[ NPC Open] The crows in the garden are laughing at my expense.

[thethirteenthchild]

Who: Dahlia Leeds (thethirteenthchild) & YOU!
What: Work, Historical Society, around town, and whatever else I think of
When: Late May, early June
Where: Kinda everywhere
Warning(s): None for now!

My stone, my shield, my steady hand.

[ Town Hall ]

Got paperwork to do? Dahlia's here to help, as usual. She sits in the front office of Town Hall, working on a few things at once--- approving employment paperwork, making a stack of things for Fever to file whenever she's on shift next, filling out some budgeting thing for Mayor Poe. She keeps busy these days, with how full the town has gotten. It's no wonder there's a sign out front advertising the upcoming open election for a few more Town Council slots. You can ask Dahlia about that as well. Or stop by for a chat! She could probably use a break.

Hold your light to the darkness in my head.

[ Graveyard ]

One early, grey morning, Dahlia can be found out at Fall's Promise Cemetery. She's sitting on the steps of the Leeds family mausoleum, and seems to be enjoying a picnic breakfast as she sits on the short stone stoop and looks out at the sea. She seems lost in a daze, a far away expression on her face. It's a familiar one to any one who knows her.

Behind her, a bundle of blue gladiolus flowers tied with a black ribbon lie.

If someone approaches, she will snap out of her stupor and wave. She seems amenable to a visit.

Put your ear to my heart or set your teeth against my throat.

[ Historical Society Meeting ]

For the past few weeks, the community bulletin board and the library have had fresh flyers with the mark of the Pumpkin Hollow Historical Society have been advertising a public meeting.

"Converse with your neighbors. Learn more about the history of our fair island and the world around it. Help us gather research about the monsters that appear here. Refreshments provided!"

Those interested can join the rather elusive group for a midday open meeting, finger sandwiches and tea available for those dropping by. Dahlia herself mingles, happy to compare notes or simply discuss the benefits of joining her research club.

Give me something pretty to wear beneath my bloodstained clothes.

[ Errands ]

On a weekend day, Dahlia can occasionally be found around town, doing some various errands. Shopping for new clothes or accessories, picking up groceries, going out to lunch. Sometimes she stops by the Temple with a sandwich for Degas from her favorite cafe or pops into the constabulary with snacks for Cerrit. She also frequently stops by various weapon shops for knives. One day she comes into town to dispose of a sack of shattered glass and bent metal for reasons unknown.

And occasionally she can even be found in the tavern, drinking. She's apparently quite fond of their ale.

Won't you cut down that apple tree for me?

[ Wildcard ]

Want a Pine Devil moment? Want to catch Dahlia throwing knives at trees? Throw anything you like at me, or DM me on Discord to plot!

Comments

[thethirteenthchild]

And perceptive Dahlia is. She's well aware this young woman is new, and it intrigues Dahlia to think that she's attracted the girl's attention so quickly. She can't help but wonder why.

"Of course," Dahlia agrees easily. "And please, just Dahlia."

[not_the_last]

"Thank you. I'm Cassandra de Rolo, I've only recently arrived here. I understand you are the ... ah, president," pronouncing the term carefully, as it's unfamiliar to her, "of this historical society? And also active in the Town Council?"

[thethirteenthchild]

"That's right." Dahlia nods as she speaks. "My late father founded the town, so I try to stay involved via membership to Town Council."

[not_the_last]

"Ah." Cassandra nods. "As it happens, I hold a position in the ruling Chamber of my own city, back home. My own late father and mother were the ruling Lord and Lady there, when I was young, and in the last few years we reorganized things to allow for a kind of shared rule. Somewhat similar, I think, to the Council here."

A pause. "And I wonder if you might have any need of assistance, in an administrative capacity."

[thethirteenthchild]

"Oh--- well, I suppose that depends!" Dahlia purses her lips, gaze drifting off to the left. "Let's see, I don't have the papers here with me, but I know that we're hiring for a few admin positions around town hall, I'm personally still looking for a PA, and there's actually elections for Town Council coming up in the next couple of months."

[not_the_last]

"I saw a sign about the Town Council elections, and I did consider it -- but I've only just come here. I feel it would be more appropriate to come to know the place first, and not presume myself best suited to run it right off."

She pauses, then asks "What sort of work would be done by -- I'm sorry, a PA?" The term's clearly unfamiliar to her.

[thethirteenthchild]

"Personal assistant," Dahlia replies. "I'm on the Town Council, plus I have multiple industrial properties left to me by my late siblings, so I have a lot of administrative work that needs doing on a personal level. It wouldn't come with one of the town's municipal starter packages, so I would be personally responsible for pay and housing."

[not_the_last]

"I see. I've never done precisely that sort of work, though," and there's something deliberate about how her voice smooths out here, as though to avoid even the possibility of catching on something, "I've assisted in a less formal capacity, before I took on the actual work of governing. If that's something you might deem useful."

[thethirteenthchild]

Dahlia chuckles. "Why don't you swing by Town Hall sometime and we'll talk more about it?" She may or may not be offering the personal assistant position more out of loneliness than anything else. A quiet desire for one more chance at getting close to someone like that again before...

"For the moment, I'd love to talk about what brought you to the Historical Society. Is history an interest of yours?"

[not_the_last]

"Oh, yes," she says. "It's mostly been the history of my own country that I've studied at home, and ... as I understand it, for much the same reasons that your own Historical Society values such study. To learn from the past in order to better understand and better address the troubles facing us in the present, and to prevent them from causing further troubles in the future."