Episode 1 - Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch’intrate

[Mr. Handy]

"Must be locked," says Harry. "Some offices hide filing cabinet keys by taping them to something, even the back of the cabinet. If you're going to that, why even lock it? But it could work to our advantage." He begins searching for a key.

[CrackheadC.]

SAN 60.
1d100
Fail, lose 1.

Dirk shudders and drops the poster with a fright. After a moment he calls out to the other kids, "Oh, ha ha, very funny you guys. So you saw me coming and pulled a fast one on me?" He picks the poster back up and tries to inspect the drawing more closely to see if he can recognize anything else strange. "Whichever one of you drew this did a pretty good job, I'll admit."

[Mephistophilis]

OOC:   Anyone who might not recognise the picture as Ash from Evil Dead can roll Know to see if they do if/when Dirk shows it to them. Harry roll Notice Stuff to look for a key.

[Philulhu]

I expect that’s something that Charlie would know.

Charlie looked at the posted. ”That’s Ash. From Evil Dead? You seen it?” he asked Dirt. Seeing him shaken was making Charlie feel better.

He tapped the message. ”Who knew you were coming here?”

[BoyBlunder78]

Darren walked over to Dirk looking at the poster he turns to him and sys "Groovy"

[Mephistophilis]

Dirk studies the poster more closely, systematically running his light up and down it. The front is in good condition, the printing still seems fresh, the black ink is crisp, but there is a little yellowing around the edges of the paper. Flipping it over onto the back the yellowing is more noticeable and the paper seems more creased, although at least some of that is an illusion caused by the very fine lines drawn there.

The drawing is from the film Evil Dead II, an unrated horror film that came out this year. It shows the hero Ash (with his hand replaced by a chainsaw) as depicted in a page from the mythical book the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis, The Book of the Dead from the film. It is supposed to be a prophesy about 'the Hero from the Sky' who comes to save people from the evil baddies, and reflects the ironic scenes at the end of the film where Ash is sent back in time to fight the deadites again. The picture is a pretty good reproduction of the one seen in the film. Only this one one has writing underneath in a sort of watery-red ink, presumably meant to reflect the opening of the film where the Necronomicon is said to have been inked in blood. And the writing talks about Dirk.

Funland has been closed for years so there's no way this picture was already on the back of an original poster since Evil Dead II only came out this year. The poster itself seems old, there's ways of making things look old but it'd be a pretty impressive feat to reproduce an old Funland poster and then age the paper. And the differential fading of the paint where the poster was up on the wall looks genuine, that wasn't faked. So somehow someone got this picture from the film onto the back of the poster then stuck it back on the wall. And they did a good job, it looks like the one from the film as far as you remember (if you saw it), it's pretty intricate. The writing in red is pretty coarse in comparison, it's probably not blood, that doesn't dry this red - that's only in films, not real life. And it's odd they spelled Your wrong. Why ever they did it, someone went to a lot of trouble. And you can't really explain how this poster remained in such good condition compared to the rest of the office, unless it was removed years ago then...

[CrackheadC.]

Science Class: 10%,
1d100

"Oh that's so weird man. I did see this one a while ago actually. I snuck into a theater to see it, but I didn't talk to anyone about the movie cause I didn't want my pops to find out I saw it." Dirk is a bit visibly shaken, "I didn't tell anyone I was coming here either."

Dirk hands the poster to anyone who wants to examine it closer with a shudder. "I can't figure out how they did it, but someone definitely took this one too far, even for me."

[Philulhu]

Not holding out much hope for this (10%).

1d100

Is that fumble on a skill less than 50%?!

[BoyBlunder78]

Here goes...

Aww,poor Dirt not nice being the on the butt end of a joke is it?! Well something weird is going on here, the kid woth the ballon, all the cars, broken mirrors now this.... looks like something has a hard-on for ya" Darren says with a smile, but his heart beating hard and his palms sweaty as pits on a brave face. "And don't think it was any of us Dirk none of us knew you were coming, heck i didn't know these two were coming. " He says gesturing to Max and Charlie.

[Mr. Handy]

Harry can't find a key, so he takes a look at the poster. "Someone pranked you really well," says Harry, "and I mean really well. Whoever did this went to a lot of effort. The movie only came out this year, but the poster looks to be years old. There are ways to make things appear old when they're not, but that would be very impressive to reproduce an old Funland poster and then age the paper. And it looks like there was a poster was here for a long time, based on the fading on the wallpaper. Someone had to have taken this old poster down, put the movie poster on the other side, and then put it back on the wall. Did a great job of it too. Makes you wonder why someone so clever would make such an obvious grammatical error. The red writing isn't blood. Real blood doesn't stay that red when it dries. And yet the poster looks in much better shape than the rest of the office. It's like someone removed it years ago, and then did some work on it and put it back more recently."

Notice Stuff roll (43% skill) looking for the key:
d%
Science Class roll (80% skill) looking at the poster:
d%

[Snapper]

Max was stoically staying outside. He called to the others through a broken office window. "The other possibility is that the person who wrote that message to D..., ah, Dirk is or had access to a clairvoyant. A person with the ability to see glimpses of the future."

"I've just finished an excellent Time-Life Mysteries of the Unknown book on ESP. Extra. Sensory. Perception. Time-Life is reputable. The book's in the school library if you're interested." Max was quite earnestly serious about this.

[Mr. Handy]

"It could be a time traveler too," says Harry. "That is theoretically possible."

[Snapper]

Max looked surprised for a second but then nodded agreement. "Time travel cannot be discounted. It would be a lot of effort to go to, just to annoy Dirk, but it is a possibility."

"The Star Trek episode Tomorrow is Yesterday had an excellent time travel plot, and of course Star Trek IV was brilliant. I have the novelisation of the movie."

[Philulhu]

”Well, that was a fascinating discussion,” said Charlie dryly.

”But what are we doing now? Going for a look around?” He was trying to sound more confident than he felt.

[Mr. Handy]

"Dirk may not be famous now," says Harry, "but anything can happen in the future. Maybe one day he'll pull off a prank so big that someone will want to come back in time to get prevenge. Star Trek IV was excellent, but Star Trek II was the best." He glances up when Charlie speaks, not aware that the discussion had actually ended. "See if you can find the key to the filing cabinets. I couldn't, but it's a big office, and it's a mess. There must be some important documents in there for them to keep them locked."

[Snapper]

Rather reluctantly, Max entered the office and started searching for the key. "I'd suggest we follow one of the sets of tracks I located. There are three options, north along the path, on the grass following the roller coaster, or under the roller coaster. Somehow."

1d%FF40%

Fail.

[Philulhu]

Charlie looked around. Where would he hide a key if he didn’t want anyone to find it?

Notice stuff (60%) 1d100

Edit: Yay, just made it

[Mr. Handy]

"I'm curious about the ones going under the coaster," says Harry, "but let's see if anything we find here gives us a better lead first."

[Snapper]

"My folks only let me watch Wrath of Khan after I turned twelve, a few months ago. We hired it put on VHS. It was very good. Those earwigs. But on personal preferences, I liked the happier ending of IV. That's just me."

[Mephistophilis]

By the door you all entered through, Charlie sees a slim metal box mounted in the narrow space between the frame of the door and the wall. The front of it swings open when he pulls on it and inside are rows of hooks, a couple of them have keys hanging from them. Selecting one of the smaller keys, Charlie takes it and tries the filing cabinet. It turns and he feels the lock mechanism disengaging. He tries to open the top drawer in triumph but the cabinet has obviously warped a bit and it takes a lot of tugging and wiggling until he gets the drawer open. Inside the top drawer there isn't much, a buff manila folder with some sheets of typewritten paper inside and lying on the bottom an envelope marked CONFIDENTIAL.

Obviously the first thing Charlie rips open is the confidential envelope. Inside there's a collection of typewritten sheets held together with a paperclip. The top sheet is a curriculum vitae for Donald LeMann, and there's a passport-style photograph clipped to the front. The photo shows an average looking white man with blonde hair dressed in casual clothes. But a wide strip across his eyes has been scratched out. The rest of the pages are dull stuff about various jobs and boring office notes about LeMann.

Inside the folder there's a series of memos written by Ina Matthews. They are about the park's 'media strategy' in dealing with the revelations about Donald LeMann, it's all 'plausible deniability' and 'safeguarding measures.'

Donald LeMann's CV is pretty unremarkable. Originally from Northfield, he seems to have worked in a few amusement parks and carnivals around the country before returning to Indiana and starting at Funland in 1970. There's a sheet of handwritten notes that seem to have been torn from a lined notepad, headed 'Interview for D LeMann, 2nd Feb 1970.' Underneath the author records that they have been unable to contact any of LeMann's supplied referees and also notes that no one seems to recall a child by the name of Donald LeMann from the local schools during the period he is listed as living here. Then there's a few sheets marked as disciplinary incidents that detail a number of warnings LeMann seems to have received for 'inappropriate' contact with park visitors including giving out his number and several complaints from guests that he followed them or was verbally or physically inappropriate with them or their children in a sexual manner in the park. These go back almost to the time LeMann was taken on in 1970.

In Ina Matthews's memos she talks about the goals of 'undermining the credibility' of complaints and complainants, 'denying any connection' between LeMann and the park, 'reassuring the public' about their safety in Funland and enhanced security measures being implemented, and finally 'emphasising full cooperation with law enforcement' investigating LeMann's alleged crimes. What's remarkable is that these memos are accompanied by news clippings that show how even as details of LeMann's crimes emerged over time, Matthews continued to recommend attacking the victims, even threatening legal action, including the families of those who died, as well as denying any connection with the park despite the evidence that LeMann committed many of his crimes inside Funland itself.