Event - The Ballad of Thomazine Younger

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The Ballad of Thomazine Younger

➥ Ghosts of Yesteryear

(cw: references to blackmail, plague, fire, being buried alive, altered mental states, spying, and cannibalism; implied eye injury)

The local legend of Thomazine "Tammy" Younger, Witch Queen of Dogtown, has been regaining traction in local gossip of late. The stories all revolve around the same nuggets of probable historic fact: there definitely was a Thomazine Younger who lived in Dogtown at the time it was abandoned by most of its population in the 1800s, and she definitely had a reputation for witchcraft she used to extract tolls from any merchant or freighter passing by Fox Hill. Beyond that, the stories are varied and contradictory–some say she was the ringleader of a coven who would turn themselves into rats to thieve from neighboring Gloucester and spread pestilence; others that she could turn solid earth into mud to swallow up the wagons of those who refused to pay her off. Depending on whom you believe, Tammy engaged in such varied hobbies as sending unholy fire to burn entire fields of crops, spying on her neighbors with her magic eye, twisting the minds of brothers and sisters so they no longer knew one another, or luring travelers without goods for her to steal into her home to slaughter and eat them. Some even say she was the cause of Dogtown's mass exodus, blighting the land so that none but witches could survive there.

The resurgence of her urban rural legend coincides with something a bit more troubling: sightings of an old woman in a ragged dress on the outskirts of Dogtown. She's been seen just inside the fence line on the northern edge of the park, prowling around the general area of Fox Hill, staring and making arcane gestures at anyone who sees her before disappearing into the undergrowth. Eyewitness accounts from locals and ADI employees patrolling the area differ in terms of the specifics: in some accounts the specter of the Witch Queen is a tall, emaciated creature practically in rags; in others she's a stout, moon-faced matron with tears of blood dripping from her eyes, or a bent old crone with fingers too long and too many. Always, though, she disappears before anyone can come near enough to see her up close or confront her.

How she disappears, though, is less consistent. Sometimes her exit is precisely what one would expect of a ghost, when she disappears in the blink of an eye or her form twists before your eyes until you aren't certain whether she was there at all or if you mistook the gnarled trees for a vision of something more sinister. Other times, her exit is more…human. That is, she might simply turn and walk away deeper into the undergrowth until she's lost from sight, or slip behind a tree. One confused ADI patroller even claims he saw the ghost of Tammy Younger trip over a root before scrambling back to her feet and limping away at speed.

There's something pervasive and potentially dangerous going on here…but something about it doesn't quite line up.

➥ Outfoxed at Foxhill

(cw: alcohol, dolls, potential for injury)

ADI is keen to end things quickly with potential ghosts running amok, particularly one with a known history in Dogtown. There's a serious concern that regular residents of Gloucester are going to start taking matters into their own hands and trying to start exploring the park when they ought not to be.

The decision is made quickly to send ADI personnel into the park more actively to search out Fox Hill, one of the purported locations of Tammy Younger's hauntings. Volunteers will find themselves paired up and sent off. Curiously, the locations that were previously mapped by others aren't appearing properly. Like Dogtown is warping and twisting around at will for the moment. It's unclear why this is, but it seems… safer than it should? The obstacles and strangeness seem to have faded away for the time being, replaced by a quiet and picturesque woodland. It doesn't take long to find Fox Hill. It takes far less time than it reasonably should, in fact, but getting to the top of the hill is… a challenge.

There are hidden dangers on Fox Hill. Pit traps that seem to go down very deep, indeed, nets that spring up when you step in the wrong spot and leave their quarry trapped in some tree or other. Maybe you're one of the lucky ones that somehow triggers an avalanche of small boulders and… are those marbles? Every conceivable way that one could lay a trap to prevent someone from mounting the hill has been employed. Clearly, someone or something doesn't want you getting up.

Along the way, volunteers will spy evidence of the ghost. There are discarded liquor bottles everywhere–the legend does say she'll take her payments in drink or blood–phosphorescent trails, and small, sinister-looking stick dolls. Those trying to analyze these things will find that the liquor bottles are from the present day, the phosphorescent trails are a sort of paint, and the stick dolls… well, those look like what you would see in a horror movie that involves witches.

➥ Those Meddling Kids

(cw: stalking, potential child endangerment)

The nights in Gloucester seem to be returning to a state of restlessness as rumors of ghosts quickly turn to rumors of ghost sightings. Pale and spectral figures lurk at the edges of people’s sight, follow victims, and seem to come out of nowhere and vanish just as quickly without a word. Between the recent evidence and a known slew of sightings a couple months ago, ADI is keen to put more than a few people on this to get out ahead of it. People are encouraged to search in groups no smaller than two, but won’t stop anyone who decides they hunt alone. After all, it’s a well-known fact ghosts rarely like to be seen by more than one set of eyes. Especially these ones.

People out investigating may find their paths fairly quiet most nights. However, separate from your partner for a bit, fall behind, or go it alone, and you might just notice a pale figure vanishing around a corner or standing eerily at the end of an alley. Sometimes things you follow even seem to vanish into walls or thin air. They very rarely say anything, but they can be heard. Boxes and small items knocked over, trash cans rattled, fire escapes landing just ahead of you to get in your path, it seems the ghosts are mostly interested in being seen, not interacted with. Too bad they got you on the case.

Those dedicated, skilled, or perhaps powerful enough to exert a little fear of the law or simply fear of things that actually go bump in the night may swiftly discover a few key things: Ghosts caught up to quickly enough can be seen slipping behind doors, scaling buildings, or using creative escape routes to get away. Clumsy ghosts seem prone to bumping into things as sure as the next person…and those fast enough to catch up to some gangly, terrified, legs are quick to learn the legs, torso, and the whole rest of the ‘ghost’ is very real. Very real, rather young, and often quite terrified of the adult now catching them. Hopefully no one used actual powers on these miscreant teens.

➥ And You Must Ask Yourself

(cw: spiders, allusion to swarms, sleepwalking, compulsion)

'How did I get here?'

It might be one of the first thoughts to occur to you as you wake with a sudden start. But lucky you, you have a friend! Or… an enemy? You have another (apparently) human being nearby who's probably looking just as confused as you are. The spider web tattoo you earned after your ride with Gus the Bus tingles uncomfortably, like many delicate little feet are swarming across it before dissipating.

It may take a few moments, or possibly more, for you to realize you're somewhere you may not wish to be. These trees, the thick and eerie forest around you… this is Dogtown. Somehow, you've walked yourself into a veritable minefield of danger, avoiding everything that might kill you (or worse). Until now. You're conscious, stuck with someone you may or may not know well, wearing… well, if you're lucky, you're wearing your regular clothes and didn't walk in here in your pajamas.

Good luck finding your way out.

➥ Mod Notes

• GENERAL - Players are welcome to play background NPCs for themselves when they are needed in a thread. If you need more information on general behavior for these types of NPCs, please feel free to ask! In general, the information provided in the prompts should be sufficient and ordinary people will act like… ordinary people! You're welcome to make up any details for your specific scene. Also, please remember that character deaths are permanent and plan accordingly! For this event, in particular, the Meddling Kids™ are very dedicated to their efforts to remind the world about Thomazine Younger and bring her story to the world, so they're not going to break their ghoulish character until something truly frightening happens to them… or characters try to hurt them. Or… succeed in hurting them. Please don't murder too many young people now.
  
  
• GHOSTS OF YESTERYEAR (16-20 April) - While the ghost of Tammy Younger's appearance may vary, she usually appears as one of the three specters described in the prompt. Notably, when her ghost does not align with one of those three descriptions or when her proportions are twisted beyond what's humanly possible is when she's most likely to disappear in an obviously supernatural fashion rather than walk away like a real, solid person. Regardless, even at her most corporeal Tammy seems to be quite good at evading capture, as though very familiar with the current layout of Dogtown.
  
  
• OUTFOXED AT FOX HILL (19-20 April) - The path into Dogtown seems to have been chosen for the characters to lead them to Fox Hill. It's the only path that appears to exist during this period. Trying to leave Fox Hill will take you swiftly out of the park. It doesn't matter where you start from, what direction you're going. You end up coming to the fence or leaving the park. This effect will only be in place until the THOSE MEDDLING KIDS prompt concludes. The traps on Fox Hill are all designed to be nonlethal, but they can certainly hurt you, and players are welcome to come up with whatever traps they might like their characters to encounter. There's nothing particularly supernatural in any of the things found up there, and atop Fox Hill is only a stash of spray paint and half-drunk bottles of liquor.
  
  
• THOSE MEDDLING KIDS (20-24 April) - The pale figures reported are quickly found to be teenagers in bodysuits or paint (at least they didn’t use sheets) and very much still alive while the ghosts seen going through walls can be quickly explained through pretty decent mobile projectors. A couple of the teens will be caught wearing costumes that match the appearances of "Tammy" in Dogtown. Teens will flee and resist capture from most normal means, but won’t fight too much if caught other than to get away. They really do seem to be kids that went a little too far with a prank. Those who might end up on the wrong side of a stray power or two will be downright terrified of their pursuer and likely to either turn to another adult in the group for safety or shut down entirely. Maybe you should be more careful next time. Either way, the local authorities will take it from here.
  
  
• AND YOU MUST ASK YOURSELF (16 April - Ongoing) - Characters will only be affected by the compulsion to walk into Dogtown if they rode in and were marked by Gus the Bus. Gus continues to be available and around in Gloucester should you wish to have your character captured and marked by him. Details about Gus are included in the March 2023 TDM. Gus has also been added as a feature to the Dogtown Searches page and description in the Locations page.
  
  Players can have their characters turn up in any explored square in Dogtown or one of the unexplored squares adjacent to them. Please just submit a search request for the unexplored square that you'd like your character (and a friend) to discover!

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Comments

[canofmanji]

"May not have been mine, but what do you think they're going to do with it?" His one good eye looking hard at Raine. Manji may know they had nothing to do with this, but they're the one he's talking to right now about it so unfortunately they get his seething anger. He's doing his best to keep it contained, but it feels like it's about to boil over.

"You think they're going to try to reattach it now that it has my tainted 'magic blood' on it?" He uses his one remaining hand to make air quotations. "Or do you think they're going to be more likely to study it and then eventually throw it away? What better use do you think that arm would have served? Me being able to fight back against these so called monsters were supposed to keep away? Or rotting in some garbage heap?" He doesn't actually know any of this. Maybe they will try to reattach it, but Manji is upset and he's pessimistic on a good day.

"And no, they didn't." He's happy for the change of topic. While he tries his best to act flippant about it the truth was he was gutted that he hurt a kid. "But if they aren't willing to hear me out about an arm because my ability is unnatural, what makes you think they're going to actually help us get back to where and when we're supposed to be? Hm?" He let's that idea sink in a little as it's a new thought to him too. "I'm thinking ADI is going to prefer to shut down any chance of us getting back as fast as possible. Why do they care if we ever get home?"

[rainestorms]

Raine is certainly taken aback by Manji's sudden outburst. They grimaced, not ready to let the subject go quite yet, as gruesome as it was. Manji didn't get to snap at them over something like that.

"Titan. The person that took a jar of fire bees and released them into the Bard Coven halls doesn't get to keep the bees afterwards," Raine replied, rather sharply. "Whether or not the bees would be useful to them. They still hurt people. I don't know what the ADI will do with a kid's arm. I'm not sure I want to know. It still wouldn't be right for you to keep it, accident or on purpose."

They spoke from personal experience. Fire bees indoors were no laughing matter. They were going to add more on the topic, but the sudden and rather unfiltered talk about the ADI alarmed Raine.

They looked over their shoulder, alarmed, and put their hands out as if to signal for Manji to stop. Their tone changed, and softened from how frustrated it had been.

"Manji- I- we shouldn't be talking about this here. Why.. why don't you come back to Bonnie's with me."

Normally they'd contemplate letting the arm-stealing samurai into their home a little harder, but they'd rather not deal with the consequences of talking dirty about the ADI on their own steps.

"I don't know if Eda's around but if you really do have... thoughts on that, we should talk in a place that's not.. watched."

Raine stood up, grabbed their things, and gave him a more worried glance.

"It's.. your choice."

Sorry, had to change slightly based on a small change in OOC info that came up

[canofmanji]

"You sound just like Neil. Head of security guy. He also agrees that it's better to see the arm just destroyed instead of put to any good use. Only hope is that Nia isn't just talkin' shit." Which, even though she says they're making sure the arm gets reattached, Manji isn't so sure ADI won't ruin the kid's life. It still makes him angry and upset.

Despite his anger it's almost in a lazy way that Manji pulls a long pipe out of his kimono. Working on trying to flick a light with his one hand as he speaks. "Naw, probably best you forget about me. I'm nothing but trouble." Speaking of trouble, he seems to be having a bit of difficulty working the lighter and his pipe. "Hey? Give a man an extra hand?" He holds the modern lighter out to Raine.

If Raine leans in to help Manji that is when the man will whisper to them. "You really want to talk about this with me? Then leave a window open." He wouldn't follow Raine right away out of here after back talking ADI. He will sneak by in a few hours. If he finds the window open, then he'll invite himself in. If he finds it closed? He'll assume Raine changed their mind.

All good!

[rainestorms]

Raine didn't think that they sounded like Neil. They didn't want the arm destroyed- they just didn't think Manji should keep it. Raine opened their mouth up to rebuke his point but fell silent when he produced two strange looking objects. One looked like a pipe, but the other? They'd never seen anything like it.

Raine took it out of politeness, and wordlessly messed with it until they figured out that it lit on fire if they used the small, metal bit on it, so they do that, and then just... hold it out to Manji.

This gesture worked enough for them to receive the quiet whispering of Manji telling them to leave the window open.

They nodded, understandingly, but got up, and grabbed their things.

"I'll uh- I'll see you around, Manji." They resumed their journey home, but did pause to give the strange human one last look.
---
Raine left the window open. Eda wasn't there- they assumed she was busy at work, or busy doing.. something else. They kept themself occupied with a list of chores that ranged from tidying up sheet music Eda had mentioned was getting too unruly, to meal prepping for dinner that night.

Eventually, though, they found themself waiting for Manji. They'd become impatient. So, to fill the time they begin to play a song- rather, their song, the one Eda wrote for them- on their violin. They kept an eye on the open window, but became more and more engrossed with feeling the music, and how they missed the feeling of magic flowing through it.

[canofmanji]

Manji will keep Raine waiting for some time. Lazily smoking his pipe on the steps to make it appear as though he is in no hurry. Eventually tipping the pipe out and wandering off after he feels like enough time has passed.

He tries to be stealthy as he climbs in through the window, but this isn't exactly his speciality. He grumbles as he awkwardly climbs inside. "And this is why I hate all this sneaky, trying to keep things quiet shit."

[rainestorms]

Raine stopped playing, and stepped out of the nest to try and help Manji in the window.

"Be careful of the clutter," Raine replied, and gave Manji and empathetic smile as they cleared some of it out of the way. "Eda and I have been meaning to clean we've just.. been a little busy."

Raine busied themself with tidying up the space they shared with Eda a bit more, before picking their violin up out of the nest they shared with Eda. They resumed playing, though it's a little more quiet as they kept their eyes on Manji.

[canofmanji]

"I don't give a crap what your place looks like." He grunts while smoothing his clothes back in place after crawling in through the window. Then his eye takes a good look around. "Huh, I know Eda's got the whole owl thing going on, but a nest? Really?"

[rainestorms]

Raine shrugged in a rather blasé manner at Manji. They'd never thought much about the nest- the Boiling Isles was full of strange things, and a nest for a bed was the least of them.

"She finds it comfortable. I don't mind it. It's roomy and takes up less space than a bed." They stopped playing for the time being, and lowered their violin to their side, deciding to take a seat. "And besides. If you knew what the Boiling Isles was like, you'd think this was pretty tame."

[canofmanji]

"From what Eda's told me? Yeah, I believe that." Of course he didn't come here to talk about beds and nests.

"So, what? You really think a group of people who dislike any magic that they can't make useful to themselves are really going to try to send an easy to manipulate workforce home?"

[rainestorms]

"I'm just trying to hear what you think is going on, as somebody who's been here longer than I have," Raine crossed their legs, but keep the rest of themself attentive. "The ADI reminds me of how the Covens work back home, actually. We don't have much of a choice but to participate, and any sort of dissent normally is not consequence free. They even went through efforts to learn how to restrict our magic, for the supposed greater good."

They lift their arm, and gesture to their coven sigil.

"So I'm more than just suspicious of the ADI."

[canofmanji]

"That's what they were arguing about. Letting me use the ability I have to reattach the kid's arm." Manji frowns. Wishing he could have done it without ADI being involved. "Got them to agree, but now the kid is going to watched by them. Not sure if that's better or worse than a missing arm."

[rainestorms]

"Do you know if the watching him is for forever? Or just until they determine what effect your.. abilities have on him?"

At that moment Raine remembered their manners, and they glance towards the door.

"By the way, do.. you.. want anything to drink? I almost forgot to offer."

[canofmanji]

"The way these people work? Likely forever." Manji frowns a little. Maybe the kid would have been better off if he hadn't been so insistent on being listened to. That his abilities could help to heal the damage he had done.

Maybe he would have been better without an arm.

"I doubt you have sake, but got any hot tea instead?"

[rainestorms]

"That's.. unfortunate. But I'm not surprised. I wouldn't wish that experience on anyone."

Raine lowered their head, eyes cast to the side as they contemplated what exactly this all meant in the grand scheme of things- the way they knew what it felt like to never have peace. To never feel like they weren't being watched, and scrutinised.

Their attention returned to Manji as he spoke of their drink options.

"I'm actually not sure what sake is," they hum, and stand up. "And I- I don't drink tea very much. But I think I have something downstairs. I've also got the apple blood Eda mad but I'm.. not sure what exactly it tastes like. Or what it's made out of."

[canofmanji]

"It's a wine usually made from rice, but don't worry about it." Although he does perk up and look interested at the mention of apple blood. "Oh really? You actually have some? Wouldn't mind trying a bit to see what she's going on about. That is unless she'd kill you for sharing it."

[rainestorms]

"Eda likes me too much to do that," Raine gave Manji a smarmy look before they stood up. "And besides, she knows I've been meaning to try it."

They walked to Eda's dresser, and opened it enough to where they could take out the bottle. They briefly looked it over and shut the drawer. They grabbed two mugs- one that looked like a cauldron and says Witche's Brew and another more plain mug that says Not Wine.

Raine uncorked the bottle, and poured some of the apple blood into both. They sat the bottle down, and handed Manji his mug.

"Here you go," they sat back down. "I.. Hope you enjoy it?"

[canofmanji]

Despite the gruff, asshole persona that Manji puts out he is actually very respectful when it comes to people's privacy. He turns his head away when Raine moves to get the drink.

Once he's handed the mug, Manji swirls the drink. Giving in a sniff before he takes a sip. "It's not bad. Is there actually blood in this?"

[rainestorms]

Raine took a sip of the homemade apple blood, and their nose wrinkles as the foreign taste hit their tongue. It wasn't bad. But the flavour was surprising and it wasn't apple blood.

"No," they reply, disappointment in their gaze down at their mug. "Apple blood comes from the apple butcher, and there aren't any here. I checked."

They take another sip of the Apple Blood. Maybe they could get used to it.

[canofmanji]

"Judging by your expression. I'm assuming this doesn't taste quite right? Or is it that you've never liked Apple Blood?" And apple butcher? "So, are apples... alive where you're from instead of being fruit if they need a butcher?"

[rainestorms]

"No, not exactly. I could probably change the way it tastes myself, but.. that would use up some of my magic..." They leaned back in their chair, and thought about Manji's question for a moment.

"What I'm more confused about is why apples here don't need a butcher," They respond. "Or. Why they look so small here."

They took another sip, still not quite accustomed to the taste.

"Though, to be fair most human world things are strange."

[canofmanji]

"Probably because they're a fruit that any idiot could take a blade to one and be fine." Although, admittedly, he'd love to see the type of apple that needs a butcher as he takes another sip. "If it's any consolation? Most things in this world are pretty strange to me and I am human. I'm even from Earth. Except nothing seems to make sense to me anymore. It's like everything had to get overly complicated."

[rainestorms]

"You're from a different time period of earth?!" Raine exclaimed, but then sank back in their chair as they realised they came off as very enthusiastic.

"I mean, it makes sense.. you're human, but some humans that are off-worlders aren't from Earth. Like John."

Raine thought about it for a moment, before they added:

"In the Boiling Isles we end up with a lot of Human Realm junk. It bleeds into our world, as some of our things bleed into theirs, so many things now that I'm here, are almost familiar. But.. we don't have cars, or busses, or the internet. Kind of. And it's not this version of the human world where the junk comes from."

They shrugged. That was all complicated stuff Raine figured Manji wasn't interested in.

"What's it like where you're from? And how come you've got abilities that other humans don't? Most humans can't attach limbs that aren't theirs to their body."

CW: Body horror/mention of worms

[canofmanji]

"Yes, I'm from the 17th century. Of this Earth of some different one? I couldn't tell ya." It's not like history would have talked about him or the people he knew all that much if it was the same Earth.

"As for what home is like? It's quiet. Everything here is so loud and bright. It seems like there is always something moving, flashing, or beeping. Everything moves so quickly." He's learned the hard way how fast the cars can move.

"And attaching limbs to my body is only something me and maybe one or two other people can do. Got myself a curse from some old lady and I only know of one other person that she's cursed with immortality. I have holy worms in me that can repair my body nearly instantly. They can't tell the difference if it's my own limb or someone else's I'm trying to reattach."

[rainestorms]

"Quiet.. sounds somewhat like the Boiling Isles," Raine mused, leaning back in their chair. "Not, everything of course. Bonesborough is very busy, but... it's not busy like here. Magic, and Demons makes things run different. More.. chaotic, in a way that made sense. But.. I could still see the stars at night."

Raine shifted in their chair as they processed the worms portion of what Manji had said.

They could guess which Fear had snatched him up.

"Worms are an interesting curse. I've heard of similar ones at home, but not in a way where the worms do anything positive..."

Raine tapped their chin.

"Has being here had an effect on that in any way? If. You're fine to talk about it."

They pause, and then add.

"Because if you're not, I've got something else I want to ask you."

[canofmanji]

Now that is something that Manji can relate easily with. "I miss the stars. I don't know how people enjoy living like this." He puts up with it as it might be his best way to get back to Rin, but if he didn't think ADI was his best way to get home? He would have been long gone. "Sometimes I go camping. Walk out to the edges of the city to go find a quieter place to sleep. Maybe I'll let you know the next time I go out for a couple days to relax."

He takes a sip of his drink and thinks about if he should give an honest answer or not. "I have no problem talking about it." His struggle is explaining it. "And the effect it's had? I'm tired. I'm tired all the time." The worms were always working, always repairing the damage time does to a body. Stopping his aging by constantly replacing aging cells with new ones. "And if I try to go too far without scaring people? Well, the results can be messy." He won't go further into that unless asked. "I hate that I finally feel the most like myself after I scared and maimed a kid and even that I know won't lasts forever."

It was nice not feeling worn out for a little while, but it didn't feel worth it. Not for the cost the kid paid.

"But what's your other question?"