An Assortment of Happenstance (Random Events Wave 2)

[pumpkinhollow]

Pumpkin Hollow Community Bulletin

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It's been a while since the community board has been redone! The weather hasn't really been permitting long excursions into town square to do up the board, especially since the blizzard, but today is a clear day for once and Yorick is in a hurry to get it all set up for Merrymeet.

He helpfully posts a few announcements.

COMMUNITY GATHERING AT TOWN HALL TONIGHT

A community gathering is scheduled in Town Hall tonight for all new residents ("offworlders") to discuss their recent experience with a mass shared dream event. Locals who are native to Pumpkin Hollow will be present to listen, learn, and help make sense of this strange dream. The intent of the gathering is to ascertain the meaning of the dream and share details to create a bigger picture.

Sweet potato muffins will be provided, courtesy of Cecil. The meeting will officially commence at 6pm. Dress warmly!

MERRYMEET FLOWER QUEEN VOTING

Voting for the Flower Queen of our upcoming Merrymeet celebration is now officially open! Please cast your vote for one of the following candidates from our final pool of nominees:

Dahlia Leeds, town councilwoman and Historical Society leader.
Annabel Lee Whitlock, seamstress and chess extraordinaire.
Mary Dahl, shop employee and freelance theatrical performance artist.
Magne Kikiishi, Oak & Iron employee and Fight Club leader.
Zelda of Hyrule, captain of the Mipha's Grace.
Sally Boyle, chemist/herbalist and proprietor of the Blackberry Apothecary.

Merrymeet will be held on Saturday, Feb. 24th, so all votes must be cast by then. This year's celebration will also feature our first Flower Princess in a while, Bobbin Kaspbrak, escorted by her keeper, Eddie! She is a chicken. (Note: the last Flower Princess was Butter Poe, a cat. She will sadly be unable to pass on her crown in the ceremonial manner due to being a cat, but she wishes Bobbin the best of luck.)

[ Ballot Box ]

BOTTLE COLLECTION NOTICE

ALERT TO ALL CITIZENS: down on Tawny Beach there have been sightings of bottled messages washing ashore that appear to be addressed to various offworld citizens. Please scan the beach or check in with Jack's Marina Port Authority to see if there are any intended for you at your earliest convenience.

[ Those who go to the beach to investigate may find a bottle carrying curled parchment with their name on it. Within, they will find a letter from a loved one from back home. The messages read more like prayers or thoughts about their subjects, often in third person rather than second, but contain important insight about how the writer truly views the recipient that may guide them in this world. They are also obviously written in the handwriting of the person who sent them. It's unclear how they got here, but perhaps they can help. ]

After Yorick has long since walked away, another strange message also appears. Nailed to the bottom of the board haphazardly, a piece of twine with a large tooth tied to it and a piece of parchment. The text is written in a neat but jagged font, ink seeming to almost fray at the edges, outlining agreed upon terms for some manner of agreement. A shot that must be discharged within a lunar cycle, a soul to be taken from this plane by King Eligos, and a mandatory betrayal of trust. It is signed by both Eligos and Vika. A line in the terms is underlined.

For whatever purpose I deem fit.

Beneath the signatures a note is scrawled that reads,

"Never let it be said that syntax doesn't matter. You didn't think I was going to help you kill my own grandchild, did you?"

Those going to Town Hall for the community gathering will see that the Pine Devil skull that Vika had hung there is now shattered, and her notice gone. The Pine Devil is loose once more.

Comments

[lordoftheozarks]

"Ah, that explains it. What a generous gift."

Erik pauses a moment to picture the horse in his mind again. "Yes. I do think I can believe that. It has been a long time in my world now since horses were a main means of travel, but they were once in use for vampire hunting parties and the oldest of us can still remember fearing the thunder of hoofbeats in the night."

[graveling]

"Hunting parties?" Angel's expression almost does a thing, but stops midway. "I'm sorry. That you had to deal with being hunted. That. People really don't like it, when dead bodies walk. They don't like it where I'm from, either."

[arcanegrasp]

Elias nods, slow and understanding.

"I'm sorry you've had to go through so much pain with your family. I know the feeling well, even if I've not experienced anything quite so harrowing in that way."

It's hard to be reassuring, with someone built so differently from you. He still does his best, and offers a brief, consoling touch to the top of Tarantulas' cephalothorax.

"If I... find any more from you, would you like me to hold onto them for you, personally? There's been some stragglers, coming in with the waves, and I'd be glad to do so. But I don't want to put you through any unnecessary pain, if you're worried that the remarks may cut."

[maskedstarbunny]

And off with River's pants, because now it is breeding time. A moment is taken to appreciate the results of the first round. Just a moment, though, because Ryja just can't wait, pressing River back against the table and sliding into her without any hesitation. She's going to give River exactly what she wants.

That birth control better be pretty good!

[somebodychildofanyone]

River buries her face against Ryja's shoulder, biting to muffle her sound of pleasure, savoring the taste of her wife's skin. She wraps her legs around the rabbit, feeling overpowered, pressed down, claimed...

"You're perfect," River gasps. "So good, so - Ryja I - I -" She squeezes her legs, somewhat impeding the fucking she herself has requested, but it's the best way she has to hug her wife. "A-at, at Merrymeet, I, I should introduce you t-to, to my loves, I, I don't wanna lose you again..."

So maybe she hasn't lost all thought.

[maskedstarbunny]

Biting her shoulder gets a moan unlike anything the other version of her ever made. Intesne, desperate, begging for more, her cock pulsing inside of River so hard it almost feels like she's cumming again already. It actually takes her a little bit to say words again, panting hard. "I would, love to, meet them," Every couple of words is interrupted a little bit, of course, by how hard she's thrusting.

[somebodychildofanyone]

That was the right answer; River's head drops back, her hips buck, and she makes a high, sweet sound. "Erik's...fuck - he's - gonna be able to smell you on me, he's -"

[maskedstarbunny]

The response comes from the other life, but Ryja feels it no less deeply for that. "Let him." And she emphasizes it with a kiss, settling her pace just enough to grab River's hair again. "You are his, but right now you are mine." Maybe she can get used to this side of things!

[somebodychildofanyone]

"F-fuck, say it again say it again say it again -"

She's going to tip over the edge, Ryja. Your wife here, now, in this life, cumming under you in bliss, nails digging into your back, you're going to bring her so much pleasure, and make her feel so safe, and at home, and loved.

[maskedstarbunny]

"Mine, you are mine. Cum for me, River." This gets whispered into her ear, which then gets nibbled on because it's there and Ryja could not physically stop herself from nibbling on it if she even ever cared to make the attempt. No one could pry her away from nibbling and kissing and licking while her wife cums on her cock.

[lordoftheozarks]

Erik's own expression becomes a complicated mixture of grateful and ashamed. "Do not be too sorry. That was a time before peace existed between humans and vampires. They had good reason to hate our kind, then."

He shakes himself lightly, as if throwing off cobwebs of old memories, and focusses on Angel. "That does make me curious. How often do the dead walk in your world? I know you are something of a special case, but I mean more broadly."

[tisnotthehouse]

"Thank you," Tarantulas whispers. "Please, please do hold them for me. Yes. I want to see them, even if it hurts...It would hurt more to think they've forgotten me entirely."

He shakes himself, abdomen bobbing in an almost comical way while he tries to restore his calm. "My sympathies as well, for your loss," he says quietly. "It is...a truly terrible thing, isn't it? To bring someone new into the world, and love them...and then lose them..." He rubs at his eyes with his pedipalps.

[graveling]

“Considering the fact that I ended up here because I was hunted and destroyed? People took me for a more malicious breed of undead abomination. Those do exist, back home. Not just vampires, other things too.”

Ever seen Supernatural? That’s not not how Angel died. Pardon, was destroyed.

[lordoftheozarks]

"I'm sorry they assumed the worst of you, Angel"

If such malicious beings do exist, then Erik has some grudging sympathy for why they did it, but that doesn't make the horror they inflicted on an ultimately guiltless person easier to accept.

"Do you want to talk about what happened, or would you rather leave that in the past?"

CW: description of violence

[graveling]

"What is there to talk about? I was hunted down. Killed--chopped apart. And now I'm here."

There's no petulance or defensiveness in his tone of voice. Instead, he sounds almost confused. As if he doesn't realize how fucking traumatic that is. He's been very good at avoiding looking at the matter.

[sistermagnetic]

"Mobster, but...traditionalist?" She's not sure how to explain it to someone unfamiliar with how the human mafias work.

Poor attempt as it may be, it does still bring a soft smile to her face. "I believe in them. I just don't want them to get hurt like I did. That was why I joined up in the first place, you know? I wanted to make the people that hurt me pay for what they did, and make sure that none of them had to deal with it either. But...well, none of them are here, so maybe they're still trying. They have to be."

[sistermagnetic]

"I wonder if you'd like natto. It's a strong flavor on its own and then you add things like mustard or soy sauce. You just have to get around the texture of it."

[graveling]

"I'd try it. I'll try anything once."

Angel offers her a bright smile, one that doesn't last. "So now you know how weird I am. What's up with you?"

[graphomaniac]

It's only by the process of elimination that Lev/Lyubov figures out that the tarantula is probably Taran; they sit down beside Tarantulas, and, pointedly not looking at them—unsure of how to approach a literal spider, they've defaulted to "talking to cats and husband" mode—say, "evening? Uh. I believe thou and I may know each other. We met by the cemetery ... uh," they fidget, suddenly nervous. It's not that they're not used to talking to bugs who are also people, it's that usually those bugs are partially humanoid chimerae. They look over at Tarantulas and decide to attempt making eye-contact.

"I thought we ought to talk? Now where we're both real and where we're both got prior history what sprung not from the aether but from actions our own." They smile, a little nervously. They feel distinctly out of their element, though mostly because of the circumstances. The giant spider thing is of little consequence by them.

[arcanegrasp]

Elias frowns, but nods solemnly.

"It's as they say--- parents aren't supposed to be the ones to bury their children. There's a different, lingering grief in a loss that doesn't leave them needing a burial, though..." He trails off. Best to leave that thought, there, and let this poor spider get himself back together. "Best we can do is continue to move forward."

He's not sure what he can do to help; it's a difficult thing, to have been unintentionally the bearer of bad news. These bottles have truly been a mixed bag for so many different people.

After a moment of thought, he offers a smile, albeit a weak one.

"I think I've found all the bottles by the shore for the meantime. I had been contemplating stopping for lunch, anyhow - care to join me?"

CW: description of violence

[lordoftheozarks]

"For starters, you could talk about how you've been handling the memory of that," because he knows what being chopped apart feels like, unfortunately, and he's certain that it would keep him awake with nightmares if he were capable of having those.

[graveling]

"Handling? What do you mean handling?" Ah, denial. Longest river in the world. He's stuffed the memory in a box and refused to look at it, or talk about it until now.

[tisnotthehouse]

Pay no attention to the way Tarantulas is starting to vibrate slightly with excitement, it means nothing. "Surely a way can be found, if that's what you want," he whispers. "You seem young enough, and reasonably healthy. Whatever impediment you see in your way, I can help you overcome it."

He cured Verity Carlo's cancer, didn't he? If River has cause to question her own fertility, surely he can cure that as well. And if River came to be with child...well, it wouldn't be his, not like Dawn and Ostaros were...but then, Dawn wasn't really Amy's, and yet she was a wonderful parent all the same. Perhaps he could also find happiness in such an arrangement...

"You were a wonderful mother," he says softly. "I have every confidence that you could be again."

[sistermagnetic]

That here-and-gone smile at least feels earnest when he gives it, for the time that he can. She'd accept it as is.

At the question she lays a hand against the front of her coat, debating on how to explain it when it seemed like literally nobody else she knew here really understood what she was talking about when it came to Quirks.

"I don't know if I can claim to be as interesting as the risen dead, but I've got the power to polarize people like magnets. It doesn't work on me personally, but I used to have a support item that made it possible to control a battlefield. I've been doing that to some extent here when the monsters come out, but my usefulness here is a little bit limited."

[lordoftheozarks]

"The word coping might be more apt. Angel, are you avoiding thinking about what happened to you because it is too painful to examine?"