Part Three: The Case

[lestercraft]

Who: Arthur Lester and whoever wants to contribute
What: Solving problems one hunch at a time
When: December catch-all despite how late it is
Where: Milton Community Hall (OOC info on NPCs here)

Content Warnings: General Malevolent warning (Lovecraftian horror etc) to S5


There's a nice big empty stretch of wall behind and beside the piano in the community hall, and since he's been spending most of November hunched over the piano and moving it around anyway, it's not immediately suspicious that Arthur keeps hovering around the place.

Until he starts pinning sheets of paper to the wall. It seems more polite than writing directly on the wall. They have large, obvious headers as well:

The Darkwalker; Methuselah; Enola; Forest Talkers

He's also sitting a sheath of spare paper on the piano, and some limited writing supplies with it; charcoal, mostly, but what few remaining pens work as well get scavenged for the task. And he spends a good bit of time there regularly, leaning on the piano as he thinks or makes notes.

Comments

Community Wall

[lestercraft]

[Feel free to use the headers or make your own to add more notes!]

The Darkwalker

[lestercraft]

[lestercraft]

'You are the Interloper. You are not part of nature’s design.'

- The being that dragged us all here
- Appears to kill victims through sheer terror; autopsies impossible/inconclusive to prove otherwise
- No apparent weaknesses?

- Competing relationship with Methuselah + Enola; both are assisting in keeping us alive, while DW wants us all dead
- Believes itself to be (exists only to be?) the end of this universe. Views all Interlopers as being deliberately in the way of this plan

- Either trying to kill us or make us give in to despair; all evidence suggests so far the latter would lead to the former (see kill notes)

[solitarysoul]

- Is or is connected to a God of Destruction.

[Levi knows that people don't like calling these things gods, but the Darkwalker sure had the power level of one.]

[meadqueen]

- I don't believe it brought us here. Or at least not deliberately; it seems gravely unhappy about it.
- Leaves no prints but disturbs snow as the wind does.
- Leaves behind a strange glowing residue that fades away after several hours.
- Many of its suspected victims (and one verified) have died facing eastward.

[castitas]

[ Kate is going to leave a copy of this drawing she did of the Darkwalker, which she did at the start of the year.

She'll also leave the following notes: ]

The Darkwalker is a being that is part of this world's mythology. In some interpretations, the Darkwalker is death. It's an extinction story of what people believe will be the end of the world. Other stories paint it to be a more malevolent figure, kind of like a Devil. That it devours souls.

Some also believe it’s also like a creation myth. The end of the story isn’t just when the Darkwalker swallows the world and everything but once it goes to sleep — everything it’s swallowed grows within it once more and then grows out of the earth again.

Heartman learned of a warding sigil from Methuselah that the more superstitious of natives to the Northern Territories to protect themselves from the Darkwalker. He made talismans of this sigil, coated in blood. They actually work.

[ She will also provide a drawing of the sigil. ]

Methuselah

[lestercraft]

[lestercraft]

- Named after a Biblical figure(? Catholic name or chosen?) that was alive for over 900 years
- Typically cagey about details re: himself.

- Throws feast whenever new Interlopers arrive

[ployboy]

• our Weather Channel
- can give reliable estimates on severity and duration of strong storms
- returns to Milton, does not suffer through the storms alone in the wilderness

Enola

[lestercraft]

[solitarysoul]

- Might be the voice in the static from earlier

Forest Talkers

[lestercraft]

Ruby Rose

[guidemyway]

[Don't mind Ruby as she makes her own header here.

She includes this drawing that she did all on her own.]

Interlopers Who Aren't Typical Humans

[sputnik]

( An anonymous note is tacked up among the others. It reads: )

'A trend among the population here seems to be that many of us who arrive here aren't ordinary humans. Even before this place began gifting some Interlopers with new abilities, several of us weren't "typical humans" before.

I'm talking about those who may have some sort of power or ability in their home world, or who aren't human at all. Or those who have been tampered with in some capacity. Altered.

I'm wondering how many of us actually fall into that category. If you feel comfortable, leave a tally mark below if this pertains to you. All data is anonymous.'

Nor'pogo

[friendsfordinner]

Powers

[burying]

Interlopers

[ployboy]

The Aurora

[ployboy]

Canines

[ployboy]

[don't come at him--]

Community Discussion

[lestercraft]

[For any interactions/threads pertaining to the notes, please try and put them here!]

- for discussions on possible experimentation

[sputnik]

( It's all been on Konstantin's mind since his own arrival to this place, a year ago now. Circumstances are too similar; he was experimented on back home, held as a lab rat in a facility following a very unfortunate alien infestation. And now he's been brought to a remote town, where none of them are able to communicate with the outside world, where the population can be poked and prodded and influenced by their mysterious captor(s), beyond their control. Until it's all proven to be "coincidence", he'll try to look for patterns to prove that it isn't.

He has a lot to say about it all, but he's been very careful up until this point. Some people might not even recognise him; he's been keeping up something of a distance from the community at large. Now, though....

During some of those long, dark winter days, he can be found willing to open conversation about it. Perusing the notes on the wall, and other messages on the community board, he might offer you a warm drink if he sees you drawing near — coffee or tea. )

Whomever is truly behind all of this... whether it's this Darkwalker entity, or anything else. What is it that they want? There has to be a goal behind it all.

And I don't believe any of us are here by coincidence. I think we might need to consider the fact that we've been selected for specific reasons.

I think we're being watched. Assessed and manipulated, like rats in a maze. Maybe some of us have already been experimented on, or maybe that's coming some day soon. What do you think?

[ will match format! ]

[castitas]

[ While she's happy to discuss any of her other notes she's placed on the board, she will be puffing her face up a little indignant about Methuselah's notes. Her hands are on her hips and everything.

Picture an angry bunny and you've got Kate.

She spends each of the feasts helping Methuselah, she's definitely got a soft spot for him. She appreciates that old man, okay? ]

Wow, well this is just mean. [ Honestly— ] Like, he doesn't even have to help us and he brings food to the feasts, helps us hunt and even warned us about that massive storm last year. Not to mention there's him helping patch us up when we get hurt?

He's just being a diva, I didn't know where to put this

[flambeaux]

Louis holds off on answering the anonymous census, as he doesn't believe it can be truly anonymous. He also hasn't contributed to the discussion because he's cold and tired and finds it useless to chew on speculation. He saw the Darkwalker's victims. He heard the woman's voice on the radio waves. These are things beyond his understanding.

Instead he leans slightly against the piano, all bundled up like a winter advertisement despite being indoors. The Southern man's grousing about the cold is true. Even in relatively fair weather he is hardly ever seen without his warm wool coat.

"Any plans on playin' tonight, or are you only usin' this piano as a desk?"

I love him what a bitch

[lestercraft]

Arthur doesn't look up at the Creole voice, straight-backed at the piano bench as he writes his papers against the fallboard.

"Any plans on helping me with this, or are you only here to complain that I'm not entertaining enough for you?" It's dry, more than an outright insult, but he still gives him an aside glance as his pen pauses for a moment.

[readytosee]

And Darling is there, with his notebooks, looking eagerly at all the things Arthur has gathered. Everyone's contributions, all the notes and discussions going on. It's really fantastic work, and much more organized than he'd managed to do, in his time here.

"This is incredible," he exclaims, casting a smile in Arthur's direction. "I mean, I've been doing my own data gathering, but mostly on the location. The setting, not the people. People are, admittedly, not my strong suit. And it's not like I can interview Enola or whathaveyou, ask her about her powers. And Methuselah -- well. A bit cryptic for my tastes.

But this is great."