C, we don't have the luxury of time to let her sober up. Hash it out quickly, and do not let the situation deteriorate.

Just realized that C is technically BOTH A and B, whoops! I'll support C in that case with us as the mediator, but instead, wait until Snayor sobers up in a few hours before we both talk to Ramona, not immediately.

We can tell Ramona now in order to easr her into the idea and then bring Susana later.

Before we leave, ask Susana "Did you ever figured out how you and Nelson were born? Why you were put in the world?

A. There is no time pressure, as long as you keep it in your pants... Don't rush this.

Geeze Chuck, why you gotta be such an insensitive douche towards her. You know her story now and all that BS you thought about her was wrong. It's like you can't let go of the "something's up with this crazy bitch" reactions you had when she was suspect and not understandable.

I mean, she's obviously desperate to connect with someone after all this time playing housekeeper for this fucked up place. Keeping shit together for other people's benefits is a laudable good, even if she didn't go about it in a way you like. Give her some reassurance before you go tearing off to try and convince Davey to ride shotgun on this trip.

Drunkenness usually leads to regretting stuff later. I vote A: go talk to Ramona alone, right now.

C - and bring the rest of the booze bottle. Ramona might have meds now, but one last tipple to make her feel better would be a far better peace offering than none. Just stay on hand to keep a lid on the mayor's carnal speech - Susannah's a bit emotionally unjiggered and she has admitted to have a hard time controlling herself when she's distraught.

And... hm. I think another connection's finally clicked.

>bits of burnt flesh shows up whenever the Reverends are attacked
>Reverends are eternal, can't be contained, they full of bullshit magic
>Nelson was burned by the Reverends
The reverends are all filled up with bits of burnt flesh. But Susanna didn't burn them. By all accounts she chopped them to pieces. She once stated she regretted not burning them. So why are these seemingly immortal goons all full of greasy ash?

Here's a theory: When they ganged up on him they didn't give Nelson a whole lot of time to change his whole ritual setup - they went straight for torching him right there on the couch. That's why the curse is so jumbled and messed-up - he had everything more or less set up to generate his little everlasting love ritual pocket dimension and then he had to change things on the fly.

And... standing over him, the Reverends must've breathed in bits of his ashes, his burnt flesh, breathed in his hate and his will, all directed at his oppressors and his betrayer. Using their obsession with 'sin' - and maybe some sympathetic flesh magic bullshit - to lay down his final curse, through his greatest work, the ritual that created Coxwette.

So no, you're not the one who is cursed, Chuck. They are. Susannah is. Love is.

Exhibit 1:
You and Cletus' souls are overlapping. Cletus did something - something that involved true love, that left him able to escape Coxwette. That's why it got easier for the Reverends to find town when you got here. Nevermind all that sinnin' you did, you also got to have a bit of that love in you... and those fuckers must exist to hunt that shit down. Cletus' girlfriend, the Plath girl on the roof? She was thrown to her death... because she was in love and outside the protections of the house. We've been racking our heads as to who killed her when it's so fucking obvious - it was the fucking Reverends. It's what they do.

Exhibit 2:
And said fucking Reverends only really truly started going into high gear after you had a go with Susannah and did that whole Carnal Speech thing - it encouraged raw honesty, it made you see Susannah for who she was and vice verse, not some soulless controlling monster, just a scared and desperate woman filled with strange powers and so much care it hurts, and she opened up more to you than she has to anyone in ages.

For all that she loved her people, she hadn't made love to them that way before, at least not for a good long while. There's no helping not having a feeling of togetherness after that - and she is internally desperate for more.

Exhibit 3:
So the Reverends twigged even more on her - and on you, after this. When choosing between you and a moonshiner, they happily chased you. Where before they had feared Susannah, now they went toe to toe with her. Because you touched base the way Nelson wanted to - and that more than anything is something a petty warlock laying down his final punishment would forbid.

>"There's no way this is my fault."
It was never (just) your raunchy attitude that caused this, or even the Reverends' obsession with sin. It's love, connection, togetherness - everything that Nelson wanted to achieve - that has been turned on its head to be the beacon for his final revenge, using the very fools who burned him as tools, stuffed with his eternally burnt flesh and (seemingly) bound to their task with a single-minded obsession.

That's also why they went for Marcie, same as with the Plath girl. Because you AND her were starting to have real feelings for one another and their bullshit nature allows them to sense that. That's why this town's such a miserable crapsack place, because every time love occurs, the Reverends - or Susannah, in her fear and misapprehension - stomps it out. To keep it that way, forever, for Susannah. So that she, the only true eternal thing here, may love and lose again and again and again and again.

And the people do die, but their souls stay - and they scream up from the well to those who can hear.

...anyway! Just some idle thoughts. Might not just be 'sin', but also love and togetherness and Carnal Speech that might really fucking twig the Reverends. So, y'know. Maybe if you all became solitary misanthropes they'd actually go away faster. Or if both you and the mayor left the place they'd probably all follow you two unless there was a hell of an orgy going on inside.

>>1042055
A

>>1042084
Eureka moments collection i cant disagree with

Just for lulz, another wondrous possibility:

>No one who died during that period stayed dead
... is there a particular reason why that couldn't have included ol' Nelson "Burnface" McAshes in some messed-up way?

Charlemagne 2022/08/29(Mon)19:06 No. 1042209 ID: 7711f1
File 166182516089.png - (282.87KB , 600x600 , 51.png )

"Sure, I'll go ahead and talk to Ramona," you said. It was the safer the option, but you were a good criminal. A passable enough criminal at least to know when to be cautious. You paused for a second, enjoying her company before a question came to mind. "Do you know how you ended up magical?"

"Nnnnnnno, not exactly. Nelson might have, but he never told me. I remember waking up in the oak woods. Further back than that, there's just a sense of sudden pain," she said. It didn't explain much.

"You ought to lie down," you said and she nodded. You took a bottle of gin with you and headed for the stairs.

"Tell the hag that there's hope," she called after you.

"Yeah, sure. I'll check with you later."

You debated whether or not to even relay that last message to Ramona. Before walking upstairs, you grabbed on gin bottle and gazed at the grand portrait of Nelson Plath hanging over the fireplace.

He had a smug satisfied look on his face.

Charlemagne 2022/08/29(Mon)19:06 No. 1042210 ID: 7711f1
File 166182518156.png - (209.32KB , 600x600 , 52.png )

When you arrived in Ramona's room with one bottle of gin in hand, surprised to find her out of bed. She was dressed in blue jeans, a tied up shirt, and some yellow galoshes, performing stretches to the tune of David Bowie's Heroes coming from a yellowing 8-track player.

"Lookin' good," you said.

First she looked irritated, possibly still thinking about your conversation earlier about the sun room, but she fixated on the bottle. "Where did you find that?"

"Susanna got it from the warehouse," you said. "Want some?"

"Why'd she do that?"

"She wanted to drink, I guess. She's coming with us to the basement to offer protection," you said. You handed her the bottle and she eyed it before setting it on her nightstand.

Ramona stood up from her last stretch and marched over to you, defensive.

"It's not like I can stop her!" you said, holding your hands up. "She said there's hope."

Her expression softened.

"Let's both drink plenty of reveyee first," she said.

>agree (drink some)
>decline (don't drink some)

Charlemagne 2022/08/29(Mon)19:06 No. 1042212 ID: 7711f1
File 166182519758.png - (251.69KB , 600x600 , 53.png )

You felt like you averted confrontation between drunk Susanna and probably slightly drunk Ramona. You took out your little black notebook and blew the dust off of the cover. You also thought about what mischief you could get up to while Susanna was face down on the sofa.

You have assembled a party to enter the basement. You may do this at any time after Susanna is sobered.

>>1042210
agree, she's the one with the spiritual knowhow here.

Agree. You're just worried about its effects on the reverends when using it with Susanna. If you could get used to it, you might acquire the taste.

>>1042210
>reveyee
Yeah, alright. Susanna deserves to find out what that's like, anyway. She didn't know if Nelson succeeded or not.

Drink a little

Drink.
The issue isn’t lack of trust, but simply that when stressed she may use carnal speech unintentionally and that would cause us to lock up in a potentially dangerous situation.

Decline.

If my guess is correct, you'll need your spiritual mind to be open once you get into the catacombs. Also, for Susanna's sake, as her speech may come to be necessary. You can always take the reveyee later.

>>1042258
Last time we took Reveyee it took about an hour to take effect, and... I'm not sure how long it lasted, actually. Not too long? So the timing is sort of important, but it also left Chuck right zonked out of his gourd, so doing it out there with the reverends could be excessively risky unless it can be used to keep them away somehow.

Further, according to the 'Nelson's curse was a last-minute flip of his original intent' curse theory above, connecting to one another through Carnal Speech - and perhaps especially Susannah - might set the Reverends off badly.

So if we do take the drink, maybe warn people to stay away from the windows, and get someone to, y'know, keep you from wandering out of bounds of its protective sphere?

Last time we got a solid clue from Chuck, so I'm not opposed to taking another swig now, but there is one thing that speaks for waiting with it until we get to whatever the hell the well is: it allows you to see the world in an altered state, and somewhat like how Susannah sees things. If the choice is now or never, do it now. If we can bring it with us and somehow engineer a situation where we can use it while at the well, let's try doing that. For all we know, the only way we can properly even interact with what's going on there is to have drunk reveyee recently or be someone like Susannah.

Of course you're going to try it. You're going on a mystic journey, take your mystic potion before you head out or your just... full of shit.

Don't be a pussy chuck. You are going to down half a bottle of the stuff and trip balls while achieving higher understanding of the world. Balls to the wall.

Charlemagne 2022/08/31(Wed)19:02 No. 1042430 ID: 7711f1
File 166199775305.png - (288.16KB , 600x600 , 54.png )

Ramona went to the kitchen and brought you some of her large reveyee preparation.

"HUUUUEEEH"

"HHHUUUUEEH"

You gagged from the taste. You have rarely tried the stuff without it being masked by food. This batch in particular tastes more foul than any you had tried before.

"Why does it taste so bad this time?" you said.

"I used vinegar to create the tincture. For potency," she replied. The putrid mixture reeked of vinegar, anise, cumin, and some chemical aftertaste you only remembered from Ramona's cooking in the weeks prior.

"HHHHHUUUEEEHH"

You have been inoculated from Susanna's mind magic. This is temporary, but Ramona has plenty of it. Though curious why she was so adamant, you breathed a sigh of relief that you did not have to worry about being manipulated by the mayor for a while. If you were looking for some of the psychoactive brew, that stuff was still locked in the SOLARIUM.

Well, you've got some time. Doesn't seem like the Reverends are acting aggressively or seeking entry at the moment, despite you and Rita's antics. And who know what else Jimbo and Julia had been up to.

>>1042430
Well, I suppose you have Rita waiting. I don't know if Jimbo left Rita wanting, so it's probably best to give the poor girl some love. Remember, catholics don't like it when a woman is left unsatisfied so maybe the Reverends will be more pissed off if you leave her hanging for too long.

Damn shame though, because I bet you seeing Ramona work her aerobics made you want to spend the night with her.

Huh, I thought I remembered it having the opposite effect. Look around the house for Julia.

>>1042481
Same. Though I recall now that was a different brew. That was some experimental brew by Nelson that was intended to let mortals speak Carnal for a bit. If both parties speak Carnal, I think the melding, or whatever, is a bit more intense/complete than if just one of them do. We haven't tried that yet - perhaps thankfully so as it really might twig the Reverends/Nelson's curse.

On review, Ramona already promised you a flask of the stuff from the Solarium for later. Just hold her to that and don't chug it too soon. Or too late.

>Check on who?
Look for Julia and Jimmy, figure out what kind of trouble they in (they in trouble, don't you just know it - oh god, what if they bust into the Solarium and try drinking the shit there and start staring longingly into each others' eyes?).

It's not that you owe them that much, but... maybe your connection to them drew them in somehow. Maybe they have one last ace up their sleeve to hand you before you head downstairs. Or one of them's ferreted out where you can find that STURDY BACKPACK so you can bring more stuff.

But do drop by common room areas to ask if anyone's seen them. That way you can coincidentally see how other people - and Marcie - is doing. Y'know?

Officer Layla did ask for donuts and Marcie might be happy to be quested. And then you can run one more delivery for her.

Now that I remember, didn't Susanna say Reveyee was poison?

>>1042514
For 'her kind', I believe.

Reveyee closes your mind, but Nelson's speech potion opens it...
I wonder what would happen if you took both at the same time.

Go check out Julia and Jimbo I suppose.

Charlemagne 2022/09/06(Tue)10:09 No. 1043090 ID: 7711f1
File 166248415480.png - (301.69KB , 600x600 , 55.png )

>Check on Julia

You had only been in Ramona's room for about twenty minutes. You last remembered hearing Julia was in the very back of the ground floor near where Layla was hiding out, but you ran into Julia at the top of the stairs to the living room. She had a small bottle of gin in her hands and no pants on.

"Alright, who'd you sleep with?" you said.

"Excuse me? I didn't sleep with anyone," she said.

"Who'd you fuck then"

She paused and looked down at the bottle, spinning it in her fingers. "The snake," she said.

"…snake?"

"Yeah, in the sitting room," she said. "She got one look at me tits and wouldn't take no for an answer."

You sputtered. "B-"

"Not that I'd say no to her," she said.

"Gimme the booze Julia," you said, holding out your hand.

"Piss off I won't," she said. "What's a matter with you? You sound like my fuckin' granny. No sex! No liquor!"

"You just don't know what you're trapped in," you said. "I'm not going to explain this to you."

She shrugged. "Ok. Talk to me when you're fun again."

"Listen, this town is filled with wierdoes and that snake woman down there is real dangerous. She just came in here naked with a sword from fighting off those psychos, damn it!"

"Sex makes you a targeting beacon for the Preachers! I'm supposed to be the bait, we don't have the guards needed to defend two baits!"

Holy FUCK I'm laughing so hard!

Not only did Chuck say no to the most thirsty blowjob from Rita, but he also missed out on the Real Bad Girls™ sex, possibly a threesome? No wait, it's even worse than that. Susanna just got a one up on Chuck? Holy shit ahahaha, this is just sad... Hmm, I guess Susanna wasn't kidding with the heathen she said she was herself.

Ask Julia if there's anything else that she saw happen in the mean time. Did she talk with Jimmy?

Also, dayum, you don't get to see barely dressed sexy bunnies every day. Try not to stare at her too much~

Cool the temp, she doesn't know what she's doing. Gotta handle her scared rebel ass differently than just get upset she doesn't 'get it'. To be fair, people be cooped up, and your old friends got old habits and no easy way to deal with this weird situation they're all in, no fun drugs to make the shakes or doldrums go away. With a buncha people round here having loosening inhibition, Susannah more so than most, ain't weird at all they'd resort to sex if offered.

... how much have you really told 'em of what's gone on her, even? Like, really told 'em, crazy bits and all?

Just tell her to hold on and dump some truth. You ain't telling her to go clean or not to have sex with whoever she fucking wants. You're telling her something else entirely. You're telling her your story. Abbreviated.

And then, when you're done, you say: she wanna fuck? She can go ahead, you ain't her mom or her grammama. But she'd do you a real favor if she kept it cool for a bit. You'd really like to FIND OUT what's going on here before anyone FUCKS AROUND too much and makes it all moot.

>>1043090
have a dawning realization that the entire town is probably having sex with someone right now in this house
Layla's probably the only one doing nothing because of her arm...

Wait, Layla left her post watching Julia too... what happened to her? She was thinking about donuts... do you think her and Marcie?

>>1043101
Also, she might not actually have done anything and is just saying it to mess with you? For one, she doesn't seem too overly freaked out and if the mayor bipped her boobs I find it unusual that she wouldn't have been drawn into summa dat Carnal Speech and been left absolutely flabbergastered.

Wait. You don't think her and Layla... did she have at it with a cop?

>>1043090
We dont need two baits as i am the master bait

>>1043099
Oh yeah, and speaking of fun stuff, ask her how the sex was. Argue with her about whose snayor screw techniques are better.

Looks like Julia is causing problems again. I wonder if Susanna used her powers on her to force her to have sex. Hopefully this won't cause lasting damage.

Charlemagne 2022/12/14(Wed)12:12 No. 1051750 ID: 60d635
File 167104875087.png - (144.01KB , 600x600 , 56.png )

>>1043101

Come to think of it, maybe this town has rubbed off on you. You embrace a cooler head with the loathsome rabbit and sigh through your nose. You dated Julia off and on for long enough to know that trying to get her to do anything was all but futile, and telling her not to do something was a sure way to make it her goal. Sometimes you suspect she might be a sociopath who lured you and Jimbo into her orbit.

"Julia," you say, "look at my face."

She does.

"Did you see the man who chased us out of the warehouse the other night?"

"Not closely," she says.

"Do you know what a sin is?"

"Of course I know what a-" Julia snaps her underwear. "What are you getting at with this?"

"If we sin, those men will break in here and kill us," you say, pinching your fingers at her to punctuate your sincerity. "If you or Jimbo cause them to break in here with your hanky panky, you won't have to worry about them killing you because I will do it first."

Julia looks stunned. She smiles for a moment with the expectation that you're going to burst into laughter at any moment. You do not, so she loses her shit. "Oh please mate. You couldn't even shoot a bank teller. You're a kitten."

"Just be careful."

Charlemagne 2022/12/14(Wed)12:12 No. 1051751 ID: 60d635
File 167104876769.png - (280.29KB , 600x600 , 57.png )

"Oooh Father Chaaaawwwls," she croons, "I've been wicked. Aye me very soul. Ok. I'll do it for you, but I can't make any promises about Jimbo."

"How was it?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Susanna treat you alright?" you say.

"She's strong, isn't she?" Julia walks away down the hall.

You could follow her, but you don't know how much time you want to devote to keeping her out of trouble. Despite what seems to have transpired, you don't hear any new knocking on the roof.

Just get this dungeon crawl over with so you can all go back to plowing.

Follow her, it could lead to trouble.

I think following her would only make things worse. Leave her, go to next task.

>She's strong, isn't she?
"Strong and scared. Reminds me of someone. Take care, Julia."

>Sin
Sin may not be all that twigs the Reverends - love and togetherness - especially with Susannah, in that carnal speech way - might be a factor, as detailed in the theory here:
>>1042084

>What next
Go to the kitchen, make some coffee or something to help Susannah sober up faster.

Maybe ponder methods to collect and contain ashes, if that 'Plath ashes' theory is true. Could you bind it up in something? Clay? Soap? Stick it in a jar? It seems like too mortal and ordinary of a solution to work out in the long run, but maybe it could help in a small way.

Being responsible when you don't wanna sucks Chuck. You better get this shit taken care of. Why we haven't already headed to the catacombs to see if you can find whatever is holding this place together I dunno.

But I'd say it's time to gather the troops and wage war on evil puritains.

the snake immediately hunted and ate a rabbit on site

just let the people fuck because I don't think there's anything we can do about it
I don't know why, but being stuck in this horrible situation has inspired hornyness to spread more than ever before
I think there's going to be a town orgy before long

Wait until she turns a corner and then follow and spy on her, just to get an idea of what she's doing.

>>1052365
Support

The bunny isn't worth any more effort. You've already warned her anyway.

I think you should check up on Sally, and possibly ask her if she's seen any books around the house written by Nelson. I'm thinking, a warlock such as Nelson probably would've kept notes on the experiments and spell that he was working on, so perhaps there's a way to understand how it works or what you might be getting into down below.