saveourearth | Entries tagged with wod: mtas: marja virtanen

Date: 24th of February
Characters: OPEN!

After the earthquake on the 19th of January, the ground had been quiet. Or that was at least what everyone assumed; those who went to the meeting and listened to Walter speak might know that that was not exactly the case. Starting on the 9th of February, the earth had started to be shaken by the tiniest of tremors again, too small to be noticed by the everyday citizen, but not too small to escape seismic readers. Not that the public was told about this; why cause a panic? Things were strange enough these days in Mossgate Council.

Then, around 5am on the 24th, there is the most gentle shaking of the earth, only just strong enough to shake the leaves of some room plants, but noticeable. No damage is caused this time. At least not by the earthquake.

Because shortly after, a wave rolls towards the coastline of Mossgate. And not just any wave. It's a small tsunami wave, measuring about 1 metre at the top when it hits the shore and pressing up into the mouth of the river to reach a maximum height of 1.3m before it ebbs away.

The damage this time is substantial. Cars have been flushed into others, storefronts are shattered, the ground floors or many houses flooded and gardens torn apart. Some of the boats from the harbour sit somewhere inside the town now, and a ferry has crashed into the harbour office. By virtue of the very early hour and massive luck, there are barely any casualties - no more than one would expect from a major storm or flooding.

But Mossgate and Tarwich are in shock, and the descending media certainly don't help.

And every single Numbered in the echo boundary has received a plot echo, granted about a few minutes before the wave hit the shore.

dragoonrouge

Date: 16th February
Characters: All members of the Network

Tarwich Community Centre was used to hosting meetings and gatherings, though none of the staff at the facility were aware of how odd the gathering going on in one their function rooms truly is going to be. All mention of said gathering that was about to start had been kept off of the Network thanks to Sadie's insistence about safety. Some of the food was provided by the community centre, however, the many plates of biscuits were all courtesy of Ben's Aunt Rosemary. Everything was finally ready for the Numbered to start turning up.

ourearth

Date: 2/1/19
Characters: Open

With the festive season well and truly over, and most wallets smarting from the festivities, Mossgate has, as usual, been extremely quiet through January. The last of the sales are still lingering in the stores, hoping to entice any shoppers who aren't desperately holding out for that first January pay day at the end of the month, and the seafront is empty of all but the hardiest dog walkers, wrapped up against the cold winter winds. At least the evenings are finally starting to ever so slowly get a little bit lighter, but that's small compensation for the otherwise grey and dull month.

It seems as though it will drag on this way all the way through to February, but on the afternoon of the 20th Mossgate is shaken awake. Literally. A 4.5 magnitude earthquake hits the town just after 3:15PM, with the epicentre located at the mouth of the Moss River. The shaking lasts for a couple of seconds, and sends a couple of chimney stacks flying, but there's very little real damage done around town. As earthquakes are extremely rare in the UK, most people are unsure what is happening, and most report it to the media as assuming that a bomb had gone off, or a lorry gone past, or something similar.

Almost immediately the internet lights up with the usual British response to such events, and it's headline news on the local papers and TV for the next few days. Initially they cover the event and the clean up, and then the social media response to it.

However, those who have numbers will not just be subjected to the initial scare and then the following ridicule. As the shaking fades, an unsettled feeling starts to rise; subtly at first, but increasing as the days go by. They are left feeling anxious and uneasy, but also curious and excited. In particular, they will find themselves drawn to the earthquake and the information about it, perhaps checking the news or social media about it more than they usually would, or easier to draw into conversations about it. Whatever they can find just doesn't seem to be enough, and they're drawn to discuss it and the other unusual events (such as the appearance of the poppies in November, or the strange gifts over Christmas) of late more, and to find out more about them. It can be ignored, but as any niggling annoyance it won't disappear if it is.

fairfeste

Date: January 15th
Characters: Feste

im stuck

i dont kno y

plz help im late o(〒﹏〒)o

vernal_miss

Date: January 15th
Characters: Nel and Mary Ann
Notes: More characters and prompts may be added; especially so other family can see or she can talk about it with friends

( And I see your true colors shining through )

lovedramamoron

Date: Jan 13
Characters: Jimmy, Anyone

It was the weekend, and Jimmy was out of reading material. That was more than enough reason for a trip to the library.

He takes his time browsing through the shelves, occasionally selecting something that sparked his interest. Just when he was about to call it a day, he spots a small book at the end of the shelf with a name that seemed familiar. The Sign of Four. That was Sherlock Holmes, wasn't it?

On an impulse he adds it to the basket, and goes to find somewhere quiet to read.

scarsolderthanyou

Merry Christmas, everybody.

[He's American. He can still say "merry" even though he knows perfectly well the local saying is "happy". He just doesn't care.]

In case you're wondering, the coal stocking things smell like that bastard from the bomb site, who was fooling around with it, a few months back. I'd remember that smell anywhere.

While I'm here, is everyone okay, with this power thing? Nobody's stranded anywhere without a fireplace or friends for body heat?

ourearth

Date: 23.12.2018-30.12.2018
Characters: Open!
Note: Timeline behind cut at the bottom of the post!

23-24th December
With the schools out for Christmas, and the last few days of Christmas shopping closing in, there really is no escaping it now. Everyone but the best prepared is rushing to finalise the last little bits. Excitement is gathering as the shortest day of the year comes and goes.

The weather reports for Christmas are standard: grey, with light showers and patches of sun. As usual, a high chance of snow was predicted at the beginning of the month, but as the day approaches it has changed back to the more seasonal and typical (if less picturesque) weather: rain. But, with days to go, that suddenly changes again, as the weather reporters talk about the sudden turning of an artic wind, bringing with it sub zero temperatures, and maybe, just maybe, a white Christmas. Temperatures drop to -5c during the day and -10c overnight, particularly cold for this part of the world. On the morning of Christmas Eve, with less than 24 hours notice, the snow begins, falling lightly at first, and then heavily. By lunch time, the south east, including Mossgate, is a foot deep in snow and chaos has spread. Just a covering of snow is enough to cause panic, with infrastructure and transport unequipped to deal with it, and this is unexpected and heavy, and there has been no time to prepare. The trains have given up, promised refunds, and stopped. The busses have also all but stopped, and in Mossgate town centre just one or two an hour are running to the villages to ferry home those still stuck in town. Gatwick airport, which is having it's worst year since the ash clouds in 2010, has also officially given up and closed, redirecting flights to Stansted or Birmingham. Just after midnight, even the motorways close, and the smaller roads are unpassable much earlier. Panicked shoppers, trying to grab supplies for the unexpected weather, are being shooed out of stores early so that coworkers have a chance of getting home before the last transports stop. And it's still snowing. By nightfall there's almost two feet of snow, an almost unprecedented amount, and the news is talking about the possibility of powercuts and disruptions to water supplies. Sure enough, around 8PM, a powercut hits Mossgate and the surrounding area, wiping out the last of the Christmas cheer in the town centre as the festive lights go black – along with everyone's houses.

Christmas Day
Christmas morning opens to fresh, white snow all around, picture post card beautiful, and small showers keep it fresh looking for most of the day no matter how many snow angels, snowmen and igloos are built. That's probably little compensation for those stuck: the news is full of heartfelt stories of the struggle to get home for Christmas, and of locals in towns and cities along the southeast welcoming people stuck into their homes for Christmas. While the power is back on in Mossgate town centre by about midnight, the surrounding areas, including Moss Manor village, are still without power, with the word from the electricity board that it's unlikely to be fixed anytime soon. Neighbours with gas cookers and stove tops suddenly become the most popular people around (but at least with the temperatures outside dealing with food from the fridge and freezer is relatively easy).

In Moss Manor, the church hall, which has both a gas cooker and gas heating, is opened up for those who are unable to stay in their own homes. People are invited to bring along what food they have to share and join in with a community Christmas. The community feeling is only shattered when the power comes back on at 5:20PM, just before the repeat of the Queen's Speech on BBC2 and Strictly Come Dancing on BBC1 start. A short but fierce battle ensues over which to show on the big screen. With moments to go, Pat Marsh puts her foot down and casts the deciding vote for Strictly, promising that she'll show the Queen's Speech from iPlayer directly afterwards.

As if that isn't enough, Mossgate and it's surroundings have one other surprise waiting for them on Christmas morning. Father Christmas has been through the entire council area, and apparently not one single person has been good. Every fire place has been decorated with traditional stockings full of neatly wrapped coal, one stocking for each member of the family. For those who don't have a fireplace, the oven has been selected as a replacement, and the stockings hang merrily from the oven door instead. If it's a prank, it's seen as bad taste, especially in homes with small children, but it's also generally agreed that given the weather it's rather backfired (not that anyone still has a coal fire but still).

25th-30th December
The snow finally stops overnight on Christmas evening/Boxing Day morning, but it remains cold, the temperatures only picking up at the weekend. Between the remaining snow and the ice formed where it melts, transport remains awful, with the connections to the villages particularly bad. Due to the Highspeed line, the trains from Mossgate to London are back up and running by the 27th, but other routes take days to be cleared. Likewise, the motorways are at least traversable by the 26th, but some smaller roads are still unaccessible until the weekend. Food supplies are slow to come through, and when the stores reopen on Boxing Day after Christmas closures, the shelves are immediately stripped bare again, especially of essentials such as bread and milk (although anything and everything is subject to panic buying, up to and including shampoo).

All of this chaos doesn't stop some people going out to the Boxing Day sales, with queues forming outside Next, which has advertised it's traditional early opening times of 6AM, despite the cold and the snow (and the fact that they don't actually manage to open until almost 7 due to lack of staff).

But as the temperatures rise back to a seasonal temperature in the single figures, things start to return to normal in time for the count down to New Years.

( Timeline: )

spaghettimonster

Date: November 6th, 2018 (more dates may be added)
Characters: Network: {number to be determined}, Action: Russell and Mary Ann

After a few conversations emphasized the importance of getting checked on by a doctor while he could, Russell takes the leap and contacts the networked doctor recommended by friends and family alike.

He could use a phone, could risk the mysterious military-looking forces maybe still being in the area and monitoring strange and suspicious communications... but he opts for the network instead. It's not as though the mysterious network communications were less likely to be tapped somehow - whatever causes them to stay saved and accessible, months after the fact, means that they're somewhere that someone might somehow get into. Someday.

But, if nothing else, calling her directly on the network implies why he's calling her, rather than his usual doctor.

"Uhh... Hello! Is this Mary Ann...? I'm Russell, you might have seen me around. On the network? I was told you're a doctor, and you might be able to... take new patients. With our, uh, unique concerns, going on."

vernal_miss

Date: December 19th through 22nd
Characters: Nel, family, and anyone about in Moss Manor
Notes: Feel free to tag at any point in time through the days, including if anyone in the family takes it upon themselves to try to wake her Friday (21st)

( Go to sleep, little one, think of butterflies in spring )

ourearth

Date: 21st of November 2018, 5pm to 10pm
Characters: Open!
Note: Like all welcome mingles, this is a SoL free-for-all mingle meant to get new characters involved by centering around something relevant to them. Without further ado, please welcome Jimmy!

In their ongoing efforts to engage the community and make them support the town museum through its current hardships, and to keep things rolling, the town museum has organised a literary open stage at the historic entertainment hall at the pier.

A stage has been set up at the centre of the room, complete with two comfortable armchairs, a table with water for parched throats, and excellent microphones so nobody has to yell and everyone can hear. Food is being served, but staff and patrons are requested to be as quiet as possible to let the young talents shine. And young talents there are, indeed.

Young authors of all genres - poetry, prose, theatre, anything that can be read to an audience - are invited to claim the stage for up to thirty minutes and present their work to the public. There are almost no rules - it could be a chapter from a book, a couple of poems, a short story, a scene from a play, or anything else that fits into the allotted time frame, breaks no laws, and doesn't exceed the equivalent of 12A content. Each author will be called to the stage when their timeslot begins, and be warned via a large sign five minutes before it ends. Before or after, they can enjoy a free meal sponsored by the pub.

The entry to the event is free, but there is a table at the entrance with a donation box and a big sign "Please help us repair our town museum!", various leaflets, and a sign explaining the current situation. The tl;dr version of the explanations is that the town museum will remain closed until January or February (or that is the currently projected date at which the repairs should be finished, anyway), though the library will remain open as the damage from the emergency detonation of the bomb back in September didn't affect the structural integrity of that part of the building.

ourearth

Date: 11.11.2018
Characters: Open!
Note: This is intended to be a very relaxed mingle to give people a bit of a breather. It is plot-related, but a lot less dramatic than prior mingles.

On the 11th, something about Mossgate Council has changed yet again - but this time, it isn't nearly as disturbing and dangerous as back on Halloween.

Instead of cobwebs and skeletons, there are poppies. Red poppies and white poppies have flowered over night. They cover fields and lawns, the Greens and the forest ground, troop exercise areas over at the airfields, the gardens of the manor house, and even parts of the beach.

And up over the white cliffs of Mossgate, bluebirds flap their wings, flying around and sitting on the castle ruins, and if one stands still for a while and offers breadcrumbs, they'll come over and sit on that person's hand to have a snack, too.

They seem a bit confused, but not nearly as confused as the ornithology department at Mossgate University that can't save itself from interviews - no, they have no idea how that American species suddenly showed up in such numbers and why they're sticking to the cliffs specifically. Jane Astbury finally suggests with some exasperation that maybe they're just doing a music-themed tour of Europe, and could they please let her staff and students teach and study in peace?

ourearth

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.

ourearth

Date: 31st of October
Characters: Open!
Warning: Non-sexual desecration of formerly buried corpses

On the morning of Halloween, when people first step out of their houses, they will almost step into something.

A bucket of water. Every flat and every house in the Mossgate Boundary has a bucket placed in front of its entrance door (and sometimes, especially in Folkton and Moss Manor, the back door too), in which scary apples are floating. A little sign taped to the bucket reads: Have fun bobbing!.

But that's not the only thing that happened. The second thing that people will notice is that there are billions of spiders of all sizes crawling all over the town and villages, the military base, the Manor House... everywhere. And they certainly did their job - trees, lanterns, the higher attractions on the pier, and everything else that is high all over Mossgate Council is covered in thick layers of cobweb.

( Non-sexual desecration of formerly buried corpses )

vernal_miss

Date: October 21st
Characters: Network Number {235 13 892 33} ; Action for Mary Ann, Ornella, and later Feste

[Action - Joint with Ornella and Mary Ann]
{Nel} In a family of seven, finding those quiet moments to speak to only one other in the household tend to be rare. As the second youngest in the family, Ornella is not quite old enough to suffer a shift towards a nocturnal schedule like her older siblings, and this provides an opportunity. Slipping from her shared room, she heads out into the hallway and downstairs with one hand clutching to a stuffed toy. For a few days now, a number has been quite intrusive in her thoughts, and regardless of her thinking of it every hour awake, cannot recall the reason it feels so important. When it had popped back into her head before she even opened her eyes this morning, she had lost any chance of returning to sleep for a few more minutes with irritation rousing her all the more quickly.

Reaching the living space, she’s relieved to find a mother present. Bare feet carrying her quickly over the last of the distance, she comes up beside the chair to insert herself into Mary Ann’s space without hesitation, sliding one hand under her arm in semblance of a hug to lean in and bury her face in against her shoulder for a breath. Grasping at the calm granted by the contact, she lifts her head to prop her chin on that shoulder and plead for assistance, “Mum? I remembered someone’s number, but I don’t know whose it is.”

{Mary Ann} "A number?" That sounds familiar. Very familiar indeed. Because there's this number that's been on her mind since yesterday, and she feels like she's known it for a long time but she can't put her finger on where from or what it is even for. It doesn't seem to be a phone number... Perhaps she came across it again while Nel was there? That might be something to narrow the source down with. Assuming it's the same number, even. "What is the number?"

[Network]
“That’s funny… It’s not even ringing,” comes the voice of a young girl. There’s no image to be paired to the audio, but she is certainly not alone.

The voice of a middle-aged woman responds, sounding puzzled. "There isn't even a ceased number intercept message." That's what she had expected, quite honestly. After all the number did not sound like a phone number at all. But it was worth a try... is what she thought.

((OOC note: Mary and Nel will respond unevenly in various threads))

ourearth

Date: 21st-28th of October
Characters: Open!
Note: Like all welcome mingles, this is a SoL free-for-all mingle meant to get new characters involved by centering around something relevant to them. Without further ado, please welcome Nel, Mary Ann and Feste!

I.

Pinewood Studios is looking for extras for some seafront scenes of a 19th century drama they're going to film in front of the white cliffs. The drama's working title is "The Major from India" and they've expressly put out a casting call for people of all ages and all ethnicities.

A few students from the local uni get to participate behind the scenes this time. Three lucky film students have scored internships that will let them experience the proccess of film making under the aspect of how to deal with extras, from casting to employing and placing them in the film (how do I make an extra NOT look at the camera or main character all the time?) to cutting to everything else. They will, of course, also have the opportunity to look into other areas of the making of this film, but the work with the extras is what they're supposed to focus on.

The casting takes place in the Mossgate outpost of Pinewood Studios.

II.

In Moss Manor (the village), the rumour mill is going wild. News have made it to the village that the local post office is going to be shut down, and the villagers won't have it. It's not like it is a big one! Two employees, neither of whom works full hours, and it's located in the village store so it doesn't even need its own house! Surely there is no economic sense in shutting it down!

And most certainly it's just unfair, targeting the villages despite all that talk to strengthen them - nobody is talking about Tarwich or Mossgate losing their post office!

In short, Moss Manor is in an uproar, and quick action is taken. Residents go from door to door with a petition to not shut down the post office, asking for people to sign. Posters are made and hung outside the church, in the pub, at the railway station, at the entrances of the village, and in the village store. And on the 27th, a very well attended protest is being organised outside the village shop, which just so happens to block the main road, causing diversions. And thus the protest affects quite a lot of non-Moss-Manor-residents, as that is the main road leading away from the coast into Kent and London. A few people have made protest signs, the pub has put up a little food stand outside its door selling hot dogs, burgers and drinks, and various speeches are given. First comes local MP Mary Saunders, talking about how unjust the treatment of villages by large national organisations is, then Reverend Pat Marsh who in essence asks people to remain calm and write angry letters instead of doing anything more drastic, then the captain of the local adult men's football team, who accuses the post of trying to kill small villages, and then the microphone can be taken up by anyone who feels like they have anything of substance to add to the things that have already been said.

But the ~~angry~~ valiant people of Moss Manor don't just speak up in their own village. With mayor Gary Russell's support, little info stands pop up on the Mossgate High Street and the Tarwich Community Centre. The aim is to inform everyone of the unfair closure plans, gather more signatures for the petitions, and try to get people from Mossgate and Tarwich to come to the protest on Saturday. Nobody does anything in Folkton. For one, the Moss Manor residents doubt that help will come that way; for two, the rumour mill will be faster in spreading the news around Folkton than any poster or stand ever could be.

Navigation	Echoes
Locations	OOC

Save Our Earth

Thanks, Sadie [Mingle]

[Open Log] A PLN in Tarwich

We shall rebuild [mingle]

text

Going Green [Log]

At the Library {Open Log]

[Audio network post] Backdated to December 25, Mid-morning

Baby it's cold outside [mingle]

Not Quite General Practitioner [closed and backdated network (voice) / log]

Winter Solstice [Log]

Warm stories will carry us through the coldest times [Mingle]

There are bluebirds over- Wait, those don't go here! [Mingle]

Light the fires [Mingle]

A very merry Halloween! [Mingle]

Two for One [Open Audio Network] [Closed Action]

Let's make a film or sue Royal Mail, it's almost the same... [Mingle]

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