THEN[]
In the wreckage of the burned-out Roadhouse, the party found a briefcase with several potential hunter's cases, and a damaged but potentially salvageable laptop. Also, they defeated some demons that were using a small town as their own personal chessboard, complete with human combat.
NOW[]
The party stops at a Waffle House in Nevada, before continuing on to Irwindale, California: home of the Renaissance Pleasure Festival, with an unusual number of missing persons. Joe heads off for a while to drop off the laptop with someone who could repair it, and the rest of the party goes to the Faire.
"IN MY MAN PANTS, I CAN DO ANYTHING!" The party, despite apparently containing several closet nerds, do not fit in well here. Cody is excited to buy a new sword, but then fumbles profusely when confronted with two wenches who approach him. He does buy a rose from Lily, though.
The rest of the party wanders. Alexander watches a magic show done by Tiny Tim, a well-built man who has many illusions and juggling tricks, several of which include volunteers, none of whom "disappear." Afterwards, though, Alexander observes a young woman--Lily--approach Tiny Tim and ask if he had seen Rose, who appears to have gone missing. The party approach Rose and determine that she went missing less than half an hour prior. Their questioning gets them approached by a Trekkie, a guy in a red Starfleet command uniform, who believes they are LARPers. The party is very confused, and once again reminded that they stand out.
The party also notices that a dance show appears to be missing someone. Upon speaking with the dance mistress, they determine that a Joan never showed up for work today; she hadn't answered phone calls, either, and she was usually right on time. The party watches the chessboard match, attempting to determine if there are any missing people there, but don't spot any clear discrepancies. Here, Joe finally joins them, and is very confused by the presence of a Starfleet officer.
Alexander, skilled in leathercraft, visits a leather vendor. Here, he discovers a pair of boots that are--interesting. They are definitely not from a normal animal. It's PEOPLE! He asks the vendor about the boots, not letting on that he knows they are human, and the vendor simply mentions that they are a special material. Alexander tells the rest of the party of what he's found, and Alan goes to inquire a bit more. Alan says he is interested in making a custom order from this material, and the vendor offers to pass his information on to the supplier.
Alexander has another stroke of insight, as the party discusses what the commonalities might have been among the missing persons. What if it were a show everyone had seen, or been a part of? And that Tiny Tim--he wasn't very tiny. Wouldn't he be a target, if whatever's doing this wants leather? Or what if he's involved?
The party returns to Tiny Tim's show, and volunteers (except for Danielle, who is taking pictures, and Alan, who is squeamish) when given the opportunity. Tiny Tim chooses Joe, and has him wear a blindfold and place an apple on his head--which Tiny Tim then snaps off with a whip. Joe is a little distressed by this process. Also, Matt notices Tiny Tim's eyes slip to something off-stage during the trick (which doesn't make Joe feel any better), but his attempt to investigate is thwarted.
The party equips Joe with a tracking-enabled phone, and sends him away, tied to a cord, while Cody slips off to aquire some "garb." This becomes important, as Joe is whisked away, the cord cut, and the party must sneak behind a performer's-only door behind the stage.
Cody stealths his way backstage, then sneaks Matt in as well, who can track where their missing teammate may have been taken. They begin tracking, while the others use the GPS sensor to determine from where (behind the Faire) the signal is coming.
Meanwhile, Joe wakes up, not appreciating being on the other end of the chloroform. Nor is he happy to realize he's tied to a stalagmite in a cave. But what really bothers him is the grisley sight before him--a creature eating a human body, while also feeding it to a young boy. He can tell it's a Wendigo, but this doesn't exactly help with his freaked-the-hell-out-edness. He doesn't see his equipment around, but he does see some flowers--lilies.
The party arrives, intent to sneak into the cave--only to be foiled when Joe, trying to free himself of the rope, draws attention to both himself... and his entering party members.
Shit goes down. Tiny Tim dives for cover. Cody, too far for a shot, frees Joe with his shiny new sword. Matt hits Tim with an arrow, pissing him off, and making him go for his whip. (Joe has no fond memories of that whip.) Danielle and Alex enter slowly, so as not to piss off the Wendigo, crouching over the carcass and the boy. Joe grabs his stuff, just barely out of reach of the Wendigo. Alan, thoroughly sick from the sight everyone but Joe seems to be ignoring, vomits profusely. Cody, getting closer, shoots Tim in the leg--hard, and the man passes out.
Now they have only the Wendigo to deal with--upon Joe's advice, Cody shoots it in the heart with a silver bullet, ending it with one shot.
The boy is pretty freaked out, not entirely with them, but Danielle manages to get his name--Samuel, the boy most recently missing. She and most of the others take the boy outside, leaving Joe to "question" Tim before they call the police. Joe, a little too eager for retribution for the horrors he has gone through, wakes the man, and offers to show him a "trick" with the whip. In perhaps a creepier fashion than necessary, they get the whole story--Tiny Tim is just a little insane. He read about Wendigoes and how they are formed, and wondered if he could make one. So he did, the girl who went missing the year before. But she seemed sad, so he wanted to make her a friend--the boy. He also decided he could make a profit on the side, selling the skin to a leather vendor who wouldn't ask too many questions.
Joe joins the rest of the party--just in time for a BOOM to be heard, a great explosion in the cave. They are not exactly happy with him taking the law into his own hands without even a discussion, but don't exactly mourn the guy's death, either. But the cops have been called--and they don't want to be around when they show up.
Before they leave town, Joe retrieves the newly repaired laptop (Ash's) with strange omen-detecting equipment, Alexander absconds with the Boots of Maggie Wells, and Matt puts in an online order for some chainmail. Not a nerd, indeed.
NEXT[]
Rumors of witches and public burnings in a small town in southern Illinois. What's really going on here?