Inside Scoop page 2

THE HAUNTED LP TOUR - the runners-up

Altwerkz

Altwerkz Shuttle Landing Bay is a stark contrast to other landing bays. While the majority of shuttle bays are a jumble of activity, Altwerkz's Landing Bay is near pristine, the white surfaces are a gleaming sheen, and the curious smell of a mixture of phisoderm, bleach, and amonia lingers in the air. Incoming shuttles are treated with a dose of light radiation, and then scrubbed with an antibacterial wash prior to entering the bay. The dangers of an alien microbe being introduced, or a domestic microbe being inadvertently loosed are not lost upon the planners of this Bio-Asteroid. Suddenly, an alarm klaxon sounds, and the huge blast doors begin to close and seal off the research locations of the facility. A white coated lab worker squeezes through the doors just as they close, and runs towards you. "For the love of God! Run!!" He cries. "Zardoz has unleashed a whole new set of alts... and they are hungry! The Galaxy is not safe, and will soon be over run by his zany alts!"

Desolate Deserted Buttered Rum LP

There is nobody here.. there is a deafening silence.. As you proceed on the LP, you hear static coming over the intercom.. this static turns to a shrilling hum guiding you towards the speaker, where a GIANT spider drops as you pass by and bounces off your face. You turn to the E and run into cobwebs covering the exit. You listen carefully and hear a someone moaning and you turn back to investigate. As you step onto a rug, there are hands from flesh eating droids reaching out of the pit below grabbing at your ankles and legs. You must steady yourself before you are pulled in. There is blood running down your legs, you head N to the hospital. With the desolate look of the area, wind blowing through broken windows, and curtains barely hanging buy threads, you realize you have stumbled upon a deserted planet. A body drops from the ceiling at your feet.. and then you hear it, the voice from afar, "Head SW, head SW to Main St where you come upon "the Halloween Bash on star system Stash"

Carpathia Shuttle Landing Pad

The blood red sky of Carpathia creates an eerie mood. Unlike the bustle of activity that is common to Landing Pads on other worlds, Carpathia's Landing Pad is deserted. In the distance, to the east, the sharp spires of Castle Doz reach for the sky like a dark claw. Wind blows and howls across the landing pad. Orange dust blows in tiny whirls and eddies across the abandoned pad. Night is coming, and the Sleeper will awaken. Suddenly, a scream echoes over the howls of the wind. Or is it a scream? Can anything human make such tortured cry? The cry fades away and is lost in the wind. A chill passes over the pad, and a sensation of insatiable hunger is felt. A primal hunger. A hunger for the essence of life. A hunger that is deeper and more unquenchable than Hazed's hunger for chocolate. The sleeper is awake.

Hook

The platform is the only place with lights on. A gate is kicked open and a screaming Mok runs past you. He doesn't notice you but enters his ship and makes an emergency lift-off. What or who can scare a Mok that bad? The small path behind the gate is flanked by water on both sides. Thunder rolls and in the lightning you see the water on your left in turmoil. A pool of blood lies before you. On your right you see some shoes floating, and on the left a severed head pops to the surface. This is NOT a good place to be! Quickly you walk on but the next lightning-bolt shows a couple of tentacles moving your way. This is a good time to start running...

Midgar

Rocket Town - Landing Pad
As you step off your ship, you are immediately herded into a line heading east. Very large members of SOLDIER keep the peace and ensure that stragglers are brought back into place in the line. A voice bellows from a loudspeaker that the show will begin soon, and to be patient. You a hear a scream from the east. "It's awful. It's hideous. Just kill me now!" A very pale, crazed man, with blood streaming from the corners of his eyes runs from the east, and collapses on the LP. He sobs and says, "Just kill me. I can't bear to see it again." He looks up at the line in which you are in and shouts, "Get in your ships and run! Run fast! Run far! It's horrible I tell you!" A SOLDIER'S rifle butt silences his warning. You turn to the person in front of you, and ask what is taking place. He turns and with a shudder says, "Arlene is putting on a show, and doing a pole dance. This is the only way they can get an audience." Perhaps you should leave now while you can.

Rigel 4

Landing Pad
A scary sight greets you: Pugwash is manipulating her economy. The horrors! Her planet is a monetary disaster when she ignores it, so just imagine how much chaos she can cause by fiddling with the controls. Run for your lives!

Siryn

Landing Pad
Darkness creeps across the slick, glassy black surface of Siryn's landing pad. The entire planet is dark, as the sun has been obscured by both of the planet's moons in a rare double-eclipse, leaving them both blood red and bathing the air in streaks of ghostly crimson light. Chill water flows over the land as the tide rises, seeping into clothing, buildings, and shuttles with relentless persistence. Icy tendrils of fog send shivers along your spine, odd creatures that belong in the darkest reaches of the ocean, far from the light, now surfacing with the sea. Some of them wind tentacles about landing gear or appendages, either seeking to pull you underwater or just searching for an anchor. Above it all, the haunting call of the sirens tugs at you, calling you toward the endless depths and dreamless sleep.

Sulawesi

You're standing on the landing pad, signs indicating this is Sulawesi. The sky seems darker, the water murky, and the aroma of coffee has disappeared, although there is an oddly familiar scent lingering at the edge of your awareness. Bleary-eyed, waxen-faced people wander the planet aimlessly, hands reaching out, occasionally running into buildings or each other with heedless disregard. Some are bloodied or bruised from this abuse; others merely sit or lie where they are, as if another step would be too much for them. When you try to assist one, he speaks listlessly, not even registering your presence. "She took all the coffee away. Threw it in the water, launched it into the sky. We only have hot chocolate. How can we function without coffee?" Others around him take up, moaning, "Coffeee. Cofffeee." They start toward you, expecting you to satiate their need. If the horror of coffee's fate isn't enough to send you running, the crazed look of those poor beings should.

Ritual

Eye of the Storm Launch Pad
Lightning strobes and crackles across the darkened sky. The wind lashes at your face, bringing the sting of cold rain. Gnarled and twisted branches on the ancient trees reach like icy fingers towards you, creaking and groaning under the assault of the storm. The scudding clouds break for a moment to reveal a yellowed and hazy full moon and a mournful howl is heard above the shrieking wind. Shadows flicker between the trees, drawing ever closer as squelching mud sucks at your feet. Dead leaves swirl in a spiraling eddy and something begins to take shape in the spinning forest debris... a shape, a being.. and then a whisper. The words at first unclear, rise in volume to match the howling all around you until at last they become a scream.. "Behind you!"

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