Town Hall Meeting The Second

[winebar]

WHO: Everyone willing
WHAT: van Zieks trying to catherd, again, in order to Establish Law & Order.
WHEN: Sometime in the Summer between the various events.
WHERE: the forest, outside van Zieks' farm.
WARNINGS: chaos mostly, more will be added if needed.

[A week or so after the chaos of Hot or Not, each farm will recieve another missive from Barry Z himself, chief buzzkill, who clearly learned nothing from how things went last time. It reads as such;]

To All Parties Brought to the Island by the Harvest Goddess,

Tomorrow at 11AM sharp, please arrive at the location indicated on the map shown of the reverse of this document. The topic of discussion on the table is the potential establishment of some form of social contract and body of law. As before, I cannot force attendance, however, I would again hope everyone sees the benefit in being involved in this discussion.

Sincerely,
Lord Barok van Zieks, Esquire

[And again as before, there's a map on the back. This time leading one to van Zieks' residence, an orderly forest farm with a nice stable currently housing the horse van Zieks rode in on to make himself the boss of things, apparently.

At the time of the meeting, there are two tables that were clearly brought out from inside. There are... snacks? Van Zieks is not a chef, you will have these strawberries and fried mushrooms and you'll like it, I guess. There was an attempt. Van Zieks himself is still dressing in his less fancy- but still absurd for this weather- three piece suit.]

Than you all for coming. I understand that the topic I have put on the table may seem... needlessly dire to some, however, in the case that something does happen, it would be far better for us to already have a system in place. I do not think we currently require any sort of active police force, but rather that we should have some sort of agreed set of behavior in place, and then elected individuals to adjudicate any potential disagreements.

As far as a social contract, on Mr. Trahearne's advisement, it would follow thusly; [He pulls out another paper to read from.]
- Do not cause unsolicited physical harm to one other.
- Do not harm or otherwise disrupt another person's farm.
- Do not damage, destroy, or unlawfully take possession of another person's property.
- Do not vandalize or otherwise disrupt communal spaces for us or the townspeople.
- Do not behave in such a manner that would elicit broad reprisal against the group as a whole from the townspeople or the goddess.

If anyone has any other thoughts, feel free to share them. I feel that this is basic enough that even those of you more prone to... rebellion can agree to it.

The second matter is to discuss how to handle if someone does break these rules. While I have made clear before my prior experience with the law, I understand that a system like this can only function if there is trust in those enforcing it. Thus I think that the authority should be given to whoever the group as a whole feels most comfortable entrusting it to. So I open the floor to nominations for that responsibility.

Finally, I'd like to make clear why this is necessary. I have spoken to the goddess, and as long as it does not directly interfere with her and her means, she has no intent of intervening if something were to happen to one of us. We are not her "people," the residents of the town are. Therefore, it is imperative that we work together to protect ourselves.

[And now he will step back and hope that some productive discussion happens.]

Comments

[flamenova]

[ oh, she's 0 for 2 here...with a bit of a nervous laugh, she takes another drink. ]

That was a pretty sneaky one, Gaku...

[associative]

What can I say? I know I'm one of the only people here from a boring world.

[flamenova]

I'm sure it's far from boring. Even if you don't have Blades or special powers, there's bound to be something that your home has that ours don't, right?

[associative]

Well... I have had to teach people how to use the technology here, which is honestly pretty retro compared to what's in my world.

[flamenova]

You mean the telephone, and the television? We don't have anything like that where I come from, either. It seems pretty modern, in some aspects...but then again, I'm not the best frame of reference. I was asleep for a few hundred years...

[associative]

[ He'd tell her she's not the only one not caught up on the latest tech, but— ]

Wait, what? You were asleep for how long?

[flamenova]

I...sort of lost track of counting? But it's probably been...close to five hundred, if I had to guess. It's a pretty long story...

[associative]

Sounds like it...

[ But he's intrigued nevertheless. ]

I'd like to hear it someday, when you have time to tell me.

[flamenova]

I'll...tell you about it over dinner sometime, maybe? I'd be happy to try and make something you'd like.

[associative]

Sure! I like soba, if that helps.

[ If she has no idea how to make it, that's fine. He has plenty of other things he likes. ]

[flamenova]

Soba...so, noodles, then? I'll have to figure out how to make that into something summery, but I think I can have it work.

[associative]

It might be cheating, but you can ask me for tips if you need them. I trust your judgement, though.

[graftage]

Wow, you're like Lovecraft.

[????]

[flamenova]

Lovecraft...? Who is that?

[graftage]

He's my partner back home. He likes to sleep for years and years too.

[flamenova]

Oh, it's not that I slept that long because I was tired, or anything like that. I just...had to be put to rest, so that I could come back when I was needed again.

[graftage]

...You make it sound like you're a kitchen utensil that gets put away until the time comes to use it again.

[flamenova]

[ ... ]

...That's not the worst way to think about it, actually.

[ she hates how spot-on the analogy is. ]

The really fancy steak knife, that only comes out for very special occasions? That's me.

[graftage]

I'll be blunt with you. That's really messed up.

[flamenova]

Wait, is it? It's...just the part I was meant to play, really...and if that knife came out for every meal, it'd cause problems, wouldn't it?

[graftage]

Well, it's like...I don't doubt the important role you have to play, but you're a person too, ain't ya? Not an object.

[flamenova]

Back home, I'm what's called a "Blade." And a... pretty special one, admittedly. Most of us don't get put away like that, but I'm considered strong enough that it was probably important to do it. If nothing else, I agreed to do it all on my own.

[passthrough]

[Just squinting at this with obvious displeasure.]

[graftage]

[Giving him a curious look? HEY THERE OTEGINE]

[passthrough]

[He's just shaking his head slowly.

Leave it alone, man.]