge of the canopy, you saw a scruffy, brown haired guy leaning against a strange greenish-black slab and having, what looked like at first, a very active yet one-sided conversation with the woman next to him. She was a bit taller than him, wearing a matching daisy-patterned sun hat and blouse, with a long seafoam-green braid falling down her left shoulder. You noticed that while she didn’t seem to emote too much, she was still gently conversing with her companion, while tapping away at a small tablet. Behind her was an absolutely gigantic pile of bags, but at a second glance, you realized it was a bunch of bags strapped to a very large dark green beetle carapace. That’s when you noticed the slab the guy was leaning on was the same kind of chitinous material. It gave you the impression of a kite shield, the more you looked at it. At the end of the bar, you saw another couple, though they looked to be a bit older, mid thirties to early forties, if you had to guess. The guy had long salt and pepper hair, tied in a loose pony tail, and wore a ratty olive military jacket, with faded patches on the sleeves, along with a set of aviators clipped to the front pocket. The woman appeared to be another cat, with black and dark purple hair, though you noticed a lighter purple peppering in the black. She was wearing what looked, judging by how bright the coloring was, a brand new green and white tie-dye shirt. On the back was a big silver flying saucer, with the words “I Believe!” written in smoky-styled text above it. They were both chatting with one of the bartenders, a ginger squirrel girl in another staff shirt. Ahead of you, Mara and Ben we’re already placing their order with the third bartender, who you couldn’t see from behind the two. You sidled up on the other side of Mara, an- oh. The bartender was a woman slightly shorter than you, with a dark caramel skin tone. Her pastel yellow hair was done in pigtails, which fell behind a pair of sunset orange fins on either side of her head. She had a rather lithe build to her, if you were to guess, she was probably an excellent gymnast. Her eyes, the same orange as her fins, snapped to you, and she gave you a demure smile. “And what would you like to drink?” she asks, her soft voice reminding you of wind chimes in the breeze. You felt that flutter in your stomach again. 1. Order a basic beer 2. Order a high quality beer 3. Order a cocktail 4. Order a shot 5. Order a wineglass 6. Order a water You can name a particular drink with your choice, otherwise I'll pick something relatively fitting. Additionally Talk with a patron? Pick One. The Bartender does not count as a Patron

>>29463 >if even the writer tells me it's a bad idea Just to clarify, I will never say one idea over another is bad. Just to be wary.

>>29746 Glad everything seems to have worked out with the couple, seeing an uptight awoobis among a bunch of hippies sounds like a funny time. Can't go wrong with a cocktail for a drink. There sure are a lot of options for patrons. If I had to pick, maybe the brown haired guy and the gal besides him? Would like to hear other people's opinion though.

>>29746 Guess it shouldn't be too late to ask, but how much knowledge of the MGE should we consider while taking decisions. I imagine the character knows barely anything, taking into account the visually descriptive way you introduce the monstergirls. Either way, those torches are definitely not normal, and we should be wary of them. Who knows what kind of magic they have in them, other than the pretty light show. As for the drink. >>29966 The cocktail is probably the best choice if you want to drink all sorts of unknown substances. The fruity drinks are always the strongest ones, meaning it's probably mixed with some sort of weird aphrodisiac fruit. Wouldn't find it strange if it makes you "fruity" as well. Think going for a basic beer is better, or if it's before 15:00, 2 basic beers. For the patrons, not much interesting seems to be around. We can go with the scruffy guy+stoic girl pair. She might not be much of a conversationalist, but maybe he has a couple stories to tell.

>>30756 >Guess it shouldn't be too late to ask, but how much knowledge of the MGE should we consider while taking decisions? Consider as much as you can. Anon's knowledge of Monster Girls and their world is pretty surface level, but your's is not. Things you notice should be mentioned, as that might set off Anon's Intuition. I should also mention, if further detail is needed on one thing or another, we can always do a Perception check. Checks can be rolled with 1d6 for now.

>>29746 1. Basic beer, it's budget friendly and sociable.

>>31000 >Perception check Y'know, that would have been somewhat nice to know at the start, so just to try i'll do one now, see of we can see anything. I don't know how hidden/wishiwashy you want to keep the stats. Aside from knowing they exist, we pretty much don't know what they do. It'd be perhaps a good idea to keep a character sheet with stats and status effects(like the chatty cat thingy from before, it's not quite clear if it's still active), as well as some general info about what's happened, like relationships to the others in our camp, or other stuff like that. Not saying you need to, writing and designing the CYOA is already enough work, but it'll probably also be good for people jumping in afterwards, to get a quick idea without being overwhelmed by all that's happened before, which isn't much for now, but might become more as we go.

>>31061 I'm probably gonna sound like a dick, and that's not my intention at all (autism and no tone over simple text notwithstanding) , but I kinda figured that would have been obvious from the start, since we rolled for stats to begin with. However, it has been pretty clear that what's obvious to me might not be obvious to everyone else. Considering I'm a bit esoteric in nature (if the very in-depth tarot reading at the start didn't give it away) and see symbolism and patterns in some of the weirdest shit, that's probably a given. >Character Sheet To spoil one minor thing, check-ins with Mara will show current stats and what's active/has been activated. Chatty Cat in particular is still active, as it hasn't been very long since Anon had his first beer. Other substances can and will have both positive and negative attributes, especially when considering the amount imbibed. As far as keeping things hidden, I like surprises, and I like setting up surprises. There's a lot of room for experimentation and expansion, especially later down the line. There is a very poignant rhyme that applies to our current choices, by the way. >Roll for Perception Please go ahead and roll, and I will go from there. I will say, focusing on something will work better than just a general check. Is there anything in particular that pops out at you?

>>31072 >I'm probably gonna sound like a dick Not at all, it just sounds like you have quite the experience with TTRPGs and similar stuff, and just assumed it would be obvious what the stats do or how mechanics work, but with people from different backgrounds, there's bound to be some who don't( like me, i am the who doesn't). My assumption until now was that the only options we could take were the ones laid explicitly in the posts, and as you can imagine, a perception check is not one of them, nor was it mentioned before. If there's any other similar stuff like a perception check, i wouldn't know either. I don't know how effective checking in with Mara is going to be for that. If you want to take a decision based on your stats or current situation, we'd need to ask Mara, meaning waiting for a response from you as well as she needing to be in the scene and it making sense in the context of the scene for us to ask her, both in terms of time and social. Not in a strict sense of calculating anything, but it feels strange to go through all the process of asking a third person if you yourself are feeling chatty or tipsy currently. Having a small sheet with a section saying "You feel a bit more chatty than usual" is more efficient in that matter. We can leave the checks with Mara for more complex/write-heavy stuff stuff. Also has the advantage of checking our stats(It's still kind of in the air if luck is one of them). Ultimately i leave it up to you, of course, and maybe it's just a me problem and this is well known stuff. It just would have been nice to know the mechanics in advance. >Please go ahead and roll Sorry, i forgot.

>>30756 >>31001 Let's go with beer then, also consider me a first timer with CYOAs too so the clarification above is much appreciated.

>>29746 https://youtu.be/j946Wsh7vNA?si=N274H5qHUjh9E19w GENERAL PERCEPTION CHECK P:3 + D6 = P:9 (2 over P.I. Cap) “Uhhhh…” you sound out, mind drawing a blank. You shake your head to collect yourself, and examine the choices available. From the basic taps available, you see the usual suspects; a few Miller taps, a few Coors taps, PBR, Sam Adams, and something Mexican (in this case both Modelo and Corona). Curiously, you didn’t see any mainline Budweiser products. The high quality beer selection has a lot of the usual imports you’d see around; Guiness, Newcastle, Sapporo, and Haufbrauhaus. Amongst those are various local small breweries, and, what you are guessing are a few monster style brews, considering the taps were glowing. One that stands out in particular has an Egyptian eye at the top of the tap, mostly because it seems like the eye is actually staring back. The tap handle reads “Amber Nights”. You stand on your tip toes, glancing up and down the bar at the bottle rail that was just slightly out of sight from the counter. Once again, you saw a typical selection. Whiskies like Jack, Jim, and Johnnie, amongst other staples. There are various flavored rums from Bacardi, spiced rums from the Captain, and one large bottle of inky black Kraken. Flavored vodkas like Stoli and Smirnoff are also peppered about. Yet again, mixed about with the normal bottles, you notice that some of the bottles give off a glow. There are a number of wine bottles, though no brands you recognize. You can at least tell it was an even mix of reds and whites. Just like the other liquor options, there are some bottles that are glowing. At the very least, the ones that are seem to have a different cork stuck on the top, as they look deep purple, almost black. You look back at the bartender, who's waiting patientily, though she now has a warm, yet amused grin. You glance back up at the price list above the taps an- Jesus fucking Christ. Eight bucks for a basic beer? You knew it was a festival and prices would be high, but God Damn, this is worse than the beer prices at the actual Renaissance Fest you used to go to. Twelve for a high quality beer, ten for a cocktail, eight for a shot, and fifteen for a wineglass. There's a large note scribbled and underlined below the menu, that reads “ WATER IS ALWAYS FREE! STAY HYDRATED!”. Well, that’s a small blessing, at least. Either way, you're glad Mara's paying for this round. “Uhh, give me just one moment, sorry.” you mutter. The bartender nods, looking even more amused. “Take allllll the time you need~ I’ll get your friend’s drinks ready while you decide...” she says, her voice trailing off as she heads down the bar. You turn to Ben and Mara, the former has a smirk on his face, while the latter still looks pleased as punch over the encounter with Renee earlier today. “So, what did you two order?” you ask, and took a moment to look around at the patrons again while they answered. Starting with the couple at the end of the bar, you try to get a better peek at the patches on his arm. The biggest at his shoulder was one that looked like a kite shield, colored a lighter shade of green than his jacket, with a big red number 1 in the middle of it. Below it was a small black eagle. You move on to his wife, only to find her staring right back at you. She gives you a wink and sticks out her tongue, before returning back to her conversation with her husband and the squirrel bartender. “Eh, I got a Modelo. I just want a buzz, I don’t want to get trashed right away.” you hear Ben say, your gaze moving over to the scruffy guy and his stoic beetle companion. It seems like she's carrying everything they had with them, with how much was piled and strapped onto her carapace. Examining the different bags and satchels closer, you notice a small tripod tied to the handle of a smaller black case, both of which look rather beaten up. On the top of the case is a spot where you assume a branding face plate once was, now instead it's covered with duct tape, with “Lenses” scribbled onto it in permanent marker. “I ordered a whiskey sour. It felt like the most refreshing choice at the moment.” you hear Mara answer, as your view shifts over at the monsters having their drinking game. The large green gal was close to finishing her beer before the red gal did, only for her to slam the plastic cup back on the table. She begins to cough and hack, and hammers her fist on her chest a couple times. Red calmly finishes her beer, setting the empty cup on top of a stack next to her, and gives her opponent a smug grin. The mouse was laughing up a storm, as Green seems to recover, angrily finishing her beer. She tosses the now empty cup over her shoulder, and gives the mouse a light shove with her forefinger, before turning her attention back to the bar. Her vision flicks over your group towards the busty blue bartender at the other end, only to flick back and settle on Ben. “Oh ho ho! Someone wants to get gut rot!” you hear Ben tease the fox. You finally look back at the first table you passed when you entered the beer tent. The two gamers were still there, still playing on their PC decks, while their companion’s attention was no longer focused on them. Instead, you notice her glancing between big Greenie, and Ben. She seems to take a long drink every time she looks at him, and aggressively taps her red stained fingers whenever she looks back at Greenie. “Oh shush! I’m only having one.” Mara replies with a laugh. You keep glancing between Ben, Greenie, and Red-Fingers, and swallow the lump in your throat. There wasn’t a lot of tension in the air right now, but it did feel like something could possibly happen down the line. You certainly didn’t want to waste too much time after you got your drink, at least. Now that you thought of it, you turn back around. The orange-eyed, yellow braided bartender had returned with Ben and Mara’s drinks, and she sets them down on the counter in front of them. She then turns to you, and gives you that amused grin again. “So, did you decide on what you want?~”

I'm going to let this sit for a few more days, in case any decision changes occur due to the new information. We are currently sitting with a basic beer and talking to the scruffy guy as our favored choices.

>>31521 That's amazing. Well beyond anything i could imagine. Safe to say, there won't be any more perception checks in the future onwards.

>>31521 The Egyptian eye is making me pretty curious. Maybe I should change my vote from regular beer to that Amber Nights thingie.

>>31521 YOLO, I want to try the Amber Nights.

Alright, it's been a few days. Choices are now locked in, the next part should be posted soon-ish.

>>31521 You glance back at the Egyptian eye on the large glowing tap, still staring back at you. “Uh, yeah, I think I’ll try that Amber Nights beer. Who makes that one, anyway?” you request, then ask. “That’s a good choice! It’s from Cairo’s Fork Brewing.” she says, making her way over to the tap. Grabbing a large plastic cup from a dispenser next to the taps, she begins to fill it with the amber colored brew. You couldn’t help but trace her form with your eyes, as her dance-like swaying was rather hypnotic. The white daisy-duke shorts and one-size-too-small staff shirt she wore were more of a nice touch to the whole scene. She soon returns, and hands the cup to you. “They’re out of.. Illy-Noy?” she follows up, slightly blushing. “Illinois.” You correct her with a smile, and grab the beer. “Thanks…uh…” you say, starting to pull your drink from her grip, but she holds tight onto it. “Lakini~” she replies. She places her other hand over yours, and looks directly in your eyes. “My name is Lakini~” “Uh…I’m Anon.” you say somewhat awkwardly, that fluttery feeling hitting your stomach again. Her orange eyes break from yours for a split second, flicking down the bar. She frowns for the briefest of moments, then looks back into your eyes. Giving you a flirty smile, she squeezes your hand one last time, before letting go. “Enjoy your Amber Nights, Anon~” Lakini says, her orange eyes still locked to yours for a few more seconds, until her attention is pulled completely away. You look down the counter, and notice Red-Fingers has made her way up, and is flagging her down with her mostly empty glass. The caramel-tan bartender makes her way towards the patron, but stops for a moment, and glances over her shoulder at you. “My shift ends just after dusk, by the way~” she adds with a wink, before continuing on down the bar, her swaying gait still drawing your attention. Your face felt hot for a few seconds, and you nervously clear your throat. That odd tingle on the back of your neck starts up again, and you idly scratch it with your free hand, while taking a generous sip of your amber brew. It has an almost sweet-bread flavor to it, that changes to a refreshing herbal, hoppy-like taste over time. That really hits the spot! SPIRITS - Temporary Intuition +1. Temporary Resolve extended, Tolerance 4(-2) [Casual Drinker] = Chatty Cat extended. https://youtu.be/wLtXKYz3v48?si=zJrk-zPdYiEBF5yW That tingle on your neck starts feeling a bit stronger, and you turn to look down the other side of the bar, outside of the beer tent. All you see is just a steady stream of people moving to and fro, either heading to one of the stages, deeper into the festival bazaar, or back towards the campgrounds proper. You raise an eyebrow, but think nothing more of it for now. A hand tapping your shoulder pulls your attention back into the bar, and you turn to face Ben and Mara. The former had a big smirk across his face, while the latter wore her usual larger than normal smile. “Heeeey, nice! You gonna come back here tonight then?” he asks you. You feel your face go hot again for a few seconds, and you cough. “Uhh, maybe, if I don’t get sidetracked or somethin’.” you reply, and look past your friends towards where the bartender was at. She was in the middle of shaking up a new drink for Red-Fingers, and that one-size-too-small shirt made every shake very pronounced. While that grabbed most of your attention, you didn’t fail to notice the big green lumbering shape stumbling down the bar towards your group. Looking at Greenie, you saw she still had her eyes locked on Ben, and was making a bee line for him. Before you could warn him, however, you saw Red-Fingers flick what was left of her old drink into the larger woman’s path. Not a second later, and Greenie slips on one of the ice cubes, falling face first towards the bar. With a loud crack, her forehead makes contact, and smashes into part of the wood counter, splintering a portion of it. With a groan, she tries to stand back up, only to stumble, and falls onto the floor in an awkward heap, gaining the attention of everyone in the beer tent. “Whoa! I guess even the Jolly Green Giant can’t hold her liquor!” Ben cackles, and pulls out his phone, snapping a few pictures of the knocked out woman. You look back up at Red-Fingers, and see her staring at your friend with a satisfied gleam in her eye. She then looks at you, her face turning serious, and gives you a curt nod. You return it out of polite compulsion, though you hope you didn’t just agree to give her dibs on Ben. Gazing past your friend’s savior, you see Greenie’s companions still seated at their table. Mouse was in the midst of a laughing fit, while Red was rolling her eyes. She raised her fist towards the smaller girl, who did the same in return. Three shakes later, and Red held out a flat palm, while Mouse kept her hand as a fist. The smaller girl got out of her seat, stifling her laughter as she left the beer tent, most likely to the medic station nearby. A loud clicking noise grabs your attention, and you turn your head to see the scruffy guy has left his table, with a rather nice but expensive looking camera in hand. He steps a bit closer to the drunken heap, taking a few more pictures once he’s satisfied with his new vantage point. “Hey Tilly! Ya think Cherrywood’s gonna be okay with five photos?” he says in a loud, southern drawl, while fiddling with something on the back of his camera. Looking over at the beetle, you see her simply shake her head. “Three more. She’s picky.” she replies simply. The scruffy guy shrugs, climbs up onto the closest empty table to Greenie, and snaps three more pictures from a higher angle. “Well, she did say eye-arr-jee wants everyone to see as much of the jubilee as possible…” he muttered back. “I.R.G.? What the heck is that?” you pipe up and ask, catching scruffy’s attention. He hops off the table, and takes a few steps towards your group. “Oh! Howdy! It’s Interrealm Geographic. Me an’ the missus have been doin’ a lot of work for ‘em over the last year.” he answers, sticking his hand out. “Name’s Gus, an’ that’s Tilly over there.” he adds, gesturing to his beetle companion at the table. She raises her hand and waggles her fingers in a casual greeting. “Anon. That’s Ben, and that’s Mara.” you reply, gesturing to your friends with a nod while shaking his hand. “Nice to meet y’all! So, just arrived, I take it?” Gus asks, and nods towards Ben’s wagon filled with firewood and mana torches. “Kinda, we finished setting up most of our campsite ‘bout a half hour ago. We’re just exploring now. How about you two?” Ben pipes in. “Since before dawn.” Tilly answers, leaving the table to shuffle closer to her husband. With her large frame, along with all the packs and bags strapped to her back carapace, it took her a moment to navigate around the tables and tent poles. “Yep! One of the things I.R.G. wanted us to get was a few good sunrise pictures, an’ since this is technically a business trip, we got to come in early before the rest of the crowds.” Gus adds, fiddling with his camera a bit more. He turns it around, and shows off a few of the pictures he snagged this morning. It looks like they were taken directly from higher up in the catwalks of the Main Stage. They were gorgeous, the sun rays and the shadows giving a deep contrast over the rich colors of the Oasis grounds. With the visible details not being overexposed by the light, you could easily tell he was good at his job. “Damn, that is nice!” you exclaim. “If you got here that early, you must have found a good spot to set up for the eclipse then!” you add. To your surprise, Gus shakes his head. “Nah, I wanna wait until the night it happens. I.R.G. asked for my absolute best with the eclipse photos, so we gotta set up somewhere that’s pretty clear, and away from as much light pollution as possible. That cuts out the stages, and I won’t have an idea of what’s best when folks are still comin’ in and settin’ up.” he explains. “He’s picky, like Miss Cherrywood.” Tilly adds simply. “That’s also true!” he finishes with a chuckle. You were getting a pretty good vibe from the both of them, and you were still feeling pretty chatty from your drinking, so you figured, fuck it, may as well mention it. “Well, on the off chance you don’t find a spot for your photo, our camp, Pyrite Lane, has got some open skies, though we plan on jamming some tunes late into the night.” you mention to the couple. Gus smiles. “We’ll keep it in mind, but there’s still a lotta festival to see, so who knows what’ll happen.” he replies. “He brings up a good point, we gotta start rolling so we can see what else this place has!” Ben adds, taking a swig of his beer. With another tail swish and wrist flick, Mara steps forward, a copy of her business card between her fingers, which she hands to the scruffy photographer. “By the way, my skills happen to revolve around divinatory practices. If you or your wife happen to be interested, I am sure we could work out a barter. Perhaps a short reading for, let’s say, a few good pictures?~” she explains. Gus takes the card, flipping between his fingers a couple times as he examines it. “Huh, maybe. Do ya do rune castin’ at all? Tilly’s got a thing for them.” he asks. “The runes know all.” the beetle piped in, causing Mara’s trademark grin to appear. “Indeed, they do know all! I do a variety of readings, rune casting included.” the kitsune replies, and points at the bottom of the card between Gus’ fingers. “If you want more details, I do have a website. It is a little bare bones right now, but it lists all of my available services.” Mara then bows her head slightly, and begins to move towards the outside. “But, we really should get moving. It was a pleasure, though!~” “Likewise! We’ll see each other again.” he says. With a final farewell, your group begins to leave the tent. As you exit, you glance over your shoulder one last time at the bar. Lakini is still chatting with Red-Fingers, but she gives you another flirty wink and wave. You wave back, feeling your face grow hot again. Coming back here right after dusk is sounding more and more like a viable option the longer you stare at her. Back outside, your group begins to wander deeper into the festival bazaar proper. There were now many more festival-goers wandering around, but not so many as to completely clog up the walking path. As your group went along, you were starting to see more choices for food scattered around the grounds. At one spot, a group of food trucks had parked to form a circle, offering a variety of greasy fair food staples. Across from the food trucks, there were a few different huts, serving what appeared to be more monster-oriented drinks and dishes, along with an open grassy area that a few groups had decided to picnic at. From there, the walking path split, with one end wrapping around the food truck circle towards another part of the bazaar, while the other end went a little further ways beyond the food huts, terminating at a very large, pink roofed tent. Multiple appetizing fragrants wafted through air from the tent, while the inside was a blur of moving people. You guessed this was probably the Eros Kitchen the cat from earlier mentioned. While everything around here either looked or smelled delicious, you weren’t that hungry, as the beer munchies hadn't quite kicked in yet. Moving on, the next part of the bazaar was one you had been looking forward to, and so far, one of the busiest: The Merch Lane. While some of the booths and tents were still setting up, there were a number that already had some of their wares out. The first few open booths had a focus on the musicians performing over the week. Trinkets, posters, shirts, and other apparel is on display, mostly from bands you knew or were somewhat familiar with, but there were plenty of others that you didn’t recognize. You surmise most were probably bands from across the portal. Next to these were a couple booths selling Lunapalooza branded merch. Like the band booths, these carried a wider variety of trinkets, gear, apparel, along with a curiously large assortment of blankets. At one of these booths, you see a large yellow and black mass with legs bobbing around in the back. In a flash, it turns around and scuttles outside. Getting over the shock of seeing something that large move that fast, you relax a bit more when you see that it’s an arachne. Spiders you could deal with, they weren’t like snakes. Besides, you’d encountered a married one before back home in Moorhead a few times. Though while the bubbly amazon delivery girl had a larger and fuzzier build that reminded you of a wolf spider, this girl reminds you more of a sleek orb-weaver. She places what looked like a few more folded blankets on the display up front, then scuttles back into the booth just as fast. A few spots down from there, you were a little surprised to see a booth that specializes in musical gear. While they didn’t appear to be open for business just yet, from the small assortment you saw on display, they sold more than just basic bongo drums and cheap harmonicas you’d usually see displayed at a fair. The shop sign even promised wares from triangles to cellos, but across the price listing was a hastily slapped sign that read “Out for lunch”. What really caught your attention though, was a bolded sentence at the very bottom of the booth’s shop sign that read “Ask about our enchantment deals at my wife’s shop next door!” Sure enough, the booth right next to the one selling musical gear seemed to specialize in both selling pre-enchanted items, along with applying enchantments to items you can bring in. There was nothing on display yet, but there was a very distinct charge to the air. Even standing next to the tent, you could feel the hair raise on your arms. Like the music shop, the pricing sign for the enchantment shop had another hastily slapped message over it that read “Back Soon, out with ‘Lunch’”, with a heart scribbled next to “Lunch”. Past Merch Lane, the walking path split into three directions. Thankfully, there was a large signpost that labeled which way was which. The left path circled around to another section of the bazaar, and past that a ways was the Main Stage. The middle path went straight towards the EDM Tent, as well as something called “The Grand Tribal Games Arena”. The right path went on a bit of a ways towards the Second Stage, and had a branch that hooked back around towards the Campgrounds. The three of you finish your drinks, and toss the empty cups into a bin by the signpost. “So, where to next?” Mara asks. Ben rolls his shoulder, and grabs the handle of the loaded wagon. “I could check out maybe one of the stages, but I wanna get this stuff back to camp sooner than later.” he replies. “I’m fine going wherever either of you feel at this point, as long as there is at least one potential customer I can give my card to.” the fox states. You realize at this point it’s been a little over an hour and a half since you left camp. There’s still a lot more of the festival grounds to see, but you kinda had an idea of what you might expect, at least as far as today is concerned. Where do you want to go? There’s probably a show going on at either stage, but you remember that the EDM Tent doesn’t kick off until dusk. Still, something about that Games Arena sounded intriguing. Otherwise, if you head back to camp now, you’ll be heading back a different way, so who knows what you might find. 1. Take the left path 2. Take the middle path 3. Take the right path 4. Doubleback down the way you came for food, merch, or and/or something else.

>>33853 I have slight suspicion that "lunch" might be a euphemism for something... anyway >4. because I want to buy a Lunapalooza shirt to remember it all by

>>33853 +1 for >>34098

>>33853 I don't think we should come back to the Bar at night, i don't want our breath to smell like a british open air coastal market in the morning, and who knows what will happen if that tolerance stat hits 0. Also, maybe we should mention the tingling neck to Mara. Maybe she has something to say about it. As for where to go, I would have said to take the right path, that way we can enjoy a bit of music and get rid of the wagon, but no point in going against the majority, and i'm sure Ben and Mara would will split and go back to camp no matter what we choose, so i'd say leave that to them and go back to the booths, so if there is anything curious they have to offer.

>>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?