Welcome to Hemlock Falls

[Sarah Whittaker]

She shrugs. "It's possible, but you're right, they're wary of humans. And I know the tricks to let them know where the humans are."

She leans back against the tree and pats it - as if she's fond of it. "Besides, old Hemlock here'll keep us safe." NOW she's clearly joking.

 

[Mathewsen]

"Only if we're nice with Chipmunk!" he chuckles. But he is probably going to try and find some offering just in case, later.

"Also, what's the trick to let them know where the humans are? Maybe something like leaving clothes around the camp or stuff like that?" He cants his head.

 

[Sarah Whittaker]

"Only if you want them damaged."

She shakes her head. "Safest way is to use the main camping spots. They get enough use that there's human smell all over them all the time."

 

[Mathewsen]

Mat nods "Yeah, I see. So, you gonna camp with us tonight? If we do camp though... 'cause I've heard talks about a motel, but that's cheating, isn't it?" he grins "I feel like it would... Hm... 'spoil' the whole idea of the trail?"

 

[Sarah Whittaker]

She looks up at the sky, presumably to gauge how much light is left for the day. Does a bit of mental calculation, that perhaps includes the chance of everyone being ready to get moving in time to get to the first campsite.

"It might not be a bad idea to keep the Firs in mind as an option. But I'd also like to run everyone through a dry run of pitching and striking a campsite ..." She pauses, and looks towards the diner. "... away from the teenagers."

"The big question is - which way do you want to go?"

 

[Mathewsen]

"I take it the Firs is the motel, right?" He nods "I didn't totally get the last bits of your sentence, but you'd like to make sure we are doing well enough as campers, if I'm not wrong."
He thinks for a few seconds "It's not like we're gonna leave tomorrow anyway. Some of us missed the comfort of civilization. As for which way..." He shrugs "Got no idea, I don't have the map of the trail with me. So I suppose we could pick the campsite randomly. Maybe the spookiest one? Or the one closest to anything of interest?"

"And my big question is... Do you have a guitar at hand?" He smiles a bit.

 

[Sarah Whittaker]

"Yes, the Firs is the motel."

She sits down on a root near the one Mat's on, and also near Marcos (and possibly James).

"Okay. A rough list of the sights - though I'm sure your friends in the diner are also getting a list from Rosie..." She points in various directions as she talks. "Well, there's the falls. Other half of the town name - y'know, Hemlock Falls. Grouse Creek is just to the east, water source an' all that. And it does three rather lovely drops before reaching town."

"Spooky - well, there's old man Harpes' mansion. He's the guy who opened the coal mine that started the town. The line's died out, and noone lives there..." She chuckles. "And the kids dare each other to spend a whole night at the mansion." She shrugs. "It's also dangerous. Derelict building, rotten floorboards, all of that."

"Of course, there's always the coal mine for spooky. But unless you want your lungs full of coal dust - or to maybe get caught in a cave-in caused by rotten supports ...." A pause. "If it interests you, though, I'd be happy to take you by the above ground buildings. It's historical, and creepy, and much safer than the mine proper."

She laughs. "Of course, the fire tower can be spooky." She shudders. "Particularly on your first nights there, when you're really realising that you're utterly alone, and it's absolutely dark outside the fragile lights of your cabin, and there's a wolf pack howling...."

"But that's not the ghost story kind of spooky. That's the 'I just realised how big nature is, and how small I am' kind of spooky."

She almost forgets to answer his last question, then reaches into her jacket and pulls a tin whistle* out of an inner pocket. "Much more portable than a guitar."

((* Aka penny whistle, irish whistle, flageolet. Like most modern versions, hers has a plastic mouthpiece (with fipple), and a tin body.))

 

[Atrus]

((Small reminder that the group arrived in town shortly after dawn, so they have a full day ahead of them))

 

[Mathewsen]

((Yeah, we realized that a few minutes after her post, but thanks!))
He considers the options for a bit...

"The falls sound great to see, but not the quietest of places to set up camp. The mine and the mansion also sound great but there is no way we'll camp in a dangerous place risking to collapse on us during our sleep." he smiles a little and adds "And I doubt we're allowed to camp in the fire tower! So that leaves... Huh... Nothing?" He frowns "Unless there is a camping site near the mine or the mansion!"

He then considers the tin whistle and make another frowny face, obviously faked, and grumbles "Portable indeed but I can't play that, whatever it is"

 

[Sarah Whittaker]

((Indeed thank you!))

Sarah laughs, then puts the tin whistle to her lips, and plays a lively Irish tune. Kemps' jig, one which is familiar to many people who don't know the name.

Then she says "I didn't want to haul my guitar up to the tower and back, given that I also needed to haul a lot of other bulky gear on my own two feet. Sadly, my guitar's at Kendrick's Crossing - at home."

She then points in a couple of directions. "Two campsites near town; one south, one north. The south one's back past where Billie found you. After that, there's camping sites about every half day along the Trail." She shrugs. "But by the time they get here, a lot of hikers are happy to have a shower and a real bed, so the closest sites don't get as much use as the motel."

((And thank you for a very fast response to my question about campsites!))

 

[Mathewsen]

Mat listens to Sarah's music with a smile, and wait until the end to speak.
"Ah, that's an Irish song, right? I went to Ireland a few times, lovely place. I even saw a leprechaun you know?" he winks.

"A campfire with no guitar sounds quite sad, I'll see if I can get one from the teenagers or something! As for the campsite, I'd like to see the Mansion this afternoon -if you're willing to show me around of course- and then maybe get to the northern campsite for the night. What do you think?"

 

[Sarah Whittaker]

"That sounds like a good plan to me." She smiles, and looks towards the diner. "We'll see if the others are okay with that, but if it suits them, it suits me fine."

 

[Mathewsen]

"Well I think most of 'em will want to spend the night a the motel, but we'll have to see about the mansion, yes." Mat gets up and stretches "Maybe we could continue the guided tour?"

 

[Sarah Whittaker]

Sarah laughs and gets up. She tucks the flute (whistle, whatever) back into her pocket, and extends a hand. "Okay. So the buildings closest to the Hemlock are Rosie's, the cop shop, the general store, the bakery, the school - also has the library, and the town council office is in there too." She gestures to the other nearby buildings. "The rest is all houses, mostly folks who work at these buildings, a couple of retired folks, or people who work at the lumber mill and don't mind a bit of a walk to work."

She pauses, to allow Mat, Marcos (or James?) to have their say or ask questions.

 

[Mathewsen]

Mat doesn't seem to have any question or anything to say first, he's simply taking notes on his mental map of the area, but then he remembers something he should've asked a long time ago.
"Oh, by the way, do you folks have some kind of local radio? Like something the fire watch would use to warn people about a fire, or stuff like that. I've heard it's important to know that."

 

[Sarah Whittaker]

"Oh yes. That was going to be in the next stuff I mentioned." She grins. "The buildings a bit further out. The radio tower is sited with a direct line of sight to the fire tower, for exactly that reason." She smiles. "It reaches to Kenrick's Crossing, so the morning and evening news carries Kenrick's Crossing news too. Helps keep whoever's on tower duty from going completely spare!"

"Other than the community announcements and emergencies it's just a playlist, these days. But the tower connects the to... " She pauses, reframes her sentence. "Ahem. The radio tower connects the fire tower to the fire station."

"So yes, as I implied, we do have a fire station. It's not very big, but it's important. The 'fighters keep an eye on things like the undergrowth, the fire load of the forest, the safety of how the houses and farms are built and how their surrounds are ... " She shrugs. "And if the fire load is bad enough, they're in charge of the controlled burns."

((Apologies if any of that is too Australia-specific, but that's what our country firefighters do in forested areas, so I'm just assuming...))

"Oh. Which does remind me: if we do get a fire alert, for God's sake listen to me!"

"Hm. You know about the mansion and the mine; there's a working lumber mill where most of the folks in town work if they're not farmers. Or they're lumberjacks, providing the raw material for the mill."

"There's the church, of course. And I mentioned Mandy's, didn't I? The trout farm and fishing supplies place, and an actual real restaurant?"

"Oh, and there's Jackie's place. She sells gas, and does the car repairs for folks who don't do their own, and keeps some of the hardware supplies that aren't in the general store."

((stealth mod edit: Jackie is a she, and there's no chef at Mandys'))

 

[Mathewsen]

Mat smiles "Of course, why would I not listen to a member of the fire watch in case of fire? That'd be totally dumb! But saddly you won't be with me the whole time during our stay." He winks.

"Yeah, you mentioned Mandy's, and while I said sleeping in a motel is a bit like cheating, I'm quite curious to see what that restaurant has to offer before I leave." I'd like to see the church too I think. Just for curiosity."

 

[Sarah Whittaker]

She laughs at that, and nods. "A valid point."

Then she nods and says "Taking you to Mandy's and to the church is no problem. Why don't we check out the church while the others are eating?" She grins. "It might be a bit unfair to take you to Mandy's while they're eating diner food."

"Not that Mandy's usually opens for breakfast. Most folk don't want trout for breakfast, and that's their specialty."

 

[Mathewsen]

"I'm not difficult with food, but I get why most people wouldn't want fish in the morning" he chuckles "The church sonds like a good idea yeah!"
"Shall we?"

 

[Sarah Whittaker]

She nods and starts along one of the roads, towards the church. "They also use the other local products in their cooking, of course. We breed cattle and hogs, and grow corn and squash, with beans or other legumes for nitrogen fixers." She smiles a little. "Might not sound terribly exciting, but they're all important products. And some of the folks smoke bacon that's to die for!"