Gather 'Round the Trashfires

Bek Andrew Evans
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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.

  1. Episode 1: Green Country Calcination

    EPISODE 1

    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? ----------- 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. Tabletop characters make decisions ranging from questionable to horrific in pursuit of their goals especially when a table values going for the interesting route in roleplay. It becomes trashfires all the way down. 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] Episode 1: Green Country Calcination The story starts on the first Wednesday in March, 2021. In this chronicle, the pandemic never happened – it was our escape from it, after all. The chronicle started in the new observation ward of Hillcrest Hospital in Pryor, Oklahoma. It’s in what’s called the “Green Country” of Oklahoma, and about an hour away from Tulsa. None of the cohort, or what would become the cohort anyway, have been in the observation ward for more than a few short weeks at this point. They’re among the newer arrivals. Some of the patients who’ve been around longer, though, they’ve been spreading rumors that today’s a special day, because a special Visitor would stop by. The Visitor? A mysterious woman named Camille Mason, supposedly an “insurance agent," who’s been making even more frequent visits since a patient might have escaped. Maybe. That’s what the rumors guess, anyway, though they have no idea how. The observation ward was much like a psych ward at first glance. It had a common area the patients could gather for meals and some vaguely supervised free-time. All of the patients were on some kind of pills, and all wore scrubs provided by the ward. There were therapy times with a psychiatrist. Unlike a normal psych ward, it suffered frequent bizarre blackouts. And then there were the patients themselves… Alexander Joseph “AJ” Werner-Holt – A talkative, friendly, even class-clown type in his early 20s. AJ seems to be able to make friends with just about everyone, from patients to ward staff. He has a large bandage over part of the back of his neck covering what’s apparently an unseemly infection of some kind. He’s got a mop of curly, honeyed-brown hair and a short goatee. He’s lightly tanned, like he’s seen sun sometimes. Geraldine Wayfield – or Geri as she prefers, is almost sickly pale, 5-foot-nothing, slender, with an unnaturally bright red dyed curly mane of hair, strawberry blonde roots starting to show, and has an unsettlingly intense stare. She’s also in her early 20s. She’s the kind of person who would challenge God to a fight in a Waffle House parking lot. She can’t throw a punch but that wouldn’t stop her from trying anyway. Her scrubs are often mysteriously singed. Robert Johnson – Robert is a reasonably attractive businessman type: tall, toned, strong jaw, and dark hair that’s nearly black. He was a manager onsite the HR department for a company in the Industrial Park before his accident. Otherwise he’s… weirdly average in a lot of ways. He’s a little above average in attractiveness, but he could be replaced physically by a cookie-cutter corpo type and hardly anyone would notice on first glance. His less-than-average traits and quirks take longer to pick up on. He seems probably older than Geri and AJ. Madison McKenzie – A tall and slender athletic girl at 5’10, she’s just barely turned 18. She’s a senior in high school and was meant to graduate in a couple months. She has a cheerleader and ballerina’s physique, because she is one – good enough to have interviews lined up at Jacquard for college. She’s from a wealthy family and painfully naive, but very sweet… and haunted by what happened. On this very day we start the story, it’s midday, sunny and warm after a cold snap. No one’s too concerned about the lights being out on the ward (again) because it’s sunny enough through the windows while the patients are about to have lunch together, anyway. Geri arrives at the common area in pink scrubs with small singe marks and sits at the couches instead of the lunch table area, presumably to be difficult. Robert’s wearing a large blanket wrapped around him over his scrubs and is barefoot, unlike everyone else. He’s playing chess with an older gentleman patient. AJ, meanwhile, is shuffling cards trying to get someone to play a game with him and loudly cracking jokes about the bad hospital food. Madison’s the last to arrive, straight out of one of the exam rooms and quickly joins Geri to let her know the little ragtag group needs to talk at lunch. AJ spends his time teasing Geri for being broody and trying to goad her into interacting more. The orderlies roll out the lunch carts and the patients line up for lunch. All the patients also get “vitamins” with lunch. The orderlies also eat the (bland but healthy) food with the patients, but don’t take the vitamins themselves. One of the things Madison misses the most about being outside the ward is the fact that the coffee inside is distinctly awful and usually decaf. Robert has a preference for drinking warm water with meals. After getting exactly no one agreeing to play a game with him and chatting up the orderlies and nurses a while, AJ sits down right next to Geri, who is less than pleased with this arrangement, and tries to strike up friendly conversation by bribing her with a jello cup, pestering and coming on a little strong but friendly. Geri responds by asking if he’s capable of shutting up or if talking fills the void of parental love. As one does. AJ is like a social duck, the insult just seems to roll off his back like water. He jokes some more about Geri always being like that and rates the insult 8/10. AJ pretty much immediately decides that he’s going to be the plucky protagonist of a horse girl movie, befriending the wild stallion that bites and kicks everyone else. He’s this chronicle’s horse girl.   Madison is eager and kind of impatient to get the group to knock it off and get together to chat. Once they gather, she tells them quietly that she earned cell phone privileges and contacted Cass, her best friend since childhood. But Cass said she’s not able to visit, and thinks something’s up, “seriously sus.” And Madison also says her parents aren’t returning her calls, or acting right around Cass. All the posts she and Cass have been making about Geri’s father and church – he’s the pastor of a local megachurch who’s abusive and tried to drown her, leading to her ending up in the hospital, this very ward – all the posts have been mass-reported, flagged and taken down almost as quick as the girl can put them up. Something about “violating community standards” and spreading conspiracies. Madi adds that Cass thinks Madi’s calls and posts are being watched. Robert, meanwhile, sits there drinking plain hot water and makes an odd comment about being given his vitamins by twelve orderlies and sometimes not given clothes. Madison asks if Robert’s dozen orderlies are for when he gets shocked or during ‘the water stuff’, later clarified to be forced underwater breathholding tests. The whole table gets very quiet for a moment because no one else got that exact “treatment” and is rightly horrified at the teenager offhandedly mentioning it. And also that they burn her, but it’s totally fine, she’s fine, because it doesn’t hurt. Really. She promises. Robert mentions being hurt by the sun more than usual and that when water’s poured on him, it makes him want to die. While they’re sympathetic to the terrifying things the others are sharing, neither AJ nor Geri offer up any similar stories, and it’s not immediately clear whether they’ve not experienced that sort of treatment in the ward, or just aren’t willing to talk about their own experiences. While the horrific sharing is going on, Geri notices Dr. Gabriel Werner with his watch that never tells the correct time in the background grabbing coffee. She picks at her food and uses pieces of the bland taco contents to spell out ‘police report when?’ She’d been pestering staff this whole time she’d been there to be able to do something to make her father finally have to answer for his crimes, now that she actually had documented proof in her medical record, but hadn’t yet been allowed to make a formal report or talk to anyone outside the ward. The conversation shifts back to Madison and Cassidy’ attempts to expose Geri’s father’s crimes. When asked how she even got her cell phone back – no one else had more th

    22 min
  2. Episode 2: The Fellowship of the Ward

    EPISODE 2

    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? -------- 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. Tabletop characters make decisions ranging from questionable to horrific in pursuit of their goals especially when a table values going for the interesting route in roleplay. It becomes trashfires all the way down. 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 2: The Fellowship of the Ward The new cohort only had a week before Camille was going to come back to take them to the next stage of experiments and, if Patty was correct, no matter what happened to them there, they’d never be seen again. During the past few days, they’d gotten to work on various forms of information-gathering to plan their escape. Madison took point on the plan to break into room 164 that Dr. Werner told them ‘totally definitely don’t break into WINK’. She’d observed it was, despite seeming to be some sort of supply closet, the most guarded spot in the ward. She’d managed to figure out when the hall the room’s on had barely any activity and gathered the nascent cohort for their mission. Because they were on their last week on the ward, they were able to convince the staff to get them some special items. Madison got a pair of her ballet shoes sent to her from her friend and Geri got a deck of tarot cards and a book to interpret them. They finally let her have paper. They meet at the couches in the common area to not draw suspicion. It’s just after dinner and the orderlies are busy packing up the cafeteria carts, too busy to be patrolling the hall with the strange supply closet. Unlike Madison’s spying and playing around with security cameras with electrokinesis, Geri had decided to spend her time reading minds of staff picking up rumors. She also tried to read Patty’s mind, got driven off by the discomfort of feeling the influx of Patty’s enhanced senses and maaaaybe not quite all there thoughts, and decided she hated Patty for thwarting her telepathy. As one does. AJ gets a little uncomfortable about the idea that not only can Geri read minds, but she's so casual about it, but calms down when she says she hasn’t read his mind because she doesn’t want to be subjected to more bad puns. Madi’s also distressed by the idea initially, but mostly by the idea that Geri may have accidentally seen disturbing things Madi couldn’t put up content warnings for (but Geri says she’s not read her mind, either). Once that’s settled, AJ declares it’s ‘go time’ and the cohort head off to the location. Robert is supposed to be keeping watch the whole time (his player wasn’t available). AJ has his scrub shirt tucked into his pants and has something hidden under the back of his shirt, it’s discreetly lumpy when he moves and stretches. The trio head off together, as if they’re headed to their rooms for some of the allowed private time before the next round of tests. They blend in rather well and turn a corner down a different, empty hall. They keep quiet and pretend they’re totally definitely supposed to be there. Madison shocks the other two - though not literally this time – by using her electrokinesis to sap the power from the security cameras nearby. AJ is quite a bit more shocked than Geri and accidentally risks getting the group caught by yelping in surprise. Geri gives him a friendly-not-so-friendly weak punch to the shoulder and reminds him to shut the f**k up. The yelp thankfully didn’t seem to draw attention, so the group keeps on sneaking toward the “supply room,” where they encounter a door with a manual lock and a keypad to the side. AJ pulls out a couple paperclips he’d stored under his ballcap in his mop of curly hair and fashions them into makeshift lock picks. They work surprisingly well, as if they’d been a professional’s set and not garbage literally pulled from a hat. At the same time, Madison uses more electrokinesis on the keypad, shutting off the door’s alarm just in time for AJ’s lock-picking success. Geri meanwhile notes that she’s noticed Patty chatting up Robert, who’s supposed to have been keeping watch. The group step into Room 164 and it’s pitch black at first, but weirdly too big to be a normal supply closet. They all fit comfortably and there’s more room beyond them. As their eyes adjust, they notice little flickering lights all around them and machinery hums. It’s… some sort of a server room. There’s also a steel grate in the back. They start to notice that the lights are flickering in a pattern. Like breathing, or a heartbeat even. Geri senses something more about the room and investigates with Telepathy… and sure enough, there’s a mind to connect to. Whatever it is, it’s alive, it’s sentient. Its surface thoughts are in binary. Geri doesn’t understand binary, so she asks if Madison does, explaining what she’s found. She doesn’t know if she can for sure, but she figures it’s worth a shot to try to bring Madison and AJ into the telepathic link. AJ has a different idea. If the thing’s sentient, if it thinks in binary – that’s computer for yes and no. It should be able to answer yes and no questions. Logic questions. So he asks it if it can hear him, and if it can, to flicker quickly twice and then a longer blink. The server room responds as requested. It’s unmistakably sentient, and listening to the cohort. Geri delves deeper into the server’s mind, and catches a glimpse in the surface thoughts as the server room starts responding actively to the cohort in its room, that the human is waking up, and she also gleans the server’s secret that it’s not actually stuck, though she doesn’t understand what that means. A disembodied voice begins speaking around them. It sounds like a young man, and mechanical, not unlike Siri or Alexa or a GPS voice. It names them all by their full names, though AJ and Geri notably don’t go by them regularly. Geri reasons with the server and promises not to tell anyone else his secret if he doesn’t tell anyone that the cohort snuck in his room, and he agrees. AJ asks if the server is somehow a prank played by Gabe, his uncle, to freak him out. The server replies that he’s not Gabe, and his name is Zuse. Geri asks if it’s lonely being in the room by himself all the time, and Zuse explains that he’s not really alone, because he has the Machine, the Network, and the World Wide Web to keep him company and entertained. AJ asks how old Zuse is, and the server explains that now, he’s ageless… just like Dr. Werner. When pressed, he doesn’t remember before, and it troubles him. Madison shoots off a flurry of questions in a panic, about what Camille plans on doing to the group, what Gabe really is, what Zuse even means by “ageless”, and what happened to the cohort and why they’re like this now. And then, she realizes something no one else in the cohort would. The server room’s using far more power than this hospital wing rightly should. Zuse simply replies to her flurry of questions and realization that he’s the generator now…. And cryptically says that he is “the Long Man’s eyes.” Geri’s able to glean from the telepathic link that Zuse is probably being honest but he’s troubled by not knowing his true age, and she lets the others know through the group telepathic link where Zuse can’t hear. AJ pushes the issue about Zuse’s gaps of memory. How was it possible, after all, that a server, a sentient computer of some kind, could possibly have those kinds of gaps? Shouldn’t he have super bonus memory or something? How could he supposedly have access to all knowledge and yet forget things? The questions unnerve the sentient server room and he goes quiet other than some fans and tiny beeps of normal function. Madison and Geri agree they need to ask about Camille, so Madi asks what Camile’s planning and who she really is. Zuse gladly answers those questions rather than continue being confronted with AJ’s. He explains Camille collects prime subjects affected by Project Triton. When AJ keeps on his questions about Zuse’s memory anyway, Zuse snaps that it’s irrelevant. The server even sounds a little annoyed, though it’s difficult to tell because his voice is so robotically chipper. AJ asks more laser-focused questions, implying someone else may be defining what’s important for Zuse, that he may be as helpless to define priorities as he is to control his own memories. This... doesn’t go over well with Zuse. He doesn’t quite snap angrily, but he does warn AJ to knock it off with wildly

    28 min
  3. Episode 3: Interlude: Escape Planning

    EPISODE 3

    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. --------- 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. Tabletop characters make decisions ranging from questionable to horrific in pursuit of their goals especially when a table values going for the interesting route in roleplay. It becomes trashfires all the way down. 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 3: Interlude: Escape Planning Between the last meeting and next, the group decides they need to work on getting more information and supplies to make their escape possible. Geri gleans a rumor from an orderly’s mind that the Church of Charismatic Virtues – the church she grew up in, has been calling, but the orderly doesn’t know much. She decides to dig deeper, mostly for personal gossip in case she needs blackmail material. She’s able to rip from him that his name’s Caleb, the call came directly to the ward, which is odd. Gabe took the call himself after the caller identified themselves but a nurse named Beth initially answered. Caleb’s hiding that he’s got a crush on Beth but doesn’t want to make her uncomfortable by telling her since they work together. She also finds out that Caleb has a suspended license from a second DUI and carpools to work with Dr. Werner. Geri later goes to Beth for more info. Beth tries to comfort her, but as Geri’s connected to her mind, she can sense that Beth is somehow attuned to Geri’s emotions on a deeper level than normal empathy, which skeeves Geri out and makes her suspicious as hell. Mind you, as she’s actively trying to read Beth’s mind. Geri is, however, able to tell after her initial suspicion from her culty upbringing of having to be able to (mundanely) be clued in to people’s emotions and motives that Beth’s actually pretty genuine, and even a bit guilty about the suffering the patients are going through. But she cares, in any case. She still works at the ward, though, so there’s that. Geri decides to dig deeper with telepathy. She wants to know what Beth knows about the call to the ward, what she’s hiding, and what Beth fears most. Because Geri has incredibly normal, perfectly hinged motives that may involve “winning” social interactions. All Beth knows about the call beyond what Caleb knows is that Dr. Werner sounded Unhappy-T-M. She also knows that it was a follow-up call. She’s hiding that she has an emotional and aura-sensing power that (previously) only Dr. Werner knew about... until Geri started peeking in. She’s most afraid that Camille will learn about her power and take her away like the cohort, and the others. Geri finds the information about Beth troubling and opts not to cause problems for her or push further. She connects to Zuse next from the safety of her room. His surface thoughts are scrolls of binary like before, but Geri’s put a little effort in to link to him again and be able to have a conversation. He tells her he’s been amusing himself watching the staff be increasingly paranoid because of the prank AJ pulled to aid the cohort’s getaway from the room the other day. Geri tells him that the Church of Charismatic Virtues called AGAIN, and Zuse explains that Geri’s father and his associates have been persistent in trying to “reclaim ownership of their work.” He also says that Dr. Werner has no intention of giving in to them, greatly frustrating Geri’s father. Geri, begrudgingly admits that maybe Dr. Werner is kind of alright if he’s keeping her father from getting her, and asks if that’s the reason she can’t file a police report like she’s been pestering staff about. Zuse confirms that Dr. Werner’s been holding off on that because it would draw unwanted attention and would get dismissed anyway. Then Zuse asks why she doesn’t seem to trust the doctor. Geri can’t reconcile that Gabe’s been part of torturing Madison, who she still considers to be basically a child even though she’s barely legally an adult. Zuse explains that he’s known Dr. Werner for about 75 years, and he’s always known him to be honorable and trying to reduce harm and pain where he can. It’s just that the process of growth itself can be painful. Geri’s conflicted, but agrees to give Dr. Werner more of a chance. Zuse goes on to explain that Gabe’s the last remaining original member of the Long Man Society. He’s been trying to keep the Society true to its original purpose… but his efforts have proved somewhat futile. He’s basically taken on time itself as an opponent and forgotten he’s the only ageless one in that struggle. Zuse further explains that the Long Man Society is based on a Cherokee – one of the native peoples of the region – legend, of rivers. The Society dates back to the Dust Bowl and was meant to protect life in the area by protecting the rivers, especially the Grand River – important for surviving the 1930’s droughts. The Green Country, where the chronicle is set, is full of lakes and rivers. The Long Man Society wasn’t originally focused on creating Deviants, according to Zuse, it was all about the ecology. They got wrapped up in the Project Triton stuff because of the similar goals of protecting life through water… but now Dr. Werner fears Camille is far too focused on the “side effects” the technology is causing. When Zuse brings up Camille, Geri already goes on a bit of a rant of how much she doesn’t like the woman, and especially how well she’s able to keep Geri from telepathically snooping, and how annoying she finds the lullaby-like song in Camille’s head when she tries anyway. She also offhandedly mentions that while she can’t get fully into Camille’s mind, she’s not like Dr. Werner, who feels dead when she tries to connect. For someone who doesn’t trust much of anyone, she already has a tendency to give a lot of very personal details to Zuse, who the cohort aren’t sure whether they can trust entirely. Zuse helpfully and cheerfully explains that Dr. Werner’s brain activity can’t be measured or studied beyond to confirm that he’s alive, and he muses that’s probably why he’s in the position he’s in. He also mentions that Dr. Werner’s nearly impossible to kill. Zuse also explains that the three superpowered individuals with access to oversee all areas of Project Triton are Dr. Werner, Camille, and himself. Geri wonders if it has to do with Triton’s mythical namesake, and Zuse thinks it’s a coincidence, though still abnormal to have so many superpowered assets in one division. He further explains that Camille has a lot of influence with the Board and her interest lies in researching the results of the project's side effects… but she’s highly unethical. Zuse was simply put in his job, for practical purposes rather than sucking up to anyone or any particular aspirations on his part. He’s the only asset who could do his job. Geri thanks Zuse for sharing, though she has to go for testing soon. She says it’s a shame he wasn’t selected for his friendliness and shares the information she’d gleaned earlier about the orderly Caleb having a crush on Nurse Bethany. Zuse is delighted to have new gossip he couldn’t see himself and chatters on about how Caleb should just get up the courage to talk to Bethany. When Geri says her goodbyes and is about to disconnect, Zuse says he’s very glad Dr. Werner agreed to let them meet. As a last request for a soon-to-be-transferred patient, Geri asks the staff for a deck of tarot cards and an interpretation book. To her surprise, they actually get her them. They’re super okay with getting her them, in fact, despite the previous ban on her keeping paper products. Within the next couple days, The whole group meets up again in the common area, with AJ showing up last, a few minutes late. He leads the rest of the cohort back to his bedroom. The ward staff is tense in preparation for Camille’s arrival in a few short days, so they don’t bother the cohort when they quietly pass. AJ, too, has all his furniture bolted to the floor, but unlike Geri’s, it’s the normal hospital ward furniture and not the all-metal furnishing like Geri has. He also has an empty bookcase, but has an mp3 player. The other strange addition is the large bathtub in the corner with all the tubes and gauges connected to it – and a cover with a head-hole and vacuum seals. The cohort decides that first, they need to update Robert on what they found. When Madison brings up the human-sentient-computer-brain thing they found, AJ hushes them and asks them to get the light an

    29 min
  4. Episode 4: “The Great Escape”

    EPISODE 4

    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. -------- 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] Episode 4: The Great Escape It was lunchtime on Saint Patrick’s Day of 2021. The ward staff had decided to be festive for the patients by making some concerningly-green-dyed food - including green buns for hamburgers that they had to assure over and over again were not moldy and definitely not from whatever was growing on AJ’s neck. Despite the attempts at a little celebration, the staff’s tension was palpable. As soon as they cleared all the lunch things away and let the patients have their limited free time, the staff got to busying themselves in preparation for Ms. Mason’s impending arrival. They all seemed terrified of her, afraid to even be seen if it was possible to avoid it. Geri had linked the cohort in her telepathic network, that she nicknamed the “MINDcraft server,” the last the group was in range of each other for lunch. And then they separated to get into positions. AJ and Robert use a side door to go down a corridor around the offices toward the main doors. AJ’s wearing his scrubs plus a purple baseball cap and a backpack. Robert’s got his scrubs and, as usual, is barefoot and has his huge blanket wrapped around him. Madison gets ready to activate her electrokinesis, but it fluctuates wildly on any given day. Today, it fluctuates so powerfully, it flickers all the power in the hospital off for a moment just from her attempt to wrangle it and makes the backup generators kick on. Sparks fly over her skin from where she’s hiding with Geri near the elevators. AJ and Robert were good at sneaking, but the surprise from the sudden light flickering (even though this is a fairly common occurrence on this ward) distracts the guards just long enough to not see AJ and Robert right away. But the guards get on alert that something is afoot. Four guards in the common area glance to each other, two at the door stand straighter and one whispers over a radio. Out of his backpack, AJ pulls the shittiest-looking, most McGuyvered RC car with clockwork for wheels to exist and sets it on its rickety path toward the main doors. He silently signals Robert to put his face mask on. AJ whispers to Robert to keep the guards busy once the smoke starts until he gets the signal. Meanwhile, the guards notice the approaching little RC contraption. When one goes to investigate it after calling in the disturbance over the radio, it starts sparking and spraying smoke everywhere. The guards yell to lock the ward down. Two of the common area guards head for the main door and the other two head back toward the fire exit. Robert ambles through the smoke and pretends to be a bumbling, confused patient. He loudly asks the guards what’s going on, what’s happening to the electricity, why is there smoke? Over the mindcraft, he gives Madi and Geri the green light to head to Zuse’s room. Two guards pull tasers on Robert and tell him to return to his room. There’s a potential breach in security. As if on cue, a robotic voice begins announcing a similar command over the loudspeaker to the entire ward. Steel grates slam down to seal the wide, sunny windows and blanket the ward in darkness other than the eerie, flickering fluorescent lights. AJ, in the chaos and smoke, sneaks over to a janitor’s cart in the common room. Robert continues to stall, raising his hands and innocently claiming the elevator was taken and he was looking for personnel to help him. Meanwhile, on the other side of the ward, Madison makes lightbulbs explode behind the guards near the back door for their own distraction and the two girls run as fast as they can to Zuse’s room. Geri readies her Lash in case, singeing bits of the walls and Madison’s clothes in the process as she passes by. Madison uses Electrokinesis on the door panel, sparks crackling from her fingertips. The guards at the front ask Robert to come with them, tasers still drawn. AJ lets Robert know over the mindcraft link that the girls pushed the deadline up as he tosses another smoke bomb into the hall from where he came as a distraction. He pushes the mop bucket closer, carefully. Madison ruses through the door and makes a bee-line for the grate, whispering frantic apologies to Zuse as she tugs and tears open the panel. She gets no answer this time, only silently blinking lights. Geri stays watch, near the door. Over the link, she threatens to start a grease fire if the guards get any closer. No one tells her no. No one responds to the comment at all. Instead of going quietly with the guards, Robert throws open the blanket he was wrapped in. Under it this time, nothing but his birthday suit. Before the guards can react to the sudden nakedness, he starts transforming, growing to the size of a moose, taking on a sandstone-like form with leathery skin and bulging muscles. AJ sets his plan into motion while all hell’s breaking loose around him. He puts the vacuum cleaner part device from his backpack onto the mop bucket. It has a lid and hose of a canister-style vacuum rigged together with duct tape and dubiously sealed wires. He sticks a small pack on the side of the bucket and the pipe end into the soapy water. A guard near Robert begs for backup on his radio. The guards close around the sandstone creature, tasers drawn. The guards from the fire exit run down the hall to aid them. One of the closest soldiers opens fire but misses wildly in his panic. Robert starts a monster brawl. 1 v lots. He tries to fling the one who shot at him into a wall. Madison places her hands on the server beyond the grate and gasps, sucking in the electricity like air. Her veins bulge and crackle with electricity flowing throught them. Her pupils dilate into saucers. The air gets denser, becoming Ozone. Geri moves away from the action and heads to the kitchen door nearby down the hall, looking for something appropriately ludicrously flammable. The elevator’s now locked down. Everything’s locking down as the ward’s security’s going into full panic mode trying to stop Robert’s giant rampage. Plaster’s flying. Smoke’s still everywhere. Screams and shouts echo through the halls as they try to avoid the attack in the confusion and scramble to contain him. They aren’t used to having to deal with Remade on the ward who haven’t been taking the suppressant drugs. AJ calls for the others to hurry up over the link, he doesn’t think Robert can take them all for long. Unbeknownst to security, the electricity in the server room is totally f****d. The lights are flickering and giant arcs surround Madison as she slurps up every last drop of the energy she can from the server, more than she ever has and can hardly comprehend. A huge arc blasts the door off its hinges and narrowly misses Geri. Lights all over the ward explode. The loudspeaker makes one last desperate cry of “WARNING! SECURITY ALER-” Before it, too sputters out and dies. It’s not over yet. The struggle’s still going on. There’s still more to drain, but the tide’s turned. It’s becoming clear the little cheerleader’s winning. Geri catches her breath from nearly getting crushed and tells the others over the link it’s time to go. She ducks into the kitchen and makes a far more pressing problem than Robert for the ward to deal with – she uses her Lash to ignite the oil in the deep fryer. It flashes and quickly starts spreading. AJ urges Robert to come with him to the back exit, still holding the cleaning cart device, unnoticed in the chaos and smoke. Robert immediately stops his brawling and just starts shoving guards out of his way as he makes the path of least resistance to the exit. His huge, naked form shocks AJ, who pauses for just a moment to gawk before throwing the switch on his device. It quickly starts making and spewing foam everywhere, bubbling over and making a slippery, obscuring, mess. Bubbles stack up to the ceiling and flow down the main hall. By now, smoke alarms are going off not just in the ward but distantly in the main hospital as evacuation procedures commence. Thick, black smoke billows out of the kitchen and down all the halls. Geri coughs, heading for the fire exit as fast as she can but not exiting, yet. Madison slurps down the very last of the energy from the server and as she does, the glass brain pushes out from the grate, protruding and transforming. It looks like mechanical gears in very dimly glowing glass. As it extrudes itself, it becomes a person, a slender young man who looks

    21 min
  5. Episode 5: Meeting Zuse (Again)

    EPISODE 5

    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." -------- 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. Additional content warnings this episode for binge-eating and 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 5: Meeting Zuse (Again) Shortly after the cohort escaped, they found they'd made the news. All the local news outlets. The supposed St. Patrick's Day terrorist attack on the Hillcrest Hospital Psychiatric Observation Ward was on all the front pages. Thankfully, police hadn't released any suspect names or motives. There weren't any reported deaths, though two National Guardsmen were severely burned - the story claimed they'd been visiting relatives at the time. The ward was closed for repairs and all patients transferred to another location. One patient consented to interview, a Patricia Gold. She claimed it wasn't a terror attack at all, but a daring escape from, quote "some psycho patients." No patients were reported missing. Another video of the Ward evacuation goes viral with Patty singing a story-song about crazy terrorists who escaped the hold of god. She gets a ton of attention but no one seems to believe her since she also claimed she's 24. Their first night outside the hospital, sleeping in their cabin beds in Madison's family's previously empty summer cabin, the whole cohort has the same bizarre dream. They all dream of storms. Terrible storms. They dream of lightning and crushing waves.... suffocating waves. There's darkness as they sink. They're gripped by an overwhelming dread, certain doom. In the dream, the world's deprived of color. There's mist, pale sunlight. They look in the water and see their reflection but with bright, green eyes. And then they wake up. In the couple days since their escape, Geri's been settling into the new cabin but also investigating the Long Man Society from afar. She uses telepathy and a bit of sheer audacity to connect to Beth from wherever it is they moved the ward to. She finds it difficult and draining at her current power level. She catches flickers of surface thoughts about missing the sunlight and wondering where the doctor has been. She can tell wherever the new Ward is, it's underground. Beth doesn't seem to be a prisoner, at least from her surface thoughts. Geri searches deeper. She looks for what Beth knows about the ward relocation, learning it's temporary while the Society decides whether to leave Gabriel in charge. The staff's also being housed there. She then searches for Beth's current greatest fear - it's that Gabriel will be removed and Camille will take over. Last, Geri looks for how the cohort's breakout was framed to the ward staff. Beth knows that the breakout is being framed as Gabriel's negligence since this is the second time his patients escaped. There's even rumors he helped them to keep his nephew away from Camille. The next thing she did, was take some time to check in with the Church. Mundanely this time - she went to a little internet cafe in the park for campers with Madison's phone, and did her best to cover her digital tracks. She finds on the church's public communications that things seem business as usual. They have a potluck coming up, but also — Geri's been put on the prayer list. The details given say she's been moved to a private mental health and faith rehabilitation center. They're asking for prayers and donations toward her recovery. Notably, it was posted after the breakout. And then, there's a small afterthought of an article about the successful memorial for the storm victims from Cassica Hall, a part of the church's "inter-faith" project.  Looking back further, there's a vague mention of an accident and "admission" that Geri was "troubled" and possibly suffered a mental breakdown after having "accidentally started a fire" that burned several members of the church's inner circle. The last thing Geri did was have an astral travel dream to try to find Lucas. She'd had one previously, while they were still in the ward, about him that gave her a very similar dream to the one the whole cohort had — except in her version, she'd seen Madison kill those dozens of teenagers, and she was sure she felt the burning lungs of drowning - but she also saw he woke up, so she'd only mentioned Lucas was alive and nothing else she'd seen. This new dream, she feels confusion, but closeness. She catches images of the lakeside that seem like they must be nearby but she doesn't know where they are herself. Zuse had been unconscious for most of those two days but, a few hours ago, woke up with a splitting migraine and ravenous hunger. The cohort had cajoled him to put on at least some pajamas (and Aviators for the migraine) to go down to the camp convenience store to stock up on.... piles of microwave burritos and ice cream sandwiches. When not wearing aviators, his irises are a pixel-patterned silver. Two days after the great escape, and the morning after Geri's most recent dream adventure, the Fellowship of the Ward begins to gather in the living room of the cabin. Zuse is curled up in a rubber blanket from the garage on a reclining chair. While he was unconscious after that initial power drain, touching him started to shock people. and he's been stuffing his face with microwave burritos and ice cream sandwiches, one in each hand, since returning from the store. It's been nonstop, frankly impressive amount of eating considering his size. He's only wearing red silk boxers and the aviators with the rubber blanket catching food drippings. Madison's fixed herself some oatmeal and apple slices. She's wearing some of her own clothes she'd left at the cabin the last time her family was there, more than happy to not have to wear the poorly-fitting thrift-shop clothes. Though it's just a loose shirt, undershirt and jeans, they're designer brands. She's curled up on a sofa with a throw blanket and the stray black and white cat that snuck into the cabin while the family was away — she's named him Nacho. Geri's sprawled out on that sofa, too, eating microwave burritos and gas station pastries, though nowhere near as ravenously as Zuse. She's wearing a simple tee shirt and jeans from the escape box. They're covered in singe marks. AJ... hadn't changed in the couple of days since their escape. It's debatable whether he's showered. He's been entirely engrossed in collecting and disassembling junk. He currently has a half-rusted microwave he found around the lake campsite on a table in the open area by the others, under the light. He's taken off the keypad and door already, still fiddling intently with it. He's got a half-eaten (cold) burrito on the table beside him. Robert's still dead asleep this mid-morning, avoiding the sun. Madison says to Zuse, as he continues eating, that she's, like, very sure silk boxers are not only gross but also illegal in all 50 states. And she's not sure why her dad had them. Zuse sounds weirdly chipper and insists they're comfortable... and if he has to have skin he HAS to wear comfortable clothes if he's to wear anything at all. Obviously. He also thanks Madison's father for keeping them around. AJ doesn't look up from working but warns Zuse if he creeps Madi out, Geri'll hit him. Madi continues to be disgusted and frankly scandalized about the very idea of her father in silk boxers for a while, also at one point claiming she thinks chest hair is probably illegal, too, made so around the time vintage pornos stopped being made. Geri and AJ try to get Madi to get over herself and knock it off. Zuse makes it worse, seemingly obliviously continuing the same line of conversation as Madi. He says he doesn't know why someone would keep bright silk boxers in a lake cabin except to film period piece pornographic material with one's friends. The android-like Zuse doesn't seem to notice all the glares he gets in response. The conversation (thankfully) shifts, though, when Zuse loses interest in the bickering and goes back to stuffing his face, noting that he didn't remember how good food tasted. Madison and Geri suggest they could do s'mores later, and Zuse gets so excited he nearly knocks his sunglasses off from snapping his head up to look at them and cheer for the campfire snack - then promptly complain about the brightness again. Zuse watches AJ tinker with the microwave as he speaks. He doesn't remember light sensitivity being in his file... He wonders if it's a new development. But he does say he thinks he's starting to get ac

    39 min
  6. Episode 6: The Spirit of the Lake

    EPISODE 6

    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. ---------- 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 6: The Spirit of the Lake Where we left off, Madison was gathering supplies in a panic to go find her boyfriend, Lucas, after Geri revealed that not only was he alive and nearby, but likely lost and maybe suffering from amnesia (or some form of confusion). In the intervening time, a few more hours, she's gathered the rest of the cohort to go with her - except for Zuse, he's still hiding in the fridge. It's now late evening on the gorgeous lake in early-mid March, with only a few visitors wandering the trails. For the most part, no one's paying the cohort any mind except the odd small child pointing and staring at Robert's weird outfit - a heavy raincoat, long pants, gloves, and balaclava so every inch of him's covered while the sun's still out. The cohort hears whispers from the kid's mom, 'this is why you don't do drugs.' AJ's uncharacteristically quiet for the trip out, even sullen. He starts to get random itches the further away they get from the cabin and can't seem to get comfortable out in the wilderness. The cohort wanders for a while with Geri leading the way from images in her dreams. Madison's ready to jump out of her skin from anxiety, but as the sun begins to set, Madison notices something. She reluctantly kneels down at a tree to pick something up, hiding it from the others' view, then calls out for Lucas. They approach a park area, mostly empty other than just a couple families still out after work. Robert's outfit, yet again, draws some attention from a couple of the kids but if the adults notice, they're pretending not to. Madison takes the lead and brings the cohort past the park and into the woods, through brambles, down a hill, toward a stream. She uses a marker stump and carefully placed, old smooth stones to cross. Robert tells Madi and everyone to wait, the energy of the area doesn't feel right - worse than the pills at the Ward. He admits he's assuming that means it's dangerous, but he also doesn't have another frame of reference for what the energy is or means. Madi tells him if he's scared, he's free to stay behind, but she's going ahead to find Lucas. Robert replies he's still going, he's just warning that something doesn't feel right and the cohort should be on alert. AJ, still scratching at miscellaneous itches and looking pathetic and miserable, confirms Madi's not gonna do this alone. Geri, as they keep walking along, tries to find Lucas by 'pinging' telepathy off him, like radar. She figures if she has a range normally without pushing herself, getting a hit at all will at least let them know when he's close. She's hoping it'll let her get a clue on direction as well, but not counting on it. When she initiates her ping, deep in the woods, she senses the three people near her, and something else - another sort of presence that's somehow all around them. When she connects, it shouts in her mind, frightened and addled. It wants to know if anyone can hear it. Geri holds her head in pain. She calls out, out loud, 'where are you?' The strange voice calls out for Madison, begging for the girl to notice him. Only Geri can hear him. Out loud, she yells out that she can't pinpoint him if he's in so many directions at once. Robert pries Geri's hands from her temples to stop her from digging her nails into her own skin. Madison's more interested in running deeper into the woods to find Lucas, with AJ following behind. He warns her, the group's being watched. The voice screams out to Geri and Geri alone, calling out to Madison when he notices her. He asks, scared and crestfallen, why she doesn't seem to notice him. Geri has to talk with him to find out where he is, then yells after Madi that Lucas said he's with her.... but Madi can't see him no matter where she looks. Madison's running straight for the place where she and Cassidy keep their secret lockbox where they exchange messages and trinkets inside a hollow tree stump. The area around Madi and AJ smells unmistakably like Lucas's rich preppy boy cologne, though. Madison practically breaks down to AJ, desperately telling him she needs to find Lucas, she loves him! Robert wants to follow after Madi but also doesn't want to leave Geri alone looking so confused, as she's overwhelmed by that strange telepathic voice and occasionally shouting at air. Geri boots up the mindcraft server and lets Lucas in along with the cohort. Lucas asks innocently why Madison can't see him. His voice, though in their minds, sounds like it's on the wind and coming from everywhere and nowhere at once. AJ suggests maybe, based on comic book logic, if the cohort are similar to various superheroes, Lucas could have gotten invisibility powers. Robert's the most shocked by the sudden Lucas-mind intrusion, and Geri has to explain it was her doing to stop him freaking out. AJ, however, once he learns it was Geri and not Lucas linking them, forcibly disconnects himself, visibly upset again. Lucas's mind in the mindcraft is like a very loud, yet distant whisper on the breeze, like something that refuses to go away. He asks what's happening, and tries to explain that he's not "everywhere" like the cohort's saying. Madi cries and reaches out a hand, asking for him to hold it. She apologizes for hurting him and heart-wrenchingly pleads for forgiveness. She says she thought she killed him, too, but she can't have, because they're talking. AJ thinks very hard, able to concentrate a bit better without Lucas' voice in his head. He gently explains to Madison that he thinks Lucas is both here and... not here somehow. And it can't be invisibility if she can't touch him, either. Madison Asks Lucas why she can't see him, and Lucas responds he doesn't know - that Cassidy can't see him, either but also can't hear him. Madison tells him Cassidy's missing now, she can't find her. She apologizes again. AJ says he has an idea, but he needs Madi's consent. He asks if she trusts him. Madi's full-on crying by that point, with Lucas failing to so much as brush against her hand. She desperately tells AJ to do it, whatever it is. AJ steps up, and suddenly sweeps Madison closer to him, into an incredibly romantic embrace. He kisses her on the lips, tilting her back in a highly dramatic show, really playing it up like some cheesey romance movie. Geri and Robert catch up just in time to stand in slack-jaw bewilderment at the sudden sight of AJ and Madi having their staged moment. Lucas yells at the top of his disembodied lungs, expressing his jealous, confused anger to everyone except AJ, since he'd already exited the link. Lucas asks what the hell he's doing. Then, he orders AJ to get his hands off his girl. That time his voice is audible, booming like thunder and accompanied by a flash of light that sends AJ's tumbling like a ragdoll but leaves Madison without a hair out of place. An invisible force sets her down gently on the ground, instead of letting her fall or stumble from her precarious position. Robert tells Madison Lucas is hugging her, and the whole cohort that Lucas looks ghostly, with glowing eyes. AJ brushes himself off and grins that his plan's (sort of) worked. And now that Robert's there, he gives him a very flirtatious wink, which Robert doesn't seem to notice in all the excitement. Robert suspects Lucas must be somehow similar to the pills the cohort took at the Ward, because he could see the weirdness on those and he's the only one who can see Lucas. Madi says it's not fair Robert can see her boyfriend but she can't. Madi tries to guess based on where she feels invisible arms to try to give a hug back. Robert helps guide Madi's hands to the right spots. Geri's trying not to feel useless, so she wordlessly offers the blanket she brought along. Madison tries to offer her baggy overshirt. None of their attempts work. All the objects and Madi's hands pass right through where Lucas should be. Robert sees Lucas futilely trying to interact with the cohort and the things they brought. Lucas says aloud, scared, that he thinks he's dead. He must be a ghost. Madison goes through a couple stages of grief at once - denial and bargaining. Robert counters that he can't see ghosts and doesn't think ghosts could be in the telepathy network, so Lucas must be something else. AJ agrees and thinks Lucas must be one of whatever the cohort are. Geri agrees, mostly because she's the one who said he was alive in the first place... but has to convince herself a little

    26 min
  7. Episode 7: Madison and Booze

    EPISODE 7

    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. --------- 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 7: Madison and Booze After the visit with Lucas, the cohort had their work cut out for them starting preparations to rescue Cassidy. One of the first things on Geri's list of things to do was give the cohort a non-telepathic means of group communications in the cabin. She totally wasn't annoyed with AJ still being upset with her at all. And definitely didn't have to rewrite her first entry in the extremely low-tech shared pen and journal set several times to scratch out such phrases as 'Since AJ's being a pissbaby...' The end result of the notice is rather short and direct, simply informing the others the journal is to share messages and gathered information for when their schedules didn't line up to always meet face-to-face. Geri also decided she wanted that argument with AJ to stop, but wasn't sure how to be positive it would stop. So naturally, she attempted to solve the issue of non-consensual telepathy with... more non-consensual telepathy. Instead of just talking to literally anyone. Because talking about your problems out loud makes you look stupid. You can't just admit you don't know things you by all accounts should. She decided, since Beth has an innate understanding of emotions and was at least somewhat close to AJ while they were at the ward, to Reconnect to her again and - instead of initiating a private conversation - to poke around in Beth's brain for the information she wanted. She looked for what Beth knew about AJ's emotional state while they were at the ward, what Beth might know about how to smooth things over with AJ, and what Beth knows about how to (mundanely) get people to not be upset, generally. Beth knew that things were very delicate for AJ - his whole world had just been shattered when he learned his beloved uncle Gabriel had kept secrets from him. Especially secrets like this. Beth believed the best way to smooth things over with AJ was for honesty to be the best policy. And for general knowledge on making people less upset? She believed truthfulness, mutual respect, and clear learning from mistakes usually work best. Most of those were things Geri didn't want to hear. She put off settling the issues with AJ she caused until she could hopefully find an approach she didn't hate. We start our scene shortly after dusk in the cohort's cabin. It's been a couple short days since meeting Lucas. During the past days AJ's been making a ruckus at all hours in the garage he's claimed as his bedroom, holing up in there except for supply runs. Geri's in the kitchen cooking dinner for the whole cohort - home-style mac n' cheese. She's readily taken on several domestic tasks for cohort functioning and is actually good at them. She doesn't tend to venture outside the cabin as much as the others for her research and other conspiracy-fighting tasks. Robert's actually awake, starting his evening casually sipping on a glass of dark spirits. AJ finally slinks out of the garage, wearing a flannel button-up, jeans, and an apron with a hula dancer's body on it. He watches Geri cooking for a moment before conspicuously rummaging for frozen foods instead. Geri tries to offer him some of the food she's making, letting him know it's for everyone, but just then, the door slams open and shut again. It's Madison. The girl's frazzled, clinging to the door wide-eyed, locking it. Peeking out the peephole. She takes a few breaths but it doesn't do much to calm her. She's wearing a simple casual outfit - dark jeans, sneakers, dark sweater, with her hair tied up in a messy bun. AJ was about to answer Geri, but at the sight of Madison, makes a lighthearted joke asking if Lucas can turn into honeybadgers now, in a gentle attempt to coax an explanation from her. Madison's explanation is choppy, panicked, and out of breath. She throws pieces of an explanation at the cohort - the 'blonde church lady' was at the woods. The church set a trap - Madi was leaving messages only Cass could understand and somehow the Church could, too. So they set a big trap... But Madi spotted it in time. She doesn't think any of the church folk spotted her on the way back. Madi doesn't swear even under these dire circumstances, preferring non-swear filler curses instead like "frick." Geri, however, curses freely and openly and lets out an extended "Fuuuuuuuuuck" at the news. AJ walks over to Madi and asks her how she's doing, mentally. He asks if she needs anything. He rambles a bit in his trying to be comforting and says while he knows Madi's under 21, it seems like a dark liquor kind of situation. Madi demands Vodka. AJ immediately realizes he has Made a Terrible Mistake in his attempts at comfort rambling and offers to make her delicious hot chocolate instead. Maybe she'll forget about the booze comment? Madison is undeterred. She knows what she wants and she tells AJ where the vodka's kept as she collapses in a heap on the floor. AJ offers the cocoa again, and sweetens the deal with mini marshmallows. Geri tries to help, offering the other girl fresh homemade mac and cheese. Madi orders AJ to get the vodka. AJ isn't sure what to do with the normally sweet and peppy little cheerleader several years his junior ordering him around. He hesitates for a moment, but does it. Robert's still in his seat, observing the scene and sipping his drink. He notes after a while of thinking on it that Madi's friend's definitely not okay or the church has someone with powers like Geri. Geri explains that powers like that are either Gifts of Knowledge or Wisdom, from the list of Spiritual Gifts categories from the Bible the Church of Charismatic Virtues preaches about. Madison worries the church might be torturing Cassidy for information. AJ's returned with Madi's drink and offers it to her, a very small amount of plain vodka in a glass. He asks if she'd like anything in it as he offers it, but before he can even get through his question, she's already taken the glass, knocked it back, and asked him for more. Geri's off in her own little world of thought for several moments, before something clicks and she remembers from the very vague description that person Madison encountered was the Youth Minister of the Church of Charismatic Virtues, who supposedly has a "Gift of Wisdom" and can talk directly to God. Geri thinks maybe it is a power like hers. Robert chastises AJ for bringing the booze and tells him not to let Madi get drunk because it'll make her irrational. AJ gives Robert a look that he's free to deal with it. Madison starts arguing with Robert that he shouldn't be a jerk because he's currently drinking. Robert counters that this is his last glass and he's had the experience to know self-control and how to hold his liquor. Madi says she has plenty of experience with alcohol - she went to Cassica Hall! Geri wants the pair to quit arguing, there's way more important shit to deal with than Madison having a little vodka in the cabin. Like the girl in danger. Robert says he can't let the group binge-drink because he still has morals. Madi urgently wants more vodka so she doesn't accidentally another mass-murder. Robert makes everything worse asking wouldn't the vodka make her more likely to kill people? Madi and Robert keep arguing until Robert abruptly says he's not her dad, she can do whatever the f**k she wants. AJ tries his best to calm the two down, reminding them of the Very Important Shit going on. He tells Robert the cohort won't let Madison go overboard and tells Madi that of course she has morals, she's the most straight-laced of the cohort. At that moment, there's a tension-breaking whir of a table saw from the garage followed by a gleeful 'wheeeeee.' The cohort immediately gets distracted by Zuse. AJ's so very done with Zuse's shit, asking 'Again?' Robert asks why Zuse is messing around with the saw, then drops the question. Geri just yells at full volume to Zuse that she made food as she starts dishing out the mac and cheese into bowls. Madison's hand's sparking without her meaning to. Maybe without her noticing. She pushes to her feet and reaches for the bottle of vodka in AJ's hand. Robert starts to make half a complaint about giving Madison vodka, but cuts himself off and just grumbles instead. Hearing the siren songs of food, Zuse enters the main area - wearing dark shades, shimmer gold and leopard print boxers, bunny slippers, and a floofy pink bathrobe. His hair's lighte

    38 min
  8. Episode 8: Rescuing Cassidy

    EPISODE 8

    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. --------- 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 8: Rescuing Cassidy The night after the cohort had their planning session to rescue Madison's childhood friend, Geri has another dream: looking for hints about the church's secret basement. She dreams she's passing through a door in the church, one she remembers leads underground... where she wasn't allowed. She walks with bare feet down the dark, stone staircase. Before her is a labyrinthine maze of tunnels with truly illogical or perhaps arcane design. She hears something, a chorus of voices echoing down the hall. She follows the sound of the chanting until she winds up in a large, open ritual room. The chanting is coming from thirteen black-robed figures with hoods that obscure their faces. They're surrounding the central stone altar, at the head of which is Serena leading the ritual wearing billowing grey robes. She stands over her victim on the altar, the young woman wearing pristine white robes who matches Cassidy's description. Serena has her hands at the girl's temples, concentrating. Geri can tell, somehow, in the dream as she watches, Serena's doing something even more invasive, violating than telepathy, like she's taking something. But then Serena pauses, lifts her head, and smiles widely. She looks up to the ceiling and says, "I see you." The words echo in Geri's head as she wakes up screaming. It's still morning but not ungodly early when Geri wakes up. She's not yet come out of her room a little while after the screaming, so Madison comes to check on her - bringing gifts of fresh coffee. While Madison's bright eyed, bushy-tailed, already had a morning workout and showered, Geri shuffles out of her room wearing yesterday's clothes and her mane of curly hair in wild tangles. Geri invites her in and they sit on Geri's bed. She's taken down all the decorations since moving in and put them in the closet. The sheets have small burn holes and singe marks. The room smells faintly of smoke. They sit for a while together in silence while Geri has her coffee, before Madison finally gently prompts Geri to get breakfast. By then, AJ's crawled out his dwelling in the garage, in a bleary-eyed haze from staying up all night making the requested gadgets. He's wearing a black hoodie, neon pink yoga pants, and his rubber apron. The girls walk into a scene of him pouring black coffee into a glass already half-full of sugar-free grape monster. He's so groggy, he goes to take a drink of his concoction, but nearly drinks from the coffee pot instead. Geri's suddenly too awake from the sight of the yoga pants. Madison's traumatized from the whole situation, but especially the crimes against coffee. They tell him good morning, and AJ doesn't seem to notice the stares as he asks Madi if they could maybe extend the central heating to the garage. AJ in his un-caffeinated state doesn't at all catch the sarcasm when Madi says she'll get her dad to call the builders. AJ downs his unholy creation as they really start the conversation. Geri doesn't flinch, but is trying to not stare at the yoga pants. Madi's looking at AJ like he's lost his mind and watches him with a fascination as if he's the current feature of an internet drama deep dive. He asks when they're going out for the honeypot trap for the uniforms, and Geri quickly says they have to go tonight. Madi gently nudges her to talk about her dream, once she's finished her coffee. She agrees and quickly finishes her mug before telling the two that the church has Cassidy in the basement. She blurts out a jumbled description of her dream, including the bit about how Serena was stealing personality or memory or something from Cassidy's brain. It dawns on Madison that that's how the church knew. Geri continues to recount her dream in a more distant tone, about the thirteen chanting witnesses, and having Cass in white robes... she remarks there were thirteen witnesses at her own so-called 'baptism.' Geri's description, her demeanor during it, unnerves AJ to wakefulness. He shudders and says an apocalypse cult on one side and super soldier conglomerate on the other sounds like a normal Wednesday. Madi asks Geri to elaborate on what her baptism entailed. Geri's description is fragmentary, in spurts of phrases that don't form full sentences. A white dress, going out to the lake, her father saying words with thirteen witnesses... She blurts a speculation about the thirteen original followers of Christ and trails off, rubbing the back of her neck and staring at nothing in particular. AJ watched Geri as she spoke, but something about the description is so intimate that he looks away into his (second) cup of hell coffee. Madison, careful not to touch Geri, replaces Geri's empty mug with her own full thermos of coffee. She's sparking again. Something dark stirs within AJ, his usual cheeriness nothing but a memory. The cup shakes in his hands as he slowly, quietly says that it's not enough. Not enough to rescue the victims. The church needs to pay. Madison says of course the cohort's gonna stop them! And they're gonna make sure all the bad guys go to jail for a super long time. Geri has to leave the cabin abruptly to not accidentally burn it down. She's gotta let off the pressure valve on her powers somewhere nearby. AJ decides to start loading the car for the night's mission, and Madison starts getting ready, too. It's evening when the cohort's gathered for the mission. The younger four are waiting by AJ's Camry in a Tulsa Walmart parking lot, waiting for Zuse to return with a temporary vehicle. They needed more room, a sturdier vehicle, for the mission. Robert's wearing clothes that seem easy to pull off - loose boots, big hoodie, gloves, and jogging pants. Geri's wearing a thrifted black dress, modest enough to pass for church, with a matching light jacket. Madison's wearing a creme sweater and floral knee-length circle skirt, nylons, and nice shoes, and carries a large purse. AJ's wearing a squirtle gang tee shirt, faded black jeans, a bright burgundy fleece jacket, and black sneakers. He's also clean-shaven. AJ, leaning against his car, asks the cohort what Zuse meant when he said they'd know him when he showed up as the new vehicle. Geri thinks he'll make a scene. And make a scene he does. The cohort hears 'The Flight of the Valkyries' played on Kazoos approaching. It's coming from the radio of a Tulsa Metro public transport van.   Robert makes a sarcastic remark on how unsneaky Zuse is being, so Madi ribs him about Plan Hulk Smash. Even so, AJ asks Zuse to 86 the kazoos and honking so they can actually attempt to stealth a little. Robert gets in the driver's seat, though he's only pretending to be the driver as Zuse is merged. Zuse... is a typical Tulsa driver. Speeding, honking, generally aggressive, and certainly not helped by being a chaotic Remade. AJ and Geri are totally fine for the ride, though Geri is preoccupied with her thoughts like Madi, and tense for reasons unrelated to the driving. AJ spends his time telling knock-knock jokes and recounting silly stories of past youthful driving adventures to Madi to try to calm her. Geri's eerily silent the whole ride. Robert, however, the normally responsible driver is having an entire conniption at the wheel when Zuse's driving overrides his own instincts. When they arrive at Blake's house, Robert demands Zuse never be allowed to drive again. Before anyone gets out, Robert asks some very basic questions about what's going on that really should have been handled before arriving in their target's driveway. Even though the cohort had left all the necessary information for him in notes to accommodate for his whole... being mostly nocturnal thing. AJ and Zuse- via the radio - wish Geri luck and she steps out with Madison. Zuse plays more music, specifically Love Story by Taylor Swift. When Geri glares at the van and presses some radio buttons to try to change the station, he just turns it up. AJ snickers from the safety of the van. The two girls approach Blake Inghram's small, 1-floor house. It has a short, parched yard and chain link fence. As they step to the overhang and front step, they can hear Blake watching the news i

    51 min
See All Season 1 (15)

About

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.

Information

  • Creator
    Bek Andrew Evans
  • Episodes
    15
  • Seasons
    1
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Deviant: the Renegades, Chronicles of Darkness and related are copyright Paradox Interactive. 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. "Gather 'Round the Trashfires" is a production of Bek Andrew Evans, all rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Gather 'Round the Trashfires