DUNGEONS & DRAG-QUEENS: CAPED COSPLAY!

Fair enough. It'll honestly make things easier on me in the long run, since I'm running 4 people via phone text also; on that... If I haven't mentioned, I will now. There are other people playing this game. The don't know you, and you don't know them. They will appear as NPCs, monsters, or in mention. You are all bound by Rumpturnip as a country, and will likely influence each other as you progress.
The Zombie Apocalypse was a result of such path crossing.

Anyway; there's not much to write as a Game Post right now.
Game Post 8
The party rallies around Rhys, who rolls up the town map and leads the way, on Neele's suggestion, into the Dark Ritual Shop.
Inside, you find the only light is a chandellier that has half burned out. There's wax all over the carpet! There's even a sign on the ground that says, 'Caution: Slippery Wax Mess'.
Lining the walls are shelves of profane and bizarre objects. A monkey hand, rubber chicken with a pulley in the middle, some wax skulls, a length of string, cheezy puffs, eyeballs floating in a jar, VooDoo Lite TM, dijon mustard, and all sorts of weirdness. There's a big display table with the chalk outline of a human in the middle, labelled, 'Authentic Sacrefice Alter - Real Oak! Only 120 gold!'
Behind that, you see a draped curtain that is hiding something. You hear the bubbling of a cauldron.

Game Post 10
Rob Fordja stops everyone from talking by holding up his flabby arms as if he were suddenly struck in the head, his face screws up in agony.
"I be sensin' someone want dat what has ceased to be," Fordja says, as Wes showed up holding a bag of out-of-production puffs.
"Wow, you're good. Will I ever find true love?" Wes wondered.
Fordja shook his head, causing the great rolls in his neck to tumble to and fro. "That depends if ja have low standards."
Stepping forward, past the crestfallen Wes, Rhys opens his mouth to speak but is abruptly cut off by Rob Fordja.
"Wait there, ja be wonderin' if 'arm be comin' to someone--wait, no--ja be wonderin' about in this town alone. To that, I sense... Dark things."
Before Neele could even make a thought in his head, Fordja announced, "There be worse things than nightmares in your future. All four of you are destined for..."
Fordja grew still, and settled into his chair, deep in thought. "No... I dare not speak it. Alas, if ja be seein' ghosts, it is the source of their dark magic that you need find. All signs point to the Mines to the North. And as per the monkey paw, a warning I advise... Seek not what you want."
After a pause, he added, "It found you, so it is free of charge. The monkey paw belongs to no man, leastwise this shop."
After a time, the mystic fellow seemed to notice an air of disappointment. "Take with you the VooDoo Lite TM. It's my last bottle... Simply pour it on your skin like suntan lotion, and you will be able to avoid physical pain when in contact with the undead. Beware! Do not get it in your eyes, as it causes blindness!"
"Beware! Beware!"
The last two words lingered in the room after Rob Fordja disappeared into a puff of smoke, leaving you alone. Behind you all, the door of the shop audibly unlocks.

Meanwhile, in the darkness beyond the shop doors, Alex is irrisistably drawn to the voices in the alley. Like a moth to the flame, he senses danger but can do nothing but seek out the warm glow. Each step rebelled against his mind. To the convulsive point where Alex appeared to be moved by unseen hands, like a stop-motion puppet.
The darkness of the alleyway enveloped him entirely, like a dark soup. Inside, he could see nothing except a faint glow. The steps continued until he was ground to a forced halt. Before him, mysteriously sprinkling into existance, a ghost-like creature appeared. As if metallic sand were drawn together by magnets into the transparent green shape. It looked like a billowing sheet with three holes cut to make eyes and mouth. It had three long boney fingers, and hung eeriely in the air. All that came from the ghost was a sound like, 'Ooo! Oooooo!'
Alex Rift felt himself again, able to move. However, he was paralyzed by the sight of this ungodly apparition. The long boney fingers reached out in a flash and grabbed his arm. Together, in a dissolve of sandy mist, Alex and ghost vanished from the world.

Game Post 11
While the three of you stand on the front steps of the Dark Ritual shop, you come to realize that Alex Rift is nowhere to be found. Despite Neele Diamond shouting out his name, Alex does not heed it. It is very dark as some clouds have passed over the moon, silencing the only good light. Though your eyes have adjusted to this, there is still no sight or peep from your friend.
At length, the night is carrying on, and it's clear that you must press on without unnerved-by-shadows man, or split up and search the town.