Rolled 4, 4 = 8 (2d6)

>>743011
The warm rain is not unpleasant as you walk the streets of the Edge on this warm Mediterranean night.

The school is unassuming rectangular building. A painted sing on the front proclaims that the School of the Original Sensation can help you develop your senses and improve your focus and skill in all things. There isn't much information but a smaller sign near the door says classes run Monday to Friday at 10, 2, and 6. Most of the classes are taught by either a Professor Ben Windfeather or a Professor Daryush Madari, Founder.

Unless you want to try breaking in, something extremely outside of your skill set, you'll probably move on to the plaza.

Finding your way to Flowers Plaza isn't difficult. It's a large circle. The outermost ring is a series of stores, bars, and restaurants, then a roundabout for traffic, then a smaller circle for pedestrian traffic, and finally in the center a rusted metal abstract sculpture covered in strings of flowers.

Despite the light rain, the plaza is crowded with people of all kinds. It looks like cars no better than to try to get through here and the pedestrians have taken over the entire road.

Among the crowd are street performers of all kinds.You pass a comic telling only dadaist knock knock jokes, a stripper who pole dances on a street lamp, someone giving the Gettysburg address backwards, and a man yelling something about the incredible Human Blockhead who will be performing later by shoving ice picks up his nose. Women in bright outfits roam the street offering to sell all kinds of psychoactive substances, many of which you have never heard of before. They seem to be pretty popular and connected.

If you want a specific bar or store, it's probably hear or nearby.

Sad Mary's is on one corner where a road hits the circle. A cracked statue of a pregnant Virgin Mary covering her face with her hands looks like it is weeping due to the rain is the only sign marking the establishment.

There's also a popular sidewalk cafe that appears to specialize in artisan colas, but you're pretty certain that the good drinks would all have a trace of cocaine. Another seems to specialize in incredibly powerful coffee and Ethiopian food. Numerous businesses selling hair styling, body piercing, temporary and permanent tattoos, clothes, disturbing art, and even an animal rental place. Maybe they carry the baboons people keep mentioning you should avoid? Most unusual is an ice cream store advertising "flavors not legally sold in other countries."

>>743021
What to do?
(1) Sad Mary's. Let's see the fights, sex shows, or get a good drink. I'm pretty sure this would get Darron's attention.
(2) Cocaine cola? I'm there. Maybe Darron liked the place. It's quieter than Sad Mary's.
(3) One of the other businesses on the plaza? Which one?
(4) Talk to the street performers, normal people, or the ladies selling psychoactives. The regulars might have seen him around.
(5) This is overwhelming. I'm going back to the hotel. There are probably some clues in my room.
(6) Other. What?

Also feel free to ask any questions before voting. I'm using Marie' something like spider sense to let you get a partial sense of what might come from any given option. If you decide to start randomly walking the streets following your intuition, you'd probably end up somewhere interesting. I don't promise it would be safe though.

I'm going to be checking in as much as possible to keep this running as long as possible but I'm also working so I'm hoping to keep the thread going for a day or two. Feel free to jump in anytime or comment even if I haven't replied in a couple hours. I'll be back soon.

>>743026
>(1) Sad Mary's. Let's see the fights, sex shows, or get a good drink. I'm pretty sure this would get Darron's attention.
Welcome back

>>743043
Thanks! Sorry it took so long.

Is the longer than average interval a problem? I've been following quests that had like 15 minute voting windows and I want to keep up with that, but I'd rather not burn out mid story either.

>>743060
Take your time.

>>743043
Sad Mary's has a reputation as a place where something exciting is always happening. A place can be exciting in many different ways.

The performance stage is an eight meter square raised above the floor. Pretty much everything you can imagine and some things you can't seems to have happened on it at some point.

Right now is the tail end of a rather vanilla fight. Two men, no gloves, punching and kicking each other. A display board advertises that a desperate college student from Darbane University is up next trying to make this months tuition. It doesn't say what she'll be doing.

The drink menu is varied and slightly expensive but not unreasonable for a resort town. A second menu displays a number of enhancements that can be added to any drink, ranging from nutritional supplements to drugs you've never heard of. Weren't narcotics illegal on this island?

Men with tattoos shaped like nordic runes stand by the entrances looking stern. Sex workers of all kinds move through the crowd offering services to patrons who follow them up a flight of stairs in the back to the second floor. A guarded door leads to what you assume is an area that serves as the performers' dressing room as well as where the "real action" occurs. That said, if the public areas have drugs, prostitutes, and blood violence, what could the "real action" even mean?

(more)

>>743329
Question to answer: What do you think would have drawn Darron to this club?
(1) The hookers
(2) The sex shows
(3) The bizarre performance art
(4) The fights
(5) The extreme fights
(6) Drinks and drugs
(7) People watching
(8) Making money (how?the fights? being a dancer or hooker? making illicit connections?)
(9) A specifc prostitute who, based on the posters on the wall of her, is especiallly popular. Also she has a tail nub, sparse soft fur, and rat ears.
(9) Other
(10) Some combination of the above

What do you do?
(a) Start showing the picture of Darron around
(b) Start friendly conversations, slip in topics Darron was interested in
(c) I'm not here for Darron. I'm getting messed up.
(d) I'm not here for Darron. I'm getting laid.
(e) Actually, I want hot wings. They serve hot wings, right?
(f) I think I'm going to try to work here. (As what? A stripper? A hooker? A fighter? A bartender? Something else?)
(g) Those dudes with the nordic tattoos are hot. You know what I'm thinking.
(h) Some other cool thing

(Too many options? This is why my attempts at making Twine games or Visual novels never get very far)

>>743377
>People watching
>(b) Start friendly conversations, slip in topics Darron was interested in
Needs to be subtle. You can cut some options off so you don't burn out.

Rolled 6 (1d10)

>>744150
Alright. I'll start with that. If there are other options that interest, let me know.

>>744150
Ok writing now. Multiple options are easy. It's the writing all the different threads for a video game so someone can pick them all. In a quest, I don't have to worry about all that.

Rolled 4, 6, 3 = 13 (3d6)

Rolling for social skills using the bartender stuff.

>>744150
Lots of people pass through here. It's hard to pick out specific people who might be able to help but even just making some friends could be good.
You end up talking to a young woman with long hair, earthy clothes, crystals on her earrings and necklace, and hippie headband. Turns out she's knows Esa Main from her meetings with the Alpha Rio Theta sorority, which he shows up to because "chicks dig artists" she says.

"Yeah, I love this place. I mean I wish they had more organic food and vegan options. Vegan hot wings aren't like that hard to make. So I have to make do with real hot wings. It's so sad for the environment. Anyway, I'm here because I love the vibe. It's just so free. You can be whoever and this place accepts. Even a weird unnatural mutant freak."

She says she likes to meet with people new to the island and give them tours of cool stuff- exhibits, local sights, places to buy locally made art- so she seems to know quite a few people.

"I hate the idea of being property so I don't really work for anyone but myself. You have to be your own boss if you want to be a free spirit, ya know? I meet lots of people who are here on business for one of the so called supercorporations," she says derisively. "I try to help them free their minds a bit. I mean that's what the Edge is for. Breaking from the norm. Opening up to new sensations."

Her name is Kimberly Summers, she took the name because of a famous singer that used to be really popular locally. "You can be anyone here, so why be yourself?"

Feel free to ask her any questions you might have. She's weird, but she probably knows stuff.

(1) ask her some questions. Darron probably would have taken her up on some "freeing of the mind" if he'd met her.
(2) No hippies. I'm going to try someone else.
(3) Other (look back at the previous options or come up with your own)

>>744679
>(1) ask her some questions. Darron probably would have taken her up on some "freeing of the mind" if he'd met her.

>>744828
Any specific questions?

>>745003
I can do preset dialogue choices or questioning strategies. I'm still getting a feel for this quest.

>>745003
"So, have you met many people? Seen someone creepy, likes guns and stuff?"

>>744679
Welcome back
"Say this place seems to attract some weird crowds. What can you tell me about the people who comes here?"

>>745261
>>746301

You ask, "So, have you met many people? This place seems to attract some weird crowds. What can you tell me about the people who come here? Seen someone creepy, likes guns and stuff?"

Kimberly laughs. "The plaza is one of the best places to meet people. It lets me get away from the university crowd. I mean students can be neat and weird, but these people are even neater and weirder. And creepy, sure. So many creepy people. I met this one girl who claimed to make custom dyed nooses using her own blood. That was weird. But surprisingly cheap. Looks great with one of my other dresses.
"As for guns, well they're illegal on the island. The Peace Officers are actually legally allowed to shoot anyone carrying a gun who isn't in a Peace uniform. They say it makes things safer, but to me it just makes things weirder. I mean how many places in the world can you go where most of the citizenry carries knives, stunguns, or crossbows? Or even weirder stuff. I met this one mystic who claimed he had perfected an arrangement of crystals that functioned like a death ray. Totally legal under the law here.
Which is weird because GunSteel doesn't sell guns but gets most of the business. If you're looking for weapons, that's the place. Though I really think you should give peace a chance. Be vegan, respect all life, save the planet." She pauses to take a bite of her hot wings. It leaves some sauce on her face and the wings look under-cooked, possibly bloody. Did she order them that way? You think so.

what next?
(1) keep talking. she has to go soon but she seems friendly and helpful.
(2) ask about the university
(3) ask about gunsteel
(4) ask about hot wings
(5) ask about the peace officers
(6) leave conversation
(7) ask about the bloody noose lady
(8) ask about weapons
(9) show her a picture of your cousin. get more specific.
(10) ask about more weird people here
(11) trust in your something like spider sense and walk away from the conversation all weird like
(12) ask about good parties
(13) ask about Esa Main, since she seems to know him
(14) ask what she's in to

Pick as many as you want, I'll try to work them together. Your specific wording will be used if you want to toss it in. She seems to be very open with you. She doesn't think you're secretly a cop, that's for sure.

File: almaderasta.jpg (43 KB, 454x673)

43 KB JPG

Here's a pick of Kimberly Summers

File: 13130039_600050360153223_(...).jpg (59 KB, 460x543)

59 KB JPG

Here's Esa Main, the receptionist at the Forrester

Also you get the feeling she is going to be leaving as soon as she finishes her hot wings.

The fight in the ring is dying down.

>>749846
>show her a picture of your cousin. get more specific.
>(2) ask about the university

>>749943
Seconding

>>750207

She looks at the photograph. "Yeah, I've actually met him. It's been a few weeks I think. He's a really good tipper." You're not sure exactly what she is referring to.

"I guess he's the gun nut you were talking about earlier? He was pretty cool. A little crazy, a little weird. He used to fight in the rings some. Really bizarre fights too. He'd just kind of stand their taking a pummeling until the other guy was too tired, then he'd just like knock him over. Crazy weird to watch. I usually go on after the fights when I'm here, so he then had some of the weirdest requests."

She's given you pretty much all she can remember at this point. Eventually the conversation comes around to the university.

"Yeah, I'm a student there. It's ok. I mean I like the art and theater programs, that's what I'm in. The only real other program worth mentioning is the polisci and those people.. they are just horrible! They scoop up all the good scholarships and then spend that money on keggers... really boring keggers! Anyway, speaking of money, that means I have to earn my tuition." She winks, smiles, and pushes the nearly empty plate of hot wings to you. "You can finish them if you want. I have to get on stage."

After a janitor uses a wet-mop to clear blood from the stage she sits quietly in the middle, doing absolutely nothing. A strange hush falls over the crowd because she literally is doing nothing. She appears to be meditating, you guess.

People are lining up at an over-sized wall mounted electronic jukebox with a full size keyboard. A screen behind the stage lights up and after each person pays and finishes typing, a line of text is added to the display.

"Eat flesh. $50"
"Nude pretezel. $25"
"Gettysburg Address in 30 seconds. $45"
"Count backwards to 30. $500"
"Defy the laws of physics. $2"
"Strip knock knock joke. "$15"

She can't see the screen and doesn't seem to have anything in her hands but each time she nods her head, a check mark appears next to an item on the list and someone in the audience cheers.

The man who typed in "Eat flesh" places a bowl of scraps at the edge of the stage and without warning, she attacks it like a hungry cat, tearing at the meat with just her mouth, using her hands more as paws. From the spray of blood it appears to be raw and fresh.

(more)

>>751870
As soon as she's swallowed the last bit, she performs a backwards roll and ends up sitting in the middle of the stage again, once more in her meditative stance. Her dress has stains from the meat. The next item on the list she checked off appears to be called "Microphone Abuse". A stagehand passes her a wireless microphone which she slips under her flowing dress. You don't know where exactly she put it, but as she begins to contort in sexualized yoga positions, the sound from the speakers becomes a constant rhythmic beat, at times soft and rapid and at times deep and moist.

She stands, pulls the microphone from under her dress (it seems to have been in her armpit at the end based on where she was grabbing), and stands to bow to loud applause. She holds the microphone up to her mouth and begins to count while loosening the strings holding her dress above her shoulders with her other hand.

Performance art? Stripping? Both? It seems like she's making decent money. The microphone thing seems to have cost $150. She takes a deep breath and whispers softly in to the microphone, "Knock... knock...." as the top half of her dress falls to her waist.

Hmm.. what's next?
(1) Well, that was weird. Time to carry on with the search for my cousin. (How?)
(2) Finish the plate of hot wings.
(3) I am so putting money in the machine for her to do something weird. (What? How much?)
(4) That's all it takes to perform here? I could do that.
(5) Nope. I'm out. This is too bizarre.
(6) Watch the amazing performance. This is the kind of culture you've been hungry for.
(7) Potato skins. If they sell wings, they must sell potato skins.
(8) I think it is time for one of those narcotic laced cocktails.
(9) OTHER????? YOU DECIDE!!!

(pick as many as you'd like to vote for. I'll try to work them all in)

If I'm reading the the board settings properly, it looks like tomorrow I'll have to move on to a new thread.
I hope the slow but steady method for questing is working.

>>751874
>(5) Nope. I'm out. This is too bizarre.

>Other
So Darron was a regular. Time to ask some other people about him preferably guys he fought before.

Writing the next bit now. WIll post in a few moments under thread 3 since I think we're at the point of permasage. Will also post a link to the thread here.

Here's the new one. >>753727