Summerwood (Monsterhearts 2)

Game Master neonblues

Gameplay will go here!

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The five of you live in Fitzhugh Hall, an old, rustic dormitory reminiscent of a cozy but spacious library. Since you also share a class together (General Biology), it was only natural you would form a study group. You’re currently in the dorm’s lounge area, wrapping up a grueling study session. It’s Friday evening, the night is young, and you’re itching for some fun (or maybe just a break from memorizing facts about cellular reproduction).

Depending on how social or observant your character is, you may have heard about any of the following:

—Gavin Dennison, heir to a major tech company and one of the school’s most affluent and well-connected students, is hosting a party tonight at one of his family’s several homes. It’s very exclusive and none of you have invites... but you might be able to finesse your way in. (Jess, you’re aware that Jaime is a friend of a friend of Gavin’s and will probably attend.)
—There are rumors abound of a secret society on Summerwood’s campus. Legend says they engage in ancient occult rituals somewhere underground. The truth is probably a lot more boring than that, if they even exist, but you could do some digging and find out for yourself.
—You could swear there are sometimes strange music-like noises coming from the dining hall at night, and you might have seen Professor Helen Caldwell, your biology instructor, hanging around there in the evenings from time to time. Weird...

Hayden was certainly curious about some of the stranger things she'd heard about, but they didn't sound like they were any of her own personal brand of trouble, and for tonight...

"Okay, well I don't know about any of you, but I could do with some fun tonight. Anyone got an in with Dennison?"

Deirdre groans and rubs at her eyes, pushing the textbooks away from her. "Ugh, I totally need a break. If I stare at these pages any longer, my eyes are going to fall out."

She looks at her fellow students, her eyes coming to rest on Hayden. She doesn't know what it is about that girl, but she feels drawn to her in a way that defies explanation. Deirdre had never really been interested in another woman in that way before, but...

"I don't know about Gavin, but have you heard about that secret society that supposed to do all sorts of freaky stuff on campus? Maybe we could try to get to the bottom of a mystery. Might be fun." She smiles shyly and looks down at the floor. "Um, that is, if you want to do something silly like that," she adds quietly.

"I mean how freaky are we talking? The nice thing about crashing the party is we know there's something worth crashing, but... well... What have you heard about this 'secret society'?

"I'm all for turning over rocks to see what's there, I just want to make sure we've got a thread to tug on, you know?"

"Well, I haven't heard much," Deirdre admits. "They supposedly are involved in all sorts of occult rituals. Witchcraft and seances, that sort of thing. Honestly, I wouldn't even know where to begin looking. Maybe the party is a better idea, if we can get in."

JJ sits slumped in his chair, glancing over the top of his textbook at the banter between Deirdre and Hayden. He opens his mouth for a second to interject, but shuts it again just as quick. Maybe not... he thinks to himself.

He glances over at Ashton, wondering which way his roommate will lean...

Jess grins. "I know someone who knows someone whose sister's cousin's nephew's brother-in-law's dogsitter's barista's doppelganger's archnemesis is going to Lord Dennison's party." She pauses. "Okay, I might have had one too many connections in there. But still... I could ask. Or... well, Deirdre's idea sounds like it could be cool, too." She shrugs.

"I don't know about you guys but my intention is to get absolutely hammered," says Ashton, who had not really been paying attention during studying now abandons all pretensions of having cared about biology. "Gavin owns like half the town, there's gonna be rich people liquor at his house. I would like in on that."

"The key to getting into places you're not invited to is to just show up and act like you belong. Which is exactly what I plan on doing. And if there's a security guard I guess just look for a fence to jump while nobody's looking. Easy as that."

"Alright, so I guess we'll go party crashing then!" Deirdre grins. "Jess, let's try your contact first. If that doesn't work, we'll go with Ashton's plan. Sound good?"

I will spend the string on her as needed, or let me know if I need to make a roll. I am not super-familiar with the system.

Jess pulls out her cell to call Jaime.

"Jaime? Hey, it's Jess. Yeah." She laughs at something. "Right? Oh, yeah, it was the worst lecture ever. Hey, so listen... are you going to the party tonight? THE party, that little Lord Fauntleroy is throwing. You going with anyone? Because I'm not. Well... with my friends, but not WITH anyone."

She giggles. "Yeah? Together, why not? Oh... Deirdre, JJ, Ashton, and Hayden. Mah SQUAD. Yeah. So, you in? I'd really like to see you..."

Go ahead and spend the string, we'll call this tempting her to do what you want. You still have her nail bitings, but the supernatural link to her has been expended and they're no longer a Sympathetic Token.

You can hear the smile in Jaime's voice. "Sounds like a good time. Meet me outside at 8. I'm looking forward to it."

"Ha! I was planning to just cute my way in, but a kinda-invite is good too. Still, I'd better make a run for provisions. Heading in empty-handed is a good way to get bounced."

"I'll go with you, Hayden," Deirdre says, perhaps a bit too eagerly.

JJ's eyes widen at Ashton's mention of getting "hammered". Not for the double-entendre (though his mind does flicker into that gutter for a second as well), but because he's never had a drop of alcohol before.

"Yeah, okay, the party sounds good.." JJ chimes in, unsteadily. "What should we bring?"

"I think my way would have been more fun, but as long as we're getting in," says Ashton with a smirk.

"I don't know what I'd even bring. Other than my stunningly handsome face" he continues. "What could we show up with that Gavin wouldn't already have a ton of?"

"That's why you go artisanal. I've got a hook-up for some uh, custom gummy bears. I figure, a few bags of reds, two bags of green, and a bag of that weird clear color for the adventurous, and they'll all wish we Had been invited."

Deirdre isn't quite sure what Hayden's talking about, but she laughs anyway. "Alright, well, I guess we'll be back here before 8." Her heart beats a little faster at the thought of spending some time one-on-one with the other girl.

Jess winks at Ashton. "What you have, that he doesn't have a ton of... is me. Must get ready. Back soon." She traipses off towards her room to get changed.

JJ sits there, wide-eyed, as he wonders what he's gotten himself into. He might be inexperienced, but he's not naive, and the concept of "artisanal gummy bears", well beyond the pre-existing taboo of alcohol, has him alternating between excitement and fear of discovery.

He internally debates offering an objection, but shuts himself down, not wanting to be labelled a wet blanket. Outwardly, he doesn't do much but look nervous.

The red gummy bears are just boozy bears .
Depending on which state this is in, the green ones might be legal for certain consumers as well ;-)

"Sounds like a plan! Oh, do you have $20 on you, Dee? Cal's more likely to front me if I pay him back first. Also, I should probably go put on some tighter pants."

"I want to meet your gummy bear dealer," says Ashton. "I don't have anything to do until the party and I'd like to get as far away from anything that could remind me of books as possible. JJ, you want to come with?"

"Uhh, sure..? JJ agrees, with absolutely no amount of certainty in his voice.

"Sure thing! And Cal's not like a dealer-dealer, just an enthusiast with drugs, who sells them. Hey, umm, how do you guys feel about big dogs? I promise they're super friendly, but I know some people worry."

Deirdre scowls when Ashton invites himself and JJ along. So much for alone time.

"Yeah, I've got some cash on me," she tells Hayden. "Dogs don't bother me. My dad has four big ones.

"Since everybody's going now, why don't we wait for Jess? We can all fit in one car."

"Makes sense - I wasn't quite sure how you were all going to fit on my bike; I was thinking it'd be a pretty tight squeeze with just you, Dee. Oh, speaking of tight squeezes, I've gotta change. Meet at the parking lot in a few, okay guys? Oh and someone text Jess to tell her, if you're going to wander off."

Hayden starts to leave the lounge, then a few paces later turns back to Deirdre, with a lopsided grin, and an expectant twinkle in her eye "You coming? My mirror's magic, but it doesn't talk, so I need someone else to tell me if I'm the fairest of them all. We can swing by your room for your outfit too!"

"Oh! Y-yeah, I'm right behind you," Deirdre says. She quickly follows Hayden into her room. Once inside, she looks around to scope out how the other girl lives.

Hayden didn't request one, but 'somehow' she ended up being assigned to a single unit, so no roomie.

Nonetheless, as you walk up there is in fact a green-striped ankle sock hanging from the doorknob, which Hayden swipes before heading in. "Wondered where that one got to...

Inside there's definitely a sense of too much stuff crammed into too small a space. The room actually smells fantastic, something lightly floral, but almost every flat surface has something 'temporarily' stashed there. Her bookshelf is overflowing to the point where the books are stacked up in sideways piles two-deep on each shelf. Her collection is an odd mix of clearly-cared for and refurbished antique books and clearly dog-eared and read into destruction paperbacks. An oversized ring hangs from a bright copper nail driven into the side of one of the shelves, and hanging from it are a host of little folio-style plays, each hanging from the ring by a hole punched in the top corner.

One corner of the room is a pile of mismatched props and costume-pieces, even a piece of an old set, but Hayden's heading for the other. Striding past two full hampers of clothes (one with the word 'Dirty' painted on the front, the other with the words 'Not Dirty Yet'), she plunged into her closet, taking out a single hangar with a bunch of mismatched clothes askew on it. Triumphantly she removed a very sheer pale-green leotard from amid the other clothes, and flung it onto her suspiciously well-made bed before hanging the rest back up in the closet.

"I don't think this is a leotard only kinda party, but it should be a good base to start with, right?"

In a flurry she's amassed a small pile on her bed: the leotard, a sparkly and very prominent bellybutton ring, a pair of pixie boots with the tags still on them, some clearly very, very distressed jean shorts with one pocket and its backing entirely removed, a bright pink bra, and a much too large white men's button up shirt. "Obviously some adjustments will be necessary, but should be good for an arresting first impression."

There's what looks like a sizable mirror's frame peeking out from behind an obscuring towel hanging on the wall, but rather than uncover it, Hayden pulls a full-length mirror in a cheap plastic frame out from her closet to prop up against the wall.

"Well, the time has come, Queen Hayden said, to try on many things. Go ahead and close your eyes for just a titch, kay? The show's not half as interesting when I get dressed at the end of it, so promise you won't peep, Dee? Once the rustling stops you're good to go."

Deirdre sits in a chair and thumbs through a few of the books as Hayden gathers her pile together. Her throat gets a bit dry when she sees the pink bra and belly button ring. Does she know what she does to me? Does she like me like that, too?

When asked to close her eyes, Deirdre nods and complies. "Okay. I promise I won't sneak a peek!"

Not sure if that counts for your Lure ability to mark XP. :)

Not sure if that counts for your Lure ability to mark XP. :)

I'd say it counts.

Thanks, GM. Marking XP.

Hayden hums to herself while she shimmies out of her school clothes. It makes it really, really easy for Deirdre to tell that she's not across the room.

She's Right there.

The soft rustles of her clothes, the quiet thumps as they hit the floor, and one snap of elastic against flesh, all serve as confirmation too.

There's a few creaks in the floorboards as Hayden slowly walks away towards her bed.

It means she's facing the other way. If Deirdre peeked right now, she'd never know, right?

Turn On: 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (5, 1) + 2 = 8

So, for the benefit of anyone who's less familiar with the system or just doesn't wanna load up the reference document, since the result was between 7 and 9, Deirdre can now choose to either give Hayden a String or choose one of these reactions:
I give myself to you,
I promise something I think you want, or
I get embarrassed and act awkward.

Choosing "I get embarrassed and act awkward."

Deirdre's cheeks burn as she hears Hayden undressing, only a few feet away. If she opened her eyes, she'd see her in all her glory. If she reached out, her fingers might brush against warm skin. That's what Hayden wants, right? Is it?

The girl clears her throat. "You, uh, almost done? I feel like I've had my eyes closed for a long time." Her words might be interpreted in several different ways. She shifts uncomfortably in her seat, wanting to see Hayden's reaction, but wanting to keep her promise.

Hayden chuckled, "I know it hasn't been that long. You can do it."

The rustling of cloth resumes for a short while before she says, "Okay, do as you like, I'm decent enough"

Hayden's still wriggling her shorts up the last few inches of hip. They're tighter than they had looked; even if she wasn't going to leave them unbuttoned for fashion, she might not have had a choice. The bra isn't tremendously padded, but adds a definite shape to her chest that had been absent in her last outfit; it's plainly visible through the thin fabric of her leotard. "Okay, shirt and shoes can wait, first, this outfit needs a little service." She gestures to where her leotard bulges out unpleasantly around her protruding navel piercing. "You see what I'm saying?"

Squeezing past Deirdre to her desk, she grabs an odd looking knife and a laundry marker and hands the latter to the flustered girl, "Go ahead and draw the cleanest circle you can, okay?"

Deirdre opens her eyes and likes what she sees. She gasps softly when Hayden brushes against her, then looks askance at the offered items.

"Um, okay." Deirdre subtly gives Hayden a quick up and down body check. She takes the marker and leans close to her stomach, breathing in her scent. Like summer rain.

Gently placing a hand on Hayden's leotard to hold it steady, she draws a circle around her belly button.

"Great." She takes the marker back, and hands over the knife. The blade is green with old oxidization, but beneath its verdigris, carvings are still faintly visible, showing some sort of anthropomorphic sheep shearing the hair from peaceful-faced humans. The handle is woven round with a much newer ribbon of two colors, creating overlapping layers of crimson and ivory.

"Okay, now I could make you close your eyes again, and I could take everything off, and put something vaguely decent on, and we could trim this away, but you look like you've got a steady hand, and besides this knife is friendly.

"You're not going to cut me, right?
Then go ahead."

"Friendly? Oh, hello, Mister Knife! Nice to meet you!" Deirdre says in an awkward attempt at humor.

"Don't worry. I won't hurt you." Slowly, carefully, Deirdre slices through the leotard.

Hayden beams and gives Deirdre a pat on the head. "Aww he likes you. I knew you'd have good hands. Okay, blade-time is over; you can put it back in the mug." Never seeming to have stopped moving once the knife stopped cutting, Hayden whirls back over to her bed to grab her shirt and shoes in one hand, scooping up her bag and other essentials, she ends up essentially juggling her purse, phone, outfit, and makeup case. She gives a pleading smile with just a hint of puppy eyes, "Okay, can you just toss the old clothes in the hamper there? Great! Then you can get ready too!"

The clothes she nodded towards are only the ones she'd just shucked, but the presence of a pair of plain, pale underwear on top of the pile makes the corresponding absence in the outfit Deirdre'd just seen her assemble rather... stark.

Deidre stares at the wayward panties, and her blush deepens. Hayden sure is a... free spirit! Bold, daring, and oh so enticing...

She quickly dumps the clothes in the hamper and follows Hayden out the door. "I'll just duck in my room and get ready real quickly. Back in a minute!"

She ducks into her dorm room, neglecting to close the door all of the way...

She thought about it. Deirdre was certainly pretty enough to be worth a look. Well, more than a look.

But there was a time and a place for things like that. The place was fine, but the time... Well, a stolen look might be more exciting than one freely given, but this wasn't some grand heist. This was picking up a smartphone someone had left at McDonalds. The phone might be great, but it was still more tawdry than daring.

Nah.

She'd just have to wait and see how Deirdre was going to bring it.

After fifteen minutes or so, Deirdre comes out wearing a little black dress. With her phone and essentials in a matching clutch, she's ready for a night out!

"Okay, all set! Let's meet the others and go."

Hayden gave a sparkling grin and started nearly bounding ahead.

"Well come on then! I hope the boys didn't just spend the whole time sprawled out in the lounge..."

Jess changes into a black Iron Maiden t-shirt with ripped, tight jeans and red Converse, tousling her hair with a bit of gel and applying pitch-black eyeliner to go with her crimson lipstick. She skips back downstairs to meet up with the others.

Ashton 100% spent his time in the lounge, sprawled out on a chair, not doing anything except listening to music on his headphones.

When Hayden walks in, her amused eyeroll at Ashton is somewhat undercut by the way it slows down between his shoulders and his... Shorts.

As Hayden and Deidre walk back into the lounge, Ashton stretches out on the chair; his shirt is short enough that it lifts up and exposes his stomach as he does so.

"You all ready to go?" he says, looking at the girls. "Was there a dress code that nobody told me about?"

"I think you're... fine. "

"Yeah, I may be a tad overdressed," Deirdre says, noting the others' casual attire.