#whesker

The Rumors of Rockland minigames are a continuous installment of visual novels by @runawayoutlaw and @rottenbonethief (@sugarhazard may have his own characters and art appear from time to time).  The MC in these games is the same character every time, making this an ongoing discovery from one set of eyes.  A nice little way to peak into the oddity of Rockland and its inhabitants from a much safer perspective than other games will allow. 

This installment series will also be part of the future 5 year in-game time skip.  Not only will the MC get to meet the characters when they’re younger, but this means they become a more fixed resident themselves and get to see what happens to many of these characters later on in life.

Story

Already with the release of the first article, the MC is finding Rockland to be anything but bland.  First we have a very brief run-in with two bartenders.  One who literally ducks out for a break before the MC can get a word in, and one who appears much friendlier (for the most part) but is also occupied soon-after.  Then we get startled by a loud commotion of a very unhinged man oozing violent thoughts as well as being on the verge of tears as his friends attempt to calm him down.  Then we get caught staring and meet the world’s friendliest drug dealer and his very horrified friend who just wishes.he.would.stop.  Have to say, the situation oddly does get the MC much more relaxed after the previous man’s outbursts.  With all this excitement, the MC just barely notices one bartender come back wiping blood off his cheek.  But after everything else that’s happened, the sight just seems to get pushed to the back of the MC’s mind.  Nor does the MC seem so perturbed with the sinister tone in the bartender’s voice.  It doesn’t dissuade you from making a return to the establishment. 

Quite a roller coaster there.

Rockland’s a small place, small enough apparently where all the locals know each other.  Several of these characters bring this up and it’s even hinted that…may not be to your advantage.  If you’re not from around there, they’ll spot you in a crowd.  As friendly as these people seem, we the audience unfortunately know better than the MC does in this situation.  We know there’s disturbing and sinister characters lurking about. 

A new face means potentially two things for locals:

1) You’re either far from home or you’ve yet to ingrain yourself in the community. 

2) You may very well BE alone, without any connections in town. 

In a normal sane town, that just means the newbie has to learn to acquaint themselves with people and the townsfolk have to come to accept the new face as a resident.  Just the normal challenges of joining a new community.  Here in Rockland though, there are folks who likely share a friendly smile because their excitement over a new face comes from a very dark place.  After all, what kind of people make better victims than those so far from help?

 I’m sure not everyone that steps foot in Rockland has the unfortunate fate of going missing.  It IS a tourist town, and that’d bring a bad reputation if no one made it out alive.  But every now and then the darker folks won’t be able to contain themselves, and just decide to pluck some poor individual from the crowd.  Such events probably don’t catch the outside’s eye enough (or soon enough) to cause mass alarm.  But it happens just enough to make Rockland a very special kind of horror.

So if you can’t hide among the locals, what’s a new person to do?  One, be incredibly lucky I’m sure.  Two, get to know the right people.  I like to think there’s a “judging” or “probationary” phase for anyone new who enters Rockland.  How long this goes for, who knows.  If integration is successful, I’m sure the chances of survival shoot up much higher for the newcomer.  It might also be possible that killers may not want to target locals because not only will those faces be missed IMMEDIATELY, but who knows what other families or groups you’ll upset if you target the wrong person. 

Characters

So how about the very first characters the MC meets here?

Not much we learn about Foal.  The finger up seemed like a specific signal to Whesker though.

You’ve got the bartender Whesker.  Seems like a friendly and jovial guy for the little bit of time you get to spend with him.  But he also is one of the first to warn you about telling people you’re new and don’t know anyone here.  There are hints of something dark within this man.  It’s difficult to say though what he thinks of the MC.  Is he subtly giving them a warning here about how dangerous Rockland is?....Or does he already view them as a victim?

Then, you’ve got the violent man Avery.  It’s plain to see this is a man you do NOT want to get in the crossfire of.  He’s very unstable and his stress gives him the urge to grind anything to dust as a way to deal with his emotions.  For anyone who’s played the Misfits: First Blood demo…you know these threats are not empty.  He very much has the capacity to kill someone, no matter how little their offense is.  Luckily, he’s accompanied by his friend Callum who seems to not only know Avery well enough that he’s spared getting a punch in the face, but looks like he’s had to handle a situation or two like this before.  Avery is terrifying, but also tragic.  We don’t know what he’s done here, but from the demo we can take some pretty good guesses.  What’s interesting is that he KNOWS that stuff isn’t okay though and doesn’t actually even want someone to say it is.  He’s self-aware.  But he seems to have no control over his emotions.  There’s also a hint that alcohol was a factor here. 

It seems that Avery also has someone who he doesn’t want to disappoint, but the things he does would break their heart.  The man we see depicted in the bar I think is someone who is their own worst enemy.  He might have difficulty controlling his emotions and/or actions (ex. excessive drinking), but he knows what he shouldn’t do and wants to be better.  It’s a curious thing…can he get better?  Even some of the people who know him have their doubts.  We know Avery’s coming full blast in the “Welcome to Rockland” game, but it’s possible we may ONLY see his worst in that.  With more RoR installments, perhaps we’ll get to see if Avery ever gets better…or worse.

One problem that Avery may have is that he lives in Rockland of all places.  It’s possible that he gets away with a LOT more than a normal criminal does because things like that are considered the norm in Rockland, or because they get swept under the rug.  It’s not incredibly clear, but it’s possible that Whesker had been called out back specifically to clean up Avery’s “mess.”  This is a problem because it means Avery lives in a place where there are little consequences to his actions.  If you go so long without punishment, it’s hard to find a reason to reign yourself back in.  Even his friends like Callum worry that they may be enabling his behavior.  It’s difficult when you know the good sides of a person because you feel less inclined then to berate them when they mess up.  But sometimes you have to call someone out on their behavior, even if it hurts their feelings.  With Avery, I don’t know if yelling at him would be a good idea though, considering how dangerous he can become.  Tough situation.  If you can’t tell, I have mixed feelings about the fellow since I know his violent nature, but something about seeing him helpless here was a little sad.

Finally, you’ve got the drug deal Tyler.  Literally, probably the nicest drug dealer you could ever meet.  Certainly an eccentric fellow, he’s oddly far less frightening than someone like Avery.  His friend Dylan may be horrified by Tyler lacking any means to be discreet, but they seem like good friends none-the-less.  Interestingly enough, Tyler and Dylan are probably the most welcoming and safest appearing characters that you meet this time around.  Are they truly safe?  Who knows.  That might be a fun future game to play: Which Rockland character is safe?

Future characters mentioned but not physically in this installment include cops like Roy.  It’s very possible we may get to see, if not Roy, at least one cop or detective at the bar in the future.  I’m looking forward to that kind of interaction, because what do the cops of Rockland think of new folks?  Do they view them as potential victims they need to keep an eye on more for safety?  Do they act a little gruff to make Rockland seem less welcoming (so the newbie will leave)?  Or are they corrupt and completely aware of what goes on in Rockland (but let things be)…so they don’t make any attempt to drive away or give any kind of warning to the player?  Maybe they just flat out don’t like newcomers because it’s a tight nit town and they already have enough on their plate.  Rockland also seems to be a place that attracts sinister characters honestly.  Not just potential victims.  So the cops may be skeptical about what kind of character has just rolled into town.