Some Sort of Town Hall Meeting

[winebar]

WHO: van Zieks and anyone who chooses to show up.
WHAT: van Zieks tries to catherd and hold a team meeting. Surely nothing will go wrong.
WHEN: About a week after arrival
WHERE: Outskirts of the Beach Area
WARNINGS: Hopefully none but let me know if any need to be added

[One afternoon, a few days after their arrival, a face that may or may not be familiar treks to every farm on the island to deliver what could perhaps best be described as a summons. Even if you happen to be home for it to be hand-delivered rather than placed on the door, van Zieks will not answer any questions about it, dismissing it to all be discussed "at the meeting." His summons reads as thus in very proper and fancy handwriting;]

To All Parties Brought to this Island by the party referring to herself as the "Harvest Goddess" (Henceforth referred to as such for the sake of convenience and not as confirmation of her claims),

Tomorrow at 11AM sharp, please arrive at the location indicated on the map shown of the reverse of this document. Without any legal structure in place, I can certainly not enforce attendance, however I would hope everyone see it in their best interests to collaborate with the others who are in their same situation.

If you are willing, it would expedite things for this meeting and potential future ones to write your personal answers and bring that record to the meeting;
1. Your name, your country of origin, and the year you most recently recall it being.
2. Your profession and any relevant skills to our current situation
3. Your opinion on the existence of god(s) and/or magic/the otherwise paranormal
4. Your opinion of the Harvest Goddess, her claims of divinity, and her promised agreement for returning us to our homes.

Sincerely,
Lord Barok van Zieks, Esquire

(On the other side of the paper, a hand-drawn and rough if not precisely made map indicates a spot on the beaches to the East.)


[Should one decide to answer this meeting summons, they will find van Zieks at the location as early as 10:30AM, but as stated he does not begin formal proceedings until 11. He is dressed only slightly less primly than he was upon their arrival, having foregone his dark outer jacket and gloves, but retains his waistcoat and cravat, along with his fancy boots that are now a tiny bit scuffed. Imagine this outfit with his prosecutor's badge now pinned to it instead of his jacket. He has, somehow, brought a table to the beach, relatively flimsy so it is. If anyone brings him the information he requested he's gathering those on said table.

At 11, he stands behind the table when he addresses the group, commanding attention with a brusque slammed fist onto his makeshift Prosecutor's Bench;]

I thank you all for coming. I think my request in the summons should have made the topics I wish to discuss clear, but in short, I wish to get a broader sense of the scope of some discrepancies I have noticed in our understanding of reality, and following that, an idea of how we stand individually and as a group in regards to our current situation.

Firstly, though, I would like to make clear my personal intentions and credentials, both to demonstrate my intent and as a show of good faith, disclosure, and good standing in which I may claim to have the authority to conduct this meeting. As I said in my letter, my name is Barok van Zieks. I hail from London, England, where, as of the current year of 1899, I serve as a prosecutor in Her Majesty Queen Victoria's courts and have done so for the past ten years.

In my personal experience, the existence of God is widely believed but technically unproven, and the supranormal all inclusive are merely works of fiction and artifice. As far as our host is concerned, in speaking with her I found her unwilling to negotiate, explain herself, or provide proof of her claims. It is for these reasons that I find the Harvest Goddess difficult to take at face value and the prospect of blindly following her orders non-ideal at this time.

I will also remind you all that regardless of your personal sentiments toward our current situation, what she has done constitutes mass kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment. There is, of course, currently no means to pursue this in a legal sense; however, I would move that we should strongly consider attempting to learn all we can about this situation before simply conceding to her terms.

[He takes a dramatic bow and steps back from his "desk";]
I have said my piece, and I open the floor to discussion.

Comments

[sicklysweet]

Yeah.

[Will he provide more information?

Of course not.]

[feralheart]

[ Bro. ]

...Was it the sickle, nya?

[sicklysweet]

Sickle? No. It was a cow. Kind of insulting, honestly.

[At least Mithra and Oz would kill him in more personal ways, geez.]

[feralheart]

A cow? That's embarrassing, nya.

[ Not like he can talk, like this. Dammit. He shuts his mouth again with an audible grinding of teeth. ]

[sicklysweet]

I know. It was more creative then trying to slice someone with a sickle, at least... nya.

[:)]

[chevaliered]

[ snortlaughs. ]

[winebar]

[NO HOLD ON-]

This is no time for jokes.

[sicklysweet]

Why would I joke about something that happened to me? I'm not that cruel, Sir Prosecutor.

[:)]

[harimaya]

I knew it.

(Someone DID die and make van Zieks the boss.)

[sicklysweet]

It was pretty painful. You should try it.

[Help.]

[harimaya]

No thanks.

(Not interesting, Owen.)

[sicklysweet]

[Booooring.]

Such a shame. Would you rather die in a way that's more exciting?

[passthrough]

Wait, what?

[sicklysweet]

[What do you mean what?]

This goddess killed me.

[passthrough]

You're... not dead, though? And you're obviously not a ghost.

[squints]

We've only been here a week! What happened?

[sicklysweet]

Well, obviously I got better.

[Don't worry about.]

I don't think she appreciated me returning her pointless pamphlet, so she crushed me.

[esurientabyss]

[...incredible, it seems the goddess summoned a bunch of feral cats]

[winebar]

[Replying over here instead bc hello what]

If that's the case then pray tell how you're standing here now!?

[sicklysweet]

[He got better.]

Well you see, Mr. Prosecutor, there are fantastical things in the world capable of wondrous things. Spirits and those that can control them, and those who can draw magic from other things... plus various other sorts of beasts.

[He smiles, cheerful - or something approaching it.]</small. Sometimes those wondrous things mean a corpse can simply pick itself back up and find they have a new chance at life.

[associative]

You can’t just say that and add nothing else.

[sicklysweet]

The goddess killed me. There's not much more to add than that, is there?

[He did start it, but, you know.]

[associative]

[ UH……. ]

I think there’s a lot more you could add. Like when, why, and how.

[ Well maybe not how but still. ]

[obliviscor]

I wouldn't worry too much. Owen's used to dying. Kind of a hobby of his, actually.

[winebar]

[Okay he has a lot he could object to in that statement but.]

You speak as if you're already familiar with him.

[associative]

He needs better hobbies.

[ That’s just depressing!!! ]