Town Meeting: The Quencies

[singmod]

Town Meeting

Town Meeting

Following the events of June, in which the Interloper saw the Darkwalker’s influence slowly push them to the brink — until Enola put a stop to things — Interlopers must try to wrangle with the consequences left in their wake. For some, these consequences are far more harder than others. Several Interlopers now lie dead, which cannot be ignored.

A town meeting is called to address this, and once more the Interlopers gather in the Community Hall. Even Methuselah joins them, and sits quietly to the side to watch the proceedings.

The accused are asked to stand, to give a short testimony where they either acknowledge or deny their actions. Interlopers may offer witness testimonies had they been there during the incident.

Their fellow Interlopers must cast a vote: are they guilty of their actions? Or not? One might argue that their actions were not their own. Others may argue that the influence over Interlopers should not excuse their actions. Some may even use this as a way of dealing out punishment to those they believe have had it coming for sometime. Maybe sometimes there are crimes just too dark to forgive.

What will you choose, Interlopers? What side of the coin will land?

— — —

Character Name: Kieren Walker.
Crime: The murder and cannibalism of Simone Vitucci.
Character Comments:

[ Kieren's a trembling mess, his hands held into tightly curled fists as his sides. He can't look up, he can't look at anyone — just stares off into the mid-distance. ]

... I did it. I— I'm not going to stand here and say I didn't do something when I did. I killed her, and— I did that to her. And I know I wasn't thinking properly but it's not an excuse, I don't think it should be. I'm... I'm not normal, like most of you are. I'm— I'm different. And that's not an excuse either, I never thought it should be. [ He's not brave enough to full out himself, but he settles with. ] I've hurt people before here. I didn't want it to happen again, but it did.

So.. so I wouldn't blame anyone for thinking I should be— um, to be honest, I wouldn't blame anyone for shooting me for that. For what I did to her. And I know that sounds horrible, but it's true. I wouldn't. Blame any of you.

I wish I could take it back, and I— I know I can't. If it means anything, I'm sorry. I never wanted to hurt anyone.

— — —

Character Name: Levi Jořdán
Crime: Murder of Max Ramirez
Character Comments:

"...I'm sorry. I-I didn't want to, but they just came at me and....and I moved on my own. I should have stopped it but I didn't. I don't have a defense. I'll take any punishment you feel fit."

— — —

Character Name: Scratch "Alan Wake"
Crime: Murder of Alan Lawrence, mutilation of a corpse.
Character Comments:

"None of us were in our right mind. It was self-defence, kill or be killed. I never wanted to hurt anyone, let alone kill them, but ... Can any one of you really believe you wouldn't have done the same thing with everything that was happening to us?

And for the ... Well. The other thing. I don't know, it was like a frenzy, I can't remember it. All I could think about was this story I heard once about The Wick Effect, about the flammable nature of the human body. Resources are so low.

I don't know. I think I panicked. It all made so much sense at the time."


— — —

Character Name: Levi Ackerman (I don't think anyone knows his last name though)
Crime: Murder (and a lil bit of corpse destruction) of John Rusnak
Character Comments:

[ He just stands there with his arms folded, frowning, until someone prompts him to speak. ]

What do you want to hear? It's not how I normally handle things. I hate pointless casualties. [ He doesn't seem at all surprised by his capacity to kill, though. Despite his words being somewhat harsh, it seems genuine. ] ...We've lost people. I am sorry for that.

[ Everyone should be aware of the creature in everyone's heads by now, so he sees no point to bring it up. Under the influence or not -- which is terrifying, actually, he'd never had his mind forcibly overtaken like this before -- it was ultimately still him who managed to carry it out. He shifts his weight a little; there's an air of tension around him, like he's a coiled spring ready to fire. He's probably less calm about it on the inside... or maybe it's an intimidation tactic. ]

I don't intend to let you execute me, if that's what you're planning. But if I'm unwelcome here, I will comply.

— — —

Character Name: Wynonna Earp
Crime: Murder of Elias Toufexis
Character Comments:

He was trying to kill Louis.

[ Who was maybe trying to kill him, first. ]

I tried to break it up. He came after Louis again.

[ Her jaw is tight; so are the arms she has folded across her chest. Her expression is flatly blank. ]

End of story.

— — —

Character Name: Cornelius Hickey
Crime: murder and cannibalism of Patrick Carlson
Character Comments:

[ Hickey's choosing his words carefully. There's a carefully controlled neutralness in his tone, keeping it conversational but not too emotional. ]

Some of you all are like me, yeah? We're changed. I can go longer, I can climb up and down ravines that I'd have trouble navigating before, but I get...hungry. And what with the game missing and that thing in my head—that thing in all of our heads, there's no point in pretending like everybody here wasn't in their right mind because of the Darkwalker. Anyway. What mattered most at the time was satiating the hunger and staying alive.

Obviously I'd do things different if we didn't have the Darkwalker raining bloody terror down on us. We'd all have done things differently.

As for the murder? [ Hickey gives a little shrug. ] Man came at me first. I simply decided to defend myself, as so many others here would—as so many others here already have. After all, it's not like these past few weeks are the first time one of us has tried to come for our own.

— — —

Character Name: Edward Little.
Crime: The Murder of Mikel Shane Prather.
Character Comments:

[ When he stands, Edward looks... strange, haunted — eyes wide and tearful and distant. It all feels like it's happening to someone else. He has to be told when to stand and when to sit down again, more than once.

He doesn't say what he maybe should. That the young man was going to kill Kate Marsh, that he had her on the ground — that Mikel's hands were around her neck. That all he could think to do was shoot, and quickly. There's no excuse for it; he could have made other choices, he could have — and he doesn't want to risk any ounce of backlash against Kate, either. So Edward just stands there, hands trembling, thumbs pressing tightly into his palms and rubbing, some futile attempt to self-soothe. ]

Mr. Prather was not.... himself. He was under the influence of darkness and can not be blamed. However, my... my mind was not afflicted. I was acutely aware of everything and in control of my faculties.

[ That's important. He wasn't anyone but himself when he killed a human being for the first time. ]

I will not resist the punishment that I deserve. I accept full culpability.

[ A pause, a shuddering breath. The usual clear, rich tone of his voice is hoarse now, hollowed out. Mikel became violent, like so many others did. It wasn't his fault.

He was very young. ]

I am so deeply sorry for what I've done.

— — —

A poll has been opened, in which you can ICly vote on the accused. Players will have 72 hours to cast their votes. After those 72 hours, results will be posted. For any character who is found guilty, their player will be asked to pick a punishment for their character.

This could be something like hard labour of some sort (rebuilding, town fortifications, digging appropriate graves for the dead into the ground) reduced food rations, or perhaps some kind of temporary exile from the safety of Milton, or guard duty.

Death is off the table. I mean, unless you really wanted to?

Players who have their character found Not Guilty may still choose to have their characters punish themselves if they wish to.


CAST YOUR VOTES HERE

Comments

[thefifthchild]

I'm not advocating for forgiveness. Not for him, and not for anyone else here, no matter how sympathetic their cases are. [There's a very brief pause for dramatic effect, because he's very much his father's son.] Forgiveness is something that can only be given individually. And even then, we owe it to the victims that we couldn't save to not forget that this - or something like this - can and will happen again, only next time the people on trial might be a different assortment.

That doesn't mean they should be lynched. Or robbed of a chance to earn that forgiveness. [He doesn't think Hickey will act on that chance - not actively, but he's been surprised before.]

The only thing unique about Hickey that makes him potentially more of a threat than the others is his complete lack of object permanence with regard to the consequences of his own actions. [And just the fact that he sucks in general.] And if you punish him as an exception to the others now, in a setting where we were all affected by the same force that could have very easily pushed us to murder, except a few of us felt the effects even harder - Hickey being among them - you set an infinitely more dangerous precedent.

[goingtobeunwell]

I didn’t say others shouldn’t be punished, nor was I asking for it directly. I asked for condemnation. We’re beholden to our actions whether there’s penanced paid or not - distrusted sowed in the community is its own punishment.

Yes, many of the so-called accused have no history of violence here in this place, as admittedly is the case with Mr Hickey. But I speak as the man who found Carlson’s body, carved up after he was stabbed over a dozen times, buried as if to hide the crime. That was my evidence for premeditated murder and deliberate coverup, presented to the community to judge for themselves, asking for clarity in what we will condone.

If this crosses no lines for anyone but myself, so be it.

[thefifthchild]

What are you hoping to achieve with a condemnation? Peace of mind? We have very little means of enforcing punishment here beyond murdering the accused ourselves as a show of our own moral righteousness. Not to mention, I think you have the condemnation of the majority here. Even if we release everyone unconditionally, the things they've done don't disappear, and any trust Hickey abused is still broken. [He doesn't look at Svetlana but he is talking about her, yes, and everyone else who ate the meat under false pretenses.]

A dozen stab wounds doesn't make me more inclined to see him as a grizzled murderer presenting an existential threat to all of us, it makes me inclined to see him as a sloppy overeager amateur. And covering it up - likewise, just makes me think he knew what would happen to him if he were caught. When you did discover the body and connect it to Hickey, what was your reaction?

[It's a rhetorical question. He's not an idiot.]

I suspect that mine would be the same, were I in your shoes. [He has done some truly horrible things in the name of avenging wrongs done against the people under his protection, or in the name of his family. Morgan Ducard, Brother Blood, Black Mask, KGBeast... Slade, who he had confused Hickey with in a moment of feverish madness.]

Whether it was premeditated or not, whether it was done out of malice, he did it while in the throes of a curse that brought the worst out of all of us. I'm not discounting the horrific nature of what he did but that is still something that should be under consideration first and foremost. And I want you to consider how much of this is about what he's done now, and how much of this is what he did in the past.

[goingtobeunwell]

[Crozier you’re arguing with a teenager.

He sighs.]

Discounting the direct murder and maiming of scores of people seems like an inefficient way to judge a person’s character, but your point is taken. Thank you.

Hopefully this has been a constructive dialogue, and not just an old man yelling. [Now he’s looking around the room.] I just wish…

I wish to prevent another catastrophe. That’s all.

[thefifthchild]

I know that.

[It's a familiar thing to recognize in someone. He very nearly brushed up against one of the worst things that happened to him too.] I would say the vast majority of us are.

But it's an easy trap to fall into - attempting to prevent one catastrophe by creating another.

Regardless, I think we've both said our piece.