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

[policier]

( He'd welcome the discussion if Jason ever feels like having it. He doesn't know much about the first world war, other than the fact that there was one, some a hundred odd years into his future. Javert looks pleased by his suggestions, though, and nods once he's finished. )

So you would wish to see more coordination and effort?. I have to agree. A list would not be a bad place to start, either. Perhaps we should even take note of everyone's skill sets as, but that would require all of us to be honest with one other, and we are not yet at that point.

( Which is a whole other issue, but you know. )

[paletteswap]

Some sorcery that can destroy light and absorb it into darkness?

[Makes perfect sense to him, the guy with a brother who's made of shadow.]

If this truly is the afterlife, or even another realm of existence, there's no reason it should behave similarly to what we've known in our worlds.

[consecrates]

[ she didn't really know winters as well as the others, but she knows that he's been a lot of help to the residents. still, davina can tell what he's thinking about—it's not at all surprising, but of course, she can understand why he's concerned. she herself has trust issues brought about by the way she died; and being stuck in an afterlife with complete strangers, it's not exactly helpful. ]

We're not exactly sure what we want from this place, either. [ now that kol is here, what she wants is to get him back to world of the living. the others, she's not entirely sure if they have similar sentiments. ] Safety, maybe? [ but they're sort of safe, aren't they? ] Or perhaps a general understanding of what's going on.

[ like their life in this place—it doesn't make sense to a witch like her. ]

[consecrates]

Sweet things ... [ there are candies in the general store. do those work? davina doesn't know, but she'll probably try one of these days to get whatever info she can from the librarian. she offers him an amused smile, though. ] You don't sound very sure when you said "try".

[lunchbreaks]

Well, it's rather difficult when you don't really share a language. They understand English just fine, I think. But the vocabulary is quite limited.

[policier]

( It's fine that he doesn't remember. It's concerning, certainly, that he's having memory issues such as that, but it's not anything Javert can help with. He just listens, cataloging all of this information away and remarks, just as calmly, )

That is well. I do not need to know their names, only that they were important figures. People someone else wanted dead. I want to know that you will not attack someone without reason.

( Also, because he's already building a profile of him, but the soldier doesn't need to know that. )

[worthallthis]

[Oh, have fun with that one, Javert. It's certainly possible to profile the Winter Soldier... but not without a lot more data than you have right now. It looks blankly puzzled at the last statement.]

Why would I attack anyone without orders.

[Technically that's a question, but it comes out flat rather than in a typical questioning tone.]

[policier]

( It's insignificant as bows go, but that doesn't stop Javert from having something of a panic attack over it. His expression is bemused, then flustered, as he looks down and away from the other man. )

That may be expecting too much. ( He says, speaking roughly. )

Should everyone make good on their suggestions, however, we will be in a much better position than we were before. It's a start.

[policier]

( It's fine. He likes a challenge. )

Perhaps because you are human, and will act accordingly on your emotions.

( Even Javert, incorruptible police officer that he is, has been found guilty of this. The quizzical look give him all the information that he needs to know, though, so he moves on, nodding at the other man's metal appendage. )

Do you remember how you lost your arm?

[worthallthis]

[Ooooh, the Soldier's gotta correct that one before Javert gets the wrong idea... these people really need to stop calling it a damn person.]

The arm has always been like this. And I'm not a person.

[How's that for your profile, Inspector.]

[policier]

( Far be it for Javert to discourage him, but. )

You think yourself an animal, then?

( There was a time when he never thought of himself as much of a person either. He was just an officer of the law, not a person with any wants or desires, or even many feelings beyond the pride he gets from his work. )

Or perhaps you are just a tool that follows orders?

[worthallthis]

[The next feeling is satisfaction. Someone got it without the Soldier having to explain. Nice. Maybe he won't even make a big deal out of it.]

The second one.

[The Soldier has discipline and a fine tactical mind, thank you very much, it's not an animal.]

[policier]

( Javert is pleased as well, although it doesn't seem to show much on his face. )

That is well. You may be of more use to me than I had anticipated.

( He can accept the Soldier not thinking of himself as a person, but that doesn't mean Javert isn't going to treat him like one. Even before, Javert never mistreated criminals. He was never cruel, though he often thought of himself as better than them. He will not be so now. )

Though I worry about your memory issues. Is it amnesia of some sort?

[worthallthis]

[This guy. The Soldier likes this guy. So long as his orders aren't awful and he doesn't decide he needs to experiment or torture or anything, the Soldier can accept another handler. Elena hasn't really felt handler-ish, anyway, not like Crowley and Misty, so the Inspector can take her place and he'll just protect her, instead.

It's always nice knowing where someone's place is. It helps keep the Soldier from flinching at the things it has to say.]

Before and after every mission there would be the Chair--

[Okay, a little tiny flinch. Fucking Chair.]

--to take memories away, and then my handlers put the body into cryofreeze which took the rest. I only remember clearly from the day before I died, and the time since then. I don't lose current memories, but I don't have any older ones. Just impressions.

[moderatelymaladjusted]

We? Is that, like, the royal 'we'?

[Quentin looks up again, looking her over, and she's still very, very pretty. Dark hair cascading down her back and wide, pretty eyes. And suddenly he misses Julia fiercely. She would have known how to whip all of these people in to shape, with her kindness and a swift kick in the ass, if she needed to. She never did to a whole lot.

Licking his lips, Quentin quirks an eyebrow and shrugs.] Not that it matters much here, though, does it? My friend Eliot- [he stops to nod his head at Eliot, standing tall in the middle of the room, talking loudly.] was a king once. [Aaand back to business.] Well, we're trying not to die again? So, there's that going on. But. Why isn't anyone asking the real questions? Why isn't anyone asking about our... [side eyeing her a little before he goes on] magic. Or powers. Several people have them.

[withsadness]

It sounds like a puzzle.

[Or a game. But she keeps that to herself, because it's probably not something that should be compared to games.]

I think it might take awhile for a decision to get made.

[consecrates]

Strange how they somehow understand English. [ they're spirits, after all. they clearly have a different language of their own, communicating via different sounds and understanding different notes—and yet they learned the english language. ] They must have been communicating with people who speak English for a long time.

[lunchbreaks]

Yes. Well, Robin speaks English. I assume many of the people being pulled here do as well - seems a bit biased, as the most well-spoken language from home when I was there was Mandarin Chinese. Haven't met a single person who speaks it.

[notthatjason]

[Jason's getting used to that, but he's always been a fairly patient person, especially when compared to his peers.]

Maybe...but we don't have nearly enough equipment for it to be effective. Plus what building would we use? Most of them are used aren't they?

[He preferred Siege, sure, but he wasn't sure the group around here was organized enough to make it work. Jason tilts his head at the question.]

Hannibal. He wasn't mine personally, he belonged to the camp as a whole.

[consecrates]

[ that's a weird question, isn't it? after all, davina is simply referring to a general "we", a handful of individuals who also have no idea how to deal with this place. but then, it sort of makes sense when he follows up about his friend, her gaze flickering at the loud guy trying to rope everyone in—a king. right.

like he said, not that it matters in this place.

his next remark piques her curiosity though, an eyebrow lifting. ] Magic, [ she repeats it in the same tone as he's said the word. ] Or powers. [ and he's said "our", meaning that he's capable of using it too, right? ] I'm guessing you mean using it for the town's protection?

[moderatelymaladjusted]

Yeah, protection and to search the forest? I mean, sure, it's possible to set up wards and keep dangerous things out, or- uh, there are shields for immediate danger.

[And he's just saying way too much to someone he doesn't know and didn't that Ambrose guy say that it wasn't a good idea to trust people here too much? It's been one paranoid conversation after another and Quentin, who likes cloaks and daggers as much as the next person, is getting so tired of it.]

Most of what we do is, not really that useful? Here. Or, it takes more power than we could safe generate for now. But. Yeah. Protection. And exploration. And you? Can you-- do stuff?

[Lame, Coldwater and he hunches in to the seat. Fuck it, he wants to know and really, stuff it's the worst thing to call it.]

[withsadness]

Okay. I promise.

[Whether she totally understands what constitutes a "threat" is up in the air, but how could anyone know that? Taking the hand that he placed on her head, Mary curls her littlest finger around his.]

Now it's sealed!

[consecrates]

[ davina looks back at the ongoing talk before them, pretending she doesn't notice how he sinks lower in his seat, seemingly embarrassed by the question.

there's no point in hiding her own powers, tbh. not when she's already used it in the open, especially during the incident with the forest spirits. but there are still a few things that she hides from most of the residents of the beacon, including how the auditorium is completely warded, at least against most creatures she's familiar with.

she pulls a bottle of salt from her bag and creates a little circle on the floor, muttering a quiet spell. if quentin is observing what she's doing, he'll see a tiny spirit cross the circle's threshold but is unable to get out. a little boundary spell to demonstrate the answer to his question. ]

[policier]

Two months. ( He answers evenly, ) I was part of the first arrivals.

( He's made it his business to know who everyone is. Even if he doesn't know their name, he's been keeping an eye on nearly everyone in their ranks. What they're up to, how long they've been here. )

Things have been relatively quiet until recently, with the lighthouse expedition. I daresay we may have let ourselves become complacent, but that will change.

[kungfuey]

[ Scarlett would have actually appreciated that (a game) from Mary. Out of the mouths of babes and all that. ]

Probably. And it might not be all bad.

[ She wasn't opposed to most of these suggestions. As much as Scarlett might like to give shit to Will? There was a level of grudging respect??? There too? She at least believed that they weren't going to fix things around here by fighting and going off on their own. It wouldn't kill them to do a little more things as a group. ]

Provided we hide a few pieces along the way. [ Winking at Mary. ]