Out and About in Town

November 09, 2023

Out and About in Town

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The downtown crossroads sit in the heart of the town of Howling Hollow. Here, a multitude of shopping options are present, including Weird Wares Pawn Shop and Ghoul Eats Sweet Treats (to be covered in later posts as they become plot-relevant), as well as the local barber shop. Just off on one of the streets is the sanitation firm Muck 'N Junk Sanitation. This is Howling Hollow's trash company that is allegedly run by a monster that eats trash. However, since no one can neither confirm nor deny these or any of the other rumors in town, tall tales and rumors like this run rampant throughout Howling Hollow. The downtown that all of these businesses call home is also where most banjo duels take place.

Custodial Costume Design. This costume is fairly straight-forward in that it simply uses the land general costume with two additional costume pieces on top: the safety vest and safety Boonie hat. Since these employees are the in-story employees for Muck 'N Junk Sanitation, I used this combination to convey that they're locals that wear these safety garments while on the job. While I had several options for the hat, I went with a Boonie hat to give the costume that "Howling Hollow" flair. Make no mistake, though. This is not the only costume that simply embellishes the land general costume.

Normally, the town’s resident banjo players only duel their banjos either once a month as part of the annual tournament or when one cuts in front of another while in line at the supermarket, but due to popular demand, the town’s rotating cast of banjos players will duel each other every day in the center of town. What starts out as a normal conversation between two of the townsfolk will quickly turn into a shouting match once they see the throngs of curious onlookers. As the argument escalates, one of the banjo players asks the tourists if they think they should settle this with a banjo duel. Inevitably, one does occur, with the banjo duelers playing classic country and blues songs. The winner is determined based on the cheers of the enthusiastic crowd. There are four different scenarios that can play out:

1. Jamal Whittler vs. Whiskey Joe – Favorite banjo player Whiskey Joe thinks that a newcomer like Jamal could never compare with the great banjo twingers, like the great Banjo Buffalo.

2. Connie Craft vs. Jacob “BBQ” Biggs – Connie thinks that Jacob’s famous BBQ sauce from the Hunter Society’s Barbeque uses too much sugar and “not enough fire.”

3. Wrastlin’ Samson vs. Timmy “Howling” Phil – Timmy thinks that Samson’s stories of wrestling a werewolf are exaggerated, since Timmy himself is a werewolf. (This scenario would involve Timmy transforming before guests’ eyes to play the banjo as a werewolf.)

4. Baa Lak Creme vs. Zella Wundre – Both shop owners get into a heated argument over whether their shop has the better coupon deal. (Both win in this scenario, as this show advertises two of the land’s stores, something not lost on the locals.)

At the end of each show, the characters admit that the audience was the real winner, as they got to see a genuine part of Howling Hollow culture and were thoroughly entertained by the experience.