HOUSE OF PAYNE INTERNATIONAL: Archive: GMP


The Gold Monkey Project: Coming attractions


Looks like you've read all the episodes I have posted so far! Fear not, there's more to come. Tim and I sat down a few weeks ago and played face to face, and after two weekends of gameplay our adventure has made a lot of progress that needs to be documented and posted.

So for the next several weeks, I will be writing up the stories of what happened during the non-email portion of the game. I will post them here in segments, like the episodes that have been posted so far. By the time all that gets done, we should have another couple of email exchanges completed as well. Stay tuned!
If you're really desperate to know what happens next (unlikely as that is), feel free to read this short summary and then skip to our latest exchange.

Shaft and Chisaibu spend the night inside the City Underregent's manor, looking for his supernatural killer. Instead, they find secret rooms, many devious and cunning traps, and a stash of loot. Shaft's honest heart prevails and they take (almost) nothing but the Underregent's big book of blackmail.

They ride off to Hillshire to take care of the repo job Chisaibu was contracted to do. Security at the gem show is tight, so Chisaibu gets some other fool to break in first. This provides a diversion, but Chisaibu ends up having to go ethereal anyway. They flee the city with the immense purple gem, cut their way through a detachment of guards, and make it back to Range End.

After doing a little drunken boasting, they lay low in their inn to recover from the strenuous week's labors. Strangely, the City Underregent seems to have thrown the party in their absence, despite being dead. Chisaibu descends into madness due to the influence of a psychotic mummified fly named Brother Courtesy. An unpleasant visitor disturbs Shaft's beauty rest and gets thrown out the window for his pains. His wizardly boss shows up and loses his grip on sanity when he tries to get inside Chisaibu's head. Spells are slung right and left. A shape-shifting Shaft fights a two-headed devil, and Chisaibu plays Goliath. The wizard comes to his senses, gets his gem, and takes Chisaibu's black box with a promise to look into it.

Once the wizard departs, Shaft heads back up to go back to sleep. Chisaibu inspects the scene of battle and cuts off a lock of the devil's hair. Riding backwards towards illusory riches, he finds himself the bare-breasted priestess to a turtle god. There is some difficulty with the law, so Chisaibu makes her/himself scarce. At the home of a humble peasant family, Chisaibu picks up a change of clothes and leaves behind a few surprises to cover the loss. S/He also witnesses the demise of Brother Courtesy, who is devoured by the family cat.

The newly femnine Chisaibu and the still-polymorphing Shaftsit down and for a chat with the wizard, who has identified the box. He fixes their conditions in exchange for information on the dead Underregent, which troubles him. That evening, they go to the temple, and Chisaibu speaks with gods and priests. He and Shaft heed a divine mandate to rescue the town from an ancient evil which threatens to blah, blah, blah. They hook up with the wizard and raid the City Underregent's manor, with the assistance of a dozen drunks acting as a diversionary force.

Their sneakery is discovered and they are forced to fight their way in. Chisaibu pulls out his boomstick and deals out death from one angry barrel. The wizard makes magic. Shaft catches fire. The three of them fight their way to the top and kill a lot of guys with yellow blood, including the City Underregent. Without even taking the time to properly loot the place, they fly out of the manor and stagger home. Then, heeding the wizard's advice, Chisaibu and Shaft ride out of town to let things cool down a little.

Next Episode!




The Gold Monkey Project: Episode 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9

GMP: Episode 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15 / 16 / 17 / 18 / 19



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All text and images copyright � 2001 John Payne. All rights reserved.
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