028-029 » the winds of change

[villagemod]

WHO: Everyone.
WHERE: Eastern/Central Mathias.
WHEN: Days 028-029
WHAT: A town meeting is called.
WARNINGS: Will update as necessary. PM this account to have a warning added!
NOTES: Plotting post over here!

RECOMMENDED ♫ Deadly Avenger "Ikiryo"

DAY 028
SOMETHING ON THE WIND
Another day dawns in the fair town of Mathias. The sky is a blanket of light grey, tiny specks of snow lightly falling as the hours pass. It makes the town feel almost quaint, the scenery quite peaceful in its winter garb. But beneath the veneer of peace there is a pervasive dread of something approaching. Something inevitable is on the wind, something that has come before and will come again...

Throughout the day, residents will consistently experience feelings of deja vu, that sense of having done or seen or said something before that can never be fully recalled. It happens again and again, tugging at the back of their minds, the memories just frustratingly out of reach.

Residents will also notice a note pinned around town:




The note can be found on the town hall's bulletin board and the front doors of many town establishments, including the Grey Gull, the library, and the boarding house. At the bottom of the note it is specified that the meeting will take place "tomorrow, when the sun is over the town square."


NEW ARRIVALs
The newest arrivals to Mathias will wake on the frozen lawn of the town hall atop a snowdrift. They had best hurry inside and get warmed up before hypothermia sets in.

DAY 029
A GATHERING OF MINDS
In the late afternoon when the sun hangs over the town square, residents will converge upon the Town Hall, where a larger meeting room has been filled with rows of chairs. After most people arrive, John Constantine stands and addresses the room... and then sits again. A grand introduction, truly.

Residents are encouraged to share their experiences and information they have gathered in the town while holding questions until the end. Rather than getting tangled in the intricacies of each person's tale, it seems better to absorb the broad strokes and try to connect the puzzle pieces to get a look at the bigger picture that is the mystery of Mathias Township.


THE INEVITABLE
As the meeting comes to an end and residents begin to converse among themselves, the feeling of something approaching and sense of deja vu begin to build, becoming almost oppressive as night falls. An hour after nightfall, residents learn the reason for these sensations that cease immediately as the earth begins to rumble. The buildings shake, furniture tumbles, and breakables crash to the floor as the earthquake sets in without warning.

The tremors last around a minute, far longer than a normal earthquake, and then the town settles again. There are no aftershocks, which many may note is quite unusual. Residents will find quite a bit of mess in their homes and other locations around town, but there is no structural damage to be found despite the intense shaking.

---

CONDITIONS UPDATE

— THE WEATHER is fairly typical of a northern winter. The sky is grey, the temperature hovers just below freezing during the day (colder at night), and a light snow falls during both days. Residents should bundle up when going outside and not venture too far into the dark night...

— THE FOG remains blocking the paths in the forest, urging residents to stay huddled within the town proper, and it also now blocks the northern section of town, beginning just before where residents know the chasm in the earth to be. Venturing into the fog is ill-advised.

— DISAPPEARANCES continue with Sherlock Holmes being the latest victim of the town's unsettling whims.

---

OOC NOTES

— TOWN MEETING STRUCTURE The town meeting section of the log is designed for characters to share any information they would like to with the other residents in attendance. ICly, characters should "hold questions until the end" with the intent that they can get the Big Picture first and connect any dots they see. OOCly, this means players should post their character's information sharing tag in the Meeting section, but the actual conversation about whatever they share happens after the meeting proper in the Mingle section. That way, these conversations can happen however players prefer, be that one-on-one or in small or large groups.

— HOUSING Please be sure your character's housing arrangements are up to date on our list. We're missing a few people and it really helps to know where everyone is for planning. Frequent updates for wandering characters are perfectly acceptable.

— THE BULLETIN BOARD has been updated. Players should note there is a change to the wall near the board that may be of great interest to some residents.

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Comments

[tinstar]

This was the second 'party' their house had hosted and he didn't know which one of the men he lived with to blame first, but once he knew who was coming and that it wasn't, in fact, the whole goddamned town, he calmed down and helped get to work. Well, not much more work than making sure there weren't any errant bottles in the living room.

Kitchen, before dinner

Not being the type to rush to the door and play host, Raylan would leave that to Malcolm, opting instead to linginer in the doorframe of the kitchen for a little while, watching the food get made and listening to the passing conversation. Eventually, he got himself a drink and found someone standing alone to meander up to, bottle in hand.

"Someone pour you somethin' yet? Not like we're dealin' with top shelf here but.. Impolite to not offer, party and all." It didn't matter if the person lived there - Parties were meant to be had with drinks in hand.

Dinner

Hearing dinner being called was more than enough to draw Raylan out of whatever conversation he was having, happy to continue it as they all settled down at the table. If he looked real close, it might look like a celebration. Even if that was just a celebration of them surviving this long, he'd take it. There was something reassuring about sitting with people around a table. It'd been too long since he had.

He would be easy to ply into conversations, happy to argue over baseball or what book overlap there was, guns or runnin' money, or the fine art of ripping copper pipes from walls. He missed good general conversation like this and the amount he ate reflected it. The man had to have a hollow leg.

Post dinner
Fat, happy and with a fresh pot of post dinner coffee brewed, Raylan followed the crowd into the livingroom and found a chair to sit in, one legs skewed widely. He was on his fourth drink so far, but he was sure no one noticed and if they did, he was sure they didn't care. Welcome to being in his home.

"That was fantastic Neal, thank you. I'm glad someone here can cook because we probably shouldn't be surviving on eggs and bacon alone."

post-dinner

[conning]

Neal waved off the praise, pleased with it but embarrassed at the same time. "It was nice to focus on something productive. But you're right, eggs and bacon do not a complete diet make."

He was several drinks deep himself, at this point, pleasantly warm and at ease.

"I'm just glad I could pull something together with the stuff available here."

Re: post-dinner

[tinstar]

Raylan grinned at the wave off of it all. It was nice to see the people of his house busy.

"I keep threatenin' to make fried chicken, if you can handle such a low rent meal. Not sure what to make with it aside from cornbread, we've got a reclaimed skillet, but we should do this again just to break it out. Where'd you learn to cook like that?

[conning]

“No such thing as a low rent meal when you’re making it yourself.” He toasted Raylan with his half-full glass.

“I learned all over. Spain, Italy, France, some in Russia. And some in the States. Still learn where I can. Harder when I can only go two miles from my apartment without a government escort, but I guess that’s what cook books are for.”

[tinstar]

He toasted back and took a shallow drink, never one to leave a toast unfulfilled in such a way, face pinching as Neal listed out his travels.

"I thought you said you lived in New York.. You mean people can just fly through there?" Was that a dig on the city? Hell yes it was. "What made you get around so much, that's a hellva flight log."

[conning]

“Only with helicopters and a special license,” Neal retorted. He swished his moonshine in its glass. “Before I started working with the FBI, I traveled all over.”

The implied before I got arrested is, he thinks, fairly clear. “Always came back to New York, though. She’s a hard city to leave.”

[tinstar]

"Don't really need the licence, but I suppose that makes it easier," he granted with a lift of his features, since he couldn't move one without moving the others somehow.

"I've seen more of South American than I have of Europe but I did stop in Paris during a prisoner transfer once. Always wanted to go see her on the spare time and free money I don't have. Got a favorite place?"

[conning]

Neal made a thoughtful little noise. "Ravello. It's hard to beat France, but Ravello..."

His eyes went distant. A little smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "It's a little town on the Amalfi Coast, above the Tyrrhenian Sea in Southern Italy. The population can't be more than three thousand people. It's a little artist's enclave, with buildings straight out of the pre-Renaissance. The villas there have their gardens open to the public, and the views from those cliffs are indescribable. I spent hours at the Villa Cimbrone, on the Terrazzo dell'lnfinito, the Terrace of Infinity, just watching water and the coastline. History breathes, there."

He took a drink. "Food's not bad either."

[tinstar]

It would be a surprise to no one in the house that Raylan did not know where or what that place was without elaboration. His travel had been largely work only but he didn't begrudge those that had. That kind of petty jealousy was suited for a hollar he wasn't in and wasn't stuck in anymore; he was glad to be free of it.

Raylan's smile got lazy and wide as Neal told him about it.

"Sounds like the food might not matter, but it's a hellva perk?" He grinned properly. "Sounds beautiful. How long'd you spend there?" He had to have, to have such a good looking fondness on his face about it.

[conning]

"Two months. I would have stayed longer, but... Well, I heard Interpol wanted a word." Never mind that it hadn't turned out to be true. Neal's expression sobered, briefly wistful. It passed, and he shrugged. "But I think I ended up where I need to be."

[tinstar]

"Ah," he said, head tilting back a fraction before nodding. Interpol was a nasty business, generally speaking. If people thought the United States was Rough, and it could be, the USA had nothing on Interpol Officers, especially in Eastern Europe.

Raylan caught the passing look but didn't know what it was, really.

"If they give you somethin' to do that's just as exhilarating as high theft, I might haveta agree." Even if he didn't know most of Neal's story. He had the overview, the general vibe of it, but he felt like he was missing a few pieces of the puzzle. "You think you'll work with them after you're off your leash? Stay on as a consultant? The pay gets better once you're not in a bracelet, I promise."

[conning]

Neal laughed. "It could hardly get worse."

He hummed under his breath, thinking about it. "Yeah. I would if they asked. Maybe work as a securities consultant, help design alarm systems. See if I can beat myself at my own game."

[tinstar]

"Give it a year and you'll be able to charge the federal government a decent penny for it." There was always going to be something satisfying about getting yours from the federal government. Just because Raylan had a star on his hip didn't make him a G-man or a legal hardass. Art had always said he was a better lawman than Marshal. He didn't totally disagree.

"Doesn't sound like you got much of any real plans for afterwards. Once you're outta it, you'll have the time to figure it out. Not exactly easy, changin' course."

[conning]

Neal studies his glass, his smile almost incredulous. "I never thought I would. Change course. I knew Peter would catch me eventually--he's too good at what he does, and..."

He shakes his head. "There were things I cared about more than getting caught. But I never thought I'd want to get out of the life. I never really thought there would be an afterwards."

Neal holds his half-empty glass out toward Raylan, clearly begging for a refill. "Did you think there would be an afterwards, when you were a kid? Before your aunt got you out of Kentucky?"

[tinstar]

"Before Aunt Helen helped me get out, I was convinced I was going to mine until I caught black lung or died in a mine. Harlan's only got a few paths of living and I never fancied myself a farmer," he answered as he reached over with the bottle to pour Neal out a fair helping.

"The Marshal's service saved me, I ain't ashamed to admit. Gave me somethin' to do with my life. If they hadn't.." Well, that was to say Raylan didn't know what would have become of him then.

"Do you? Want to get out of the life?" Or was he just following Peter's lead? That wasn't a bad thing either way, but he had to ask. He wanted to know. Neal was a strange and sharply edged person, like a diamond, like he was hiding something under that veneer Neal showed everyone.

before dinner

[bestfuneralever]

Klaus winds his way into the kitchen shortly after arriving to the Cowboy House, already greeted by someone when he did. He's more than glad to find Raylan, ever-hospitable and already offering to hand out drinks. "Oooh, don't mind if I do." He practically sings his words as he takes the offered drink in hand and takes a careful sip of it.

[tinstar]

Raylan chuckled as he held out the glass, patting Klaus on the shoulder after it. "Can't have a party without drinks, right? So who set this up, who do we have to thank for turning 1306 into the party house again?"

If anyone would know, it might be Klaus, he seems like he holds onto that little stuff.

[bestfuneralever]

"I think Doc said something to Five about it. Or Malcolm mentioned it, maybe?" He shrugs, leaning a hip against the counter as he brings his glass up for a sip. "I don't remember, really. But it was a good idea, anyway." Because he decided and it is so, so there. Klaus enjoys the company of everyone in the house that he knows, so he can't imagine it being a bad thing at all.

[tinstar]

It made him grin, the rambling round about way they'd gotten to here. "Y'all really trying to make it feel like home, huh? Spontaneous parties, spontaneous good food. Shit, all we're low on is music. Though with what Dean and I are apparently plannin', that might be temporarily ended. Figured we might kick the Gull back into some kinda part time operated place. Give the people a place to drink. Listen to Dean's records. Shame we can't find a pool table though."

Party!Raylan was a lot looser than WalkingAround!Raylan - he liked parties, having a drink, shooting the shit and maybe not being completely traumatized by the environment around him.

[bestfuneralever]

He shrugs, but doesn't actually respond to the question-- his answer would just be a sad point at the way he never learned what home should feel like. But he thinks... maybe, if it's something like this, it's not so bad. People who actually seem to want him around. Living the dream.

"A whole town and not a single pool table?" He frowns, although it's more of a pout, "that just doesn't feel right. This town really is hell." He mutters before taking another drink.

[tinstar]

1306 would welcome Klaus and all his flaws, all his perks, all his joy and love without question if he wanted it. For a house full of grumpy, kind, broken men, they were trying their best and trying to help as many people as they could along the way. Klaus was a decent guy, Raylan could tell.

"It's kinda tragic, yeah. Best I can think of that ain't that is Cup. Office supply games. But hell's made better with a drink and decent company, hmm? I'm glad ya came over, even if dinner parties aren't usually my thing. It's nice to have people in the house. Y'all are welcome to stay, of course, if it gets too crazy."

[bestfuneralever]

He laughs a little at the suggestion. "Never have I ever is fun," although maybe not the best party game to start the night off with. Klaus could everyone in the house real drunk, real fast that way. He'll file it away for later, if not tonight, then another one down the road.

"Mmm, yeah. I, uh- well, I never really had friends, so..." Maybe they're all a little old for a sleepover, but.... "Yeah. I might take you up on that offer."

[tinstar]

"I think that one might be a little dangerous." But the way he grinned behind it suggested he was not against it. "So long as it's all done in good fun." Not the spread of traumaholes they all had.

His smile softened a little and he reached over to clap a hand on Klaus's shoulders. "No time like the present for a change, hm? We're all a little fucked up here. Don't worry about it. It'll be okay." And he meant it. He knew he wasn't as.. approachable or as soft and sensitive as the rest of the people in the house but he wasn't heartless and he wasn't cruel. He'd grown up getting the shit beat outta him. Whatever Klaus suffered, he could find a place here.

"And in the meantime, we've got moonshine."

end? <3

[bestfuneralever]

"Yeah, it can get that way," he nods, chuckling softly.

His features soften into a more genuine smile and he nods. "Yeah... yeah, no time like the present." Klaus likes everyone in this house, or at least everyone in the house that he's met. There's been an addition since he was last here that he'll only be meeting for the first time tonight.

"That we do," he grins and on that note, takes a sip.

O-oh, Okay! Sure!

[tinstar]

Raylan smiles and nods.

"Well I'll leave you to it. Got to make sure other cups have somethin' decent in 'em."