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Chatterbox: Pudding's Place
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Last train to Windgrasp
You are in a train station, the Aroura
Terminal. You can see the snow blanketing the outside of the high glass
ceiling. As you squeeze through the enormous bustle of people, you hear the
train conductor shout “Central Blizzard Route! Last call for the train to
Windgrasp!” “Wait!” you shout. “I can’t miss this train! I need to go there!” Trampling
over people a bit, you rush to the train door. The Conductor slides the door
closed immediately after you board the train. She tells you where your sleeping
car is. You follow her directions and plop down your luggage. The sleeping car
is fairly small, with a table in between two beds. “I wonder if I’ll have a
roommate,” you muse. On the table there is two plastic cups, a menu for the dining
car, a pen, and what looks like some kind of form. When you look closer you see
that it reads:
To
the CBer or AE on this train,
Pease fill out the following
form and leave it on the table in your room. We will collect all the forms later during
supper.
The Form:
Name:
CBer or AE:
Gender/pronouns:
Personality:
Appearance:
Luggage:
Why are you traveling to
Windgrasp?:
The Conductor and her staff
are not responsible for any lost luggage, property damage, minor injuries, or
death.
After filling out the form, you
head for the dining car to meet the other passengers.
This is my first ski lodge,
I hope I don’t mess it up. There are eight slots. I will start when they are
full or on December 1st, whichever comes first. Also, you can guess
who I am. My pronouns are she/her.
~ The Conductor
P.S. sorry if this is spaced out weird- I copied it from microsoft word and that may have messed it up.
(November 25, 2020 - 3:29 pm)
(December 6, 2020 - 8:37 am)
There are 8 people, do we start?
(December 7, 2020 - 4:02 pm)
Ok, here's day one. Sorry for the delay!
It turns out that you do have a roommate. Pizza Roll with Rainbow Riot, Silver Crystal with Cynthia Maple, Moonlight with Alizarine, and Timeshifter with Miss Autumn. After the train begins its journey, you head to the dining car for supper.
The dining car is small. Small enough that roommates had to sit at the same table, even if they were complete strangers to each other. At the tables people were making small talk in an attempt to break the silence and possibly make a new friend. Rainbow Riot was concerned. She was concerned because Pizza Roll, her roommate, was not in the dining car. “Well, maybe she’s just putting her luggage away or something.” After everyone had finished eating, Rainbow Riot told the others about absent passenger.
“Oh no!” cried Cynthia.
“How intriguing,” pondered Miss Autumn.
“Intriguing?!” Timeshifter shouted. “We are on a train, in the middle of winter, and a passenger is missing.”
“Let’s all calm down here.” Silver tried.
Alizarine came into the conversation saying, “We don’t even know what happened, and Pizza Roll could be completely fine”
“Of course. She might just be in her sleeping car,” Moonlight interjected. “I’m sure she’ll turn up somewhere.”
Everyone checked their rooms, but no one found Pizza Roll that night.
(December 8, 2020 - 11:39 am)
(December 11, 2020 - 10:39 am)
(December 12, 2020 - 11:34 am)
Part Two
Miss Autumn woke up early the next morning, and went to work at drawing something in her sketch book. Her roommate, Timeshifter, woke up shortly after. “Would you like some coffee?” they asked. “I’m going to get some for myself.”
“No, thanks, but I would love a cup of tea,” Miss Autumn replied. I’ll come with you.” Since it was still early in the morning, it was dark outside, and the train staff had dimmed the lights, making it difficult to see clearly. As the two made their way to the dining car, they pondered the mystery of the absent passenger.
“There’s not many places to go on this train. Mostly the dining car, your sleeping car, and the empty cars between.” Timeshifter said aloud.
“Unless Pizza Roll isn’t even on the train.” Miss Autumn considered. “Perhaps on the roof…”
Right then, they saw something that made them stop walking. In the corner was something lumpy that neither one of them could make out. As they approached the lump, Miss Autumn gasped and Timeshifter turned white.
“If I’m not mistaken, that’s a person,” She whispered.
“And if I’m not mistaken, that’s Pizza Roll!” Timeshifter exclaimed.
A voice appeared behind them, saying, "You found Pizza Roll?"
Glancing over her shoulder, Miss Autumn saw that it was Rainbow Riot and said, “Yes, and she is dead.”
“What?” Rainbow Riot cried. “how did my roommate just die?
“Well it appears she has been strangled.” Miss Autumn replied simply, looking at the ropes around Pizza Roll.
Suddenly the Conductor’s voice came through the speakers in the ceiling. “Attention, please, passengers on the Central Blizzard Route. We are approaching a large snow storm. For safety reasons everyone must retreat immediately to your sleeping cars. Thank you for your cooperation.”
Miss Autumn, Timeshifter, and Rainbow Riot returned to their cars.
(December 13, 2020 - 12:21 pm)
Lovely so far!
(December 13, 2020 - 3:40 pm)
This is Miss Autumn and my new name is Princess Juniper!
(December 14, 2020 - 3:40 pm)
This is great! I can't wait for the next part!
(December 14, 2020 - 6:52 pm)
Part Three
Just as Timeshifter, Princess Juniper, and Rainbow Riot were returning back to their sleeping cars, Cynthia Maple and Silver Crystal came out of the dining car. They couldn’t believe that someone had died on the train.
“Wait, what’s that?” Silver inquired, pointing at a sketchbook next to Pizza Roll.
Cynthia hesitantly reached for it, and opening it she found fresh black ink that read, “I fear there is a murderer among us. I believe the murderer’s name is-” and the name was scribbled over. “Oh no! This is terrible!“ she cried.
“C’mon, let’s go back to our room,” Silver said. “And bring the sketchbook.”
Meanwhile, as the kitchen staff was closing the dining car for the storm, they heard a large smashing sound. They bolted nearly the end of the train, where they found the passengers crowded around. In the next car over, the walls had been smashed and the last two cars of the train had fallen off the rest, but it was still moving on the tracks. But the worst part was that Timeshifter was in the loose car, their skin white with frostbite, snow swirling around them.
“Do you think we can save them?” one of the maids yelled.
“Probably not,” Alizarine admitted. “Unless someone is willing to jump.”
“It’s alright,” Princess Juniper interjected. Timeshifter is still on the train, still on the tracks, and still going in the correct direction.”
“It looks like they have hypothermia,” Moonlight observed.
“Everyone, we can’t save Timeshifter,” one of the staff members announced. “That train car is falling further behind as we speak, and it’s so snowy outside that I can barely see. The rest of us just need to take cover to stay safe from the storm.”
“Yes, let’s do that,” Princess Juniper agreed.
(December 17, 2020 - 2:24 pm)
I'm still alive, hooray! I wonder who it could be...
The sketchbook is a nice touch! Keep it up!
(December 18, 2020 - 1:09 pm)
Pizza Roll's sketchbook page:
(December 17, 2020 - 4:16 pm)
AAAHHHHH!! I love it! After you should turn it into a NaNowrimo novel!
(December 19, 2020 - 1:44 pm)
Oh, thank you so much! I'm glad you like it! :)
(December 21, 2020 - 8:02 pm)
EEK! This is amazing! Keep it up! I'm surprised I havn't died yet but I probably shouldn't say that because you know, irony.
ANYWAY Nice job Conductor!
(December 22, 2020 - 5:23 pm)