Gather 'Round the Trashfires

About Gather 'Round the Trashfires

Bek Andrew Evans, a TTRPG and LARP writer, recounts stories from the table. The main focus is on his years-long Deviant: the Renegades chronicle and his cohort's (mis)adventures. His delivery style has been described as similar to classic Twilight Zone narration.A group of young adult strangers find they’re victims of the same secret project on the water system that gave them both fantastic powers and horrifying consequences. What’s worse, the hospital they ended up in isn’t what it seems, either. They must band together to protect themselves and their loved ones, seek vengeance, and expose those responsible. And maybe, hopefully, learn to live with each other along the way.Content Warning: this podcast will feature many heavy themes and content throughout. There’s an overall content warning for language, violence, criminality, homelessness, substance use, human experimentation, cults and religious extremism, mentioned torture, kidnapping, implied incest and incest-related comments, and abusive relationships. Specific content warnings will be called out in episodes. Only for mature audiences, listener discretion is advised.

Publisher

Bek Andrew Evans

Category

fiction · leisure

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

10 Feb 2024

Latest episode

16 Sept 2024

Latest episodes

15 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   16 Sept 2024

   Episode 15: Interlude: Madison's Conditioning

   Robert has a new problematic hobby that threatens to bring law enforcement and Society attention to the cohort. Also, the cohort explains to Madison about the conditioning project the Society uses, and that she's a victim of it. --------- EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: Get your snack and beverage of choice ready. It’s time to “Gather ‘Round the Trashfires” for a tabletop roleplaying story! I’m your host, Bek Andrew Evans. My current and main running story for this podcast is the misadventures of the cohort from the Deviant: the Renegades chronicle I’ve been playing in since early 2021. And I play Geri. For those of you unfamiliar with Deviant, it’s a TTRPG about people who were formerly human but were irreparably changed in traumatic ways to the point their very Souls broke and they became something Other. They seek vengeance on those who made them, those who hunt them, those who seek to exploit them for what they are and will never leave them be. As such, this podcast will feature heavy themes and content throughout. There’s an overall content warning for language, violence, criminality, homelessness, substance use, human experimentation, cults and religious extremism, mentioned torture, kidnapping, implied incest and incest-related comments, and abusive relationships. On episodes where there is a new content warning or a particularly notable instance of one of these, I’ll call it out. I hope y’all enjoy hearing about my cohort’s antics and stumbling headfirst into the mysteries of the world as much as I have. [Music Intro: "_violence" by Avantist] GCC Episode 15: Madison's Conditioning By the time the cohort gets home from the Air and Space museum, there's a video going viral on social media. It's a cell phone video from the museum of a stretched-looking, tall and pale Robert suddenly blurring in a bee-line for the back exit. He then stops in the parking lot. His skin and muscles shift like Hollywood-level special effects to Robert's normal form. The video captures Robert speed-walking deeper into the parking lot at a normal human rate. The viral video isn't up for long, though. It suddenly gets taken down 12 hours later. In the days since, Robert's been mysteriously disappearing at night. Surely just a coincidence, a lot more Snowdale Park Rangers patrol the area than previously after they discovered evidence of poaching. Alerts and fliers in the area say there's a $100 reward for any information that leads to the poacher's arrest. Thankfully, they haven't gotten close enough to the cabin to set off any of Grant's deadly traps. Madison writes a notice in the information journal that they need to meet to catch up, and so they do. One afternoon, Robert is carving bird bones into jewelry peices in the living room of the cabin. He's wearing a sleeveless tee shirt and shorts. Geri's busy cleaning something in the kitchen, wearing lounge clothes and barefoot. Madison joins soon after from outside, wearing a pastel plaid pleated skirt, a long-sleeve tee shirt and tennis shoes. She wears her hair in a high ponytail and sips a sakura frappe. Geri and Robert greet her and she gets right to the point: she tells them they need to talk. Geri sprawls on one couch and Madi takes a seat on the other next to Robert. Madison asks where Robert's been going at night, uncomfortably watching him carve the bird bones. The look Geri gives Robert then is not warm. Robert admits to hunting, and casually says he really should get a permit now that he's left some traces. Geri asks why the fuck he's hunting and what purpose does it serve. He could, after all, simply NOT. Madison reminds Robert that they're all supposed to be in hiding, not even her parents know they're at the cabin. She says the government-lake people are gonna take them to hospital-prison if they find them. Geri also brings up how Robert Could Have Simply Not been the Flash in front of a ton of witnesses. Robert thinks the super speed thing wasn't too bad since he had his mask on so no one could recognize him. He also doesn't see why they're picking on him for hunting when Madison goes out to a ton of free-WiFi places. Geri doesn't care that Robert was wearing a mask, and Robert weakly defends himself saying it wasn't a conscious decision. Geri doesn't believe him. Madi says she's about to risk getting killed by a Phantom of Elm Street to get a botnet to hide the cohort's tracks, but all that risk and effort will be useless if Robert gets them caught by the department of fishing and wildlife. She reiterates she's always disguised when she goes out, and switches up which cafes she goes to. She goes on to explain her data security protocol... she's taking great pains to make sure she isn't tracked. Robert thanks Madison for her efforts and promises he won't hunt anymore until he can get a permit. Madi asks what name and address he's using for the permit. He hasn't decided, and is considering maybe bribing a park ranger. Geri suggests again he could simply not. Robert immediately dismisses that option. He asks them to trust his judgment, because he trusts theirs when they come up with plans. Geri says the rest of the cohort wasn't making boneheaded decisions, and Madi scolds her for being so aggro. Robert claims hunting helps him control what he becomes, and claims sometimes he becomes someone else. Madison says they can't stop him from hunting, but she demands he do so safer and discreetly - so he doesn't bring law enforcement or the evil lake people to them. Robert promises he'll be discreet as possible, and still thinks getting a permit is a good idea. It's real hard, but Geri keeps her mouth shut and doesn't snark at Robert. Madi reminds him he needs a fake name and address, so Robert comes up with "William Thompson" on the fly. This placates Madi. He then tries to convince the two that they need balaclavas, or other full-facial masks so if they get into superpower fights in public, they can keep their identities safe. Madi gently points out that that's just gonna draw more attention, and they should disguise by trying to look like normal people. Madison's stuck on why they would want to use their powers in public, though. Robert thinks it might be necessary sometimes, so a mask could help for those situations, but says the hiding in plain sight is good for everyday disguises. Madi points out if they're not expecting a fight, it'll be too late to put on a mask once it starts. Robert thinks they should still keep masks around for emergencies, and Madi says she can pick some up soon. She also says they might, she guesses, need them if they ever decide to rob a bank - but no one tell Zuse that idea! Robert suggests they could keep the masks while contacting other supernatural things, which he isn't keen on doing. Madi reminds Robert she's dating a lake spirit. So yeah, they're gonna end up talking to other supernaturals. Robert's afraid other supernaturals are gonna be more powerful than the cohort, and Madi confirms Camille sure is. Besides, the cohort's still learning and they need to learn to work together better, too! But it doesn't matter if they're less powerful than Camille or other things, they just have to learn to work with the hand they've been dealt. Geri runs a hand through her hair and admits she needs to work on keeping Society thoughts from leaking into the Mindcraft. Madison's alarmed it might mean the link's two-way, but Geri assures her it isn't - just the song they think... disorients some of the cohort. Robert wants to make himself bigger and stronger, and maybe be able to control his clones. Madi says she finds The Long Man Song calming, and says Dr. Werner used to play it for her during therapy - mindfulness meditation sorta thing. Robert says they should be wary of anything the Society did that made them feel good. Awkwardly, Geri explains that yeah it makes you feel calm... but it's a Society tool to condition powerful Remade. She admits they tried it on her, too but they probably didn't have enough time to make it take. She's scared now. Madi asks what Geri means by "condition." Robert says it's like the dog with the bell. Geri cautiously, slowly explains that if one of them panics, it's meant to calm them instantly and stop whatever they were doing. But it's not strong enough to make them do anything else. Absolutely not asked for, Robert says if you're conditioned once, it'll be way easier to condition you to do more things. When poor Madison starts shaking with terror, Robert assures her conditioning is a long process. Madison asks what else they can do with it. She figures AJ's probably fine because his uncle Gabe loves him. Geri promises he is, all of them actually, but the Society members in the know can still weaponize it when the cohort has revenge time. Robert suggests Geri or Grant overpower the song by screaming in the Mindcraft. No one acknowledges to his suggestion. Madison gets increasingly worried and claims making someone calm isn't what conditioning is. Geri tries to explain it by referencing the bar fight scene with River in the movie Serenity. This doesn't help much because Madi's never seen it. Then she thinks she had but mixes it up with Inception. Robert wanders off to train, leaving the job of reassuring the baby living nuke to Geri. AJ joins the group, just barely missing Robert. Not that he would have noticed, since he's so exhausted and un-caffeinated he's shuffling in like the walking dead. He's sipping on an over-sized beer mug filled with iced coffee. He groans more than speaks his greeting, and then flops into one of the couches. Geri moves the unkempt curls out of his face and tells him she's trying to get everyone on the same page. She turns to Madi and explains the scene from Serenity, how the girl with superpowers started a fight in a bar and her brother told her a secret word and it made her drop to the floor asleep. This doesn't have the intended effect of reassuring Madi. Instead, she panics worse. She wonders if that's why she got extra therapy sessions. AJ gets momentarily distracted by the Serenity discussion. He's wistful about how hot he thinks Simon was, but says Kaylee the mechanic was the character he related to the most. He then asks Madison how she felt when she heard the Long Man Song. She doesn't know, and starts spiraling into a full electrified panic. She babbles about how it was used in therapy and worries that the Society will make her hurt people because they wanted to make her an "asset." AJ takes his turn trying to reassure Madi. He gestures for her to retake her seat and explains the conditioning can only make you do very specific things you're conditioned to do instead of a full sort of mind control. He says he knows it's scary and enraging, but promises they'll all figure it out together. Violated, Madi asks how they undo it, to keep the Society out of her head. She worries more that the specific purpose could be using her as a weapon. She doesn't want to be made to hurt more people. Geri says she can check for her just like she checked for AJ, and besides, she's seen Madi space out at the song so it's probably just that effect like Zuse said. Madi snaps back that Zuse also said Dr. Werner didn't torture anyone. AJ says that's why they're gonna verify it together and not rely on Zuse's opinion. But they need Madi to calm down. He says he can help her, but she needs to trust him. He offers his hand to the sparky girl. He says they're all in this together. Madi drops her cup and spills frappe all over the floor. She says she's trying to be calm, even as she's sparking and visibly panicking more. Geri fetches the mop to begin cleaning the mess and says it's alright, they're a found family. Madison begs Geri to rip the conditioning out of her head. Geri gently explains that she doesn't know if she can even do that, but the first step is figuring out the extent of the conditioning, which she CAN do. AJ goes off on a tangent in trying to comfort Madi, that it's not a death sentence, and even if it was it wouldn't be valid. Even Judge Judy would sideye it. Madi's insistent they have to figure out more about her conditioning! She can't bear the idea of putting her new friends in danger. AJ promises she won't do that, and Geri promises she'll figure it out. With a terrible realization, Madison starts panicked-rambling wondering if any of the therapy was real therapy or if it was all just experiments and torture. She slides against the wall to the floor. AJ's momentarily upset at the mention of Gabe, but pulls it together almost immediately. He says parents, older generations make you believe they're powerful and infallible, but they're fuck ups like the rest of everyone. He sits with Madison. Geri kneels down beside her and offers the girl a hug. She says to keep anything from therapy that may have helped and ditch the rest. Reminded of her own parents, Madi laments her family never returned her calls. She only got her dad's secretary. At this, Geri goes in for a protective hug... and is a champ about pretending she isn't getting shocked. AJ watches the painful hug and manages, barely, to not tip Madi off about it. She's too distraught to realize the pain she's causing. AJ says Madison's parents screwed up BAD not realizing what an amazing, brave, and sweet daughter they have. Now the cohort has her. Madi looks up with wide, teary eyes and asks if he really means that. Geri says since Madi's parents don't appreciate her, Geri and AJ are her new parents. AJ smiles and says she's stuck with them. They're a super dysfunctional family that drinks together and fights crime. She says the two are the sweetest, but says Lucas'll probably kill AJ if he kisses her again. AJ says that would be a glorious death, and fake swoons. Geri gives AJ a light kick to the shin and releases Madi from the shocky hug. She has some minor electric burn marks. AJ joke-defensively says he has needs, but he's an explorer and doesn't visit the same port twice. Madi laughs and says that's a new term for fuckboy, but after a moment, looks to Geri with worry etched on her face. She asks if Geri can check her head. While the other two go back to silly banter, Geri connects to Madi. She finds out Madi thinks the therapy helped her, but she's unable to find information Madi doesn't know herself. She can't figure out the extent of the conditioning this way, but is able to confirm that the lack of knowledge isn't from repressed memories. Unfortunately, Geri attunes to Madi so intensely that she's momentarily overwhelmed by all the layers of Madi's terror about conditioning. Meanwhile, AJ and Madison are still bantering about AJ's fuckboy-ness and other silly euphemisms AJ can come up with. When she doesn't understand one of them, AJ says she'll understand when she's older. Madison insists that she totally understands well, she went to Catholic school. AJ's confused. He thought Catholic school was all about teaching abstinence. Madi gives an unconvincing affirmative, but it's enough to keep AJ confused. Then, Geri's overwhelmed by Madi's fear. She pales, breaks into a cold sweat, and scarlet wisps of psychic energy form around her, singing the floor and some of Madi's clothes. AJ stops trying to decipher how a catholic school student would possibly know about anything sex-related to check on Geri. Madi worriedly asks if Geri's okay. Geri's still shakey, but she manages to compose herself and tries to play it off as nothing, just a little backlash, no biggie. She says she'll have to check another way since Madi has no knowledge what her conditioning might do beyond the calming. Madi begs her to do it, whatever it is. Geri replies it's her dream power. Madi warns her to be careful and not look in on the experiment memories. Geri says she'll try but it can't possibly be worse than dying. AJ says he's really in the mood for raiding the food stash and making some trashy food like jalepeno and turkey bacon cheese quesadillas. Then he remembers Madi's vegetarian and suggests blue cheese poppers. He gives Geri puppy dog eyes. She's very drained, but Geri agrees to help cook. When AJ runs into the kitchen to gather stuff, Zuse pops out of the fridge and announces he wants whatever they're having, too... and then has to rush to find his clothes. AJ yells at Zuse for popping out of the fridge (again) and streaking in the house... (again). That night, Geri goes to sleep for an Astral Travel dream. She asks the universe for more insight about Madison's conditioning. She has a brief dream about Madison. She sees Madison as she was in the ward, when she first got brought in. She sees some staff reviewing a report about the freak storm that slaughtered nearly an entire high school football team and cheerleading squad from a Tulsa private school. Then Geri hears the Long Man Song. Later, after she wakes up, Geri decides to get more information about the Church of Charismatic Virtues. She goes to a cafe with a computer and checks the church's website. She also makes a sock account on social media, pretending to be a tech-illiterate middle aged church lady. She learns Vacation Bible School is coming up in June, the week after local schools let out. The church calendar has a ton of VBS activities planned through June. More importantly, she learns of a summer kickoff event on Memorial Day, later this month. It'll have fire dancing and a youth BBQ. Memorial Day is quickly coming up. [Music Outro: "Time Will Fail Us" by Troigo] Thanks for listening, This has been Gather ‘Round The Trashfires with Bek Andrew Evans. Please subscribe to this podcast for future updates and leave a review or comment, I’d love to hear what you think. You can follow me on a few different social platforms with the username "bekandrew." That's [spells username] on tumblr and bluesky, mainly. If you'd like to support me, subscribe to my Patreon at Patreon.com/BekAndrewTTRPG and purchase my art prints and tabletop products, including my Deviant: the Renegades community content novella related to this chronicle via my linktree in the description. AJ is played by Roen, Geri is played by me, Madison is played by Syn, Robert is played by Pandito, Grant is played by Jaxon, And our Storyteller is Casey Grant. The intro theme is "_violence by Avantist" from the Free Music Archive, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0. The end theme is "Time Will Fail Us" by Troigo from the Free Music Archive, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0. If you like the songs, I encourage you to check out more of their work. I've linked their Bandcamps in the description. Until next time. Follow my Patreon at Patreon.com/BekAndrewTTRPG Check out my other work at linktr.ee/bekandrew Check out the Intro and Outro artists' Bandcamps! https://theavantist.bandcamp.com/music https://troigo.bandcamp.com/ Remember to subscribe and see y'all next week! Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/gather-round-the-trashfires/donations (https://redcircle.com/gather-round-the-trashfires/donations)

2. 

   31 Aug 2024

   Episode 14: Zuse Needs a Leash

   AJ must reach his mom to seek her help and check on her. The cohort comes along as support, but it's a race to the bottom to determine which one endangers the cohort the most with their antics. --------- EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: GCC Episode 14: Zuse Needs a Leash Get your snack and beverage of choice ready. It’s time to “Gather ‘Round the Trashfires” for a tabletop roleplaying story! I’m your host, Bek Andrew Evans. Those of you who've followed the podcast will have noticed I haven't posted in a while, and also didn't announce I was going on break. I wasn't planning on it. It's a little cliche to say that nearly everything possible went wrong, but my lights did nearly get shut off, had to take point on getting new jobs for both my family members I live with, I had to repair my computer, and everyone got COVID. As much as I would have loved to keep putting out episodes through that whole thing, it's a little difficult to focus on much of anything but trying to solve whatever the most severe and immediate problems are - and the occasional game session itself. And then, even when I expected to get back, my mental health had taken a pretty major hit for a while so transitioning back into working on tabletop stuff has taken longer than expected. I plan to be back to my update schedule now since things are looking better. As always, you can get more between-episode updates and directly support me through my Patreon at Patreon.com/BekAndrewTTRPG. You can also see pictures of my service dog in training, Remi. My current and main running story for this podcast is the misadventures of the cohort from the Deviant: the Renegades chronicle I’ve been playing in since early 2021. And I play Geri. For those of you unfamiliar with Deviant, it’s a TTRPG about people who were formerly human but were irreparably changed in traumatic ways to the point their very Souls broke and they became something Other. They seek vengeance on those who made them, those who hunt them, those who seek to exploit them for what they are and will never leave them be. As such, this podcast will feature heavy themes and content throughout. There’s an overall content warning for language, violence, criminality, homelessness, substance use, human experimentation, cults and religious extremism, mentioned torture, kidnapping, implied incest and incest-related comments, and abusive relationships. On episodes where there is a new content warning or a particularly notable instance of one of these, I’ll call it out. There's an episode content warning for cancer mention. I hope y’all enjoy hearing about my cohort’s antics and stumbling headfirst into the mysteries of the world as much as I have. [Music Intro: "_violence" by Avantist] Green Country Calcination Episode 14: Zuse Needs a Leash The cohort begins to gather in the common area the morning they're meant to go out. Grant's freshly showered, wearing his normal sort of outfit and had already been awake for a while. Geri was awake at sunrise for a workout, took a nap, and woke up for the mission. She's fixing a last coffee before they head out. Unlike his normal, AJ's actually up relatively early, ready to go with backpacks packed for everyone sitting in the living room. He also has a wrapped present about the size of a small toddler wrapped in snoopy Christmas paper. He's wearing his normal sort of bright-colored nerdy joke superhero graphic tee, a green and blue open jogging suit jacket with matching pants, and some running shoes. He's pale and tense. Grant doesn't sit down, always seeming ready to go. He greets the other two and asks AJ if he's ready to go. AJ nervously says he is and thanks them for agreeing to come along. Grant figures the group's proven they're trustworthy after the last mission, and are helping him with Sophie. Besides, at least this one's a person. Geri declares they are NOT rescuing any more cats.... unless the cat's not out of the way. AJ gets into the plan when Grant asks. He says he'll call his mom once they're about an hour out and she'll tell them what area to meet her. Madison's already nabbed the floor plans. AJ explains they can cover the different access points on the way up be able to play lookout or be ready to make decoys for a getaway - with the present in his hands being one of them. He asks who wants to be a decoy and who wants to do lookout. Just then, right after the explanation, Robert arrives. He's wearing an all-white jogging suit, hoodie hood up and a face mask with an energy drink in his hand. Geri looks at Robert and... sighs. AJ takes Robert's outfit in and tells him they already have to get all this clearly metallic stuff past museum security without Madi's help since she's still doing hacker stuff. Robert tells the others to complain to the lake if they don't like how he's dressed, he didn't choose to be allergic to the sun - or do the mission during the day. Geri asks if he could get an umbrella or maybe just a ton of sunscreen, so he could be a little less conspicuous. Grant agrees and suggests he could say he has skin cancer. Robert says his protection stuff is just for outside, he can put it away once he's inside since it's the act of being under sunlight that's bad, not the UV, which he's discovered through more trial and error. An umbrella could work, but people would get suspicious if he gets hurt from it moving wrong by accident. So the mask and hoodie helps prevent that. Grant says all of it's suspicious and they're trying to help him workshop the least suspicious thing. Robert says he can try it next time, but if he gets burnt, it'll be Grant's fault. Grant just shrugs at that. Geri offers for Robert to wear a medical facemask instead to support the cancer ruse. Only a monster would question a cancer patient. Robert says there's lots of everyday monsters around. He dismisses the idea of changing clothes for the time being and changes subject to his idea for the mission - he can be all the lookouts with his clones, switching between them a few times every minute. That way the others can use their powers to the fullest extent. AJ thinks that's a good idea, but Robert needs to make sure he doesn't end up looking like a coordinated attack of hooded masked people. Then he hands out the backpacks he brought to everyone and explains what's in them. He tells Grant he's got a Smokey Boi and Shouty Gal, Geri's got a Flashy Gal and a Smokey Boi, Robert's got the Sugga Daddy, and AJ's got Party Boi. Robert asks what Sugga Daddy does, and AJ says it's a people trap. He explains it's for getaways. You put it on the ground, flip the switch on top and run away. It'll activate five seconds after. Grant asks if they'll talk in each other's heads again, Geri confirms and explains it helps for distance and communication security. The four finish their last second preparations and head out the door, AJ leading the way. They wander through the park to the secluded parking lot where they store the vehicles. Zuse is already there with a former youth group van - he's got a black backpack, bare chest, black board shorts, flip flops, and a rubber duck floaty on his waist. He's holding a pool noodle and his hair's dyed bright purple. There's sunscreen that hasn't absorbed properly on his nose. He shouts across the parking lot that they missed the beach. Geri chuckles at Zuse's antics. Grant gives an overwhelmed and grossly underpaid for this experience look. Robert curses in frustration. AJ smirks but then gets very serious. One by one he tells Zuse each part of his ensemble is unacceptable. And that he has to wear a shirt to the museum. Zuse complains that he knows what museums are like, he's been to them before. He says he basically is one with all the internet he's experienced over the years. He starts tossing his water toys in the van. Grant, Robert, and Geri start getting settled in the van, themselves. AJ says if that's the case, Zuse can just wait in the van alone with his toys. Zuse sarcastically replies that he'll totally stay in the van the whole time. Geri mutters that Zuse never stays in the van, and Grant reminds her last time Zuse was helpful and stayed put. Zuse explains, much less suspiciously, that AJ's mother will be disappointed if he doesn't come say hello. AJ climbs in his seat and pulls out one of the burner phones. He adopts a horrendous fake Australian accent and starts the classic 'refrigerator running' bit with whoever's on the other end. The rest of the cohort stop what they were doing or looking at to stare in bewilderment, judging, and in Robert's case, mild awe, at AJ's accent... skills. After a moment, AJ frowns and breaks character to quietly whine to his mom on the other end that she's supposed to say 'Yes, the refrigerator's running.' He grins, again putting on that fake terrible Aussie accent and finishes the bit, telling his mom that she better go catch it. The cohort can hear AJ's mom exclaim 'Alexander Joseph' through the phone at the bad joke. Grant rolls his eyes. Geri giggles. Robert chuckles. AJ finishes up a very short check-in with his mom before hanging up and breaking the burner phone. He tells the cohort it's time to go. Robert starts driving, and it's busy the whole way there. At the very least, there's no accidents or too much police presence. AJ asks Zuse to mess with the metal detectors when they get there. Zuse excitedly says he'll try, but doesn't make any promises. He's also intent on hearing a new Ariana Grande song, so he keeps switching the radio back to the local pop station no matter who changes it. The cohort just have to deal with it. He'd found a tee-shirt stored in the van - an 'I'm with stupid' shirt that points in both directions. It takes the cohort a bit over an hour to make it to the planetarium, but once they get there, the rain's let up. The parking lot at the planetarium is super packed and Robert looks for a spot like an irritated sit-com father on a road trip. Geri impatiently tries, with little luck, to point out a spot for Robert, but it takes him a while longer to find a suitable spot for the large van. Robert parks and tells the others they should go to the entrance nearest to the elevators so they can head up to the second floor right away. Grant asks where they're meeting AJ's mom, and AJ clarifies they're meeting at the planetarium - which is only a section of the museum - and they have tickets already reserved. They're supposed to be youth counselors coming to meet Ms. Holt. Zuse decides, on hearing the plan, that maaaaaybe he should change his shirt. He throws on a tee shirt from the thrift shop pile with a giant neon pink graphic print design of a cross on the front. Geri complains about the new shirt, and AJ assures him they're all just glad he's actually wearing a shirt. Zuse compromises by wearing both shirts at once. Robert struggles to avoid getting any sun on his skin while he's getting out of the van, even covered up. He refocuses the group from the Zuse shenanigans, asking where he's supposed to watch and if AJ's gonna tell him when he's supposed to transform. AJ pulls out a paper map of the museum and a marker and starts marking out locations for the others. Geri, meanwhile, boots up the Mindcraft Server. Grant remarks he's not sure he'll ever get used to the telepathy and takes a look at the long line to get in. He notices why it's so crowded - it's law enforcement appreciation day at the museum. Officers and their families have free admission. When the cohort realizes this, they all have a moment of 'are you fucking kidding me?' Except for Zuse. He seems completely oblivious to why the rest of the cohort is suddenly in a very sour mood and instead comments on how happy all the families look. AJ tells everyone, through the Mindcraft, to act normal. Maybe they can use the crowd to their advantage? Geri asks Zuse to be on extra-good behavior as the cohort trek forward. Zuse doesn't understand what she means, so AJ explains to pretend to be a normal, boring person and just walk inside. Zuse wonders if that means they don't need him to fool the scanners anymore. They still do. But otherwise need him to be boring. There's a lot of flashes of binary code in the network, right as they get up to the front of the line. The acne-pocked young worker, 'Elijah' from his name tag, smiles awkwardly to the group, stammering as he speaks. He stares at Robert and his overly-covering outfit and asks if it's hot. Grant smoothly slides to the front of the cohort and sincerely confides in the poor worker that Robert's got real bad skin cancer, but he came to see the planes... cuz it might be his last chance. Robert nods solemnly. Geri tears up a little at Grant's explanation, apparently able to cry on demand. Elijah looks away like Robert's turbo-cancer might be contagious via line of sight and immediately changes the subject to ask how many tickets they need. AJ takes the lead and says they're youth counselors from Camp 'Touch-a-Star,' and they have tickets reserved to meet Ms. Holt inside. Grant, meanwhile, keeps up the act pretend-consoling Robert in front of the ticket worker and makes sure it's real awkward, saying things like 'it's okay buddy, we're gonna make sure you get to see that crop-duster.' The cohort doesn't get too many weird looks, only the occasional child - who promptly gets a scolding from their mother. It's downtown Tulsa, after all. Elijah looks the tickets up on the computer, appreciative to be free from awkward conversation for a moment, before printing them out and ushering the cohort through security. Before the cohort can leave, though, he tells them the elevators by the planetarium are out of order, so if they want to check out the new digital sky maps, they'll have to go to the food court to get upstairs. While Zuse wonders in the mindcraft if the food court has tacos, the rest of the cohort express frustration their very simple plan has already been complicated again. AJ quickly devises a new plan. He tells Robert to station a clone by the food court entrance instead of the planetarium elevator, but he also thinks they should watch the elevator in case it's a lie that they're nonfunctional. The cohort approaches the row of metal detectors. Zuse gives them a grin and wink of surely being up to no good and takes his ticket from AJ before going up first. He runs his fingers along the device, and has to go through again because it popped up an error message. They keep passing him through different metal detectors. Three give error messages before security gives up and pats him down and clears him. He nonchalantly leans against the security desk equipment while he waits for the others. The cohort pass through, one by one without issue - except for that the guards' faces keep getting redder and more clearly shocked and embarrassed with each one they let go through. They're VERY eager to end the interaction with the cohort. AJ gives Zuse a questioning look, and Zuse explains he made anything illicit the cohort was carrying look like dildos on the security screen. Geri thinks it's funny. Robert asks him why the fuck he did that. Grant's just glad it worked. Zuse points out who would stop and question a stranger why they brought their dildos to the museum? AJ is already exhausted with all of this and just trying to herd the cats into the lookout locations already. Robert says he'll duck into a bathroom to transform. They need another person to take the additional lookout spot of the "broken" elevators, since Robert only has three clones. Zuse offers, especially since he wants to see if he can get them working for an escape. Zuse wanders off then to go play with the elevators, or tries to until AJ tells him to stay with the group until they're on the Planetarium side. Zuse cheers for the food-court and runs ahead, in the correct direction at least, like the hundreds of kids and teens already inside. The food court is a massive structure within the museum - two stories with stairs, an elevator, and escalators connecting the floors. There isn't much of a floor between the second and first floors, instead the second floor is a balcony that opens into the restaurant stands and looks down to the first floor. Dozens of model planes from different eras and a NASA space shuttle are suspended from the high ceiling. The place has hundreds of people getting food from the dozens of restaurant stalls to eat at the many tables with children running around. Zuse makes a bee line for a taco stand. Robert, meanwhile, heads to the second floor men's bathroom to start cloning himself in peace. AJ spots Zuse, strolls over to him, grabs him by the collar, and leads him back to the cohort without a word. Zuse flails and pouts for a moment, but hangs his head and sadly returns without a fight. The cohort surveys the area. AJ and Grant are able to confirm at least a few off-duty cops in the large crowd, but no one's on-duty except for the museum security guard chatting with a guy in a Tulsa PD t-shirt holding his baby. Meanwhile, Robert is upstairs in the men's bathroom. He has to wait in line for a stall and then, when one does finally open up, it's the disability-accessible stall. The stall smells horrific from the visitor who just left it. They didn't flush. Now hidden, Robert begins to transform. He becomes more slender and stretched out, deathly pale. He has a leaner, more wiry muscular build in this form with skin that appears thinner and stretched. Thankfully, no one in the bathroom notices the transformation since he's in the stall. It could quickly become obvious, though, if multiple people come out since there's a line. Robert updates the rest of the cohort over the Mindcraft about the situation, that he's transformed but there are people outside. He's unsure how to pull off duplicating himself unnoticed. AJ suggests having the clones exit at 5-minute intervals. Grant suggests having the first clone tell people the toilet is out of order to discourage people from trying. He also notes there's a lot of police present. Robert.... sort of does as suggested. He quickly kicks pipes behind the toilet until the pipes break and flushes the toilet until it overflows. By some freak stroke of luck, the sound of his banging is covered up by an extremely loud fart from the other stall. Dirty water has flooded the bathroom. He peeks his head out and tells the now extremely few people waiting that the previous occupant broke something. They don't argue, just rush out. Robert's free to duplicate himself and begin releasing his three clones. The clones go to their designated lookout points and the original meets up with the cohort again. He says he'll switch to his clones to peek in every 30 seconds or so, but the real him can keep walking around with the cohort - he's faster now. No one's noticed yet that the clones are clones. There are too many people around, and the clones quickly spread out to different areas. They cohort starts making their way to the planetarium finally, with Grant and Geri keeping a lookout for cameras. Zuse trails behind, having to retrieve the flip-flop he keeps accidentally kicking off. Geri flashes images of the locations she spots into the mindcraft. Grant subtly indicates camera locations with small gestures, keeping his face lowered so the camera can't pick it up with his ball cap. Grant notes the cameras seem normal, but two are trained right at the door. Once they're upstairs, Robert switches to sentry mode and periodically switches between his clones to act as a living camera bank. There's a crowd trying to get into the planetarium. Most of the cohort's able to blend in just fine, but a running kid smacks right into Grant and knocks them both over. When he glances up, his ball cap's fallen off and he's looking right into a camera. A guard comes over to make sure everyone's fine, and Grant graciously plays it off. He sends the kid on their way back to their parents, quick lets the parents know its no big deal, and catches up to the cohort. AJ assures them that so long as there's no incidents, no one'll have reason to look at the tape ever, anyway. The cohort have a moment of child-like wonder - even Grant - when they enter the Planetarium and experience the huge, extremely hi-def images of the night sky and Milky Way suddenly surrounding them. There's a pleasant recorded voice discussing space facts from speakers around them. AJ's the only one not enraptured by anything around him. He's, for once, on task trying to track down his mom. He asks Zuse if the elevator's really busted. Then yells at him when Zuse is too busy drooling about all the tech in the room to immediately answer. After more insistent prodding and demands, Zuse separates from the group (and those tantalizing pieces of technology) to investigate the elevator. Robert looks for anyone with a familial resemblance to AJ. Geri actually asks what AJ's mom looks like. It doesn't matter, though, because AJ quickly spots Rebecca Werner-Holt on his own. He's so excited to see her, he forgets to speak aloud and calls out to her through the Mindcraft at first. Rebecca's sitting alone by a computer stand with bar stools. She's taller than average at 5'8 and holds her head proudly. She dresses pretty, but casual, in a white lacy button up short-sleeve top, jeans, and tennis shoe, her long dark brown hair pulled back in a loose bun. She keeps her small purse close under her arm and a grip on her phone. She smiles with relief to the cohort when she AJ calls out to her and quietly beckons them over, greeting her son and addressing the chaotic tech-merger as... "Uncle Zuse." He's just now returning from inspecting the elevators, and ends up behind the cohort in time for Rebecca to see him. He waves back to her as if he expected this. The cohort's collective brain breaks. They ask in the mindcraft about why AJ's mom called Zuse uncle. Zuse explains technically he's her great-uncle, as if that answered what they were really asking. AJ quietly shares his confusion with his mother and shouts his confusion in the Mindcraft. Zuse thinks they're all confused because they don't know what a great-uncle is, so he sincerely explains he's the brother of Rebecca's grandfather. Rebecca gives AJ a hug and asks him what's wrong. AJ bemoans how complicated and tangled his family tree keeps getting in the Mindcraft and explains to his mom that he didn't realize Zuse was his uncle. Rebecca gives her great uncle, who physically appears close in age to her son, a look but asks the cohort if he's been taking care of them all. Zuse asks in the Mindcraft for them to tell her he's been doing good at his job. Robert keeps his comments about the cohort taking more care of Zuse than the other way around contained to the mindcraft. Geri and AJ cover for Zuse and assure Rebecca he's been helpful. AJ introduces the cohort by saying they're his friends and they've all helped keep him safe. Rebecca seems happy to hear all this and greets the cohort, asking if they're all from the ward run by her "in-law in-chief", Gabriel. Before they can answer, Robert quietly announces that they should talk outside. There's a moment of confusion whether Robert saw something, and it turns out he was being overly cautious. They decide to stay where they are in the dark and din of crowds and recorded voices. The cohort as a whole is antsy and on edge while they're chatting. AJ answers belatedly that they're from the ward and emphasizes that he couldn't've made it without them. He asks if his mom's okay, and where the people watching her think she is now. Robert has another announcement, this time through the mindcraft. Agent Knox is in the museum with a woman. He's off-duty. The mindcraft becomes chaos. Oblivious to the mindcraft discussion, Rebecca answers she doesn't report where she's going, but Gabriel's friends have deep government pockets - so it's reasonable to assume she could be watched. AJ confirms they are watching her, so asks again where they think she is. She says the salon. Geri snoops on Knox from afar, reconnecting to him with telepathy. She makes extra sure this time to keep him fully out of the mindcraft server. There's still a small trickle of the Long Man Song that slips into the Mindcraft Server from Knox's idle thoughts when she connects, which makes AJ forget what he was saying. Grant asks if Zuse can fix the elevator, and Zuse says he'll try, but it seems to be legitimately broken. From Rebecca's point of view, her son visibly spaces out, takes a moment to recover, then tells her to not panic but they've got company. He starts apologizing that he knows she had things to tell him but they don't have a lot of time. He walks with her to the back of the room with his big wrapped present, placing it on one of the tables, then immediately changes his mind to get it back. Meanwhile, Geri finds out that Knox really is just there on a date. Unrelated, he knows Rebecca Werner-Holt is AJ's mom and someone the cohort would be likely to contact.... however, he is extremely hesitant to do anything that would endanger her. He heard Gabriel murdered the last person who put her in danger. The wildest rumor he heard was Gabe ripped out a guy's heart with his bare hand in a board meeting. Rebecca's immediately concerned and asks AJ how he knows that, that they don't have a lot of time. Geri passes on the information to the cohort and has to assure AJ Knox wasn't actively thinking about his mom, Geri had just gone digging for what he knew about Rebecca. AJ... carefully says he has 'eyes all over the place.' She glances over to the cohort members who aren't paying attention to the conversation between mother and son. Robert keeps spacing out every so often when his consciousness oscillates between his clones and Grant is keeping a watchful eye for danger, ready to pounce. She skeptically accepts but doesn't press further. She says she wasn't expecting it to be Law Enforcement Appreciation Day. Unfortunately, with no one checking on him in a while, Zuse has grown bored. And there's lots of technology around. He wanders over to one of the computer display stations. Right as he's about to do something ill-advised, AJ asks again if he can get the elevator working. Zuse freezes with hand outstretched toward the screen and pouts, reluctantly agreeing to try again. Grant suggests if the elevator can't be fixed, they can pull a fire alarm to cover their escape. Geri thinks it should be a last resort given it'll alert Knox and the whole 'all the cops are there' thing. AJ and his mom have a touching moment of reminiscing, share a hug, and Rebecca tenderly fixes her son's mane of curls. After a short bit, she asks what information AJ's looking for. Meanwhile, the soothing informational voice is replaced with an Ariana Grande song. Some kids in the area get very excited with the change in background audio. Zuse proudly announces in the Mindcraft that he found the speakers! Also the elevator's broken, broken. But speakers! Grant asks for an update on Knox's location. Robert says he's in the food court with his date, and Grant points out they'll have to sneak right past him when they leave. Robert also has to make that clone back off since it got spotted but since it didn't look quite like Robert, Knox didn't recognize him. AJ had attempted to insert code in his reminiscing, but didn't feel his mother was properly picking up on it. So while he's still chatting, he asks Geri to check her to see if she's REALLY his mom. He asks Rebecca about their family history. why his dad really left. Rebecca does not like where this is going. She gently asks what he means, because he already knows why his father left. AJ replies he knows what she and Gabe told him... and he asks who Brody is. Geri asks Grant to stay with her while she switchboards between all the minds. He agrees and sticks by her side, subtly keeping watch over her and the area. Geri connects, keeping Rebecca's mind separate from both Knox and the Mindcraft. In Rebecca's mind, she hears the Long Man Song and then... curiosity. Awareness. Geri doesn't get anywhere meaningful in her search before she hears Rebecca's voice in their link, gently scolding her that it's very rude to read minds without permission. She reminds the young telepath she's been around the Society long enough to be prepared and asks her what she wanted. Rebecca repeats the name Brody aloud... and glances to Geri. AJ says he heard Rebecca say the name, and asks if his father left them for a man. In the Mindcraft, Geri suddenly yelps oops! with no context... and is quickly too distracted by talking with Rebecca to deal with the shitstorm she accidentally creates. AJ panics in the Mindcraft and mentally shouts for Geri to activate the flashy-gal so they can make an escape. And for everyone to cover their eyes. Robert covers his. In the private conversation, Geri... has no idea how to deal with getting mommed by AJ's mom, so she explains with no guile that AJ was concerned someone might have replaced her and had asked Geri to check. Rebecca acknowledges it was smart of the kids to try to verify, but also says Gabriel would kick anyone's ass who tried... so they don't need to worry about that. Geri thanks her and ends the very awkward-for-her conversation. Rebecca tells AJ that Brody is AJ's brother. AJ stares at her and protests; he doesn't believe her. In the Mindcraft, AJ is sounding the alarm even harder. He shouts to Zuse that it can't be her - he doesn't have a brother! Geri's now focused on the mindcraft and yells at AJ to wait. She awkward-laughs and explains AJ's mom's been around the Society enough to sense telepathy, but that's definitely AJ's mom. Rebecca very quietly explains they made him forget. AJ's conflicted - immensely relieved he's not in a trap, but also. What the fuck. He can barely get the words out to formulate a coherent question, he has so many at once, but settles on 'why?' Her pain is audible and written on her face as she explains Brody's gone. So she allowed Gabriel to have their memories altered, so try to let AJ live a normal life. By then, Zuse has stopped playing with the speaker system and wandered back to the cohort, shuffling around in his flip-flops he's terrible at walking in. Rebecca notices him and adds that perhaps it's not possible to try to be normal in a family like theirs. AJ gets increasingly distressed and asks what she means by gone and why does everyone keep lying to him? She says AJ's father took Brody, and admits that she tried to let herself forget, too, but Mothers can never forget their children. Robert, meanwhile, updates the cohort that Knox and his girlfriend are heading up to the planetarium. Geri asks which direction he's coming from. Robert saw them at the escalators. Grant says the fire alarm sure sounds like a good idea about now... and Zuse is WAY too ready to pull it, already halfway across the room as soon as Grant suggests it. Robert shouts in the Mindcraft for Zuse to NOT. Geri reminds them the fire exit is the only other exit and asks Zuse to disarm the fire alarm on the door for them. AJ is still with his mother - betrayed, anger boiling under the surface. He says he wishes people would just tell him the whole truth for once - and lets that go for now. He tells his mother she's not safe, and they all need to go. Rebecca looks around the room for danger, asking what's wrong, and asks why her uncle shuffling away looks like he's up to no good. The rest of the cohort is sneaking toward the back fire exit and then, Knox and his girlfriend enter the planetarium. Robert spots him and warns AJ over the Mindcraft. AJ doesn't answer his mother, instead grips her hand and stumbles slightly when he blanks out momentarily for a vision. He very seriously instructs her to wait there in the planetarium, and then leave. Immediately when she gets home, contact Gabe, invite him for breakfast tomorrow, and tell him they'll have it together. He then instructs her to place the wrapped present he brought in the center of the room, open it, step back, count to three, and turn around. He doesn't explain why. The others are sneaky-rushing toward the exit with Zuse in front. He merges his arm with the door bar alarm to... disarm it. Rebecca takes the present and tells AJ he's worrying her. But then, she spots Knox wandering around and tells AJ to get his friends out. She kisses him on the cheek and moves to put herself between Knox and her son, and keep him out of view. She approaches Knox and his girlfriend. As the cohort scurries out the back, Rebecca greets the couple like it's been ages since they talked and she's so eager to catch up. Knox is... distinctly less than pleased by his date being interrupted by someone he knows through work, but he's cordial. Zuse is the last one out the door and loses one of his flip flops on the rush down the exit. He has to run back to get it and pause to put it back on. Robert masks back up to keep from getting burned later. Once they're back on the first floor, they're headed toward one of the back exits, but some of them spot some familiar faces in the entry line - Jake and Serena wearing camp counselor outfits surrounded by a group of Vacation Bible School kids. Robert warns everyone not to confront them. Grant asks who, since he hadn't seen. AJ tells him not to worry about it and leave. Robert tells him it's Jake and Serena. The cohort is so close to a clean exit. Not a single one of the enemy conspiracy agents have recognized them the entire time so far. None of the many cops in the area have had their attention drawn to them. They got what they came here for, they JUST need to make it to the van and get away quiet. Geri can't fucking help herself and telepathies Serena without telling the cohort. Grant starts losing his shit in the mindcraft and demands to know where Serena is because he's never seen her before. And she's involved with kidnapping his daughter. Geri gets nothing, except the distinct sense she was noticed. She suddenly psychically yells at everyone to leave. Serena has stopped what she's doing in line and is searching the area for a certain dipshit baby telepath. Robert's psychically yelling at Grant that now is not the time. Grant's yelling back just as loud demanding to know where the bitch is. Geri joins in the psychic yelling that they can't fight her here with all the fucking cops and Knox. Robert has an idea to stop the yelling, to draw attention away from Grant, and Grant's attention away from Serena. He thinks they got spotted anyway. Without warning, he suddenly runs at his clone form's full speed of about 26 miles per hour through the back exit. In fairness, it does momentarily stop the bickering, because the rest of the cohort's in shock that this just happened. Then there's a chorus of 'WHAT THE FUCK, ROBERT' as the cohort tries to drag Grant out the back exit in the new chaos Robert unleashed. A ton of random people saw the obvious supernatural. A kid thinks he's the Flash, but sick and pale. It takes Zuse mildly zapping Grant before he finally relents on his need to tear Serena into a million pieces and lets the others pull him out. He's still trembling when they're outside. Serena and Jake don't follow the cohort with the crowd now condensing around Robert. The cohort manage to make it to the van, but not without the crowd watching Robert's moves to the van. Grant and Geri are boiling with rage the whole time, but they make it home safe. For now. [Music Outro: "Time Will Fail Us" by Troigo] Thanks for listening, This has been Gather ‘Round The Trashfires with Bek Andrew Evans. Please subscribe to this podcast for future updates and leave a review or comment, I’d love to hear what you think. AJ is played by Roen, Geri is played by me, Madison is played by Syn, Robert is played by Pandito, And our Storyteller is Casey Grant. The intro theme is "_violence by Avantist" from the Free Music Archive, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0. The end theme is "Time Will Fail Us" by Troigo from the Free Music Archive, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0. If you like the songs, I encourage you to check out more of their work. I've linked their Bandcamps in the description. Until next time. Follow my Patreon at Patreon.com/BekAndrewTTRPG Check out my other work at linktr.ee/bekandrew Check out the Intro and Outro artists' Bandcamps! https://theavantist.bandcamp.com/music https://troigo.bandcamp.com/ Remember to subscribe and see y'all next week! Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/gather-round-the-trashfires/donations (https://redcircle.com/gather-round-the-trashfires/donations)

3. 

   15 Jun 2024

   Episode 13: Interlude: Sweet Dreams

   The cohort work on next steps toward their goals against their enemies and taking care of their loved ones. Even when sleeping, there's no true rest for a Renegade in hiding. This is a shorter episode than normal, but something possessed my ST to allow us to do a lot more downtime than usual that week (including allowing Geri 4 Astral Travel dreams) so it was more than would reasonably fit with the next session. -------- Episode Transcript: Get your snack and beverage of choice ready. It’s time to “Gather ‘Round the Trashfires” for a tabletop roleplaying story! I’m your host, Bek Andrew Evans. My current and main running story for this podcast is the misadventures of the cohort from the Deviant: the Renegades chronicle I’ve been playing in since early 2021. And I play Geri. For those of you unfamiliar with Deviant, it’s a TTRPG about people who were formerly human but were irreparably changed in traumatic ways to the point their very Souls broke and they became something Other. They seek vengeance on those who made them, those who hunt them, those who seek to exploit them for what they are and will never leave them be. As such, this podcast will feature heavy themes and content throughout. There’s an overall content warning for language, violence, criminality, homelessness, substance use, human experimentation, cults and religious extremism, mentioned torture, kidnapping, implied incest and incest-related comments, and abusive relationships. On episodes where there is a new content warning or a particularly notable instance of one of these, I’ll call it out. I hope y’all enjoy hearing about my cohort’s antics and stumbling headfirst into the mysteries of the world as much as I have. [Music Intro: "_violence" by Avantist] Green Country Calcination Episode 13: Interlude: Sweet Dreams After the chat with Cassidy and incident with AJ, the cohort goes back to their daily routines for a week or so. They're primarily focused on tasks to gather information about their shared enemies to plan their next steps, though Geri, Grant, and Robert do significant amounts of household management as well. The cohort doesn't have many significant interactions with each other in person over the following week - their schedules keep conflicting as they go about their individual tasks. They mostly meet up for shared meals with whoever's available. That night, after the incident, Geri dreams again about Amanda. She's desperate for clues about her current status and location, though she's well aware she may not like what she finds. She finds herself watching a scene play out in a cafeteria, a food court in a mall. The images are blurry at first. Amanda's sitting across from Jake. She keeps her hair fairly short and dresses in a butch style, with tank tops, an open over shirt, jeans, and sneakers. Amanda's got fluffy, curly dark-brown hair and light-mid-tone skin from being mixed race. Jake is a very young adult - about 18 - preppy jock that you can tell by looking at him he's got a "bad boy" streak and is probably up to something. Amanda asks how he connected her to her. Jake says they have their ways, and he just borrowed from that. He continues, asking rhetorically if Geri reached out and weird things happened. He says that's their life now; it's a dangerous life. Amanda frowns and reluctantly says she understands, but still worries. Jake pats Amanda's shoulder comfortingly and tells her she can't help Geri, that they'll come for Amanda if they find out Geri reached out. He tells her she needs to keep herself safe. Amanda nods, and that part of the dream fades to black, like a movie. When it fades back up, Amanda's stepping into the Oklahoma City Airport, staring at her phone. She's dialing a number. Geri's number. Over and over again. She quietly pleads for Geri to pick up... but there's nothing. As she finally boards the plane, she gives up. She curses Geri and sighs, whispering that she misses her, too. That scene fades out and Geri wakes up. She's aware Amanda has close relatives out of state she would be able to stay with. After the dream, Geri gets a different burner phone from the stash. She was afraid that somehow, her previous one had been compromised. She again leaves the cabin to make the call, and this time at an odd hour she knows Amanda isn't likely to answer. As she hopes, Amanda doesn't, so she leaves a voicemail. She doesn't introduce herself, just starts speaking. "Hey, um, I know this is weird. Let me know if you're safe. Or don't, [stammers] I guess. I'm... I'm not gonna use this number for anythin' else. Jus' don't trust Jake, or anyone else workin' with the church. I got a way to communicate privately for sure if you want, but I'm not gonna freak you out again. I'm sorry about the call, I just couldn't bear for you to not believe me. Even though this shit's pretty unbelievable [nervous laugh]. [Inhale] Otherwise, uh, I guess let me know if you need help. I'll try to stay far enough away you won't get caught up in anything, least until it's over. [Stammer] I still love you. Bye." She goes home and marks the phone with a red stripe of sharpie so she won't use it for anything but contacting Amanda. And then cries alone. AJ doesn't come to the group dinners. In fact, he's hardly present at all most of the week. He's gone most of the day and returns late in the night like a delinquent teen. It's obvious he's still around, at least at odd hours, though, because there's plenty of frozen pizza and burrito wrappers in (and near) the trash can, and he's eating any leftover meals set aside for him. And, as always, there's the strange garage noises. At the next grocery run, Geri picks up some pool noodles, though the cohort doesn't have a pool. She sneaks into the garage to leave them anonymously among Zuse's things in the hopes he'll surely find a use for them and maybe AJ will lighten up a little. Geri wants to help Madi but finds she doesn't know how to research the connections between Charismatic Virtues' inner circle and Cassica Hall. That way they'll know, during the meetup with Father Philip, if his information is good or if he's off base because he's either lying or also in the dark. She has a very weak educational background, to put it lightly, and can barely use computers. She settles on using Astral Travel to cast a wide net for hints on the connections others with better research skills can follow up on. Geri dreams of snippets of the memorial for the dead teenagers. The timeline's all garbled and unclear. At some point - before, during, after? She can't tell where it's suppose to fit in the timeline of events, but she sees a still image of a donation check being handed over between the Church's inner circle and Cassica Hall. It's unclear which direction its being passed. She also can't tell specifically which members are holding the check, only adding to her confusion. She wakes up with more questions than answers. The cohort notice a bizarre story in the news. It's running on the second page of the paper sold in the park's shopping center and throughout Pryor. It talks about a teenage prank the locals believe is being perpetrated by some ballsy high-schooler who's been impersonating vending machine owners around town. All the machines that get hit end up having all their skittles and M&Ms stolen as well as about $50 cash each. There's not usually anything else missing. Another night, Geri decides to dream spy on Camille to see what she's up to and get some clues on her progress in her plans. Geri finds herself floating in a dark meeting room, granting her a bird's eye view. A number of people Geri doesn't recognize sit silently around the meeting table, with most of their features obscured by the dark. However, Geri can make out there's an older woman with graying hair between an elderly gentleman and a very dour-looking Gabriel Werner. Geri pays closer attention to Gabe's expression, and finds just a hint of smugness he's hiding very well, but mostly the dour annoyance. The cause of his annoyance is giving the presentation up front - Camille Mason is smugly referencing still shots of the cohort's minivan speeding out of Robert's neighborhood. She pauses what she was saying and glances up to the ceiling where dream Geri is observing. She tells Geri 'Bold, but not enough.' Her eyes flash. Before she gets tossed out of the dream to wakefulness in the middle of the night, Geri catches the slightest smirk from Gabe. Grant continues throughout the week his normal habit of making an extensive network of deadly traps through the cabin property. It's a whole lot of physical labor, but it keeps him occupied. He also continues his normal habit of meditating in the morning with his coffee, reflecting about the circumstances, and thinking about Sophie. On a whim, at some point during the week, Geri attempts to Reconnect with Telepathy to Beth to check on the status of the moved ward - but fails that time. She manages to get a sense that Beth is still alive, but no more than that. Geri induces a fourth dream this week. This time, she's helping AJ like she promised she would. She's trying to uncover details of his conditioning she's unlikely to uncover other ways, especially with AJ's conditioning being a secret. Her dream is simple, and for once: peaceful. She dreams of hearing a simple, hummed lullaby - soft, repetitive, and comforting. There's nothing malicious here, no tests, no sense of training or commands. It's only a gentle lullaby to soothe a child. Geri wakes up dazed and very groggy. AJ makes a polite request to the others that their next outing should be checking on his mother. He needs to make sure she's okay given everything that's gone on. He's arranging an outing to a public place to meet her - the local planetarium. He has a new gadget he's finishing up for the mission! The others agree to help. Geri writes in the dream journal reporting to assure that AJ's conditioning was really just a benign, loving lullaby. There was nothing malicious about it and no commands attached. AJ thanks Geri and is very relieved. Madison, having access to the journal as well and not being present for the entire debacle with conditioning before, innocently asks what Geri means about AJ's conditioning. She's very concerned. Geri refuses to explain over the journal. AJ agrees and says it's going to be a discussion that needs a lot of weed. This does nothing to ease Madi's concerns. In fact, the opposite. She's kinda freaking out and the dream journal's become pretty derailed. Late in the week, among all the normal loud noises from the garage, there's a cackle and a loud AJ-shreik demanding to know 'WHY DID YOU PUT THEM THERE?!' During the week, Madison receives an email while she's out of the cabin doing her computer stuff. She hand-writes it down in her cutesy, curly script and hangs it on the fridge for the cohort. It says: Hey Madi- Tell your friend Geri that Amanda is safe, although she spooked her real good sending THOUGHTS into her head. Luckily for you all, I gave a number to people I was able to figure out the church knew were close to y'all. So I can get them out of their sight if YOU ALL endanger them by getting too close. I can't bargain for indefinite freedom for them all. Stay safe, Jake Later in the week, AJ leaves a handwritten reply on the bottom of the page in marker that says "Douchie McDouchenozzle is SUS AF." [Music Outro: "Time Will Fail Us" by Troigo] Thanks for listening, This has been Gather ‘Round The Trashfires with Bek Andrew Evans. Please subscribe to this podcast for future updates and leave a review or comment, I’d love to hear what you think. You can follow me on a few different social platforms with the username "bekandrew." That's [spells username] on tumblr and bluesky, mainly. If you'd like to support me, subscribe to my Patreon at Patreon.com/BekAndrewTTRPG and purchase my art prints and tabletop products, including my Deviant: the Renegades community content novella related to this chronicle via my linktree in the description. AJ is played by Roen, Geri is played by me, Madison is played by Syn, Robert is played by Pandito, And our Storyteller is Casey Grant. The intro theme is "_violence by Avantist" from the Free Music Archive, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0. The end theme is "Time Will Fail Us" by Troigo from the Free Music Archive, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0. If you like the songs, I encourage you to check out more of their work. I've linked their Bandcamps in the description. Until next time. Follow my Patreon at Patreon.com/BekAndrewTTRPG Check out my other work at linktr.ee/bekandrew Check out the Intro and Outro artists' Bandcamps! https://theavantist.bandcamp.com/music https://troigo.bandcamp.com/ Remember to subscribe and see y'all next week! Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/gather-round-the-trashfires/donations (https://redcircle.com/gather-round-the-trashfires/donations)

4. 

   4 Jun 2024

   Episode 12: Hidden Directives

   The cohort is having growing pains. Natural loner Grant has a lot to get used to joining the... eccentric cohort. Geri's struggle to interact appropriately with her ex comes to a flash point, but in the process inadvertently triggers one of Cass's stolen memories to return. The cohort also learns a dark truth about a Society policy. Follow my Patreon at Patreon.com/BekAndrewTTRPG Check out my other work at linktr.ee/bekandrew Check out the Intro and Outro artists' Bandcamps! https://theavantist.bandcamp.com/music https://troigo.bandcamp.com/ Remember to subscribe and see y'all next week! Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/gather-round-the-trashfires/donations (https://redcircle.com/gather-round-the-trashfires/donations)

5. 

   19 May 2024

   Episode 11: The Great Cat Rescue

   Robert drags the cohort plus new ally Grant along to rescue his beloved cat. How many Renegades could it take to rescue one single, normal cat? Follow my Patreon at Patreon.com/BekAndrewTTRPG Check out my other work at linktr.ee/bekandrew Check out the Intro and Outro artists' Bandcamps! https://theavantist.bandcamp.com/music https://troigo.bandcamp.com/ Remember to subscribe and see y'all next week! Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/gather-round-the-trashfires/donations (https://redcircle.com/gather-round-the-trashfires/donations)

6. 

   5 May 2024

   Episode 10: The Pawn Shop

   Zuse has a quest for the cohort with totally, definitely, no fine print. The cohort goes on a shopping trip and learns they're not alone in the world. They do NOT, however, learn how to collectively pass the bread test. As an announcement, this podcast is officially moving to release every other week. Release day will still USUALLY be on Saturday unless, like this week, everything possible goes wrong up to and including having to rerecord 3 hours of raw audio. Follow my Patreon at Patreon.com/BekAndrewTTRPG Check out my other work at linktr.ee/bekandrew Check out the Intro and Outro artists' Bandcamps! https://theavantist.bandcamp.com/music https://troigo.bandcamp.com/ Remember to subscribe and see y'all next week! Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/gather-round-the-trashfires/donations (https://redcircle.com/gather-round-the-trashfires/donations)

7. 

   20 Apr 2024

   Episode 9: Easter Egg Hunt

   The cohort celebrates Easter together in a way only AJ could possibly arrange. It's not all fun and games when the hunt reveals more hidden things than just plastic eggs. Follow my Patreon at Patreon.com/BekAndrewTTRPG Check out my other work at linktr.ee/bekandrew Check out the Intro and Outro artists' Bandcamps! https://theavantist.bandcamp.com/music https://troigo.bandcamp.com/ Remember to subscribe and see y'all next week! Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/gather-round-the-trashfires/donations (https://redcircle.com/gather-round-the-trashfires/donations)

8. 

   8 Apr 2024

   Episode 8: Rescuing Cassidy

   The cohort enacts their plan to rescue Madison's childhood best friend Cassidy from where she's being held underground the Church of Charismatic Virtues. Geri seduces a gullible security guard who has a crush on her. She also learns brand new things about her powers everyone wishes she didn't. But she's not the only one who learns things about powers... Sorry for the late update, I hadn't realized how long this game session was before starting. Follow my Patreon at Patreon.com/BekAndrewTTRPG Check out my other work at linktr.ee/bekandrew Check out the Intro and Outro artists' Bandcamps! https://theavantist.bandcamp.com/music https://troigo.bandcamp.com/ Remember to subscribe and see y'all next week! Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/gather-round-the-trashfires/donations (https://redcircle.com/gather-round-the-trashfires/donations)

9. 

   30 Mar 2024

   Episode 7: Madison and Booze

   In a world where shadowy organizations make living weapons out of cheerleaders, Robert combats his true nemesis - underage drinking. The cohort also does their best to plan for an upcoming rescue mission. Follow my Patreon at Patreon.com/BekAndrewTTRPG Check out my other work at linktr.ee/bekandrew Check out the Intro and Outro artists' Bandcamps! https://theavantist.bandcamp.com/music https://troigo.bandcamp.com/ Remember to subscribe and see y'all next week! Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/gather-round-the-trashfires/donations (https://redcircle.com/gather-round-the-trashfires/donations)

10. 

    16 Mar 2024

    Episode 6: The Spirit of the Lake

    The cohort rushes to try to rescue Lucas... but they run into something far stranger than a rich teen jock. Note: AJ still hasn't showered since the previous episode. Follow my Patreon at Patreon.com/BekAndrew Check out my other work at linktr.ee/bekandrew Check out the Intro and Outro artists' Bandcamps! https://theavantist.bandcamp.com/music https://troigo.bandcamp.com/ Remember to subscribe and see y'all next week! Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/gather-round-the-trashfires/donations (https://redcircle.com/gather-round-the-trashfires/donations)

11. 

    9 Mar 2024

    Episode 5: Meeting Zuse (Again)

    The cohort finally gets a chance to have a long conversation with their new friend (captive?) outside the Ward. They find he's knowledgeable and also that after however long living in the server, he's the living embodiment of the phrase "please touch grass." Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/gather-round-the-trashfires/donations (https://redcircle.com/gather-round-the-trashfires/donations)

12. 

    3 Mar 2024

    Episode 4: “The Great Escape”

    The cohort puts their plan into action and attempts their escape before Camille can take them somewhere never to be seen again. Now including music and SFX from Ovani Sound. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/gather-round-the-trashfires/donations (https://redcircle.com/gather-round-the-trashfires/donations)

13. 

    24 Feb 2024

    Episode 3: Interlude: Escape Planning

    Between meetings, Geri's had some time to investigate with telepathy. Then, the nascent cohort catches Robert up on what they've learned and plans their daring escape. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/gather-round-the-trashfires/donations (https://redcircle.com/gather-round-the-trashfires/donations)

14. 

    17 Feb 2024

    Episode 2: The Fellowship of the Ward

    The cohort follow the lead Dr. Werner gave them and come face-to-face with something truly bizarre. Will they leave with more questions than answers? Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/gather-round-the-trashfires/donations (https://redcircle.com/gather-round-the-trashfires/donations)

15. 

    10 Feb 2024

    Episode 1: Green Country Calcination

    Four young adult strangers are stuck in a closed "observation ward" after they all had bizarre incidents. A mysterious visitor is coming to make an assessment for unclear purposes. What happens if you become too interesting? And why does the staff make them take so many pills? Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/gather-round-the-trashfires/donations (https://redcircle.com/gather-round-the-trashfires/donations)

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