realmofstories | Chapter 06: Act III

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Chapter 06: Act III

Frankenhyde: ACT III—

With such an unpleasant ending to the last act, the mood in Londeva has changed further. The weariness and silence felt in the evenings continues and the bright splashes of color from before have taken on a more garish contrast, no longer seeming quite as cheery as they had before. Still, life and the story must go on, so the quill is once again put to paper in order to deliver the events of the scenes to the Aspects once more.

Some time after we last saw Hyde and the illustrious Dr. Jekyll, Hyde approaches the doctor to demand some sort of recompense for being the doctor's experiment; after all, Hyde pointed out, they can't get good data on an "unhinged man" if Hyde's limited in what he can actually do. Though Hyde threatens him, Jekyll is able to keep calm and compromise with his test subject on the matter of pay. He once again warns Hyde to avoid drawing too much attention to himself. Hyde assures him that he knows what he's doing.

A few days later, Mister Utterson is called to Jekyll's house to discuss some personal matters. The old friends take a few moments to clear the air between them, to allow Utterson a moment to vent to his old friend, before the settle down to the business Jekyll called his solicitor for in the first place: adjusting his will to leave everything to one Mister Hyde. Utterson is appalled at the very idea, but Jekyll eventually confesses that he and Victor Frankenstein were working on creating life and that Hyde is a vital part of these experiments. It only makes sense to leave all of his money and property to a known criminal who would probably kill you as soon as look at you.

Perfect sense.

That night, as the young Danvers is out walking, Hyde decides it would be a wonderful idea to kill an innocent man in cold blood. A few hours later, Stixen finds Hyde in an alleyway covered in Danvers's blood. Tired of trying to play nice with the "normal" humans, Hyde points out that the two of them will never be accepted for what they are, so he and Stixen should just kill them all. Stixen admits it's a solution, but is not entirely convinced. The two part ways.

As Hyde returns home to Jekyll, Jekyll has had enough. He realizes what happened last night when he sees Hyde covered in blood, and that is a line too far. Jekyll demands Hyde stop. Hyde decides that he doesn't want to stop, but instead take over Jekyll's life. The two fight, and Jekyll is locked in his cellar, leaving Hyde free to do whatever it is he wants.

The next day, Stixen is wandering around and thinking about what Hyde suggested. He runs into the young Agatha de Lacy, who is trying to get her cat down from a tree and is very clearly annoyed. Stixen, still wanting to help people, climbs up the tree in an impressive display of acrobatics and rescues the girl's cat. Agatha is impressed and the two start to form a very tentative friendship before parting ways. Unfortunately for them both, Hyde was watching.

As Stixen was saving kittens from trees, Utterson rushes to Jekyll's house to report Danvers's murder and ask him to come look over the body. He's distraught to find the poor man having a panic attack in his cellar and hurriedly gets him out of there. Jekyll hates what science has become since his younger days, though Utterson does point out that it was always a little unsettling, and things are about to get a lot worse. Upon inspecting the body, Jekyll realizes that this was the man Hyde had killed.

That night, disgusted at what he had seen earlier that day, Hyde tracks down the de Lacy house and sets it on fire. Agatha flees the scene; Hyde gives chase. Eventually, the poor girl is torn limb from limb by the now monstrous Edward Hyde. When the girl's body is discovered, a mob forms outside of Victor's lab, demanding that Stixen face justice. Victor knows that the girl's death was not Stixen's fault, and so the two try to calm the people down to no avail. Eventually, they resort to looking around the lab for something to use to force them to calm down, allowing Victor to escape and get help.

Victor eventually finds Jekyll and begs him for help. Jekyll, of course, agrees, but he first insists that Victor join him at his home and all but forces Victor to follow. As they get closer to Jekyll's home, Victor realizes that it is not Jekyll at all but Hyde and tries to get away. He fails and, realizing that there is no hope for him, is gentle and almost calm about it all. Hyde, in one more act of brutal violence, stabs Victor through the heart.

Unlike before, when everyone awakens they will not feel refreshed and ready to tackle the day. Instead, there's a feeling of lethargy and unpleasantness, as if they experienced a restless night with unpleasant dreams. That feeling of past and possible potential dread will be hard to shake given that the city still seems as dreary as before. Still, life goes on as the citizens of Londeva continue to go about their daily routines. If anything, the city seems livelier than it was before, almost as if people are trying their best to make it a better brighter place in defiance of recent events.

But all is definitely not well in Londeva. With all the residents being busier and livelier, that means the blots and Erasers are more active as well. And as the Act goes on, the city itself seems to become more active with entire blocks disappearing and transforming seemingly at random. Additionally, cracks begin to appear in the city, ground, and sky as well as if the story itself is having trouble holding itself together. Hopefully everything will work out in the end, but it looks like getting there may be a bit of a challenge.

Still, the Storyteller has faith that the Aspects will be able to see things through, even if some of their behavior during this story gives room for pause.

§ instructions.

The third Act is underway! This is the designated log for all Main Scenes. Others are free to create their own toplevels for the Sub Quests, which are detailed below. Each Main Scene has their own unique toplevel and those cast into the roles are to thread their scene under each. All scene instructions are provided in the toplevels.

As stated in the flavor text above, all sorts of craziness is happening this act. There’s some additional information in the game notes, but things to keep in mind and possibly play with are as follows:

there’s a pervasive feeling that something bad is going to happen
cracks will begin to appear in the city and sky as the act progresses
the amount of Erasers and rogue blots in the city will increase as the act progresses
the city’s layout will appear and disappear, and change throughout the act (see the book repair subquest for more information)
Aspects could be susceptible to behavioral changes (see the pick a side subquest for more information)
During scenes where Victor's body is involved, the body will appear as his plant creation from before. Will it be dead, alive, friendly or hostile is up the players.

Costumes are also provided for this Act, although there's something...odd about the choices this time around:

Finally, just to be clear, characters who are in Main Scenes are not immediately dropped into their location and will have to go through specially marked doors and then return. Characters will also be aware of their roles and partner prior to entering the scene, so it's possible for them to meet and coordinate beforehand or meet within the scene for the first time. Threading all of that isn't necessary, but it's to help give a better idea that characters can take a break between scenes or wait a bit to help with other things like the Sub Quests.

Feel free to refer to the Game Notes for more detailed info as well as ask questions or clarifications.

§ sub quests.

Everyone is free to participate in the Sub Quests. There are no specific top levels, so you're free to incorporate them however you wish in your own top level.

¶ I. Pick a side, any side. Early on, everyone will start feeling not quite themselves throughout most of the act. It can range from mild to severe and last for varying lengths of time, but the effects will always be temporary. Characters will either take on a "Hyde" personality or a "Stixen" (Frankenstein's Monster) personality.

"Hyde" side. Will have erratic, immoral, and violent tendencies. Those who have non-human Essences can become more monstrous and transform at will, even capable of hiding their transformed self while still able to use some of those powers.
"Stixen" side. Will be the opposite with a more curious, polite, and generous disposition. Those who have non-human Essences will more often be stuck in their transformation; alternatively they will only transform when enraged and become more violent in this time.

Should any of the two meet each other, they will be immediately hostile with "Hyde" personalities taunting and trying to coax the "Stixens" to be more like them. It is possible for a "Stixen" to switch to a "Hyde." It is also possible for anyone not affected to try and snap the other out of it, or at least convince those who are under "Hyde" influence to focus their violence on other problems instead of each other. A solid hit to the head will work wonders.

¶ II. Creepy Crawlers. There is an abundance of abominations roaming through the city—failed creations that will attack anyone on sight. The robotic reindeer are still around and will try to aid in clearing them out, but some will actually be consumed and mutate instead.

There's another reason to destroy the abominations: any not killed will be captured by an Eraser and loaded into one of the many airships to fly towards a darkened space in the sky. For what reason is unclear, but it's best not to wait and find out. Stopping the Erasers and destroying the airships will be paramount.

¶ III. Emergency Book Repair. The very book itself is starting to tear apart and it worsens after the final battle scene. Buildings starting to crumble, Blots disintegrating, even the very ground ripping open. If this keeps up the story will be destroyed. Fortunately, the Aspects aren't left helpless. Ribbons made of white light and runic symbols appear here and there as if trying to help "stitch" things together. Using their Essences, Aspects can find these "ribbons" and gather them to spread over other places. Use of Essence abilities will also help with patching things up, as if the use of them is reaffirming the story’s existence itself. Buildings will start to be repaired, cracks in the earth sealed over, and possibly blots restored, though some of the construction work may be a little patchy. That building wasn’t always partially made of straw or gingerbread, but it might be now!

¶ IV. Wildcard. Make up your own prompt!

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Steelbeak's gaze shoots from Crane to the comatose plant that's basically draped over the floor, its long vines spread out and looking a bit barren. How hard was it for whoever's in charge of these scenes to get a real corpse in here? How hard??? He heaves a deep sigh and puts up his best 'distressed' face, which honestly doesn't amount to much.

"He's... He's... dead!" He gestures towards the plant with one hand. "But you can do it, right? Revive him?"

He can't help but frown as he looks over at the plant. "What? That's Victor?"

What is even happening in this story?

"Apparently- I mean- Obviously," he replies with the air of someone who's really struggling. He quickly snatches up a tattered old blanket and tosses it over the plant, which should make the whole thing less distracting.

"My poor old dad... Cut down in his prime...! That's unacceptable, right?"

Crane hesitates for a moment, not entirely sure how best to respond. He's only been following the story a little bit, and to be honest the whole thing has been a little uncomfortable.

"Well...yes," he finally manages, even though he knows what's supposed to come next and what's going to be asked of him, but he has no idea how he's going to address that, "but-"

"No buts!" Steelbeak replies immediately. It's a reflex, really. He knows he's supposed to be 'begging' according to the script, but that's just not in him. Even if he is meant to be acting. "You're the brilliant Doctor Jekyll! If anyone can bring him back to life, it's gotta be you!"

He glances back towards the blanket-covered..."corpse", still unsure. On the one hand, it had been Hyde who had slain Victor, which made him partly responsible.

But...

"Even if I could," he said slowly, "and I'm not confident that I'd really be able to...but even if I could, I don't know if it would be safe to do so."

Edited 2021-01-09 11:21 (UTC)

"What's not safe about it? I mean, look at me!" He gestures down at himself, the long black robe probably undercutting his argument to some degree. "I was brought to life by science, and I turned out just fine! Are you saying my old man was better at sciencing than you are?"

He's not sure if the other is trying to bait him, but he doesn't rise to it. "Look, I'm glad that you turned out the way you did...but there's no guarantee that it'll turn out the same way now. Everything that's happened...it's all been such a mess."

Baiting is definitely happening. It's the only effective method Steelbeak knows to get what he wants, and he's been doing it for so many years already that it's a reflex.

"Wow, alright. I thought you and the old man were friends. You're not even gonna try to save his life? If it were the other way round, he wouldn't have thought twice about bringing you back, but I guess that just means nothing to you, huh?"

While he knows that the other is just to trying mock him, Crane is fairly used to ignoring taunts. But the actual words, whether his scene partner means them or not, have a greater affect on him than he expected.

But was friendship really worth the price of trying to rewrite the laws of nature?

After what feels like a long time, he finally says, "...let me see Victor's notes." It's not a real answer, but it will give him more time to think.

"Jackpot!" Steelbeak pumps a fist, then realizes that's probably not the best attitude for a 'mourning monster son' to have. He straightens up again, trying to shift into a mindset that'll be more appropriate. Uhhh.

"I mean... Great! I knew I could count on ya," is what he ends up saying. Then he waves a hand. "The notes are, uh, over there. And over there. All over the floor, really. I spread 'em out to make it easier to find stuff."

This is totally how you make it easier.

As he looks around, Crane can't help but frown. "Are they even in order?"

If they can't figure out what goes first, he might not even be able to try.

"Uhhhh..." Steelbeak glances around idly, taking in all the scattered papers. "I guess that depends on your definition of 'order'...? Because I'm not sure they were ever in order to begin with. It was just a big messy heap of paper. But it'll probably become obvious which page comes after which once you start reading!"

Crane rather doubts that, but he doesn't say so for now. "And you're sure this is all of it? All these pages are the notes for his experiments?"

He didn't want to leave anything out, or include anything that didn't belong.

"Yeah, I'm sure!" Steelbeak is a little offended by the second-guessing, even if it's got very little to do with him. This is just a scene to play out, after all. And these are all the papers he was given to work with.

"This is all the stuff that I could find. And I doubt the old man could keep any secrets from me. So uh... Hop to it!"

He can't help shooting him a look even as he bends down to look over the different pages. "Are you always like this when asking people for help?"

Steelbeak, meanwhile, crosses his arms over his chest. Truth be told, he normally doesn't ask for help at all. It's beneath him. But there are moments where he convinces others to collaborate with him, which is sort of the same thing?

"If by 'like this' ya mean 'extremely persuasive', then yeah. I'm always like this."

Crane resists the urge to roll his eyes, no matter how tempting it is. "Not exactly the words I would've chosen," he replies, picking up one of the pages to read it better.

If there was a veiled insult in there, Steelbeak fails to notice it. Instead, he taps his foot impatiently for about five seconds before deciding this is all taking too long.

"So you're gonna need... stuff, right? Like tools and maybe a magical crystal or something? Or some coffee to help ya think?"

This is his roundabout way of asking whether he can get 'Jekyll' anything.

"I'd actually appreciate some tea, thank you," Crane says, still pouring through the pages of notes. The fact that he can understand that's written he assumes is thanks to the role he's playing in the scene, but while he's starting to piece together the order of the pages, having his scene partner distracted would buy him some time to figure out how he's going to proceed.

The tea thing has him raise an eyebrow. Most scientists he knows- heck, most people he knows drink coffee. But if tea is what this guy needs to proceed, then tea he'll try to find.

"... Right. Okay, uh. I'll be in the kitchen, then."

He wanders off through a door, ends up in a bedroom, then wanders back through the study towards a totally different door. It'll take him a good ten minutes to produce tea, so Crane has all the time he needs to plan out a nice tactic.

"Thank you," he called after him, going back to the notes. He was starting to figure out the order of the pages, and understand the procedure for conducting the experiment.

And thanks to the knowledge he had while playing the role of Jekyll, he could figure out what steps to leave out to keep it from potentially working...little steps that would be mostly unnoticeable.

Steelbeak does eventually return with a single steaming mug of questionable content. It's tea in a very broad sense of the word. Good enough for him to drink, but he doesn't exactly have refined tastes, so it might not be up to snuff for Crane.

He sets the mug down by 'Jekyll's' side and peers over his shoulder to catch a glimpse of the research papers. "So, how're we doing? You think it'll work?"

The smell certain catches his attention, because it isn't like any tea he's ever had before. Looking at the mug questioningly for a moment, he then gathers the pages in the right order and straightens them before rising to his feet.

"Well, we can certainly try it," he replies, which isn't a real answer either, but anyway. Taking the first page, he hands it to Steelbeak. "Gather the materials listed at the top here."

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Chapter 06: Act III

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