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Not Quite Lovecraft

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Loop timeline

1st loop
-Time spent chatting, later waiting for Robert. Learn gem lore.
-Robert Murder
-Gem theft, Guard investigation
-First devouring

2nd Loop
-Robert murder prevention
-Guards alarm. Gem theft search
-Cultist cabin breakdown
-Grey hair clue
-Hound visage fade in and out
-Learned missing keys, 2 points of interest locked
-Second braced devouring, minimal SAN damage

3rd Loop
-Looping in Robert
-Guards alarm not raised, learn gem lore
-Interrogate Waitress, she is an accomplice and has keys
-Hound attack, escape
-Murder Waitress to save her
-Guards alerted, but mind whammied. Robert mindwhammied
-Found true? Ritual site and potential location of Cultist and Gemstone.
- ??? Final action

4th Loop
6-7 actions?

5th Final Loop, actions set in stone.


We need map out our course of action and reach a general consensus about what we want for the next loop, and what we want to get the perfect final loop.
In the upcoming loops, before ten o-clock we need to be done with socials and prepare to evade the Hound. Who I think also remembers between the timelines. Oliver might be in real danger from it in the next two ones.

Robert and the Waitress might be incapacitated. We enter the secret luggage compartment - what then? Gemstone might be there, but we still need to find the cultist and the three stones who might or might not be there. The other locked location was the driver compartment - that should also have relevance. Would we be able to squeeze all that? How do we draw out the Cultist if they're not in the secret door? How do we prevent the Hound from going after us if there's no Waitress for it to attack?

And in the final loop if we find the Cultist how do we deal with them and find them again before they finish the ritual for the last time?
 
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_brightwing said:
Loop timeline

1st loop
-Time spent chatting, later waiting for Robert. Learn gem lore.
-Robert Murder
-Gem theft, Guard investigation
-First devouring

2nd Loop
-Robert murder prevention
-Guards alarm. Gem theft search
-Cultist cabin breakdown
-Grey hair clue
-Hound visage fade in and out
-Learned missing keys, 2 points of interest locked
-Second braced devouring, minimal SAN damage

3rd Loop
-Looping in Robert
-Guards alarm not raised, learn gem lore
-Interrogate Waitress, she is an accomplice and has keys
-Hound attack, escape
-Murder Waitress to save her
-Guards alerted, but mind whammied. Robert mindwhammied
-Found true? Ritual site and potential location of Cultist and Gemstone.
- ??? Final action

4th Loop
6-7 actions?

5th Final Loop, actions set in stone.


We need map out our course of action and reach a general consensus about what we want for the next loop, and what we want to get the perfect final loop.
In the upcoming loops, before ten o-clock we need to be done with socials and prepare to evade the Hound. Who I think also remembers between the timelines. Oliver might be in real danger from it in the next two ones.

Robert and the Waitress might be incapacitated. We enter the secret luggage compartment - what then? Gemstone might be there, but we still need to find the cultist and the three stones who might or might not be there. The other locked location was the driver compartment - that should also have relevance. Would we be able to squeeze all that? How do we draw out the Cultist if they're not in the secret door? How do we prevent the Hound from going after us if there's no Waitress for it to attack?

And in the final loop if we find the Cultist how do we deal with them and find them again before they finish the ritual for the last time?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Maybe we can first talk with Robert and the waitress, ask them to allert the guards and while they do it we go to stop the ritual.

This way even if the cultist evades us, the guards will know who they are searching thanks to the waitress information.
 
[X]Focus on bracing for the next loop
-[X] Fortify against mundane intrusion as well. Jam both doors with the luggage. It wouldn't do for someone to disrupt your preparations.

Much depends on how the waitress reacts next loop. If she gives us nothing useful, I'm leaning towards buzzsawing or way through the hopefully final door immediately after updating Robert and making any final preparations.

If the waitress gives us something useful, I think going to the driver's compartment first will likely make more sense.
 
[X]Focus on bracing for the next loop
-[X] Fortify against mundane intrusion as well. Jam both doors with the luggage. It wouldn't do for someone to disrupt your preparations.
 
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  • Voting
    • Scheduled vote count started by Blacksheep on Jan 26, 2024 at 10:39 PM, finished with 11 posts and 6 votes.
    • [X]Focus on bracing for the next loop
      -[X] Fortify against mundane intrusion as well. Jam both doors with the luggage. It wouldn't do for someone to disrupt your preparations.
      [X]Break open the final door. And..
      -[X] Go into a predator's blood frenzy, reflexes on alert and strength coursing through your frame.
      -[X] So whoever inside has no time to react.
      -[X] Share delving into Nemo's alien mind, becoming more eldritch than human to deal with the devouring towards the end.
    Click to expand...
     
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    Fourth Loop
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    • Alright, you made it to the luggage room. You checked the time. Eleven o clock, enough time for you to brace against the upcoming pain of once more being thrown through time and your mind disrupted by the slow approach of an eldritch god. You grabbed luggage and shoved it up against the door you had just broken down through. You did the same with the door at the far end, even once finding it locked. You weren't going to take a risk.

    You took a deep breath and sat down. Now you had to do as much as possible to shelter yourself against what was coming. You brought out your sketchbook and began to draw. The spells you knew could do little for you, and you did not have much time. But you knew that you could channel power through your drawings, and you would use that here. You did what you could to create an oasis against the danger you knew was threatening to bear down.

    Your pencil flew over the page as you sank deeper into yourself. Patterns that you couldn't quite explain yet felt like you were almost remembering poured out. Yog-Sogoth drew near.

    You found yourself blinking back a headache in your seat in the dining car across from Robert. The man looked stressed, rubbing his own temples. The clock chimed seven as the waitress entered the dining room car and began to take orders.

    [ ]Write-in
     
  • Threadmarks
    • [x] "Feeling alright, Robert? Headaches, or something odd?"
     
    [X] Plan Unveiling
    -[X] "It was all real." Quickly give him the rundown of the last two loops including the moment that helped him make the realization and the key moments of the last.
    -[X] Tell him to rest a while and not go to check on the gem alone.
    -[X] Go check on the Waitress. It's telling that she hasn't visited your cabin yet..

    [X] Plan Tread lightly
    -[X] Do not reveal the loop right away, let Robert settle down. Make sure he gets some rest while you..
    -[X] Leave as soon as possible to check on the missing Waitress.

    Really pleasantly surprised that Oliver didn't incur a SAN damage. I think a plan where we don't immediately induct Robert might be sound though as well - he has incurred SAN damage from an extradimensional entity and had no protections like Oliver. But we should definitely follow up on the Waitress asap.
     
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    Huh okay. We didn't even take sanity damage this time. Seems like we used our nascent supernatural power to center our self. Interesting.

    Anyway we should wave the waitress over. Explain the loops to Robert. Ask the waitress about her arm. Explain our thoughts around the hound, and use it to press our point. Hope that the death has shook her faith in the cult leader. It's presence is obviously a bad sign.

    [X] Plan Re-Do
    -[X] "It was all real." Quickly give him a very quick rundown of the last two loops including the moment that helped him make the realization and the key moments of the last.
    -[X] Tell him to get his bearings and not go to check on the gem alone.
    -[X] Check on the Waitress. Ask to make sure her arm is okay. Explain your thoughts regarding the Hound and your intent to save her from it. Try to use it's presence to shake her confidence in her accomplice.

    Modified the plan slightly. How could the Waitress have visited our cabin yet? The loop just started.
     
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    JayTar said:
    ---
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    Wasn't the Waitress always in the first update knocking over the glass? If we're talking to her we should also add in a part where we explain why is it that we shot her. Explain to her we wanted to save her from a fate worser than death. We never got to give her the explanation and opted to shoot her right away after all.
    We should also gauge if she took a memory damage first. Because SAN damaged people can be fragile..

    [X] Plan Re-Do
    [X] Plan Tread lightly
     
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    Why waste time when we should be heading for the ritual and stopping it now?

    [X] Plan Stop Wasting Time
    -[X] Excuse yourself and head for the ritual site so you can stop it this time
     
    _brightwing said:
    Wasn't the Waitress always in the first update knocking over the glass? If we're talking to her we should also add in a part where we explain why is it that we shot her. Explain to her we wanted to save her from a fate worser than death. We never got to give her the explanation and opted to shoot her right away after all.
    We should also gauge if she took a memory damage first. Because SAN damaged people can be fragile..

    [X] Plan Re-Do
    [X] Plan Tread lightly
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    I assume the waitress knocking over/catching the glass happened, it just wasn't mentioned. I guess it might be worth asking. @Blacksheep Did the waitress knock over or catch the glass this time?

    I included "Explain your thoughts regarding the Hound" which would explain why we shot her by implication, but I can make it more clear. Asking about her arm also kinda serves as both a segue and a test.
    Technically we don't know we were saving her from a fate worse then death. We were saving her from something, the severity of which may range between "A horrific and painful (but temporary) death" to (A fate worse then death via extra temporal consequences).

    How is this edit:
    JayTar said:
    [X] Plan Re-Do
    -[X] "It was all real." Quickly give him a very quick rundown of the last two loops including the moment that helped him make the realization and the key moments of the last.
    -[X] Tell him to get his bearings and not go to check on the gem alone.
    -[X] Check on the Waitress. Ask to make sure her arm is okay. Explain your thoughts regarding the Hound and your intent to save her from it. Try to use it's presence to shake her confidence in her accomplice.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    On Robert, it might actually be a good idea for him to talk to the guards about the gem theft. If we can get the waitress's corporation (she could say she was threatened by the cultist or something) we can pin the whole thing neatly on them.

    Ternasta said:
    Why waste time when we should be heading for the ritual and stopping it now?

    [X] Plan Stop Wasting Time
    -[X] Excuse yourself and head for the ritual site so you can stop it this time
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Because the waitress can give us the key, and perhaps inform us more about what exactly is going on. Perhaps even help us more directly.
     
    Hmm, having the keys helps Oliver not waste hours knocking down the three or so locked rooms. Baggage, Cultist's cabin and the Driver's compartment. To stop the ritual we need the gemstone and the three stones in the first place. Confirming who's Cultist is important too - and the waitress is the biggest lead.

    I don't object to Robert engaging the guards if he is of sound mind. But we have to remember wandering alone outside got him killed in the first loop - either by the Cultist or the Hound. The difference is he'd be alert though this time. And this saves time, if we want the guards on alert. If the guards are alert though Oliver's actions might be restricted in some regard but also maybe the Cultist's and the Hound's like in the second loop.

    Ternesta's right in that regard. We have to save time, this should take one hour bringing us to nine. The hound appears at 10.

    Barring sacrificing the Waitress the guards and people wandering are a workable defense on it.

    And why always at 10? Is the Cultist doing something noteworthy to draw it in?
     
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    Ideally we would spend no more then 15-30 minutes talking to Robert and the waitress here. Even 15 minutes is enough for a pretty extended conversation.
    What we do next depends on what we can get from the waitress and convince the waitress of. Ideally she would give us the key and a description of the cultist. Grab a guard, have Robert explain the situation to them and take them to his room for the evidence. (We can work out a story where say the Cultist threatened the waitress into stealing the key, but she then came and confessed to us).

    Meanwhile we use the key to run ahead and confront the cultist. I'm not sure if we should go to the cultist's room first to mess up all the runes (because it's probably not a good idea to leave them), or go directly to the luggage. Probably go directly to the luggage.

    Alternatively we can skip getting Robert to rally the guards. Talk to the waitress, get the key, quietly deal with the cultist and leave with nobody the wiser.

    ... Another idea is that if we are willing to spend a little time maybe we could try making something to direct the hound at the cultist? Art is about conveying messages, so painting some big arrows on the walls that are just out of phase with reality or something is hardly even magic.
     
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    JayTar said:
    Ideally we would spend no more then 15-30 minutes talking to Robert and the waitress here. Even 15 minutes is enough for a pretty extended conversation.
    What we do next depends on what we can get from the waitress and convince the waitress of. Ideally she would give us the key and a description of the cultist. Grab a guard, have Robert explain the situation to them and take them to his room for the evidence. (We can work out a story where say the Cultist threatened the waitress into stealing the key, but she then came and confessed to us).

    Meanwhile we use the key to run ahead and confront the cultist. I'm not sure if we should go to the cultist's room first to mess up all the runes (because it's probably not a good idea to leave them), or go directly to the luggage. Probably go directly to the luggage.

    Alternatively we can skip getting Robert to rally the guards. Talk to the waitress, get the key, quietly deal with the cultist and leave with nobody the wiser.

    ... Another idea is that if we are willing to spend a little time maybe we could try making something to direct the hound at the cultist? Art is about conveying messages, so painting some big arrows on the walls that are just out of phase with reality or something is hardly even magic.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    I absolutely love the last idea. Lets give the hound what its here for. The cardinal time violator. Hiding is already possible with water of forgiveness and locket overcharge. If Oliver, Robert and Waitress are cloaked all that's left is the cultist. The Hound isn't limited by normal space so would be drawn to them, provided we take down the Cultist's protections and amplify the hunger - the Hound's main driving force with The Hunger Lure.. Proceed to watch everything collapse for the Cultist, while we shut down the ritual with the gemstone and three stones.

    I really am doubtful about the Waitress's cooperation though. Dying and getting mauled by an extra dimensional entity would have to do a number on her psyche. That's why I put her encounter as a full hour to account for what Oliver might or might not have to deal with.

    Also do we have a name for her Blacksheep?
     
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    Vote closed
  • Voting
    • Scheduled vote count started by Blacksheep on Jan 30, 2024 at 6:26 PM, finished with 13 posts and 6 votes.
    • [X] Plan Re-Do
      -[X] "It was all real." Quickly give him a very quick rundown of the last two loops including the moment that helped him make the realization and the key moments of the last.
      -[X] Tell him to get his bearings and not go to check on the gem alone.
      -[X] Check on the Waitress. Ask to make sure her arm is okay. Explain your thoughts regarding the Hound and your intent to save her from it. Try to use it's presence to shake her confidence in her accomplice.
      [x] "Feeling alright, Robert? Headaches, or something odd?"
      [X] Plan Tread lightly
      -[X] Do not reveal the loop right away, let Robert settle down. Make sure he gets some rest while you..
      -[X] Leave as soon as possible to check on the missing Waitress.
      [X] Plan Stop Wasting Time
      -[X] Excuse yourself and head for the ritual site so you can stop it this time
    Click to expand...
     
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    • "It was all real," you said gravely.

    "What?" Confusion and fear painted plain across Robert's face.

    "Time is repeating, we were attacked by a monster, and your gem is at the center of it."

    Robert leaped back in terror. "How-how do you know about the gem?"

    Wait. That was wrong. He didn't remember. You had thought he had, with his headache and actions, but he didn't.

    "I'm sorry, but I have to go." You stood up and paused. "Don't go check on the gem alone." You rushed over to the waitress.

    She looked up at you with distaste, but finished taking her current order before waving you back to the employee space in the dining car. "Want to kill me again?"

    "I wanted to stop whatever would happen if the creature killed you," you explained. "It appeared because time was being messed with. What if being attacked by it erased you from time entirely? Is your arm alright?"

    She flinched and checked her arm over. "It's alright, doesn't hurt or anything." She looked back up at you. "You think that's a good enough excuse?"

    "I knew you'd be back in this loop, and I've had enough experiences with people being harmed by the occult to be wary of the effects of being attacked by one." You took a deep breath. "It seems we're lucky this time."

    "You think it was drawn in because of the time loops?" the waitress asked hesitantly.

    "What else could have drawn it in? Most trains don't get attacked, and it couldn't see me."

    "Why couldn't it see you?" she demanded.

    "I have protections from that," you explained.

    She frowned. "I...it's almost over, isn't that good?"

    "It's really not. Please, if you still have the key, I need it. I need to stop the ritual."

    The waitress glanced to the side and took a heavy breath. She dug into her pocket and passed over a set of keys. "Here."

    "Thank you." You turned and rushed down.

    "Wait!" Robert called. He still looked ill and panicked.

    [ ]Focus on stopping the ritual
    [ ]Help Robert
    [ ]Write-in
     
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Plan Before the Confrontation
    -[X] Tell the Waitress Robert does not remember and took a mental strain last time. To please look after your friend while you go intervene.
    -[X] Reassure Robert that everything is fine and to stay with the Waitress until you return. She will help him make sense of things in the meantime.
    -[X] Warn her about the Hound who always appears at 10. It might be after her having attacked her once, but she should be fine if she and Robert is in a place under observation with a lot of mundanes. Give her a glass of Water of Forgiveness - and tell her to drink it this time should the Hound corner her. If you manage to stop the loop things might be permanent, so to do things keeping that in mind.
    -[X] Finally ask her about who the cultist (don't mention the grey hair to check if she is lying) is before you leave for the baggage room depending on what you learn. If she has never seen them, who does she suspect?
    -[X] What abilities has the cultist displayed so far? Does she know about any of any other parts of the plan? How did she get roped into this scheme in the first place?
    -[X] Also find out what the purpose of the runes in his room are if she knows. Did he use that place to start the loop or elsewhere?
     
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    Hmm, I'm not sure I quite trust the waitress enough for that. Maybe we could bring him with us? Ask him to stand watch outside the luggage area?

    Anyway he deserves a quick explanation at least.

    [X] Plan Conversation juggling
    -[X] Stop and reassure Robert. You will explain you just need a moment first.
    -[X] Give the waitress a glass of Water of Forgiveness - and tell her to drink it this time before the hound arrives, in case it goes after her again. If you manage to stop the loop things might be permanent this time.
    -[X] Ask the waitress a few quick questions:
    --[X] What does the cultist look like (Don't mention the grey hair in case she lies)
    --[X] What abilities has the cultist displayed?
    --[X] Was she informed of any other parts of the plan?
    --[X] What was the purpose of the runes in his room?
    -[X] Explain things to Robert on your way to your next destination. Presumably the Luggage compartment, unless the information from the waitress drastically changes things. Reference the "four days, five hours" thing he told you previously. Try to soften the blow to not shake him more.
     
    I'm a bit worried if we leave Robert alone he might get murdered like last time. And there's a chance Oliver ends this loop for good. Or run afoul of the Hound. We're about to head to a dangerous encounter ourselves.

    The Waitress although misguided doesn't seem like a bad person, I'm hoping they'd be alright together under the sight of the guards and other staff. Excellent ideas btw, updating my vote with the questions.
     
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