EVENT LOG: GHOST TOWNS

[nextnightmods]

EVENT LOG:
GHOST TOWNS

characters: everyone.
location: around town
date/time: november 5-16.
content: carved vegetables, soothing memories, and spreading the light far and wide.
warnings: n/a, please label threads as needed.

it's the promise of a better place.

It's time to relax a little, and appreciate the people you've loved, the things that bring you comfort, and all the other small joys that have followed you from your life back home to Beacon where you now reside. The spirits, drawing again on past holidays and traditions, and now mostly dedicated to helping, have been busy trying to find ways to lift the mood, let you spread light to the darker corners of town, and find ways to make life (or death, as the case may be) a little more pleasant.

I STILL DREAM OF YOU

All around the bonfire are carved vegetables - radishes, turnips, rutabagas, squash, and so on. And as the days draw on, more arrive. Each has a feeling or brief memory attached to it that belongs to someone in town. Whose pumpkin or potato have you found, and can you reunite it with them? Where are yours?

Off in corners around town, you might also still encounter the spirits hard at work and if you approach, they'll squeak and chitter and offer you something to carve or decorate, in case you want to get crafty and help out! How they add the memories remains very much a mystery, but the decorating they'll certainly share.

THAT TRUTH WE CHASE

A strange post appears on the network. Not a photo, not an audio file, no - this one is a video, for one of the first-ever times since the last reset. A fuzzy hand, and then a masked face, appear much too close in front of the camera, then a squeaky song of delight.

But there's another spirit in the background - larger, covered in feathers, with two large round yellow - orbs? - on its chest. It grunts in frustration and reaches, and the camera goes sprawling and clattering to the floor.

As the smaller spirit bounds over to retrieve it, the larger one scolds it in a series of loud clucks. After a dizzying journey across the engineer's shop downtown, the camera finally settles on the fuzzy spirit's masked face again now somewhere near the ceiling, and it yelps cheerfully, gives a two-fingered victory sign into the camera, then sets the tablet down and waves a torch around.

In vibrant blue and purple, the flames form the shape of the words FIND. YOURS. POTATO!

At which point there's a flash of feathers and the screen goes black.

Feel free to reply to the video (perhaps with frustration, as aren't tablets limited to audio or text only?), to go investigate downtown, or to make your own network posts to coordinate finding yours potatoes! Please use ENGINEER as your header if you and a friend (or you alone) are going to visit this spirit or the engineer so mods can easily find the threads for NPCing purposes.

FROM DARK TO DAWN

But that's not the only spirit who has messed with the torches. In fact, when they're not sneaking around with squash, spirits can be seen running off with torches in mouths and hands (and sometimes other appendages - those are some impressive toes!), much too fast and nimble for the frustrated Clara to chase after them, but then later returning and dumping armfuls back into the bonfire, or waving them around in delight as they conduct impromptu raves complete with flashing nonsensical messages like A HAM FHW ERGANTOOO or more simply, ♥.

Many will run up to you with a torch in hand, wave it around, then mime staring at it with hands pressed to their temples (if they have temples, or hands) - and sure enough, all it takes is thirty seconds or so of concentration and you too can have your own customized torch message! Try it out, delight your friends, prank your neighbors, or even try to act helpful and warn of nearby cautions if that's more your style.

If you take a torch from the bonfire, please let us know here!

QUICKNAV
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Comments

Bucky/Soldat | OTA + ENGINEER

[worthallthis]

I. Still Dream of You

Soldat is mostly recovered from the mine expedition by now, and largely just relieved that the spirits don't seem to be holding the whole fiasco against them. Or these ones don't, anyway. So they find spirits at work often enough, and can be found in odd places with them helping with the carving. Soldat is good with a knife.

And they regularly circle the bonfire looking for memories that might be theirs-- they might be new, they might be happy!-- so they run across many from other people, as well. And will hand-deliver those to everyone they can find, with apologies, but with smiles, because new memories! If anyone wants one of Soldat's, comment with a request and get a tailored memory from Soldat's past.


II. That Truth - Engineer

Far be it from Soldat to ignore an invitation like that, so they add a little time to their patrol for the day to head into the mall and downstairs to investigate. They poke their head into the store first, looking a little wary but open to being more pleasantly surprised. They sing out in spirit language, "Hello?"


III. From Dark to Funny Hats

Though the supply this month is sadly low on warm clothes, that doesn't mean Beacon is out of luck. Soldat has been preparing for the cold for the past month, already, making use of both clothes already in the general store that can be made into something warm, and actual winter clothes scavenged from previous residents no longer with us. They may have spend their entire several-days convalescence from wounds received in the escape from the mines sewing, in fact, to finish things up, when they weren't fussing at Javert's injuries.

So while the torches are going around (and perhaps they might have convinced the spirits to make the two torches at the bed and breakfast say "I love you" to whoever stares at them too long), Soldat is also going around, bringing everyone hats and outerware, whether coats, cloaks, or ponchos of some sort. The coats are often patchwork but generally serious in nature, but the hats... they're warm, good for the upcoming winter, but they're also kind of... silly. Comment here for your hat, no actual rp required unless you want it. Soldat has made one for literally everyone, including some people no longer actually in town, so there's some extras....

HATS

[callada]

The carved vegetables are charming, if confusing. Rosinante is eyeing a few, crouched low to the ground with his hands on his knees, when Soldat walks over. He nods in their direction and stays low - not just because it's easier with the height difference but also because his own injuries do make straightening up pretty painful still.

He's already wearing the coat Soldat made for him before with the incoming chill, but he sees the pile of warm goods in their arms and smiles. Looks like they've gotten back into sewing for the upcoming winter.

"What's all that?"

[worthallthis]

Hurrah for enhanced healing. Soldat is pretty much back to normal by now, only a little twinge in the knee and still dealing with the phantom heat issue, but that's tolerable since it causes no actual damage. They smile at Rosi around the pendant in their mouth, then shift it to one side so they can speak around it: "Hats! Mostly. Well, for you. Since you already have a nice coat." Yes, they are proud of that coat still, it is a very fine coat.

There are scarves and things, too, remnants from last year's knitwear wrapped around trees and things, and one or two home-made from scraps left over from other people's items.

ENGINEER

[nextnightmods]

Inside the shop, a large furry creature with multiple long stretched apelike limbs clings to the ceiling. Extra limbs mean extra hands, and that seems to be helpful in sitting up there while holding a torch and a tablet. It waves the torch in Soldat's direction, displaying the message upside-down and whistles a phrase so slurred it might either be "Come in" or "Cooked squash". Shame those sound alike.

The Engineer, meanwhile, is leaning with wings folded against the register, and perks up at the sound and sight of a visitor. "Hello," they cluck back. "You are here to trade?"

Re: ENGINEER

[worthallthis]

"Here because of message." Soldat waves back at the spirit hanging upside down with a little smile before focusing on the engineer spirit. "Something about potatoes?"

If they're here to trade, they sure hope they have the kind of thing the spirits are looking for.

iii

[policier]

( Javert's been in a much more irritable mood as of late. It'd been easier in the beginning, when Soldat was still recovering from his wounds, and Javert was far too distracted by the bile rising in his throat and the thoughts swirling in his head to put up much of a fuss. He despises being idle, and being confined to bedrest is worse than any sort of torture the spirits could inflict on him.

He spends much of his time in his room sulking, playing chess, and reading whatever books the others manage to fetch for him. It doesn't do much to improve his mood, nor does the fact he tires far too easily now, after having been off his feet for so long and eating so little. He hobbles around a bit on his crutches, but only to the living room and back, and even that is sometimes a bit too difficult.

He regards Soldat silently when he enters his room, his eyes trailing down to the bundle in his arms, which he frowns at. He hasn't heard Soldat's footsteps in the house for a while, and so he responds gruffly, )

You've been away long.

[worthallthis]

It was patrol time. And I had some things to deliver.

[The pile is much reduced, now, down to just what belongs to the people who live here. Soldat sounds calm, even content, rather than rising to Javert's irritation. They set the remaining scarves, coats, and hats down on the coffee table, and fishes through them, looking for the right one.]

I made things for everyone. For winter, when it gets cold.

Omg hat please

[patriotnow]

Ashford is not too well acquainted with Soldat, though they'd done a mission together and the man had proven to at least be satisfactorily capable so far as Klaes was concerned.

So when he spots him on the street he nods in his direction.

"What is'at you've got?"

[worthallthis]

Helpful, not having to go all the way out to the village to find him! Soldat angles their direction over to meet him, arms full of cloth and oddly-shaped objects. "Winter clothes. For everyone. Not sure if your coat is warm enough, and never seen you in a hat. I had to guess your measurements, but it should at least not be too small."

HAT HAT HAT HAT

[shadowsran]

That there's a coat isn't surprising; between the changing of house, the flood or any of the usual disasters, she's lost whatever she'd been using last winter. There's no playing up the gratitude with which it's accepted - it's touching that he think of it, that he cares, and that he's so freely fussy with what seems like the entire populace.

He's come an incredibly long way.

But that hat--

"What's this-?"

[worthallthis]

Misty's coat is sky blue and deceptively light-looking, going all the way down to her ankles, well-tailored and soft. They've managed to embroider little white and dark blue stars here and there on the hem and collar, because it's for Misty, and she's their favorite person, and deserves the best. (Really, everyone in the little cabin got Soldat's best work. They can play favorites a little bit.)

The hat, though. The hat is shaped like a bird, like a plush raven with wings down-stretched over the wearer's ears to keep them warm, sewn in a careful pattern to imitate feathers. Soldat ducks their head as they set it on top of the folded coat. "I know it's a little. Silly. Everyone's is. But it will keep you warm." And maybe it's one of the prettier ideas they'd had.

SILLY HATS ONLY

[flangirl]

"Hey~ you! Dinner!"

Is Pudding waylaying Soldat on his way in in the evening suspicious? It's suspicious. The enormous sandwich piled with greens from the greenhouse is suspicious. The fact that she's just short of pulling him in the door to join her at the table, all suspicious.

But at least she doesn't leave him in suspense long: Pudding may still be deep in her habits of buttering people up when she wants something, but with Soldat, she doesn't feel any need to play coy or beat around the bush.

"Come on, Mr. Sneaky. You've been secretive long enough with your sewing project and I'm humming out of my skin."

[worthallthis]

Soldat smiles, not fooled for one minute, but that's okay. They're delivering now, and it's certainly Pudding's turn. "Just let me grab it, okay?" They give the end of her pigtail a gentle little tweak, and the smile gets bigger. "Just promise me you'll wear it, at least once." Before she sees it, that's a big promise, but they think that "once" is safe enough to ask.

cold snap

[policier]

( It's been weeks since they've last spoken to one another. Ever since the incident with the hat, Javert has more than ever avoided him, keeping himself to his room for much of the day, only coming out when Soldat is nowhere to be seen and cannot find him. His appetite has all but whittle away to nothing, and what little Javert does manage to eat — a few bites of toast and water — does not sustain him for long. His clothes fit a much more loosely, and his stamina is low for lack of sleep and exercise.

He's miserable. Never in his life has he felt quite so lonely before, and he feels the loss of his friends more keenly now than ever before. He doesn't know how much longer he can last, and when the wind rattles against his window on one cold winter night, he cannot help but feel worried for Soldat. Is he still conducting his patrols, despite the snow and the chill biting at his skin? Of course he is. Javert would expect nothing less of him.

He resolves to leave a pot of soup for him when he returns. A peace offering. He doesn't know if it will be accepted, but he carries himself to the kitchen anyway, carving up the ingredients for french onion soup. Soldat may recognize the recipe from a card among Aziraphale's belongings, written in French and in Javert's handwriting. He had given it to the angel as a Christmas gift last year, in return for the handkerchief, and Aziraphale had been all too delighted with it, much to Javert's dismay.

When the door opens, he looks up from where he's standing in the kitchen, in front the pot simmering on top of the stove. He lowers his head a little, not looking the other man in the eye when he says, a bit hesitantly, )

I made soup, if you are hungry.

[worthallthis]

[Quite frankly, Soldat had come back from patrol the day after the hat incident fully expecting to play chess like usual, to check Javert's bandages for him, and have nothing be wrong at all. Javert's avoidance had been baffling at first, then, honestly, more painful than the rejection of the gift had been.

They keeps to their routine anyway. Even knocks on Javert's door once each night in the hopes that he'll relent and come play their nightly game with them. It's like punishment all over again, back when Misty had been angry with them over the ferry incident. Misty relented eventually. Will Javert? They don't know, but they live in hope.

Coming in from patrol shaking snow off their coat on the front mat and stamping it from their boots, the smell of soup is welcome. The sound of Javert's voice is more welcome, though they're not sure if it's for them specifically. They poke their head into the kitchen.]

I'm always hungry.

katakuri charlotte | OTA

[hndzhn]

i. i still dream of you.

( Katakuri has two vegetables that are attached to memories; the first is a pumpkin, orange and carved to look like him without his mask. This pumpkin will carry with it a visual memory and a swell of fond feelings; the image is of Katakuri lifting up a small toddler in his massive, gloved hands. The toddler has a third eye and chubby cheeks.

The second vegetable is a zucchini that's far too long. If you pick this up, the scent will be strong: strawberry frosted donuts and taro bubble tea.

He's hunting for them out of a need to keep his secrets, and to know what the memories are ... )

ii. from dark to dawn.

( Katakuri is chasing spirits down for the torches; they're too valuable. It dawns on him that he could probably get them easier if he uses his abilities, though he's not sure he wants to hurt them. Maybe just bonk them.

He's gathering small rocks, testing them by flicking them up in the air and catching them. He's pretty lethal with tiny projectiles ... Someone pick on him for being weird. )

iii. wildcard.

( hmu to plan things if you want something specific! ragekind or magicant#0246 :^) )

i

[worthallthis]

[Though Soldat has not officially been introduced to Katakuri, they are kind of a little bit of a stalker when it comes to their close friends. Their near-family. So between knowing who Pudding spends her time with and the carving itself, it's not hard to put together who this belongs to: someone clearly related to Pudding-- because that is definitely Pudding, in that memory. A little baby Pudding.

God, at least she was happy at some point in her life. That's reassuring.

And even if it's rude to see other people's memories, that can't stop Soldat from wanting more of their own... so rather than avoiding the carved vegetables, Soldat just is a stickler for returning memories to the people they belong to. That's why they've tracked Katakuri down to offer this one to him, held out in both hands.]

CLARAv4 (NPC)

[candlebot]

Dark to dawn

"Stop! You - put that back!"

The intended ferocity probably doesn't register to anyone who hears the little robot's slightly tinny voice as she stumbles along, reaching toward a spirit that bounds out of her way with three torches stuffed into its mouth. Eventually she stops and just lets it go, watching with her unmoving smile, though her eyes flash a dim orange with alarm.

Then, with a dramatic sigh, she pulls out a tablet and starts marking her inventory. "Seventy three. Why are they taking them? Will they ever bring them back?"

[paletteswap]

The fact that the spirits are stealing torches was alarming at first, but now that Kuai has seen that they seem to be simply running around with them and bringing them back, he's chalked it up to some harmless prank. He hasn't entirely given up on trying to understand them, but some of the things they do have no explanation.

"How many have they taken so far?"

[candlebot]

"Fourteen! At the moment. In total they have removed and replaced more but currently I am down fourteen from where the count has been sitting steady. I am glad someone is using them but I wish they would ask first!"

Okay so despite the reaction, she doesn't sound that upset, but then she never really does. Maybe it's a good thing that someone wants to carry some lights around!

Rosinante | OTA

[callada]

Still dream of you

The vegetables would be mysterious enough had they simply disappeared and then reappeared with their decorations. But in picking a few up out of curiosity, Rosinante quickly discovered the extra layer of strangeness. He now holds one very long zucchini - which looks regular-sized, actually, in his hands - with a completely baffled expression on his face.

"Smell this and tell me I'm not crazy," he insists, shoving it in the direction of whoever comes by. "Or, better, taste it. Does it taste like sugar?"

(Alternatively, please help him track down the ones that belong to him! Feel free to text him here or hit up his inbox as an alternative to finding him in person, I'm open to all options!)

Dark to Dawn

Those walking past the post office might spot a vibrant red light through the trees. Rosinante (now in a white rabbit hat complete with floppy ears) stands not far past the edge of the woods with a cigarette in hand and a torch tied to a tree trunk. The flame lacks any of the typical yellow or orange and instead flickers in crimson only as it projects the message I miss you, Mary into the air above it.

"She used to play with some of the spirits that live back here," Rosinante explains. "Dunno if she's herself enough now to recognize her name, or if she's even here anymore, but I thought I'd try."

Dream

[scarsolderthanyou]

Stone squints at Rosinante a moment, but accepts the vegetable to sniff, open-mouthed, at it. "No, you're not crazy, that's sugar. And spirits. And you. But I doubt you smell the other two." Stone, after all, is much better at smelling things.

"Have you tried grabbing a lot of these?" he adds. "They all have different smells." He hasn't tried picking up many, but he's definitely filtered through the scents each time he passes by.

[callada]

No, he doesn't smell spirits. Or himself, but it's not like he's ever really tried.

"Not yet," he says, lowering the zucchini as he looks at the assorted display. "Not many, I mean. I noticed one earlier made me hear music, though. Some sort of spirit decorating thing, I guess? Don't know what prompted them to do this, but it's kind of nice."

Will Ingram | showing up late to the event with starbucks

[donttalktome]

1. Scientific Curiosity: OTA

At first, Will avoided these oddly (and sometimes very unsettlingly) carved vegetables like they were the proverbial plague. He's played enough of the spirits' games to know that anything they leave hanging about town is bound to cause either widespread panic or emotional harm. Sometimes both.

But as time passes and everyone seems to be having a fine time opening these things up, his curiosity finally gets the better of him.

He's very careful about which vegetable (or, wait, some of these are fruits?) he chooses first. If he's going to potentially receive a new mental scar, it needs to be worth it. Naturally, this leads him to the most exotic-looking vegetable-fruit he can spot. It might be something weird from Earth that he's just never seen before, or perhaps it's something from a world you're more familiar with. Whatever it is, he's going to cautiously pick it up, heft it to see if it's empty, and inspect it all over before actually opening the thing.

Which, if it's probably yours, gives you a lot of time to stop him if you don't want him seeing what's in it.

2. Sad Song: Closed to Rosinante

After figuring out for certain that this isn't a trap, but a genuine, not-completely-creepy gift from the spirits, Will is more interested in inspecting more of these... "decorations". If other people's memories are in these, then his are too. And he wants those.

Of course, identifying your own vegetables by the vague, childish carvings done to them isn't exactly easy. So for the most part, he's just opening everything.

Most of them don't mean anything to him. A few words in a language he doesn't know, in a voice he's never heard. Scents of food and perfume. Nothing remotely familiar. He can't even connect most of these to other people.

Somewhere along his brief memory journey, he picks up a rather large... beet? turnip? radish? that gives him the sounds of creaking wood and crashing waves, the scents of saltwater and smoke. That one he keeps. He's sure that more than one person remaining in town has been on the ocean, but even if it's not his, Rosinante might enjoy it. Which is something Will feels very stupid for thinking, but he's already thought it, so there's no going back.

He's trying to brush it aside, as well as all the self-deprecation that comes along with it, when he reaches for a round, pinkish pumpkin. It's heavier than he expected, and he almost drops it, accidentally pulling off the lid as he catches it. And then almost drops it again, because what's inside is so foreign in more ways than one.

A woman's voice, singing softly and quietly, as if to a child. He can't understand the words, but he doesn't really need to. He can't say that his own mother never sang to him, because he doesn't really remember, but he's sure she never did it like this. There's such gentleness in her voice, such earnestness. He finds himself missing something he doesn't think he ever had.

And then he actually drops the pumpkin, because it's heavy and slippery and he wasn't paying attention. Whoops.

[callada]

The thunk sure catches Rosinante's attention from across the square, where he'd just been making his way toward the village with a long, pale blue squash nearly the size of his forearm and an especially rotund carrot tucked under an arm. He had stumbled across a couple of curious finds of his own, after all, that seemed worth sharing. The starscape attached to the blue one is dazzling and special, and he knows exactly who in town would appreciate it best.

The carrot he had picked up only because the face was so comical that he wanted to inspect it closer. How had the spirits managed such a deep scowl in the thin flesh of a carrot? He also nearly dropped it when he saw the memory attached. Will, laughing. Laughing with actual warmth and joy because of his ridiculous fortune teller curse, but also because they just enjoy each other's company that much that Will has fun with him. Likes spending time with him.

Anyway, those mushy thoughts and butterflies all get dashed to the side temporarily as he picks up the pace and trots over. Poor Will, speak of the devil, struggling with some sort of pumpkin.

"Thought someone knocked over a tree," he teases as he draws closer. "Felt that all the way over there. I... You should see these," he says, and kneels down to set the huge squash down on the ground first because he's half concerned if he gives it to Will directly he might just drop that one too. Probably would.