Track Five: I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)

[jp1885]

"Hmm, I guess the good captain doesn't hang around for long. Shall we go check out this Honeydew fellow?"

[DSIGFUSS]

The Luminescent Emporium

ooc,Don't mean to step on any toes for describing a scene and guiding characters through the Luminescent Emporium but I hope this works ok. Won't take up too much time.

An old wooden sign hangs above a shop with windows boarded up with thin flat metallic sheets cut at irregular angles and stained various colors of the rainbow. The sign painted in crude yellow letters reads.

The Luminescent Emporium Bistro and Theatre

There is a paper on the door in what appears to be purple crayon "Next show starts in 30 minutes."

"A Generous serving of Spiced Potatoes and Potations is included with each ticket purchased. Best in the city! "

It is impossible to know when the next show actually begins as there is no indication of the time it actually started.

Someone tries the door and it is locked.. probably a minute goes by when the door suddenly opens.

6 people shuffle out of the door grinning and blushing profusely.

One of the men straightens his jacket and wipes a few droplets of swet from his brow.

Well that was something unexpected now wasn't it?

The woman at his side squeezes his arm and smiles coyly.

Oh My!!

They carry on like this down the street laughing and hugging one another in an amusing display of public affection.

A small man in a strange looking labcoat with padded shoulders opens the door. He is still wearing a pair of thick black welding goggles and smiles up at the newcomers. He takes 5 dollars from each patron and hands them a scrap of cardboard with the word "Billet" written in purple crayon.



Welcome! Welcome! Come in! All are Welcome at the Luminescent Emporium. Please take a seat. I'll be right back with your potatoes and potations.

The man in the lab coat seats the party at table front and center to a crude looking stage painted flat black. The shop is not large but looks like it could seat at least 5 tables of four. A door leads into the back and the pleasant aroma of spiced fried potatoes wafts into the room. It smells delicious.

There is a humorous sign on the wall near the back kitchen door that reads. "Yes I can make Burgers but then you'd have to wait!"

The man in the lab coat disappears through the back door, escaping the start of any further conversation. Almost immediately a pipe organ begins to play through the shops ventilation system. It is good but mildly disturbing.

[Starspawn338]

"Well I wonder how this chap is going to help us." Lew says quietly to the others. "He looks like he's off his rocker."

[jp1885]

"Well quite..." says Tony. He sniffs the air. "At least the evening won't be completely wasted if this is a bust though - those potatoes smell rather good."

[SunlessNick]

"They sure were last time," Zara says. "But I'm with Lew. I don't know what any of this has to do with finding that guy's bones. But if it means he's going to leave me - or us now, I guess - alone..."

[DSIGFUSS]

After a few minutes the man in the puffy labcoat returns with a pitcher of ice cold water and a large plate of scrumptious spiced potatoes. For such a place everything is clean and up to code. The utensils and plates provided are spotless and the glasses cleaned to a shine. There are fresh strawberries soaking in the water providing a wonderfully fresh and sweet aroma to counter the spice of the potatoes.

He bows low to the group and checks the door for any more patrons. He shakes his head when he finds none and continues back to the party. He hands each of them a flyer. and then darts once again into the back room.

Please enjoy your Potatoes and Potations my friends. The show will begin shortly.


The flyer simply reads.

Mistress Lydia and the Lamenting Lycantherope.

The lights dim but candles are lit on the table. Enough light for remains for everyone's faces to still be seen for polite quiet conversation during the show.

Blue light dances across the far wall. Shodowy forms of people appear on the stage and move about quite awkwardly at first but develop an interesting yet unatrural flow. A young girl comes into play.



A voice booms from over the stage speakers.

Good evening ladies and gentlemen. I'd like to tell you a story of a young maiden name Lydia and the melancholy of her love lost to a terrible curse.

The curse of Lyncanthropy,



The shadow puppets grow dark and a wolf appears bathed in a dull white light that flickers strangely.

[Mr. Handy]

"I say, these taste quite good too!" says Liz, sampling the fried potatoes. "I've never cared much for burgers anyway. I've always preferred fish and chips. Well, we've got the chips, at least." She settles back to watch the show as she eats.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Honeydew:

Spoiler:

I will roll WIS saving throws for the characters present, to determine if they are safe from the effects of your substances. Liz WIS = 10, minus 1 for Emotional = 9[dice]0[/dice] Zara WIS = 11, minus 1 for Emotional[dice]1[/dice] Lew WIS = 10 [dice]2[/dice] Tony WIS = 11[dice]3[/dice] A result below the WIS avoids the effect of the drug. Only Lew suffers no effect. I assume you decided on the love/lust effect, based on your narration. Correct me if I am wrong. Go ahead and read the spoilers for the others so you can see how I have had your stuff act. It can be edited if this isn't what you had in mine.

Lew:

Spoiler:

You enjoy perfectly fine food and drink, and an eccentric entertainment. Otherwise, the only thing you notice is that your companions seem a little more affectionate than usual.

Everybody else present:

Spoiler:

For some reason, you feel particularly fond of your companions at this moment. Perhaps it's the carnival atmosphere of the place. Whatever the explanation might be, you also feel a little more attracted to whatever gender or genders you prefer. Nothing scandalous, just a little more flirtatious than usual.

[Mr. Handy]

Liz flutters her eyelashes at Tony. "I wouldn't let lycanthropy keep me from true love, would you?" she says. "You'd look even more handsome with more hair, under the light of a full moon."

[jp1885]

Tony's moustache positively frizzles. He leans over to Liz, squeezes her knee and whispers: "Rrrowl..."

[SunlessNick]

Zara giggles at the sight. "We'll have to make sure it's you he saves from the mad slasher next time."

[Mr. Handy]

Liz giggles too. "Of course, I too turn into an absolute beast on a monthly basis," she says.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

A good time is had by all, although perhaps Lew thinks his companions are acting a bit frisky, under the circumstances.

In any case, at a certain point in the eccentric performance, all of the investigators -- except, curiously, Lew, who might have been looking elsewhere for a moment -- witness a large number of swallows fluttering through the theater. The brief illusion -- for such it must surely be -- is a mystery, for there is no evident way such a thing could have been produced through lighting and puppetry. It almost suggests a very advanced version of the new science of optical holography, a little-known method of producing three-dimensional images requiring the use of lasers, developed only a few years ago.

Later, overheard conversations among the other members of the audience make it clear that not everyone witnessed such a thing.

[jp1885]

Munching on a potato, Tony sits back to enjoy the show, arms draped somewhat louchely around the shoulders of his female companions.

“This is pretty far out. I wonder how he does it? More to the point, how will it help us?”

[Mr. Handy]

"I think it's done with lasers," says Liz. "It's a very new technology, though Dr. Henry North did encounter what must have been a laser once back in 1788. A madwoman named Violette Dupray attempted to use it to assassinate King Louis XVI and kick off the French Revolution early, but he stopped her with a mirror, reflecting the beam back at her. It was invented by an evil scientist named Roterstein, though he also went by other translations of the name such as Redstone. The lasers being used here are harmless, though, as long as you don't have the beam hit you directly in the eye. I don't think it's the lasers we need to help us, though. Captain Palliser said that Dr. Honeydew can make a nostrum that can reveal the unseen. That's what we need to find his remains."

[Starspawn338]

"Although a rather enjoyable way to waste an evening, I'm not sure what we have accomplished tonight." Lew offers. "We should have just asked him what we were going to ask him without all the smoke and mirrors light show. Perhaps we can get to it all now?"

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

During the show, Zara, who always has paper and pencil ready at hand, half-consciously produces a quick sketch of the swallows, adding to the scene a background which seems to be an old building, of the kind built by the Spanish colonists of California a couple of centuries ago.

[SunlessNick]

"This mean anything to anyone?" Zara asks, showing the picture to the rest of the gang.

[DSIGFUSS]

ooc,The group before them had the Love/ Lust effect. The effect now is Sadness/ Despair. The puppet show reflects the desired emotion. The "Lamenting" Lycantherope is a sad sad tale. :cry: lol

The Shadow Puppet show continues and tells the sad tale of a young gypsy woman who falls deeply in love with a woodsman. The gypsy's mother warns the woodsman to stay from her daughter but the two cannot be parted. Even after the woodsman performs a series of daring quests to prove his love the mother curses the woodsman with lycantherapy. The woodsman turns into a werewolf and murders everyone in the village including his gypsy love and her mother. When he wakes from the bloodbath in the shape of a man, the woodsman is so distraught that he puts his rifle in his mouth and pulls the trigger.

Alas, his curse saves him from death and his rifle offers him no peace. The woodsman is cursed to roam the land in a loveless and murderous melancholy for the rest of his days.



The shadow puppets disappear from the stage leaving only the sound of Doctor Maximus Honeydew's voice over a dull Blue light.

So sad...So very Sad... There are pistols taped to the underside of your chair... I would completely understand whatever decision you make at this sad moment of despair. So very Sad...

[jp1885]

Tony nods sagely at Liz's technical explanation, whilst understanding not a single word.

As the story progresses, he can't help but dwell on this. How could a caddish dullard like him possibly stand a chance with such an intelligent girl as Liz?

When Zara shows them the drawing, he shrugs.

"Don't ask me my dear - I'm too much of a dunce."