City of IF

[JezSharp]

Author's Note: Thought I'd try my hand at the Red Hot H & E comp with the Toymaker, one that looked a lot of fun :) .

Chapter 1

Even the most unusual and strange events have their roots buried long ago in the past, events that work towards a climax – zero hour. Consequently one of the beginnings of this quite extraordinary tale begins several years ago in Eastern Europe.

Alexi Poppanov had spent all his life working on making old fashioned toys, wooden trains, stuffy bears, wooden board games and tin soldiers. He was an incredibly talented craftsman in wood and metal, he had the benefit of much knowledge that had been passed down to him from his father and before that his grandfather – to which he had added his own. There was nothing he liked better than to make proper toys with his hands and see the smiling faces of the children who received them. Smiles that had been becoming less and less, until the thin trickle of kids coming to his shop had dried up completely. Now all the kids went for the soulless plastic dolls, toy cars made in Taiwan and thin disks that they stuck into slots that produced fleeting flashing pictures. A tear rolled down Alexi’s wizened face as he turned over the creaking white board in the window for the last time, this was it - the end. He wobbled unsteadily over to ‘Dobbin’, his black and white patched rocking horse, placing a hand on its back, tears now freely flowing from his face. It felt as though a boiling dagger had been plunged deep within his heart.

It was in those few minutes however that Alexi’s sorrow turned to resentment, then to rage. Nine hundred and ninety nine men in a thousand would have merely muttered curses or thrown a temper fit, but not Alexi. Alexi’s family weren’t quitters, they were fighters and as Alexi felt the overwhelming rage at the state of the world he lived in, he controlled it – letting it burn within, but continuously with a definite purpose. Slowly he climbed to his feet and moved slowly away into the backroom of his shop. In there he reached up for a special ornamental tin that he had kept hidden, marked ‘Emergencies’. The dust that lay upon it was so thick that he needed to turn his head away to avoid instant suffocation from the ensuing cloud of dust.

He paused, did he dare…there would be no going back. A curious smile crossed his face, one that the hardworking toymaker had never felt before – channeled from the resentment inside. Grinning he lifted the lid and looked at the sparkling powder inside – ‘just as I was told’ he sighed happily. He moved back out into the main shop floor and pulled down the blinds over the windows. Then he began to gently sprinkle the dust onto the toys within his shop.

* * *

John staggered through the narrow cobbled streets, his body freezing from the cold. At every step the wind bit deeper, trying to tear his heart from his body – the thin rags offering pitiful protection. He bumped and crashed down the alleyway that amplified the darkness of the night – unsure of where he was going, trying to find the energy to cry for help. Suddenly he saw a light in the window of one of the small stores in the street and fell against the window – to no response. The blinds were drawn, but he could here the faint sounds of movement within. Above the window he could just make out the faded title ‘Alexi’s Toys’. Maybe the owner is round the back he thought desperately. Painfully he struggled down a narrow passageway and opened a small wooden gate that led into the backyard of Alexi’s toy store. He stumbled in only to stop and stare in surprise. The whole yard had had posts stuck into it that came up to head height and were covered with plastic sheeting. It was what was in this warehouse of plastic sheeting – standing upon the concrete floor that caused John to gape. Rows of tin soldiers and Paddington bears armed with rifles. His head spun as the wooden gate crashed shut. Were they watching him – staring at him…he must be dreaming. Then, as he slumped to the floor, his back against the rough wooden gate, one of the Paddington Bears took a whistle from his pocket and blew one shrill blast. A light came on from one the upstairs bedroom. John remained frozen to the floor…should he run or stay, if he decided to stay what should he say?

[Smudger]

:shock:, a toy army!!! i will never look at my toys in the same way, but its a good start, didnt notice any mistakes, and i can't wait to find out what John does

[Chinaren]

Quote: At every step the wind bit deeper in

I think you should drop the 'in' here.

Run, but not far. Hide and observe. Maybe creep back later. Oooh. I feel a cold chill. Oh wait, I sat on my ice-cream.

Nice start! Looking forward to more of this one!

[solus.serpen]

Lol, good sg Jez. I was thinking - would he be able to run, given his present state of shock? I think he should try - but not be able to :lol: .

Although If he is not going to be able to escape - maybe he should just try and talk anyway? If he is that weak/hungry I don't think he would care. Maybe he thinks he is hullucinating? - Hm, I think he should try and talk actually.

solus.

[Morzan]

When I was a kid I had nightmares about being attacked by clowns and dolls...I was worse than you think, they had knives and guns too. *shivers*

But I like it. I agree with Solus, try to run.

[Argonaut]

Interesting start, maybe I read it wrong but it sounded like the bears were armed with rifles. Where did Alexi get all the guns? Toy rifles I suppose.

Anyway, considering John's current state, I'm thinking he should just stick around and find out what the hell is going on. He seems to be in pretty serious trouble already, almost anything would be a better alternative to freezing to death.

[Shady Stoat]

Good start - although I'm not too keen on the 'little did he know' narrative intervention. I always think that sounds a bit cheesy in a story, but that's just my own personal taste :cool:

Under the circumstances, I think "Whuuuuu....?" might be a good thing to say. Or just laughing hysterically. It's funny, in a bizarre, 'this could kill me' sort of way.

I certainly don't think he'd be up to the whole 'take me to your leader ' speech, or of thinking coherently. He might run, but if he did, he'd probably have to go back in an hour, after he'd calmed down, to make sure he wasn't hallucinating - at which point, he'd probably be caught.

*grins* Nice to see another of the comp ideas in progress :D

[Smee]

It is great to see this comp get some more enthusiasm, and a good start here Jez :D

A few moments of repetition - one example - I think you used "born out of X" several times. I also have to agree with Stoat's comment about the 'Little did he know' parts. Not something I enjoy. It's a bit like the TV programs that show you 'coming up in todays show' before you watch the program. They're designed to entice you further, but to me, just ruins the end.

What to do next...

I would think anything was beyond him at this point, but adrenaline is powerful stuff, if not the best for careful thought. With the alarm raised, and strange moving toys with guns, fight is out of the question. Which leaves flight. It won't be graceful, and probably involve much cursing and falling over, but he should be able to forget the cold long enough to get away.

Run, John, Run.

Happy Writing :D

[JezSharp]

Polls up :) , I'm definately making this sg a lot less serious than my other as it's experimental, so I'm just letting it run where it wants to run :lol: .

[LordoftheNight]

Voted for the hysterical laughing, complete with much poking of teddy bears.

[Smee]

Yep - I've changed my mind and gone for the laughing hysterically - should be fun :D

Happy Writing.

[JezSharp]

Chapter 2

John continued to stare at the rows and rows of watching toys, wondering what was happening. I’m dead, he suddenly realised, this isn’t real at all. A feeling of relief swept over him, the cold had finally done it’s worse – he was probably suffering a very weird post death experience. He started to laugh, chuckling at first before it reached a crescendo of hysterical laughter, “HahahaHAAHAAHAHEEHOHAHUhuhuh…” Suddenly as quickly as it had started it stopped, as he saw he was being observed by a black hooded figure, by the back door of the shop, that was beckoning him over. Struggling around the edge of the plastic covered warehouse; he reached the door where the shadowed silhouette was beckoning him over. As he approached it, he realised with some surprise that it was only an old man with a stick, not as he had originally expected Death with a scythe. The old man slowly he put a finger to his lips and beckoned John to follow him inside.

As John walked in, Alexi closed the door behind him,

“Welcome stranger,” came Alexi’s voice, old yet strong, “would you like some soup?” John almost fell out of the quaint wooden chair that he had sat in; this must be some sort of surreal heaven,

“Yes please,” he stammered, “I’d love some.”

“I thought so,” said the old man smiling, waving his right hand he signalled some China dolls to open a can and start to cook it. John watched fascinated as the soup boiled and was poured into a clay bowl by the dolls, who were giggling and chatting amongst themselves. Then a human sized bear, whom had been slumped in the corner humming to himself, got up and carried the bowl over to John.

“Thanks,” he said, almost breathlessly.

“Not a problem,” the bear replied gruffly as he retreated back to the corner, causing John to almost spit his first mouthful of soup back into the bowl. As he hurriedly finished his soup, Alexi watched him with his curious grey and green eyes. He liked the idea of an assistant, but could he trust this one…? When John had finished his meal, Alexi spoke in his lilting East European voice,

“What is your name stranger?”

“John.”

“Right John…Welcome to my humble abode. You need only know me as ‘The Toymaster’ for now. I happen to think that you can help me in my plans…in return you will be well fed and looked after – and gain a vastly different set of friends and comrades than any you may have had before.” John gaped – he was now being offered a job…?

“Am I still alive?” he queried.

“Very much so,” replied Alexi smiling, “right now though you have two clear choices before you – you can either become my assistant for life, risking all for the cause we shall work towards - or you can leave the shop unharmed, to head towards the streets you came from. Which will it be?”

“Don’t I get to find out what your cause is…suppose it’s one that will cost many peoples lives?” John replied nervously, as he realised that the job was hardly likely to be a legal enterprise. Almost all of his life had been spent on the streets – and so theft and assault had from time to time inevitably entered into his day to day events. He sensed though that this would be something on a completely different scale of illegal from anything he may have done previously.

“That is something you may well have to live with,” Alexi replied tersely – his eyes hardening, “I’m merely testing your loyalty to me and my cause, however horrific it is. Imagine that I’m intending to become the most brutal dictator on the Earth, to oppress every person and reign with fear and torture - if it helps. Would you still be loyal to me?”

Should John join the Force of the Toys…? Perhaps he should try doing something Alexi hasn’t suggested? Think carefully, the outcome of this poll could not only be crucial to John but to the course of this SG.

[Chinaren]

Well, John seems to have nothing else going on, do I say do it! He should haggle a bit though, say he wants to rule a nice country in the sun or something.

Mwahahahahaha! :lol:

[LordoftheNight]

Yes, indeed. All Hail the Great Dictator.

[Morzan]

Good to see the next chapter up. As for the poll.

If he joins Alexi and the toy army he would become public enemy number one. But he would also have command of an army of toys and could just kill people chasing him. Also the toy army can just keep being rebuilt and added to.

One ther other hand he could run and tell the officals about the toy army and they'd send him to the insane asylum. Hmmm, I'd say get drafted into the army of plush and plastic. The fluffy revolution!

[JezSharp]

The next poll is up, althougth based on current comments it's looking like the vote may be a little one sided :) .

[Chinaren]

JezSharp wrote: The next poll is up, althougth based on current comments it's looking like the vote may be a little one sided :) .

You can't always trust the comments. Many a time the vote swings the other way. :?

[solus.serpen]

Hmmm. Ok, a bit of an obvious DP, but the chapter was fine - if a little short. The teddy bear is scary :shock: .
Voted for joining the toy army.

solus.

[LordoftheNight]

Voted - of course - for the army of doom.

[Ravenwing]

Toys of the World unite!!

Whoops, did I just say that. *grins* Hmm, go ahead with what this Alexi is up to. He's a bit queer, definitely crazy, but hey the whole world is crazy. :cool:

[JezSharp]

Excellent :lol: then I guess it's time to meet the toys :twisted: .

I'll try and have the next Chapter up within a couple of weeks - although I'm a little low on Iderium with regards to the sort of old fashoined toys he might have in his army...hmmm... well if anyone wants to suggest any your welcome to :) (althougth I can't promise that I'll add them in).

[Ingrothechundyer]

Jack in the box
Wooden Rocking Horse
Puppets
Those cool toys with a weight on the bottom that by swinging it around they do something.

[Chinaren]

How about the (giant) Spinning Top attack squad. Er...

[Guest]

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh, I had the exact same idea except it was a kid who controlled the toys and was going to get revenge on the bullies, then one of the bullies gets some of the power and creates his own army, and well, you know the rest.

But still, I'm totally loving this story!

Puppets should be like special task forces, with their strings and all.

Big bears can be like storm troopsers because of their burliness and maybe immense strength.

Tin soldiers and a few other mini toys can be infantry, and those big rocking horses can be like transport troops.

The tops, destroyers. Send those baby's in first, wreck some havoc then send tin soldiers in hiding and strike quick in fast.

Oh, the jack and the boxes could be good bomb setters, distracters, surprise attackers.

Anyways, can't wait to read more!

Oh, and JOHN MUST JOIN!!!!!!!!!!!!

[JezSharp]

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone :) , *wanders off to start work on the next Chapter*

Don't worry Fenny, he has/will join(ed) the toy army ;) .

[Lebrenth]

This looks like fun! I want in!

Hmmm, toy suggestion....

How about a music box that plays maniacally and causes any who hears it to collapse into madness? And there ought to be an air force, right? We could have the old biplanes and kamikaze derrigibles, maybe. You also mentioned he makes board games, which might serve as prisons that suck people in until they roll a 7 or 11 (and they only have one die that's as big as a house! hahaha!).

[Morzan]

I still keep seeing a teddy bear dressed as Uncle Sam whenever I read this story.

[JezSharp]

Chapter 3

John looked down at his feet, thinking about the choice. He’d never ever been treated so kindly in his life, he was in a warm cosy wooden building with a warm fire in the corner, the offer of a roof over his head and solid food each day. On the other hand he may well be assisting in the downfall of human civilisation as he knew it. It was a tough choice…wait…no it wasn’t. Perhaps a hero may have taken the high road but he certainly wasn’t one of those, ‘let’s nip out and save the planet’ type of guys.

“I’ll join,” he said simply as he looked up into Alexi’s eyes – which suddenly became a lot more warm and friendly. “But…what I just saw with…”he waved his hand in the vague direction of the dolls and bear, “how did you manage to do that?” Alexi’s smile seemed to widen further,

“I didn’t do that myself if that’s what you mean, they’re alive beings with distinct personalities.”

“Then they’re real!” John almost had second thoughts about staying, alarm flashing across his eyes like lightning, conducting his fear across the room.

“Yes they’re all real,” Alexi replied calmly, “and you needn’t be afraid of them, for they are now your new friends. In fact the first thing I think we’ll do when you’ve finished your soup is to be introduced to them all.” John finished his soup in silence, glancing occasionally at the dark brown bear who was still humming nursery rhymes to himself in the corner.

After his late supper Alexi and John toured round all the toys. First of all he was introduced to Edward, the giant brown bear who seemed to have ‘Ring a ring of roses’ stuck in his head. Edward gave John a warm handshake (his paw having been near the fireplace) and said,

“Welcome John, good to have you on board.” The five China dolls were called Denise, Esmerelda, Anne, Tulip and Hermonie (known as the DEATH squad). All of them said ‘Hi’ then burst into giggles before whispering amongst themselves. John was then led into the front area of the shop, feeling as though the whole thing was a surreal dream. In the front room toys lined every wall and most of the floor. A group of spinning tops appeared to be engaged in a game of football in one corner, puppets bounced and danced to an old cassette in another corner and it appeared that the group of wooden skittles were attempting to have a bizarre table top sprint competition.

“It’s their night off,” Alexi explained, his eyes filled with happiness at the sight of his new children. “Normally they’d be training, practising robberies, shooting, kidnapping ploys and the such – they need a couple of nights off to relax though. John didn’t reply; still stricken dumb at the sights he was seeing. Slowly his eyes focused on an approaching rocking horse, only this one had wheels attached to it’s rocking frame to allow it to move. “This is Captain Dobbin,” Alexi said with a smile as the horse trundled to a stop by the pair. “Dobbin, let me introduce our latest recruit, John, who will be helping us with our plans.” The horse turned it’s head to fully assess his new comrade.

“Welcome John,” he brayed, “pleased to meet you.”

“And you,” he gasped. Alexi looked at the cooku clock in the corner but his eyesight wasn’t good enough to pick out what the clock said.

“What’s the time Cook?” he called out over the sound of some cheering tin soldiers who had witnessed a goal for the red spinning tops. A wooden blue cuckoo stuck his head out of the wooden double doors.

“Time you got a watch,” he cawed. Alexi sighed and very nearly rolled his eyes,

“he just doesn’t get tired of using that phrase,” he muttered to John.

“It’s one twenty three in the morning,” the cuckoo called out – before popping back into the fairly large wooden clock to read some more snippets of the days local paper.

“Time for bed then,” Alexi said, “you can sleep in the spare room upstairs – I take it you don’t mind having an army of teddy bears sleeping in there too. I think one or two snore but you’ll soon get used to it…I think that you’ve met all the main players in my army, except for, Frederick, the leader of the tin soldiers who’s on guard duty outside – bit of a dry fellow but very professional. Edward’s leader of all the bears, the DEATH squad are the leaders of the puppet division and Dobbin is head of the traditional wooden toys such as the spinning tops. You’ll get to know them much better once you’ve been here a few weeks.” John gathered his thoughts enough to mumble a ‘yes’ before following Alexi upstairs. He was so tired that he fell straight asleep despite the snoring of the bears.

* * *

A couple of weeks passed and John got to know all the toys really well. He fitted in comfortably to the routine that they had developed, helping out in the kitchen with meals for Alexi and setting up events designed to train the fitness and flexibility of the toys. In his spare time he taught Edward, Alexi and the DEATH squad poker amongst other games. In fact all card games were incredibly fun, on account of the deck of cards being alive. You didn’t need to pick up a card, instead you just called out which card you wanted to play and it would waddle comically from its upright position near the player into the centre of the table and lay itself flat in the centre. Having seen John settle in, Alexi returned to completing the final details of his first plan for his toy army – having John on board will make it much easier to execute, he thought, chuckling to himself.

So, what is Alexi’s first target/plan for the army? I’m going to leave this wide open – suggestions can be as extreme or practical as you like :).

[Chinaren]

Quote: The five China dolls were called Denise, Esmerelda, Anne, Tulip and Hermonie (known as the DEATH squad)

Nice line!

Excellent. The troops are ready for action.

I suggest a campaign of fear. However, a practice run is needed. Maybe kill two birds with one stone. Try robbing a bank. This should secure some funds for future expansion, whilst testing out the soldiers skills on the arriving peelers.

I think if that goes well, we should try a campaign of infiltration. It isn't near christmas is it? A suprise gift for every home should ensure a wide coverage for the suprise attack that could follow.

[JezSharp]

Right well the posts seem to have dried up on this sg but I aim to try and finish it somehow anyway - partly because of Uni and partly so that I can concentrate on one sg - however I hate the thought of abandoning an sg mid -story. I think I may well speed up the posts and polls to try and bring the sg to a quick conclusion :). I'll hopefully have a poll up shortly that will run for a couple of days etc (aiming for one cycle every 4 days) with the conclusion at the end of the month.

[Chinaren]

Quote: Right well the posts seem to have dried up on this sg but I aim to try and finish it somehow anyway

It seems to have been real quiet since last week again. :( Just a few spots of activity here and there.

Don't abandon it if you can!

[JezSharp]

No I won't abandon it, it would be a shame if I had to and I'd hate to be someone who began to get a reputation for not finishing sg's :( - that's why I'm going to speed it up in the hope of finishing it within the next few weeks...it was always going to be a fairly mad capped random sg anyway so I reckon I can find a way to conclude it within about 4 more Chapters :) .

In one sense it's a shame because I think the sg could have perhaps have had quite a few more Chapters in it, but it was always my intention that it would be an interesting diversion/sideshow to writing my main sg Elvendor, and for it to finish relatively quickly - and having two sg's running with the uncertainty of going off to Uni has made me decide to finish this one asap. Besides my idearium for prolonged Chapters on toy armies is a little dry :? .

I have now got a fairly unstructured and fast flowing end in mind, so hopefully I can ensure that it is wrapped up as a relatively short yet readable sg :) .

Also if there is anyone else out there who hasn't submitted an idea for the dp - pls do, more suggestions are needed for the poll...so far I have just the one from China :( . This is an incredibly open dp and a real chance to get PPP points (I will only post the four best options if there are four+). The Poll will go up in about 13/14 hours time, the Toys need your help :) !.

[solus.serpen]

To be honest, I'm not the biggest fan of this sg. But just off the top of my head...

1. A little like china's christmas idea, except not at christmas. How about going to a school and giving out free toys?

2. Oh! Oh! a good one...
Send the dolls out, dressed as real people, and make them make friends with the other children. Then, one by one, they invite the children round to stay and either
a)kill them
b)keep them hostage, blackmail their parents to
a)pay him
b)come round and collect them (then kill the parents, hehe!).
Hmm, oh dear, my ideas are starting to get slightly bloodthirsty...
but nevermind!

3. Go for the all out attack, storm the town! We have the surprise element after all ;).

4. Decide that this is pointless. He only wants revenge on the other toymakers, surely?
Just sneak into the other toymakers houses in the night, and kill them.

5. Nope, he is obviously mad. How he can see reason at this point. He wants to kill them all! and what better way to do that then to infilterate the nearest military base and steal all the guns, killing the security guards to relieve anger in the process.

6. Just settle down! Who needs to go out and kill anyone? Maybe do the odd robbery to get enough money to live on, but apart from that, the toys and his helper are excellent company, why not just settle down and have fun. Isolate himself from the rapidly growing more modern world, and live out the rest of his life in peace.

7. Hey, but what would be the fun in that? Has he got any of that dust left? If he has...oh, I feel a good one coming...hmmmm....How about he sends out his toys to kill some people, or lures them to his house and kills them (without a lot of blood, just a clean knife wound or something), then uses the dust to bring them to life! They would be at his power, muahahahaha!. - preferably do this with some important people.

Hm, I'm trying to get past Jez's 20 on China's book...but my idearium is very low. This should be an easy poll to do it on. think, THINK, think...

8. Oh! Oh! Another good one :D. How about he kills the mayor, then dresses John up and puts him in place of the mayor! No-body will know John, so that would be great! Plus it fits with the 'it would be easier now with John here' bit.
I really love this idea actually :wub: .

9. I think he should make some more toys. Like really fighting toys, how bout he sculps some knives or guns, then makes them come alive? Presto! A whole army is born. And, wait! I've got it! actually, that can be number ten...

10. Who says that cards can't fly? Well, the maker obviously! So how about he just takes a block of wood, takes a chisel to it with absolutely no idea of what he is going to carve, then puts the dust on it? :D. Then he could make of it what he will.

oohh, half way :shock:.

11. Send out his toys to spy on everyone so he knows their weaknesses.

12. Get his toys to steal the more modern toys like the cd-spinners and then make them come alive, deadly or what? A spinning cd disk aimed for the neck...

13. Oh! Another one! How much dust does he need to sprinkle on something to make it come alive? If he only needs a little bit, then make him make his house come alive! And then everybody elses, so that when they walk in, the houses eat them :D :lol:.

14. Can he make the earth come alive? Now that would be fun...swallowing people up as they walk outside. It proves his toy army comepletely useless, but it is fun :).

15. Does everything that gets hit by the the dust obey him when it comes alive? If so, just hit everything in sight.

16. Because he probably doesn't have enough dust for no.15, he could just kill the other rival toymakers and use the dust on them.

17. Go out and get more tramps to join his army, they are in need of food and shelter, he is in need of some help, what better way than to pick people off the streets?

So near...can't..give....up....now...

18. Give his army to John, he would do a better job? Well...you never know, the man might be quite dejected and angry at himself for letting the other toymakers do better than him! Some people are that pessimistic about themselves that they think they will do everything wrong.

19. Carve one big, super human (or non-human) that will be able to take over the world. Then use dust.

20. Oh! Oh! How about he make a small model of the world and...no thats too like voodoo, however I could do another idea from that start so...here goes...
How about he make a small model of the world (alive) for children to play with it would be a lot more fun having a whole world full of little people to play with than some silly old cd player :). He could erect it in the town square and then all the children, and probably adults too, would be addicted. Then they wouldn't notice his little army going and stealing from their houses :lol:.

One more...

21.

Hm, I feel really bad at beating him actually. Maybe I should just leave it at twenty and draw?
Oh well, he says I can beat him ("not literaly" shouts Jez. "Oh". *throws stick away*), so...gives him something to aim for anyway :D.

21. Well it did say 'the next phrase' of his plan, not the whole thing. So why not make flying carpets? A great way for his new toy army to travel around, and avoids them getting squashed :).

YEY!!!!!!!!!! Finaly!!!!!!!! :shock:
Why do I waste so much of my time doing this?
I should really get ready for school...Arrrg :-o did I just say that? :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

Anyway, hope that was enough idea's for you , Jez :D.


Solus.

[Lebrenth]

All right, that's enough. We can stop bullying the storygame. I like this one and I think it has a lot of potential. If you can keep the sg short, fine, but hold out and keep going till the end. You have a good start and you can keep it going. Just don't lead us too heavily! If you have an ending in mind, I wish I knew what it was so I could completely sabotage it. Perhaps you're not used to the idea, but this storygame belongs to the readers too. If the story doesn't turn according to our votes, what are we voting for? You have to allow for the unexpected and prepare for a variety of possible endings, not just corral us into one. Another suggestion, wait at least a week between chapters. I get impatient with my stories too, but you really need the time between (and sometimes a little more).

I like the idea of spreading out for a christmas attack, but is it too soon? Our "army" fits in one toy shop. So it depends on how much of that special powder we have. We need to secure more if we don't have enough. And we need a secret lair, perhaps a place that doesn't have a big sign for a toy store in front of it?

So there's our first step. We need a big abandon amusement park (sure it's cliche, but what about the free rides?) or a big warehouse? ... A cave? Old military base? ... Hmmm a homeless shelter might work if we can align with the homeless. Still, it seems like a bad idea.

I know! An orphanage! We 'take care of' the orphanage's staff, changing them into marionettes in case someone comes along asking questions. The children should be a lot better allies for an army of toys. They could help build more toys and we could promise them a free run of the city: breaking, burning, stealing and otherwise partying at will.

Normally I would say we should infiltrate slowly, getting recon and winning the hearts of a few children first, but since we seem to be in a hurry, we better get to it and hope the orphans are ready. Once we have the orphanage, we should hold a big "antique toy charity auction" to build up funds and get our best agents inside rich and influential houses, corrupting their children! HAHAHAHAHA!

[JezSharp]

Quote: If you have an ending in mind, I wish I knew what it was so I could completely sabotage it. Perhaps you're not used to the idea, but this storygame belongs to the readers too. If the story doesn't turn according to our votes, what are we voting for?

Well I agree to a point, however it's useful for the author to have some vague idea of how he intends to end the book - in this case it's all about how it gets there and who wins that the audience decides. [Edit] Actually with this story I have a good idea of what the last dp will be but what is present and how they get to that point are eader dependant as is the outcome of the final dp. As an author I'd almost prefer it if people did throw origional ideas in that even I hadn't considered as it makes the sg more interesting - however most of the polls whilst changing certain fundemental dynamics of an sg (such as locations viewed, characters met, experiences of the main character - Elvendor is a case in point), the story will generally still lead towards a general conclusion point that the author has in mind.

Quote: Another suggestion, wait at least a week between chapters. I get impatient with my stories too, but you really need the time between (and sometimes a little more).

Yeah I'd usually agree wholeheartedly (hence Elvendor runs in a bout a weekly cycle most chptrs) but I'm pressing to finish this one before RL stuff starts to put some strain on my time - so that I only have to manage one sg.... desperate times call for desperate measures.

Anyway thanks for all the suggestions, I've put four of them into a poll:

- Have them rob a bank (China)
-give the toys away as presents to school kids (solus)
- Take a military base (solus)
- Take an orphanage (Lebrenth)

[Edit]

Author's Note:

The three to four chapters that will hopefully conclude this sg probably won't be anywhere near as short as the previous three though ;) - by the end of the sg I'm hoping to have a better idea of what works within an experimental/humour type sg and perhaps in the distant future I may try my hand at another one (althougth I do prefer writing fantasy). Until then though the rest of this one promises to be very, very random as I throw in some bizarre plot twists and characters :D .