Mystery Box

Dopplemance another Winston to distract the PIGGS and get the hell out of that building.

> Charity, a rarity
but how it fills the conscience with clarity.
Whitman, a man of sincerity,
cannot find nutritional variety .

Dopplemance another Winston to distract the PIGGS and get the hell out of that building.

> Charity, a rarity
but how it fills the conscience with clarity.
Whitman, a man of sincerity,
cannot find nutritional variety .

cool poem but cloning people opens an existential can of worms we really don't need right now. it endangers any possibility of a positive relationship

Dopplemance another Winston to distract the PIGGS and get the hell out of that building.

> Charity, a rarity
but how it fills the conscience with clarity.
Whitman, a man of sincerity,
cannot find nutritional variety .

cool poem but cloning people opens an existential can of worms we really don't need right now. it endangers any possibility of a positive relationship

yeah it'd reveal y0u are the d0pplemancer

Dopplemance another Winston to distract the PIGGS and get the hell out of that building.

> Charity, a rarity
but how it fills the conscience with clarity.
Whitman, a man of sincerity,
cannot find nutritional variety .

cool poem but cloning people opens an existential can of worms we really don't need right now. it endangers any possibility of a positive relationship

yeah it'd reveal y0u are the d0pplemancer

We already told Winnebago that we copied the door, he already knows we're a dopplemancer. Besides, copying him could mean he gets double the doors visited so long as we get away from the PIGGS

Show Content

Suggestions: Consider ways to slow down the PIGGS

Put your locked door down in front of the actual door to the building.

I'm not sure exactly what's going to happen if you do but I want to find out.

Not yet, save it for something even better.

Dopplemance a new door just to show 'em.

Dopplemance another Winston to distract the PIGGS and get the hell out of that building.

> Charity, a rarity
but how it fills the conscience with clarity.
Whitman, a man of sincerity,
cannot find nutritional variety.

cloning people opens an existential can of worms we really don't need right now. it endangers any possibility of a positive relationship

If the PIGGS are investigating right outside in the Leftward Alley, they might come in here any minute. And though your Box-Based Disguise and Box-Based Alias were airtight, Cam still heard your voice... and might be able to identify you by that.

[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/mysterybox/text/walter/box.png border=16]...but you could always visit Bigg Hill Park on your own. That's where the Strike is set up, and where other volunteers are. I'm sure they could...[/box][/2x1]

You consider various ways you might slow them down, using Doppelmancy. You could create a Fake Winston, but you worry that that might damage your relationship with the Authentic One. You might use your Extraneous Egress to block their access, but... perhaps you should keep it. It seems special? Like there's some better use for it.

[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/mysterybox/text/walter/box.png border=16]...so I won't be, uh... volunteering again until next weekend. But maybe if you stick around, I might see you next weekend? I could even put a good word in with...[/box][/2x1]

One other idea that comes to mind, and which you feel less conflicted about, is simply using Doppelmancy to create a barricade out of an Additional Door. Ideally, one that opens in the opposite direction, so the PIGGS can't open both doors at the same time. That ought to slow them down.

You start casting, and begin to put together a quick Incantation...

[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/mysterybox/text/walter/box.png border=16]...cracked down on time off because of the strike, and everyone who's not in the union is pulling longer hours than usual. And I've got shifts all week, so I really do need to go home, eat dinner, and sleep. I can't afford to get in more trouble with the... get detained here for questions. You know what I mean?[/box][/2x1]

[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/mysterybox/text/flannery/magic.gif border=16]Charity, a rarity.
How it fills the conscience with clarity.
Whitman, a man of sincerity,
Cannot find nutritional... variety?[/box][/2x1]

[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/mysterybox/text/walter/box.png border=16]Uh... what?[/box][/2x1]

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Flannery attempts to create a Doppel-Door Barricade...

4+3 (Fate) +3 (Insight) = 10 (Failure)

[box=#808080 width=full border=2]Failed Doppelmancy:

---

• Something has gone wrong with your copy. Very, very wrong.[/box]

The most fundamental form of Entryway is not a door, but a simple hole. This is exactly what your spell creates, squarely in the center of the Emergency Exit Door. With no barrier between you and the Alleyway, the shrill sound of the Alarm, accompanied by a nearby Choir of Sirens, floods the Apartment Hall.

Maybe it was the panic, your internal conflict about what to doppel, or something else... but whatever the case, something went terribly wrong with your Doppelmancy. This isn't what you had in mind at all! With that realization comes a wave of Lightheadedness and Disorientation. Your mind feels hazy and distracted, like it does when you leave part of your Imagination behind to sustain one of your Magical Copies... but this time, there's no spell for you to dismiss to get it back.

[box=#808080 width=full border=2]New Condition:

---

• Disoriented (Dizzy -1): Bouts of lightheadedness come and go, affecting your focus and coordination.[/box]

[box=#808080 width=full border=2]New Experience:

---

• Failed to magically copy a door to make a barricade, instead opening a hole where there wasn't one.[/box]

You might've been pushing your magic too far, in too short a time. Whatever the case, you suppose this makes for another Learning Experience, about the limits of your magic.

"hey not to be rude or anything but i think the PLURAL OF SWINE are here, lets go"
Though, don't worry. You don't exactly have the box on, and no police will really search your bag without a warrant. Right?
Still, absquatulate! At a moderate pace!

[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/mysterybox/text/walter/box.png border=16]What the heck just... there's a square hole in the door? Did you...

Shoot, the PIGGS are definitely gonna come in here and detain us now...[/box][/2x1]

[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/mysterybox/text/flannery/box.png border=16]Not if we... if we... abs... abspatula?

Uh... absquatch... abstain...?[/box][/2x1]

You shake your head, trying to clear the Dizziness from it, and get your words out. If the sirens as close as they sound, the PIGGS will surely notice the newly-created opening soon. You've gotta.... you should...

[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/mysterybox/text/walter/box.png border=16]Y-you realize you're gonna get in serious trouble if they find out you messed up all this stuff with your Door Magic, or whatever. You should really...[/box][/2x1]

[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/mysterybox/text/flannery/box.png border=16]A-absquatulate![/box][/2x1]

You bolt away from the Perforated Door, dragging your Hapless Absquatulatee behind you.

[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/mysterybox/text/walter/box.png border=16]W-where the heck are you taking me?

You should... just go across town to Bigg Hill Park! They can find you a place to stay with the strikers in Nobodyville, or something! And... and I really need to go home![/box][/2x1]

He raises a pretty good question, actually...

...where are you going? And how do you get there?
>

---

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Character Info: Flannery

[box=#808080 width=full border=2]Name: Ms. Flannery "Over-Easy" Bootz III

---

Pawn Status:
• Grazes: 0/4
• Wounds: 0/6
• Disoriented (Dizzy -1): Bouts of lightheadedness come and go, affecting your focus and coordination.
• Experience: Lost your cool, and failed to swindle money out of Cam the Dumpster Merchant.
• Experience: Failed to magically copy a door to make a barricade, instead opening a hole where there wasn't one.

Class: Copycatburglar
• Skill: Lucky Break
• Grace +2
• Presence +1
• Insight +1

Relic: Orb of Faulty Replication
• Skill: Doppelmancy
• Insight +2
• Presence +1
• Logic +1[/box]

[box=#808080 width=full border=2]Inventory:

---

Equipped:
• Blue-Collar Cloak (Evade +2): The stout denim shroud of the Working Class.
• Boots of Stomping (Jump +1, Stomp +1): These boots lend a boost, whether you're going up or coming down.
• Cat's Ear Hood (Listen +1, Charm +1): With this on your head, you hear more acutely, and look cute too.
• Replica Courier Bag (Container, Disguise +2): From your "Day Job" as a "Mail Courier". Opening a real Courier Bag is illegal, so law-abiding folk shouldn't snoop inside.
• Steel Scalemail (Armor +2): Flexible body armor made out of little metal plates.
• Steel Clawntlet (Hand-to-Hand, Climb +1, Lethal +1): A glove ending in retractable knife-sized claws.

In Replica Courier Bag:
• C-Rations (x8) (Edible?): A large tin of "Pretty Kitty Salmon and Rice Medley." Has... restorative properties?
• Cardboard Camo (Container, Restrictive, Disguise +2, Clumsy -2): A cardboard box with eye-shaped peepholes. Ideal for impersonating a container, though it makes some activities quite difficult.
• Extraneous Egress (<UNDEFINED>): A normal door.[/box]

[box=#808080 width=full border=2]Lucky Break (Grace):

---

When you find yourself in a bind or out of options, you can always look to sheer dumb luck to see you through.

• Triumph (20 or more): You not only get out of the situation, but take something good with you, or leave behind something bad.
• Success (16-19): However improbable, something solves your problem for you, with no strings attached.
• Compromise (11-15): Fate gets you out of trouble, but you leave something good behind, or take something bad with you.
• Failure (10 or less): Luck just isn't with you right now, and your troubles take a turn for the worse.[/box]

[box=#808080 width=full border=2]Doppelmancy (Insight):

---

You have the power to copy virtually anything. Trouble is, they're bad copies. Pick a nearby object or being, and say a rhyming Incantation to copy it. The copy generally looks and acts like the real thing. The copy lasts until it's damaged, for as long as you concentrate on it. Take -1 to all actions, for each existing copy.

• Triumph (20 or more): The copy is either indistinguishable from the original, or permanent and real despite 1 Minor Flaw.
• Success (16-19): It's a pretty good copy, but has 1 Major Flaw, or 2 Minor Flaws.
• Compromise (11-15): Your copy has some issues; namely 2 Major Flaws, or 3 Minor Flaws.
• Failure (10 or less): Something has gone wrong with your copy. Very, very wrong.

For each Flaw, the copy you create...
• ...isn't quite normal. It may be the wrong size, color, smell, weight, or have wildly different physical properties.
• ...isn't quite real. It may be insubstantial when touched, shimmer like a mirage, or vanish at inopportune times.
• ...isn't quite the same. Something about the way it works and behaves is worse, opposite, or just plain wrong.[/box]

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Author's Note:With these suggestions, I'll need y'all to give me a known destination to head for, or to pitch a new one. Otherwise I'll treat it like a failure, and do something Narratively Mean.

Strikers? Nobodyville? Let's go there. Sounds like you could find some people with sense, unlike those PIGGS folks.

Don't be stupid. We're going wherever we're headed. Run a little faster please, we've only got a few minutes to get to wherever we end up

We're going wherever we're going.

Author's Note: With these suggestions, I'll need y'all to give me a known destination to head for, or to pitch a new one. Otherwise I'll treat it like a failure, and do something Narratively Mean.

Wherever you're going, forego having to go down stairs by just copying the floor over and over!

• ...isn't quite real. It may be insubstantial when touched, shimmer like a mirage, or vanish at inopportune times

...I'm sure it'll be fine!

Also, let's try getting some height to survey our surroundings. If we can't think of a specific destination, let's find a rooftop where we have some options to pick and choose from. The fire escape leading into this half of the building doesn't go further up, but maybe there's another way.

Haul ass to Wallace's house, mostly by accident

>Escort Wallace home and also maybe beg to let him let us lay low for just until the alarms stop

>Have your newfound acquaintance give directions to Nobodyville while you drag them along move, and head there. At a healthy walking speed, because running from a crime scene is suspicious.

fuck all that we're holing up at a golf course. slobs versus snobs motherfuckers. we can blend in

Go to the grocery store.

Jump onto one of those buses where theres like a landing out the back and you can just jump onto it and hang on

Big Fran's Bowling Alley, stat!

We're going to Bigg Hill Park.

We're going the place everyone goes when they really want to lay low; underground

The underground to be precise

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Suggestions: Go... somewhere? Just figure it out en route.

Don't be stupid. We're going wherever we're headed. Run a little faster please, we've only got a few minutes to get to wherever we end up

Haul ass to Wallace's house, mostly by accident

>Escort Wallace home and also maybe beg to let him let us lay low for just until the alarms stop

Go to Big bill gaymoods haunt

Go to the grocery store.

Despite your Intermittant Dizziness, you manage to keep your footing as you hurry through the door, and down the Apartment Stairwell, all the while pulling Wallace behind.

[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/mysterybox/text/walter/box.png border=16]Look, I seriously can't go... wherever you're taking me right now? I need to go home.[/box][/2x1]

[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/mysterybox/text/flannery/box.png border=16]You already mentioned, Wallace. That's why I'm bringing you there.[/box][/2x1]

[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/mysterybox/text/walter/box.png border=16]But I live there? And don't really need you to bring me there?[/box][/2x1]

[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/mysterybox/text/flannery/box.png border=16]Well, I'm also going to need a place to lie low for a while.

Your house sounds like a good place to do that.[/box][/2x1]

[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/mysterybox/text/walter/box.png border=16]But you... you can't just invite yourself into someone's house? I don't even know your name!

Besides, you're a thief, you said so yourself! Why would I let a thief into my house?[/box][/2x1]

[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/mysterybox/text/flannery/box.png border=16]Because I'm escorting you home, obviously. Duh.

You'll owe me for the favor, and I'll lie low at your house as repayment. The Dumpster Merchant said that's how you do things around here.[/box][/2x1]

[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/mysterybox/text/walter/box.png border=16]I... but...

...dumpster...

...what?[/box][/2x1]

With that, you step out the front of the Apartment Complex and back into the light of Late Afternoon. The PIGGS' Sirens pierce through the air, not far behind... but thankfully, nothing Police-Like seems to be on this side of the building. Wasting no time, you lead The Guy Who Actually Knows Where You're Going into the nearest alley, cut across to another road, and embark on a journey through the unfamiliar streets of Bigg City...

[box=#808080 width=full border=2]New Project: Journey Into the Unknown (Insight):
• Progress (Very Easy): 0/1
• Goal: Find... Walter's Home?

---

When you travel toward an unexplored or unfamiliar destination, test your Insight to find your way, and gain Progress. When your Progress is full, you've arrived. More difficult-to-reach destinations require more Progress.

• Triumph (20 or more): You've reached your destination, without further trouble.
• Success (16 to 19): Gain 2 Progress, and encounter some danger or obstacle.
• Compromise (11 to 15): Gain 1 Progress, and encounter some danger or obstacle.
• Failure (10 or less): Encounter some danger or obstacle.

Spend 1 Progress to detour, and pick one of the following:
• Find your way back safely.
• Find supplies or information.
• Find aid or shelter.[/box]

You honestly don't know where you're going, or how exactly you expect to find your way to A House You've Never Seen Before, let alone while Magically Disoriented and in Unfamiliar Territory. Your Adventuring Companion offers no help either; he limply follows along, in the confused stupor of A Man Who Can't Even Anymore.

Perhaps he's stuck processing the recent turn his life has taken, in a state of Catatonic Silence?

Show Content

Nevertheless, Flannery leads Walter homeward, guided by instinct and dumb luck...

1+9 (Fate) +3 (Insight) -1 (Dizzy) = 12 (Compromise)

[box=#808080 width=full border=2]Compromised Journey Into the Unknown

---

• Gain 1 Progress, and encounter some danger or obstacle.
• Progress (Very Easy): 1/1
• Goal Reached: Find... Walter's Home?[/box]

After several minutes of hurried travel, you arrive at... well, it's certainly Somewhere?

Wherever it is, there's a sign out front, with a Very Fancy Lad on it. It looks rather like a Bodega or Grocery Store of some kind? You suppose it could also be William's Home, but homes don't typically have mascots and logos...

Out front, you notice three green gelatinous creatures. They radiate with Adorable Yet Violent Intent, though they don't seem to have noticed your presence. Your Semi-Catatonic Companion seems to have noticed them as well. His body adopts the stance of someone Preparing For a Fight, though he still has enough sense about him to look to you for confirmation.

Better act fast! What do you do?
>

---

Show Content

Character Info: Flannery

[box=#808080 width=full border=2]Name: Ms. Flannery "Over-Easy" Bootz III

---

Pawn Status:
• Grazes: 0/4
• Wounds: 0/6
• Disoriented (Dizzy -1): Bouts of lightheadedness come and go, affecting your focus and coordination.
• Experience: Lost your cool, and failed to swindle money out of Cam the Dumpster Merchant.
• Experience: Failed to magically copy a door to make a barricade, instead opening a hole where there wasn't one.

Class: Copycatburglar
• Skill: Lucky Break
• Grace +2
• Presence +1
• Insight +1

Relic: Orb of Faulty Replication
• Skill: Doppelmancy
• Insight +2
• Presence +1
• Logic +1[/box]

[box=#808080 width=full border=2]Inventory:

---

Equipped:
• Blue-Collar Cloak (Evade +2): The stout denim shroud of the Working Class.
• Boots of Stomping (Jump +1, Stomp +1): These boots lend a boost, whether you're going up or coming down.
• Cat's Ear Hood (Listen +1, Charm +1): With this on your head, you hear more acutely, and look cute too.
• Replica Courier Bag (Container, Disguise +2): From your "Day Job" as a "Mail Courier". Opening a real Courier Bag is illegal, so law-abiding folk shouldn't snoop inside.
• Steel Scalemail (Armor +2): Flexible body armor made out of little metal plates.
• Steel Clawntlet (Hand-to-Hand, Climb +1, Lethal +1): A glove ending in retractable knife-sized claws.

In Replica Courier Bag:
• C-Rations (x8) (Edible?): A large tin of "Pretty Kitty Salmon and Rice Medley." Has... restorative properties?
• Cardboard Camo (Container, Restrictive, Disguise +2, Clumsy -2): A cardboard box with eye-shaped peepholes. Ideal for impersonating a container, though it makes some activities quite difficult.
• Extraneous Egress (<UNDEFINED>): A normal door.[/box]

[box=#808080 width=full border=2]Lucky Break (Grace):

---

When you find yourself in a bind or out of options, you can always look to sheer dumb luck to see you through.

• Triumph (20 or more): You not only get out of the situation, but take something good with you, or leave behind something bad.
• Success (16-19): However improbable, something solves your problem for you, with no strings attached.
• Compromise (11-15): Fate gets you out of trouble, but you leave something good behind, or take something bad with you.
• Failure (10 or less): Luck just isn't with you right now, and your troubles take a turn for the worse.[/box]

[box=#808080 width=full border=2]Doppelmancy (Insight):

---

You have the power to copy virtually anything. Trouble is, they're bad copies. Pick a nearby object or being, and say a rhyming Incantation to copy it. The copy generally looks and acts like the real thing. The copy lasts until it's damaged, for as long as you concentrate on it. Take -1 to all actions, for each existing copy.

• Triumph (20 or more): The copy is either indistinguishable from the original, or permanent and real despite 1 Minor Flaw.
• Success (16-19): It's a pretty good copy, but has 1 Major Flaw, or 2 Minor Flaws.
• Compromise (11-15): Your copy has some issues; namely 2 Major Flaws, or 3 Minor Flaws.
• Failure (10 or less): Something has gone wrong with your copy. Very, very wrong.

For each Flaw, the copy you create...
• ...isn't quite normal. It may be the wrong size, color, smell, weight, or have wildly different physical properties.
• ...isn't quite real. It may be insubstantial when touched, shimmer like a mirage, or vanish at inopportune times.
• ...isn't quite the same. Something about the way it works and behaves is worse, opposite, or just plain wrong.[/box]

run int0 the st0re. absc0nd. if absc0nding fails, c0ntinue with the strife

What?

what?

Why would our companion, once-believed to be a quite level-headed Guy, prep his bodily form for a battle?

Immediately, and very loudly, lecture him. If your lecture requires props, Replicate some of the blobs and use them to show the hurt that his actions could cause.

knock wallace out with a quick strike to the back of the head, to shield his innocent brain from the horrible violence about to occur

Time to doppelmancy a trash can above our... Foes? (Well, if they weren't then they certainly will be after getting a trash can dropped from above on their squishy heads.)

Jump on the slimes and stomp them.
Also out of curiosity what do you think would happen if you tried using Doppelmancy on the Orb of Faulty Replication itself?