Five years have passed since Mishale's murder, but Joy knows the murderer has not stopped.
[I will establish some facts with Mythic in order to give me direction before I start turning Bright Idea cards over.
I will also begin using Mythic's Chaos factor to add variety to its rolls. At chaos level 6, for example, Odds of "50/50" mean that any roll under 65 is a success. The higher the chaos, the higher the likelihood of a Yes or a Success.]
[I am assuming we are dealing with a serial killer of some sort, but I'll take the risk of a curve ball. Does the killer do it again? Odds Near Sure Thing: 31, yes.
Serial Killers have a "cooling off" period between strikes. Will this killer's "cooling off" before the next victim be measured in months? Odds 50/50: 24, yes. Does he leave a souvenir? Odds 50/50: 78, No. Through various Mythic rolls, I determine it's 10 months between the attacks.
Is Joy cognizant of the second attack? Odds A Sure Thing: 14,Exceptional(Critical)Yes. Her psychic link to this individual is strong and will remain so until the murderer stops.
What happens when Gretchen tracks the AOL address? (Rory Story Cubes) (A magnifying glass, a key hole)Gretchen not only tracks the account, she also hacks into it. (A silhouette of a flying monster, a shooting star, and an apple) She reads all the correspondence with clients regarding bad spirits, and astrological signs, and comes to the conclusion that she's just a fruity lady.
(An eye, a straight arrow) When Gretchen informs Kayla of what she found, Kayla's eyes opened inwardly. Even though her logical mind could not make sense of it, a side of her knew it was real. She finally responded to Joy, and told her what Gretchen had found out. She also apologized for Gretchen's hacking, explaining that she hadn't ordered that. (A bridge over a river and a house) Joy responded that it was all water under the bridge. Since it turns out that Kayla's home in the U.S. wasn't far from Joy, Joy suggests that Kayla come over to her house for tea and cake when she's back in the U.S.]
Turn 22: [Bright Idea Card: "Controlling-Intervention": Two kids fighting over ice cream. One has stolen the cone from the other, who is crying. A woman is admonishing them. ]
Joy is at her sister's, where she's watching her Syne's 3 year old twins squabble over a toy truck. It's been five years since the killer's second attack [Mythic].
Turn 23: [Bright Idea Card: "Dissatisfaction": A woman walking away from an office building with a box of office supplies.]
Joy doesn't need her psychic gift to that Syne's not exactly satisfied with her life. [Has her husband left her? Odds, Very Unlikely: 09, Exceptional Yes]. Syne's ex-husband left her shortly after she had the twins.
Turn 24: [Bright Idea Card: "Preservation ]
Their decision to have kids was their desperate attempt at preserving their marriage. Ironically, it only added speed to its demise.
Turn 25: [Bright Idea Card: "Controlling - Veredict". The picture shows a female judge pointing accusingly at a man, while a woman in a yellow dress claps in happiness. Eerie how the cards turn out sometimes. ]
After the messy and acrid divorce proceedings, Toby, the ex-husband was left bitter and resentful. He makes Syne's life difficult, and she, in turn, uses the twins to punish him. All to the detriment of the boys.
Turn 26: [Bright Idea Card: "Passion". Two women dressed in white, while a man on one knee, with a rose in his hand, seems to be reaching for one of the women's hands. ]
Toby has now moved on to become a womanizer. The neighbors talk. Joy can see how it hurts Syne, but neither of them bring it up.
Joy knows it's ridiculous, but a part of her feels guilty that her gift of Sight did not help prevent her sister's pain. Then again, she thinks, even when it reveals something it's no guaranteed to prevent all pain and sorrow. That is not really in her hands. "Or is it?", a voice inside her says, and she wills it to silence itself.
[Has the killer struck again since his second murder? Odds Very Likely: 77, yes (and a Mythic random event, which will be resolved soon)*.
Was the "cooling off" period similar to the last one in length? Odds Likely: 100, Exceptional No. Longer period? Odds 50/50: 23, Yes.
Is the culprit being more careful? Odds Very Likely: 09, Exceptional Yes. Have the murders moved to Kampala, the capital? Very Likely: 01, Exceptional Yes.
Got all that?]
Joy's thought about her gift, and her failure to prevent misfortune takes her back to that vision of the cave. Since the second attack five years ago, the killer has struck three more times [Mythic]. She already knows that the killer has been taking much more time between attacks, and is still angry and contemptuous. When they happen, she just knows. More careful and more experienced, this person is now taking lives in Kampala.
[Does Kayla keep Joy informed of local news? Since their last experience, Odds Very Likely: 49, Yes]
Kayla keeps Joy up to date on what the police say they know, on the local gossip regarding the murders.
[Has the local police caught on to the fact that the murders are from the same person? Since the killer's being more careful, Odds Unlikely: 12, Yes. As the killer has evolved, there are certain traits in his murders that people are starting to recognize. ]
Despite the killer's carefulness, the police and the population have taken notice. As the maniac has evolved, there are certain traits in the murders that have become recognizable.
[Rory's Story Cubes: a book, a cloud and a rainbow, and a Native American tent (tipi)] The killer seems to attack on rainy days and likes to leave passages from the Bible (Mythic). This is why Joy had seen a Bible and rain on one of her visions.
[About sin?50/50: 64, Yes. His sin? 50/50: 80, No. The victim's? 50/50: 39, Yes. I kinda hate that roll. Perhaps he liked the movie Se7en...
Same story cubes roll: tipi and rainbow. ]
Gossip on the street is that he's a practitioner of a native African religion who's mocking Christianity. The same gossip-mongers swear that if you see a rainbow over Lake Victoria after the rain, you can be sure he'll attack .
[Resolve Ambiguous Event from before: Event Focus: 79, Ambiguous Event. Event Action/Subject: Break, Death.]
The sound of breaking kitchenware interrupts Joy's morbid thoughts. Syne has accidentally dropped some coffee mugs. Joy watches momentarily as Syne fights to keep herself together; her emotions on the brink.
"Go sit down. Let me take care of it. You're exhausted," says Joy.
Turn 27: [Bright Idea Card: "Advancement". This has a blond woman on a Segway-like vehicle (of all things), breaking through a white picket fence. The book of associations for the deck says this card encourages "persistence" and cautions against "winning at all costs", and "Plowing ahead without regard for consequences." I interpret this as Syne being willful in this situation.]
Syne says she's fine, and that she'll take care of it, stubbornly refusing break down in front of her sister. [Has Syne always been prideful? Odds 50/50: 88, No. Another Random Event from Mythic to be resolved soon.] Syne wasn't always this prideful. Maybe she's found new strength in this tribulation, Joy wonders.
Later, after she helps her sister put the boys down for a long nap, Joy heads home to keep an appointment with a client.
[Scene upkeep:
More characters for the list:
#8 Toby
#9 Syne and Toby's twins.
Threads to update:
#8: Kayla and Joy's ongoing communication regarding the killer.
#2 and #3: (Delete/Replace because it covers same ground as #8)
Threads to add:
#2: -Syne and Toby's apparent feud after their divorce
#3: - Toby's change of character and his new philandering ways.
#9: The killer continues to claim victims. Five victims in six years, and he appears to be loose in Kampala, Uganda's capital. Identifying details regarding his MO are emerging: strikes on rainy days, and leaves Bible passages about sin; thought to be about the victim's sin. Less reliable but salacious gossip states that he strikes when rainbows are spotted over lake victoria, and that he may be a practitioner of an African native religion who's mocking christianity.
Chaos factor can go down to 5 for Joy, because the scene was tame in terms of activity.]
[* I messed up the random event. Chaos factor was 6, so 77 does not trigger a random event. It needed to be 11, 22, 33, 44, 55, or 66. It still didn't impact the game too much, except for flavor.]
Index
Great stuff... I always thought that Mythic has a mind of it's own, the way it can take you to the places you never expected...
ReplyDeleteThanks Aleksandar!
ReplyDeleteYeah, Mythic's curve balls really keep you on your toes and thinking fresh. Even though I'm using other tools to enrich my play, this game would not be the same without Mythic. The way it weaves together all the generated ideas is what makes it essential.