Dina said that she arrived in Carousel in 2011. We got here in 2022. Either someone was very confused, or Carousel didn't really care much about continuity.

The thing was... I had never heard of that happening. None of the veteran players had mentioned anything like that and that isn't the type of thing that you can just leave out. After all, most of the groups lured to Carousel could be linked to other players that were here when they arrived. Just like how Antoine was "invited" by Chris. It was only on occasion that someone would arrive without having some connection to other players.

"That can't be," Antoine said. "Chris left eight years ago and he's been here for eight years. Not to mention, there have been two or three teams since then."

Dina furrowed her brow.

“The letters talked as if things were being moved into place,” she said. “Maybe...”

She didn't finish her thought.

She started walking back toward town.

“Maybe what?” Antoine asked.

She glanced back at us as she walked. “Maybe it isn't a coincidence. Any of this.”

We stood up and chased after her.

“You think we were brought here for you?” Camden asked.

She shrugged her shoulders. “Makes me sound egotistical, doesn't it?”

It sounded like she was suggesting that she started driving down the road to Carousel in 2011 and didn't actually arrive until we did because… we were supposed to help her save her son. That sounded a little out of pitch with what we knew of Carousel so far. Why would Carousel care about saving some kid? That's assuming it you could call Carousel's intentions for the kid "saving". Horror movies aren't known for happily ever afters. Ever seen Pet Sematary? Sometimes dead is better.

Surely, this was all just part of the cruelty of the entity we were all captive to. It was ridiculous to think that Carousel had told the complete truth to Dina in those letters. There had to be an angle.

“Where are we going?” Kimberly asked.

We had just been following Dina.

“I thought you had a storyline that we were going to do. Wasn't that the whole reason you came out today?” Dina answered.

Anna ran up ahead of Dina. “Stop. We have to talk about this.”

Dina shook her head. “We have to keep moving forward. You know everything I know. You can come to your own conclusions about whether or not you’re going to help me. I'm not going to sit around and wait like all those people back at the lodge.”

“We can do both," Anna said. "We can talk things through and keep pursuing it."

Dina gave a half-shrug.

"Anyway, we have a storyline to do today. Let's try to work together on it, okay?"

"Fine by me."

They both started walking toward town. I moved up ahead so that I could scout out omens.

It occurred to me that the storyline we were headed toward was on the other side of town. I had an idea.

“I think we should stop by the pawn shop in the town square. Arthur told me about it. It’ll only take a bit. It's on the way, I promise.”

No one objected. That was good enough for me.

Navigating through town was more difficult than going through the outskirts. There were more omens packed closely together. Luckily, I was able to get us through. All it took was a ton of stress and an extra helping of caution.

We couldn't go directly through town square. That place was filled to the brim with omens. We could only go there in between scenes like the last time. Luckily there was a way to get to the pawn shop without going through town square.

There was a back alley.

Now I know what you're thinking: the back alley must be filled with omens.

You'd be wrong. There were only three.

One was inside a dumpster. I didn't know what it was but I could hear it growling. Another involved a man wearing a tinfoil hat and talking to himself. Those were easy to avoid.

The third was a little bit trickier. There was a green ooze rising up out of a sewer grate. The sewers of Carousel had to be filled with storylines because this was the third omen I had seen related to them.

“Don’t step in the ooze,” I said.

“Avoid the glowing sludge?” Camden asked with a grin. Maybe he was starting to get past his first death. I didn’t think I’d heard him joke since… who knows when.

“You'll just have to trust me,” I answered.

Everyone made it past with little trouble.

Once we were through the alleyway, we had made it.

We gazed up at Happened A-Pawn Pawn Shop. Our destination.

Walking into the pawn shop, I immediately noticed that something was different about this place. Nearly every object in the entire store displayed information on the red wallpaper. I'm not just talking about omens, though there were those too, I mean everything.

The guns hung up on the wall behind the counter told me how much ammunition they could hold and how powerful they were. I hadn't really considered the idea that some weapons might be more powerful than others. I mean obviously, I know a handgun isn't as deadly as a shotgun or a rifle, but comparing rifles to each other felt ambiguous and pointless when it was the user's Mettle that actually mattered.

There weren't just guns, there were knives, swords, and weapons of all sorts. A mall ninja would go crazy in this shop. If there were ever a citywide zombie apocalypse, this would be the first place I would go.

But the supplies didn't end there. There were things that might not seem useful at first glance. The shop was filled with all types of props, outfits, and tools.

There were hunting supplies, hiking supplies, and an entire section devoted to used art supplies. There were canvases, one of which was an Omen, paint, and a portable easel. There was a typewriter that you could carry around in its own little case. There were musical instruments, cameras, and a variety of other electronics.

The selection of Omens was even greater than that at the psychic’s shop.

“Do not touch anything,” I said to my friends as we walked in.

“Riley,” Anna said, “I think… I think we can see them too.”

“The Omens?”

She nodded her head.

This place really was special.

As I looked around at everything the shop offered, my eyes eventually rested on a familiar sight. In the corner of the shop, broken down and inoperable, was Silas the Showman. He didn't move; he didn't speak. His lights were off. And yet I could never really feel like he wasn't watching.

In addition to seeing information about the objects in the shop, I could see their cost and rarity. I could also see whether any of them required special tropes to be able to use in a storyline. Some said that tropes were required, and others said they were merely recommended.

After looking around the shop for a while, I saw under the glass of the counter, a collection of tickets. Tropes of all kinds. The red wallpaper told me how rare each one was. I took twenty minutes just to read them all. Unlike the other objects in the pawn shop, these did not have prices on them. I suspected I would have to haggle.

While looking through the tropes on the red wallpaper, I noticed there was information that didn't appear on the card itself. It was something called an ‘Aspect.’ It appeared to modify the base archetype. I had heard some of these words thrown around before at the lodge but never knew any context for them. If this were a video game, an aspect appeared to be a subclass or something like that. I imagined I would need a special trope to see aspects outside of the pawn shop.

Name

Archetype

Aspect

Type

Stat

Effect

Rarity

A Rare Find

Antiquarian

N/A

Perk

Savvy

The player will be presented with valuable artifacts that, if recovered and kept undamaged, will increase the loot won at the end of the storyline

✪✪

Alignment Reveal

Outsider

Stranger

Action

Moxie

A player who has kept their involvement with the main cast ambiguous until the Finale can then reveal they are an ally, boosting all of their stats. Keeping a distance from the main storyline is more difficult than it seems.

✪✪✪✪

Amateur Paranormal Investigator

N/A

N/A

Background

N/A

The player has always been interested in the paranormal and likes to spend their nights and weekends hunting ghosts, goblins, and cryptids. Grants access to the following tropes: Trail Cam (Adventurer), Accidentally Captured On Film (Artist), EVP (Psychic), Sleuth's Starter's Kit (Detective), Legacy Hunter's Journal (Monster Hunter), and Ouija is Just a Boardgame (Psychic). LEVEL I.

✪✪✪

Are their feelings real?

Femme Fatale

N/A

Buff

Moxie

If the player strikes up a budding romance with an ally, they will both get higher Grit for the remainder of the storyline or until the question of the player’s true feelings is answered.

✪

Call in the Military

Soldier

Commando

Rule

N/A

Changes the win condition to waiting out until after the military arrives. The player must contact them first. The player will see a countdown until victory. Enemies will be more aggressive and better at finding players. Be cautious when equipping this trope, as storylines will scale to a level justifying military intervention.

✪✪✪✪✪

Charlatan

Psychic

Occultist

Action

Moxie

Revealing oneself to be a fraudulent psychic (or being revealed) invalidates all predictions (good or bad) and psychic abilities. If performed at the Rebirth midpoint, it also rids the story of its supernatural qualities and morphs the story into a more realistic scenario that only appeared supernatural (when plausible)

✪✪✪✪

Clue Magnifier

Detective

N/A

Insight

Savvy

When examining a scene, the player will receive applicable clues on the red wallpaper. A magnifying glass or similar can be used as a prop to great effect.

✪

Don't Dead Open Inside

Any

N/A

Insight

Plot Armor

Increases the frequency of on-scene, explicit information related to the plot or enemy.

✪✪✪

Eagle Scout

N/A

N/A

Background

N/A

The player was in the scouts growing up. The following tropes can be equipped: Know Your Knots (Adventurer), Prepared for the Outdoors (Adventurer), I Need Duct Tape and Towels (Doctor), Follow the Leader (Wallflower), A Keen Sense of Direction (Adventurer), Monsters Fear Fire (Monster Hunter), and The Benefits of an Active Lifestyle (Athlete)

✪✪✪

Fight Magic with Magic

Monster Hunter

N/A

Rule

Plot Armor

Allows the player to bring Occult objects into the story that are usable for hunting monsters, creatures, or supernatural entities. As player PA increases, they can bring more items and more useful items.

✪✪

Flickering Lights

Departed

N/A

Action

Savvy

The player can cause lights or other electronics to flicker as a means to communicate with living allies. The higher the Savvy, the higher the control over the flickering.

✪

Fresh Meat

Outsider

Newcomer

Rule

Moxie

Revealing oneself to be a new student, employee, etc. during the Party Phase will cause ornery or pugnacious NPCs to gravitate toward you, increasing the odds of the player finding useful information, endearing the player to protective NPCs, and letting allies go Off-Screen.

✪✪

Give him the hook!

Comedian

Joker

Action

Moxie

Telling a bad joke on purpose lowers PA

✪✪✪

Golden Rule

Wallflower

Underdog

Insight

Moxie

Being kind to NPCs can result in them striking up a useful friendship that can be used to obtain information Off-Screen.

✪

Hang a Lampshade

Film Buff/ Comedian

N/A

Buff

Savvy

Pointing out a cliché or unrealistic plan buffs the planner's Savvy and increases the likelihood of success.

✪✪

Human Shield

Guardian

N/A

Buff

Grit

When protecting an ally from damage, the ally will, to the extent plausible, not take damage. The player will take it instead.

✪

I had a troubled childhood

Outsider

Criminal

Rule

Moxie

The player gains proficiency with lockpicking, hotwiring cars, and other criminal skills if they convincingly portray themselves as having a criminal history.

✪✪✪

Intimidation is Charisma

Bruiser

Bully

Rule

Mettle

In situations that involve persuasion and intimidation is a plausible means to persuade, the player's Moxie is equal to their Mettle

✪✪

It's All In Your Head

Doctor

Psychiatrist

Action

Moxie

Allows the player to prescribe medication to temporarily dampen or eliminate mental trauma--even if that trauma is caused by real supernatural beings. This can protect them from otherworldly tormentors and even suppress possession, if only for a while.

✪✪

Kick the Dog

Outsider

Criminal

Action

Moxie

Doing an evil or revolting act in the Party Phase lower's user's plot armor but ensures they will have a cinematic death after at Second Blood.

✪

Limber

Athlete

Fitness Expert

Buff

N/A

Allows the player extra Hustle when doing a task that requires flexibility

✪

New In Town

Outsider

Newcomer

Insight

Moxie

Introducing yourself in a friendly manner will increase the odds of NPCs reciprocating, giving directions, or general advice.

✪

Not Important Enough

Wallflower

Extra

Rule

N/A

As long as the player does not engage in the plot, they will not be targeted by an intelligent enemy with no specific motive to do so. Prevents being targeted for both First and Second Blood. After the Midpoint, they will be considered Written Off and will not be permitted back On-Screen except through the effect of another Trope.

✪✪✪

Not Just a Pretty Face

Eye Candy

Beauty

Buff

N/A

The Eye Candy's Moxie is used in place of Savvy when the highest Savvy ally is dead, unavailable, or has a plan fail.

✪✪✪✪

Peek over the shoulder

Wallflower

Stand-In

Insight

Moxie

The player can get a peek at an NPC's current scripted action by getting physically close to them.

✪✪

Photographic Memory

Scholar

Sleuth

Perk

Savvy

The player can store limited visual information on the red wallpaper.

✪✪

Pointing Out The Obvious

Hysteric

Defiant

Buff

Moxie

Reiterating obvious problems ad nauseum will buff allies' Grit and Savvy.

✪

Pregnancy Reveal

Any Female Character

N/A

Buff

Moxie

Revealing pregnancy On-Screen buffs player's Grit and increases lover's Mettle upon death.

✪✪✪

Prepared for the Outdoors

Adventurer

N/A

Rule

N/A

Allows the player to bring standard outdoors equipment, such as climbing gear, hiking equipment, etc.

✪

Save the Cheerleader, Save the World

Damsel

N/A

Rule

N/A

Changes the win condition to rescuing the player, assuming they are successful in being kidnapped or put in prolonged risk of harm.

✪

Shared Experience

Final Girl

Leader

Rule

N/A

The Final Girl's exploits will increase the loot of all players, regardless of involvement in the storyline

✪✪✪

Sitting by the Phone

Wallflower

Underdog

Rule

Moxie

After establishing friendships with allies early in the story, the player can sit out much of what follows until they are called in (through a plausible method) for help in the Finale. Engaging in the plot will invalidate this trope. The player is considered Written Off until they are called back in.

✪✪✪✪

The Bulletproof Table

Soldier

G.I.

Rule

Moxie

In a Fight Scene, anything the character hides behind will be imbued with the movie magic required to stop projectiles, claws, acid, or similar attacks. Must be at least plausible and the portrayal must be convincing.

✪✪

The One That Got Away

Hysteric

Craven

Rule

N/A

Upon the death of the rest of the party, the Win Condition changes to escape. Player will be able to perceive a safe zone. However, in any sequel storyline, you will be targeted first.

✪✪✪✪✪

Third Eye Cam

Psychic

Seer

Insight

Savvy

The player will be able to see the deaths of other players and NPCs in real-time. Whether they can reveal that information On-Screen, depends on the nature of the story.

✪✪✪✪

Trail Cam

Adventurer

N/A

Insight

Savvy

Allows the player to place video cameras around the setting in an attempt to capture proof or information.

✪✪✪

Unconscious Revelation

Artist

N/A

Insight

Savvy

The player will subconsciously include hints to supernatural phenomena into their artistic work, be it a book, painting, or the like.

✪✪