singillppl | Town Meeting: The Quencies

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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ It had taken time and a great deal of effort, but Fraser had managed to get himself into his red serge before arriving at the meeting today; although he isn't here in an official capacity as a policeman, this is still community business, and deserves the respect he can give it.

He listens quietly to those who stand up and confess their actions, listens and observes as others speak in defense or accusation. He wonders what Ray would make of all this. Finally, he stands, his hat off, held in his hands, to address the group. ]

We have all been through a terrible ordeal. Many of us were afflicted, some of us were nearly, if not wholly, out of our minds with fear and rage. Now, whether that's enough to clear us from the choices we made while under the influence is, I think, a question we all must contend with and answer on our own. But is this really about justice?

[ He gestures with his hat to those who had confessed. ]

We have no lawyers, no judge, no jury. We have no laws. We all of us come from different worlds and times, perhaps with different ideas of right and wrong or how to hold someone accountable, or even if we should. We have no jurisdiction to determine who should be punished or how, aside from whatever expectations we hold each other to as part of a community. Whatever we do here, today, will be established as precedent.

Whether these people are guiltier than any of the rest of us because their actions were more final, I don't know. I am not saying 'forgive,' if you find what happened too abhorrent. And I am certainly not saying we allow malicious violence to run rampant and unchecked. I am merely reminding us all that the only laws currently guiding us are our own moral compasses and whatever social pressures we enforce, knowing or unknowing, on each other. I realize this may seem like a strange sentiment coming from a police officer, but I hold no more jurisdiction here than do any of us. My concern is for our surviving people, and for what we do next.

With that in mind, I believe we would be better suited turning our thoughts and energies toward what we can do to benefit us all: work with each other to learn necessary skills, seek out game to feed the community, glean what we can from the woods, rebuild the barn. Until we decide to prioritize the structure and trappings of a society, laws included, our focus must be on helping each other. None of us will survive on our own.

[Randvi doesn't know a lot about the structure he’s describing, but it is a relief to see another level head.]

Yes, we don't need to like, or even fully trust everyone here, but we need to be able to move past this and live together. We have to survive.

Hear, hear!

[ Lalo smiles approvingly and applauds for Fraser when he's done speaking, just as he had for Randvi. ]

[Darling nods firmly in agreement, even clapping a little at the end of Fraser's speech. Rebuild rather than worrying about punishment seems like a fair plan.]

Town Meeting: The Quencies

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