That One With the Meeting [OPEN]

[pure_havoc]

characters: Cao Pi and OPEN!!!
location: the town hall
date/time: appx moonrise Sept. 2, for a couple of hours
content: Cao Pi proposed a meeting for everyone to talk about what ideas they have for organizing, protecting the town, and safely exploring their confines. This is that meeting. Newcomers are welcome as well! Assume characters have heard about it through the grapevine, but especially on Sept. 1 as Cao Pi makes the rounds and tells people this is happening. He will have a moment to orate but after that the floor is open, threadjacking is encouraged, and whatever comes of this is a complete free-for-all!
warnings: probably some discussion of character death. lmk if I need to edit this.

Despite the fact that Will Ingram's messages providing further information were yet to come, Cao Pi had made a public promise and he would hold himself to it, carrying out his meeting as described. At moonrise on the 2nd, he is already present in the town hall, hoping to see not just those who told him they would be there, but also some of the unfortunate newcomers freshly thrown into this situation. He had done his best to prowl around the Invincible and the bonfire, mentioning that the meeting would happen, but he still had to rely on word of mouth to do its work.

When he decides there are enough people present to begin, the Lord of Wei steps up before the assembly, clearing his throat importantly. "For better or worse," he begins, "we are a community. A town, if we are not a country. The hints and cryptic comments from the Lighthouse Keeper have suggested that we have a job to do, but we're still waiting on information as to what it is and why - why us, why the dead stolen from their worlds or their respective afterlives. But the recent mission to connect the Keeper to the network our tablets can access has shown a number of weaknesses that may hamper our ability to do any job, let alone the one which will keep us all from being permanently obliterated." Is that harsh? Too bad. He doesn't care. "We know a few things for certain. One, that we must carry out the purpose which the Keeper understands and encourages. Two, if we fail in any way, she will kill us all by ordering the spirits to destroy us. Three, the spirits deep in the forest are not just her weapon against us, but they have their own will and may attack or destroy anyone who simply wanders out too far. Our explorations have uncovered a number of things but not everything, by far. If you are new or simply haven't kept up on the recent developments, the record is here." He holds out a hand to the logbooks kept there in the town hall.

"I've asked you here to discuss the issues facing us in Beacon, and to offer up any ideas for how to solve those issues. There are quite a few of them, some that even I, perhaps, haven't considered yet. Please be orderly and take your turns, but I should like to hear from everyone. Whether you have questions, or have an idea you wish to share, please. Speak up. We will all be better for the sharing of ideas and discussion of pros and cons, rather than just waiting and hoping that someone will take charge and give us orders."

With that, he steps aside, inviting anyone and everyone to come up and speak. Or simply rise from their seat and speak. The floor is open, Beacon, use it to say things that you might not want anyone connected to the network to overhear. Sass the Keeper, gush about the Postmaster, whatever you want. Hopefully by the end of it all, someone might have some plans that can be brought about. For his part, Cao Pi is not putting himself up as any sort of authority or the one actually in charge, he literally is only there as organizer and moderator and nothing else. At least, so his cool half-smirk and perfect manners would suggest...

Comments

[worthallthis]

[That is exactly the sort of "getting to know each other" the Soldier can handle. Bring it on, Inspector.

That is the weirdest order it's ever been given, though. (Okay, maybe not quite the weirdest. Handler Misty has weirder ones, like getting things off of high shelves and pulling weeds. But still weird.) Not entirely unexpected, at least, because it did just say it wanted to help this man train people and this man had been uncertain about those people's safety. So it nods, after a pause.]

Yes, sir.

[And then it answers the question.]

I don't remember them all.

[It doesn't remember... any of them, actually. It only knows the general feel of its past, not the details. So it offers that, slowly and with an expression of concentration as it tries to dredge up what it can.]

Sometimes politicians. Sometimes scientists. Sometimes military or other assassins. Several rogue members of HYDRA, my handlers' organization. Sometimes. I didn't know who they were.

[policier]

( If that is what Cao Pi wishes, Javert can deny him nothing. His praise is quite effective in stirring the inspector's pride, causing Javert to break out into a genuine, if not shy, smile. )

It would be my honor, your majesty.

( Working together. Javert can think of nothing better. He steps a little ways away from the crowd, so that he can speak more privately when he says, )

I am at your service, in whatever capacity your leadership may be. You should also be pleased at what you've done. Gathering all these people here. It is precisely what we needed.

[mind_blown]

[ as much as he hates to admit it, Eliot's got a point. Will's got control of the network and him-- ]

Depends on who else knows anything about technology. I can hack things. You know. Take down firewalls and networks, but that's a different skill from creating something secure.

[ destruction vs. creation, etc, etc. he looks like he's taking this seriously as he thinks about it. but at Cao Pi, he has the more functional and immediate question. ]

Anyway, we don't have any generals right now. We don't even know who all we have here, or what they can do. There's a hell of a lot of information we're missing.

[lunchbreaks]

Ah, he likes sweet things, if you have any to spare. And he's quite nice to... try and communicate with.

[mind_blown]

[ oh boy, he can't wait to introduce him to the first world war. because it's going to blow his mind. But at the same time, if he's moved on in the point, Jason's not going to argue analogies. ]

Yeah, we need to talk about it, period. I'm suggesting low tech, we get the list of people who are willing to throw themselves out there and send groups out.

And also think about what information might be here, honestly. This is home base, for better or worse.

[originallutece]

I think you remarkably easy to tease.

[Which means that no, of course she doesn't think so little of him, but it's easy to poke fun at him, just a little.]

[pure_havoc]

[ugh so much appeal to is ego, he's in heaven. Javert is going to be so good for him, he can tell. Playin' it cool, though, with a slight bow from the shoulders.]

We can only hope that it continues from here, gaining momentum, and isn't stopped in its tracks by foolishness and egos.

[notthatjason]

That's right.

[The population is small enough here that there's really no way around that fact. It's pretty clear, even to Jason, who is newly arrived and who has been here for awhile...though mostly that came with studying people for the past few days and sorting them into one of two groups in his head.]

And my name's Jason Grace. You said your name was Javert? How long have you been here?

[darkeyed]

Looks like you're right about that. _{[He shifts his weight from foot to foot, restless. Long-ingrained mistrust of organized authority makes his presence here feel a bit like spying on the enemy--or the people he might come to butt heads with. Lowly:]} That's going to be a problem.

_{[A predictable one, but a problem nonetheless. Though he looks out at the crowd, he keeps his voice pitched for Scarlett's ears only.]}

I'm wondering how many times this has happened already. How many groups in the past had this idea. If spending time talking about how to run things had worked, there'd be more of them left to show for it--and you notice who's not here?

_{[Will. That's telling to his inner cynic.]}

[kungfuey]

Exactly. [ Sure. Fun. That's what Scarlett means. ]

But... [ As much as it may pain her to admit. ] I guess it couldn't hurt if we agreed to a few rules. You don't need a leader to make things better. You just need to get everyone on the same page.

[ Which ya know. Would be easier to do with a leader but dammit Scarlett was sticking to her 'no leader' argument. ]

[withsadness]

We could post the rules here, in the town hall, and everyone can sign their name saying that they agree!

[She nods solemnly.]

Isn't that a rule, too? If you sign your name, it means you have to do it, or else!

[kungfuey]

You'd have to come up with the rules as a group. Let everyone have their say.

[ Even as she says it, however, she can guess how well that's going to work. ]

The question is. Would you force them to sign their name even if they don't agree?

[ Her question an open and honest one. There's no right or wrong answer, more Scarlett's own curiosity into the mind of a child. ]

[kungfuey]

Yep. [ Scarlett not even trying to conceal the fact that they're on the same page. She could see some sense in it; Trying to be more organised. Trying to unite everyone in a common goal but she's also run across too many communities that were brought to their knees by ambitious fools. She had no doubt that there were people present who cared more about power than they did about everyone else. The kind of people who would sacrifice every person in this place if it meant they'd survive just one more day.

It doesn't take her more than a heartbeat to realize who he means, Scarlett's head cocking to one side as she rolls that answer over. Will wasn't here, which said as much as it didn't. He was something of an antisocial ass and while she could see him being against this for all the reasons she and MK were... she also didn't buy him choosing ignorance either. ]

If I had to bet money? I'd say he's listening. Probably for all the reasons we are.

[ He was smart enough to create apps for the devices they used. She'd bet he was smart enough to create a backdoor that would allow him to eavesdrop as he saw fit.

Listening, but not here to lend support. That was the telling part. ]

[primordialerebus]

[ It's okay Mary. We all know what's truly important here... colors. ]

Yeah. Hopefully some good will come out of this... especially the whole welcoming committee thing.

[withsadness]

[It's a moment before she responds. That's an interesting question--one that she takes her time considering before ultimately coming to a conclusion.]

...no. Because then, it would just be a lie. It wouldn't be real.

[withsadness]

It will! I know it will, because we all want it to.

[So why wouldn't it happen? If they want it, they'll make it work. That's the only thing that makes sense to her.]

[kungfuey]

[ A smile dares to light across Scarlett's lips, the brunette nodding her approval at Mary's conclusion. ]

Exactly. [ Bobbing her head. ] So you either find a good leader, somebody who doesn't want to lead but everyone else thinks should - which is almost impossible. Or, you come up with a handful of rules that everyone can agree with and hope people will follow them.

[ Or door number three, where they keep having pointless meetings like this, where a bunch of people talk till they're blue in the face and nothing ever comes from it.

Suffice to say, Scarlett wasn't all that optimistic. ]

I'm more worried about making sure that the people who want to lead, don't.

[itselbitch]

[ yeah, that can't be too useful in a place like this. or at least, the obvious uses are lost. there could be something more to it, but eliot defers that train of that for later. ]

It's a bit more complicated than that. A lot of physics are relative, so. Light messing up means that a lot of other things are messed up. Things like lenses, parabolas, even the idea of spacial density. A lot of those rules end up broken, especially since dark is usually just the absence of light, but here, it's not the absence of light but the presence of dark. Something that eats up light instead.

...which is just. Kind of insane in terms of natural law.

[primordialerebus]

[ She smiles at Mary, glad for the source of optimism. Oh to be young again. ]

Yeah... yeah you're right. We'll figure it out won't we?

[itselbitch]

[ that makes him snort audibly in amusement, and he offers her his flask. apparently that's enough to earn his interest and flask rights. ]

If only that were the worst of their crimes. [ which is to say he doesn't really think people are being as honest as they seem. ]

[itselbitch]

[ wow. that was. hm. really, it's not too surprising since eliot can't imagine someone from the 1800s would be familiar even with stage magic, but the way javert bites back is. actually really amusing. smiling lazily, he tilts his head in inquiry. ]

Oh, there's nothing to fear. Fire like this doesn't catch like anything normally would.

[ he snaps his fingers this time, sparking a small flame from his fingers that slips away just as quickly. ]

It's mostly just fun now rather than deadly, though the heat is still useful.

[kungfuey]

[ Scarlett's gaze drops to the offered flask, the brunette taking her time to consider the offer before she finally takes it from him. A grunt of a noise that sticks in her throat, perhaps something thats meant to pass as a 'thanks' as she lifts it to her lips.

Downing a long pull with practiced ease and only the slightest grimace, the smile on her lips as she hands it back to him is both as sincere as it is off. Not something full of mirth but instead, knowing. ]

And now you know why I bothered to show up to this thing at all.

[policier]

We will not speak of that here.

( His easiness to tease, nor their domestic affairs. Javert's already a bit flustered by the latter, as he lets out another huff and looks down. )

If you truly wish to begin training tonight, you know where to find me.

[policier]

( If Javert wasn't so emotionally constipated, he might've had something nice to say about that. As it is, though, he just reaches out and pats Mary gently on top of her head, the gesture just as awkward as his attempts at hand holding. )

We shall see. I am not so easily impressed. I will have you promise, though, that you will not use what I teach you against anyone isn't threatening you.

( He's just trying to instill good morals in her. Never attack unless you must. )

[unpredict]

[ that… is a lot of crazy information. kol wears his surprise (and interest) with a touch of feeling overwhelmed. witches, vampires, werewolves, historical vampire hunters, hybrids, and tribrids exist in both new orleans and mystic falls, so it should be easy for him to comprehend demigods.

give him a minute. ]

Siege sounds a lot more effective in a place like this. [ having to chase each other, try to outwit each other… it'd give them a good opportunity to get a lay of the land and know how to operate within it.

he frowns, tilting his head slightly. ] But I need to ask... You had an actual war elephant?

[ sorry, not sorry—everything jason's said is so overwhelming but that takes the cake. ]