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

[worthallthis]

"If you think he would take it better from you. You can even give it to him." Soldat pulls that one out next, holding it up: the mirror to Rosinante's hat, only in black, and with the face stitched in a grumpy curl down instead of a happy curl up. "But I can track him down, too. There's a coat and scarf in here for him."

[callada]

The grumpy hat somehow makes him even more delighted than he already is, judging by the open-mouthed grin on his face. "That's perfect, matching hats!" he exclaims.

Yeah, Law probably would take this better from him, wouldn't he? He can't help but snicker at the image of Soldat approaching Law with such a gift. Poor Soldat doesn't deserve that level of snubbing. If Rosinante gives it to him, it might stand a chance of being worn begrudgingly at least once.

"You did all that? He might accept them better if I give them to him, but you did all the work! If you want to give them to him anyway, you should. Your choice."

[worthallthis]

"I don't need recognition," Soldat says firmly. "But people need warm clothes. Especially since we didn't get a lot of them this year." They fish out the coat-- flat black with green flannel trim and patches to make up the places he had to add panels for Law's broad shoulders, heavier than Rosinante's coat, and not quite as perfectly tailored, but they've had a lot of things to work on the past few weeks. Then there's the scarf, which is green and purple, the same green flannel that went into the coat. Two whole shirts went into those.

[callada]

"Wow, that looks cozy," he says, and he means it. Hopefully Law isn't picky about the colors, but really, who can be here? And who could turn down something with this much work put into it for any reason?

"I'm sure he'll appreciate these. The hat - probably not, but I'm going to make sure he wears it at least once," Rosinante says as the bright grin returns, and then holds out his hands to take it all. Might as well, he'll see the guy in a few minutes. "I love the hat. And he needs to develop a sense of humor."

[worthallthis]

"I'm still working on humor, myself. But at least I try." Law doesn't seem interested in it at all, poor man. "It will probably even fit under his usual hat. If he just wants to be warm without looking silly," Soldat suggests, readily handing the things over. They're perfectly happy to let Rosinante handle the hand-off with Law-- they'll be happiest when they see Law warm against the next blizzard. "If they don't fit right, let me know. I can adjust."

[callada]

Law has his reasons, Rosinante knows them well. He's also one of the few who has managed to make Law laugh, so he'll take that tradeoff. There's no judgment from him. Hard to have a sense of humor as the teen survivor of a brutal genocide, probably.

He folds the clothing over an arm and runs his other hand over the fabric, admiring it all a moment longer. "I'll let you know. Hell, I think most of the clothes he came here with are custom. He might love having a tailor again."

Maybe he'll go digging for a nice strip of yellow fabric. He can't help but notice Law wears his crew's mark on everything he owns.

[worthallthis]

The idea of being considered a tailor is kind of... actually pleasant. They'd rather be a tailor than an assassin. "I'm happy to help. Yours seems to be holding up pretty well." Sure, there's probably a tear here and there, but Rosinante can probably mend those well enough himself. "I taught Merwen and Pudding both some things, too, if he's more comfortable with them."

[callada]

"Dunno why he would be. He appreciates quality work and you do quality work," Rosinante says with a shrug.

There's more in that pile he's curious about, though. He takes a moment to pack Law's new clothes into the bag slung around his shoulders, then nods to the hats and whatever else is all in there. "Did you do one for Ingram, too?"

[worthallthis]

"Yes. Not a coat, he has one of those, from last year. But a hat." They shift the bundle to remove something that looks like a very fluffy Viking hat, stuffing and careful stitching keeping the plush horns curved up, though they're maybe a little flattened from the trip around Beacon. Twin blonde yarn braids make up the earflaps. "Do you want to deliver that one, too?" Soldat may or may not have picked up on something with them, but they do know Rosinante is friends with Ingram.

[callada]

He ducks his chin a little, laughing at the sight of that hat. Oh, it's perfect! In some ridiculous opposites-day way. "Like from Elbaf," he says, and giggles a bit more before he gets it under control. "Giants. Where I'm from, we - that's like a giant's hat."

Which is wonderfully ironic, in his mind.

"Your choice. Even if I pass it off to him, he'll get all sour about it, so it just depends on how badly you want him to snap at you." But at least to Rosinante, it sounds like a brief spot of entertainment rather than a ruined meeting.

[worthallthis]

"The picture said Viking. But giving Ingram a giant's hat sounds great, you should tell him that." Soldat is smiling again, setting the hat into Rosinante's hands. "You give it to him. You'll enjoy it, I can tell. Then he can yell at me later if he wants to." But he'll still take the worst of it out on Rosinante first, probably, and Rosi will just laugh it off.

[callada]

"Oh, he will," he replies with a chuckle as he places this hat also in the now very stuffed bag. Crossing back and forth through town means he's bound to fall but at least inside the bag Soldat's newly-sewn gifts should stay clean.

"Maybe he'll be so busy laughing at my hat I can pop this one onto his head for at least a few seconds," he says as he then swings the bag back around over his shoulder and adjusts the strap.

[worthallthis]

"Try to snag a picture if you do," Soldat suggests. "So I have something to bouy me through his fury when he yells at me about it. I might need that bit of happy for when I give Inspector Javert his." Literally everyone got a silly hat. Everyone. Even the people who clearly wouldn't want one.

[callada]

"He'd probably hack into my tablet later and delete it if I got one. You think Javert will snap at you too?"

Admittedly he doesn't know Javert as well as he'd like, but the man is indeed very serious. So it's not too hard to imagine.

[worthallthis]

"He might. He's been very. Unhappy lately, while he recovers from the caves. And his sense of humor is. Not great." But it felt wrong to leave him out, too, so they have a hat. If Javert doesn't like it, they'll-- keep it, probably. Keep it in their trunk with all their other useless but still precious things things.

[callada]

At the mention of the caves, he nods in understanding. That had been among his own personal worst experiences here, between the scenes of torture and violence they stumbled into and those that invaded his own mind. It's only thanks to Law's care and patience that he had managed to move forward to readily - well, that and their common goal. Green-eyes be damned, he's not going to let the lingering traces of life on this world be devoured without a fight.

"Well, let him know I appreciate everything he did in there. I wasn't really... in the right place to thank him at the time. But what he found was crucial to knowing what happened to those poor people."

wow didn't even see this

[worthallthis]

"And to getting us out," Soldat agrees soberly. They're still troubled that they haven't been able to go back and check on the spirits-- but with that big green-eyes there, it's just... not safe. And no matter how much they worry, they've promised to keep themselves alive if at all possible, for Misty and Javert, for Sora and Pudding.

They tilt their head a bit, looking up at Rosinante critically. "You're okay? After that?"

sounds like a few people lost notifs recently

[callada]

"Doing all right. You?"

The most shocking thing to him is that he is actually doing "all right" by his typical definition of it. It was absolutely petrifying at the time, but afterward? Those few people who saw or said anything of the fears that the green-eyes stole from his mind and spread throughout town weren't horrified by him, weren't disgusted or angry or any of the things he's used to assuming people will feel. Not even Law, though apparently he had known all along and kept quiet. He's never felt so loved.

I still shoulda seen it when I opened the thread to reply to Misty, ugh :P

[worthallthis]

Soldat looks away with a little frown. "Glad none of them shut me down. Worried about them now, with that big one driving them. But okay, myself, I guess."

What they'd seen in the caves of other people's fears hardly registers. There is one person left here Soldat doesn't like much, and even Cao Pi hasn't done much with his supposed power to hurt anyone. Everyone else is already in their good list, and so nothing short or actively trying to hurt people is going to turn them against anyone.

[callada]

"Seeing how it limped away, I'm hoping it takes a while to recover. Maybe it'll leave us alone for a while. But it's definitely a problem to have it lurking out there. Makes me think twice about going anywhere off the beaten path."

As if doing that had ever been safe in the first place. But now they know for certain they're being watched, probably being stalked, eyed like prey by a predator much more immediate than the world eater that the spirits had warned them about.

"Glad you're all right, though. Glad most of us made it through that and that nothing hit the people in town while we're out. Feels like it's riskier than ever to split up, but we got away with it."

[worthallthis]

"There's so few of us left," Soldat says heavily. "Splitting up leaves such smaller groups. But we're going to have to keep doing it. Going to Helix, looking for things. Can't just haul everyone along." As much as they would like to, or at least haul along their little household, just to keep a safe eye on them.

And they're not holding their breath for the big green-eyed spirit to leave them alone. All they can hope is that this new batch doesn't know about their off-switch.

[callada]

"Just got to make sure people know how to use the emergency app, and try not go go out on their own. That's the best we've ever been able to do. The good news is most of the spirits around town seem to be solidly on our side, finally. Gotta count for something."

Case in point: all the weird vegetables around right now, which, despite their strangeness, are mostly either harmless or actually pleasant. The spirits do try.

[worthallthis]

"Yeah, I think... I think we've got some solid friends." And if that's the case, it's possible all that means is more of them will go to the lights in a couple of months. If they're all still here in a couple of months. How fast does that World Eater go, anyway? Soldat sighs. "Might have to split up anyway, on purpose, to lure the World Eater somewhere else, if we can't get a bomb built in time."

[callada]

That especially unpleasant idea makes him grimace. "I don't like that at all, but nothing about this is safe or easy," he says.

Hard work, all of it, and if everyone still in town actually sees their problem through to the end, he'll be surprised. Pleased, of course, but he's just not that optimistic after what he's seen.

"I'll get these gifts of yours passed along," he says, ready to brighten someone's day (or at least get a laugh out of it) rather than dwell on their potentially inevitable doom. "Thanks again."

[worthallthis]

Soldat puffs out a sigh and forces themselves back into a less serious frame of mind. There's more of these ridiculous hats to deliver. They can fret about bombs and world eaters tomorrow. "Remember to get a picture if you can."