Book Nine, Chapter 39: Ringmaster

Riley Lawrence is the Film Buff.

His aspect is Filmmaker. The Filmmaker understands how movies are made and uses meta-Insight and meta-Rule tropes to subtly manipulate the environment, relying on high Hustle to stay unseen while shaping the story behind the scenes.

Riley has a Plot Armor score of 54, Mettle of 4, Moxie of 15, Hustle of 11, Savvy of 17, and Grit of 7.

Free Background Trope: “My Grandmother Had The Gift…” gives Riley's character some ambiguous connection to "The Gift" through his heritage.

Current Trope Limit: 10

"Animal Whisperer" grants the user a connection to important animals in the story and grants those animals Animals Are Psychic.

“Trope Master” grants him the ability to perceive enemy tropes, but at the cost of sacrificing half of his Plot Armor.

“Oblivious Bystander” allows him to remain untargeted by enemies as he convincingly acts oblivious to their presence.

“The Insert Shot” makes allies aware of an object he chooses. The object will be shown to the audience, and its use will be buffed in the Finale.

“Cutaway Death” sends him Off-Screen before the moment of his character's implied demise and allows him to exist behind the scenes, Dead and Written Off if he survives the encounter.

"The Dailies” allows him to see a selection of raw footage from the day's shoot.

“It's Just A Puppet” reduces fear when confronting something perceptibly terrifying.

“No Stab In The Dark” reduces the narrative impact of anything that happens in low visibility, where the audience cannot see it.

“Intermission” grants Deathwatch at his demise and allows him to pause his viewing of the film for a break and start back a few moments earlier.

“Familiar Filmographer” allows him to summon and control an NPC cameraman.

~

Antoine Stone is the Athlete.

His aspect is Health Nut. Health Nut prioritizes holistic wellness, using sharp Savvy to make smart choices and strong Grit to stay resilient, adaptable, and enduring under pressure.

Antoine has a Plot Armor score of 50, Mettle of 14, Moxie of 5, Hustle of 11, Savvy of 9, and Grit of 11.

Current Trope Limit: 10

“Willpower Is Magic” makes all applicable enemy technology or magic resistible through sheer effort. Results vary. Effects vary. This will hurt.

“Gym Rat” buffs Mettle and Hustle by revealing an athletic backstory.

"Swing Away" causes opponents to falter, if only for a moment, when he swings a weapon at them.

“Gut Instinct” gives him a heads-up about nearby danger both in and out of storylines, though he may have to investigate to find the source.

"Off the Bench" the player feels more rested for each scene they are not in. Eventually buffs Hustle and Moxie.

“Stronger Together” buffs mental health and healing when the user and allies are together in a group.

“The Mountain As A Metaphor” boosts allies' uses of Grit and Savvy and allows the user to conquer maladies through metaphor by tackling physical challenges.

“The Caretaker” Buffs him when assisting injured or endangered allies. Grants Health Monitor.

“Better Make it Count” greatly buffs the last round of ammunition the player has available in a fight.

“Designated Driver” allows other players to benefit from the user's Hustle when following their lead.

~

Kimberly Madison is the Eye Candy.

Her aspect is Celebrity. The Celebrity aspect treats the player like an actor and the storylines like films they sign on to. Using meta tropes to create hype, fan favoritism, and larger-than-life roles, the Celebrity is the most versatile of the Eye Candy aspects.

Kimberly has a Plot Armor score of 43, Mettle of 6, Moxie of 17, Hustle of 10, Savvy of 1, and Grit of 9.

Free Background Trope: “Obsessed Survivor” gives her character some traumatic past event that keeps her on alert and prepares her for the fights ahead.

Current Trope Limit: 9

“Does anyone have a scrunchie?” allows her to shift Moxie's points into another stat by putting her hair up.

"The Penthouse": The character will get the nicest, safest accommodations in a multi-day storyline.

"Contract Negotiations" buffs the user’s ability to improvise after "discussing" their plan with Carousel.

“The Hall of Fame” gives her Center of Attention and will have a heightened role in the story regardless of casting. Meta story elements are more central.

“Unpretentious Craftsman” makes her less affected by all tropes, abilities, and injuries while Off-Screen if their effect relies on scripting to operate.

"Convenient Backstory" allows her to believably change her backstory to assist with the current task, buffing the relevant stat.

"Social Awareness" allows her to see the Moxie stat of all enemies and NPCs and intuit relationship dynamics.

“Compulsive Vetting” makes her aware of exits, onlookers, and potential weapons nearby. It also buffs her when asking characters about suspicious individuals.

“Did You Forget About Me?” allows her to make a flashy and powerful attack after she has been Off-Screen for an allotted time.

~

Camden Tran is the Scholar.

His aspect is Strategist. The Strategist observes and relays enemy tactics and behavior both to their team and the audience, allowing them to create powerful strategies to win in the field of battle.

Camden has a Plot Armor score of 45, Mettle of 5, Moxie of 3, Hustle of 11, Savvy of 20, and Grit of 6.

Free Background Trope: “Mega Secret Security Clearance” gives him mysterious but impressive credentials in some large organization.

Current Trope Limit: 10

“Zippos Are Cheap” boosts Savvy for plans that expend a Zippo lighter.

“Eureka!” Helps find important information within text.

“Red Thread Theory” gives the user a visual summary of known information and helps them know what threads to follow next.

“Trap Montage” allows the player to initiate a montage wherein they and allies rig traps in the finale without disturbance from enemies.

“The Author Is Still Alive” creates a scene wherein the user questions the author of some document or other important source of information. The players will not be attacked in this scene.

“Battlefield Intuition” allows him to use Savvy to perceive enemy combat tactics.

“Chain Reaction” buffs an attack for each link in the cause-and-effect chain leading to the ultimate damage of the attack.

“Supplies On Hand” seeds the setting with materials for constructing improvised contraptions once he reveals his qualifications as an engineer. These materials do not need to be established as existing if they are not exotic.

“Need To Know” enables him to reveal his security clearance to NPCs to compel them to divulge information. The NPCs' backgrounds can be changed if it fits the narrative.

“Know Thy Enemy” allows him to Illuminate the enemy's behavior and tactics, debuffing their Plot Armor as he reveals and plans around them. Grants protection while scouting the enemy.

~

Cassie Hughes is the Psychic.

No aspect has been chosen.

Cassie has a Plot Armor score of 45, Mettle of 3, Moxie of 19, Hustle of 14, Savvy of 7, and Grit of 2.

Current Trope Limit: 10

“The Anguish!” lets her see her allies' health stats from anywhere and lets her take some of their pain by feeling it herself. This can reduce their overall injuries.

“Reflective Jump Scare” allows her to get a glimpse of the enemy when she looks in a mirror, giving her some small insight into what is in store.

“We are not abandoned…” can keep her allies’ spirits high by weaving a narrative of some higher power in control. When done well, this trope can heal Incapacitation, certain forms of spiritual Infection, and even buff Grit.

“Clarity of Purpose” lets the user substitute Moxie for Grit when enduring tasks that cause constant pain, like handling dangerous objects.

“It Is Written” codifies all spiritual or similar information in some kind of text that the user will have access to and gives them information accurate to their character.

“Deja Vu F.M.” allows her to hear dialogue before it happens through various electronic sound systems.

“Wards of Affection” allows her to gift allies totems of spiritual protection.

“A Peek Beyond” allows her to project her consciousness from her body as a disembodied spirit, gaining Deathwatch and the use of Departed tropes while projected.

“Deathward” lets her designate a location as blessed or holy, literally or figuratively, establishing a Sanctuary powered by her Moxie. Enemy attacks will manifest as portents instead while it lasts.

"Watching Over You" buffs still-living teammates' Grit by following them around after death, scaling with on-screen relationships.

~

Isaac Hughes is the Comedian.

No aspect has been chosen.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Isaac has a Plot Armor score of 35, Mettle of 5, Moxie of 12, Hustle of 5, Savvy of 6, and Grit of 7.

Current Trope Limit: 9

“If He's Still Cracking Jokes…” allows the player to reduce or eliminate injuries by using humor the next time he is On-Screen before the audience knows how injured he is. Works on allies situationally.

“Weapons Of Mass Absurdity” buffs his Mettle and Hustle while using humorous weapons. The buff extends to weapons that are used if the original weapon fails.

“Blood Loss Delirium” gives the player a pleasant drunken stupor when they have major blood loss and provides cover for antics.

“Gallows Humor” allows him to ease mental pain with dark humor after a tragedy.

“Trash Talk” allows him to debuff the enemy's Mettle by insulting them.

“Hindsight Is 20/20” allows him to recognize mistakes they've made after the fact, helping them or their allies avoid similar errors in the future. Commenting on these mistakes increases the success of future plans based on the lessons learned.

“Lights Gone Out” grants the user a tragic backstory that makes them emotionally dead inside, providing resistance against mental manipulations and false hope that would affect a normal person.

“Funniest Guy I Know” heals and protects him from mental and some physical pains and status conditions when he laughs at his own jokes.

“Whoops!” protects the user from being hit while actively performing clumsy physical comedy in a Chase of Fight Scene.

~

Ramona Mercer is the Hysteric.

No aspect has been chosen.

Ramona has a Plot Armor score of 40, Mettle of 12, Moxie of 9, Hustle of 9, Savvy of 3, and Grit of 7.

Free Background Trope: “The Weird Girl” gives her some socially ostracized connection to the dark or supernatural elements of the story.

Current Trope Limit: 9

“Just Us Monster” buffs her Mettle and Grit when she drops her non-violent façade alone with an enemy.

“Before You Get Us Killed” allows her to dramatically branch off from the group and form her own team, trying to accomplish a similar goal. If one team dies from that decision, the other is buffed.

“The Foil” empowers allies whose situations are parallel to hers, but whose reactions and philosophy are more praiseworthy. Her path will lead to destruction; theirs might not.

“I Know It's Still Out There” makes her Chase Scene indicator sensitive at great distances and lets her turn like a compass toward her pursuer.

“Restorative Catatonia” gives her an informative pre-storyline encounter with the enemy, at the cost of starting the story catatonic until allies reach through the trauma to heal her.

“Adverse Reaction” causes her to have an unexpected reaction to tropes or powers meant to cause a particular emotional or mental state.

“Close-Up Scream” allows the user to become the sole On-Screen character when screaming about something they see.

“Just The Jitters” allows the user to avoid feeling nervousness or unease by acting out those emotions intentionally.

“The Red Mist” grants her an instant, painless death that leaves no lasting mental trauma at the cost of some Plot Armor.

~

Dina Cano is the Outsider.

Her aspect is Newcomer. The Newcomer is the audience’s window into the story, an outsider whose reactions ground the horror. They stumble in with their own baggage from another life, but their fresh perspective uncovers details veterans overlook, and their instinctive responses make every discovery land harder for the Audience.

Dina has a Plot Armor score of 35, Mettle of 5, Moxie of 8, Hustle of 11, Savvy of 3, and Grit of 8.

Free Background Trope: "A Haunted Past" gives her character some past trauma that haunts her like a ghost.

Current Trope Limit: 9

“Unfinished Business” allows her to remain as a spirit or similar after her death to help an ally complete her subplot, which will have increased narrative weight.

"Guarded Personality" resists all insight abilities and actions.

“An Outsider's Perspective” alerts her to new, out-of-place, or unusual information.

"Encouragement from Beyond" soothes her when stressed, scared, or in pain and may provide useful information in the form of communication from the beyond.

“Dark Secret” makes her complicit in the storyline’s central conflict, but gives a lot of opportunity to obtain information and redemption. The user’s PA drops to zero when the secret is revealed until they have redeemed themselves.

“No Return Address” gives the user insight from anonymous letters and allows them to send similar letters to allies.

“From the Shadows” prevents the user from being noticed while concealed in shadows, with applicable Off-Screen effects as the audience observes them.

“Pledge Week” ensures both the protagonist and the antagonist will approach her before Second Blood, each trying to win her to their side.

"The Audience Surrogate" makes the user the audience's Source of diegetic ambient information and inconvenient exposition, letting their Grit power up their insight tropes while scaling Grit and Hustle with the audience's desire to learn new information.

~

~

As they had done for us, we escorted the other teams through the dungeons toward the river beneath the castle, where they could board Camden's boat and find a safer harbor through the apocalypse. We ran into a few slow zombies and were mocked by the voice from one of the barrels, but we didn't have much trouble.

I didn't know what to make of that. Maybe Carousel just didn't want to spoil its dinner.

As the others were loading up and preparing for their voyage, I made eye contact with Logan, and then, out of some impulse that I didn't really understand at the moment, I nodded my head for him to come talk to me, and he did.

What was it I wanted to say to him? I didn't know. Was I going to beg him not to leave? I had a bad feeling. I really did. At the end of the day, some combination of things was going to be true. Maybe we were foolish for taking on the apocalypse. Maybe they were cowards for leaving us behind. Maybe nothing really mattered because every choice was the wrong choice.

Still, I had to say something.

"Sail west for a bit," I said. "You're going to see a lot of things, but eventually the river will let off around the spot where Dyers Lake should be, but it won't be there. Not at first. You'll be on the river in the place where the lake should be. I don't know. Maybe it's a version of that place where the river was never dammed. Maybe it's just some surreal nonsense Carousel cooked up, but there are a lot of storylines there. They were popping up all over the place. You should be able to find one to stay safe."

"We don't intend to go far," he said. "From your stories, it sounds like the river might not be the safest place."

What was that, sarcasm? Was he trying to be patronizing? The fact was, the river was kind of safe if you were careful and if you were traveling down it towards something much more dangerous. We had managed to find our share of danger in our travels. I was sure that they would too.

"Good," I said. "If you run a storyline there, you can get back on the river and follow it toward Northern Carousel. With any luck, the circus will be gone."

"You felt a lot of luck in the air lately?" he asked. He looked pale where he was normally tan, and thin. While we were off risking our lives, they were here rotting. They might just be fleeing to the river so they could get away from this place. Surviving a siege, even in a grand castle, can be a terrible experience.

"Something's in the air," I said. "Just not sure what it is. Maybe be on the lookout for it."

I wanted to impart some concept to him about how important it was to be adaptable, to think on your feet, and to follow Carousel's lead without falling for its traps. Could I do that with just a look? To tell the truth, at that moment I wasn't even certain that I had succeeded in that, so how was I supposed to tell him to?

"I'll be on the lookout," he said. He turned and left, helping Avery get her stuff onto the boat. Michael got to go on the river for real this time, it seemed. He seemed psyched. Logan gave me one last glance before boarding.

What was it I was trying to say to him? That they should change their minds? That they should stay? Or better yet, that they should try to flee and then think better of it, returning heroically to save us? That would certainly be something Carousel would find compelling. The problem was, if I told him to do it, I didn't know if it would work. Even if I told him, I wasn't sure it would matter. Inside a storyline, we had On-Screen and Off-Screen, but down here in the dungeons, we just had unspoken words lost in translation.

Logan's team only had four members: him, Avery, Michael, and Lila. At least Nicole's team was whole, between her, Kelsey, Kyle, Molly, and Lorne.

One day, they might just be names to me. In a way, they already were. It was hard to let people get close. Still, I wished them the best. Our dream of building our own Camp Dyer wouldn't be complete until we met again.

-

We sat at the dining table. We had sent all the food we had gathered with the others, even though it wasn't much, so all that was left for us was the wine that came with the castle. None of us were in the mood to get drunk, but it warmed the belly, and it might help us get to sleep, which is what we needed to do to trigger the storyline, we figured.

"Whatever the case, we need to make a decision," Camden said. "I say screw these guys. I don't know them. Maybe one day, when we have better numbers, we can go back and save them and make all the introductions and be their heroes or whatever."

He started to laugh. Maybe some of us did intend to get drunk.

He held thirty-six missing posters in his hands, all for players we had never met. The only thing they had in common was that they had died in apocalypses way back when. We had expected there to be more. These were high-level players, in the fifties and sixties mostly, with a few outliers in either direction.

But we didn't know them, and we suspected they weren't part of Camp Dyer because of their levels and the date they died in the apocalypse. Some of them had kicked the bucket in the late nineties.

The remaining twelve posters we were much more familiar with, and by "we," I meant Kimberly and Antoine mostly. They were the players who had fallen to the Black Snow. One team had been participating in a sort of Americanized Japanese horror story called Head Below Water, and the other had been in a storyline called Eleven Year Reunion, a classic slasher sequel.

That was eleven of the players. All had been at Camp Dyer, and that bond compelled us to save them. The twelfth player was Reggie Varga, who had sacrificed himself to save Anna and Camden. Even if we didn't save anyone else, we were going to save him.

"I don't understand any of the history of all this. When did Camp Dyer start up?" Isaac was asking.

We would have to prepare a presentation about it. We talked about the vets as if they were some monolith, some huge group of players who were all the same, but the truth was there was Camp Dyer, and then there was a bunch of squiggly question marks. The time between when our world was connected to Carousel and when Camp Dyer started was full of mysteries.

"Well, you know," I said, "if we want to find out what happened before Camp Dyer, we could just rescue these people that lived back then."

It was just an idea, and frankly, no one went for it. Saving twelve players would have to be enough. They knew the code of Camp Dyer. The others didn't. It was that simple.

We went and found the rooms we had stayed in back when we were at the castle. Ramona went with me for the night, and we spent our remaining waking hours talking. She was going to use her Restorative Catatonia trope, which meant that this might be the last time we saw each other if we didn't manage to wake her up in the apocalypse.

We were making a big bet that everything we had learned about apocalypses was wrong. Instead of focusing on simple survival, we were going to try to learn everything we could about the story. I didn't believe for one second that Carousel wanted to tell its grand narrative using only NPCs. As I started to doze off, I realized I'd find out very soon how right or wrong I was.

This had to be the worst way of triggering a storyline: falling asleep. Not only did I have to rely on my dream self to do what we were supposed to do to activate the storyline, remembering our relationship to Highbrow Hew, whatever that meant, but it also relied on us being able to get to sleep in the first place. I didn't want to use my Out Like a Light trope because then I would still have it equipped in the storyline, where it would be virtually useless as far as I knew.

I already had one of my trope slots filled with Familiar Filmographer, which I refused to unequip because somewhere out there, I believed that Danny, my companion NPC, was still helping Anna. I feared that if I unequipped it, he might disappear, if he hadn't already.

We talked as we tried to go to sleep. I lay there unable to doze off for so long that I almost thought morning would come, and we'd have to try to trigger the storyline using nothing but our connection to the psychic surge that came with the circus.

But sleep did eventually find me.

And I found myself back in that same kitchen, staring up at the ceiling, living out the memory of some young boy on the worst day of his life.

All I had to do was wait for the scream, and then I could go upstairs, and maybe I could find the right way to trigger the apocalypse if someone else didn't first.

I stared up at the ceiling. Even in the dream, I was terrified of what was about to happen. Curiosity could be a good distraction when going into these sorts of things, but by golly, I was willing to give up the answers if it meant I didn't have to gain the cursed knowledge this young character was hiding.

There was a knock at the door. I went to answer it, as I had before, and found Dina standing outside. She had two dogs with her, Shasta and Doughboy. When we returned to the castle, the other dogs had disappeared as if by magic. Maybe Carousel had mercy on Logan and Nicole's teams, trying to feed a bunch of dogs while starving.

Or maybe they just ate the others.

Carousel had given me Bobby's license. I didn't want it. I didn't want the memories, but now I was responsible for the dogs. I had equipped my Animal Whisperer trope. The dogs were very large, good for protection, and could also be a great tool for surviving a supernatural movie.

"Well, come in," I said in that monotone voice I seemed to use in dreams.

They did as requested.

Dina didn't say anything. I couldn't tell if she was scared or just intense. This was a storyline where she would get to see her son, and she was going to try out her new aspect capstone trope. That was always fun. It was great to try new, untested abilities during an apocalypse.

All we could do was wait for the scream that was about to arrive, and we did it with all of the warmth of strangers waiting in an elevator. No hug this time.

But eventually... the scream came, just as expected, and I ran up the stairs as fast as I could and opened the girls' bedroom where they had been having their sleepover.

It was already different. Cassie was there, and she wasn't just in the bed or on the floor. She was leaning out the window, looking down.

She was about to trigger the apocalypse. I could tell.

"It's Strander," she said out of shock, but before she could get the last sound out of her mouth, she just disappeared.

"Strander Blake?" I asked, as if I knew any other Stranders.

Kimberly and Ramona were still in the room. They weren't quite up and mobile.

With sudden curiosity, I moved toward the window. We hadn't seen Strander Blake since the Centennial. I had no reason to believe he would be wrapped up in this Ringmaster apocalypse. I had to see for myself.

I moved toward the window as fast as I could because every time I had done it previously, I would wake up before I got there, but this time I didn't.

I got to the window, planted my hands firmly on the windowsill, and then stuck my head out and looked down. Was I expecting to see Strander Blake? Was I expecting to see Highbrow Hew? Definitely one or the other.

But I didn't see either.

I saw a living shadow, a humanoid entity dressed all in black, whose very form seemed to skew backward and forward like some strange collection of artifacts in a photograph.

This figure was not a mystery to me. In fact, I had seen him before. Newspapers back home had published multiple pictures of him.

The man I saw before me exuded some sort of supernatural presence that he never had before.

"No!" I screamed, and in that instant, I wished that there was any way that I could take back my decision to join the apocalypse.

But the choice had been made. For some reason, even knowing that Highbrow Hew commanded a menagerie of nightmares, I never expected my nightmare to be among them.

Standing beneath the window was my parents' killer, the Lake County Pallbearer, looming as the specter that he had once used trick photography to become.

His image lasted only a moment before I was gone, transported into the story.