LOCATION 1: GROVE HIGH SCHOOL Grove High School is a mixed-gender high school, teaching the ages of 11–16. Should most of the Kids be younger than this, instead have this section set in Grove Primary School, with Daniel Wraff [Östen Ahlberg] being a visiting teacher from the secondary school, preparing children for the transition to a new school within the year. The fi rst part of the school day is an Assembly. The Kids are guided by their teachers to be seated in front of a stage in a large school hall with a wooden fl oor, on benches or on the fl oor. Here they are introduced by the headmaster to a new science teacher, named “Mr Wraff ” [Mr Ahlberg]. TROUBLE: GENERAL TROUBLE FOR THE AREA Over the course of the day, the Kids should each have a science lesson with Mr Wraff [Mr Ahlberg], in which his teaching is adequate, though he seems to expect a little much from schoolchildren. For example, he BETWEEN LOCATIONS Here are some examples of things that the Kids could encounter while traveling between the different locations: ■ The bullies from the spring Mystery (page 41) decide to escalate their interactions with the Kids by bullying them on the way to or from school, or between other locations. ■ Should the Kids leave the creature in their hideout, it fi nds a way to either make a mess if it cannot escape, or try to break out. It does not get very far and is easily found with a quick search of the local area, at which point it runs towards the Kid who fi nds it. An elderly passer-by may comment that the Kids’ “pet pig” should be looked after better. ■ Additional protests to those in the spring Mystery start to break out in Great Yarmouth, with larger groups of adults protesting the MAFF [Riksenergi] [DART] redundancies at the Loop facility. Magnetrine Harbour High School Daniel's House 50CHAPTER O4 Magnetrine Harbour High School Daniel's House
grows frustrated if the Kids do not know Newton’s laws of motion by heart, or the diff erence between centrifugal and centripetal force. ■ HEADMASTER (MR PARKER): Should the Kids decide to act out or play pranks on Daniel [Östen], they are sent to the Headmaster for punishment. Daniel [Östen] has been told that due to him being new, the children of the school need to know that he has the Headmaster’s support should they misbehave. Improvise an appropriate punishment to mete out, CREATURE COUNTDOWN Advance the countdown each day when the Kids don’t provide the creature with sustenance, starting with Step 1 during lunchtime of the fi rst day. Those in their periphery may start to be suspicious of the Kids if they have the creature on them and the Kids are acting strangely. 1. The creature starts to make brief high-pitched noises. If watched, it can be seen poking a tonguelike appendage out of its small mouth to try to taste things. A successful investigate roll makes it clear that the creature appears to be hungry, if the Kids do not work this out themselves. 2. The creature spots a magnetrine freighter traveling in the sky and becomes obsessed with it. It pokes out its tongue-like appendage multiple times in its direction and makes more noises. 3. The creature starts to react to the lack of sustenance. It becomes lethargic or hyperactive, depending on which it is missing. (See the creature information at the start of this Mystery for details.) If it has neither source of sustenance, it becomes lethargic, which in turn affects the linked Kid in similar fashion, causing them to yawn incessantly and potentially fall asleep in class. 4. The linked Kid feels the hunger the creature is feeling. They become frustrated from the hunger as though it were their own, even if they eat food themselves. The player may have the Kid take the Angry Condition if appropriate. 5. The creature is on the verge of dying. Should this happen, its body is unable to maintain coherence and over the course of hours it starts to dry out. Its skin fl akes off as a fi ne grey dust. It begins crying out in pain, an ultra-high-pitched warbling sound that can be heard by the Kids, but not adults. DANIEL WRAFF [ÖSTEN AHLBERG] COUNTDOWN Advance the countdown as the Kids continue to interact with Daniel Wraff [Östen Ahlberg], or if they do not attend school. 1. Daniel Wraff [Östen Ahlberg] notices the Kids are acting suspiciously and becomes curious as to why. He singles them out in the school and tries to broach a professional teacher-student camaraderie (although he appears mildly nervous or fl ustered), suggesting that if they need help with anything, or if they are being bullied, they can reach out to him. 2. Daniel [Östen] is overheard discussing one of the Kids with another teacher, trying to fi nd out more about them. He does this under the guise of suggesting they “seem like they might cause drama.” 3. Daniel [Östen] begins to give the Kids detentions for petty things, to keep an eye on them. 4. Daniel Wraff [Östen Ahlberg] calls the parents of the Kids. He has become suspicious of the Kids following him and suggests to their parents that they are distracted, perhaps by one another. He seeks to have the parent(s) come in, perhaps with the Kids, to ascertain which of the Kids has been acting the strangest. 51 MIGHT BE THE BEST OF WHAT
and escalate the situation for the Kids should they choose not to abide by the punishment. ■ SCHOOL DAY: The school day is split up into one morning lesson of an hour, then a half-hour playtime [recess], after which there are two one-hour lessons, lunchtime, then two more one-hour lessons. After each period, the Kids move between classrooms, such as a dedicated maths room, information technology room, or science room. This should give them enough possibilities to see “Mr Wraff ” [Mr Ahlberg], communicate with one another, and work out that he is distracted by the fi les he has on the creature. Ask the Kids what periods they are likely to have science lessons with Mr Wraff before the start of each day. They may form this schedule themselves. Use this to limit the amount of information they can pass one another, and roleplay a set of scenes with limited information. In addition to the problems with Mr Wraff , the bullies the Kids encountered during the spring Mystery might attend the same school as them. Use these characters to create tension and Trouble during scenes, especially if they see the Kids are plotting and planning. CLUES General statement about the clues and their place in the area: ■ MR WRAFF [MR AHLBERG]: During a lesson, an attempt to empathize with Daniel Wraff [Östen Ahlberg] can show that he is frustrated in his position teaching children, and he appears exhausted – a fact he seems to be attempting to hide with cups of tea. He much prefers to be working on signifi cant scientifi c projects. When the children are working and not distracting him, he can be seen to stealthily remove an envelope containing a series of documents Daniel [Öfl en], It’s en a wh e. I ho thin are OK w h y . I’ve ard y ’re a a er now. mem- r that y were a kid o, on , so e y on t m and I ho y inspire t xt Hawking. I remem r w n we t ked t adopting r own. Did that scare y away? Is that why y focused on y r w k so mu ? I m s y . May we can m t f a cup a? in aren’t ing great re. GIS [FOA] [DARPA] are brin ng in m e and m e op om tside t L p, and we’re fl arting repla d. I saw what y did in spring, and I w impre¡ ed, ¢ en £ y p sed ¤ ¥ ¦ t ¢ eryo§ in mana¨ ment. I sumed y wan d a c p k psakes ª , so re are a « w pa¨ s no s and some pho s. I c ldn’t rem® e ¢ erything, only what a¯ eared duplica± data inconseq² nti³ , so t re¦ re in t l s. ´ µ me, Dr Pe r A· xander MAFF [Riº e r ] [DART] L p ¼ 1 L s DANIEL'S [ÖSTEN'S] NOTE 1st Period 2nd Period 3rd Period Lunchtime Playtime 4th Period 5th Period 52CHAPTER O4
from his bag. He studies them, looking at some with a magnifying glass and making notes, then returns them to the bag before the end of the lesson. ■ NOTES: Should the Kids sneak a glance at the notes, they see photographs of what looks like a large creature approximately in the shape of their own creature, floating in the air with its legs tucked up. Actually attaining the notes via attempting to investigate Daniel Wraff’s [Östen Ahlberg’s] bag during a playtime, or getting the notes some other way, gives the Kids two items: the photographs themselves as well as an envelope with some notes inside. Daniel’s notes contain photos of the creature’s mother, an envelope addressed to Daniel Wraff’s [Östen Ahlberg’s] home, as well as a short note. ■ MR WRAFF’S [MR AHLBERG’S] ADDRESS: The envelope is addressed to Daniel [Östen], at his house in Belton town. ■ THE NOTE: The note is written on MAFF [Riksenergi] [DART] letterhead and appears to be of a personal nature. LOCATION 2: DANIEL’S HOUSE In the northwest part of Belton town is a row of semi-detached red brick houses with small, shabby lawns. Daniel Wraff’s [Östen Ahlberg’s] house is on the end of a row of these, alongside a long, winding country road which previously allowed him a calming walk to and from his work at the Loop’s laboratories. These days, however, its lawn goes uncut and the bush outside its front window has started to eclipse the sunlight that would otherwise shine into its untidy front room. Fortunately for the Kids, Daniel [Östen] has been somewhat lax when it comes to personal security recently, having his mind on other things, and as such the back door to the house has been left slightly ajar. Inside, the house is representative of Daniel’s [Östen’s] current personal situation. Empty boxes for microwave meals litter the countertops and spill out of the trash, while adversely, the dining room table is covered in various types of paperwork and documents, meticulously organized. Heading upstairs reveals an unmade bed and a bathroom which, while not filthy, are obviously not being regularly cleaned. 53 MIGHT BE THE BEST OF WHAT
TROUBLE: GENERAL TROUBLE FOR THE AREA If the Kids visit the house during the evening, it is likely that Daniel [Östen] is home, which requires the Kids to either provide a distraction while others sneak, or otherwise fi nd some way to separate Daniel [Östen] from the cork board covered in newspaper articles and MAFF [Riksenergi] [DART] notes he is currently obsessing over. Even if Daniel [Östen] is not home, the Kids may notice local curtain-twitchers of the Neighbourhood Watch scheme. The Kids may need to charm them to suggest they are helping a local teacher, or simply sneak to avoid being seen. CLUES ■ NOTICE BOARD: The notice board contains a map of the town, along with several pins tied with red string to various news clippings, all describing strange goings-on in the town, such as “Mummy Sighted Near Shoreline”, “Mother Witnesses Talking Birds”, and “Ormesby Manor. Cult or Clubhouse?”. These are intended to add colour to the world and show the Kids that Daniel [Östen] is looking for any clues of strange events he can fi nd. They may also be used to set up hints for future Mysteries for the Kids to investigate later, though the Gamemaster should be careful to not let the Kids get diverted onto these at this time, hinting that they might be dead ends or unrelated events. (See The Notice Board, below). ■ VOICE RECORDS: On a personal cassette recorder, Daniel [Östen] has dictated and then transcribed a long series of notes regarding the creature seen in the sky over the Loop and the town. The clues at Daniel’s [Östen’s] house are nearly identical to those found at the Loop Laboratories, save for the fact that Daniel’s [Östen’s] summations are the work of a desperate and sleep-deprived man. The recordings are interjected with background noises of him eating or clattering about his house in a disorganized fashion. THE NOTICE BOARD While the notice board gives context for a wider set of Mysteries, it might send players down the wrong track. As the Gamemaster, feel free to suggest that the Kids get a hunch that some of these are not related to their current Mystery but might be worth investigating later. The notice board may even be a great set piece for a Mystery Landscape story (see Chapter 07: The Mystery Landscape in the Tales from the Loop core rulebook), using some of the Mysteries here as inspiration. If the Kids have already experienced some local Mysteries, the notice board should include references to those, perhaps calling out attention to the Kids’ involvement. “Daniel Wraff. Voice notes, Research Project 47-C. I put together some of my notes. Hopefully, now that they’re all in one place I can make sense of them. So… the creature appears to have been nearly five meters long, as well as two meters wide. The witnesses say it was about two meters tall, but I don’t think they could have gotten a good look from the ground. As the creature passed over some of the Loop’s sensors, they detected a peak in electromagnetic energy. Now, this would suggest that the creature is infused with a lot of electrical potential. Or it could be magnetic, I can’t tell at this point. The only other time I’ve seen a spike like that is when one of those bloody magnetrine freighters passed low over the Loop, and that took a week of degaussing to depolarize the equipment. Because of these readings, it stands to reason that a creature that flies without wings would be using a similar method of propulsion. The creature… uses the magnetrine effect or something like it. I suspect that to maintain that kind of metabolism, and that kind of ability, it would need to have ingested a huge amount of neodymium. I am unsure, however, if it needs constant supplies or if ingesting it would be a part of the creature’s early life cycle. Either way, I need to find out more. I just know it has something to do with those children at the school, but they won’t let me get close enough to learn anything.” 54 DANIEL’S [ÖSTEN'S] VOICE TRANSCRIPTION CHAPTER O4
LOCATION 3: THE LOOP LABORATORIES The separate laboratories of the Loop itself are varied in their research. At any time, one section of the laboratory may be devoted to robotics, another may be working on artifi cial intelligence, while yet another is investigating the makeup of the universe itself. With the direction of the research now being dictated by ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA], following the events of spring, the labs are delving further into some of the stranger occurrences in the area, especially quantum tunnelling. Because of ReGIS’ takeover, the Loop is in some amount of disarray. Trucks come and go, bringing new equipment and disposing of old research tools. The security being hired is also in disarray, as they must constantly check any incoming vehicles. Due to high turnover following the takeover, security at the Loop is not as up-to-scratch as it could be, meaning Kids making a successful sneak roll can get into the facility. They may even be able to convince some of the new security of their right to be there by using charm and suggesting their parents are important fi gures, or some other convincing lie. Most of the current research on the creature involves studying already-attained data, since the scientists do not have a live test subject to work with. Some smaller temporary buildings have been set up, where the researchers are assigned work to investigate the nature of the creature’s origin and makeup. Should the Kids look up a building directory, make a program roll with a computer to search for where appropriate fi les are located on the lab network, or fi nd another method of searching, they fi nd that the smaller labs are where they should be looking. TROUBLE: GENERAL TROUBLE FOR THE AREA Due to the ReGIS’ [FOA] [DARPA] takeover of the Loop and its reactor, the Kids fi nd it diffi cult to enter without good reason. A parent, family member, or Contact working in the Loop may provide a valid reason, as will any number of realistic-sounding suggestions they concoct. The area is a government-owned facility, however, and security has tightened in the previous season, requiring 2 successes in skill checks for the Kids to sneak or charm their way in. ■ LABORATORY BUILDING: The front entrance and side fi re doors of this building open to a red-carpeted 55 MIGHT BE THE BEST OF WHAT Main Road Train line Smaller labs Broads lab Car park Trees Entry barrier To the reactor Lab entrance 0 1 2 3 4 5 meter
foyer leading to a similarly decorated T-shaped corridor. Through doors on either side of this corridor are small offices with blackboards, large laboratory rooms, or storage cupboards. The top floor is secured with keycard locks on the doors at the base of the stairs. On that floor are many data entry computers, linked to a similarly-secure server room in the building’s basement. ■ TEMPORARY BUILDINGS: Lacking in complex security, these smaller buildings are busy with the remainder of the MAFF [Riksenergi] [DART] employees organizing research that has been done in the main building. Dozens of cardboard boxes are contained in these buildings, with each small room stacked high with records. The smallest of the rooms is used by a few scientists to research, organize, and file the folders before they are to be shipped to a London ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA] office, although the individuals in these buildings do not seem to be in any particular hurry. They are aware that the faster they work, the sooner they will be out of a job. The Kids may overhear them talking about taking a long lunch, or leaving work early, giving the Kids a good opportunity to sneak in. CLUES ■ COMPUTERS: While the computers do not contain information on the research conducted on the creatures, a successful program roll can inform the Kids that physical records are being organized in the temporary buildings before being sent to a London laboratory within the next few days. A particularly successful attempt reveals that the computers also contain staff records on a number of people, including the suggestion that before the incident last season Daniel Wraff [Östen Ahlberg] was already in trouble with his employers. This was due to him engaging in a workplace romance with another researcher named Dr Peter Alexander, against company fraternization policy. ■ RECORDS: With a successful investigate roll, the physical records in the smaller buildings are revealed to contain a number of folders related to the incident in spring. The records include paperwork describing power fluctuations in the sections of the Loop the large creature flew over, as well as grainy 56CHAPTER O4
photography of it. Red marker pen highlights light fi xtures over the Loop in the photographs and cross-references them to peaks in a printed out graph, discussing the idea that the creature is giving off some sort of electromagnetic interference. Other graphs, titled “Magnetrine Freighter Distortion”, show patterns very similar to the readings taken on the night of the spring incident. A successful calculate roll reveals that the graphs must mean that something in how the magnetrine freighters work is emulated in the biology of the large creature. Additional successes allow the Kids to know that it is likely to be the electricity requirement of the freighter, and that neodymium discs are the specific component of magnetrine freighters which gives them their lift. Should they fail to surmise this, they should be able to fi nd this out at a library. LOCATION 4: THE LOOP REACTOR The Broads Reactor control building itself is a squat, two-fl oor circular building, rising in the space between the three reactor towers. A fl at entryway juts out of the building on its north edge, beside a car park fed by a road leading from the reactor’s labs. Trucks occasionally enter and exit a garage in the rear, shipping in components and shipping out sealed crates, fi lled with charged batteries. Like the Loop Laboratories, the security for the Reactor is in a state of chaos. Previously scheduled patrols go unfulfi lled, and there is no single source of knowledge on how to eff ectively secure the facility. As such, the Kids only need to sneak in to avoid detection. The entrance to the Broads Reactor requires the use of a keycard or a successful program roll to enter the public entrance to the main reactor building. Alternatively, the Kids could sneak inside by way of the garage or fi nd some other ingenious method to enter, as well as freely move about. Once inside, they fi nd a series of concentric circular corridors following piping and electrical wires in the ceiling. At various locations around the circle staircases head up and keycard-locked doors head further into the reactor, with security levels A, B, and C. The Kids can travel into security level C areas with impunity, but to enter security level B areas they need a keycard from a reactor employee. Only robots are given access to security level A locations for day-to-day tasks, which 57 MIGHT BE THE BEST OF WHAT Reactor Reactor A B C 0 10 20 30 40 50 meters
are primarily for the purposes of maintaining and repairing the reactor itself. TROUBLE: GENERAL TROUBLE FOR THE AREA ■ BATTERY CHARGING STATIONS: On the first floor [second floor] are what appear to be automated battery charging stations. Behind thick Perspex panels and an electronically locked door, robotic machinery assembles battery components, which are then charged with power from the reactor itself. When charged, the batteries disappear down funnels into waiting storage bays to be transported elsewhere. The battery creation and charging process is controlled by a bank of computers, which are maintained by a team of employees, each of whom has their own login and password for the computer systems. ■ REACTOR: The central reactor is kept in check by automated bipedal robots. One of the points of pride of MAFF [Riksenergi] [DART] is that the robots’ access to the central reactor keeps the employees safe from accidental discharges or extreme temperatures let off by the reactor’s core, all of which can cause harm to Kids if they are not prepared. While the robots do not show any hostility towards the Kids, their access to the reactor from security level B areas demands that they travel through an access airlock. The airlock is unlocked by keycards embedded in their hands but will not open the inner door if it recognizes a human shape in the airlock with them. The robots actively attempt to prevent the Kids from removing the keycards as a method of self-preservation, and try to stop them from breaking into the central area. They will not attempt to harm the Kids on purpose, but if the Kids try to force the keycard from the robots… accidents may happen. Robots carrying equipment into or out of the Reactor room will often blink a green light at another robot to cause the second robot to unlock the door for them, allowing the Kids a way to trick the robots into opening doors for them, but they will need to program or force the inner door of the airlock to enter. The robots often carry supplies into the Reactor room for other robots to do work with, but they trust that the contents of the boxes they carry are as listed on the side, meaning that Kids may also hide in boxes to enter the Reactor room. CLUES A successful outcome from this area in the Mystery is either the Kids finding a way to let the small creature suckle on large amounts of electricity at the reactor itself, allowing it to sustain itself over the coming months, or stealing as many battery packs as they can from the Reactor, which they can use to feed the creature over time. Either result is acceptable to resolve this Mystery. ■ POWER SOURCE: Various thick cables carry power from the primary reactor into the surrounding ground. From there they continue through the ground to local power substations and are parti58CHAPTER O4
tioned throughout the town. The Kids’ creature can approach the Reactor and latch its tongue-like proboscis onto one of these cables without worry for its safety. Describe how the creature is hit by a bolt of electricity but seems unphased. The Kids hear it making happy-sounding purring noises at this point, and the creature unlatches itself after five minutes. Touching it during the next hour causes a Kid’s hair to stand on end like touching a Van de Graaff generator or otherwise being charged with static. Suckling on the reactor like this allows the creature to sustain itself over the next season as it stores excess energy within its own body. ■ BATTERIES: Should the Kids be able to program the equipment in the battery-charging room to do so, they can redirect the batteries to another location in the same room, stopping them from falling down the funnel and being shipped out. The Kids may also gain access to the battery charging stations by using force on the Perspex windows or trying to program the door. They may carry enough batteries (with difficulty) to gain as much food for the creature as latching the creature to the main reactor itself. LOCATION 5: THE MAGNETRINE HARBOUR When the magnetrine effect was discovered, Norfolk’s local council decided it wanted to cash in on an investment fairly quickly. Converting Greater Yarmouth’s outer harbour for use by magnetrine freighters, it quickly established itself as the forefront of magnetrine-shipped freight in the UK. This, and the notability of various local phenomena, was the reason that MAFF [Riksenergi] [DART] decided to set up its Loop in the area. The harbour is in use, with shipwrights and docking stations for magnetrine freighters lining the south of the port. One small freighter, the Klara-Eliza, is currently docked for the next few days undergoing an overhaul of its propulsion systems, so the port is busy with mechanics and engineers, all working on various pieces of equipment. TROUBLE: GENERAL TROUBLE FOR THE AREA The first scene for the Kids is to gain access to the harbour. A security guard is at the gate but does not stop the Kids entering aside from to mention that it’s “Not really a place for young ones.” He is mostly concerned about thefts from the area. His dog Zack is a Doberman with a keen nose for sniffing out large metallic items on individuals, so the Kids may have to deal with the vigilant animal before leaving or find themselves in a great deal of Trouble. ■ WAREHOUSING: A large section of the harbour is dedicated to warehouses. These contain a mixture of cargo, ship parts, and offices full of documents on shipments to and from Norfolk. One warehouse, closest to the freighter docking platforms themselves, contains a great many mechanics and shipwrights building the various parts of a magnetrine freighter. Kids who manage to sneak into the warehouse without being seen may be able to investigate the area to find a side-room containing neodymium discs, ready to attach to freighters. These large, metallic discs are approximately a meter wide and require 4 successes in force for the Kids to move out of the warehouse. Regardless, such a disc is useless to the creature, being so oversized. It may attempt to eat the disc but is obviously unable to do so. CLUES ■ THE KLARA-ELIZA: This magnetrine freighter is approximately 100 meters in length and positioned carefully on a docking platform at the southern end of the harbour. Technicians enter and leave through the hatches and gangplanks in the sides, and many carry boxes and equipment to and from the dock. Attempting to empathize has the Kids realize that the technicians are mostly concerned about the neodymium components on the underside of the freighter. The technicians are changing out the magnetrine discs, leaving the discarded remnants of the old discs in a large skip [dumpster]. ■ NEODYMIUM DISC: The neodymium disc, when first found, is wrapped in a plastic wrap with the words “The Blessing In Disguise, 32140885OM” printed on it. Using investigate on the paperwork in the 59 MIGHT BE THE BEST OF WHAT
room or program on a computer in the area informs the Kids that: ● 32140885OM is the Klara-Eliza’s registry number. ● The ship is due to replace its neodymium magnets, which are disintegrating due to use. ■ DISINTEGRATING DISC: Due to overuse, the discs in the Klara-Eliza are literally falling apart. While most of the discs are in one piece, smaller parts have started to fracture off due to vibrations and poor maintenance. The technicians working on the discs on the outside of the ship are scooping out neodymium dust and small fragments which have built up in and around the magnetrine freighter’s propulsion system. They are trying to dispose of it safely in a skip [dumpster]. Should the Kids manage to sneak close enough to the detritus being disposed of, they can collect it in rucksacks or other bags, etc. If they collect no more than a few pieces, or only allow the creature to feed once, they may later find that they must return to collect more. A successful force check means the Kids can carry a bag full of neodymium without becoming Injured or Exhausted by the time they get to the Showdown. BULLY KIDS On leaving Great Yarmouth Harbour, the Kids are accosted by the bullies they encountered in the spring (page 41). The bullies are still angry at the lack of resolution in spring and want to prove to one another that they are self-assured and strong. The Gamemaster may need to adjust this based on how the confrontation turned out. To deal with the bullies, the Kids must succeed in an Extended Trouble challenge with a normal Threat Level (two times the number of Kids). The Kids must either escape from or fight these other children. Alternatively, should the Kids make the situation difficult or extremely awkward for the bullies (for example, using contact to threaten the reputation of one or all of the bullies), they may decide that the Kids are not worth messing with. Should the Kids fail, the bullies continue to cause Trouble in this scene until one or more of the Kids is Broken or until the bullies are forced to flee, perhaps due to the arrival of an adult, security, or some other intervention. Alternately, further harm might be inflicted on the Kids by damaging one or more of their iconic items instead of acting against them directly. Do not to remove the iconic item from the Kid permanently, but make the damage a part of the Kid’s story. They can repair it before the next Mystery or during a scene in which they heal a Condition. At that point, ask how the item looks after it has been restored. While the scuffle occurs, the creature escapes into the local surroundings but returns to the Kids afterwards. SHOWDOWN After retrieving the neodymium and finding a method for the creature to sustain itself over the next season, the Kids likely return to their Hideout. If they do not, prompt them that it may be a good idea to return and think about what they plan to do. On their way back to the Hideout, or to their next location, ask the Kids what they talk about, prompting them with questions about their relationships. For example, “On the way back to the Hideout, you have some time to talk. Does one of you have anything to tell the others, or want to talk about something?” or “Does Amy talk much about her sister? Does she have anything she wants to mention to the group?”. After a short period of discussion and roleplaying, the Kids are approached by Daniel Wraff [Östen Ahlberg]. How he finds the Kids depends on where they are returning from. BROADS REACTOR: DANIEL WRAFF [ÖSTEN AHLBERG] If the Kids have last visited the Broads Reactor, they have been followed from there by Daniel Wraff [Östen Ahlberg] in his car. He pulls up next to them and asks them what they were doing in the Reactor. He begins friendly but gets more desperate and forceful, even trying to grab the bags the Kids are carrying to prove that they’re “up to no good” and that they “know something.” To deal with Daniel [Östen] and get to their Hideout, the Kids must succeed in an Extended Trouble with a normal Threat Level (two times the number of Kids). The Kids either need to escape from Daniel [Östen], hide from him long enough for him to leave them alone, possibly fight him off if he tries to grab 60CHAPTER O4
at their bags, or get help from local adults who either chase him off or call the police. Should the Kids fail, Daniel [Östen] obtains proof that the Kids are heavily involved, seeing that they have batteries or the creature on them. He assumes that the batteries could only be necessary if they are involved in what’s been going on in some way, and during the next Mystery he may appear at any time to cause a situation to be more difficult to resolve. He might also try to sabotage them at school. The Kids’ grades may be described as “slipping”, no matter how hard they try – something their parents or guardians will not be pleased with. Should Daniel [Östen] obtain the creature, it escapes from him and disappears into the undergrowth of the countryside. Daniel [Östen] is unable to find it, allowing the Kids to try and search for it at a later time. If the Kids state that Daniel Wraff [Östen Ahlberg] tried to grab at their bags or chased them, adults do not believe them. If confronted, Daniel [Östen] states that he saw the Kids sneaking around with batteries or entering the Reactor. The police check security footage and blame the Kids, thanking Daniel [Östen] for trying to reprimand them. (Note: Treat the subject carefully if players have had difficult real-life experiences involving teachers or police not believing children.) AFTER THE SHOWDOWN Whether the Mystery is solved or not depends on whether the Kids determined the things needed to sustain the creature, and if they managed to attain them. If the Kids succeeded, they have fed the creature, and it appears to be quite content in how they have sustained it over the next season. Narrate how it perhaps went with the Kids to school, or was present in the games they played, even if it hid during those times. Describe it as slowly growing to the size of a large dog, in preparation for the autumn Mystery. If the Kids were not able to find the objects and resources needed to sustain the creature, refer to its information earlier in this Mystery to narrate how the creature slowly starts to perish, and what happens to its body should the Kids ultimately fail. If it escaped during the Showdown, improvise the Kids reclaiming it, based on how the Kids choose to attempt to find it. This may be an Extended Trouble, or the narrative may allow them to find it without much difficulty. Either way, it is now slightly less trusting in future Mysteries, requiring 1 additional success to charm it for any reason, and it no longer inherently trusts the linked Kid over the others. NPCS AND CREATURES These non-player characters are of particular importance to the Mystery. Some have special attributes that can change the Threat Level the Kids face during some Mystery scenes. Depending on how the Kids interact with them, these can be a bonus or a hindrance to the Kids’ efforts. MR PARKER [MR SÖDERHOLM] HEADMASTER “The man who can keep order can rule the world”. Tall and thin, tending to dress in a black suit with a black tie, Mr Parker’s [Mr Söderholm’s] long black teacher’s gown hangs in heavy folds, like wings. His hair is grey and he wears tinted sunglasses due to an eye condition, which make him difficult to read 2. He 61 MIGHT BE THE BEST OF WHAT
does not tolerate any lapse in discipline from the children of his school, preferring to dole out detentions for anything from inconsistencies in children’s uniforms to talking too loudly during lessons. His ability to keep order 2 during assemblies, due to his mildly unsettling demeanour and penetrative stare, is well-known. BULLY KIDS “Well, well, well! Look who it is! The idiot patrol!” Alison Stevens [Agneta Stenbock] has been frustrated ever since the events of spring. Even if the bullies hurt the Kids, she feels like she is losing control. Soon to turn 16, her life is getting away from her and she needs to move on in life to other, adult possibilities. She wants to make her mark on the world and sees the Kids as a symbol of this year’s frustrations, as they stood up to her. Alison is joined by Katy and Johnny King [Kristin and Joakim Dahl], twins, as well as Simon Turner [Sebastian Magnusson]. Alison [Agneta] quickly escalates any situation to a fight, wanting to punish whichever Kid stood up to her the most in spring (brawling 2). Katy and Johnny [Kristin and Joakim] may try to de-escalate the situation, having seen the worst of Alison [Agneta] over the past season, but will still do as they’re told. Simon [Sebastian] has grown crueler in his comments over the past season, finding it harder to crack a smile from Alison [Agneta], whom he has started to be attracted to – a fact which Alison [Agneta] is trying to ignore as she feels herself return those feelings. 62CHAPTER O4
ZACK [TOR] “Borf borf” [Voff voff] Zack is a Doberman Pinscher, a guard-dog belonging to the security guard, Richard [Oscar]. Zack is very alert 2 for those who may try to steal equipment from the harbour, and extremely loyal 2 to Richard. When not reacting to a thief, Zack is friendly and playful, often resting his front paws on Richard’s work desk and looking at passers-by, hoping for a treat. DANIEL WRAFF [ÖSTEN AHLBERG] “Your grades are slipping. Perhaps it’s time you told me what’s going on…” Since the events of spring, Daniel [Östen] has become even more desperate. Secluding himself in his home and ignoring letters from both MAFF [Riksenergi] [DART] and his ex-partner, he resolved to track down the elusive object that he has heard is on the move in the area. Requiring money, he attained a job at a local school using his lecturing experience and science degrees as proof of his ability to teach – an act he considers to be beneath him. If the Kids befriended him during the spring Mystery, he has become paranoid and reclusive in the meantime. He has pulled back from any friendships he made, a self-fulfilling prophecy stoked by anxiety and fear of abandonment. 63 MIGHT BE THE BEST OF WHAT
CHAPTER O5 With autumn comes a great deal of change. The leaves fall from the trees, the harvest is removed from the fields, and slowly the children of the suburbs switch from playing outdoors to spending more time indoors where it’s warm. Changes are happening with the creature the Kids have found, too, and it’s up to them to find out how to keep it safe while those changes finish running their course… THE YEAR’S LAST, LOVELIEST SMILE THE TRUTH OF THE MYSTERY 65 THE CREATURE 66 THE FREE TO CHOOSE 66 INTRODUCING THE KIDS 67 INTRODUCING THE MYSTERY 67 SOLVING THE MYSTERY 68 LOCATION 1: THE GARDEN 70 LOCATION 2: TRAVEL 71 LOCATION 3: ORMESBY FARM 72 SHOWDOWN 73 AFTER THE SHOWDOWN 76 LOSS OF CONTROL 76 NPCS AND CREATURES 76
65 THE TRUTH OF THE MYSTERY After summer, when the Kids discovered a source of sustenance for the creature they found earlier in the year, it has continued to grow. From its miniature size it has grown progressively larger, until it is now the size of a small cow. Not only that, but with its additional bulk come new abilities. The Kids do not know this but it is gaining the ability to turn invisible, which both helps and hinders the Kids in the Mystery to come once they work out that it can do this. The creature still requires a small amount of neodymium, too, which is running low for the Kids since summer. Fortunately, a magnetrine freighter, the Free to Choose, has been decommissioned and left to rust at the back of an area of forest wilderness owned by a local farmer. The area is also fenced in and secluded, so it simply takes a little bit of effort to get the creature there and safe. During this time, ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA] and MAFF [Riksenergi] [DART] have accepted that they may not find any new information on the creature, and for now are not openly searching for signs of it. The Kids may encounter employees of one of these organizations or may actively seek out Daniel Wraff [Östen Ahlberg] from the previous Mysteries, but these agents are not intended to take an active role in this Mystery. Finally, a new club has sprung up at the school. Inspired by Daniel Wraff’s science classes and rumours
in the Loop, a UFO club threatens to expose the Kids’ secrets once and for all. SUMMARY ■ The Kids discover that the creature has escaped from wherever they had kept it due to its size and new abilities. ■ The Kids find the creature and try to coax it away from the precarious situation it is in, where someone else may find it. ■ The Kids, on hearing about a place where the creature could be safe, start traveling to the freighter’s location. ■ The Kids are waylaid by the school’s UFO club. They must avoid notice, lest the club reveal their secrets. ■ The Kids traverse the fences and rivers surrounding the wilderness and freighter. ■ The Kids discover that the location is already inhabited by another group of children, and must encourage them to leave in order to keep the creature safe. THE CREATURE At this point in its life cycle, the creature is approximately the size of a cow. Its head and body are still small enough to fit through a door, but it has considerable bulk to it. Its strength is not insignificant and it could easily beat an adult human in a test of might, but it is rather slow and still quite docile and animalistic in its actions. THE CREATURE’S DIET: ■ NEODYMIUM: The creature devours small amounts of neodymium. This is not to sustain it but as part of its natural inclination as it moves towards being able to use it for producing a biological version of the magnetrine effect. By this point in the year, the Kids have started to run out of this material if they gathered any in the summer. If the creature does not get any neodymium, it grows restless, constantly searching for a source of it. A significant source of neodymium can be found near and upon the magnetrine freighter Free to Choose, currently rusting next to a farm to the north of Great Yarmouth. ■ ELECTRICITY: The creature has absorbed enough electricity from a previous Mystery and no longer requires any additional sources of such power. INVISIBILITY Should the creature find itself in a position of being in danger, or in a situation which scares it, it turns invisible. The creature still affects objects around it, water parts if it moves through it, and it may bump into things as it moves, but due to a biological process it can render itself able to absorb light on one side of its body and project it out of the other, making it unable to be perceived by human eyes. LINKED DREAMS The linked Kid begins to have dreams that incorporate the realm of the creature. Here are three examples. Use these as inspiration to improvise other dreams as necessary. ■ The Kid sees a beautiful, blue void with floating gaseous pockets and deep, beautiful colours that are accentuated by bright light from multicoloured floating organic bags of gas. Here, they have a strong sense of peace and contentment. ■ As the Kid floats high above the Loop, they begin to be surrounded by beings that look a lot like the creature, only subtly different in colour or size. As they do, the linked Kid feels the creature’s loneliness and its wish to find its own pod. ■ A wide hole is torn open in the sky. Try as they might, the Kid cannot approach it. Then they begin to hear a high-pitched call from the tear, and see a friendly creature floating within the space. As the Kid watches, they feel a tug from behind, and a single human hand grasps at their back, pulling them down, down, towards the ground far below. THE FREE TO CHOOSE The Free to Choose is a small magnetrine freighter. It is important the Kids understand it is a viable location to leave the creature, without said creature coming to harm. To that goal, following are suggestions as to how to convey this to the Kids: ■ NEWSPAPER: During the introduction to the Mystery, a local newspaper (The Norfolk Beacon) at 66CHAPTER O5
a Kid’s house has a headline stating “Freighter Decommissioned: Left to Rust in Ormesby Farm”. ■ PARENTS OR ADULTS: The adults of this Mystery can state similar facts to the newspaper, possibly expressing distaste that the freighter is just being left in the woods by the water, and that it’s fortunate that one cannot see the woods from the main road “for the sake of the view”. ■ LIBRARY: Using a library to search for any location for the creature to hide out grants the Kids information based on old maps and records. Not only is the peninsula at the edge of Ormesby Farm secluded, but old local newspaper records confi rm that the entire area of the broad (lake) around the peninsula is hidden by trees which prevent it being seen from the roads. A series of records also state that due to a legal land dispute, the wooded Ormesby Farm peninsula cannot be used for anything aside from “mooring boats” – a rule which they seem to have used to their advantage in order to park the decommissioned freighter there. ■ SCHOOL: Should the Kids try to go to school, or encounter other schoolchildren as they attempt to work out what to do with the creature (for example, if the Kids take multiple days to work out what to do), they hear rumours about the ship that has been decommissioned. Magnetrine freighters are considered such a mundane thing the other schoolchildren will not be excited about its presence, but one may comment that it’s sitting in “that haunted wood where that farmer killed his kids in olden times”. Research of this topic at the library does not bring up any news, as it is just a schoolyard rumour about a local area. This rumour may be useful later in the Mystery. The ship itself has been gutted. The interior of the hull contains little more than walls and fl oors, with everything important already removed. The only remaining thing of potential interest is the neodymium discs, cracked and mostly damaged, which the creature can feed on for the next few months. The Free to Choose is equivalent to the magnetrine freighter depicted on page 129 of the Tales from the Loop core rulebook, though without the modifi cation specifi c to that scenario (5). INTRODUCING THE KIDS Use this time to introduce a few facts of the ongoing story to the Kids: ■ The Kids are on their way to their Hideout to discuss the creature. ■ The creature has been growing large of late. ■ The Kids are running out of neodymium. It is important not to inform the Kids that the creature can turn invisible at this time. This discovery occurs during the fi rst scene after the Introduction. Instead, inform the Kids that it is a Sunday morning and have them individually introduce what they do before going to meet up at the location where they keep the creature (whether it is their Hideout or not). If they lost the creature in the previous Mystery, instead ask where they are going to meet up before searching for it. INTRODUCING THE MYSTERY One by one, as the Kids arrive at the Hideout or place where they have secured the creature (if they met up and talked before, allow for this), they discover that something is wrong. A door or window of the location may be open (if it can be plausibly forced open) and the creature is not there. The inside of the location is also messy. Objects have been pushed onto the fl oor, and the inside of the door may be dented. Feel free “FREE TO CHOOSE” NO LONGER FREE The HTMV Free to Choose, a magnetrine freighter from the Greater Yarmouth area, has fl own its last trip. Benjamin Vickers, its captain, has said “I’m grateful for the time I had with her, but there’s a time when you just know a ship can’t continue. The crew said their goodbyes, and we’ve found somewhere she can lie until she can be properly decommissioned. She deserves respect.” NEWSPAPER HEADLINE 67 LOVELIEST SMILE THE YEAR’S LAST,
Introducing the Mystery Travel Ormesby Farm SHOWDOWN The Garden to embellish these details, but the following things are clearly true: ■ The creature forced itself out. ■ The creature was moving around a great deal before it left. Alternatively, should the location the Kids picked preclude it being able to force itself out, the creature may have snuck out using its invisibility the last time the Kids visited, leaving undetected just after they left. In this case, the location is strangely undisturbed, with objects still as tidily placed as they were prior to the Kids leaving the last time. Perhaps the door is still ajar, and the creature’s footprints overlap those of the Kids. CLUES AS TO THE CREATURE’S LOCATION ■ If the Kids investigate, they may fi nd circular footprints in the mud around the location, or fragments of neodymium, leading the Kids towards a series of houses. ■ Attempting to empathize with the creature may remind them that it is known to be attracted to electricity, and as such is more likely to go towards local residences than into the wilderness. SOLVING THE MYSTERY The creature is too big to return to an enclosed environment it may have been kept in before. This should be made clear to the Kids when they try to return it to such a location. Instead, the creature should show its enjoyment at wider areas such as gardens by loping around them or lying on its back in a puddle. Clues given should start to direct the Kids towards the Ormesby Farm, but until then the Kids may potentially explore several other locations in which to keep the creature. Generally, the concerns with other locations are: ■ Local children or adults roaming the area. ■ An inability to keep the creature contained. ■ A lack of sustenance for the creature. The Kids can receive additional clues as to the magnetrine freighter’s position during the Mystery. They do not need to have all the information at the start unless they actively research it, but do not insist that 68CHAPTER O5
Farm Farm Ormesby Farm 69 LOVELIEST SMILE THE YEAR’S LAST, Farm Farm
the Kids follow the path of using the freighter’s position. They need to come to this conclusion themselves. Pepper the dialogue of NPCs with other facts about the Countdown, or from the Between Locations box (further) to stop this direction becoming too obvious. CREATURE COUNTDOWN 1. The creature shows signs of agitation. It seems to search for something. If the creature showed neodymium hunger in the previous Mystery, then the Kids may instantly know what the problem is, otherwise an attempt to empathize with the creature reveals it as hungry. 2. The mental link between the creature and the linked Kid is suddenly severed. This is a natural part of the creature’s maturing process, but it is both sudden and jarring to both the Kid and the creature, which sharply moves away from the linked Kid when it happens. 3. An adult sees the creature. While they do not become concerned, they do mention to the Kids that it is a strange sight and wonder if it is a sign of genetic modifi cation or mutation of farmyard animals as they pet the creature. 4. The creature becomes extremely agitated, searching for something to eat. In a scene, it aggressively moves towards a source of power such as a power line or powered building, hoping to fi nd neodymium. It will act with purposeful hunger 3, ignoring the Kids’ attempts to corral it until it reaches its destination and discovers a lack of what it was looking for. 5. A ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA] employee spots the creature with the Kids. Even if the Kids get away, ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA] has started to search for the creature once more. UFO CLUB COUNTDOWN 1. A UFO club is formed in the Kids’ school, and fl yers for it are posted up in several locations around the school. 2. The Kids learn that the bullies from the spring and summer Mysteries are involved with the UFO club, pressed into extracurricular activities by their parents. The bullies start interviewing people in school, including the Kids, and begin asking questions about the strange sights in the sky in spring. 3. The bullies fi nd out through their parents (who heard it from others) that the linked Kid saw something strange in the sky during the camping trip in spring, and start questioning them. 4. The bullies start spreading leaflets suggesting the linked Kid was abducted by aliens, and the UFO club grows much larger. 5. The UFO club starts going on camping trips and exploring the Norfolk Broads much more, looking to fi nd more evidence of alien activity. They could be encountered whenever the Kids leave town. LOCATION 1: THE GARDEN Following the trail from the Introduction, the Kids are drawn towards a row of fi ve houses. This may be close or far from their previous location, depending on where the Kids chose to hide the creature, but either way the trail leads to this street. These houses are occupied at this point in the day, and the Kids notice both adults and children tidying gardens, playing in the road, or coming and going from the houses. Close by, in one of the gardens (the farthest from where the Kids start looking), is the creature. It is currently invisible, however, watching a small child playing in a plastic paddling pool on the far end of the row of houses. 70CHAPTER O5
TROUBLE: GENERAL TROUBLE FOR THE AREA The adults and other kids in the area make it diffi cult to move around without being noticed, especially if the Kids decide they wish to enter a garden or home without permission. They may have to sneak around the area or charm a neighbour into allowing them entry without being reprimanded, such as by suggesting they’re looking for a ball they kicked over a fence. CLUES ■ THE CREATURE: Finding the creature itself may take some time, as the Kids are not yet aware that it is capable of turning invisible. Fortunately, it does not yet trust other humans in the area and chooses to remain invisible for the time being. Should the Kids investigate the gardens, they may fi nd the creature’s footprints in the area, although they seem to wander all over and are not easily followed. ■ GARDEN 1: With another bonus success on the fi rst investigate roll, one of the fences in this garden appears to have been pushed down in the direction of the further gardens. The Kids see an adult lift it up, perplexed as they attempt to repair it. The creature pushed it down as it passed through. ■ GARDEN 2: This household’s cat quietly attempts to hide in a row of bushes next to the fence to Garden 1. On attempting to empathize with it, the Kids can realize that it is afraid to go closer to Garden 3. ■ GARDEN 3: This garden contains an adult, Maria Guest [Rosemarie Dahlquist] (page 77), sitting on a set of lawn furniture, quietly reading a book, and her oneyear-old daughter Emma [Emma] quietly playing in a plastic paddling pool. ■ THE PADDLING POOL: A Kid who attempts to investigate the garden with the paddling pool sees a curious sight: A cylindrical shape, approximately 20 centimeters wide, appears “missing” from the water in the pool, as though someone has pushed a glass tube into the water. This is the creature’s leg. Upon fi nding the creature, the Kids need to charm it away from the area with a friendly and familiar demeanour, but must hide their intents from Maria [Rosemarie] to avoid her suspicion. BETWEEN LOCATIONS Here are some examples of things that the Kids encounter while traveling between the different locations: ■ A busy crossroads leading to the Loop facility is blockaded by an angry group of rioters clashing with the police. The rioters are complaining about how ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA] have reassigned most, if not all the local jobs in the Loop, causing a large amount of unemployment in the area. ■ Near or at the school, Daniel Wraff [Östen Ahlberg] is engaging in normal school-day work, seemingly not entirely happy with the low level of diffi culty in the daily tasks or frustrated by dealing with children. ■ A small group of rowdy football [soccer] fans comes out of a pub and drunkenly tries to get the Kids to join them in a football [soccer] chant. ■ Two small children start a mock fi ght, suggesting they are characters from a TV show. They ask the Kids to join in or adjudicate who won in the fi ght. ■ The creature becomes invisible and wanders away from the Kids, who must persuade it to come back to where they can care for it. LOCATION 2: TRAVEL Through suggestions from adults, other children, and similar sources as described in the The Free To Choose section (page 66), the Kids should have an idea that the wilderness at the back of Ormesby Farm is an appropriate place to hide the creature. If they don’t, ask where they temporarily try to place it, and use other scenes, such as Anchor scenes, to make further suggestions that it is an enclosed, safe area. 71 LOVELIEST SMILE THE YEAR’S LAST,
When the Kids decide to move the creature, however, they should understand that this is a large alien-looking quadruped with an unusual face. Should others see it, they may become alarmed, and as such the Kids should attempt to move the creature in a way which does not arouse suspicion. To help set the scene, it may be useful to include happenings from Between Locations (page 71), or advance the Countdown to at least step 2 during these events. TROUBLE The characters must move the creature from its current location to the farmyards at the town of Ormesby without attracting too much suspicion. Should the Kids wish to perform any amount of research beforehand, they may do so at the school, the library, or any other reasonable area. When they start moving the creature towards its destination, however, it shall become a period of Extended Trouble with a normal Threat Level (two times the number of Kids). If the Kids manage to complete the Extended Trouble, they fi nd themselves at Ormesby Farm, and can continue the Mystery as normal. If they fail, however, they are spotted by enough people that at least one of them takes a photograph of the creature with a disposable camera. Should this photograph be taken, in the fi nal Mystery in this series ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA] will have enough proof to take action. As such, any Extended Trouble in the fourth Mystery will be one step more diffi cult (normal becomes hard, hard becomes almost impossible). LOCATION 3: ORMESBY FARM Ormesby Farm is a family-owned plot of land, held for many generations by the Chapman family. Due to legal issues, for decades a tract of land at the back of their holdings has been left to overgrow into an area of wilderness used only for “mooring boats”. Betty Chapman (page 77) decided to use this to her advantage when the owners of the Free to Choose decided they could no longer keep repairing their magnetrine freighter, and paid to land it on this wilderness. Betty has not ventured out into this area, and likely never will. She has her own farm to tend, and the money she gained already from that venture is enough to allow her to leave the problem for the next generation. She has, however, chosen to erect a high wooden fence around the heavily wooded area to keep out local children. This fence was suggested by her solicitors after the original legal trouble, but it hasn’t worked too well. The fence stretches eight meters into the water on ORMESBY FARM 72CHAPTER O5
both ends of the barricade, and is made of reinforced wood, so it is not easily broken. Attempts to destroy the fence are met with the abrupt appearance of Betty herself, who chases the Kids off her property. TROUBLE: GENERAL TROUBLE FOR THE AREA Assuming the Kids do not gain the ire of Betty Chapman, they need to fi nd a way to get the creature past the fence. The main way to do this would be to try to get the creature to swim around the edges of the fence, but this is not easy. Attempting to force or charm the creature is diffi cult, as it is uncomfortable in water and its nature will try to keep it from swimming. See the creature’s details (page 16) for more information on its skills. The Kids may require the use of a boat, to row out past the fence. Various rowboats are moored at the boathouse jetty to the east of the wilderness area, and at the boat club’s harbour to the north. Each of these requires the kids to sneak into the area, then to either force the oars to work on a manual boat, or fi nd one with an engine and tinker with it until it works. Alternatively, they can each try to swim, but it is harder on each Kid, and those that fi nd Trouble trying to force themselves to continue through the cold 2 water become Exhausted or Injured after being rescued from the water by the other Kids, if not harmed in other ways. Ask whether the Kids ever learned to swim, as one or more of them may well not have this skill at this time in their life. SHOWDOWN Within the shade of the wilderness behind the Ormesby farm, the Kids fi nd an area that is both beautiful and quiet. They are, however, not the fi rst ones here. Another group of children (see page 76), much like themselves, appears to have set up a hideout in the shade of the Free to Choose. They have come, encouraged by stories from the school’s UFO club, and are currently investigating the magnetrine ship for “evidence of UFO activity”, swapping their own horror stories and rumours on why the magnetrine ship was abandoned. They are also building a hideout for themselves out of fallen wood and detritus from the ship itself. They discuss amongst themselves that their choice for hideout was either “This place or the old, abandoned lighthouse,” which suggests that there is at least one other 73 LOVELIEST SMILE THE YEAR’S LAST,
place where they could potentially build their hideout. For the Kids to be assured that the creature will be safe, this other group must be removed. This is Extended Trouble, with a hard Threat Level (three times the number of Kids). This group of other children is just as hardy as the Kids are, and may not be easily swayed. There are multiple ways to discourage these other children from remaining in the peninsula, but the method should be decided upon by the Kids. If they are uncertain, try to be responsive to things the Kids say or do, or suggestions they make, to encourage them to come up with realistic or genre-appropriate ideas. Three examples of how to deal with the other group of children are listed below: SCARE THEM AWAY ■ The other children are discussing horror stories and things that go bump in the night, focusing on UFO stories. They are already slightly afraid, and as they are sharing fi ctions of why the Free to Choose was decommissioned, they may be frightened out of the area. Should the Kids choose to attempt this, every action they take which makes direct use of the Free to Choose gains +1 bonus dice (for example, using the echoing internals of the ship to shout a spooky message). BULLY THEM ■ Verbally insulting the new children and making them want to leave allows the player Kids to set up without the presence of the newcomers. This requires an attempt to charm them in a way which pressures them to leave. ■ Physically exerting themselves on the other children allows the player Kids to cause the others to not want to return for threat of further harm. This method, however, has repercussions later, such as 74CHAPTER O5
the police, school representatives, or other children’s parents visiting the Kids and getting them in trouble. LIE TO THEM ■ As the other group of children are building a new hideout, the Kids could suggest that this was their hideout area all along. This would require them to charm the other children, possibly using force to quickly create a makeshift camp and make it look like they’ve been there before. Should the Kids succeed, the others leave the peninsula. Either by force or otherwise, these other children climb over or skirt the fence on the edge of the wilderness, suggesting strongly that they won’t come back. The creature has a place to stay, becomes visible, and quickly moves over to the engines of the freighter and starts licking them. Should the Kids fail, the creature has no place to stay. Any other location they leave the creature at causes it to be noticed by a passing adult or ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA] employee, which causes the same repercussions as failing the Extended Trouble in Travel (above). Eventually over the weeks, the other children move out of the Ormesby farm to the abandoned lighthouse, and the Kids can move the creature again, but by that point it is too late to stop it having been spotted and photographed. 75 LOVELIEST SMILE THE YEAR’S LAST,
As the next Mystery involves heavy use of ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA], the Kids could still continue the story, but the creature trusts them no further. It does not allow them to ride it at fi rst and is visibly distrustful of them when they try to aid it. However, it still wants to be free. In the next Mystery, the Kids can regain its trust through spending a scene trying to appeal to its nature and achieving two successes at a charm test. NPCS AND CREATURES These characters are of particular importance to the Mystery. Some have special attributes that can change the Threat Level of some Mystery scenes. Depending on how the Kids interact with them, these can be a bonus or a hindrance to the Kids’ eff orts. THE OTHER CHILDREN “Did you hear the story about why this ship has been left to rust?... Aliens.” These four children, Lindsay Stone [Olivia Granqvist], Katie Dixon [Anna Bloch], Louise Anderson [Ann-Louise Mattisson] and Theo Gardner [Örjan Hammarström], have grown up in the Norfolk area. They have been friends for years and recently started noticing some of the strange goings-on in the area. Not yet having investigated a Mystery, they are on the cusp of fi nding out that the world is a strange place to be a child, but they continue to joke about it with each other by swapping horror stories of things they’ve seen and heard. AFTER THE SHOWDOWN Should the Kids succeed, they notice the creature grow once again over the next series of weeks. It shows little sign of stopping its increase in size, but it also does not seem to wander far from the freighter, if at all. It sleeps inside the freighter itself, and enjoys licking the old, decommissioned engines on the underside of the craft. Boaters come and go from the jetties around the area, but none ever make land on the peninsula. LOSS OF CONTROL LAUNCH: If the Kids fail to get the creature back to the peninsula before all of them are Broken, or if something happens which means an authority such as the police or parents are called to check on them while they travel, the following happens. ■ The authority fi gure, an adult, sees the Kids with the creature and assumes it to be dangerous. ■ MAFF [Riksenergi] [DART] or ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA] is contacted by someone, either the authority fi gure or someone they talk to. ■ The creature is discovered and captured by ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA]. THE CREATURE AND THE KIDS If the creature is captured, the Kids are likely affected and should want to try to rescue it. Dissuade them from this possibility by explicitly stating that they are under far too much scrutiny from their parents and ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA] to possibly attempt anything. As winter approaches, parents’ minds turn to Christmas (or other holidays) and ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA] focuses on their quarterly fi nancial review. Because of this, the Kids may take part in a new Mystery next season, one in which the creature can be rescued. In the meantime, narrate scenes that allow the Kids to express their feelings towards losing the creature. This is especially true of the linked Kid, who may occasionally feel the pokes and prods of testing devices used by ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA]. 76CHAPTER O5
BETTY CHAPMAN [PERNILLA BENGTSSON] “Oi! You kids! Git off my land! What you doin’ with that fence?!” Betty has been running the farm for the past 40 years. Her mother taught her how to use the farm equipment, and after the passing of her parents, Betty has been the major worker in the area. She has had multiple problems with children trespassing on her land and as such has keen eyes 2 to watch out for such problems in the future. MARIA GUEST [ROSEMARIE DAHLQUIST] “Mm-hmm, what’s that? A ball? Yes, go ahead.” After Maria’s partner started spending more time at work, shortly after their daughter was born, Maria descended into spending more and more evenings reading. Now, deep into her second reading of Beauty’s Release, a romance novel, she may only be roused from her fiction by someone approaching her child, whom she is fiercely protective 2 of. 77 LOVELIEST SMILE THE YEAR’S LAST,
CHAPTER O6 The year creeps inexorably towards winter, the leaves have long fallen from the trees, and the first flakes of snow have arrived weeks back. The Kids have been looking after a being, a creature from another realm, for close to ten months now, and as it grows, so do its needs. Unfortunately, with its size come other problems. ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA], a government agency that has been working nearby, has taken an opportunity based on a local sighting of the creature, and the Kids’ lives are about to be turned upside down. Their involvement in looking after the creature has not gone unnoticed. To help the creature, they may have to take extreme risks, but those risks aren’t without reward… YOU CAN’T GET TOO MUCH… THE TRUTH OF THE MYSTERY 79 THE CREATURE 80 REGIS 80 INTRODUCING THE KIDS 81 INTRODUCING THE MYSTERY 81 SOLVING THE MYSTERY 83 LOCATION 1: ORMESBY FARM 83 LOCATION 2: SCHOOL 84 LOCATION 3: LEISURE CENTRE 85 LOCATION 4: LOOP FACILITY 86 LOCATION 5: LOOP CONTROL CENTRE 87 SHOWDOWN 87 AFTER THE SHOWDOWN 88 AFTERMATH 89 NPCS AND CREATURES 89
79 THE TRUTH OF THE MYSTERY After completely taking over the running of the Norfolk Loop, ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA] has been investigating mysterious occurrences in the Norfolk Broads to focus on the possibilities afforded by their access to the Loop. In a recent investigation of Ormesby Broad, a small lake to the north of Great Yarmouth, a ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA] agent spotted a strange sight: a large hippo-like creature was scratching itself against the side of a tree near the edge of the water. The agent was fortunate to have seen it, as when it saw her, it vanished into thin air almost instantly. Further investigation by ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA] agents revealed that the creature had been living there for long enough to have made a form of “nest” from various pieces of underbrush inside the wilderness to the south of Ormesby Farm. The agents soon discovered that the creature was attempting to hide in the forest, and with some coordination, managed to capture it. Due to its position near the water and its similarity to a hippopotamus, ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA] have made the incorrect assumption that it is aquatic, and as such moved it, with some difficulty, into a pool at the local leisure centre, which they have filled with fresh water. The creature had been trying for some time to learn how to move around more easily. Its bulk is considerable, and its small legs don’t hold it up very well. As such, it realized that it can move around using an innate ability. It doesn’t use it very often and cannot currently do so while underwater, as the water surrounding it interferes with its skin’s conductivity. If it could just escape this pool, it might be able to get away, but then it would have to try to find its way back home.
Finally, as this happens, Daniel Wraff [Östen Ahlberg] gets involved, and the Kids’ reaction to his presence will determine his fate in the days to come... SUMMARY ■ The Kids make their way to Ormesby Farm’s peninsula, where they realize that the creature has been captured. ■ If the Kids are not shown where the creature is, then later that day at school they are informed of the location of the creature. ■ The Kids are directed to the local leisure centre, where they discover the creature is being held. ■ The Kids free the creature, which starts to hover. The Kids are encouraged by the creature to clamber onto its back as it makes its way to the location its mother came from. ■ The creature takes the Kids to the Loop. There, Daniel Wraff [Östen Ahlberg] has broken in and is already trying to recreate the experiment which caused this issue. ■ The Kids can help recreate the experiment, especially if they paid attention earlier in the series of Mysteries. ■ As the Kids try to help the creature get home, adults arrive and attempt to stop them. If the Kids manage to succeed, the creature leaves for its home realm. THE CREATURE From its humble beginnings as a small egg in a cave, back in spring, the creature has grown to be a five-metre-long beast which towers to twice the height of any of the Kids. ■ FLIGHT: The creature has recently found that it can levitate. Keen to remain in a position of general safety, it has not floated away from the shade of the wilderness where it was prior to being captured. While it was being captured, it also attempted to use its invisibility to hide, which is why it did not fly away. The creature flies at approximately 50 kilometres per hour, but it has a method to make sure that creatures flying with it remain in place. ■ INVISIBILITY: When it is not flying, should the creature find itself in danger, or in a situation which scares it, it can turn invisible. The creature still affects objects around it: water will part if the creature moves through it, and it may bump into things as it moves, but due to a biological process it can render itself able to absorb light on one side of its body and project it out of the other, making it unable to be perceived by human eyes. ■ ADHERENT SKIN: When the Kids touch the skin of the creature, they find that it has a static-like property to it. Should their hands touch it when it is flying, they find that they stick to the creature. Using this ability, the Kids can remain attached as it flies through the air, and as the effect is stronger the faster the creature moves, the Kids are very unlikely to detach while they are in the air. See the previous Mysteries for details on the creature’s life cycle. REGIS [FOA] [DARPA] ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA] (the Regional Geomagnetic Information Sciences) is a government agency which has taken over the Loop from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Farming, otherwise known as MAFF [Riksenergi] [DART]. The research conducted by ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA] involves magnetism and the waters around the Broads, but on hearing that a creature from an earlier experiment had been sighted, the agents spring into action to capture it once again. They understand that it came from another realm due to its similarity to the creature that came through a portal, but because of its oily skin and proximity to the water, they are under the impression that they are dealing with an amphibious creature and have accommodated it accordingly. ■ FACILITIES: ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA] has control of the Loop facility, which contains several laboratories as well as the energy facility and Loop control centre itself. This, however, does not include the facilities to house a large animal. As such, ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA] has commandeered the local swimming pool in a leisure centre under the guise of “emergency repairs” and allowed the rest of the leisure centre to remain open. ■ DEMEANOUR: Agents of ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA] are matter-of-fact but, like all adults, do not give the 80CHAPTER O6
Kids much credence to act with maturity. When the Kids are moving around somewhere they are allowed to be, the agents are not suspicious of them. On dealing with the Kids, they are hesitant to harm them, but accidents may happen if they attempt to restrain the Kids. INTRODUCING THE KIDS The Kids have decided to go visit the creature before school. It’s been getting larger and larger, and acting slightly different: it has begun standing on the water’s edge, looking in the direction of the centre of the Loop on occasion. While the Kids do not know why, it is because it can hear an echo of its kind from the place where they originally came through. It wants to go home. The Kids should introduce their early morning routine and describe how previous Mysteries have affected it. At some point, a parent mentions that ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA] has recently funded a lot of expeditions into local caves and tunnels, sending boats out onto the water to expand the scope of their scientific explorations. This gives context to the creature having been found. However the Kids’ morning routines go, they should meet up before heading to the creature’s location. If they decide to go individually, ask who gets there first and start from their perspective as they discover the place overrun with ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA] agents. INTRODUCING THE MYSTERY On getting to the peninsula, the Kids see the following: ■ ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA] black vans are on the major roads near the peninsula. ■ ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA] agents are moving back and forth with “samples” of various things, including anything the Kids left in the area. Ask the Kids if they have left any personal or identifying items on the peninsula. ■ ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA] agents swarm the peninsula, wearing biohazard suits. They seem to have quarantined the area and do not allow anyone in. ■ From the look of things and the behaviour of the adults, the creature is probably no longer on the peninsula. Introducing the Mystery Leisure Centre Loop SHOWDOWN Ormesby Farm Loop Control Centre 81 TOO MUCH… YOU CAN’T GET
High School Broads Control Centre Ormesby Farm Leisure Centre Farm High School Leisure Center 82CHAPTER O6 High School Broads Control Centre Ormesby Farm Leisure Centre Farm High School Leisure Center
Leisure Centre Farm High School SOLVING THE MYSTERY After this, the Kids are free to explore the Mystery. They can look around the peninsula area, or they can move on. Alternatively, they can head to school or back to their Hideout to discuss the Mystery over the course of the day, before taking action. In this Mystery there are three important locations: Ormesby Farm, where the Mystery starts; the Leisure Centre, where the creature is being kept; and the Loop Control Centre. The Loop facility is involved in the Showdown, however, which is why it is marked multiple times in the Mystery timeline. The locations are marked on the map. The Kids start at Ormesby Farm, but need to speak to people there or hear rumours at school or other locations to be aware that they must travel to the leisure lentre. The Loop facility comes into play when the Kids have rescued the creature, and it has taken them to the facility. The Kids can decide how to take this Mystery on and the speed at which they perform tasks, but if they take too long, they may lose certain advantages, such as Daniel Wraff ’s [Östen Ahlberg’s] re-attempt at opening the Loop, and must work out how to do it themselves. The Gamemaster can also introduce other incidents, e.g., using the fl ying creature to help someone in trouble, such as an individual trapped on the roof of a burning building, or a child who has dropped something into a river. This gives the creature’s new ability a heroic edge, which may cause the Kids to be more upset when it must leave. LOCATION 1: ORMESBY FARM Ormesby Farm is a small local farm owned by Betty Chapman [Pernilla Bengtsson] (page 89), who has looked after it for decades. She has avoided the wilderness to the south of her farm for years, which made it a good location to hide the creature. Unfortunately, she is now shocked at the appearance of various government agents who wish to go through everything at her farm, from sifting through her rubbish to using a Geiger counter on her cat. 83 TOO MUCH… YOU CAN’T GET Leisure Centre Farm High School
COUNTDOWN 1. The creature is taken by truck to the leisure centre, where it is submerged in a pool by ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA]. 2. Daniel Wraff [Östen Ahlberg] arrives at the Ormesby Farm. He loudly argues with ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA] agents, claiming that through watching of videos of the mother creature’s arrival, he has discovered evidence that the creature exhibits signs of intelligence, or at least not entirely animalistic motivations. 3. Daniel Wraff [Östen Ahlberg] travels to the Loop facility and forces his way into the Loop control room. 4. Daniel Wraff [Östen Ahlberg] attempts to activate the Loop using similar settings to what he had before. Unfortunately, he does not account for a few specifi c circumstances of the original experiment, which causes his current attempt to fail. 5. ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA] agents rush into the control room, subduing Daniel Wraff [Östen Ahlberg] and handing him over to the police. BETWEEN LOCATIONS Here are some examples of things that the Kids encounter while traveling between the different locations: ■ During the adventure’s climax, a teenager trapped on top of a burning building shouts out for help from the Kids as they fl y above her. ■ A child drops a doll into a river, crying as it fl oats away. ■ A hostile encounter between rioting adults, angry at ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA] for causing the loss of their jobs when MAFF was usurped, causes the entryway to the Loop facility to be blockaded. TROUBLE: GENERAL TROUBLE FOR THE AREA Should the Kids decide to try to approach the peninsula where the creature is, they must sneak in. Unfortunately, the ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA] agents are numerous 2 in their quest for insight into the creature, and so may have an advantage to notice any of the Kids approaching. A distraction, such as attempting to tinker with one of their vehicles, or similar, can remove the agents’ advantage. CLUES ■ If charmed, a ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA] agent may inform the Kids that they found a “local contaminant”, which they have removed for “the safety of everyone in the area”. ■ Attempting to sneak closer to any ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA] agents who are working in the area lets the Kids overhear them explaining to one another that the creature was taken away for further testing somewhere in town. ■ Daniel Wraff [Östen Ahlberg] is easily visible to the Kids. Attempting to empathize shows the Kids that he is barely holding in his rage as he speaks frantically to a senior ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA] agent. He mentions that he has proof that the creature, or at least its parent, shows signs of an inherent intelligence, and that they should take a lot more care. Watching Daniel for very long without attempting to sneak means that when Daniel turns away frustrated to head towards his car, he sees the Kids as he walks away, and pauses briefl y before getting in the car and driving away. LOCATION 2: SCHOOL It is the start of just another regular school day at Grove High School, and as such, everyone is working as usual. It is quickly apparent, however, that something is up. Mr Parker, the school headmaster, is taking the place of Daniel Wraff [Östen Ahlberg]. Mr Parker announces that “Mr Wraff [Mr Ahlberg] has called into work sick, so I will be teaching his science classes today.” 84CHAPTER O6
TROUBLE: GENERAL TROUBLE FOR THE AREA If the Kids spend especially long at Ormesby Farm, they may enter school late. Without attempting to sneak in and charm the teacher(s), they may be asked about where they were. Failure to give an acceptable answer may cause an upsetting reprimand or cause the Kid to be given a detention, which pushes the Countdown timer (page 84) one step closer to Daniel Wraff [Östen Ahlberg] being removed from the Loop facility. CLUES ■ LOCATION OF THE CREATURE: Attempting to investigate rumours or making a contact during or after school, the Kids may be able to find out if anyone has heard about anything strange going on in town. The Kids discover the leisure centre in town has closed due to repairs, and that a large truck has “delivered” something there. The other children in school are excited for the potential of a new water slide or inflatable in the pool, and as such are talking about it with some glee. LOCATION 3: LEISURE CENTRE Yarmouth Leisure Centre is a relatively new building, built after a large influx of magnetrine freight brought enough trade to allow for more civic luxury buildings to crop up. The foyer to the building contains a large window overlooking the swimming pool, which has been newly covered with white paint to prevent people peering in. From the foyer the building leads into a series of training rooms where adults are exercising to videos in which a woman wearing colourful lycra and a bum-bag [fanny-pack] instructs them excitedly on how best to increase their heartrate. Past these rooms is a set of showers and changing rooms, and from here people can normally enter the pool room. Several fire exits lead out of the building, and a garage door opens from the swimming pool to the loading area, where various pool supplies are shipped in from. A large skylight allows plenty of natural light into the pool area. It’s currently open to air the room and remove the lingering chlorine smell, which the scientists believe may irritate the creature. TROUBLE: GENERAL TROUBLE FOR THE AREA ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA] agents move in and out of the building regularly. They keep an eye on the creature, which appears to be moving around the pool of its own volition. They also monitor the entrances to make sure nobody enters without clearance. Getting the agents to leave, however, counts as normal Extended Trouble, with a difficulty of two times the number of Kids. There are multiple ways of dealing with the agents, such as attempting to sneak past them, trying to tinker with the fire alarms or security systems of the pool, making an effort to charm the adults in the exercise classes to provide a distraction, or any other methods the Kids may come up with. If they succeed, the scientists and ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA] agents leave the area of the pool temporarily, so that the Kids can attempt to gain access to the creature. Failure means they still succeed at this task, but the Countdown moves one step further towards Daniel Wraff [Östen Ahlberg] being subdued by ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA] agents and the Kids being unable to complete the Mystery as easily. THE CREATURE On getting into the pool area, the Kids see the creature submerged in the pool. It is currently moving around and attempting to get out of the pool by the shallow end’s tiled stairs. Its bulk and short legs are causing it some difficulties, however, and the Kids may need to use force to assist the creature out of the pool. When the creature is out of the pool, the Kids may need to take a breather or discuss their next step. A short time after the creature begins to dry off, a Kid notices three things: ■ The creature is emitting a static charge. On touching it, the Kid can find that they are able to stick to it. ■ The creature is looking upwards at the open skylight in the ceiling. ■ The creature appears to be floating a few centimetres above the floor. When they notice these things, have the creature rotate slightly, angling its back towards the Kids in a gesture suggesting they climb atop it. It will not stop 85 TOO MUCH… YOU CAN’T GET
them, and as soon as the last Kid has stuck to the creature, it swiftly moves upward towards the skylight. The creature generally accepts being told where to go, but left to its own devices, it heads towards the Loop facility. Over the Loop, the Kids see a sight perhaps familiar to one of them already: a dark tear in the sky, flickering against the edges of reality. LOCATION 4: LOOP FACILITY The Loop facility is a large circular compound in the centre of the Norfolk Broads. Within it, three large cooling towers surround a power station control room, a set of laboratories working on new and interesting discoveries, and a smaller building in the direct centre, containing the facilities to activate, control, and harness the Loop’s power to accelerate particles to extreme speeds. Over time, this has been used for a variety of purposes, but currently Daniel Wraff [Östen Ahlberg] is using it to recreate the experiment he performed in the spring (pages 24–43). The Kids can fly over the security around the Loop facility and get close to the Control Centre, but for now, the creature is distracted. Hearing the echoes of its family through the tear, it is attempting to push its way towards the rift in space. On approaching, however, it finds itself being rebuffed by some sort of unseen force. The Kids attached to the creature can also feel this force, but it does not dislodge them. TROUBLE: GENERAL TROUBLE FOR THE AREA The creature becomes distraught if it tries to push through the rift and is unable to. The Kids may attempt to charm it to calm it down or get it to land at a loca86CHAPTER O6
tion of their choosing. Unfortunately, as it is upset 2, it may be difficult to get it to land. CLUES ■ DANIEL’S WORK: Should the Kids investigate or empathize with those they can see on the ground, they may notice that a number of people are moving towards the Loop Control Centre. They are still five to ten minutes away, so the Kids may need to hurry to get the creature back where it came from. LOCATION 5: LOOP CONTROL CENTRE The Loop Control Centre is a mess. Numerous pieces of paper are strewn around, and some half-finished notes adorn the dials and switches in the few rooms that make up the small building. Rushing between rooms, barely able to act when the Kids enter, is Daniel Wraff [Östen Ahlberg]. He is frantic, trying to recreate the exact circumstances of the previous experiment, and having a great deal of difficulty doing so. Something is missing, and he cannot figure out what. If the Kids enter the room, Daniel [Östen] stops. Noticing who the Kids are, and remembering their connection to the events which happened here, he quickly informs them that though there is not much time, he must apologize. He did not realize that the creature was intelligent, and he was too wrapped up in his own work to notice the repercussions of what he was doing. He doesn’t have much time left, but he just wants to help send the creature back where it came from, and then maybe he will be able to forgive himself. Daniel [Östen] asks the Kids to help operate various pieces of equipment around the room, and loudly states that there is something missing, some disruption in power that needs to be recreated, and that he does not remember or know. TROUBLE: GENERAL TROUBLE FOR THE AREA The Kids are being asked to operate equipment to help open the rift outside. Should they do so, they need to take part in a normal Extended Trouble, with a difficulty of twice the number of players. If Daniel [Östen] has already been subdued and led from the building, leaving the rift in a state of flux, then the difficulty is three times the number of players. Things the Kids can do to help open the rift include: ■ Helping tinker with the machinery to help the data, or electricity, flow throughout the computers in an organized fashion. calculate may also be used for this. ■ A Kid may lead the others in organizing them, getting the correct Kid to the correct piece of machinery despite Daniel’s hurried orders. ■ charming Daniel to calm him down somewhat. He is currently panicking and making the situation more stressful for everyone. ■ forcing objects in the way of entrances. Through the windows the Kids can see ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA] agents approaching in vehicles or on foot. Soon they will be inside, and the Kids will be prevented from continuing. Blocking off entrances can slow this process down. ■ If the Kids remind Daniel Wraff [Östen Ahlberg] that the first experiment included power fluctuations akin to a magnetrine freighter, caused by the presence of the creature’s mother, this counts as two automatic successes without requiring a roll. If Daniel Wraff [Östen Ahlberg] has already been subdued by agents, this opportunity is unavailable. Should the Kids succeed, the rift stabilizes and they can quickly exit to face the ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA] agents who are approaching, prior to the creature leaving. Should they fail, ReGIS agents enter the Control Centre and shut the equipment down, closing the rift and trapping the creature on Earth. SHOWDOWN As the rift opens in the sky above the Control Centre, the creature looks up at it and then back at the Kids. Unfortunately, multiple ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA] agents are approaching. The Kids have a chance to keep the rift open and stop the agents closing it, and their method of helping the creature determines how they are treated by ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA] after the Mystery. If the Kids are uncertain in how they wish to proceed, ask them which of the following options they wish to perform: 87 TOO MUCH… YOU CAN’T GET
APPEAL TO SYMPATHY ■ The Kids may try to appeal, together, to the ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA] agents to stop them closing the rift. For example, they may state that the creature appears intelligent and deserves a chance to return to its family. This requires rolls to lead, empathize with, or charm the ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA] agents. ■ This is an Extended Trouble with a difficulty of three times the number of players. ■ This allows the Kids to say a final goodbye to the creature before it leaves, should they wish to. FORCE REGIS OUT ■ The Kids may try to barricade the entrances to the Control Centre, preventing ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA] from entering. This involves rolls to force the doors as they are broken from the outside, tinker with objects to use them as braces for the door, or to program the security locks and Loop controls so that they cannot be overridden. ■ This is an Extended Trouble with a difficulty of three times the number of players. AFTER THE SHOWDOWN If the Kids succeed in allowing the creature to leave, the Loop shuts down shortly afterwards. The rift closes of its own volition without the Loop keeping it open. If the Kids fail in allowing the creature to leave, the Loop shuts down as the ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA] employees rush into the Control Centre and shut off the machinery. The creature panics, and after trying to fly around and find the rift, flies towards the western horizon, where it eventually disappears. It never returns, not trusting its fate to humans again. Either way, the Kids may be detained by ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA], but various discussions between the management within earshot of the Kids determine that after a short period of questioning they don’t believe that there is anything of value the Kids can tell them. “If they were being mind-controlled by the rift creature, they don’t seem to be anymore”. To avoid a poor public image, they let the Kids go without further incident, but they hand Daniel Wraff [Östen Ahlberg] over to the police for trespassing. He is glad to go, feeling as though his purpose in science is complete. 88CHAPTER O6
AFTERMATH The Kids now get a scene each from Everyday Life, with or without Trouble. The player may choose a scene, or ask you to set up a scene. If the group is short on time, instead of a scene, each player can tell a brief snapshot of a moment in the Kid’s Everyday Life and how the events of the Mysteries have aff ected that. NPCS AND CREATURES Here are the NPCs of particular importance to the Mystery. Some have special attributes that can change the Threat Level the Kids face in some Mystery scenes. Depending on how the Kids interact with them, these can be a bonus or a hindrance to the their eff orts. DANIEL WRAFF [ÖSTEN AHLBERG] “I’ve realized my mistake. I’m sorry.” Aft er the events of the previous Mysteries, Daniel has realized his fl aws. While he is still an imperfect man, he has come to realize from videotapes and eye-witness encounters passed to him by his ex-partner that the creature is a living, thinking being and that it needs to be saved, not captured. He does everything in his power to make that happen, including breaking into the Loop facility one last time. BETTY CHAPMAN [PERNILLA BENGTSSON] “Contaminants? On MY land?!” Betty [Pernilla] has been running the farm for the past forty years. Her mother taught her how to use the farm equipment and aft er the passing of her parents, Betty [Pernilla] has been the major worker in the area. She has had multiple problems with kids trespassing on her land and as such has keen eyes 2 to watch out for such problems in the future. The ReGIS [FOA] [DARPA] agents are watching her tract of land very carefully for signs of any further developments. MR PARKER [MR SÖDERHOLM], HEADMASTER “The man who can keep order can rule the world”. Tall and thin, tending to dress in a black suit with a black tie, Mr Parker's [Mr Söderholm’s] long black teacher's gown hangs in heavy folds, like wings. His hair is grey and he wears tinted sunglasses due to an eye condition, which make him difficult to read 2. He does not tolerate a lack of discipline in the children of his school, preferring to dole out detentions for anything from inconsistencies in children’s uniforms to talking too loudly during lessons. His ability to keep order 2 during assemblies, due to his mildly unsettling demeanour and penetrative stare, is well-known. While Daniel Wraff [Östen Ahlberg] is self-diagnosed as off sick from work, Mr Parker takes the science class, which would otherwise be vacant. [Mr Söderholm’s] long black teacher's gown hangs in heavy folds, like wings. His hair is grey and he wears tinted sunglasses due to an eye condition, which make him . He does not tolerate a lack of discipline in the children of his school, preferring to dole out detentions for anything from inconsistencies in children’s uniforms to mildly unsettling demeanour and penetrative stare, is well-known. While Daniel Wraff is self-diagnosed as off sick from 89 TOO MUCH… YOU CAN’T GET
INDEX A Ahlberg, Östen 40-41, 63, 89 Anderson, Louise 76 Androphobia 47 B Beach, The 35-36 Bengtsson, Pernilla 77, 89 Bloch, Anna 76 Boulder City 21-22 Broads, The 12 Broads Loop, The 12-13 Broads Reactor, The 30-33 Bully Kids 41, 62 C Chapman, Betty 77, 89 Creating The Kids 20-21 Creature Countdown 51, 70 Creature, The 13-18 D Dahl, Kristin and Joakim 41, 62 Dahlquist, Rosemarie 77 Daniel Wraff 51 Daniel’s House 53-54 DARPA 18-19, 80 DARPA Employees 42 DART Employees 43 Dixon, Katie 76 E Extraterrestrial Research 40 F FOA 18-19, 80 FOA Employees 42 Free to Choose, The 66-67 G Garden, The 70-71 Gardner, Theo 76 Granqvist, Olivia 76 Great Yarmouth Market 33-35 Grove High School 50-53 Guest, Maria 77 H Hammarström, Örjan 76 Holmquist, Torsten 42 I Idiot-Box, The 20 Imprint Countdown 28 K Kawasaki, Toshia 42 King, Katy and Johnny 41, 62 L Leisure Centre 85 Library, The 36-37 Loop Control Centre 87 Loop Countdown 28 Loop Facility 86-87 Loop Facility, The 46-47 Loop Laboratories, The 55-57 Loop Reactor, The 58-59 Loss Of Control 76 M MAFF 18-19 MAFF Employees 43 Magnetrine Harbour, The 59-60 Magnusson, Sebastian 41, 62 Mattisson, Ann-Louise 76 90INDEX
Miles, Tony 42 Movies 7 Music 20 N Norfolk Broads, The 8-9 O Ormesby Farm 72-73, 83-84 Other Children, The 76 Ö Östen Ahlberg Countdown 51 P Parker, Mr, Headmaster 61, 89 R ReGIS 18-19, 80 ReGIS Employees 42 Riksenergi 18-19, 80 Riksenergi Employees 43 S Scenarios Easter Egg Hunt 24 The Best Of What Might Be 44 The Year’s Last, Loveliest Smile 64 You Can’t Get Too Much 78 School 84-85 Service Tunnels, The 37-38 Söderholm, Mr, Headmaster 61, 89 Stenbock, Agneta 41, 62 Stevens, Alison 41, 62 Stone, Lindsay 76 Swedish Loop, The 22-23 T Themes 8 Things To Do In The ’80s 9-10 Tor 63 Travel 71-72 Turner, Simon 41, 62 U UFO Club Countdown 70 W Waterlogged Cave, The 38 Wraff , Daniel 40-41, 63, 89 Y Yarmouth 10-11 Z Zack 63 91INDEX