Don’t Rest Your Head
Session 1 report – Part 2
You can find the first part of this session report here – http://www.keyourcars.com/?p=8083
Players: +Laura Dollins +Scott Stone +David Warren
Persons of Interest: +Temple Smith +L. Scott Rubin
Just to sum up, this was our first gaming session using DRYH. None of us have used such a light system before or one where the players control the narrative to such a degree so it does take some getting used to. It’s very much like everyone’s the GM.
In general the players had a good time and report the system was a win.
———————–
We pick up with Jimmy and Klaus both heading to the river although for different reasons. Klaus to dispose of the ground up remains of the guy his soon to be ex-wife ran off with. Jimmy to dump the stolen wind up police car (yes you read that correctly) that he stole after two cops showed up at his apartment to ask him questions.
Sophie is waiting under a streetlight in the freezing December air, standing in the large mound of snow the city created when it plowed the streets while new snow continues to fall. She fled there after a break-in at her apartment forced her to hit a guy with her baseball bat, twice. A man of certain strange qualities about him.
[Edit - D'oh. I completely forgot something, let me rewind Klaus's story a bit.]
flashback
As the the last of the meat dropped into the heavy waxen box, Klaus startled as the sound of his meat locker door closing sent a dull thud and click through the butcher shop.
He turned to see a man in a full three piece suit of a style that hadn’t been popular in decades walking toward him. In the man’s hand was a thick vellum card about the size of a business card, perhaps slightly larger.
“Who the hell are you?” Klaus asked, moving to cover what he was doing although at this point it would take a forensics team to tell what exactly was in the box.
“I am the Accountant. Please take this.” the man said, his voice smooth and cultured.
Klaus pulled the heavy .357 out of his apron pocket and pointed it at the man.
The man sighed in an exasperated way and shook his head slightly, more perturbed than afraid by far at the sight of the large weapon.
Klaus shivered a bit, blinking as the world seemed to whirl click around him. He was standing alone in his butcher shop, pointing his gun at nothing but between the fingers of his free hand was the business card. He jerked then whirled. The shop was empty except for him and his product.
The card was thick with a luxurious feel to it, nothing like the thin crappy cards that passed for business cards today. It was completely blank on both sides.
What was one more bit of strangeness on this strange night? A man that showed up and disapeared was fairly small potatoes compared to shooting your wife’s boyfriend in the back and then boning and grinding him up into sausage after all.
…And back into the normal timestream…
Jimmy climbed out the police car on the passengers side. The drivers side was pretty messed up where it had smashed into the two cops, sending them flying. The car was just… odd. Nothing was in the right spot, nothing major just off by enough to make it weird. And it was sterile, nothing in the glove compartment, nothing on the floors except a little snow melt, no papers, no wrappers, no empty salt packets or hot sauce containers.
“And what the hell is up with this key?” he muttered looking at the trunk. The huge wind up key was still turning although a lot slower than it had been while he was driving. He grabbed it and pulled and it popped free although not without some effort. There was a loud “ZZzzzzzzzuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrr” sound from inside the truck as if a giant coiled spring was unwinding all at once.
The key was heavy, easily seventy pounds if it was an ounce. As he struggled to hold it the light caught an inscription in very small text, “Property of Officer Tok – #369″
Jimmy staggered toward the bank of the river, it was faced with concrete blocking in this area and probably pretty deep he silently bet himself. The key made a nice ka-flump noise at his plunged into the icy waters.
The sound was oddly echoed from off to his right. Jimmy turned to look.
—————–
Klaus dumped the first box of meat into the river. “Good for fish food at least you bastard.” he snorted, an brief almost hysterical chuckle bursting from his lips.
As he let go of the box there was a heavy splash from off to his left. In the distance a figure stood staring at him next to the edge of the river. “Someone else having wife troubles?” he said with a laugh that didn’t touch his eyes.
He went back to his car and quickly picked up the second box and sent it to join the first, the whole time keeping an eye on the other person who just stood watching.
“Can he really see me? Perhaps his eyes are good or the light is more here. Perhaps I should go see.” some inner voice nudged Klaus. A voice with a razor edge and an echo of steel on flesh to it.
The weight of the 357 was a comfort but he found himself wishing for his tool belt for some reason.
And then a man stepped out of a strange looking police car parked near to the man that hadn’t really registered on Klaus till then.
“Was the man a cop?” he thought and that steel toned inner voice responded, “Does it matter? Fish need to eat…”
The new figure walked up to the other and even at this distance, in this light a white card shone in his hand. He stopped some feet away from the first and then there was that strange whirl click as if the universe had hitched in someway and the second man was gone.
The first looked around wildly, much like Klaus had done earlier in his shop. Somehow comforted by this strangeness, Klaus slipped back into his car and drove over.
From the first there was a sense of recognition between the two men, the mad recognizing the mad. Not of like or agreement, just two mad dogs knowing each other for what they were.
The man’s name was Jimmy and he shared a story that was strange and yet not strange to Klaus, at least not this strangest of nights.
Jimmy shivered and Klaus recommended they go find a coffee shop and perhaps talk further.
—————-
Sophia’s teeth were chattering and she couldn’t stop shivering. She called 911 again asking how much longer it would be. “Soon” the operator responded, citing road conditions as the source of the delay.
The door to the vacant warehouse behnd her opened and a man stepped out, dressed in a suit like in old movies. He carefully traversed the snow covered steps and moved toward her. A white card was in his outstretched hand. “Please take this.” he said.
She hefted the bat, “Stay the fuck back asshole.”
The man sighed, a world weary put upon sigh. Then she jerked as the world seemed to hitch in place around her. And the man was gone. But there was that card he’d been holding stuck between her cell phone and fingers.
With a crunching of snow under wheels, two police cars pulled up to the curb. Each had some strange key like thing sticking out of their trunk.
“Some radar trapping thing spewing radiation into the streets without any care for the citizens. And who can blame them, they should all die of poisoning.” she thought to herself as they stepped closer, their footfalls strangely heavy.
“We would like to ask you a few questions miss. Please come with us.”
Their voices were somehow wrong, an odd stilted quality to them that penetrated her cold borne misery. She started to back away.
A large vehicle was passing by and inside were two men that were staring in her direction, the passenger pointed at the police and seemed agitated about it.
The cops continued their slow inexorable advance toward her and she backed further almost stumbling in the lumpy snow pile.
The moving vehicle stopped and the door was flung open, “Get in!” shouted the passenger, the driver’s shout muffled but holding a same urgency to it.
Sophia hesitated only as long as it took the cops to close the distance another stride but she turned and in a stumbling run dove into the vehicle. The driver was already moving before she’d bounced off the cracked vinyl seats once and expertly nudged the gas to avoid spinning the tires and losing traction.
“Jimmy doesn’t like this, he doesn’t like this at all.” the passenger said staring out the rear view mirror. The two cops were moving back to their cars. “Jimmy thinks we should go faster.”
The driver, an older fellow, “Seriously son, stop with the third person bit.” He pressed a little harder on the pedal and the old vehicle picked up speed.
Behind them the two police cars picked up speed as well.
“Hi, my name is Jimmy.” the passenger said, “Your chauffeur for the evening is Klaus.”
“What the fuck is going on?!” Sophia half screamed.
“Jimmy’s not sure but he doesn’t think you want to get to know those particular cops any better. Klaus they’re getting closer by the way.”
Sophia glanced around, getting her bearings, “Turn left at the next corner, there’s some hills there. This thing is four wheel drive?”
Some minutes later the two police cars were left behind, one losing traction in a sharp turn and sliding sideways to hit the curb and fly up and over into a store front. The other hitting the back of a moving truck hard enough to almost fuse with it.
“Jimmy could go for some coffee, that’s for sure.” Jimmy said, “There a Duncan Doughnuts, pull through the drive through.”
As they waited for the attendent to bring them their bearclaws and coffee, Sophia observed, “Stupid place to put a door, anyone coming through it going to get creamed by a car.”
There was a door in the wall to the right of the drive through window. An ordinary looking door, scuffed and aged, chips in the utility grey paint revealing slightly rusted steel underneath.
Klaus pulled the car around and parked it in the parking lot, leaving the motor running for heat. The coffee and pastries passed around, they shared their evenings so far. He was quite careful to leave out the whole murder and butchering part though.
Each pulled out the business card they’d been given by the disappearing man. Jimmy held his up to the light from the street lamp, it was still blank on both sides.
“What was that?” the sullen angry girl in the back said.
“What was what?” Jimmy asked, turning to look at her.
“Do that again.”
“Do what again? Jimmy’s confused.”
“Oh for fucks sake.” The girl held her card up, glancing back toward the doughnut shop. She looked puzzled then rolled her window down and her hand out, holding the card.
Both men in the front seat noticed then what she had. As the card entered the light a soft glow appeared from around the building, the source hidden by the corner. As she pulled it back into the car out of the light, the glow vanished.
They all looked at each other in silence and then in unison they all got out and walked toward the corner. Ignoring the attendent who was nattering on about she couldn’t serve walkups, Sophia held her card up into the light and the door to the right of the drive through window glowed softly as if light by a dim spotlight.
Klaus stepped closer and then gripping the handle pulled it open. A veritable wall of sound, an almost physical impact to it blasted forth. Voices cried out, in languages familiar and not, people hawking wares and arguing about prices. Through the door came the light of a thousand sources, candles, lanterns, electric lights and some that were just dancing plasma. As far as they could see, which wasn’t far the lay stalls, tents, blankets, each piled or almost empty of things. And moving between them were people, throngs of people of all types and descriptions.
In near silence the three went through the door, Klaus, then Jimmy and although slowly Sophia.
—————
I’ll continue with Part 3 when I get a chance.
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Session Report – DRYH – Session 1 » Key Our Cars
Session Report. Don’t Rest Your Head. I ran my first for real session of DRYH or Dont’ Rest Your Head last night. It’s a strong narrative, light mechanics system set in a dark surreal land…
