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

happy?

[notthatjason]

[Jason had already been told about the lanterns. It certainly added a new challenge to overcome, but that just meant they'd have to get creative, right? It was like having a new vital organ to protect.

He shakes his head as Kol describes the problem at hand with training and he speaks up again. Apparently he can't avoid it after all.]

I might have an idea we could try that addresses most of those: capture the flag. Two teams in the woods at night having to defend themselves while also accomplishing the goal of locating and taking the other team's flag.

[He holds up his hands. He's not used to speaking to so many adults and he's afraid it will be written off as a joke, so he elaborates.]

I know it may sound ridiculous since it's a game, but I've seen that as an exercise to be very effective in training. The fact that you don't know where the other flag is would force us to navigate the forest in the dark. It creates the need to work together to accomplish a common goal and all the elements you would encounter in a combat situation: strategy, adaptability, and just all around combat.

[pure_havoc]

[WELL...no that's actually a good point]

What good is a system when people will still willfully run off and do whatever they please whenever it suits them? A system is merely a framework, it takes leadership to encourage people to use it.

But, you have a point. What have you learned at the library?

[notthatjason]

[Jason supposes that with having died most people are a little more open minded about things. He had steeled himself for facing some denial about who and what he was, but so far no issues had really emerged.]

Roman legion predominately, which is mostly about fighting as a unit. Although for the past year I've been getting schooled in a more adaptive style of fighting. We're trained in most standard weapons of war as well as hand-to-hand combat.

[notthatjason]

[To some degree it's reassuring to hear that his aren't the only abilities affected by his arrival. Of course it also piques his interest because now he wants to know who else and what else is available to them in terms of powers.

Jason nods, though he looks a little surprised at this revelation.]

I'll do my best to do Rome justice.

[He can't believe he's talking to someone who was around when Rome was first making it's way around.]

but mostly I want to make sure I can do my part around here. I'll help where and how I can.

[itselbitch]

Oh, yes. Really, they're not that complicated as they seem. They're kind of.. Mm. Simple, I should say. Never quite as smart as you would hope them to be.

Usually when you have trouble, you just. Turn it off and back on again.

But given that, I'm not, ah, trained. In the way of building things for the tablets. Just skilled at using them.

[itselbitch]

A pleasure, Rosinante. Yes, I do think it would be best to have another rendezvous point. There is quite a distance between locations, and time is always short when it comes to things like emergencies.

[ eliot eyes the cigarette with some envy. he does have a pack of his own, but with the fact there's not a regular supply available, he's been saving up for when he's in dire straights. so probably next tuesday. ]

Magic is the key to most things in Fillory. Wards and enchantments. There's a lot that can be done with them. Placing alerts along a perimeter, for example. Or setting simple traps for uninvited guests. While anything powerful would require constant attending by a magician to uphold, the only real limit to how simple magic can be used is cunning. Solutions can be configured any number of ways and aren't always the obvious choice.

...though, mind you, anything pertaining to light is, as with all other things here, not as straightforward as we'd wish it to be.

[itselbitch]

Nice to meet you, Kuai. Or would you prefer Liang? I'm familiar with Earth, so you needn't worry.

About that-- While we are limited in means of sources of light, do you know if anyone has looked into amplifying them or light transference? There are clearly rules here about how sources exist, but light does appear to spread in a way that they must obey some physical law similar to what I'm familiar with.

That is to say, I'm not exactly a scientist, but mirrors and lenses have their functions beyond the obvious.

[itselbitch]

[ god. this poor boy is sadder than quentin. someone call a medic, he looks like he's going to pass out from that laugh. ]

I suppose that's fair. I think tools would be good though. And maybe weapons. We haven't a forge, and Rastus would have to do a lot to fully arm us all. Is that something you'd be willing to try?

[itselbitch]

"Bright red, huh? It's a pretty color. Full of power. What kinds of happy things does it make you think of?"

[itselbitch]

[ god. this guy seems like he tells his friends regularly he doesn't want to be friends with them just so that he can have the last word. it's almost funny if it wasn't so sad. there's no real point explaining that people that actually know what they're talking lead with that instead of stating the obvious and trying to move the conversation there, but that also says plenty to eliot of what kind of person he really is. that's how manipulators work, after all. best to keep an eye on him.

he nods to cao pi's first point. ] Agreed. A system still needs to be maintained. If there is no one to lead or guide it, then there is no one to enforce the system at all. It becomes meaningless if it's not followed.

[ he doesn't know shit about the library though. that's more q's realm, so best to see what the self-proclaimed genius has to say about it. ]

[itselbitch]

[ it's a clever response, and eliot offers an amused look, even if she seems like she wouldn't care either way. ]

You don't have to stand so far back, you know. It's just discussion. It's not really capable of biting.

[itselbitch]

[ ah, so much for that. maybe it'd be easier to just try and make a wooden one from the resources they have? hm... ]

Oh, they don't usually get that close. [ he presses his palm rather gleefully to his chest. ] I'm a magician, you see. I'd just set them on fire or something. Or force them back.

[darkeyed]

<sub>[He might have deigned to make an appearance at some point on his own, but it's thanks to Riku that he's there from the very opening speech, the other inexplicably going out of his way to find him and pass along an invitation. Specifically, it would seem, to batter him with fair and logical reasons why he should temporarily embrace amnesia that people talking in rooms is generally a pointless practice.

He'd thought the more persistent busybodies had died out during the massacre--it's easier not to think of them as that in their ringing absence--but it would appear not.

At any rate, Riku's mission counts as a success. He's there, though his attendance falls within the range of lurking with listening ears on like Scarlett.]</sub>

What do you think?

_{[Occupying the same corner doesn't obligate corner dwellers to conversation with one another--for some, not conversing is the whole point of warming the backseat. But Scarlett is from his group. One of the earliest groups. He's curious to hear another perspective, and at some point he drifts closer, stepping up beside her.]}

[kungfuey]

[ If only Eliot knew how much truth there was underneath those words... ]

Hard to watch if I'm in on the discussion. [ The other eyebrow joining the single raised one as she teases at her purpose for being here. ] I'm more interested in who's speaking than what's being said.

[kungfuey]

[ Had that question come from almost anyone else? There was every chance that Scarlett would have evaded instead of answered. She had a way of looking at things that few people could understand, let alone appreciate. She might not be able to claim that she knew MK all that well, but she could at least say that she'd watched him in these past couple months. One thing she'd figured out was that he didn't look at things the same way as everyone else, either. ]

I think... you can't have a group of people in a place like this for too long before somebody decides they want to be in charge.

[ That wasn't necessarily a bad thing, having people to call the shots but right now Scarlett was a little more interested in their motivations. She never really bought people stepping up out of the kindness of their heart. People were too self-serving for shit like that. ]

You?

[policier]

( After hearing all that Javert just. He cannot help but laugh. It's genuinely amusing to him, that there are all these people who think they can cheat death and go back home. You had things to do? Javert could care less. )

So what do you propose we do, then? Tell me, I would genuinely love to know.

( He would. He's not being sarcastic about that, even if the laugh was a bit offputting and a dick move. )

Or are you simply going to sit there and complain? Whine that no one else has offered an idea you agree with? I sympathize with your frustrations, believe me, but we need to prepare ourselves just as much as we need to collect information.

[originallutece]

[Does she genuinely like him because he laughed? No, there are other reasons, but that absolutely helped holy shit.]

[originallutece]

[She smiles, and it's in the same subdued amusement he's seen before, yes, of course. But there's a slight edge to it, not directed at him so much as in general, because, honestly, yeah, he should shudder, she is a lot of anger packed in a 5'4" package.]

Likely not you, so long as you're content to continue letting me have the bed.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DgP7YgeX0AAqUaE.jpg

[policier]

[pure_havoc]

"You hit at the heart of the matter, in terms of gathering information," Cao Pi says smoothly, pacing back to take a seat. "Others have interacted with the spirits more than I have, they can tell you some things, but in a more general sense we know almost nothing. That lack of understanding could lead to disaster." He stretches a hand toward this curious person. "If you have such a desire, perhaps you could go a long way toward filling in our knowledge gaps."

The musical instrument idea is one he will encourage, if not participate in very much since, well, he's a poet, not a musician.

[pure_havoc]

That, young master, is what we need more than anything. Intent. Willingness.

[pure_havoc]

Same, generally. I can only theorize on their use, and tap the surface, but that's it.

[hmm he'll have to find someone else to recruit to make those survival guides and alerts a reality]

Ideas, then. Defensive tactics. Armory storage. These are things we can certainly work on in the meantime.

[policier]

( His honesty is appreciated, as is his speaking of French. Javert tucks all that information away, and mentally underlines the word assassin in his head, which is probably the most concerning bit. )

Is that what you wished to be called?

( The Winter Soldier. It's a good thing Javert's learning to be a little more lenient, or he may have turned down the other man's offer just for being too dangerous. But perhaps he does genuinely want to help? Javert considers this possibility for a moment. )

I will be honest. I do not know if I can accept your help. What you lack is not experience, but my trust. I want be sure you will not harm anyone learning under your care.

( He could take his word for it, but Javert has a better idea. He looks the man up and down, then says, )

Perhaps we should get to know each other better.

[worthallthis]

[A feeling. Disappointment? Understanding. The Soldier might not trust itself, either, but it needs tasks and this one is better than murdering people. (Not that anyone has told it to murder people here. Yet.) It's not sure how "getting to know each other" actually works, so it can't think of what to say to help that-- there isn't much to get to know, as far as the Soldier thinks. It glances up from its stare fixed on Javert's chest, to his face, briefly.]

I take orders. If I am told not to harm or to kill, I will not harm or kill.

[It looks back down again, and says,]

Ask any question you want.

[consecrates]

[ she hasn't met the librarian yet so she's not sure what to expect of him. but if he thinks that all he needs are snacks, then ... ]

Perhaps we can ask them how to warn us if there's danger that's approaching. The spirits know more about this place than we do so them warning us can help us help them. [ that makes sense, right? ] Last time, we couldn't understand each other, which was confusing as to why they were attacking us.