> A PC feel someone tapping on his shoulder. When he turns back, it's a pretty girl-next-door, that went all the way to this scary place just to give him his wallet he lost. Then she disappears.

> In a library, a book with a flower on its cover fall down and opens. In it, there's a drawing made by a kid, of a little girl enjoying the first day of summer under the watch of her grandpa. The words "me an gramp :)" are scribbled under the drawing. Upon reading them, the players hear a playful giggle.

> The players find the bedroom, which is rather a bunk with shitty beds in them. If they decide to sleep in them, they dream that they're sleeping against someone whose presence make them feel safe. They wake up in luxurious beds, pressed against pillows.

> The players find a place with a TV still on. There's only static on it. On the ground, there's a dog, watching the static, looking miserable. If they bring him his toy, the dog's eyes lighten up, and he happily chew on them, as the static on TV turns, for mere seconds, to the heartwarming sight of the dog's owner thanking you for making him feel less lonely.

> "Ever since you entered the abandoned hotel, you felt a warmth around your stomach, just as if someone was constantly hugging you from behind."

> You find the remnants of a tea party. The tea is still hot. You hear echoes of chit-chat between what sounds like a teenage girl and her little sister.

> You can't feel your arm for a minute. Then, you start to feel it being pulled away gently, as if someone was tugging on it. The air under you hand feels like the soft contact of hair.

> You feel something in your mouth, as if your saliva became sticky. Rolling it in your mouth, you get a taste of it: it's hot cocoa.

> When feeling hopelessly lost in a large and unfamiliar town, you find that the streets keep changing around on you when you aren't looking. Luckily, each shift seems to bring you closer to your intended destination.

>The local school building is very old and full of roaming shadows with hushed, murmuring voices. The administration wants it looked into because the specters have apparently been whispering test answers to the students for years.

>Your neighborhood has recently become home to a very large gang of cats that seem to watch the humans in the area very, very closely. In other news, the number of items reported lost or stolen to the police have dropped significantly, as their owners have begun finding them returned to their doorsteps the next morning with a sprig of catnip on top.

This post defined what we're doing here: "paranormal niceties". I dig the name.

> The players befriend a shy, agoraphobic girl who says she can help them. She claims to be in love with an Angel, but being in an asylum its likely that she is just insane, that it is just a split personality or method of soothing her trauma. She escapes from the asylum after something particulary upsets her (a new uncaring counciler, the players doubts, etc). The players eventually find her in an abandoned, run-down house. A shadowy, tentacled being is holding and caressing her tenderly as she cries tears of relief.

I'd get rid of the tentacle thing for obvious reasons, but alas, 'tis a principle of mine to never edit a repost.

>Players are trapped underground with only a locked door keeping them in. They hear the voice of a child saying "Here ya go" and the keys slid under the door. When they get to the other side no one is there.

>Players lost in a crumbling building. A little boy leads them out. Outside no one seems to have seen the boy. As they leave they notice a small sign leaning against the building saying "In memory of Tim. Lost but never forgotten."

>>32528287
The tentacles thing is likely a reference to the fact that Biblical angels tend to be... odd looking. Like, "wheel of eyes" odd looking.

>>32528583
Oh. Makes sense then.

Also sorry for my lack of contribution, I'm currently busy (playing Transistor). I'll get to make some more... Perhaps.

These are both Kinda Creepy and Kinda Adorabe.

Post More.

This is a cute thread. Will contribute if I come up with anything good.

Ill try to contribute

>Player jokingly kiss a statue of a sad virgin woman. After the kiss, a sweet smile replace her frown

>on those particularly rainy days when you're just feeling tired and sad and sick if the world, a care-package arrives unannounced on your doorstep wrapped in brown paper and twine and bearing no postage and no return address. Inside can be found such strange items as pretty pieces of sea glass, old books in which the pages have been dog-eared at the good parts and the particularly amusing and inspirational sentences have been underlined, coins from different countries minted on your birth year, beloved childhood toys believed lost forever, cassette tape recordings if some of the best conversations you've every had and so on.

>Returning from your work depressed and tired, You find a children drawing of you with " You can do it" sentence all in colored crayon. You are not married nor bought a colored crayons

>You feel something in your mouth, as if your saliva became sticky. Rolling it in your mouth, you get a taste of it: it's hot cocoa.

That's right, anon. Uncle filled your mouth with delicous cocoa. Salty and sticky cocoa.

>Many men and women about the local bar scene share the same story. On a night where their hearts were heavy with woe, their heads crowded with troubles and their bellies full of too much drink, they have been offered a ride home from a man with a short white beard and a bald head, smoking a pile and driving a beat up old taxi cab. No matter how far away the rider actually lives, the ride always takes just long enough for them to tell the driver everything that has been bothering them lately, and the driver never accepts payment for the trip. The next morning the rider awakens, feeling better about their life and their future than they have for a long time while remembering that their town has never had a taxi service.

>PC on a car's back seat heading somewhere dangerous during a cold stormy night.
>staring through the fogged window.
>"take care" starts being written on the window as if by someone inside the car.

>When rummaging around in a deep trunk, bat or other container, you feel fingertips brush against yours as whatever you were looking for is guided into your hand.

>Your home appliances are all possessed, and still turn on even when they're unplugged. Luckily, they still work completely normally otherwise.

>There are a whole lot of... Somethings... living in the sewers Nd storm drains of your town. They come out only at night, eat all the litter and trash off the streets and out if the public garbage cans before disappearing again from whence they came.

>Every child in town seems to have the same imaginary friend, described as a short, thin figure made completely out of shadows who they insist is very, very real. They say it tells them to play nicely with the other kids, listen to their parents and keeps them from doing "fun stuff" like jumping off the roof with an umbrella or driving mommy's car or playing in the construction site.

>You're in a hurry when you stumble upon a little convenience store that you are absolutely positive wasn't there yesterday. It just so happens to be stocked with all the things on your shopping list as well as a few things you forgot you needed. They have all your brands and their prices are extremely reasonable. After making your purchases and leaving the premises, you discover that it has vanished when you turn to look back.

>When you slosh around the carton of juice you thought was empty to work out whether there's anything worth trying to get out in there, it not only sounds, but feels like it's half full.
>This happens the next couple of times too, even after you've drunk at least 3 glasses of juice from it.

>a small red ball rolls itself around a room
>if a player picks it up, something will start tugging on his leg
>if the ball is dropped it will be rolled around the room again
>if it's thrown somewhere, tiny footsteps can be heard, then the ball will lift off the ground and float back to the person who threw it

> Crows, ravens and other blackbirds seem to have an affinity for you, and have the oddest habit of leaving you small gifts and tokens of appreciation like coins, winning lottery tickets and pieces of jewelry.

>There is a mysterious vehicle that prowls about town each evening, a large box truck that has been completely "murdered out" with black paint, blacked out lights and darkly tinted windows. According to the crudely hand-painted signs on both sides of the vehicle, it is a "Fuud Truk," and the unseen chef inside can prepare for you literally any dish you can name.

File: image.jpg (28 KB, 365x339)

28 KB JPG

All these ideas make me want to come up with a setting to use them in: some little, picturesque rural town crammed so full of cute spirits and curious mysteries and gentle weirdness that it's practically a benevolent Genus Loci. I wonder if Golden Sky Stories can be refluffed to work in such a setting.

>When you turn on the shower, instead of water, you get a warm foggy steam that quickly fills the air and makes you feel like you're standing in a bath

>>32533837
Every town is a variant of a picturesque rural town, capitals don't exist because they make the ghosts go away and nobody wants the ghosts to go away

Also the ghosts simply vanish out of existence about 50 years after their deaths, most of the time after accomplishing a major good deed.

Don't know about Golden Sky Stories. Care to sum it up?

>>32533982
And by capitals, I obviously meant "any kind of big cities".

File: image.jpg (26 KB, 298x385)

26 KB JPG

>>32533982

Golden Sky Stories is a Japanese roleplaying game being translated and released in English. Essentially, you play as nature spirits living in and around a small rural town, and gameplay is focused around solving the townsfolk's little day to day problems, finding friendship, and exploring the wonders if the world.

Ideally, I'd run a game where players could be spooks and spirits or everyday human folk, enjoying their lives and afterlives in a little old town out in the countryside, small enough the everyone knows each other and knows about how special their community is, but large enough to have a wide range of buildings and locations and be full up with curiosities and and wonders.

>>32534478
But the real questions are: when, what system and what software.

Op (and others in this thread) should check out "humanity is in decline." I feel that rides a similar 'cute and horrifying; line

File: image.jpg (6 KB, 144x211)

6 KB JPG

>>32534700
I'll have to take a look.

>About town, a group of mysterious figures in red robes and hoods flit about in the periphery of your vision, everywhere and nowhere all at once. They see all, they know all, and they are behind every single major event that happens in this little town.

>They are the Merlin Township Party Planning Committee.

File: image.jpg (666 KB, 1936x1288)

666 KB JPG

>Welcome to the Merlin Township Public Library!

- A Field Guide to Fae and Fairies
- The Big Big Book of Imaginary Friends
- Spirit Speaking
- How to Help your Haunt
- My Life Among the Shadow Folk
- The Telenomicon
- The Pretty Princess in Yellow

For god's sake, somebody archive this. It's almost like the Good-aligned counter to the horror threads.

File: image.jpg (141 KB, 720x800)

141 KB JPG

>Don't let Mr. Horace's unusual appearance and brusque manner startle you. As the president of the Merlin Township Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Horace simply takes his job protecting the interests of the town's small business owners very seriously. When not at work, Mr. Horace is a devoted family man, an avid bowler, and an incorrigible punster.

bump for cuteness

I wasn't here for the last thread, so I don't know if it was already posted. But if not, it would be terrible for it to never be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byAfC5yW_hw

File: A Fuushon Gremlin.jpg (840 KB, 769x1100)

840 KB JPG

>Sometimes, the children of Merlin Township are the ones who need to cheer their Imaginary Friends up with games of make believe.

Pictures:
Captcha: Teagreen Grace, one such Imaginary Friend, with her favorite toy sword and bunny.
On

>>32538365
>Done, this is now on suptg. Remember to upvote.

>When buttered/jammed toast falls, they mysteriously stop 2 inches from the floor, rotate to have the buttered/jammed face up, then fall as if nothing happened

>The forests nearby are filled with spiderwebs, but they all hang overhead without disturbing the average forestwalker, catch tons of annoying insects, and sometimes have greetings or good advice written in spiderweb

File: that doesn't feel like velour.gif (167 KB, 350x270)

167 KB GIF

>>32539282
>>The forests nearby are filled with spiderwebs and sometimes they have greetings or good advice written in them.

"The alligator is friendly."

File: traviswaltonabduction.jpg (85 KB, 800x551)

85 KB JPG

>After a day's worth of barbeque fun and a few too many beers, you've managed to get yourself completely and utterly lost in the state park while wandering off to look for a bathroom. Unfortunately for you, you'd left your cell phone on the table back at the picnic area, and with the sun long set it was beginning to grow chilly. A wolf, or at least you what you think is a wolf, howls in the distance.

>Just as you begin to dread never finding your way back to civilization, the nighttime sky above you is flooded with a brilliant pearly light, brighter than even full moon that had previously been lighting your way. High above you, a silvery disc-shaped craft hangs suspended in mid air, the light around it resolving itself into a dazzling beam centered around you, drawing you irritably upward toward the mysterious ship.

>The following hour passes in a blur of emotions and sensations you can scarcely remember the next morning. What you can remember is the gently stern lecture you'd received from the strange little grey men who'd picked you up about dangers of imbibing too many ethanol compounds and wandering into densely foliated biomes without proper orienteering knowledge.

>There's an old bridge above a river with a very strong current.
>It's known place where jumpers attempt suicide.
>Attempt
>When someone goes to jump a little girl appears and ask them what they're doing. Then she ask them why over and over again.
>why, why, why, why, why?
>As much as it annoys them, it forces the person to stop and think about what they are doing just long enough for them to realize this isn't right.

File: 69589a45cda053a476ba9bc18(...).png (3.25 MB, 1754x1240)

3.25 MB PNG

>>32539488

>There's something different about one of the students at the high school. That "something different" is that she wears a space suit to class and claims to be an alien. Miss X'ltari's extraterrestrial status is generally accepted as fact by her teachers, peers and the Township a large, and the girl is permitted lead her school's Astronomy Club and ride on her own "Martian-American Pride" float in the Independence Day Parade.

>Every Tuesday, from 6:30 to 8:30 PM, a man appears in the park. When left alone, he will stare up at the moon, smiling. If approached, he will greet you in a friendly manner and, as if by instings, he will begin to ask you about your problems. He's been known to give sound advice, leave food for homeless people living in the park, and stop any crimes and suicide attempts within the park perimeter. At precisely 8:29 PM, he drops everything he is doing, walks into the oncoming lane of the nearby street, and disappears.

>>32534511
>software
You know where you are, son? Even if /v/ does dip in on occasion.

File: e9bd5815a1ad970a5a83a9207(...).jpg (121 KB, 770x765)

121 KB JPG

>Children and young adults will sometimes visit a particular playground in a particular neighborhood late at night to visit with a very particular girl and her cat. The cat seems to be nothing special, but the girl is extremely pale and wears a strange sailor outfit, even in the depths of winter.

>If asked by a child, this girl will truthfully answer any question usually ignored or sugarcoated by adults. If asked by an adult, the girl will merely say "I dunno..." unless the question pertains to the wellbeing of a child.

File: snap2011-04-29-12h51m44s23.jpg (40 KB, 1280x720)

40 KB JPG

>>32539488
>>32539776

>>32540078
What is pic from?

>There's a boy at the local high school that goes by the name Wallace. Every day, he enters the school, and goes down the hallway with a cart of assorted cakes, candies, and other sweets. His cart is always full, and he gives freely to anyone who asks. If you do not ask, the cake disappears from your hand, and you hear a stern lecture on the importance of not stealing in your head.
>Wallace has been coming and going from the school for forty years now. No one knows where he came from.

>A murder of crows hangs out in front of the clock tower at midnight, and scatters at one. They will grant one wish, in exchange for an equivalent amount of corn. Any harmful wish costs, by default, "More corn than you could ever give."

File: ma-Gazabo-41012-4062-3-4-(...).jpg (694 KB, 1446x736)

694 KB JPG

>The very heart of Merlin Township's civic pride is its immaculately kept Town Square, a beautiful park space fronting the Town Hall and bounded on its other three sides by the town's quaint and lively Main Street. Or should that be "other four sides?" Or maybe even "other five sides?" No one is really quite sure just how many sides the Town "Square" actually has, as walking the perimeter always yields a different number and its a well know fact that the park was designed by Merlin Township's Founders with future expansion in mind.

>In any event, the Town Square makes for the perfect place for a spirited game of hide and seek, an impromptu public meeting or a pleasant place for lovers to walk together.

File: 1401340284271.jpg (169 KB, 707x1000)

169 KB JPG

Captcha: byheder life

>Even the "biker gangs" in Merlin Township are benign and peculiar.

>>32540289
>Some smart aleck decided to test the limits of the wish by wishing for an endless supply of corn

>The wish was granted. The endless supply of corn was used to pay for the cost of the wish, and it was as if nothing happened

>>32540915
>Someone wishes for more wishes
>"Congratulations. You now have one wish left."
>Doing his enough times causes the crows to get disgusted and fly off

File: teef__by_endling-d412zm9.jpg (562 KB, 617x1728)

562 KB JPG

>Proper dental hygiene is very important to the people of Merlin Township, regardless of how sharp those teeth are.

>>32540915
The wisher was furious. However, the crows were very happy.

>A beggar carrying an old tin cup wanders the street of Merlin Township, his eyes the color of raw meat, and his smile crooked and off-putting. Staring at him for long periods of time has been known to cause memory loss. Putting a coin in his cup, however, will protect you from harm for an entire year.

>Man's wife died in childbirth
>Father works back-breaking hours to support the child his wife left him
>Wakes up to nice breakfast already made
>As he walks out could swear he hears someone behind him say "Have a nice day, honey."

>>32541704
Dont know why there are tears in my cheek
why cant it stop?
why?

>As the PCs enter the haunted graveyard they start hearing whispers and mutters from various directions of the graveyard
>The deeper the PCs go into the graveyard the clearer the whispering and words become
>Turns out the dead are merely chatting about their life and family, with most corpses and skeleton just digging a hole through the ground and sticking their head out
>The local gravekeeper is responsible for carrying messages from dead relative to their living members
Or
>A giant squid live in a lake, it never hurt anyone and instead save people who fell off their boat or is drowing
>The only downside is that it often hoard trashes people throw away in its underwater cave and arrange them into various form
>You can also play with it if you throw ball to it when it surface every dark night

File: FeelsHug.png (45 KB, 500x382)

45 KB PNG

>>32541773
Bring it in anon.

Can't help be reminded of Welcome to Night Vale and Mushishi in a very good way. I really doubt this could carry a whole story on its own, but as a series of small shorts, radio plays, etc, it would be sort of neat having Living in The Merlin Township as a usual thing.

>Most of Merlin Township's radio stations are from neighboring cities, since nobody has bothered to install a radio station in the town proper. But there's one frequency that you can tune into. It's called Radio Merlin, hosted by Kipp Ashby, and featuring bands from the Merlin Township area. However, these bands, and Kipp Ashby himself, have no records in the town archives. If you follow the signal, you'll be in the forest outside of the township, walking north until you find a high, steep hill. On the hill is a box, and regardless of what you take out or put in, the box only ever has two things in it. What are those two things?

A fresh chocolate pie, and a note that says, "Thank you for listening. -Kipp Ashby"

File: 2003_03_27_07_Musick_Pont(...).jpg (599 KB, 1280x960)

599 KB JPG

>>32542691
I love it! Have a little tweak, as I had been thinking of doing a radio station blurb too!

> If you follow the signal, you'll be in the forest outside of the township, walking north along an overgrown road until you find a deserted radio station atop a high, steep hill. The building is crammed chock-full of old musical instruments, and the lights are still flickering on the dust-covered broadcast equipment, indicating that the station is still on the air.

>On the counter in the lobby is a fresh chocolate pie, and a note that says, "Thank you for listening. -Kipp Ashby." If you take the pie, your name will be listed on the next broadcast as a "special prize winner." If you choose to leave anything, your name will be listed as a "valued sponsor."

>Merlin Township's old clinic has been abandoned since 50 years ago, so it becomes more than a little curious when people who have accidents near the zone wake up outside of the place completely patched up an full of energy, and in their pocket, a note scribbled in neat and clean handwriting that says

"please be more careful next time"

-Merlin Clinic Staff.

File: The-train-in-Spirited-Awa(...).gif (1.1 MB, 580x314)

1.1 MB GIF

>>32542456

I'm sort of imagining Merlin Township as "Studio Ghibli does Welcome to Night Vale." It's a place full of mysteries, spirits, haunts, spooks and the supernatural, but everyone in the Township treats it as perfectly normal, and the "paranormal niceties" that characterize the setting idea are never malicious, but are at the very worst thought-provoking or unknowable.

>Pictured: Your typical morning train ride in Merlin Township

>>32541704
I didn't think four sentences could make me feel this hard.

File: 1210710078806.jpg (293 KB, 803x530)

293 KB JPG

>>32543036
>Not actually Op, always forget to delete the stupid trip.

Anyway, we need more of these little towns without a dark secret. It's a nice change of pace.

>>32542947

>"Hello, residents of Merlin Township, missing and found, alive and dead, strange and just plain boring. I am your host, Kipp Ashby, and here is some news you all might like. Madeline Trant, a girl who had gone missing two weeks ago, has been found in Lake Morgan. She's changed a bit, her skin turned gray and her eyes turned black, she's grown gill slits on her neck, and she's taken a very large interest in the lakes and rivers outside of town. But she's healthy and happy as she's ever been."
> "Now, a list of this week's prize winners..."

>Given how hard the townsfolk have been working lately to make ends meet, the Merlin Town Council have decided to institute a new eight day of the week between Saturday and Sunday, with the proposed name of "Sandurday." The Town Council believes that offering the hard-working, hard-playing citizens of Merlin Township an extra day each weekend to use as they see fit will do wonders for the Town, and hope that, if the newly created day meets with approval, that other communities might adopt it as well.

File: 1401232876029.jpg (469 KB, 750x750)

469 KB JPG

>>32543185
that's... brilliant.

File: 50f451d40615918b188d9ff3c(...).jpg (218 KB, 600x702)

218 KB JPG

>>32543175
>"Did you hear? Madeline's trying out for the swim team at school!"

>"Is she? That's wonderful! I was hoping that girl would go out and make some more friends."

>"Isn't it nice? Oh! And she's also been offered an internship with the parks department at Lake Morgan! She's really taken a liking to the Lake, you know."

>"How nice for her!:

>>32543055
Is the only way into Merlin town through train or is there road aswell? It could be a good version of Silent Hill; when someone who's lost on a road enter a strange fog they show up in Merlin town and when they leave after resting and fufilling whatever they're suppose to be doing they show up on road nearest to their actual destination.

>A creature shuffles out of the darkness towards you, its spidery limbs dragging a bloated form across the floor.
>"Excuse me, do you have the time?"
>Before you can respond, the creature shakes its head and says, "No you don't."
>Before you know it, the creature is gone. In your hands is a boquet of flowers, and a letter addressed to your sweetheart

File: 1343012537555.jpg (470 KB, 600x732)

470 KB JPG

>>32543361
You know, I really like this idea.

Merlin Township might not be on most maps. It might not be a place you simply go to on purpose like any other destination. You get lost while driving through picturesque countryside roads and pull into town, or you fall asleep on the wrong train and wake up pulling into Merlin Station with a couple of hours to fill, or you stumble into town after a day's hike through thick forest.

You find Merlin Township because it's the place you stop at before moving on to where you ought to be.

>>32542691
>>32543175
Kipp Ashby is the perfect friendly, peppy radio personality name.

>>32543608
Logical extension of that:

The people and things you see in the own are all there because they didn't have anywhere to go, or because when they got into the town, they decided it was better than where they were going. An entire town cast out from what would be considered "normal".

File: fd86e2505828c65f0447d3d61(...).jpg (1.78 MB, 1600x1200)

1.78 MB JPG

>>32543711

But they're not bitter or upset about any of this, of course. Merlin Township is the place where they belong. It's the place where they can be a community. If your place is with them in Merlin they'd love to have you. If it isn't, well, they'd sure like to help you get to wherever that is.

>The police force in Merlin are omnipresent. That is not to say that there are so many officers around that their presences is oppressive and stifling, but rather that the instant you are in need of a police officer, one is already giving you a friendly pat on the shoulder, ready to assist you.

>>32543822
What happen if you want to live here considering you are a human lost in the fog?

>The forest is ever friendly. If you decide to camp there and use dead woods and leaves for fire, next morning you will find flowers and fruits beside your tent. It is a sign of gratitude from the forest for "cleaning"

>>32543898
If you try to get there, you don't. It's not a place you vacation to. It's a place you're lost in.

>Despite the "post office" having no workers and existing as a broom closet in town hall, the post in Merlin Township is always on time. Just check the nearest table around 10:30, and you'll see what I mean.

>>32543055
>Studio Ghibli does Welcome to Night Vale
That's exactly it and I wish for it to be funded.

>>32543175
>Kipp Ashby
Fund it even more.

I can already imagine him as one of those Breakfast show personas which sound so overly and sincerely cheerful its morning and you are listening to them:
>"Hello and good morning, welcome to another show of Breakfast's with the Ashbys, a bit late today as the sun's alarm failed to ring. He has asked us to not be too worried about him, as he still has quite a couple billion more years to go and everyone likes to sleep in once in a while, don't we?"

>>32543898

If Merlin is the place you ought to be, staying there won't be a problem at all. If you are just trying to hide there, away from the world and away from where you ought to be, what you see and do and learn in Merlin will give you the strength to move on in your own time. If you are a petty thug or an unrepentant brute you will experience bad luck and inconvenience as the Town "rejects" your presence until you leave on your own. If you break the law, you will be escorted out of town by the police.

>Only a short walk from the train station is Merlin Township's grand old Commodore Hotel and Boarding House, a handsome, homely, rambling building that gladly plays host to any and all who decide to visit for a while, are just passing through, or have nowhere else to go. Guests will often discover that the staff of the Commodore can anticipate their needs almost before they do, and have a tendency to appear and disappear at the silliest times.

>>32543711
So kind lost souls floating around can ended up at the town and be part of it instead of other supernatural destination? Sound interesting.

The Merlin concept is kind of drifting away from the horror-y aspect of the thread. It wasn't ever particularly horror-y to begin with, but we're losing the aspect where the situation is unsettling or foreboding before the good thing happens, and I feel like that was important.

>>32543979
Sad thing, knowing some people will travel to the end of the earth searching for this fabled town.

>In the evening, you might want to pass the "singing bridge" in norther mountain of the town. The wind chime attached to the bridge will complement the beautiful view, as if nature praise the beautiful world we live in

>>32544075
That's possibly the case. Focus does seem to have shifted toward a specific venue for peculiarities and "heartwarming-oddities" rather then a compendium of overtly "spooky-good" events to have occur.

>>32544075
Damn, you are right
I think Merlin souls be a ghost town when a lost person enter.
It is kind of unsettling nice town

>>32544107
Replace "souls" with "should"

>>32544107
>You stand at an empty patch of ground. The grass around you is high and thick, as if there is nothing but wilderness through this fog. You feel eyes on your back, their stares piercing deep into your soul. Your eyes try to adjust to this fog. All of a sudden, a force from deep within the fog pulls on you,a nd you are sent tumbling into darkness.
>Your eyes open. Your vision does not return all at once. Objects fade into existence, your vision filling up with the phantoms of streets and buildings. As the town takes shame, people begin to populate it. YOu see human and not-human, spirits and strange things passing by in the street.
>A hand pats you on the shoulder, and you turn around. A woman stands, the fingers of each of her hands containing thirteen joints. She smiles, rows of sharp, shining black teeth. The smile reaches all the way up to both sets of dark red eyes.
>"You must be new here."

>>32544075
To be fair, Merlin was started as a concept way after it lost all its horror and became merely fantastical events that occurred in the town.

>>32544211
Feels like discovering the internet/4chan for the first time

>With startling regularity, objects left unattended seem to rearrange themselves when you aren't looking. These rearrangements usually only result in a general "tidying up" of the immediate area.

>Getting ready for work in the morning, you discover that something has been wedged down into the toe of one of your shoes. It appears to be a tiny stone bear figurine, wrapped in a scrap of note that reads: "Give this to your boss. She'll love it."

>Lately, it seems that you have been experiencing strange bouts of sleepwalking. Even stranger, it appears that you have been sleep-attending night classes to earn your Master's Degree, and are now nearly done.

>You've had the feeling that you've been watched for a long while now. Everywhere you go, you can sense a presence there along with you. Sometimes close, sometimes far away. Then, you are walking down the street one day when suddenly a car swerves out of control and comes barreling right for you. You feel a pair of strong arms wrap around your waist and yank you backward to safety while a female voice whispers with relief in your ear, "Good thing you've got me looking out for you, huh."

>>32540984
Each wish for another wish still costs corn.
Eventually, he runs out but the crows are pretty happy.

File: 1399521503667.jpg (120 KB, 444x580)

120 KB JPG

Just popping in to say I love stuff like this, spirits and ghosts that are friendly or curious rather than evil.

My current settings theology is generally based on Egyptian faith, Shinto and Confucianism on this subject. The realm of living and recently (in cosmic terms) dead are closely connected and sometimes there almost no distinction. Spirits/fey are a common sight, and spiritual phenomena happens from time to time, especially during equinox.

So seeing children's footprints appearing in the mud during rain, or a faint but hearty song at an abandoned mill is hardly something to call the local exorcist over for.

File: 07_22_12 035.jpg (287 KB, 1600x1064)

287 KB JPG

>>32544211

This is pretty fantastic. I think that, if anyone is thinking of running a game or writing a story based on the ideas found in this thread that there is totally enough wiggle room to flesh out a Merlin Township setting anywhere on the scale between "spooky-good" and "heartwarmingly-odd."

>Occasionally, the sun will fail to rise in the morning over Merlin Township. This is no cause for concern, because the problem is usually fixed by winding the clock in the Town Hall clock tower back up and setting it to the proper time again.

>>32544084
It is easy to get lost on a way to unknown, you know.

And then, they either get a rest and find the strength to move onto something in the world outside, or indeed stay there.

File: 60013.jpg (323 KB, 800x500)

323 KB JPG

>>32544394

I really like this take on spirituality. It's definitely what I, and I think at least a few other Anons are aiming for in this thread.

>After each and every rainstorm, bare and muddy children's footprints appear on the floors of the Public Library, Town Hall and local sweetshop. If one looks very hard during the storm itself, they can catch glimpses of the rain-shadows these invisible children make as they frolic and play in the downpour.

>The monster under the bed extends one giant, scaly arm from the darkness of its hiding place, flexing its claws as it reaches for Little Ben. Grasping the cloth delicately, the monster pulls the boy's blanket carefully up around his shoulders before slipping its arm silently back under the bed.

>You have to skip town. You have to leave. You're not what Liz needs, and never could be. You'll just get on that train and be gone. Liz will realize what you already know and get over it. Hearing a soft, almost ephemeral cough, you turn and discover a translucent young woman in Victorian garb seated on the bench beside you. She looks deeply and seriously into your eyes and says "She deserves the truth. Please don't leave her guessing." before vanishing.

File: 1334939707521.jpg (124 KB, 400x425)

124 KB JPG

This is just a really nice thread /tg/. Well done guys.

>>32544084
How is this an oddity?

>When lost in the dark, especially late at night, some people will begin to feel hounded by a mysterious presence - they can feel something or someone stirring in the darkness. Hesitantly, they'll outstretch a hand, to open a door, or turn aside a curtain... and then reveal a cat, which yowls and runs away, guiding their gaze to the direction in which they must go.

>Cell phones never work in the Merlin Township. Yet, somehow, the most important messages always make their way to you. Sometimes they are messages that nobody sent.

>Deep in the old wood, scarecrows line the perimeter of an overgrown and forgotten farm, with its cottage rotting and putrescent. People visiting the farm, when they're not looking, will hear the scraping and cracking movements of the wooden scarecrows behind them... and then when they turn to look, they'll find them in the process of making a gift-basket of fruits and vegetables from the crop.

File: the_skull_girl_by_b1nd1-d(...).jpg (335 KB, 440x750)

335 KB JPG

>Just your average, friendly Merlin Township citizen.

>>32544691
Should have changed "chime" to "hanging skeleton"
i was thinking of playful spirits playing with the chimes but ideas clash and you get that result

>Dont forget to visit your deceased in the Marlin Memorial. You can hear a whisper of encouragement from your loved ones

>>32543185
Call it Sunderday and its a winner

>Nature calls, and you have he misfortune to have to answer in a dingy old gas station bathroom with a single bare flickering bulb for light. Sitting on the commode, "indisposed," you suddenly realize that there is no toilet paper left in the holder. Just as you begin to panic, the flickering light bulb dies completely, plunging the bathroom into pitch darkness. You feel a frigid wind rise up around you like a cyclone, and hear a shriek like a buzzsaw before the light suddenly pops back on. There is a brand new roll of TP on the holder now, and a new bit of graffiti on the door reading "SoRrY fOr THe iNconVEniEnCE."

>>32544075
Maybe the horrible thing happened to all of the human residents before (to make them?) come to MT, and Merlin Township is how the universe tries to average it out.

>>32534478

Get me a PDF and I'll start translating.

This is the 1st day since handling that idol, that you've felt well. No more fever, horrible visions of *things* bursting, no more sticky ooze on your skin or insane, taunting whispers in your ears.

Every piece of junk food in your apartment has been violently hurled into a pile in the corner, your DVDs violently shredded as though by massive claws & the walls are coating with the dark, sticky, wretched smelling filth that had been oozing down them.

It's concentrated soft drink. You've lost 112lbs somehow. You can breath easily, and walk without pain. You feel good about what you look like, for the first time since you can remember.

File: She Sees Spirits.png (121 KB, 594x476)

121 KB PNG

>"Not now, Mordecai."

>"Buuuuuuuuut......"

>"I told you. I don't want the test answers."

>"Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut......"

>"I appreciate the gesture, but I really want to learn the material here. I don't need your help."

>"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh......"

>"Come on. We're still having lunch together with the gang. Cheer ---"

>"MISS WILLIS!!!"

>"SORRY MA'AM!"

>"Eheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh......"

>"Go on now and shoo before you get me in more trouble..."

>For the past few weeks, all the dogs in the neighborhood have been reacting to something that only they have been able to see. Whatever this mysterious, invisible being might, the dogs all seem very excited to be seeing it, and have been acting more well behaved and happier on the whole.

>The Merlin Township Public Library is an eccentric looking stone building built on one side of the Town Square opposite the Town Hall. Though a relatively small building from the outside, the interior of the library is as vast and otherworldly as the collection of books, records and town memorabilia it contains.

>On more than one occasion, you've caught all the chairs in the office spinning round and round wildly, apparently all by themselves. Once noticed, they all stop at once and you feel a gentle breeze blow past you and out of the room, accompanied by a gaggle of guilty giggles.

>>32545304
>Mr. Edgeworth is the town's librarian that seems to always know what sort of book you'd like to read. If you ask for a book and intend to use its contents for harm (like the sort of books that teach you how to make pipe bombs from household material) he will click his tongue disapprovingly and say: "That particular book isn't available at the moment."

>Callahan's Corner Market is Merlin's biggest, best and only grocery store, and is famous about town for its wide selection, reasonable prices and prompt, professional service. Unusually, every employee at the Market appears to be a copy of the same highschool age girl, right down to the freckles and messy bun. They claim they're all related, but they seem to instinctually know what each other is doing at any given moment, complete each other's sentences, and number in the twenties at least.

>The Merlin Township clock tower is labyrinthine and unknowable. The layout changes every time you turn around, and the average limits of archaeology do not apply inside of its halls. No one has ever found the exit by themselves, but if you're lost for too long, you'll meet the massively tall Custodian. Upon seeing him, you're dropped outside of the clock tower, with a pat on the head and a cup of tea in your hands.
>Upon setting the cup down anywhere, it will vanish within seconds.

>>32545781

That feeling when you're dating one of the Callahan Girls, but you're not sure which one.

That feeling when you're not sure if you're dating ALL of the Callahan Girls.

>>32545866
>>32545781
>"That was the Darling Street Wights with, "Crazy in Love, or Just Crazy?" To close off this night: I've been getting questions from new visitors about the Callahan Girls, and questions of love. Many people have gone down that road, friend, and none of them came out well. It's not just the fact that you can't even remember whether it's Suzy or Darla or Pam, it's the fact that they stay young, and you get older. I guess, when you get down to it, everyone's had a Callahan Girl. So don't be too surprised if they've all had you. Radio Merlin, signing off."

This thread is amazing. It reminded me this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OT9S9QLo7U

File: image.jpg (303 KB, 1024x683)

303 KB JPG

>At the center (give or take) of the Town Square, the Merlin Memorial stands to commemorate the sacrifice of every citizen who has laid down his or her life in defense of their town and country. Tall and stately, sombre and beautiful, and surrounded by a small circular hedge and flower garden, this stone monument is similar to countless others in small towns across the country, but for the fact that:

- The oblisk atop the monument routinely changes how many sides it has, dependent on which direction you walk around it, what names or battles you are looking for, or what time of day it is.

- A lot of the wars and battles recorded on the monument are unfamiliar to you, and may have existed only for the town of Merlin.

- Some of the names and dates on the monument are a bit peculiar, like the World War I soldier named only "Slagathor," or the curious case of Roger Timmens, who apparently died three times during the battle of Gettysburg.

>>32546404
>An old war veteran still wearing his military dress uniform lays flowers at the monument.
>His nameplate reads "R. Timmens"

>you wake up to your first alarm of the morning
>half asleep you turn it off
>two more where that came from.
>you roll over and snuggle up with your significant other
>the most comfortable feeling in the world
>your third alarm goes off and you get up
>on your way to work\school you remember you live alone

>>32546651
>And you don't own an alarm clock.

>>32546651

>You live alone and you go to sleep alone every night, yet every morning you wake up with the sensation of having had the best sleep of your life laying beside the one you love. Every morning a full, delicious breakfast has been plated for you on the kitchen table, and your clothes for the day have been freshly laundered and ironed and laid out for you.

>At work, you regularly discover little love notes and gifts secreted away for your discovery around the office, and there is always a hefty brown paper lunch sack of your favorite foods tucked away in the break room fridge. None of your coworkers has ever seen your mystery sweetheart, or whoever is leaving you these treats.

>Coming home at the end of a long day, the house has somehow been cleaned, the laundry is done, and a romantic candlelit dinner has been prepared for you, despite all your doors and windows being locked and there being no signs of a break in. By the time you finish, you realize that a hot bath has been drawn without you realizing it, and after a relaxing soak in the tub and maybe a little TV, its time for bed.

>Drifting slowly off to sleep, you become aware of an unseen figure climbing into bed and nestling up against you. You don't know who or what it is or why it chose you, but as the weeks and months have gone by you've come to realize that you don't particularly care. You feel loved and cared for, and that is enough of an answer for now.

>>32546114
>>32538898
These are the best. Also have some more of the first.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OT9S9QLo7U

>>32546114
Whoops. I'm a retard. The one you posted was the outtakes. Here's the original.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zda2FLFY0yg

>One cold night you walk home from work, your jacket barely keeping the cold out.
>On your way you pass by a boy without a jacket at all.
>Though hesitant, you give him your jacket and offer to walk him home.
>On the way he tells you all about himself and your reminded of when you were his age, good and bad.
>You laugh with him and soon forget all about the cold.
>He says that you've arrived.
>It's your apartment.
>You look and see no boy.
>Your holding you jacket in your hand.
>Guy nearby ask if your cold.
>...No.

>It's been one of the worst days in your professional career and the stress is just too much. The business meeting you were in charge of leading has gone so far off the rails that you left mid-sentence without anyone even noticing over all the bickering. Hiding out in the bathroom, you run the hottest water the tap can manage over a hand towel and plaster the thing against your face, hoping that the steam and the heat will help clear your mind and soothe your shattered nerves. Pulling the towel away after a long moment, you see that the steam-fogged mirror in front of you has had a riot of encouraging words drawn on it, telling you not to give up, to persevere and that your hard work will be rewarded.

>You feel oddly better one day. You start getting compliments on your appearance. Finding a mirror to study yourself in, you discover that you have suddenly been granted perfect dentistry.

>You begin finding things inside fortune cookies that really ought not to be inside fortune cookies: rings, carefully folded paper money, tiny gemstones, etc.

>Your phone book has been heavily annotated some time since you'd last used it. Certain pages have been dog-eared, and certain people's and businesses' names and numbers have been circled and noted with things like "you two would really hit it off!" and "you should try this restaurant!" and "you should check in with your old friend Sam. He needs you right about now."

>>32547692
Aw. I wish to live in this world. This whole thread is gold, guys. Taking serious inspiration for a friendly ghost character I've been working on for a while.

>>32547432
>>32547396
>>32546114
>RedMinus

Loving people retain their warmth when they pass to the other side, though they sometimes lose touch with how to express it. Over time they become eccentric and impulsive, leading them to be over-enthusiastic with their displays of love. Unfortunately, they're rarely given the chance to show that their adoration extends past mere lust, and so these spirits have gotten an enormous amount of bad press. But if you let one linger, it just might surprise you with the depth of its dedication to its object of adulation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcwswB7Rbbs

>>32545941

One in four stories of young love and foolish romantics parents in Merlin tell their bored children involve one (or is it all?) of the Callahan Girls.

>>32543822
>People who commit serious crimes while in Merlin Township find themselves whisked to the cell in the town's police station. A stern-looking but rather plummy old man introduces himself as the Superintendant at the station, ask whether you know why you're here, then proceeds to discuss your motives for the crime you committed with you. Finally, he gives you some pertinent advice ("I think you should talk to the folks at the Town Hall, they'll be willing to help with your money problems." "Have you tried asking them to stop bothering you?" "Next time, remember that other people use the roads, too. You wouldn't want it to happen to you, would you?") and lets you out with a somewhat Pythonesque "Now don't do it again!"

>there's something strange about old lady Vespa's house
>for one, wasps and hornets can be seen almost filling the air around the house, but there aren't any hives visible on the many nearby trees and gardens
>for another, wasps and hornets are almost unheard of in a six-block radius around the house, and everyone's flowers seem unusually vibrant these days

>Sometimes, books are more colorful than the people that read them. One such example are the works of A. Goodmann, author of the "A Great Person" series. They are a self help series that range from the general (like the sordid "A Great Lover" and the verbose "A Great Speaker") to the more arcane ("A Great Shaman", "A Great Parapsychologist") and even ranging to the not-so-greats ("A Great Mailroom Clerk", "A Great Sanitary Worker").
>Each book looks normal from the outset, but opening one up leads to an unexpected discovery: the pages of the book form a human face. Each book speaks with its own unique personality and voice, engaging you in conversation while teaching you the principals behind its text.
>When the book flips to the last page, it will no longer speak with you. However, you know all the contents by heart, and if you look at the Dedications page, you'll see your name.

>>32543398

The Wingman from Dunwich

>There have been reports of a strange being in the river. This creature resembles a large crocodile, if it had been dead for weeks, it's scales sun-bleached, and bones visible through massive tears in the flesh. There are no records of crocodiles ever being indigenous to Merlin, or the area around it.
>This creature has a habit of watching boaters and children on the shore. It never moves, unless somebody falls off of the boat, or a child goes too far out and has trouble swimming. Then it swiftly moves up to the imperiled person, lifts them upon it's decayed snout, and drags them to the shore. Children also often report that it reprimands them in a rough, creole accent.

>Another odd occurrence related to the creature, is that is often seen walking semi-upright on the docks or the shore, but usually only in the presence of children or children's ghosts. When asked about the creature, many children have said that it likes to read them stories. More strange, is that the creature has a hard time reading, and more often than not, the children are the ones who read the stories to the creature.
>when it gets late, the creature tells the children where their parents are, and that they should go be with them. He also advises the ghosts of children about passing on to the next life, and several child spirits have gone to him shortly before passing on.

this was based off of a pirate I played. He would've fit right in here.

Summer has come to Merlin Township

>Kids' swimming lessons in Lake Morgan State Park with aquatic wonderkind Madeline Trant. >>32543245

>The new season of Horace Griswold's bowling league begins. >>32538445

>Radio Merlin Station 77.7 holds another one of its fabulous prize giveaways, and as always plays the hits from 70s, 80s, 90s and beyond. Sometimes far, far beyond. >>32542947

>The Parks and Recreation Department has managed to find the bandstand again, and so is pleased to announce that live music will be added back to the list of special events in the Town Square. >>32540707

>The Commodore Hotel has just completed its annual pre-summer cleaning and spruce-up, and is ready to accept any and all vacationers or passers-through interested in staying in our little town a while. >>32544056

>Ice cream socials to be held at the Merlin Town Hall every Sunderday. >>32543185

>>32548832
>Don't forget: a star performance from Merlin's own lacrosse team, the Merlin Shoggoths. Some would say possessing a dexterous set of nonrigid limbs and the ability to move outside of reality would be unfair, but in Merlin, it's par for the course.

>>32548832

Also, make sure your children don't miss the summer reading program at the Merlin Township Public Library! The first book on the reading list is Dr. Seuss' "Oh the Non-Euclidean Places You'll Go!"

For the adults, the Library is also pleased to announce that they will be hosting a series of classes and seminars over the course if the summer on topics like town history, basket weaving, and orienteering in imaginary places. We look forward to seeing you there!

>>32548832
The Mocassin summer festival will be held by Ms. Lucy Oremble, Our esteemed headmaster of Merlin High. Witches and forest spirits must work together in order to win the " Best Mud-cakes of Merlin" Title

>>32539520
Occasionally, someone will manage to take the jump but a bungee cord around the ankle will prevent much more than a chilled head. The girl's big brother waits above, rolling up his sleeves for the haul and chiding the jumper for "trying this stuff when it's past her bedtime".

>>32548832

>Ms. X'ltari is once again asking for volunteers to help her construct her "Martian-American Pride" parade float for our town's annual Independence Day Celebration. The Merlin Township Party Planning Committee assures us that this will be the most spectacular Fourth of July parade they've ever thrown, and believe us when we say that when you e got over one hundred years of party planning experience individually, its hard to top yourselves!

>Ms. X'ltari would also like to ask any other Martians that might be hiding around town to please reveal themselves to her. She says its not funny anymore and that she misses her people, poor thing. If there are any Martians tuning in, or anyone willing to volunteer to aid Ms. X'ltari with her float, you can contact her at the Commodore Hotel and Boarding House.

I have to say that this is one of the best threads /tg/ has had in a while. Thank you all for providing such a pleasant, heartwarming take on the supernatural to balance out all the horror and grim darkness that the theme of the paranormal often accrues.

This thread makes me happy. Thank you, /tg/, you are swell guys and gals.

>You are walking down a seemingly deserted city street late at night, the lampposts overhead casting an orange pale over everything. It's not a particularly dangerous area, but not a particularly beautiful one either, so you spend your time along the way playing on your smartphone, paying only the vaguest attention to your surroundings.

Look up

>Your phone flashed. What a random text message. No name or number given for the sender. It must be a glitch or a miss-text. Continuing along your way, you glance around the broad boulevard, feeling surprised to be the only one out and about at this time of night. Your phone flashed again:

Look up

>Now that's weird. You're not sure who the mystery text is from or who it is for, but it means nothing to you. Picking up your pace a little, you begin to jog along the street's central pedestrian walkway, growing more eager to leave this particular ghost town behind you. You're starting to get the creeps.

Look up

>The text message repeats, sending a bit of a chill down your spine. It's definitely time to leave and find other people.

Look up

>Far off down the street, one by one, you see the street lights begin to pop and fizzle out and go dark, one by one.

Look up

Turning around quickly, you manage to see the last clutch of lamps go out in the direction you'd come from as well, as if two vast, city-wide shadows were attempting to catch you between them.

Look up

>That maddening text pi-pinged again, as the street lamp under which you stood and the last dim orange pool of safety went out without so much as a flicker.

Look up

>With the greatest apprehension you viewed the message, your phone the only source of light left to you, the weight of something vast and cosmic hanging directly overhead. Slowly, you finally heeded the message's command and looked up, gasping in sheer awe at what you beheld.

>>32551511

>Finally free of all that nasty orange light pollution and the distraction of your smartphone, you see above you the vast blackness if the night sky, filled horizon to horizon with more stars than you have ever seen before in your life. The beauty of that sky bewitched you to your very soul, and moved you such that you very nearly didn't notice the last text you would receive from your mysterious messager:

Aren't you glad you looked up?

>>32548832
To announce the festivities, a small word from Kipp Ashby.

>To all you parents out there, remember that your children are their own people. Remember that, though you may want to hold them to your bosom or cutaneous membrane forever, they want to be free. Freedom's a scary thing, but there's a lot of scary things if you stop and look. Now that the easy part's done...
>Kids. I know, I know, I'm an old man. I have the right to think I know what I'm saying, and not be right about it. But all the kids sitting at home, playing games by themselves, or simply sleeping the day away? I want you to live. I want you to go out there, and do something crazy, within reason. Swim with the rusalki in Mordred Creek. Haunt with ghosts downtown on Darling Street. Hear the bands play in Town Square. Bowl, swim, climb, run, do sport. Do something. Because the average human is only young for up to twenty five years, and they're old every other year.
>Now, here's Alpha Centauri fifth-wave progressive metal band Hyades 310, playing their hit single from the year 3256, "Fool Overdrive." Heh. Horace'll get a kick out of that. And yeah, it's a niche genre. But this town isn't exactly normal.

>>32551847
Why does he remind me of the radiohost in Fallout New Vegas?

>>32552287
I actually virtue same vibe earlier myself. I've new a big fan of all the Kipp Ashby posts in this thread.

>>32552287
I've been writing him with that vibe. Part Mr. New Vegas, part Garrison Keillor. Part Nyarlathotep.

>>32549656
To Ms. X'ltari,
We understand what it means to live in a place where your own people are few and far between. We understand what it means to be young and alone in a world that doesn't fit you, and seems to lash out against all you know. Though the technology me and my friends are familiar with isn't entirely orthodox, or even reliable, you have our support and our knowledge.
- the Deep One Cultural Club

> Whenever someone scores a slam dunk in the basketball court, a spectral hand high fives them

>>32540274
Looks like Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei artwork.

File: 2012-07-06-Raising-Ones-S(...).jpg (200 KB, 900x582)

200 KB JPG

I'm kind of surprised this hasn't been posted yet.

File: Lightning_Storm_by_Nightw(...).jpg (104 KB, 1404x1026)

104 KB JPG

>Summer storms in Merlin Township tend to blow in unexpectedly and blow themselves out just as quickly, usually lasting anywhere between twenty minutes to several hours at the most. Lightning and thunder are to be expected, as are high winds and torrential rains. During such squalls, it's not unusual to:

- Watch the invisible, intangible "Rain Children" at play, splashing in puddles, running up and down the streets and generally having a grand old time in their chosen element. After the storm moves on, it is very common to see their little muddy footprints pitter-pattered everywhere about town.

- Catch glimpses of things, large things not unlike a lumpy, pitch black combination of a jellyfish and a whale, gliding in and out of the stormclouds high overhead, by all appearances feeding on the lightning before it gets the chance to strike-earth.

- Hear the songs of the boatmen down on the River Lethe, who appear en masse whenever the rains permit, ferrying their myriad crafts and passengers from the thousand ages of man through town, under the bridges and down river. Along the way boats will stop here and there to let new passengers and occasionally, to let passengers off too.

- Find that the Merlin Township Public Library has become an even more popular place, given its central location and literally limitless supply of books, films and cultural artifacts ready to entertain and delight both young and old. On particularly rainy days, it's not unusual to find the more mundane sections of the Library crowded with patrons of every age, occupation and state of alive-ed-ness, reading, talking, playing games, or exploring some of the less mundane sections of the Library.

>>32552287
Well, shit. Guess I'm reading every post about him in Mr. New Vegas' voice now.

File: unexpected feels.png (22 KB, 200x200)

22 KB PNG

>>32541704

>>32541704
So... in the Merlin Township ghost marriages aren't that uncommon?

>>32554529
Not common, but not uncommon?

>>32554529
It's somewhat unusual, but nobody really thinks of it as all that strange. That sentence describes a lot of phenomena in this town, really.

>>32554529
>You wake up. The rain falls heavily outside your window. You've already gotten to the point that you can sleep through the rain. But you cannot sleep through the sudden bump you hear in the hallway outside your room.
>You slowly make your way to the door, and peer out. In the hallway is a dark figure. Their face obscured. You can hear the sound of heavy breathing and sobbing.
>The figure turns to look at you, its face becoming visible. The face is pale and discolored, like that of a drowning victim, and you feel a chill run through you as the figure speaks.
>"Please... I'm afraid of the rain."

>That was nearly two years ago. Today, you're getting married in front of town hall.

Every wanderer who finds their way into town will meet someone; the specifics of who they meet vary wildly, gender, age, skin color, fashion sense, hair style... all will mysteriously be exactly what is needed for the wanderer to place trust in the one who greets them.

There are only three constants: Piercing, silver eyes that seem almost mirror-like, a silly cane that always seems to be just tall enough for them to hold straight up and down holding it from the top without putting weight on it, and a friendliness and willingness to explain every question the visitor has.

They always seem to know why a visitor is there, but damn if they aren't cryptic to the people who don't know themselves, though

File: 34ec3e5544694c0d6da7e476f(...).jpg (291 KB, 1400x788)

291 KB JPG

>Camp Chupacabra on the shores of Lake Morgan.

File: SARGE.jpg (12 KB, 320x240)

12 KB JPG

>>32555795

HEY GRIF

CHUPATHINGY

File: cbe4fc2fb6de915815348e561(...).png (1.36 MB, 800x1129)

1.36 MB PNG

>A Merlin youth following Kipp Ashby's summertime advice.

File: obduction___settler_by_sh(...).png (1 MB, 653x1000)

1 MB PNG

>>32555824
HIW 'BOUT THAT? AH LIKE IT. S'GOT A RING TO IT.

>Odelia McKay, one of the Founding Mothers of Merlin Township.

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for a wondrous thread that has given me a lot of inspiration for future campaigns. This has really made my day.

>>32542691
Does Kipp Ashby have the voice of Mr New Vegas?

Is this thread dead?

File: 136209300254.png (109 KB, 684x576)

109 KB PNG

>>32541704

>>32552751
>Deep One Cultural Club

The fact that someone still cares makes me warm and fluffy inside.

Also, OP here, and I wanted to thank you guys for Merlin Town. It's beautiful. I have no other words but beautiful. That being said, I realize now that Merlin Town in itself, once the PCs are used to it (which will likely take 2 sessions top) won't deliver action simply by existing. So here are some twists to spice it up and make it a setting you can use:

> Merlin Town is a ghost town. When you get in, you don't see anyone. Someone is talking with you through newspapers ("Headlines: the Merlin Township Party Planning Committee invite our newcomers to a feast for their arrival", "Headlines: the Merlin Town folks are collectively sorry for their lack of presence to welcome you in person until tonight", "Headlines: no this isn't a trap, why would you even think that").

> Murder in Merlin Town. Sure, afterlife isn't really that much of a scary thing in Merlin Town, but putting an end to a life is still one of the highest crimes out there. Problem is, most of the population don't want to think about murder, and the pervasive heartwarmth of Merlin Town actually prevent them from thinking too long about things as sad as murder; only the newly arrived PCs are unexposed enough to carry on an investigation.

And I had another twist, but it would ruin the concept, so I won't post it.

Meanwhile, what are good websites to upload audio stuff?

>>32561351
>dead

Given the subject at hand you're going to have to be more specific, I'm afraid.

>>32563927
Vocaroo?

Youtube?

Vimeo?

>>32564038
I thought about Vocaroo, but it'd mean straight recording without editing, wouldn't it?

>>32564048
Oh wait. There as a upload button.

Also, this took me way longer than I want to admit. And sorry for the shitty French accent. I try to cloak it but damn it's hard.

Anyway. Have some.

http://vocaroo.com/i/s1Mh9cyRILZT

>>32563927
Hey there OP! I want to thank you for starting this thread in the first place! It's been great fun to spin out tales of a "town with dark secrets" where the secrets weren't actually all that dark at all, a town that one Anon described as "Studio Ghibli does Welcome to Night Vale." The idea of Merlin Township is just so creepy-sweet and appealing that I'm glad so many other posters have helped to contribute to a potentially wondrous and magical setting.

I like what you've said here too, in that once the setting is characterized and fleshed out, player characters will need something to do in Merlin Township once they arrive there. Depending on what sort of game your players are expecting, there are a whole lot of different storylines and plot hooks that can be thrown out there for their enjoyment, both silly and serious.

>Pie Day:
>The Merlin Township Bake-Off is fast approaching, and many citizens take the event very seriously indeed, especially the pie baking and pie eating competitions that are held at the end of the festivities. Both contests have been won every year by Sully Rutherford (pictured here) for the past decade or so, and many contestants are ready to root for an underdog this year!

>Lost and Found
>All across Merlin Township, items have been going missing at an alarming rate. The police have been looking into it, but in so peculiar a town it can be difficult to discern what may be a lead and what is just your standard everyday poltergeist activity. Is there a pattern to what is being taken? Why is the rate of theft accelerating? How were the guilty parties able to steal the all the hands off the Town Hall clock in broad daylight? How will we bring broad daylight back without the clock to tell the sun what time it is?

>>32565724
>pictured here
>no picture

No, don't upload anything. That's perfect.

>>32565755
You mean, he can't see him? He's as big as a house!

>>32565724
>Audit
>The dreaded day foretold by prophecy, and the Township's incorporation charter, has come around again. Every year, the State of which Merlin Township is a part is mandated by law to conduct an audit of the town, its holdings and its citizens. For the past fifty years the audit has been conducted by Tobert Mayone, one of Merlin's native sons and the town's ally in state government. Mr. Mayone, however, has been forced to retire, and a new Auditor has been selected to replace him. Now, the Town Council is in a tizzy over how much they can trust this newcomer, and how they ought to portray Merlin Township to him. Will the PCs be selected to try and show the Auditor how special Merlin is, or will they help orchestrate a town-wide coverup-conspiracy until he's gone?

>Party Party Party
>Your PCs have received the summons in the dead of the night: a beautifully calligraphic invitation floated into your house through an open window on a crimson red party balloon. The Merlin Township Party Planning Committee has gathered your PCs together in their secret lair deep beneath the Town Hall, for the purpose of helping them pull off a surprise birthday party for a member of the Town Council. This Council member though is smart though, and very wily, and for as long as the Merlin Township Party Planning Committee has tried, they have never once been able to surprise her with a party. It's up to the PCs to change this.

File: ffe041c7136f61bb68a93f095(...).jpg (95 KB, 500x600)

95 KB JPG

>>32565755
Cripes, don't I feel dumb! I hit the character limit and posted without including the picture. Sorry about that!

File: 1401506584693.png (832 KB, 900x1000)

832 KB PNG

I have to head along to work, but I hope to post some more plot hooks and storylines once I get there. See you guys and gals in just a bit!

>One of the town's "heroes," the self-proclaimed "Knight of Summer."

Best thread on 4chan right now confirmed for Merlin Township

>No Imaginary Friend of Mine
>The players are approached by a coalition of Merlin's imaginary friends, including such notable figments as Teagreen Grace, Shadowling, Squiggle and Mr. Roboto. The imaginary friends have come to the PCs because recently, a new friend has appeared in town and has become a very bad influence on the children, encouraging them to misbehave and become troublemakers. The imaginary friends want you to find the rogue figment and talk some sense into it, for the sake of the children of Merlin Township.

ALTERNATIVELY:
>A coalition of Merlin's children, human and otherwise, living and dead have approached the PCs in tears because all of their imaginary friends have suddenly gone missing. Where could they have all gone, and what could be behind their abrupt disappearance?

>>32546978

tfw foreveralone
damn you, Anon and thank you at the same time

File: image.jpg (13 KB, 225x140)

13 KB JPG

>We Are Not Alone
>With the Merlin Township Fourth of July Parade only a week away, you've been blackmailed, coerced or guilted into assisting a high schooler in a spacesuit complete her "Martian-American Pride" float in time. She reveals to you that she is an alien, and over the course of the build you discover that she is very lonely despite her brash and bossy demeanor. She claims that there are others like her hiding around town, but that they won't reveal themselves. Can you help her uncover the truth?

(Pic unrated but adorable)

>>32566903
>"pic unrelated"
>implying Merlin Township isn't on the Moon

File: clip (2014-05-28 at 09.09.44).png (308 KB, 1300x812)

308 KB PNG

>>32545081
>Hey John what are you doing

>Maddie please I'm studying for a te

>Ooh, is that one of Charles Dickens books?

>Yes, b

>He was nice

>I know, but can you please move back a bit your tits ar...wait, what

>I knew him before I died! We were really good friends, would you like some help?

>>32567132
>"studying for a te"
>"Yes, b"

>That's how every ghosts in Merlin Town hear human speech; it's not that they're playful prankster that pretend not to hear you, it's that death makes them partially deaf.

>Get Lost in a Good Book
>The player characters have gone to the Public Library to wait out a storm on one of those rainy days summer days, and without any particular goals in mind have taken to exploring the non-Euclidean interior ofthe building. What might they discover? Who might they meet?

>The Voice
>Lately, hikers in the northern woods have reported hearing the most beautiful female voice singing deep in the forest. Unfortunately, none of them have been able to find the source of the singing, and attempting to call out to the singer immediately causes them to stop and flee. Kipp Ashby has contacted the players, by radio, naturally, about trying to convince the mysterious singer to go on the and and share her song with all of Merlin Township.

>>32567162
Spirits aren't in complete synchronicity with the world of the living, and unless they're very focused and very cogent, they tend to drift in and out, hearing mashed-up portions of conversations and experiencing events in a somewhat un-linear fashion.

Let's sum it up.

We have a setting well defined enough for this post to occur: >>32548832

Local celebrities:
>>32546562
>>32539776
> Kipp "Vegas" Ashby
>>32543175

A way to show the players straight from the start that Merlin Town is not JUST another picturesque rural town (though it is also a picturesque rural town), and a reason for them to get there:
>>32544107
>>32543361
>>32543608
>>32543711

And plot hooks a-plenty:
>>32567328
>>32566903
>>32566787
>>32565860
>>32565724

I think we've done it, /tg/. We just designed an entire campaign based on the concept of "cute supernatural stuff happens", complete with a cimax possibility on the Audit entry of this post: >>32565860

Go run it to your PCs.

(Also, am I the only one thinking this could make a hell of a good-aligned Marble Hornets thing?)

We need to archive this thread, because it's AMAZING.

>>32567754

It already has been, kind Anon. Please upvote it, if you like!

>>32548052
>>32545866
>>32545781

>Matters of the Heart
>The PCs pass a young man in the Town Square, holding a bouquet of flowers and nervously checking his watch as he paces back and forth. When asked what the matter is, he tells you that he's managed to land a date with one of the Callahan Girls, but for the very life of him can't remember which one. The date's in a little over an hour, and he asks the players if they could go over to Callahan's Corner Market to try and figure out which girl will be coming.

>>32555454
>The giant cosmic cloud butt is not an unusual sight over Merlin Township

>>32567407
If you talk while gargling a glass of water, you will be perfectly understandable to any ghost in the vicinity.

Choosing a different drink will give you a stereotypical funny accent based on the drink's origin.

There is a public transportation service in Merlin Township. If you call the bus company and ask for a ride, they can give you a ride round trip to anywhere you can imagine. They advertise their 'Adventure Tour' wherein you ask for an adventure and they give you just that.

The local yukster knows everyone in town and just how to cheer them up. However, he rarely ever takes to the stage during the Yearly Joke Competition, save when a jokester is making cruel jokes. If that happens, he goes on stage and chides them in the form of embarrassing but ultimately not harmful jokes about their lives in intimate detail.
He and Mister Horace are best friends.

Sadly, not all that is supernatural is benevolent, as the townsfolk of Merlin Township found out a few years ago when a gang calling themselves 'The Unborn' moved into town. The gang of ethereal figures identified themselves as "a group of sentient possibilities and could-have-beens denied true existence and making the most of what they had." Apparently angry at never coming into being, these intangible rabble rousers ran about town, stealing items, wolf whistling at the Callahan girls, interfering with local spell work, bullying young ghosts and imaginary friends and even assaulting the towns living citizens by throwing items at them and causing windows and doors to open and shut wildly near them. These events were at first all blamed on the local poltergeist community, who were, needless to say, extremely indignant at having their good name besmirched by these new comers.

Nothing could be done to stop them. Regular forms of exorcism failed to work, as they were intended for use on beings that had passed on after existence, rather than failing to exist altogether. Even the police force was unable to escort the group out of the town's boundaries because they were unable to get a good grip on them.

>>32568192
Outraged, many of the town's citizens formed a lynch mob to go after The Unborn, causing a great deal of fuss as they were unable to do anything to the non-existent hoodlums. The rioters were given a stern word of warning from the superintendent and promised not to get so wound up again, but everyone agreed that something had to be done about the trouble makers.

So it was that the Merlin Township Party Planning Committee came up with a plan, with the aid of the local school children who recalled knowledge from an anti-bullying assembly they had once had: bullies just want love and attention because they feel they are lacking it. So, the MTPPC and several of the town's more forgiving residence arranged The Unborn an "Unbirthday Party" to celebrate their achievements in life. While rather unpleasant as a group, each individual member of The Unborn could be rather amiable, and the party made sure to highlight these positive aspects. So it was that, overwhelmed by emotion and extremely thankful, The Unborn peacefully slipped back into non-existence, taking with them several balloons and a party bag each.

>>32568192

This can be where the Player Characters come in, and can provide a great campaign closer, like The Audit from >>32565860.

File: death.jpg (153 KB, 609x800)

153 KB JPG

This Entire thread is giving me Discworld feels.

>>32568247
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHSwvtHFsOU

>You've had awful night terrors since you were little, and have grown accustomed to waking up drenched in sweat and fear
>But after you moved into Lucinda the dog breeder's old place, you don't remember any of the terrifying dreams
>Instead every morning all you can remember is the feeling of something warm and small peacefully dozing on your chest

File: image.jpg (27 KB, 494x700)

27 KB JPG

>Not Without Bunny
Little Mary Little has been little for a very long time. She's had lots and lots of fun playing with all the living children over the years, and is sure to show up with a smile at any MTPPC event, but lately, she's been missing her parents more and more, and has decided that she'd very much like to see them again. Unfortunately, Mary's stuffed toy rabbit has been lost these last few years, and the ghost girl is too scared to go anywhere without it. Can the party find Mary's toy and help her move on, or will they manage to convince her that she can be brave enough without it?

So having skimmed the thread...
And, well
>Ctrl+f
>Nightvale
>0 results

You guys realize that you just remade Nightvale, but not in the desert, and slightly less bleak, right?

>>32568527
Nigga you gotta try wit mo than one search

>>32565724

>>32568609
WHAT THE FUCK.

I tried searching Welcome to Nightvale, and got cut off after "Welcome to"
Either I made a spelling mistake, or those posts spontaneously appeared.

Probably the former, considering I don't live in the Merlin Township.

>>32568527
I'm not sure what spelling is correct, but it's been spelled "Night Vale" in this thread. Consensus is that Merlin Township a lighter, sweeter version of Night Vale, inspired more by Miyazaki and Terry Pratchett than Lovecraft and Stephen King.

> you are a mortally wounded soldier, passed out in a truck.
> you wake up in a 1940s style hospital bed, completely healed, surrounded by flowers and get well cards.
>no one answers when you call for a nurse, but another card suddenly slips through the window blinds and lands in your lap.
>it says, "everything's taken care of, you can leave when you're ready. Thank you for your service."
>a folded stack of clothes rest on a chair with a white hat.
> it's a marine's dress uniform with your rank, unit designation, and a Purple Heart medal.
> another note: "combat fatigues wouldn't appropriate. Get going."
> you put it on, then hear clapping and see bright flashes of light under the door.
> taped to the door is a rolled up scroll and a sticky note: "What are you waiting for!?"
> you put on your hat, take the scroll and open the door.
> a girl in a navy blue robe and square brimmed hat looks straight across a shiny oak floor at you
> tears well up in the prettiest pair of eyes you've ever seen. A roaring crowd goes silent as a head of hair buries itself in your shoulder.
> "I knew you wouldn't miss my graduation"
> slip the diploma in her delicate fingers, wave at your weeping wife in the front seat.
> right next to her is a 1940s Red Cross nurse, smirking.

File: image.jpg (61 KB, 433x284)

61 KB JPG

Not all "hooks" need to send the players on some sort of mission. In any small rural town there is plenty to do if you just have some imagination. Merlin Township is not just any small rural town besides, and will have an astonishing number of fun, peculiar, spooky and heartwarming happenings to enjoy:

- The Merlin Independence Day Parade
- An unexpected meteor shower
- The Library's Summer Reading Program and Adult Ed. Classes
- Merlin Radio 77.7's latest prize contest
- The conspiratorial fun of the Merlin Township Party Planning Committee
- Horace Griswold's bowling league finals
- Anomalous weather conditions
- The Town Hall clock breaking down and breaking time once or twice
- Interviewing friend and neighbors for the local newspaper
- Playing hide and seek with the ghost children
- Reconnecting with your childhood imaginary friend
- Listening to live (or undead) music on the Town Square
- Going swimming or picnicking at Lake Morgan Town Park
- Finding and following a treasure map
- Finding and losing love
- Making friends
- Learning and growing

File: image.jpg (173 KB, 660x460)

173 KB JPG

Small country towns always seem have those "Welcome To _____________" signs with the town name and some little saying or a slogan meant to give visitors some sense of the area's history or character. What do you Anons suppose it says on the "Welcome to Merlin Township" sign?

>"A Nice Place to Exist"
>"Established 1856, 1888, and 1911"
>"Home of the State Champion Merlin Banshees

>>32569590
I'm not sure what it says on the welcome sign, but on the side you see as you're leaving town it says "Come back yesterday!"

>>32569590
Have a link:

http://gorving.com/enewsletter/may-2010/100-best-smalltown-slogans

I'm liking the slogan for Peculiar, Missouri:

>"Where the Odds are with you."

Is this pertinent?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ng6RsOeMTkg

>>32569590
>>32569734
The sign has no set text. While "Come back yesterday!" is always there, the welcoming text changes every time you look away from it. An example, where someone looked at it multiple times, would be something like:

>Out of sight, in your mind!
>Home of whatever you could think of!
>Established some time between now and 3086!
>Your home away from home... or is it?
>Home of Kipp Ashby's famous pie!
>You're still reading this, aren't you?
>Deep Ones welcome!
>Slogans are hard to come up with, you know.
>Home of scenic Lake Morgan and Camp Chupacabra!
>You're making my job a bit hard here, friend.
>Y'know what? Fine, no slogan for you.
And, until you enter the town, you won't see any slogan on the sign up front. That's not to say others won't see something completely different.

>>32570895
Very nice, I like the idea of the slogan changing.

>"The Closest Faraway Place"
>"The Living and the Dead Welcome You"
>"A Friendly Town Full of Friendly "People."
>"You Belong"
>"Enjoy Our Super Natural Wonders"
>"The Hidden Jewel of Lethe County"

>>32569590
>'Established 27 AD, Wales, Britain'
Because Merlin was a celt.

>>32569590

>"POPULATION: Living - 8,201 Dead - 5,179 Other - 2,366"

>Try Mr. Frank's assorted "Cheeses"
>Don't try Mr. Stevenson's assorted "Cheeses"
>Home of the sky.
>Birthplace of birth.
>Try again later.

>>32571409
>>32571314
>>32571306
>>32571203
>>32570895

>A group of disaffected 20-30 somethings traveling across country to try and find themselves find their way somehow to Merlin Township. Tired out from a day's driving, they get a couple rooms at the Commodore and go to explore the town.

>Ghosts and monsters and Eldritch happenings everywhere, spooking the group and sending them screaming for their car.

>Just like a horror movie cliche, their car simply refuses to start and keeps them from leaving. As their fear fades, they become more confused and be used by both the town's overt, omnipresent paranormal activity and the genuine friendliness of its citizens.

>While their car is getting repaired, the group learn more about the town and those who dwell there, and more about themselves in the process. One decides they ought to finish their teaching degree after reading to the ghost children at the Public Library. One decides they need to reconnect with their father after watching a father and son three-legged race, or five-legged race for beings who already have three legs. One falls in love with Kipp Ashby's radio shows, and decides to give being a disk jockey a shot. One just seems happy to be around happy people, regardless of their species or living status, and slowly but surely opens up gross into their best self.

>When the car is finally fixed and the group is ready to leave, their last member tells their companions that they intend on staying in town a while more, and that they feel like this is the place they ought to be. He says he didn't get it when they were driving in, but now he understands why the sign he had seen had said:

>NOW ENTERING MERLIN TOWNSHIP
>"Welcome Home"

>>32571909
I was not prepared for this emotion.

>>32571909
And then the TV series begins where the movie ended?

You know, all of this meshes in the opposite way that Night Shift did. Remember? The project with the gas station that was all spooky. I feel that the Stop 'n Gas is the portal to Merlin, and that anyone who can brave their way through it deserves what's on the other side. Survive the Night Shift, redeem yourself, and one day you too can retire to Merlin.

>>32572111
As an anon that posted heavily in the Night Shift threads, I can really see how both setting can be considered two sides to the same coin.

relevant?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mptpw8fQ-lw&list=

>>32572159
Right? I was the Green Phone Anon. This seems like the next best thing.

>>32572111
I feel that they are similar, yes, but they shouldn't be in the same place in order to keep their uniqueness unique to themselves

>>32528287
what's wrong with tentacles?

>>32572293
Both settings are based on the themes of the paranormal, the mystical, and the supernatural, but each uses those themes very, very differently:

Night Shift focused on isolation, horror and danger.

Merlin Township focuses in community, heartwarming and comfort.

>>32572272
Not really, but holy shit that was adorable.

I kinda like the idea of a little spirit that makes ghost clothes though.

>>32572350
I agree. I actually had to keep myself from adding a Night Shift event or location just for the hell if it. They've each got their own histories and their own mythologies. I would consider them sister-settings though in the /tg/ homebrew family.

Thought I'd take a go at recording one of the Radio Merlin bits, so I did >>32528147

http://vocaroo.com/i/s078lZ2qcQBS

I just have a headset mic, so audio quality probably isn't too great, but if y'all like it, I might do more?

>>32572431
You mean Old Lady Tassler, the town's longest non-living resident? She's got a little ghost clothes shop just down the lane from the hospital. Convenient for confused ghosts who just left the city morgue down in the basement of the hospital, you know!

>>32572442
Needs more of a drawl, I think, and I really don't like this particular story, it's poorly constructed as a news bit.

Still, my fav so far.

>>32572467
Oh and it's simply darling how she'll take walks (well, floats) around the area, keeping an eye out for the embarrassed newlydead, ready to take them back to her store for company and a wardrobe.

>>32572442
Oh balls it's been a long time since I've posted on 4chan. I meant >>32543175 not the OP

>>32572484
I mainly did it since it was the first one I found when I looked. I can try affecting a drawl, but no promises.

>>32572507
She's a blessing that our town richly appreciates, I tell ya. She's dealt with the newly dead so long, I've never even heard of her getting razzed up by their post-Mort panic attacks. And she's one heck of a designer too.

>>32572590
I tell ya, if she could do with polyester what she can do with ectoplasm I'd be a regular customer.

Has anyone been keeping a list if all the locations and landmarks that have been thought up so far? It would be nice to brainstorm more mundane and paranormal locales in town and slap 'em on a map.

>The Merlin Township K'vaaleshi Coven are a quiet and secretive bunch, holed up in the Bluebell Diner on Fourth and Humboldt.
>The Diner is famous throughout the township for their excellent scones and wide selection of teas. Prospective members and customers are greeted with ear-to-ear wide grins (quite literally), gingham tablecloths, and the nostalgic scent of freshly baked bread.
>The Coven's duties involve predominantly apothecary-related work. A strapping young lad can acquire a love potion, for the small price of a clipping of hair, a dramful of blood and a few dollars. Be warned, though, if used maliciously, the potion becomes white-hot to the touch. This is why certain erstwhile proud sportsmen have light scortch marks on their hands.
>The back room smells rather like the cross between a souk and Granny's kitchen. A pot of soup is invariably at a gentle gulp on the hob, and spices hang from the ceiling.
>Adelphina West, the youngest K'vaaleshist is twelve years of age, and specialises in the Powdered Bunny tincture. All that is required is the powder, a small glass of carrot wine, and patience. After combining the ingredients and whispering the incantation, in but a few hours a minute, whiffly and fat pet will appear.

So, here's a quick go at >>32544009
without trying a drawl
http://vocaroo.com/i/s1p4zSRObXkl

And since it was asked for, with some sort of drawl:
http://vocaroo.com/i/s1hcOcoYwT2O

File: image.jpg (48 KB, 450x310)

48 KB JPG

>>32572699
Town Hall w/clock tower and MTPPC lair
Town Square (may not actually be square)
Public Library
Callahans' Corner Market
The Commodore Hotel and Boarding House
Merlin Radio Station 77.7 (deserted?)
Merlin Train Station
River Lethe w/bridge crossings
Northern Woods
Lake Morgan w/town park

>>32572649
Well she does have a partnership with MkCales, that nice tailoring family, so if you like her designs, you can buy the living variations there.

>>32572699
I want to see this turned into a tourist/visitor type of map.

>>32572833
I actually like the second one more, but I'm not sure if it's because of the drawl or that I think you might have pushed the reaction a bit too far in the first one and with a fake accent you had to restrict yourself more, making you sound a bit more dignified.

File: 1401750989846.jpg (117 KB, 487x487)

117 KB JPG

>>32572822
>Using a love potion non-maliciously

Does this refer to intent or effect? You're still magically coercing someone into a relationship, no matter how altruistic your goals.

>>32573005
Imagine two (very) good friends who are on the precipice of falling in love, but they're both not quite sure what to do and have very confused feelings about each other, but none of those feelings are malicious; you know, the will-they-or-won't-they sort of friends. Well. This is where love potion comes in, it acts as a psychological nudge towards better things. It doesn't work if either partner isn't consenting; nor if either partner is using it with malicious intent.

It's magic, don't have to explain why

>>32573143
We call that alcohol, anon.

>>32573190
But this is !!MAGIC!! laser-guided alcohol specifically for the purpose of love-falling.

>>32573143
Oh, I get it. If there's love there already, it removes confusion or other mental barriers, but if there isn't any love there, it's useless.

That's really cool, and fits well with the town's tone.

(Hadn't read the thread when I wrote my reply, and 'love potions', the way they usually work, have always creeped me the Hell out. Now that I've got a feel for the town, it sounds great.)

File: 1355478127138.jpg (34 KB, 500x375)

34 KB JPG

>>32573242
Yes! I'm pleased to be of help.

>>32573242
Ahhhhh, so it's less a traditional "love potion" and more a potion for "clarity of the heart."

>>32573342
Yes, that's it.

Last one for now, I guess. It's >>32545941
http://vocaroo.com/i/s1xaGt1NkMQy

These have been fun to read, if the thread manages to survive long enough, I guess I'll do more.

>>32541704

Jesus fuck I was about to make fun of the other guys who said they teared up. But, fuck that got me. Screencapping this.

File: White-Spot-placemat-Aug-2(...).jpg (926 KB, 1280x852)

926 KB JPG

>>32572867
>>32572836
>>32572699

A touristy map of Merlin Town center would be absolutely fantastic. One of those maps that you can get for free from the local shops, or that comes on the paper placemats at the local diner.

>Bluebell Diner
>Merlin Township Chamber of Commerce
>"Camera Obscura" photo studio and camera shop
>Merlin Volunteer Fire Department
>Merlin Police Department
>India Café
>"The Hecate" Movie Theater
>Lovers' Leap Bridge
>The Darling Street "Haunted 'House"
>McKales Clothiers
>"Tassler's Wardrobe" ghost clothing shop
>Roger Timmens Memorial Hospital

This is the best thing /tg/ has done in ages. Someone needs to PDF this.

Merlin Township Party Planning Committee sounds ideal for a campaign.
What if the spirits have to do nice things, or they'll suffer a fate worse than purgatory? And there is only so much good that can be done in a day, so some spirits would...

Anyway, I got one (might apply more generally for quests)
> Party encounters little ghost girl
> Roll to resist fear.
> If anyone is scared by her she becomes extremely apologetic and feels very sorry.
> If she is negotiated with, she'll agree to help the party, but she won't often be seen (think of her a "get out of TPK free card").
> She will be scared of any Paladin's in the party. Trying to hide out of sight.
> She can scare off other creatures. Even though she's just shouting "Go away!" While flailing her arms, even skeletons, zombies and ghouls will turn tail and run much like a child would with them.

File: Time Theater.jpg (319 KB, 445x640)

319 KB JPG

>>32573771

This pic would make a good base model for the Hecate Theater, or maybe just "The Hec" to locals. Small town movie theaters really can be beautiful little gems.

Also:
>"Roger Timmens Memorial Hospital"
Is a pretty funny idea, especially if he's managed to die heroically in every major war Merlin has gotten involved in.

>>32574198
>I lost this here leg back in the war when I...
>Which war, Roge?
>...shit. It was the one with the flag, and all the marching...
>That describes nearly all of them.
>They're all the same, someone shouts at you, hands you a rifle, and whoops, there goes your leg, just in time for the next one. Sick of it, to be honest.

>>32574198

The movies wind up being the life story of someone in the audience. The actors are different, but you can tell who they're meant to be.

Despite the ups and downs, the successes and failures, everyone who sees those films agrees the life of that person was beautiful and that it made the lives of those around them better. Whether they show it as a comedy, or romantic film, a thriller, or even a tragedy, somehow it always has a happy ending.

File: Virginia_MN_Antique_Auto_(...).jpg (658 KB, 1536x2048)

658 KB JPG

>>32572699

>Merlin Public Elementary, Middle and High Schools
>Merlin Municipal Ballfield
>Swinburne's Spirited Sweets
>J. Miller & Sons Pharmacy

I can't seem to come up with a satisfactory name for the town's local watering hole. I feel like it should be indicative of Merlin's paranormal nature but at the same time shouldn't smack you in the face with it like pic related.

>>32574758
The Other Side.

Its on the other side of the tracks as the majority of businesses, so it fits both criteria.

>>32574758
Cauldron?
Creaky Trapdoor?
Ivory Tower?
Dark Pit?
The Labyrinth, complete with both Minotaur bouncer and David Bowie Goblin king owner?

>>32574794
I like this.

File: KansasHumboltWaterTower05JT.jpg (36 KB, 375x500)

36 KB JPG

>>32574794
I'm liking "The Other Side" too. Then you can have people say that they'll be "meeting up later on the other side."

Should Merlin Township have a water tower? It could add to the small town feel of the place, but it might also be too much of a Midwest thing.

>>32575103
If we can think up a supernatural angle to it, sure.

>There is a resident lich in this town, he lives in a shack in the outskirts.
Instead of a skeletal corpse, his body is a combination of loose materials, odds and ends, metal utensils, and the like.
>His shack is filled with mechanical parts and strange constructs.
>his voice, although raspy and thin, feels almost gentle
>when asked about his work, he will simply say that it's for one he used to love.
He sometimes tends the graves, using dark magics to simply talk to the spirits.
>He is very open about his phylactraphy, which is a small music box.
>some fear him, others shun him. When asked about himself, he will reply:
"Time with oneself will change all aspects of life. But the dead still want to see the world around them. it is with reverence that I indulge them."

>>32574315
>how many stars
>Say what?
>I mean on the flag. Fifty two? One?
>Four
>Alright, so we're in Worlds War II, gotcha

i feel like there needs to be one of those Hook stories where the hook bangs on the window of the car and instead of murdering everyone horribly tells the cars occupants that it looks like their tail light is out, os they should drive safe now, y'hear?

>>32575152
>Merlin Township gets all the water it needs from Lake Morgan and the River Lethe, and even the usually meticulously kept town records are unclear as to why the tall steel water tower on the far end of the town center was originally constructed. All that most citizens know is that the tower has been a part of Merlin's skyline almost since the beginning, and that it can be seen for miles in any direction.

- You can sometimes see the water tower from certain locations and angles that should be physically impossible.

- The water tower does not cast the shadow it ought to for the position of the sun at any given time of day.

- There is some sort of wiseman, ascetic or living Buddha holed up inside the water tower who is fond of beer and Indian food and will tell you what you want to know for a cheap dinner and some company.

>>32575622
>Living Buddha

YES

This thread reminds me of the NIghtshift game we came up with

File: GaryOwens.jpg (23 KB, 240x320)

23 KB JPG

>>32575565
That's brilliant. One of my main inspirations earlier in the thread was trying to think of how to take horror clichés and tropes and make them heartwarming. You've done it here for sure.

>Pictured; Kipp Ashby?

>>32575749
Kipp Ashby doesn't have a physical form, so that's not what he looks like. I'm unfamiliar with that speaker so I don't know how to relate that.

File: wzrd-fm.jpg (27 KB, 250x319)

27 KB JPG

>>32575773
Ohhhhh, you've got a good point. I'd forgotten that Kipp's a literal "radio personality" who's station just sort of gathers dust and sometimes visitors and more or less runs itself.

>>32575749
>>32575773
Naw, that looks perfect for Kipp Ashby. You can make so that he is no longer corporeal and thus he is now invisible if you want, but that's Kipp as far as I'm concerned.

>>32572822
>>32573005
>>32573143
>>32573190
>>32573212
>>32573242
>>32573342

What if the love potion actually is just a placebo and does nothing? [/spoler]

>>32575914
sometimes they are, sometimes they aren't

>>32575873
The thing is I love the idea we already established of "If you track the signal, you'll find a sprawling, abandoned radio station with a bunch of broken equipment, and at the heart of it there's a empty broadcasting room, save for a freshly baked pie and a note that reads 'Thanks for listening ~Kipp Ashby', and your name will be mentioned on the next show."

>>32575946
Doesn't prevent Kipp from having been a real person who just loved doing his radio shows too much to quit from something as mundane as dying.

>>32575749
Hm, I've got a couple of ideas on stuff like that, though a lot of these urban legends are pretty similar.

Mothman for example, could be one of those fuzzy bunny moths.

Spider bite leads to a boil from which bursts hundreds of tiny spiders that all call you mommy.

Not sure how to deal with bloody mary though...

>>32575984
I don't want everything to be ghosts. I want there to just be some strange phenomenon that aren't really explainable, but you just accept it. A music-loving being that exists only through radio sounds pretty neat to me.

>>32576013
Hey, I did say "as far as I'm concerned".

If someone wants to make Kipp be Satan's alter ego he uses when he is too stressed out from doing evil and just wants to do something nice for a while be my guess.

>>32576013
There is a framed photo of Gary Owens in the booth at the radio station. It's not Kipp, but it's what people like to think he looks like, wherever, whatever he is.

>>32576064
Well we have to talk these things out together, it's a group project.

>>32576070
Now this I like, nice idea Udzum

>>32576097
>Group project
Unless there's someone currently working on collecting them, I don't think there is any group project at the moment. if the group wants Kipp to be literally a Radio personality, sure, but I don't see why I need to not see Owens as Kipp. Or satan as kipp.

File: granny.jpg (18 KB, 432x531)

18 KB JPG

>>32575914

"It has been said that the difference between headology and psychiatry is that, were you to approach either with a belief that you were being chased by a monster, a psychiatrist will convince you that there are no monsters coming after you, whereas a headologist will hand you a bat and a chair to stand on."

>>32575334
>Do you remember D-day at all?
>Sure, I remember charging up that damn soggy beach in the sand. Miserable time. I didn't even want to be in that one, they drafted me.
>I thought you joined voluntarily every time.
>Nope. Each time I die, I get a little two little tic boxes that say, "Die" or "Get drafted" and a pencil. Some bastard scribbled out the die option, so I'm stuck in a rut a bit.

File: 1389215922138.gif (249 KB, 600x496)

249 KB GIF

Can we get this thread Archived? I wanna have access to this stuff for later. This is real good shit.

>>32576330
It's probably already in the tg archive if your choice. Worse case scenerio, I always save the pages I like.

File: R44c_full.gif (453 KB, 610x1500)

453 KB GIF

>>32576013
>>32576064
>>32576070
>>32576097
>>32576162

Friends, Kipp can be many things to many people, but what he is to everyone is the Voice of Merlin Township over community radio, bringing folks together.

File: 1384493358461.jpg (176 KB, 700x1048)

176 KB JPG

>Angela Reyes, another Hero of Merlin Township.

>>32576627
>Angela rarely takes her costume off. When she does, she often has to be reminded to put the wire back on her halo.

>>32575622
Merlin is the Western capital for ascetics, sages, wisemen and living Bhuddas. They often meet up every three to seven years or so to talk with each other and anyone who is willing to listen.

>>32576888
The convention brings some welcome tourist dollars to the town, although all the monks and such with their vows of poverty sleeping in the streets do tend to clog things up.

>>32576888
Budcon

Where Yoga meets Druidism, and everything inbetween.

>>32576013
Radio sounds and pies

>>32576277
>>32577026
>What do you mean you fought in the clone wars?
>A lot of people fought in the clone wars! It wasnt just clones and robots going at each other.
A tiny green passing ascetic stops for a moment, turn towards the chatting old men, and sadly shakes his head.
>Hey don't give me that self righteous bull! It was your job to keep the peace, your job to see it all coming! It was your lot who dropped the ball, magic man!

>>32576978
>>32577026
Naturally. The town's always grateful of its many visitors during this time, even the ones with large silly white hats.

The business pick up is nice too.

>>32577115
Just a handy reminder from the fine folks at the Merlin Community Pool to a few of the more "water-resistant" residents.

>>32577115
Merlin might need a municipal pool to go along with the ballfield, and maybe a Rec Center for the Parks and Recreation Department have their offices.

>>32577266
And a Fairgrounds. They tried using the county fairgrounds one year and...well.....some rude individual made some rude radio broadcast about them. Something about worlds at war or something? Super rude regardless.

Anywho, yes, fairgrounds for Merlin

File: e6824fac8c8808b88f4a4bc99(...).jpg (110 KB, 600x785)

110 KB JPG

>>32576627
"Heroes of Merlin Township" sounds like an expansion or a list of pre-made Merlin characters.

>>32576888
Love the little blurb you wrote for her.

>Luci Fergusson, Head of Housekeeping at the Commodore Hotel and Hero of Merlin Township.

>>32577381
Thanks. Figgered what with all the supernaturals, hints o' that type need be here and there.

>Angela is a spitfire and quick to judge a person. This upsets her father, who lives out of town, but is well known for being a kindly welcoming individual. He sent Angela to live with an aunt while he's away on business, hoping she'll learn her lesson and cool her heels a bit. Maybe makes some friends.

>Luci is proud of her work and is considered the best at her job....well second best. Hard to compete with the ghost housekeepers sometimes. Don't have to sleep, dontcha know?

>>32577381
>Diary note: It appears the maid in this hotel blinks once exactly every 10 seconds.
>her breath does not appear to form fog in the winter air
>Her skin is cold to the touch

>Get out to the country, they said
>it'll be good for your nerves, they said

>>32577483
It was, eventually, good for his nerves. Once he got over his skittishness and made friends with a talking alpaca.

This is making me want to binge of Miyazaki films.

>>32578924
Because, as mentioned here >>32543055, it's basically Ghibli and Welcome to Night Vale having a kid.

Also:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6kPXH9HJvE

Merlin Township Cemetery is a weird place. It's big; way bigger than any township the size of Merlin has the right to need. And it doesn't actually fit properly; you really shouldn't be able to get lost in something that, according to the map, is only about 40 feet across.

It's full of graves, obviously, but the graves in it never seem to be the same ones; and you don't know why but even though you don't know anyone with the name on the tombstone you're inexplicably drawn to, you feel as if you should.

Of course, this being Merlin Township, you'll never find the grave you are looking for if you go looking for someone to commune with the spirit of the one lying in the grave; it's you who needs to hear their story, no one else.And you need to hear it on your own terms.

Guinevere Way is the high-class district of Merlin Township. There are twenty-three home owners on the street, however, if you walk all the way down the block, you'll only encounter ten houses. And, unless you have the key, you'll always end up at the wrong house.

File: Ghost Children.png (719 KB, 1000x670)

719 KB PNG

>"Thank you for stopping byyyyyyyyyy.........."

>"We hope you enjoyed your staaaaaaaaaay.........."

>"Please come back to visit us again soooooooooon.........."

>"Drive safelyyyyyyyyyy.........."

Hal's Haunted Hardware Store. Hal is a living human, but the other employees aren't anymore. Some are corporeal, many are ectoplasmic. All were employees when they were alive and they all return here when they pass on. It is a little crowded but the staff is very knowledgeable about hardware, plumbing, and 19th Century politics. Hal knows he will return here after he dies and is ok with that.