ourearth: General Mod icon, shows Earth (Default)
Save Our Earth Mods ([personal profile] ourearth) wrote in [community profile] saveourearth2018-11-11 03:24 pm

Light the fires [Mingle]

Date: 2nd to 5th of November; backdated due to the Halloween mingle being too close by
Characters: Open!


2nd to 4th

Bonfire night approaches, and like every year, a large bonfire is set up on the Greens, as well as an impressive fireworks display, intended to happen on the 3rd. It's been advertised for a few weeks now, and many families, groups of teenagers, and just regular people are planning on going... And then it's abruptly cancelled at the evening of the 2nd. The official word on it is that some kind of safety regulations weren't met, and as this was discovered at the final security check, there is no time to fix them. Oddly enough, at the same time yellow signs go up near the Greens, reading:
Mossgate POLICE Working for a safer Mossgate
We are appealing for witnesses: Can you help us?
Police incident
An incident occurred in this area between 1pm on the 2/11 and 2pm on the 3/11.
In strictest confidence, plase phone
020787574
Did you see or hear anything?
Please call us
On the number above or at your local police station

...And the perceptive person might notice that there are a few oddities going on around town. For one, there is more police out in the streets than normal, constables nobody has seen before, too, and they are carrying guns. Why are they carrying guns? This is not the airport or central London! This is the first thing that really gets the rumour mill going.

The second thing is that the area that was fenced off so when fireworks and bonfire happened, only those who paid an entrance fee would be able to get close, is still fenced off despite the cancellation. And those who peer into the area will notice more police there.

And then, on the 4th of November, a few nondescript vans and a small nondescript lorry arrive at the parking lot at the bottom of the Greens, and some people get off. All of them wear civilian clothes. A few simply wander off into Mossgate, but the rest goes up onto the Greens. And some of those carry large suitcases that seem to be quite heavy. Too bad there's bushes and trees and it is impossible to see what they're doing at the place where the bonfire and fireworks were set to happen...

[ooc: There are a few dedicated open NPC toplevels below for people to investigate, as well as toplevels aimed at specific characters. If anyone has ideas for investigating that are not covered by the below toplevels and needs input, prod the mod contact thread on the last setting interactions post!]



5th

After the fireworks in Mossgate couldn't happen, it was decided to do them in one of the villages in Mossgate Council. Naturally, Folkton and Moss Manor both clamoured to get them. But after a few young men got into a fistfight about it and a nose was broken, Mayor Gary Russell arrived at the Salomonic decision of having the fireworks happen in Tarwich instead. They have a nice little park there, and the official reason for the decision is that it is closer to Mossgate town so it will be easier for people from there to attend. The real reason is of course to not take any sides in the village rivalry.

Tarwich, by contrast, is too young to truly have rivalries and there are no old families that could bring true patriotic pride into the mix. Nicely bland and harmless. An excellent middle ground.

So on the evening of the fifth, like every year, there are two massive bonfires in Mossgate council, one in Folkton and one in Moss Manor. Little fairgrounds have sprung up next to them - a children's carousel, a kiddie train, an ice cream van, one or two vendors that sell festival foods like candy floss (= cotton candy).

But unlike other years, there's a third event, and most unusually the location is the often-forgotten Tarwich: Carefully timed so that people can first go see the fireworks and then go to whichever bonfire they prefer, there is a very nice 30 minutes long firework taking place in Tarwich, just after nightfall. There are no carousels or ice cream vans here, but festival food is offered, too.
saveournpcs: (other)

[personal profile] saveournpcs 2018-11-29 09:00 pm (UTC)(link)
"What kind of impression did you get when you saw him first? What mood did he seem to be in, how confident did he feel?" Sometimes the leads lie with things that reports don't contain because they don't immediately feel like facts.
scarsolderthanyou: (patience)

[personal profile] scarsolderthanyou 2018-12-06 02:13 am (UTC)(link)
"He was kinda strange, like there was something off about him," Sam says with a helpless sort of shrug. "Like his expressions weren't quite right. He smiled at me, like he was happy to see me almost even though he couldn't have any idea who I was, but kind of guilty at the same time. Or maybe he just had gas, I don't know."
saveournpcs: (other)

[personal profile] saveournpcs 2018-12-08 08:38 pm (UTC)(link)
The three others look at one another, and there is thoughtful writing.

"Could you tell us more about how his expression seemed not quite right? Other examples, perhaps?"
Edited 2018-12-08 20:39 (UTC)
scarsolderthanyou: (thinking)

[personal profile] scarsolderthanyou 2018-12-11 02:15 am (UTC)(link)
"I only saw him for a couple minutes," Sam reminds them. "There's only so many expressions he made. Really, his expression didn't change much at all the whole time. Only went from the weird smile to staring at me like he was really interested for some reason." He tries to think back for something else he can tell them, but some of the details were obscured by the dizziness of the echo, too. "He didn't let me touch him," he remembers. "And he only ever moved just enough, not too much."
saveournpcs: (other)

[personal profile] saveournpcs 2018-12-16 08:30 am (UTC)(link)
Burnbridge nods slowly, and exchanges a glance with Potter, who crosses her arms over her chest.

"Did it feel like he trained to behave according to a specific pattern that wasn't his own?" They might be on a track to something here. Perhaps not something that Sam can further help them with, and her words sound a bit final, but something that they can work with.
scarsolderthanyou: (curious)

[personal profile] scarsolderthanyou 2018-12-18 08:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Sam's brows go up. That's a pretty funny sort of question. "I don't know that I could tell that. He didn't act natural, like he was comfortable, but he didn't seem exactly uncomfortable either. You think somebody put him up to all this?"
saveournpcs: (other)

[personal profile] saveournpcs 2018-12-19 08:30 pm (UTC)(link)
"That, perhaps, or he acted in a way entirely unlike his usual behaviour for some reason of his own." A pause. "We cannot say. But a weak lead is better than no lead, as they say."
scarsolderthanyou: (Default)

[personal profile] scarsolderthanyou 2018-12-21 01:48 am (UTC)(link)
"It doesn't sound like much of a lead, at all. Man caught alone at a bomb site was uncomfortable." Stone makes a face. "Do you at least have a sketch artist so you can get an idea of what he looked like from us?"
saveournpcs: (other)

[personal profile] saveournpcs 2018-12-23 09:43 pm (UTC)(link)
"Not that part, no." Burnbridge laughs.

And then frowns at the comment about the pictures. "I assumed that had already been done."
scarsolderthanyou: (patience)

[personal profile] scarsolderthanyou 2018-12-26 09:42 pm (UTC)(link)
"If they did, it wasn't with me. Maybe the local police assumed I wouldn't be of much use, because of this." He points at his bad eye. "I promise I'm not totally blind."
saveournpcs: (Mahira Khan)

[personal profile] saveournpcs 2018-12-28 12:29 pm (UTC)(link)
"Well," Burnbridge looks at Khan, "then we would like to ask you to do that next. Mrs Khan, if you would...?"

She nods and gets up. "Please come with me. The colleague who does description is in right now, and then after that's done we won't keep you any longer."