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

[graveling]

There's the softest little jingling sound from the pocket.

"Yes, it is a good place. For both of us. Together?"

[sistermagnetic]

Her elbow nudges gently against his arm, only just enough to be felt. "Sure, I could always use more friends."

[graveling]

Angel moves his arm slowly, his hand brushing gently against Magne's.

"Yeah. We all can."

[sistermagnetic]

Her hand lights over the back of Angel's, warm versus his deathly chill.

"We could all use a break when things start to warm up, I think. I don't know if a corpse can eat, but come by the dining room. I'll make sure you have something good."

[graveling]

“I do eat. I didn’t before coming here, though, so I’m still learning what’s like..good.”

His results have been very different than Murderbot on that score.

[sistermagnetic]

"I'll have to introduce you to a few of my favorites, some time. I can't get everything I might want here, but I can find decent enough substitutions. Is there anything in particular you've decided you don't like?"

[graveling]

"I mean. I like...fermented things and sour things and spicy things and salty things. Loud enough flavors to count. I don't think I taste things as much as real people do. Mashed potatoes by themselves are the worst thing in the world."

[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?"

[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."

[graveling]

"Sorry, I never got real science classes. What does 'polarize' mean?"

He has No Clue how magnets work at all.

[sistermagnetic]

Oh no...Is she really going to have to try and explain the physics of magnets?

"Eh... At the risk of sounding extremely patronizing because I don't know what level of education you're working with... The stuff that makes up magnets can come in either a negative or a positive charge. Like electricity, you see. And if you get a magnet that's positive next to one that's negative, they stick together. It's what the phrase 'opposites attract' comes from. And my power is that I can apply the same kind of charge to living people rather than just inanimate objects. It depends on someone's gender what they end up polarized as. I would be a 'north' pole if I could apply it to myself, while you might be a 'south'." As she explains, she's briefly wreathed in bright blue light, and a similar light wraps around Angel as he stands there. It doesn't feel like much at all outside of a subtle prickle.

When the light dies out suddenly though, she blinks at him. Then tries to charge him again. It dies back out just as quickly.

"...hm. So you wouldn't be a south."

[graveling]

"...well, that definitively answers some questions, huh."

He's not sure if he should look guilty for failing to polarize or not, but he doesn't quite seem surprised? But. There's also no pride or defensiveness. Look, she just took a sword to a whole Gordian knot mess there.

[sistermagnetic]

Magne looks pensive a moment.

"You know, it was the same way when I was first figuring a few things out? I tried to polarize myself a few times growing up but nothing ever came of it. I never got an answer to those big questions, let alone a straightforward one. And now here you are, breaking it in another new and interesting way."

[graveling]

"Chris asked, a while back, if I experience gender dysphoria. I think as far as I got was 'if I do, the body dysmorphia shit going on is louder'. But knowing I don't gender sufficiently for you to fuck with me, that's useful. Right?"

[sistermagnetic]

"If this body wasn't initially yours then it makes sense that you wouldn't feel at home in it. Generally as long as I keep shaved mine doesn't get terrible, but...well. the complete lack of respect before the last group I was part of...that didn't help. Nobody used my name. Now though, nobody knows me by any other name but mine." It's something of a point of pride.

[graveling]

“Even if someone somehow found out an old name for you, people would line up to pound them into the ground if they used it.” Including him, of course.

[sistermagnetic]

She laughs, masking the immediate clench in her chest over that. "Oh don't worry, they'll have to get in line behind me."

[graveling]

"Sure--but you don't have to lift a finger if you don't wanna."

He flickers toward a smile for her.