ph_logs | [OPEN] Summer 2023 Catch-all!

Nothing for it but to jump in with both feet and hope for the best, Lucas muses to himself. He's already in possession of the best tools needed for the job; a blank notebook and a pen. Well, a mostly blank notebook. Already the Medium has been busy jotting down notes, from the newspaper article, running into Ms. Leeds, and an unfortunate encounter with the little tree gremlins themselves. The notebook is a bit of a mess at the moment, but one thing is apparent already - more data is needed!

He posts a few handwritten flyers on the village message boards, hoping that other newcomers to this strange isle see them and help out, or that some villagers decide to get their heads out of the turnips and do something to help themselves. In the meantime he can be found in a variety of places from the heart of the village to the edge of the forest, notebook open and in deep enough concentration that anyone could get the jump on him.

"...Is this a burtok puzzle or just, like, a weird boulder?" He mutters to no one in particular.

Feel free to set your post wherever and I can roll with it or poke me on discord!

"Boy, I thought the Farmville office was small." Lucas glances around the mostly empty office the so called Enforcers use as home base. He's given free reign to pick out a desk while awaiting his first patrol route, finding a nice corner by a window to set up shop while biding his time.

The desks aren't arranged like the Farmville IOPSA office either, no cubicle walls, no dividers. Just an open room with plenty of desks and not enough people to fill them all. He fidgets, readjusting his newcomer set of clothes of the hundredth time, fingers drumming across the wooden desk's surface.

His seat does give him a great view of the rest of the office, so when a new face shows up, the Medium gives the man a wave. "Hey, you working here too?"

While she hadn't actually seen any of the brutoks yet, Andy had spent a good chunk of her time so far in Pumpkin Hollow thinking about them. Her usual methods wouldn't do any good here--no internet, no gear. The standard routine for a new story began with a day or two of dedicated research. The next step was a day trip to the location for photos and, ideally, a first-hand experience or physical evidence to substantiate the original claim. (Andy would be the first to admit, however, that when it came to the atypical kinds of reports she investigated, real evidence was basically unheard of.)

Anxious to get eyes on one of these Brutok herself, Andy practically ran toward the forest after reading the handwritten flyer, hoping to catch up with whoever had written it. There she saw him, notebook wide open as he considered the scene. Andy slowed, taking a look around before walking up beside him.

"Need a research partner?" She nods kindly in his direction. "I'm Andy. I saw a flyer?"

Snakes looked around. “It’s about what I’m used to.” He just usually saw it from the arrestee’s POV. How strange to see it from this side … to actually be on the other side of the law.

“Yeah … I am,” he said.

Lucas is so nose deep in his notebook that he doesn't hear anyone approach. Pouring over what little information he's gleaned, he curses the lack of proper equipment and the resources IOPSA provided back home. This kind of investigation shouldn't be taken alone, so it's a good thing that someone took interest in his flyer, even if they managed to sneak up on him.

"GAH!" The Medium startles and splashes a blob of ink across a thankfully empty page of his notebook. just as quickly he clutches his chest and sighs, "Shit! Sorry, I didn't hear you. Uh...Andy, right? I'm Lucas."

He offers out an ink-stained hand to shake, with a sheepish grin to go along with it. "And a research buddy is exactly what I need right now. You do this kind of thing back...uh. Well. Back home, I guess? Sounds weird to say that."

"Oh yeah?" Lucas raises an eyebrow, pale eyes darting around the room. He offers a hand out for the other man to shake, if he so wishes.

"Lucas Kovach, by the way. Glad I'm not the only newbie here."

Old West law offices were generally pretty small and without dividers and such, or the ones Snakes saw were, anyway.

He accepted the handshake. "Snakes Tolliver. So is there anything else going on besides these ... walking tree things?"

He tried not to sound as derisive as he felt. What nonsense. It had to be a prank somehow.

Edited 2023-06-14 02:50 (UTC)

Andy laughs warmly as she shakes his hand. "Pleased to make your acquaintance, Lucas."

She takes a deep breath as she leans casually against a nearby tree, hands tucked into the warmth of her tufted flannel. The same flannel she was wearing when she arrived. Back home. Lucas was right--it did sound weird.

"Yeah, I did something sort of like this. It was more...theoretical?" Andy laughed again. Even on a normal day, explaining her blog to someone new always felt like crossing the Rubicon--either they shared an interest in the unknown, or they labeled Andy a conspiracy theorist and quickly disengaged. Luckily, saying she writes about "cryptozoology" in her spare time was usually just smart-sounding enough that people didn't press further.

"I'm actually a bartender, but I run a website. A blog. I write about mysterious sightings, local legends, creatures that most people don't believe exist." Andy stands up straight and pushes a loose chunk of hair behind her ear. "You know, I've interviewed 100 people claiming to see stuff like this, hiked the entirety of the state forest, but I've never come across something as tangible as whatever this is. And I've definitely never seen it publicized this way!"

"Nice to meet you," Lucas's handshake is to the point, one shake and then release. He sits back in his chair, one eyebrow raising at the man's phrasing.

"The burtoks? I mean, nothing like that I guess. I did a little poking around the forest and someone else claimed to have seen someone else out there." And while Lucas did confirm it, it's not like he wants to lead with his supernatural abilities so he keeps his mouth shut on that for now.

"It would be nice to know why they decided to come crawling into Pumpkin Hollow to begin with, right? What if like...something else is out there?"

It's striking the way Andy speaks around the subject and Lucas feels like calling himself out on it, too. Even with IOPSA operating out in the open he skirts the issue of investigating the paranormal, downplaying as hard as he can. He can recognize that in the way she speaks.

"Oh yeah?" For a moment, Lucas wonders. Her enthusiasm is infectious. "Okay, so...like, it sounds like this isn't really something a lot of people back home do, but. Have you ever heard of IOPSA?"

Still sounds weird. Back home. He can hope that she comes from the same place that he does - how cool would that be?

"And honestly, if the villagers are right, five years being stuck here there's probably not a lot going on aside from all this weird shit. Right? Something's gotta keep Yorick employed, I guess." He snickers quietly.

Andy crosses her arms instinctually as she thinks for a moment. "IOPSA...that an acronym for something?" Context clues would indicate that whatever IOPSA was, it was likely relevant to the oddities at hand, but Andy couldn't think of a time she'd heard of it before. "It doesn't sound immediately familiar."

Andy mindlessly digs the toe of her dull white sneaker into the soil. "You're onto something with that, I bet. Even just being here right now proves that things I thought--things I knew--to be impossible are actually very much possible. So, frankly, the whole townspeople-can't-die-or-leave scenario feels like it's probably just the beginning. You put up the flyer, right? So you must think this is important to figure out, too."

"Maybe. Or maybe it's an elaborate hoax. Distract people, keep 'em away from something, that kinda thing," Snakes says. "We should try to find out what kinda resources are here that somebody might wanna hoarde for themselves."

"Aw man," Lucas can't help but pout, briefly. It would have been wild if they had come from the same place, but Lucas had held out a little hope it would be true. "Yeah, it stands for International office of Paranormal and Supernatural Affairs. If you haven't heard of it then...we're not from the same place."

He nods at her next question, gesturing to his scribbled in notebook. "This kind of thing is important! Investigating, researching, eventually educating. The supernatural doesn't have to be scary." He pauses, face scrunching up slightly. "Even if the whole idea of not being able to stay dead thing is kinda nuts."

After another beat of silence Lucas flicks his gaze back up, "So, if this isn't really common back home for you, like. What's the angle? I mean, pretend you aren't stuck here. What made you grab my flyer?"

"Well...yeah, guess I didn't even think of that angle." And it's a bit worrying.

"I'd think the basics would be pretty high on that list, right? Food, clothing, basic survival supplies?"

Snakes stared at him. "... Somebody might go through all this for some pants and bandages? I was thinkin' more that maybe there's an old silver mine in the woods or somethin' and they want all the riches for themselves."

The place was pretty backwards to Snakes, though, so who knew. Maybe somebody would want to hoard the basics. Or maybe they were even rare enough here that it would make sense.

Andy considers Lucas' comment: we're not from the same place. Place could mean a lot of different things, but considering the larger situation, the implication of that statement sends Andy's thoughts swirling. "If you don't mind me asking...where are you from?"

"I completely agree," Andy responds empathically. Lucas seemed like the kind of person she would have loved to work with back home. Over the years, Andy met a lot of people who considered themselves to be paranormal experts of some kind or another. Occasionally she'd meet someone who would tag along on an investigation for her blog, bringing various tools and tech that Andy often felt was overkill. Lucas seemed more genuine and rational than any of them.

But what was her angle? To begin with Andy found this kind of thing interesting. That's why she spent so much of her time writing about it. Even so, Andy was still a bit of a skeptic. Out of the hundreds of articles she wrote, strange encounters she followed up on, leads she followed...half the time, she didn't expect to actually find anything. And more than half the time she didn't, which then confirmed her initial skepticism. It was a cycle of cynicism she had come to accept. But here, the cycle was breaking.

"I've spent a lot of time trying to find evidence that things like this are real. People tell stories, lots of them, and hardly ever have proof to back it up. Then I showed up here, and it's like I can hardly believe any of this is happening, even though it's literally what I've been wishing would happen for years!" Andy laughs, half embarrassed and half exhilarated. "I guess, when I saw your flyer, I thought that learning more, getting some answers, with someone else...maybe I could start making some actual sense of all this."

"I....uh?" Lucas's face goes a little hot, embarrassed he didn't think of. "That's true. I didn't know there was a mine, but that makes sense too."

He fidgets a moment or two before adding, "I wasn't exactly a cop back home. Were you?"

"Virginia. Uh...Earth? Some people here aren't from Earth. Or, like. A different one." Milo was definitely from a different version of the same place and that was a trippy realization to come to earlier. "IOPSA isn't some big secret so if you haven't heard of it then it's probably a different place."

Lucas smiles at Andy's answer, bolstered by it. Landing here would be any IOPSA officer's dream. Some strange island trapped by paranormal forces as of yet unknown? They'd be clamoring to be here and Lucas wishes it was any one of them. A more experienced officer would get to the bottom of the brutoks in no time at all. But they aren't here and he is, so he's glad to have run into Andy. She seems to have a level head a good bit of common sense.

He can't help but smile at her answer, either. Relief plain as day. "Yeah, pretty crazy stuff, huh? But that's what I want to do too, and having someone to work with will definitely help! I've already got a few notes on the brutoks, but trying to make sense of this whole place is gonna take a long time. Think you're up for it?"

“Uh heh…. Let’s say I was a businessman,” Snakes says with an uneasy smirk. “But I know how the police think. Crooks too. I … saw a lot of both.”

Even after coming to terms with the situation as a whole, it seemed like there was always more to learn about this place, one thing after another that absolutely astounded her. Aren't from Earth? It was hard even to imagine, but at this point lingering on each new insight would have her curled up in a ball on her bed at the Oak and Iron, just waiting for the shock to wear off. "Virginia? No way. I'm from Colorado." She shakes her head, realizing she's probably staring at Lucas with her jaw half past her knees. "Earth, but a different Earth. There are so many people I wish I could call right now."

It's a breath of fresh air to hear that Lucas is on the same page as her, and that she's found someone to tag along with on this investigation. She'd figure out everything else later--a job, for one--but right now, this was at the forefront of her thoughts. She leans in slightly, glancing towards his notebook. "One hundred percent. What've you got so far?"

“Oh.” Lucas considers that for a few moments. “Well, that’s fine, right? I think this place is going to need someone with a lot of experience. I have some but, only like…eight months, and not being a cop exactly, like I said.”

He drums his fingers on the desk. “So where are you from? I’m from Virginia myself.”

“Colorado? Dude, awesome! Like whereabouts? I’ve never been myself.” It’s easier to talk about home. Somehow that makes the whole idea of different versions of it easier to swallow in Lucas’s mind. “But trust me, I wish I could make a few phone calls myself. Like…anyone with more of a brain cell than me.”

If only Miles were here, or even the Chief! The thought brings a pang of homesickness, but the thought of investigation with a new friend eases much of that. He scoots the notebook over, most of it random scrawls in order of his scattered thoughts, then paragraphs of more meticulously laid out information. Mostly buildings and points of interests in town, he’s even begun a rudimentary map sketched out over several pages. Lastly there’s a few pages of unorganized notes on the brutoks from what he’s gleaned from conversations.

“Okay so…I haven’t figured out all the kinds of puzzles these little twiggy bastards leave but that seems to be their main calling cards?” He looks up to see if she’s following along so far.

Really, Pal? I never would’ve guessed.

“Yeah? So what kinda experience?”

He perks up a bit at that. “No kidding. Me too! I’ve mostly been living in New Orleans, but Virginia’s my old stomping grounds.”

"Really small town with more trees than people. About 10 oddballs actually live there--me included--and the rest are tourists." Andy chuckles, but she feels the bite of nostalgia in her chest. She can't be sure how long she's been away from her Earth's point-of-view, but for Andy, it already feels like years have passed. She feels the conflict rising inside her: desperate to be home, but so not ready to leave. "I can empathize with that. But, if it's any consolation, I'd say you have plenty of brain cells."

Andy scans over Lucas' notes, picking out words here and there, and quickly eyeing the map that's been sketched across the pages. "These are thorough," Andy winks. "You've definitely done your homework."

"I haven't been, uh, lucky enough to come across any of these things yet, but I've picked up on some of the conversation around town. Sounds like these puzzles precede their attacks? What's their motivation? Do they want people to solve them? Honestly, a strange M.O. for a cryptid. If you can even call them that, I guess."

"More like, uh...investigation than busting people for stuff." He replies sheepishly.

Seeing Snakes get interested does fill Lucas with a flush of confidence, perking up too. "New Orleans? I've been there a few times. They really know how to eat down there! Whereabouts in Virginia? I'm from Farmville, but...most people never heard of it."

[OPEN] Summer 2023 Catch-all!

[OPEN] Burtok Investigations

[CLOSED] for Snakes

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