Episode 1 - Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch’intrate

[Mr. Handy]

"No, I meant the plot," says Harry, getting distracted from looking at the controls.

Notice Stuff roll (43% skill) in the control room:
d%

[Snapper]

1d%FF40%

Fail.

Max looked at the controls. "In a normal fun park, I'd say those controls were just there for show, to make the ride seem more exciting. Here, in this strange place, I won't even guess. Whatever, let's not try to start this ride up."

Other than the party's own, are there any signs of footprints or other recent human activity?

[Philulhu]

”Oh, Ok,” said Charlie. He looked at the control panel.

”So, do you think this is real?” he asked. He tentatively reached out and gripped the edge of the console, trying to bend it, wondering if it would give way like the soda cans.

Notice stuff (60%) 1d100

[CrackheadC.]

Notice Stuff: 60%
1d100

"Fake soda isn't much draw if you are trying to lure people in. Hell, the first thing I'd do would be to, I dunno, make the entrance not look like such a dump." Dirk says as he hops up near the controls with the others and takes a look. Not know what to make of it Dirk just shrugs, "This looks like something out of a sci-fi show... or what a little kid would come up with if you told them to make controls for a ride"

The clown cars didn't do much for him, "Weird cars. I wonder if they looked less creepy when the park was still open." Dirk stepped on to the ride to get a closer look at the cars

[Mr. Handy]

"That control panel could be right out of Star Trek too," says Harry. "It looks a lot more complicated than it has to be. Maybe it controls the ride, but maybe it does more than that. Too bad we didn't find a manual for it."

[Mephistophilis]

Dirk steps up onto the platform of the Giddy Giggler. It feels a bit spongy underfoot, like the wooden floor is starting to rot. Everyone else is crowding around the elaborate control panel. Charlie grabs the edges and gives it a squeeze, it feels solid enough but the surface has a sheen and is slightly slippery. Darren tries to make out what all the different buttons, gauges, and dials are supposed to do. There's no obvious labels just some squiggly symbols. He prods a plastic button and it gives a satisfying click, but nothing else happens. He twists a dial which has a decent amount of resistance and makes a slight whirring sound. Then he pushes up a lever which also takes quite a bit of effort to move.

As the lever reaches the end of its travel Darren feels something. A sort of humming, coming from inside the control panel itself. It suddenly lights up brightly, the switches and dials shining, looking even more like some science fiction computer. Then the multi-coloured lights come on in the main body of the ride itself. There is a whirring, a scraping, and a crunching from the central cylinder. A discordant sound slowly starts to fill the air, the organ-music speeding up until it is recognisable as a carnival song.

OOC:   Something like the beginning of this.

The the clown-faced cars jump into life, jerking forwards and beginning to twist and rotate. Before he knows it Dirk is surrounded by the gyrating vehicles, unpredictably moving about him. The grinning clown-faces with their scratched out eyes spinning around, yet he has the constant feeling that they're continuing to stare at him, stare at him with their black, scratched out eyes.

OOC:   Can you give me a Dodge roll for Dirk

[Snapper]

"Great Scott!!" Max frantically studied the insane controls, looking for a way to turn the ride off.

Are there any skills that might assist?

[Mr. Handy]

Harry also examines the control console, trying to figure out how to use it to stop the ride.

Science Class roll (80% skill) figuring out the control panel:
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[BoyBlunder78]

"Woah!" gasps Darren looking up in shock as the ride grinded into life. Spotting Dirk he frantically tried to shut it down.

Hard Success!!

[CrackheadC.]

"Jesus!" Dirk shouts as he tries to jump back off of the ride and get out of the way of the clown cars, "Shut this thing off!"

Dodge: 35%
1d100

[Mephistophilis]

Dirk just manages to jump down off the platform before a clown-car swirls past where he was standing. The cars are rotating faster and faster, spinning around the ride. The organ-music speeding up and becoming more and more discordant. The metal supporting struts are shaking and twisting, the wooden platform buckling and splintering.

Harry and Max study the control panel. It makes no sense. The dials and wheels have no discernable purpose and throttling back on the lever Darren pushed makes no difference. Darren steps around to the back of the machine and sees a thick cable running into the back of it. He tries to give it a tug but it is firmly attached. Taking his bat he starts striking the oversized plug. Thunk. It doesn't move. Thunk. The lights are flashing now, almost a strobe effect. Fragments of metal come flying from the ride, crashing into the wooden canopy and parts of the walls. Thunk. A jagged piece slams into the face of the control panel. Thunk. The cable bends and then slips from the back of the panel. The music rapidly trails off. The lights blink out. And the clown-cars grind to a halt.

Sorry, I missed what you wrote about the footprints. There's a few faint footprints here and there in places but one set of more fresh looking prints that goes around the Giddy Giggler and off to the northwest.

[Snapper]

All good!

"Woah! That could have been a lot worse. Ah, Darren, good job at the end but maybe don't turn any more rides on, no more pulling levers."

"I'm amazed, actually it's very weird this place still has power, after all these years shut down. My understanding is if you're a grown-up and you don't pay your power company bill, they turn the lights out after a few months."

"And, by the way, I found some footprints." Max shone his flashlight on the footprints heading north-west.

[Mr. Handy]

"Well done!" says Harry. "Maybe there's a generator here, but the fuel wouldn't have lasted years. Someone must have come here recently and powered it. Let's follow those footprints."

[BoyBlunder78]

Darren runs over to Dirk, "Shiiìiiit! You ok dude!!! That did look fricking cool by the way!" Seeing Max and Harry wandering off, muttering about footprints, Darren shouts, "Oi!!! HEY! YOU TWO STAY THERE!! DO NOT GO OFF ON YA OWN!!!'

[Snapper]

Darren runs over to Dirk, "Shiiìiiit! You ok dude!!! That did look fricking cool by the way!" Seeing Max and Harry wandering off, muttering about footprints, Darren shouts, "Oi!!! HEY! YOU TWO STAY THERE!! DO NOT GO OFF ON YA OWN!!!'

At this point, Max and Harry are standing stock-still by the ride control panel, just discussing with the other kids what happened and whether to follow the footprints. I believe no-one has wandered off anywhere yet.

[CrackheadC.]

Dirk brushes himself off and makes a flourished bow at the compliment, "I'm great, man you smashed the hell out of those controls - nice work!"

Dirk follows Darren over to the other boys, "Yeah that ride was weird, the floor felt all spongy and rotten, but if it was actually rotten I bet it would have torn apart when the ride started up again."

[Philulhu]

Charlie could only stand back as events unfolded. He felt pretty useless and was relieved when the plug was pulled abd the ride ground to a halt. ”We don’t mess with stuff like that!” he said testily. ”Dirk could’ve been injured or worse!”

[Mr. Handy]

"I'm not going anywhere without the rest of you," says Harry. "I meant that we should all follow the footprints, together."

[BoyBlunder78]

OOC:   My bad, in my head i thought you had started towards the footprints...

Darren runs over to Dirk, "Shiiìiiit! You ok dude!!! That did look fricking cool by the way!" Seeing Max and Harry wandering off, muttering about footprints, Darren shouts, "Oi!!! HEY! YOU TWO STAY THERE!! DO NOT GO OFF ON YA OWN!!!'

At this point, Max and Harry are standing stock-still by the ride control panel, just discussing with the other kids what happened and whether to follow the footprints. I believe no-one has wandered off anywhere yet.

Looking at Charlie, Darren said "Yeah, but he wasn't, but your right next time we should make sure that no one is near any rides when press anymoe buttons, because lets face it, we will be pressing more buttons. " Adressing the group he continues, " This place is just...wrong.....the struts, the cans, the condition of the rides...the...(gulp)...rat..."

[Snapper]

"Now that we know the rides still work, who knows why, I'm thinking we should not try to start any more up. Unless we absolutely have to."

"OK, shall we follow the footprints, all together?"