Please Tell Me You Didn’t

But of course you did

You went upstairs, didn’t you? After I told you it was dangerous. And you went through the first green door but not the second. If you did go through the second, tell me what happened cos as I said, I don’t know what’s behind it.

But no, you had to go through the red door at the end of the second floor hallway of Time Out. And he was there, waiting.

I’ve heard about him, and well … let’s say I know him from another life and leave it at that.

He’s old, gaunt, and smiley with paper-thin, nearly gray skin and yellow teeth. His glasses are rose-colored circles, and though you can see his beady black eyes behind them, you more often are given back the reflection of your own eyes when you look there. That’s what they say. I think it’s corny. He sounds like a silly joke of a man. A ball of cliches in an antiquated suit and top hat. Or bowler. Or something in-between. His hands are hidden by white gloves. Is that true? Is any of it true? He was different before, when I knew him. What they say here reeks of urban legend and reminds me that they used to say things like that about me when I was gone to the Desert.

Anyway, I hope you had The Black Book of Fear with you if you went in there, and I hope it was worth it.

Play procedures:

• If you went through the red door, you have acquired a curse and possibly made a pact with the man inside. I’ll determine the nature of your curse, its terms & conditions, and annual upkeep. You decide if you made a bargain or not, and if so, the details of it. If you’d like, make a luck check. If you have no luck, then you fail and get the worst deal you can come up with. If you want some luck but don’t have a luck score yet, assign yourself one and then make the check to determine how well you made out. Note though that no matter how favorable it seems, he always gets something he wants from you.

• If you went through the second green door, you are blessed and get out. Any Somatic items you have on you do not come with you. They simply no longer exist in your possession. Write about it in your journal, if you want, tell us, or keep it all to yourself in your head.