[ 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

My Steady Hand

[blindwatchersees]

With the tap, tap, tap of a wooden cane against the floor, an old man makes his way across the foyer and to the main hall, whistling cheerfully.

"Good day! I'm here to make sure my paperwork hasn't been confused, but I'm not sure who to speak to."

Put your ear to my heart

[xiaoxiuya]

Qing Jing Peak, Shen Qingqiu's old demesne, was famous for its collection of historical and naturalistic texts, containing many descriptions of the beasts, demons, and spirits that needed to be kept in check. Shen Qingqiu himself had pursued the study of this library with a voracious appetite, and quietly took pride in the fact that he'd memorized its contents in less than four years. Everything the previous masters of Qing Jing Peak had known about that world, he'd known too -- plus the cheats he'd retained from actually reading the book the world was based on.

But now he'd entered an entirely new world, one that he didn't have any cheat codes or special knowledge of at all. The Greymane Library had been helpful, but Shen Qingqiu craved more. And thus his attendance at the Historical Society meeting.

He of course already knows Miss Leeds by sight, from the times he's had to visit her to file paperwork at Town Hall or crossed paths with her at the library, and he makes a point of coming up to her to say hello before the meeting begins.

"Do you hold these meetings often?" he asks her with genuine curiosity. "This was the first I'd heard of such an organization, but then I haven't been in town very long."

Historical Society Meeting | OTA as well as for Dahlia

[lordoftheozarks]

Erik, naturally, has come to show his full support for Dahlia and the historical society. He sits to listen, his leg politely crossed at the knee. Sadly, he cannot partake of the refreshments but it doesn't bother him.

When the mingling begins, he makes his own rounds, asking in a light voice that doesn't belie how intensely interested he is in the answer, "Do we know when that old covered well ran dry?"

With Dahlia, he will be more forward. He pulls her aside to speak more discretely, "What can you tell me about cursed indestructible tomes?"

Graveyard

[mindflayed]

Having been shown the library by Ava, and come to a tentative cease fire with Fever, the one person he's certain is from his own world, Imbros' next plan of action is to memorize the town layout and learn more about it.

The large, looping path he's following around the edge of the island takes him to the marina and he pauses, looking out at the water for a few moments. Then he takes the map out of his pocket and makes a note of some sort on it with a fountain pen he's stolen from somewhere before tucking them back away. He turns to continue on his way, pausing as he spots someone sitting near the cemetery gate and... having a picnic?

Odd.

He'd been levitating a few inches off the pathway, rather than walking, but he drops down to the ground and walks over.

"Are you eating in a graveyard?" he's been told before that's bad luck. Of course the one who insisted on it was an elf so their opinion was questionable.

hold your light to the darkness in my head

[lovethyneighb_or]

A figure moves between the graves. He is cloaked in black, and holds a broom, and he moves with some amiable enough manner.

One of the many duties Mulcahy has taken upon himself is tending to the graves. Sweeping away leaves, trimming the curliest branches. He doesn’t want to disturb things too much, especially as a stranger to this world, but he thought it would help. Someone ought to help.

After a while he notices he’s not alone, and offers a wave.

Errands

[graveling]

Dahlia comes by the temple with a sandwich, and Angel's there making early preparations for the cucumber festival, pulling out decorations and sorting them--what's usable, what needs repair, and what needs to go away. He glances up when Dahlia walks in, though.

"Hey, what's up? Or wait, do I need to put on my priest hat?"

[thethirteenthchild]

"That'd be me," Dahlia replies, looking up from her work. "What should be the name on the paperwork?"

[thethirteenthchild]

"We do, but they're usually just for members. Every so often, though, we have a public one to see if anyone is interested in becoming a member," she explains. "Often times we hold the private meetings in my home. I have a library there as well. If you're interested, I'd love to talk to you about it."

[thethirteenthchild]

"No, no, you're good." Dahlia waves off the concern and holds up a bag with a cafe's name on it. "I just brought lunch for you and the reverend. Do you have a preference between smoked salmon with cream cheese or chicken and cheddar?"

[graveling]

"I'll take the smoked salmon, unless there's a really loud sauce on the chicken. I still don't taste like normal people, y'know?" No, he's not even thinking of the double entente.

He sets down the banners in his hand, walking over to Dahlia with a hint of smile that, as usual, fades quickly.

[blindwatchersees]

"Well, if it is confused and has my letters scrambled up, it might say something like 'Theodor Gorlash.' They're actually supposed to be in an order where they say 'Lord Sheogorath.'"

[thethirteenthchild]

Dahlia awkwardly waves back, feeling exposed. She looks as though she's been caught doing something she shouldn't for a moment, but it passes, and she focuses on being polite. "Hello there. Thank you for picking up for my neighbors."

[xiaoxiuya]

"I certainly am interested," he informs her eagerly. "I used to maintain a library myself, concerning historical and cultural matters as well information on the world's beasts and other lore. I'm quite eager to learn more about this world, just as I studied the last one I lived in."

Re: Historical Society Meeting | OTA as well as for Dahlia

[thethirteenthchild]

Dahlia frowns when pulled aside, tilting her head quizzically. "Cursed indestructible tomes? I've never heard of anything like that. Did you find something?"

[thethirteenthchild]

Dahlia stares up at the most bizarre-looking person that she's ever seen in her entire life for an uncomfortably long moment. She doesn't seem horrified or uncomfortable. She just sits there, chewing her food, sitting on the mausoleum steps, and just sort of... taking Imbros in for a minute, her expression neutral.

Finally, she swallows her bite and speaks. "I'm having a picnic with my family."

[thethirteenthchild]

"I actually grabbed a cup of that spicy sauce you said you liked last time," she says, producing a tiny cup made of thick paper out of the bag, which contains a single serving of some kind of sauce made of Paradesium peppers. "So you can have it on whatever you like!"

[thethirteenthchild]

"That's quite the clerical error." Good thing Fever's taken over some of that. She's better than the guy who was doing it before. Some local boy who really should have been focusing on his school work. "Let me check under both names and see if we have anything outdated."

She turns to her cabinet and pulls out a handful of incorrect documents. "Here we are. We just need this one redone. It's just some personal records, address and phone number for urgent contact."

[thethirteenthchild]

"You sound like you'd fit right in, honestly," Dahlia agrees. "Why don't you come by? See if you like what we do. I could definitely use more skilled researchers in my corner, especially when it comes to monsters."

[mindflayed]

He looks at her, looks at the graveyard, and states the obvious. "You're alone."

After that incredibly tactful response he elaborates slightly, "In the realm I came from someone I know insisted it was bad luck to eat in a graveyard. If you believe in luck anyway."

[thethirteenthchild]

"I don't," Dahlia replies, equally tactful. "This is my family's mausoleum. They're all dead. I come here to try and feel like I can still be connected to them somehow."

[mindflayed]

"Good, because it's not real. Luck is a concept people made up to feel better about how little control they have over their world."

He twists one of his hands into his tentacles, "I was told something about cultists that look like me and skeletons in the well. But I presume you're speaking of a much older loss."

It does not occur to him to introduce himself.

[xiaoxiuya]

"Thank you for the invitation." Shen Qingqiu bows gratefully. "I'd enjoy that very much. In my culture, it's appropriate to bring a gift as a token of appreciation for one's hosts -- what would be desirable here, if I might ask?" It's gauche to just come out and ask what someone would like but Shen Qingqiu is a stranger in this world, after all; he suspects his desire to please will be more appreciated than standing on the forms of ceremony.

Historical Society meeting, mid-June

[not_the_last]

There's a new arrival to the island here, holding a cup of tea and listening with interest to the matters under discussion. If Dahlia is very perceptive, she will most likely notice that this young woman watches her intermittently for a good while before picking a moment to approach.

"Mistress Dahlia? Might I have a moment of your time?"

[lordoftheozarks]

"I didn't, but a close acquaintance of mine did. Do not worry; the book itself is in safe hands, but I wondered if anything of that nature has show up in past records."

[blindwatchersees]

"Thank you kindly. You know, I don't mind being addressed incorrectly, except when I do, but self-perception can be quite a powerful thing, don't you think?"