• TheGoodeLife

Episode 1 Episode 2

TheUnitySociety investigates some Rhode Island Reds...

guest starring Richard Briers as MrFlanagan

Episode 1 - Vat returns

Tuesday, 13th July 1926

MrFlanagan bought the morning's papers to TheCharacters in the TeaRoom. One story in TheUnityTimesChronicle caught their eye:

• DISTILLERY AUCTIONS {{{ Gitter's AuctionHouse will on Friday be hosting an auction on behalf of Davies'

FertiliserPlant, to clear the effects of the old MolassesDistillery. Prospective bidders are invited to view the smaller lots today at the auction house on 7th Avenue. Larger lots can be viewed by arrangement with Mr. Gitter, who will be available at the viewing for this purpose. A full listing of the lots is inside. }}}

Lisa and Julius reminisced about the events of [Unearthly Goode], and Julius noticed that Vat 3 - the vat which the BlackMolassesSugar monster was left in - was for sale as part of the auction.

Lisa drove the three of them to Gitter's AuctionHouse. Julius coveted the various chemical engineering goods, and Lisa made small talk with the somewhat edgy Legitimate Businessmen. Jack spoke to Mr. Gitter, and arranged a private viewing of (amongst other items) Vat 3. He also notied that one of the first on the list of appointments was one ArthurXerces - a Persian-sounding name, such as have been used in the past by ThePasagadeCorporation. Mr. Xerces' appointment was made for 11am, and it was nearly 11 already, so Lisa drove the characters to the MolassesDistillery. They arrived in time to see a limousine with blacked-out windows leave.

Keen to see what had happened, Julius persuaded Jack to help him break into the distillery. They were able to slip under the barbed-wire fence that had been erected around the area, but found that a guard had been posted at the door of the building housing the vat.

Wednesday, 14th July 1926

TheCharacters arrived for their appointment to see the vat, but were told that it had been sold for an exorbitant fee in advance of the auction, and was being disassembled. They asked to see the gantry in that building, which was also for sale, in order to see the vat; when they got there, the vat was partly disassembled and obviously empty. There were no signs of any monster breakouts.

The characters returned to 122. Jack began to read TheBoilerManual, and learnt that moving the vat would undo the monster's binding spell. Julius spent the evening searching for "odd news"; aside from a few sightings of TracyTheApe, all he found was a "laugh at the hicks" story about ConstanceHatfield, a widow in LimeRock who thought the crows were spying on her.

Julius invented a reason to give a free medical checkup for any workers who'd worked at the distillery clearance, and spent the day inundated with both geniune and fake takers. He learnt that the contents of the vat had been taken to Davies' nephew's farm.

Thursday, 15th July 1926

Lisa, though her social network, found out that HowardDavies' nephew, DanielDavies, belongs to a worker's collective called LimeRockBiodynamicFarm, set up by a French ex-JenkinUniversity student called PhillipeOrmond. Returning to 122, she found an article in the ProvidenceExpress about the farm's prizewinning chickens. She learnt that Biodynamic Farming was a branch of spiritual agriculture which attempts to turn a farm into a closed, self-nourishing living organism, with the compost heap as its heart and brain.

Horrified by the thought of a living organism with a Molasses monster as its heart and brain, the characters set off for the farm. As they passed the farm, Jack noticed the corn fields waving gently in the breeze. They drove on to the next house, that of Mrs. Hatfield, where a flock of crows stared down at them from the roof. Jack noticed that, though the corn fields were waving gently, there was no breeze. Mrs. Hatfield ushered them in, and explained that the crows had confined her to her home with their spying. She told them that the farmers kept odd hours, and she'd seen one collapse once. She accepted the offer of a room at 122, and the four of them drove back to Unity.

Friday, 16th July 1926

Julius attended the auction, but was unable to afford any of the items. The characters obtained a few barrels of gasoline and set off for Mrs. Hatfield's house.

Episode 2 - Sweet Corn

Friday, 16th July 1926 (continued)

TheCharacters observed the farm overnight, and were able to confirm Mrs. Hatfield's observations - the farmers did indeed work odd hours, and one collapsed. Beyond the farmhouse, they noticed a pig pen containing two pigs which appeared to be watching the farm's pathway, and a chicken coop on the other side. They presumed the compost heap must be between the two.

Saturday, 17th July 1926

The characters visited the town in the hopes of finding more out about the farm. They learnt that the farmers rarely visited the town for supplies, preferring to keep to their own, though they did occasionally sell chickens or piglets. They met one local who disliked the farm since it was run by a Frenchman, and they "smell bad and eat cheese". They visited Lime Rock's local attraction, and returned to Mrs Hatfield's house.

Julius suggested rousing a mob to destroy the farm, but Jack's war experience counselled against it. Lisa decided to meet the farmers to see whether anything could be done, and Julius resolved to obtain a sample of the corn. Jack concocted a story that he was doing a piece on the Chickens for TheUnityTimesChronicle.

The trio drove to the farmhouse next door, and were met at the door by PhillipeOrmond. Although he answered Jack's questions, and could clearly recall the previous newspaper article, he was unemotional and his speech was oddly affected. After a while, Phillipe asked the characters to join the farmers for dinner; at that point the other, previously-silent farmers chorused: "Yes, join us."

The characters agreed to return at 6pm that night, and started back to the Hatfield residence. Once out of sight of the farmhouse, Julius cut off an ear of corn and put it into a Kilner jar; at that, the crows took off from their roof. The characters bundled into the car and sped back to the house, running quickly inside and shutting all the windows.

Julius began experimenting on the corn. It quickly became clear that the kernels were full of BlackMolassesSugar. Julius discovered that, although (as previously known) the sugar would not dissolve in water, it dissolved readily in a drop of his blood. The dissolved blood would then creep away from heat or acids, much as the grains of sugar would. However, nitric acid seemed to kill the possessed blood, much as it had done the sugar.

He decided to find out what would happen if the monstrous sugar were mixed with Jack's werewolf blood. [GM's note: Were-sugar. Best. Idea. Ever.] In order to contain the blood, he poured a drop onto one of Mrs. Hatfield's silver spoons; a noxious gas was given off and, unwilling to open the window, the characters were forced to abandon the bedroom which they were using as a makeshift lab.

With only half an hour left before their dinner engagement, the three set about making oily rags and firebombs. Lisa drove round to the farm, but instead of pulling up at the door, she sped on though the chicken coop. Julius started setting fire to the compost heap, which drew the attention of two giant rats; Lisa swung the car round, and Jack dealt with them with his revolver. Jack and Julius continued to fire the heap and the cornfield while Lisa kept the car ready. The farmers cut off the car's exit between the flaming compost heap and cornfields, and with Jack and Julius finished Lisa had no choice but to try to scare them off by driving at them. At the last minute, however, the farmers began to stumble and fall, and Lisa pulled up just short of DanielDavies, who slumped onto the car, asleep.

With the collective now asleep and the cornfields rapidly burning, Lisa drove to the town to fetch help. Jack piled the slumbering farmers onto a cart while Julius made sure the entire field was aflame. When placed onto the cart, Davies came to; he was glad that the nightmare was ended, but concerned for the farmers who had fallen asleep in the fields. He could remember where they were, though, and Jack and Julius were able to save them.

Sunday, 17th July 1926

The characters spoke to the now-rested farmers. They revealed that, not long after putting the molasses "waste" from Vat 3 onto their compost heap, they began to suffer visions; they gradually lost their individuality as they became part of a "newborn, yet not new" monstrous collective entity which wished to absorb all life on earth. The freed farmers resolved to salt the earth so nothing could grow there again, then move (together) to the city to become an artistic commune. The characters gave them the name of a salt wholesaler, then drove back to 122 to tell Mrs. Hatfield she could return to Lime Rock.