Session Zero Heroes - A TTRPG Actual Play Podcast
Speaker A: You.
Speaker B: Hello, listeners. I am the narrator. Today's story takes place in the town of Devil's Lake, North Dakota, a small, remote town in the middle of nowhere. The year is 1985. The date August 19. This tale will bring with it mysteries in intrigue lies, hidden realities, and the blending of fact from mythos. Join our hunters as they seek out the truth and find those who are missing in today's story of music mayhem. Welcome back to episode two of Hunter's Haven musical mayhem. We're just going to jump right back into it. Same cast of wacky characters. Just, um, to recap.
Speaker A: Ah.
Speaker C: Denny Rogers.
Speaker D: Kenny Whitlock.
Speaker E: Bob E. There you go.
Speaker B: And they went bowling and then went to a house, broke into a house. And that was all we really established in the first episode. Now we are on the episode two where they're going outside of the house to look for more clues.
Speaker E: Is it breaking and entering if it's unlocked?
Speaker B: Um, that door was wide open too.
Speaker E: It's just entering.
Speaker B: It was for the good of the kids.
Speaker D: Mhm HM.
Speaker C: All right, let's have some reservations. Let's canvas the yard, kids.
Speaker D: All right. Kenny's, uh, going to just start scoping around the yard looking for any clues on the ground. Following the trail of red so well, I don't know if there's any.
Speaker B: There's not red silver.
Speaker D: Man, these kids are going to be so much trouble. Their parents are going to be so mad at them.
Speaker F: Did we go out the back door or the front?
Speaker D: I kind of imagine the front because I thought just be somewhere we all kind of gathered up after the kitchen. It might have been adjacent to the front door, but that's just my personal.
Speaker B: It is more near the back.
Speaker F: Oh, okay.
Speaker D: Well, let's go through the back.
Speaker B: It's near the foyer.
Speaker D: That makes sense.
Speaker A: Yeah. Okay.
Speaker B: Go out the back door.
Speaker D: So we're in the backyard.
Speaker E: Is there a garage?
Speaker D: A garage?
Speaker B: Yeah, there's a big garage over to the west side of the house.
Speaker E: We have a shed.
Speaker B: Sure. Yeah, in the back. Big backyard, actually.
Speaker A: Huh.
Speaker B: Uh, there's a fence down in the back of the yard. They got a chain link fence around. Actually, not chain link. They're richer.
Speaker D: Wooden.
Speaker B: A big nice tall wood fence. And the back gate is open. Uh oh. Well, that's something.
Speaker D: I'll gravitate towards 100%. Kenny immediately, uh, as he sees.
Speaker B: And they have a shed in the backyard.
Speaker D: Open back gate. He goes, oh my gosh. That's it. They must have come out through the back and they got dragged. Oh, no. They got dragged into the forest or something.
Speaker E: Do we see any drag?
Speaker D: Oh, that's a good point. Let's look at the ground and see if there's any drag marks.
Speaker B: You guys all want to go investigate a mystery there?
Speaker D: Yeah.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker B: Or you roll investigate mystery, which is.
Speaker D: Plus that's double fours right there.
Speaker E: Plus what was mine.
Speaker D: That, uh oh.
Speaker E: Did we roll the same thing.
Speaker F: I got an eight.
Speaker D: I got a nine.
Speaker E: I got an eight as well.
Speaker B: Then you all get one question from the investigative mystery section.
Speaker D: I'm going to ask one that I think is on all of our minds, uh, and it might be an obvious one, but I'm going to ask, where did it go?
Speaker B: Okay, so you guys are all walking around and you're following the footsteps, and it's a little muddy back they are footsteps. Yeah, there's footsteps a little muddy. There's actually a good amount of them. You, uh, can't really make out how many there are. There's just a good mount. And there's a little muddy back here.
Speaker D: Right.
Speaker B: The footprints are a little fading because it was a couple of days ago, but you can make out some rough footsteps. And, uh, you notice that all of them are gathered at this gate. And then they all leave the gate together as a group. But as they're out of the gate, then all the footsteps merge to like they're following a single file line to the point where they're now just a single set of footsteps walking.
Speaker E: It feels like a cult walking down.
Speaker B: The and then you guys really follow those footsteps, but not too far down this path into the woods before the footsteps disappear from lack of trail because they kind of, like, wander off wicked.
Speaker D: These guys. Like, we're all headed out of the house in a hurry, but then they all filed into a line as they went into the woods. How strange is that?
Speaker F: So Denny's going to be like.
Speaker B: How.
Speaker C: Big are the tracks there? See any bigfoot tracks there?
Speaker F: So what sort of creature is does he see anything that would indicate no.
Speaker B: Other footsteps except for the footprints of the presumably kids? No other stray footsteps. No big feet. No big feet. No.
Speaker D: Something must have coaxed them into the woods.
Speaker C: No hair on the fence back there. Uh, no hair on the bark of this tree. Uh, no oversized bare footprints.
Speaker B: But on the gate of the fence you do spot something. A rip, part of a ripped shirt.
Speaker C: Oh, wait a minute.
Speaker D: What do you see, Dennis?
Speaker C: I think it's, uh, part of a shirt or a jacket or something.
Speaker B: It's plaid.
Speaker C: Could be a shirt or a jacket or something.
Speaker D: Look at that. Who do you think it belonged to? Let's see. I don't know any of the guys. Could have been plaid kind of guys.
Speaker F: I compare it to the plaid shirt that I'm wearing.
Speaker E: It's, uh, North Dakota. Any of the girls could have been wearing plaid, too.
Speaker D: That's a fair point.
Speaker B: Bob, you look through Tony's closet filled to the brim with plaid shirts.
Speaker E: I think that it's Tony.
Speaker D: What makes you think it was Tony?
Speaker E: I was looking in his room. I was looking for clues, see if he was maybe going to run away or know, maybe he had a little girl thing.
Speaker C: Well, can't see you weren't being thorough.
Speaker D: That's true, I guess.
Speaker E: And I saw up there a bunch of plaid shirts.
Speaker D: Okay, so we can probably safely assume that this is Tony's shirt. Man, I'm looking at these footprints. I'm looking at this shirt. Uh, obviously the police, uh, I've said it before, I'll say it again. Devil's Lake's finest are really slacking off right now. Look at this. Look at all these clues that they just didn't even hey, you know what, though? All things considered, this is really putting us on a good line to make this $25,000 we can find these kids.
Speaker C: Oh, wait, hang on. I forgot something.
Speaker F: I put the piece of shirt back on the thing. So I take a picture.
Speaker B: Uh, which.
Speaker F: Is equipped with a flash bar that plugs in the top.
Speaker B: Wow. Fancy.
Speaker D: Yeah, that's a good idea. Get the photos of the evidence. That way we can really show our.
Speaker C: Let me, uh, take a picture of these prints here on the ground.
Speaker D: Oh, yeah. Great idea.
Speaker B: Okay.
Speaker D: It's kind of like a math equation. When you go to the police, they want you to show your work. That's what I've learned as a kid.
Speaker C: Detective, can't help but notice here, but there's no, uh, drag marks. Yeah, I mean, the steps are evenly spaced. Not like they're tied up with any rope or anything. Or at least not by the ankles.
Speaker B: Now we're going to go to bobby, you had a question. What was your one question you had?
Speaker E: I don't even know what I can ask at this point. I feel like everything has been answered.
Speaker D: You can kind of alter the questions a little.
Speaker B: It's true. You can. As long as it's nothing, like, super specific. What's the monster today? Who specifically is behind?
Speaker E: I'll do. Just like what is being concealed here. Are there any more clues to be.
Speaker B: Found from the shirt to the, I guess, big? Those are kind of obvious clues. With the gate was open and the back door was wide open.
Speaker E: Are there any smells?
Speaker B: You don't really smell anything besides, I don't know how specific of smells you're talking about. Um, besides the odor of sulfur. No sulfur. Um, not really much being concealed here. Just the fact that there's the footprints, the oddness to them, the plaid shirt on the fence gate, but there's no drag marks. It looks like whoever these kids, uh, went willingly. I guess the best way. So it's not like something's being concealed here. Other than the fact that the way they left is being concealed, if that makes sense. Right. It's not that they're missing, but they're missing for a know all things.
Speaker D: You know, I still kind of question Bobby's detective skills. Maybe, but you mentioned something earlier about some this feels like some cult business, and this kind of feels like some cult business.
Speaker E: I feel like you're judging me, but also, like, stealing my ideas.
Speaker A: Breath.
Speaker D: Uh, no, it was a compassult where I insult your intelligence, but also compliment you on an idea that you had earlier.
Speaker E: It's a good I gave you Tony's shirt, okay. Gave you the job so far. Uh, I drove you here.
Speaker D: That's also true. That's also true. I mean, there's definitely some things about your truck that you need to get fixed.
Speaker C: She also gave you a pretty good scare today was a good one there, Bobby.
Speaker D: Well, we're about to go into the woods here, and I'd prefer if that didn't happen again. Let's not do any more spooky stuff, because if I'm being honest, these footprints and everything, that's weird, right?
Speaker E: Maybe it's, uh maybe it's Bigfoot.
Speaker D: Yeah, maybe it's mean, if I saw Bigfoot while I was hanging out at a party, I'd go running into the woods, too, right, Dennis?
Speaker E: You would go running into the back of an unmarked van, wouldn't you?
Speaker D: I don't think I would go that far. I think I've got a bit more sense than that.
Speaker C: Well, there's no doubt that, uh, Bigfoot could carry them all if he wanted to. But the question is, why would he wear children's shoes? Why he does it.
Speaker E: Uh, you ever go to get the groceries out of your mom's car and you just slip on whatever shoes are by the door? That's what Bigfoot did.
Speaker C: I don't like what you're implying. That, uh, Bigfoot is grocery shopping by grabing children.
Speaker B: Did he have a coupon?
Speaker D: Buy one, get five more free.
Speaker B: He's bigfoot coming in. He paid with the kids wallet that he left the one, and they're all broke. Uh, no.
Speaker D: Also, just quick side note for Emily. Uh, I did just double check on $30 in 1980. Would have been, like, 80 something dollars, like, worth 80.
Speaker E: I'm making out.
Speaker D: Yeah.
Speaker F: Rich kid.
Speaker E: I feel like even, uh, if we don't find them, it's been worth my.
Speaker D: Time, worth her time. Uh, with that, I'm like, all right, guys, we got to follow these prints. Let's follow these prints.
Speaker B: Like I said before, you can't really.
Speaker E: Fall because they disappeared.
Speaker B: They disappeared pretty quickly.
Speaker F: Let's see.
Speaker C: Which direction are they going in?
Speaker D: Yeah, I mean, they were walking in a pretty straight line.
Speaker F: Were they?
Speaker B: It was more like they were heading down a path. There was, like, a path back in the woods. You don't really know where it leads. You could presume because they're heading north, that they're heading to Devil's Lake, which is in the center of these woods. Uh, but then they start turning east, and that's when you kind of lose them, is after they start turning east, more off the beaten path. And you kind of look around for trails, but it's dark, and you have the flashlights. You're looking, but now it's getting a little more like brush and stuff, which is another thing to note. Whoever went very much veered from the beaten path and took a hard right into straight overgrowth and brush.
Speaker D: Do we see kind of messed up overgrowth and brush where they would have plowed through.
Speaker B: You can see parts of where some brush was stepped on and trampled. But then also, there'll just be giant open areas. And also, none of you guys are unless you can correct me if you are, but are any of you, like, trackers by nature?
Speaker D: I once found this dog.
Speaker B: Okay, well, I mean, if, uh, you guys were like, I'm a hunter, but if none of you are trackers by nature, I'm going to tell you, not only would it be hard to track just by itself, but it's also dark, the sun's gone, so that would make it just even harder to track just this. And it's not fresh either. It's two days old.
Speaker D: Well, I think we might have to come back here in the morning. We'll have a little bit better visibility. But, um, we could also stop by the police station, maybe ask them if there was anything that they found that, uh, they didn't make it into the paper. And maybe that'll kind of help us out a little bit. I mean, they put up a reward. They know that people are looking, or they're hoping people are looking. It's not like we don't have to tell them we went into the house. In fact, I think we should all agree right here now that we don't tell them that we went into the house. I know it's normally a bad thing to lie to a police officer, uh, but I think in this case, it's probably for the best.
Speaker C: Yeah, it's not a bad idea there, Kenny. It's a pretty good one, actually.
Speaker D: Uh.
Speaker C: Yeah. What kind of dog did the mare have?
Speaker D: Oh, yeah, it was one of those fancy golden doodles, but it was a little bit more doodle than golden.
Speaker A: M.
Speaker C: A Doug like that might have a decent sniffer on him.
Speaker B: Dog's long dead.
Speaker D: That dog's long dead. I mean, unless you got your aunt around that can talk to it.
Speaker E: So are we going to go to the police station?
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker D: Are you cool driving us to the police station?
Speaker E: I don't want to interact with the police, though.
Speaker D: Yeah, that's okay.
Speaker E: Uh, so you guys I'll take you and you just let me know.
Speaker D: You're going to circle the block or something.
Speaker E: Yeah, I don't know. I'm kind of hungry. Uh, it's going to go scrounge something up.
Speaker B: Some Mickey D's with your newfound cash. Newfound cash and car.
Speaker D: All right, let's go.
Speaker B: You guys all head back to the car. Hop in, head down to the old police station where it is late at night. Um, Bobby drops you two off and you two head on inside where you are greeted by Susie Owens.
Speaker D: Susie Owens.
Speaker E: I do want to say I probably will go and, uh, get some food, but I've also got, like, a lockbox in my truck, so I just kind of unload my load into my lockbox.
Speaker B: Got it.
Speaker D: Okay, I just have to ask from Scottish perspective, how long have you had this stolen truck?
Speaker E: It's my.
Speaker D: Uh huh, okay.
Speaker E: That I bring with me from stolen car to stolen car.
Speaker D: Oh, okay.
Speaker B: And you just shifted it over to this?
Speaker F: Yeah, it's like one of those hotel.
Speaker D: Lockbox steal a new car when the.
Speaker B: Other one runs out of gas and.
Speaker D: Then everybody in town is just like, man, no, our car ended up at the bowling.
Speaker B: Was the car that you stole at the bowling alley a car you already had stole? Or is it just you stole a car right in front of them without them?
Speaker E: It was a car I stole from my last job out of town.
Speaker B: Oh, so it's from a town over.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker E: I don't want local car these townies to recognize their own vehicle.
Speaker B: Isn't that Stuart's.
Speaker D: Car?
Speaker E: Concerning start gaslighting Stuart.
Speaker F: It gets close to empty. She just like, drives it into Devil's.
Speaker D: Lake.
Speaker B: He's just.
Speaker A: Grandfather.
Speaker E: Um, but I can afford gas this time.
Speaker B: Yeah, it's true.
Speaker E: I got $80.
Speaker F: There you go.
Speaker B: All right, so what are we doing?
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker B: Where is Susan Susie Owens? She goes, oh, what can I do it for?
Speaker A: Felix?
Speaker D: Yeah, Susie, we were hoping we could talk to whoever's in charge. Uh, what's the sheriff's name that you actually had? We are going with Steve. Okay.
Speaker B: Yeah, well, it's the sheriff.
Speaker F: There's also a chief did you say Steve?
Speaker B: Barbie barter.
Speaker D: Steve Barter.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker D: We were just hoping that I could talk to, uh, uh, uh, I flashed my badge.
Speaker B: M. What was that there, dear?
Speaker D: I didn't get quite a good look at that. I hold up the badge in front of her, knowing that she has bad eyesight.
Speaker B: She pulls out my deputy badge and looks closer at and goes, oh, don't we normally give, uh, these out to, uh, the, uh, young ones?
Speaker D: Well, yeah, I mean, I earned it. I earned it when I was a kid and I've been able to maintain my relationship with the police department at Devil's here. Susie, you know all this stuff.
Speaker B: Susie, we've done this.
Speaker D: I've come in on a lot of.
Speaker B: Different no, you, uh, just I still can't believe you're using that badge.
Speaker D: What, uh, do you need to talk.
Speaker B: What do you need to talk to Sheriff Steve about?
Speaker D: Uh, well, we're, uh, investigating I'm using my detective skills.
Speaker B: Uh, you come in here a lot, talk to old Sheriff Steve. I'm just going to bypass this and just get him I appreciate that, Susie.
Speaker D: I don't know why we have to.
Speaker B: Go through and you hear in the background, she goes, Steve. Yeah, he's back.
Speaker D: Yeah, I think Kenny like, leans over.
Speaker B: His uncle's here with him tonight.
Speaker D: Oh, yeah.
Speaker B: Oh, don't you know it. Okay, well, he's heading right on over.
Speaker A: Fantastic.
Speaker D: Thanks, Susie. And I just start making my way over around the corner to greet him.
Speaker B: As he comes by.
Speaker F: It's like the sheriff is, like, here, working, burning the midnight oil, trying to crack this case.
Speaker B: Yes, this is a very pressing case because, mind you, nine kids gone missing.
Speaker F: The mayor's kids know that.
Speaker B: The mayor's kids. That only increased the case. Like, three kids and going missing in a week is, like, something out of the ordinary. But then six kids going missing in one night, two of them being the mayor's kids. That gets the people talking. Okay, so Steve comes around the corner, and he sees you and he goes, hey there, cher. Steve. Yeah. I'm assuming you're here, uh, about the missing kids.
Speaker D: That's right.
Speaker B: New case you want to crack.
Speaker D: Oh, and you know, I'm gonna so.
Speaker B: What are you here for? Do you have information, or you miraculously solved it this time?
Speaker D: Well, hey, you know me, Sheriff Steve. I'm pretty good, but I'm not quite that good, unfortunately. But we're definitely working on it. My uncle is helping us. Got, uh, another associate. She's helping us out with it. Um, we're working hard to crack this case. Uh, but we're just hoping, actually, that you might have had some information that you could share with us to kind.
Speaker B: Of help us along. I mean, everything that, uh, we've publicly shared here at the, uh, police department is, uh, in the local papers that we reported. We've been keeping up to date accounts of what's been going on and all information that's publicly given out. We told the local journalists this morning, especially since everyone's hard pressed with the mayor's kids being, uh, missing and all.
Speaker D: I would like to use a special ability that I have as the meddling.
Speaker B: Kid, which is tell me the truth. Okay, go for it.
Speaker D: Tell me the truth. Basically, uh, it's just an investigative mystery, but I have some bonus questions I.
Speaker B: Can ask if I succeed. Okay, um, so that's actually pretty solid ten.
Speaker D: Uh, it is a ten, yeah.
Speaker B: Look at that, too. He gets two questions.
Speaker D: I get from it two questions. So the first one is, are you lying to me? Which is one of the questions I.
Speaker B: Get with the ability.
Speaker D: No, here's how he would ask it. He would say, Are you telling me everything, Sheriff? Be honest with me right now.
Speaker B: No, I'm not telling you everything, um, because, like I said, it's private police matter, and everything that we can publicly say is, uh, for that we've given already.
Speaker D: Okay, well, then my follow up question.
Speaker B: Will be one of the original ones.
Speaker D: Which is what is being concealed here? I say, Look, Sheriff, here's the thing. You're going to put out an ad in the paper for all of us private investigators, kid investigator detectives like myself, and you're going to say that you're going to offer award if we can find these kids, but you're not giving us the resources to help you find these kids. And at the end of the day, isn't their safety. The primary, uh, situation here. We got to find these kids. The sooner the better, and it's not helping anybody.
Speaker B: I'm just going to quickly get you off my back.
Speaker D: I'm not on your back. Like yoga of Luke Skywalker.
Speaker B: No, I don't understand that reference. What's, uh, a yogurt?
Speaker D: Uh, I'll tell you next Thursday when I come in at my regular time.
Speaker B: Okay, I'll just run you through the whole so. Look forward to those meetings.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker C: Sheriff, I didn't know you were lactose.
Speaker B: Intolerant, but what I can do for you guys is I could and I don't normally do this, but desperate times call for desperate actions, and.
Speaker D: Uh, these are desperate times.
Speaker B: The more people looking, the better. And what I can provide for you guys is copies of, uh, the crime scenes, uh, all information acquired at the crime scenes of all four missing cases.
Speaker D: Yeah, that'd be fantastic.
Speaker B: Just, uh, a brief description of each crime scene and anything found there.
Speaker A: Sure.
Speaker D: Give us CMO.
Speaker B: Well, I'll have to go on back and get some copies and bring them out to you, but I think that would get you guys started. Because for the most part, with these missing kids cases, it's more the not really. You have a person to look for, but rather, uh, you have people to look for, but you don't have any place to really start besides this last scene location.
Speaker A: Right.
Speaker D: Yeah. And that's what we're trying to get moving on.
Speaker B: So I'll go back and get those for you guys, and then hopefully that keeps you out of my hair until next Thursday, whenever you usually come in.
Speaker D: Oh, Sheriff Steve, I love our little back and forth that we have.
Speaker B: Uh, I don't he turns and he walks all to the back, and you guys kind of have to wait around twiddle your thumbs. But after, like, ten minutes oh, wait.
Speaker D: Real quick, I say to Uncle Dennis, senior Uncle Dennis, this is the kind of stuff that having a deputy badge really gets you. You get a lot of the inside information with the police department here with none of the red tape, either.
Speaker C: I tell you, Ken, I've never been prouder to be an honorary junior deputy.
Speaker D: Hey, you know it. We're going to solve this case. Yeah, Uncle Danny.
Speaker B: Um, so after about 15 minutes, he comes around back with, like, four sheets of paper, and he hands them to you guys. They're all double sided, and he hands them to you guys. Um, that's all I can really tell you for now. That's all we've got. Um, so I guess good luck.
Speaker D: All right.
Speaker C: Thanks, sir.
Speaker D: Thank you, Sheriff.
Speaker C: Hey, Susie. Ah, maybe a late night for us, working on this case.
Speaker F: You think you could brew some joe for us?
Speaker B: Oh, sure, sure.
Speaker A: There.
Speaker B: Uh, Danny.
Speaker D: I get you some brew.
Speaker B: He's real good stuff, too. You want decaf or you want the good stuff?
Speaker C: We're going to need to go full throttle tonight.
Speaker D: Okay?
Speaker B: Full caffeine.
Speaker F: Oh, speaking of night, look at the time.
Speaker C: I better call Meg. Better call Meg.
Speaker B: She doesn't know you're out here.
Speaker E: Am I just going to go home if they're going to be here all night?
Speaker B: We're not going to be here all night. We're finishing up a cup of joe. Is that two cups or, uh, just the one.
Speaker D: Yeah, I'll have a cup there.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker C: I, uh, make it three, actually.
Speaker D: Oh, yeah, we got a friend that's helping us out.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker B: So she goes on back, grabs three words, pours three cups of joe, the good stuff. The caffeine black. And she hands it to you guys. She, uh, said, oh, you have a good night, and you better be calling old Meg.
Speaker F: You don't want her wearing um, yeah. So I go, and before we leave, I set the coffees down. Or my coffee down because, uh, I'm juggling my camera and all the other crap I'm carrying, actually. Probably be in the truck. Uh, no, actually, he probably would have brought.
Speaker A: It.
Speaker B: Uncle Denny's seen way too many red flags tonight.
Speaker C: He doesn't dress old. Sticky.
Speaker B: Fingers.
Speaker C: He did leave his bowling ball in the back, though.
Speaker F: Oh, no.
Speaker B: Uh, guess what's in the lockbox.
Speaker F: He's going to call his wife Maggie, um, and let him know that he is not still bowling. Him and Kenny are enjoying, uh, some bonding time together. Possibly trying to set Kenny up with a.
Speaker B: Girl. I'm just going to instead of.
Speaker F: Kenny.
Speaker B: He's looking through his notes. I'm already reading through the police report.
Speaker D: That's.
Speaker F: Fair. Checking, um, in on the.
Speaker A: Kids.
Speaker F: Uh, she holds the phone, I guess, as far as the court extends upstairs.
Speaker B: And he's leaning over the desk. Good night.
Speaker A: Kids.
Speaker B: Oh, sorry.
Speaker A: Sue.
Speaker B: Don't mention it. Have a good night.
Speaker D: All right. And with that, we step outside of the police.
Speaker B: You guys all sealed the truck out front with a bobby, like, tapping her wrist, like, what took you so long? As you guys hop back into the truck.
Speaker D: Well, uh, it was worth the stop because we got the full police reports from the cases. From all four cases.
Speaker C: Got you some coffee. No cream.
Speaker E: Oh, I'll take it. I'm not happy about it, and I won't say thank you.
Speaker B: All right, then. Is that what you say? Not happy about it? And then you start chugging it. Just big chug.
Speaker D: She is driving the car. I guess it's probably best that she, uh, ensures that she's well, uh, awake.
Speaker E: So I'm driving the car.
Speaker B: Where?
Speaker D: Uh, I'm going to look over. Is there any locations that do you.
Speaker B: Want me to just start describing stuff on here? The cases and stuff?
Speaker D: Sure.
Speaker B: Okay. Buckle in, kids. This is full set. First missing victim, sally Reed. Uh, she was, quote, unquote, studying for a midterm final. Uh, and then, uh, her parents awoke to wake her up in the morning having think she fell asleep through her alarm due to such late night studying to find, uh, her books and everything laying down, out, laying out, uh, all over the room. Uh, just like she was doing one of those circle formations where she was looking at multiple books at once and kind of like circling through the different subjects. The, uh, window cracked open, not cracked wide open with the curtains blowing through it. Her parents nowhere to be.
Speaker A: Seen.
Speaker B: Uh, she had some music on playing, uh, when they came in. Uh, and other than that, she, uh, had a drawer wide open. Uh, and in it was like, clothes that were pulled out, but that was the end you saw some sweaters and stuff were, like, pulled out and dangling over the edge of the drawer. But the police don't know if anything was removed.
Speaker E: We have other missing kids outside of our missing kids, and we've only just now seen this article.
Speaker B: No. So what happened was there was three kids that had gone missing at, ah, three previous dates throughout this week. But these three cases were just like random cases.
Speaker E: They're one offs, their parents don't care enough.
Speaker B: No, their parents reward well, they're not rich enough. That's the thing. These parents were just hoping the police could find their kids. But then after one, after two, after three, the police then started putting them together. It was the six kid mass disappearance that has now caused the article in the newspaper. The mayor sending out the roar because it's his kids.
Speaker E: So we don't care about poor kids.
Speaker B: I didn't say these were poor. They're not necessarily poor. More just like, small town folks are trying to solve this in a small town way. And the big money pockets, people like the McCooks and mayor.
Speaker E: Did these kids make the news at all?
Speaker B: Make the newspaper, like, a small article on the fifth? Yeah, um, all three of them, same thing, just under, like, a crime index, but nothing huge. The main way you would have heard about these kids is through local gossip. But if you guys three aren't that familiar with local gossip, you wouldn't be really hearing much. You might have been hearing through, like, underground talk, just about some persons going around kidnapping kids. You probably heard the same thing through, like, neighborhood talk. Uh, Denny, as for the detective, I honestly don't think you would have heard of anything unless if you're scoured the newspaper every day.
Speaker D: Of course I scour the.
Speaker A: Newspaper.
Speaker B: And you've probably been starting your pegboard.
Speaker E: With, uh, would these parents have had enough money for, like, a ransom drop?
Speaker B: If ransom were demanded, yes, and also no, depending on the families. But that isn't a newspaper article.
Speaker A: Sorry.
Speaker B: That is in the police report. There has not been any ransoms. No ransom demands. These kids have gone missing with nothing else to note of them. Like they haven't heard from anyone, claiming they've stolen the kids. They've just gone, disappearing into the night. And then in the morning, they're not there. That's the first kid, Sally Reed. Second kid, lou Downing is his name. He was reported that night in his bed. And what he does is in the morning, uh, he goes down to the gym, down at the school, and there's an early morning workout around like four in the morning. This guy's crazy. Thing is though, uh, when they went in to check him in the morning, usually, uh, around 05:00 p.m., his budy Darryl comes in to see him. He was gone. But the back door was wide open. His weights that he always lou always puts his weights back. They're all out. They're all out on the floor, completely a mess.
Speaker A: Disarray.
Speaker B: Uh, Daryl's, like Lou would never do this. Uh, and yeah, uh, it was like he was in the middle of a workout because the music was blasting full volume. The lights were all on, the weights were all outside. Up to do some squats, it looked like. And he's just gone. Third and final kid from this first trio, carl Lewis, son of Hugh Lewis, aka. Huey. Um, he was doing some late night photo making, uh, in a dark room in his house. He's the school photographer for this local school newspaper. Uh, he was just doing some late night, probably past like midnight. His parents knew what he was doing, staying up because he had a big paper. Due to midterms, the end of the semester, he wanted one big final autocall. Had some nice pictures for homecoming. He was going to post. Uh, and while doing his, uh, dark light stuff, he disappeared. Um, it's not like there's an exit point for him because he was in his dark room. It's, uh, more that he just kind of left the room. And his photos, his OD thing was his photos were all still developing. And by that I mean they were still all in the baths when they found him and he didn't pull them out. So he had some of them up on strings, right. But others, he had a lot just in the developing pools. What were the photos ruined? Well, the thing is, if you have them in development held up oh, classic pictures of the homecoming game, homecoming dance, nothing too inconspicuous. The fact is just he left a bunch of photos in the development booth.
Speaker F: A lot of pictures of the homecoming queen.
Speaker B: Yeah, maybe there's a couple, but maybe there was a lot more in the developing pools. I don't know. But other than that, not much else to really toe. His area is kind of clean. He kept good control. It's just the developing pools. And, uh, he, uh, was having listened to some music while he was working too. And that his boombox was also on while he was working. But for the most part, he kept to himself. Uh, quiet kid.
Speaker E: So just like super was it cassette tapes or was it the radio? Radio, just like our kids.
Speaker B: Yeah, the ones at the party. Yeah, same as the radio. But the police don't make a note of what was playing on. They just said the article just says so it could be cassettes, honestly, because it just says in the police, uh, report, uh, radio or not radio, but speaker, uh, system found on at crime scene. That's all it says. What's the name of the DJ again? Going, uh, back to your memory is DJ repip. And those are it for the most part. So at the end of the day, all three kids seem to be in the middle of something, and then that's just covering they're all in the middle of something and then just disappeared.
Speaker D: So one of them disappeared from no, two of them disappeared from their home, and one of them disappeared from the school, which is strange. It wasn't like I mean, the home thing is scary, right? Whoever is taking these kids or luring these kids or whatever the case, it's while they're doing something that they enjoy doing, and it's in their own place of residence. Now, the school kind of almost makes more sense, right? Like, if you're some kidnapper guy or whatever the case, you'd think you'd want to go to, like, a public place at a good time, obviously, late at night, early in the morning when nobody's around. That's when you'd take a kid.
Speaker A: Right.
Speaker D: But it just seems weird that they're getting napped from their very own homes, some of them, while their parents are around. It just seems odd.
Speaker E: Well, it was only one kid that was napped from their home. Their parents?
Speaker A: No.
Speaker D: Oh, well, okay, one had their parents around. One was hanging out at home by themselves. But that would suggest that whoever's taking these kids or whatever's going on, which.
Speaker E: One was hanging out at home by themselves. Sally was at home studying. Lou was at the school workout thing.
Speaker A: Right.
Speaker E: And then Carl was in the dark room. Does he have a dark room at his yes.
Speaker B: Oh, uh, this is on private, homemade, dark super into. Yeah, it's a homemade one. It's really just his nerd what are those called? It's his walk in closet. He put a heavy curtain on it, and it's his walking closet. His parents really don't ask about they don't care because he made it himself.
Speaker D: So storing poisonous chemicals inside this closet?
Speaker F: Non ventilated closet?
Speaker B: No, he ventilated it. His dad is, uh, a contractor. He asked his dad to help him out. He's like, as long as you work with me, Sean, I'll teach you the.
Speaker E: Business mutilate my.
Speaker B: House. He's a passionate kid. He's a passionate kid.
Speaker D: Man, when they go to sell that house, that's going to be some questions.
Speaker B: You know, someone loves photography. He comes with a homemade dark.
Speaker D: Room. And these were all throughout the week.
Speaker B: Leading up to the yeah. Sally's was on the previous Sunday. Lou's was on a Tuesday, and then Carl Lewis's was actually on a Thursday the day before the Friday.
Speaker D: Uh, did the police report say anything.
Speaker B: About what wait, what days did you say? Sunday for Sally, tuesday for Lou, and then Thursday for Carl. What day is it today?
Speaker A: Sunday. Sunday. Yeah.
Speaker B: So a week out from Sally's. Right.
Speaker D: But that's what today is. The situation with the six kids happened.
Speaker B: On a Friday, correct?
Speaker A: Yes.
Speaker D: And was there anything on the police reports about footprints similar to what we.
Speaker B: Found at the party house? No, because all three kids were they just left their house, and there's no footprints. Right. One interesting one, though, is, uh, uh, Sally's. So they did some investigating at the window because her window was open, and they found that there was a pathway that looked like to be traveled on, uh, on the outside of her window, down the roof and then down a side like a little area and looked like it was a pathway Sally normally took to sneak away from the house. So they were assuming maybe that's how the person came in to get her, was through that window or lured her out through that.
Speaker E: Are they automatically assuming a kidnapping and not that she just ran away?
Speaker B: Well, they were just assuming running away because it looked like a common path of leaving with Sally. But then when another random kid disappears at the school gym, then that just seems odd because he was in the middle of something. And then after the third kid, they're like, okay, this seems way too weird to be just a bunch of kids mass running away. It seems like there's repeated crimes.
Speaker C: Here. Yeah. These first three here, uh, you could say maybe they just had some, uh, pretest anxiety and just, uh, decided to play a hooky for a whole week.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker C: But now there's a little bit too many. Now with those kids that went missing.
Speaker D: Yesterday, I'm thinking that man the only thing that comes to mind at the moment. We could go investigate each one of these places, but I'm still thinking back to the party house and how those footprints just kind of let off into the woods. And if these are all related, I feel like whatever's doing whatever's going on here has something to do with what's going on out.
Speaker A: There.
Speaker D: But it's kind of dark, and I don't want to, uh blair Witch Project hasn't come out yet. I don't want to go running out into the spooky woods, especially, uh, when kids are going missing out there.
Speaker E: Uh, well, then you would have nothing to worry about.
Speaker D: Yeah, that's true. I mean, if that's all they're after, is just, like, some teenagers.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker C: How old were these kids here?
Speaker B: Sally was 17. Lou was 18, and Carl was also 18. They were both seniors. Lou Downing you'd recognize his name if you're familiar with the local school is the starting quarterback for the Devil Lake Demons.
Speaker E: Oh, the QB.
Speaker B: Starting QB. Star player.
Speaker E: Tony was also into sports.
Speaker B: Yeah, uh, he was.
Speaker C: Well, Lou wouldn't have to worry about any tests. You kind of know they give the quarterback a bit of a break, those teachers. True that. At least in a town like Devil.
Speaker D: Lake, all we've got is our sports. That's what they always told us in high school.
Speaker F: Do I need a role to investigate this or what?
Speaker B: Uh, sure.
Speaker A: Yes.
Speaker B: You could, if you guys all wanted to roll. Investigate mystery. To ask more in depth questions about this case, these case files.
Speaker D: Sure.
Speaker B: You're too distracted with your coffee and.
Speaker E: Driving, it looks like. Yeah. I cannot ask anything.
Speaker B: I got a pretty bad one as well.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker B: Would you roll?
Speaker E: Really important to keep your eyes on the road.
Speaker D: Oh.
Speaker F: Nine nine no, a ten.
Speaker B: Whoa.
Speaker E: Two questions coming in.
Speaker F: Clutch. Investigate a mystery. Uh, what's being concealed here?
Speaker B: Oh, jeez. Okay, um, what is being concealed here? That's kind of a hard one to answer due to the fact that what's being concealed here is one really not much information. Like, they have zero leads where these kids have gone.
Speaker A: Right.
Speaker B: They all know they disappeared, but they can't find any signs of struggle at any of the locations. It looks like the kids all went willingly wherever they went.
Speaker A: Right.
Speaker B: They all look like they were in the middle of something, then they left. Right. What be really concealed here is maybe names of, uh, possible suspects. Uh, because you don't have names of suspects, you just have straight up crime scene stuff. The cops didn't give you anything like leads or any people, like whereabouts or where they think the kids are, stuff like that. Simply straight up gave you the information of the crime scenes. They didn't give you any other leads. So that would be big. Concealed stuff is like who or when or where. All right, you got when and where, but you're looking for who or why are kind of really hidden from you, and you can't really find those through what you have right now. You would have to do digging yourself to find those.
Speaker F: What sort of creature is it Bigfoot?
Speaker D: Dave's really asking this.
Speaker B: He really wants to know.
Speaker A: Bigfoot.
Speaker B: Is it bigfoot? No, it's not bigfoot. Um, what creature it is is gotta be something that does not give away its presence, if that makes sense. All these situations all have the same things in common, which is quiet, calm, and collected. So whatever creature is causing this is doing in a cool, calm, and collected manner.
Speaker F: So you're saying it is bigfoot?
Speaker B: Just Bigfoot. And he's really nice.
Speaker F: He's a smooth operator.
Speaker B: He's a smooth operator. Up next on the radio, it's Smooth Operator.
Speaker F: We have the radio on?
Speaker B: Do you have the radio on in the truck?
Speaker E: I mean, we were just playing cassette tapes, but I guess I was waiting for so long that my single share.
Speaker D: Cassette tape listened through the whole track.
Speaker E: I had listened to both sides.
Speaker B: Man, we took a lot. So you're on the radio. Is there a particular station you want to find?
Speaker D: Coffee makers back in the day?
Speaker B: Classic late night radio talk. You got some late night radio blues. Um, you got the local shock DJ.
Speaker E: Can I have the greatest hits from yesterday, tomorrow, and today?
Speaker B: Oh, from the local shock DJ. DJ Repip.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker B: So while you're on the flashes in the background and you guys are all talking and stuff, and you hear old DJ Repip come over the waves again, he goes, oh, that was another classic, uh, for our folks staying up late. I appreciate each and every one of you.
Speaker A: This.
Speaker B: Is that song we just listened to was a classic. Free Way of Love by Aretha Franklin topping the Charts Next up, we got a classic. Oh, it's late night, we're in the mood for some Sting. If you love Somebody, Set Them Free playing right now. And then you guys start to hear the sweet vocal harmonies of Sting start taking away on the.
Speaker A: Radio.
Speaker E: I was hoping you would sing for.
Speaker B: Us, but that's.
Speaker D: Fine.
Speaker B: So you guys are still cruising around.
Speaker E: So are we just going to waste my gas all night?
Speaker D: Well, I don't know. Are we going to head home to, uh, our respective homes, mind you, and maybe regroup in the morning?
Speaker E: I don't know. Are we?
Speaker C: Well, I suppose so. I did just drink that cup of coffee.
Speaker D: Oh, shoot, that's true. I did too. Uh, oh, crap.
Speaker E: You guys don't know how to take your uppers and your downers?
Speaker D: Uh, I don't have any downers on me, but, uh, I also don't use downers. So that's why I don't have any on me. All I've got is my cool crackers. Uh, those don't exactly work. M as downers. If anything, those are almost uppers in and of themselves. But, um, I digress. Shoot. Uh, I didn't think about that when I drink caffeine. Is there anything you guys think is worth kind of looking into tonight? I mean, I guess I could just go home and wear off caffeine by typing this Macintosh.
Speaker E: Uh, I pull into my pockets and I just kind of hand them some packets of chamomile.
Speaker D: Tea.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker D: All right.
Speaker A: Downers.
Speaker D: Yeah, that makes.
Speaker A: Sense.
Speaker B: So are you guys all going to go.
Speaker D: Home, drink our tea?
Speaker F: I'm going to unload.
Speaker A: Back off.
Speaker B: It's like two in the morning. No, it's like 10:00 at, uh, this point. You guys all get home. Do, um, you guys make plans, though, before leaving, about meeting up? Obviously we're going to meet back up.
Speaker D: At the bowling alley. It's just it won't be open.
Speaker B: We'll just meet in the parking lot, start a timeline. We're talking to you.
Speaker E: Let's get after it early. I mean, what time is it right now?
Speaker B: Like ten.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker E: Uh, let me get a full 9 hours.
Speaker F: Well, Dennis isn't going to be able to sleep till at least midnight, even with the camera meal.
Speaker D: I saw this meet up back at, uh, what says 09:00 a.m. Does that work?
Speaker C: I could do 900 hours.
Speaker A: 900?
Speaker B: Yeah, that's right. All right.
Speaker C: That'll give me time to eat some breakfast.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker B: There you go. Stop at the Mickey D's.
Speaker A: All right.
Speaker F: So, yeah. Ah, we'll go home. Dennis M will talk to his wife. Well, she'll mostly just he'll kind of nudge her and she'll because she's asleep.
Speaker B: And, um, then check on the kiddos, too, right?
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker F: Make, uh, sure the kids are in bed and nobody's got their.
Speaker B: Radio fast asleep.
Speaker F: Just because you got to save electricity. That's right.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker B: It's a school night, too.
Speaker F: But Dennis did notice at that first house they went well, the only house they went to that they left that, uh, TV on. Well, the music was coming from the TV, right?
Speaker D: No, there's a radio.
Speaker B: It's a local radio.
Speaker F: Is there a TV or just a radio?
Speaker B: TV wasn't on.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker B: TV wasn't on, old man. He's like, what's all this new fangled.
Speaker D: Technology?
Speaker F: Very wasteful to leave that on.
Speaker C: M may wear the thing out with that.
Speaker B: All of you guys go off to your respective homes. You all lay down for a night's sleep. Maybe not getting the sleep right away due to caffeine, but also because you're hot in a trail of some missing kids. And I kind of like, tossing through this information is kind of keeping you up. Uh, so you guys might not go to sleep for a little bit, but you eventually make it to sleep. And with that, we're going to end today's episode.
Speaker G: Well, it seems you managed to survive this episode of Hunter's Haven Music Mayhem.
Speaker A: Congratulations.
Speaker G: We hope you enjoyed this tentalizingly, terrifying one shot series as we at session Zero Heroes play through a game of Monster of the Week led by Keeper Cameron Hogandyke. We want to thank you for stopping by and hope that you'll continue to support us and our channel by checking out some of our other shows where we play other tabletop role playing games, such as our Benders and Brews show, where we jump into the world of Avatar The Last Airbender using the Avatar Legend system. Or follow us on social media such as Facebook, X, Instagram and Discord so you don't miss out on our upcoming Dungeons and Dragons series, Criminals of Isla Numas, I'd like to say a quick thank you and shout out to the incredibly talented Simon Jones, who created the music for this series, which you're hearing right now, as well as during the intro. If you would like to get your own custom music, you can check out Simon Jones Music on Fiverr to hire Simon to create the perfect music for your project. Of course, be sure to like, follow or subscribe to session Zero Heroes on whatever podcast streaming site you prefer, whether that be Spotify, Apple, Podcasts and everywhere else podcasts can be found or check out our website@sessionseroheroes.com. We hope our episode today gave you the spooky vibes that you're looking this Halloween season. Scare you next.