Barok van Zieks (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
winebar) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
crescentview2022-12-06 11:48 am
winebar) wrote in crescentview2022-12-06 11:48 am
Some Sort of Town Hall Meeting
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.
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.
no subject
Now you're just doing that on purpose.
no subject
no subject
Good heavens! He speaks precisely!
[It's so hard not to start laughing help]
no subject
no subject
You're the one that wouldn't tell me what all this was about in the first place! So you've only got yourself to blame for all this.
[ 8) ]
no subject
[SIGHS.]
Which part do you need further clarification on.
no subject
[So, all of it.]
no subject
[IN. ANY CASE.]
I have spoken to several people that express differing experiences than mine in regards to time period and the existence of magic or gods. I wished to examine that among the entire group. I also wished to discuss the Goddess and whether it is prudent to take her at her word and do what she asks. Is that clear?
no subject
Oh.
Why wouldn't you? She's the Goddess.
no subject
[This is of course before he gets wheat prisoned.]
no subject
Well, yeah! That's why it's called faith! They can't just exist alongside of us; everyone would start bugging them and it'd be a pain in the ass!
Besides, isn't bringing us all here enough? I've got a lot of power but I can't jump between worlds...
no subject
I'm well aware of the premise. Suffice it to say that in recent years I have been given countless reasons for my faith to waver.
no subject
But also hey???? Why's this turning into a religion talk he's going to peek into Asuka actually having layers wtf it's been less than a week]
It sounds to me like you're looking for logic where it doesn't exist.
I don't know what the gods in your world are like, but in Desuya, most of the time when people give up on their faith it's because they can't accept that what means the world to us is just a grain of sand to the Maiden. She can't always look out for what one person wants when she's looking out for the entire world instead.
no subject
[He's... Just slightly agitated.]
no subject
What do you mean, meaningless? They still have meaning to us.
[But why pray...? It's hard for him; his belief in his goddess is something irrefutable, a truth that's carved into his very being. Not believing, not praying... it'd be like not breathing.
Asuka shrugs.]
There are lots of reasons. I like to talk to the Maiden about the little things, like how Mitska found her element when her brother tried to trick her into sitting on a block of ice, or how Corin finally got the nerve to jump off the Perching Stone for the first time into the pools and accidentally flooded half of them with cold water. Things she might not have been watching closely when they happened.
I don't want her to feel lonely. It's gotta be a lonely job, watching everyone from afar. Especially when Death's visiting all the time.
no subject
So you're showing sympathy to an almighty being. Do you not see how ridiculous that is?
no subject
Just because they're almighty doesn't mean they can't have feelings too.
no subject
no subject
[Simple!]
But I know that she chose to bless the Creators with water magic so we wouldn't all die out. If she didn't have any feelings about all the work they'd done to build our home, why would she have done that in the first place?
no subject
How should I know? All I can say is that I see no reason in my own experience to feel the same.
[The thing he won't say but is the undercurrent to the entire argument he's making is the admittedly selfish (which is one reason he won't say it) thought of "if God exists and is worth caring about, why would He take my family and leave me to suffer the way He did?"]
no subject
Then maybe you should ask yourself what reasons you're looking for.
[...okay maybe he'll poke at it a little bit. As a treat. He's been very well-behaved, he deserves this.]
no subject
[It had happened somewhat on accident. When he'd withdrawn entirely from London society, neglecting to attend church service had logically followed, and with it the struggling to find some sort of answer or meaning.]
no subject
So why bother asking any of us? Sounds like you've already made up your mind.
[You know you wanna believe it's all real, van Zieks. Magic and gods and everything.]
no subject
[Unfortunately, as far as he's concerned.]
The claims people have made are far more extreme than anything I've heard before.
no subject
Well, duh.
I already know none of you are from Desuya, so none of you know what my world was like. I don't know what any of your worlds were like either! Obviously it's gonna sound weird.