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.
tobodlygo: (Default)

OTA

[personal profile] tobodlygo 2018-11-22 11:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Fortunately for the Mossgate Police force, Jim doesn't work over the weekends, meaning he hasn't been out of his house the whole lead-up to the bonfire and therefore hasn't been snooping around where he shouldn't be.

He's spent all week re-arranging his kitchen, throwing out the stuff he can no longer eat, sorting the bits he's not touched into a bag for the food donation bin at the Tesco's on the high st. It's been a long process, who knew so much stuff had gluten in it?

Too much stuff has gluten in it, Jim is suffering, and maybe he'll become a bio-engineer just so he can eat whatever the hell he wants again.

When it gets to the fifth, though, he knows it's time for explosives. The british have a day for fireworks, and there's less patriotism involved, but more fire in general, and that's something he can get behind. He's not gonna go show his face in Moss manor for a while still, so he'll be at the one in Folkton.

Find this idiot either staring forlornly at the food stalls or stuffing his face with Floss. It's still up for grabs because it's just sugar so long as they don't put any food colouring in it, and the gods have to give him something, anything that won't make him die on contact.

When everything's calmed down some, though, he's still kinda... restless.
He saw the sales, he's got the money, and so he has home fireworks of his own and a perfectly good back garden. The council ones are good, but sometimes you just gotta set off your own.

So after the Bonfire in Folkton, he's set up a small array at his house, setting them off at 8:30pm. People that know where Jim's house is or just know Jim in general will know that it's him because well, Americans, right?
iamnotgod: Black and white picture of a man looking up and off to the right. (What Even Is This?)

[Text]

[personal profile] iamnotgod 2018-11-23 01:49 am (UTC)(link)
[Jim gets a message shortly after those explosions go off, because the ambient noise of nighttime Mossgate is not enough to cover up the fireworks.]

???????

[Granted, that could have been any number of things, BUT...]

I better not have heard gunshots just now. Tonight is loud enough as it is.

Please be okay. :(
Edited 2018-11-23 01:50 (UTC)
tobodlygo: (Default)

Re: [Text]

[personal profile] tobodlygo 2018-11-23 12:23 pm (UTC)(link)
[The short rumble of Jim's phone alerts him to the text, but it's not from any of his collagues, at least]

Oh nah, dude, these are just fireworks. It's all okay :) he texts back quickly
iamnotgod: A man staring up and off to the right. (And He Asks Why.)

Re: [Text]

[personal profile] iamnotgod 2018-11-23 03:36 pm (UTC)(link)
Better than the alternative.

I can feel the headache coming on, though.


[This is not like the ones at their first meeting before the aurora, okay? It's all decentralized, which has the additional downside of too much stimulation and he can't get away from it as easily...]



Edited 2018-11-23 18:05 (UTC)