The Taffy Train Cross-Continental

## Premise

All aboard! Four lucky winners have gotten their hands (if they have them or not) on four golden tickets to take part in the maiden voyage of the Taffy Train Cross Continental: a luxury express train which offers extraordinary views, comfort and speed on the Red Lace Line. What better than to kick back and relax while watching the hills roll by; and on such a spectacular locomotive during a prestigious event, surely, nothing could go wrong?

## Cast

* Modmad (DM)
	+ Engineer as NPC
* Ky as Charlie Black
* Owldart as Shorts Kid
* Snailcomicz as Snalien
* Yuni as Larry Samuel

## Notable NPCs

* DJ Mooves
* Victor Tim
* Dora Z. Scale

* Wudlig Don Vrake

* Maisy and Daisy

* Gregory the Drake (Snailcomicz)

* Cuisine Kit

* Phooey Zooey and Gooey

## Plot Summary

**The First Episode**

The session starts with the players characters standing on the red carpet at the train station in Toontown waiting to board the Taffy Train. There is a brief flashback where you learn how each of them ended up with their golden tickets (Charlie Black stole his, Shorts Kid won it in a quest, Snalien found it after she crashed her ship into a police station and Larry Samuel just found his in a candy bar). Shorts Kid is daydreaming about stealth parkouring onto the train and Snalien is eating some of the confetti as they wait for the celebrities to enter first.

As Shorts Kid tries to jump onto the train, he is caught by the Engineer who needs the group to sign purple contacts before they can board. The other three sign but Shorts Kid, as a minor, needs a responsible adult to sign off on it too so the Engineer does so for them. The group get on in the 2nd class sleeping carriage.

After checking the carriage out they move on to the staff sleeping carriage where they are asked for a definitive nomenclature of animation (DNA) swab test. Shorts Kid checks with the Engineer over one of the train's intercoms if this is okay before participating. Charlie is very hesitant about possibly being identified but after some reassurance about the scientific purpose of the train, a failed music performance by Larry and a few pinky promises, signs as well.

The group enter the bathing car next, almost falling off a diving board into the pool below. Charlie does a cannonball, drenching Larry and Snalien before Larry finds a ramp around the outside of it. Shorts Kid tries to push him in the water but gets scooped under his arm instead. Charlie eventually joins them and gets hair dried into a ball of fluff.

Entering the library carriage, the group come across Dora Z. Scale, a famous Reelkind actress. As Charlie tries to introduce himself, Dora's dog begins barking at him causing him to jump and hiss. Then Shorts Kid steals Dora's drink and gets drunk. The group quickly move onto the next carriage to get some food for her.

The next carriage is the ball car which is filled with balls of all kinds. Here they meet DJ Mooves who enthusiastically greets Dora, who he says he has never met before. After conga lining into the dining carriage the group order food from Cuisine Kit. Larry, Snalien and Shorts Kid eat at one table while Charlie joins Dora and DJ Mooves at the other table. After dinner and dessert (Snalien sharing the last bite with Larry) the four continue on.

Before they can enter Professor Wudlig Don Vrake's lab, they overhear a conversation between him and the Engineer about someone who died a year ago. They are interrupted by Charlie before Wudlig enthusiastically begins to show them all his Chromatic Scale, an organ like device that can be used to show a toon's colour and sound type. While the Engineer tries (and fails) to help Snalien take her Snelmet off, Wudlig runs through the group's types (except for Larry who already knows the music of his soul). After this the Engineer ushers them on to see the train engine (for no suspicious reason at all), having to forcefully drag Larry along with the small group.

In the Conservatory they meet Victor Tim, the Yupyean accountant at Dodo Studios. After a brief and slightly awkward conversation they continue on to the engine. Here the Engineer goes into an enthusiastic lecture on how the train works (that no one but Snalien understands) and Charlie blows the whistle. Their fun is cut short however when Cuisine Kit calls telling them that there has been a murder on the train.

**The Second Episode**

After the murder has been discovered, everyone is ushered back to their sleeping cars via the outside gangways so not to tamper with the evidence. There the four players nervously wait. Soon enough, the Engineer comes to them with an offer. Since they are in international territory and he knows the four are innocent (since they were with him) he asks them to solve the case. Agreeing to help, Charlie jumps the gun and opens the case the Engineer brought with him, immediately grabbing the detective hat and using his disguise kit to make himself look like a stereotypical detective. Shorts Kid grabs the detective badge, claiming to now be the train sheriff while Snalien asks Larry if he wants the magnifying glass. Larry is more concerned that a bunch of unqualified toons are being asked to solve a murder but after the others all try and convince him, he concedes.

The group learn that the murder happened in the Library while they were in the engine and that the murderer could not have used magic or a weapon since the magic bubble over the train was still up. The Engineer then drops the bubble everywhere but the 1st class carriage (where the suspects are) and leaves them to go continue running the train. The group decide to split up, Shorts Kid and Snalien going to interview Ludwig and get a present for Snalien (who doesn't have an item) while Larry and Charlie go have a look at the crime scene (the library carriage).

Shorts Kid and Snalien find Ludwig in first class watching through his window as the train navigates through the rough terrain. He tells them that he didn't murder anyone and offers up his labratory to test any evidence they find (giving Snalien a set of test tubes in the process). After looking deep into his eyes, Shorts Kid determines that he is telling the truth and makes him the FURENZICS SINTIST OFFISHUL (Forensics Scientist Official). Wudlig then tells them his testimony. According to him, he continued to work in his lab alone after they all left until the murder announcement, the only thing of note being that Dora ran through at one stage (he's unsure when) looking quite flustered.

Things then cut to where Larry and Charlie are making their way to the library carriage. The closest door into the carriage is broken so they have to fight the wind to get around on the gangways to the other side. Once inside, they learn that the victim is Victor Tim, whose outline is lying on the floor with no colour in sight. Other than that however, there is no sign of a struggle in the room. Larry goes and checks out the door, finding that it and the the intercom device next to it have been damaged. Meanwhile, Charlie pokes the outline, ending up with chalk on his finger. Feeling a little queasy, he joins Larry and figures out that the door has been hit with a fireball. Larry once more gives the room a check, but finds nothing else out of place except for a stray ball under one of the tables.

Jumping back to Shorts Kid and Snalien, they decide to interview Dora next. Entering her room they find her making herself a cocktail out of something a violent green colour. Remembering what happened last time, Dora keeps her drink out of Shorts Kid's range, however, Shorts Kid is more interested in petting Dora's dog Otto and is surprised to find that it is cold. It is then revealed that Dora is a necromancer and brought him back to life after an accident right after her famous film. Snalien is eager to use this skill to potentially ask the victim who killed them, however, Dora is reluctant, eventually revealing that they are all in a movie set and that everyone but them is acting.

Meanwhile, Charlie blows the jammed door off it's hinges, allowing him and Larry to head back through the bathing car. Larry notices that the air is more humid and that there's a strange smell. The smell leads them to a burnt device in a nearby bin while the humid air leads them back to a recently used shower stall where they find chalk stains, glitter and strands of tight, curly hair.

Moving on with Dora's statement, Shorts Kid and Snalien learn that Dora decided to help Cuisine Kit in the kitchen but accidentally knocked a cupboard over in her tipsiness then ran to the conservatory carriage in embarrassment to calm down. She is very remorseful about causing such damage and asks them to apologise to Cuisine Kit for her.

The group meets up again in 1st class, exchanging information. Snalien gets the samples from Larry and Charlie in the test tubes before Shorts Kids lets them know that they're in a movie. Next they decide to interview the staff. Snalien talks to the penguins learning that, yes, Cuisine Kit did dismiss them early so they came back to the staff car and listened through the door to DJ Mooves sing in the shower. Meanwhile Charlie turns to the three ducks, quickly working out that they're kids in disguises. Turns out Phooey, Zooey and Gooey snuck aboard because their Uncle, Scru McCodger, financed the train and they thought it was out of character for him to let random passengers in for free (the ticket winners). However, they haven't been able to find out much because the penguins blocked the door to listen to DJ Mooves sing and then the murder happened and now they can't leave. Shorts Kid and Larry talk to the owls, not learning anything new, but one of the owls seems to have something he wants to say so they invite him back to their sleeping carriage. There the owl tells them that Dora and DJ Mooves do know each other (even though they're acting like they don't). Apparently, they tried to make a movie together that was so bad that they had to cut their loses and have hidden it and that Victor Tim was one of the few people to know they made it.

**The Third Episode**

The group split up again to interview the last two suspects in first class. Shorts Kid and Charlie go and talk to Cuisine Kit, who hides her script under her pillow. Shorts Kid gives Cuisine Kit a hug while Charlie sneaks the script out, however, before he can read it it bursts into flames causing him to jump up onto the ceiling. Kit looks worried and tries to cover what it was up until Shorts Kid assures them (surreptitiously) that they already know.

Meanwhile Larry and Snalien go talk to DJ Mooves who is currently having a silent disco with his headphones on. Snalien asks to listen and finds out that he was listening to his own music. She passes the headphones to Larry, however, as he's listening the track changes to one of his more popular songs without a backing track. Realising this, DJ Mooves quickly takes it back before giving them his statement. After dinner, he went to have a shower before making his way to the library but the door was jammed. So instead he travelled by transport tube to the dining car, helping Cuisine Kit remove the fallen cupboard. From there the two made their way to the library carriage and found the outline of Vic. DJ Mooves went to contact the Engineer but the intercom in that room was also destroyed so he stayed with the body while Kit went to the other room to use that intercom. After a little more talk the pair leave. Before they meet up with the others Larry goes to check in with the penguins on what songs DJ Mooves was singing in the shower.

Cuisine Kit also gives her statement, letting Charlie and Shorts Kid know that after the dinner rush she had dismissed the penguins and was working on her recipes when Dora had come and offered her help. She tells them how she had accidentally knocked over the cabinet (due to being drunk) before turning bright red and running off. Not long after DJ Mooves had come out of the transport tube and helped her remove the blockage. Finding it weird the other door was blocked, the two travelled back and found the body. While Kit had checked it, DJ Mooves had gone out of view to the intercom and found it broken too. So Kit went to the ball room to contact the Engineer. She tears up when discussing finding the body, telling the two a little of what she knew about him, mentioning a Yupyean party trick he could apparently do. As Shorts Kid is sorting the information out in their head Charlie notices that Cuisine Kit seems confused. After a little persuasion she admits that she found it weird that the dog didn't bark at her when Dora was around because there was definitely something in the basket. But then she shakes it off, suggesting that the dog had just gotten used to her presence. With that the two leave and meet up with the others.

Back together in second class, Charlie brings up the script out loud, being done with all of the secrecy and game rigging. This upsets Shorts Kid because Charlie isn't following the rules and hits him on the head with their staff. When Charlie lunges for her Larry catches him and slams him into the wall. They all argue and Charlie storms off, casting away his hat. Fighting against the wind on the ramps outside the train, he begins to make his way towards the engine.

Snalien tucks the hat away in their hammerspace before the three left head decide to head to the lab. They go to the bathing car to use the transport tube to get over to the dining car. Snalien needs help travelling so Larry presses the button for her causing them to realise that other things and people can be sent through the tubes by someone else. Once in the dining car, Larry glances back at the broken cupboard, both confirming that it is there and noticing a lever device attached to it. Letting the other two go ahead, he checks it out but can't work out what it's for.

They meet with Ludwig in the lab and he goes to find the present he made for Snalien. While this is happening, Shorts Kid presses a shiny button causing a locket with a goose portrait to fall out of a draw. They give it back to Ludwig who looks momentarily upset before giving Snalien his invented Brain Cell (a battery like device that answers one question given to it a day). After that they hand over the samples they have found, confirming that the hair found in the shower is from DJ Mooves, that the chalk has Vic's DNA in it and the burnt item was a cassette tape.

Meanwhile, Charlie is still making his way to the engine, climbing determinedly over the caddy and down to the engine door. Then he opens the door, walks up to the Engineer and slams him into a wall, telling him pointedly that he is done playing his game. The Engineer is somewhat impressed but tells him that he should have read the contract better, showing that the squiggle has turned into Charlie's actual name. That just infuriates Charlie more and he spits in the Engineer's face. It is at this moment that Shorts Kid calls the engine room to apologise to Charlie for their actions. Calming down somewhat, Charlie lets the Engineer go before the Engineer offers the others to join them for explanations.

The Engineer starts by letting Charlie air his grievances before telling them that the financier (who won't be named) and the others involved in the making of the train did so for more than making a luxury express. The others tell him they know that Scru McCodger is the financier. The Engineer is surprised but continues to tell them that the Taffy Train was made to get to people and save them if they ended up in dire need. That he had been asked to run the train but had decided to do the movie (in secret) in hopes of linking the train with a message of hope and togetherness. Charlie is still annoyed at being lied to but is willing to continue solving the 'murder'.

**The Fourth Episode**

The final episode starts with a montage of the characters finding the remaining evidence. They confirm with the owls driving the train (Maisy and Daisy) that the magic barrier was not down at all when the murder happened and that the transport tubes were both used once in that time (there is no data on the doors since the short circuit corrupted it). Then Larry and Snalien go looking in the ball room and find chalk on the floor and on the door panel to the library. Charlie looks through the dining car confirming that Cuisine Kit couldn't have left the food unattended and that the lever on the cupboard is a movie prop. Then they split up and search the conservatory. Shorts Kid finds chalk in the entrance of the transport tube, Charlie finds a vase full of blue liquid and Snalien finds imprints of lady's shoes in the mud with some of the blue liquid.

They give the evidence they've found to Wudlig (though it won't be processed in time) before heading back to their carriage to change for the big reveal. Shorts Kid calls the Engineer on the intercom allowing the group to overhear the Engineer talking about adoption (which Shorts Kid mistakes for him adopting a dog) before letting him know that they are ready to reveal the murderer.

Everyone (except Wudlig) gathers in the library carriage. There the group explains what happened. DJ Mooves and Dora needed to shut Vic up about their terrible moview otherwise their careers would be tarnished forever. So DJ Mooves set up the tape of him singing, stopping anyone coming through the staff car with the penguin bloackade and giving himself an alibi. Meanwhile, Dora knocked the cupboard over 'accidentally' to block the other entrance and ran off, where she got Vic to 'cheer' her up by doing his party trick: seperating his lineart from his colour. Dora caught his colour in a vase before sending the lineart through the transport tube to the ball room where DJ Mooves was waiting to move him to the library car. Then he went back to the bath car to clean up/dispose the evidence before going to the dining car and 'discovering' the murder, breaking the door while Cuisine Kit was inspecting the body.

DJ Mooves and Dora 'confess' and the Engineer sends an owl to get the vase so that they can put Vic back together again. Wudlig arrives just as the Engineer is doing so and tries to stop him. The blue liquid pours into and over the outline causing the Engineer to stop in shock. Shorts Kid tries to cast mending but it doesn't do anything and his finger begins to stiffen. This causes Charlie to recognise the liquid from his time in Einquelland and he washes their finger off with water. At this point DJ Mooves and Dora begin to laugh and Mooves explains that they decided to play a prank on the Engineer for their poor motive in the film. He tells them that neither part (outline or colour) is Victor Tim and that the Yupyean is just hiding somewhere else. Wudlig, genuinely angry, confirms that the paint isn't from Victor Tim but that the outline is. Mooves denies it, looking disbelieving as he calls out for Vic. There is no response. Then Cuisine Kit points out that the eye on the outline is a cross not a line like when they first found 'him'.

Mooves doesn't know how to respond when Snalien turns to Dora who is still laughing, confronting her. She tips her cocktail towards them before pouring in the green liquid from her hip flask which sizzles as it mixes in the glass, turning a bright turquoise colour. Ludwig correctly guesses that she's been mixing DIP with Vic's blue colour and drinking him. Still shocked and horrified, the Engineer asks her why she did it and she explains that it wasn't about Vic but about getting at the Engineer and DJ Mooves: two successful toonkind film directors who had won award after award, year after year while her career sank because she wasn't a toon. At this Snalien gets really upset and tells her off for typecasting people based on minimal experiences before Larry leaps at her, wielding his banjo like a club. However Shorts Kid casts hold person on him, convinced that they can put Vic back together again if they get him out of Dora.

Dora uses this time to taunt the Engineer a bit more, telling him that she knows he's on the verge of bankruptcy and that if the bad publicity doesn't end his career, Scru McCodger certainly will for destroying his train and putting so many people in danger. The train then lurches, throwing everyone off their feet as Dora finishes by letting them know that she sabotaged the engine right before the door is kicked down by the undead main actors of her famous movie.

DJ Mooves and Cuisine Kit run around the outside of the train to go check on the staff while Ludwig runs after the Engineer. Charlie leaps at Dora, hitting her with his sword before Dora hypnotizes him with red dust to say that it was the Engineer's fault the train is going to explode. The Scarerook, the Steel Soldier and the OhMy attack, putting Shorts Kid and Charlie to sleep. Larry then hits Dora and she uses her shoes to escape. Shorts Kid and Charlie are woken up allowing Shorts Kid and Snalien to run ahead to try and help the Engineer while Larry and Charlie slowly but surely take care of Dora's undead minions.

Snalien summons her dragon steed, Gregory, to get them to the engine faster and they soon are greeted with the sight of the Taffy Train falling to pieces as bubble gum causes pressure to build inside the fuel caddy. They then hear a voice calling for help. Deciding to split up, Shorts Kid throws Snalien towards the engine while she and Gregory go and check on Daisy and Maisy (who is unconscious). Shorts Kid tries to help but can't do much. However Ludwig then crawls out from under the caddy and takes them to his lab to patch them up.

Meanwhile Snalien lands on top of the fuel caddy and uses the brain cell to find out if there's a way to save the train. She finds out that the Taffy Train itself cannot be saved but that the carriages can be detached. She finds the Engineer falling out of the burning engine covered in taffy strings before calling over Gregory and Shorts Kid to help decouple the train. They manage to do so but the force of the stop causes Snalien and Shorts Kid to fall off. Before they can get very far, the Engineer catches them, tossing them back onto the slowing carriages but is unable to escape the engine himself. The Taffy Train blows up in the sky right before they reach Villestown, as Shorts Kid tries with all their might to protect the Engineer with magic. There (unknown to the rest of the characters) he is picked up by the Never Ending Train, leaving everyone else to believe that he died in the explosion. Shorts Kid is devastated but the others console him and Snalien offers to stay with him as the session ends.

## Session Recording

The Taffy Train Cross Continental Part 1

The Taffy Train Cross Continental Part 2

The Taffy Train Cross Continental Part 3

The Taffy Train Cross Continental Part 4

Transcript Part 1