Welcome to Hemlock Falls

[Mathewsen]

Mat comes through the portal, taking a few second to accomodate his eyes to the obscurity. He is wearing typical hiking clothes -except for his usual leather coat- and carries the typical gear of the camper, big backpack and all, no apparent weapon except maybe the "tactical camping shovel" strapped to the side of his bag. He's using some sturdy branch as a walking stick, but anyone able to sense magic would know it is actually a magic staff.

"Ladies, gentlemen." He nods to them as he walks close to them. Two seconds later, his stomach growls.

 

[Klaus von Richter]

Tumbling out of the portal came the rather dour Dr. Klaus von Richter, who had been lurking in the back of the Venetian conference during the initial presentation; Venice was far too angry with him as of late, and he did not want to inadvertently cause further issues with the Council.

Dressed in a light blue sweater for the weather, he was prepared to play tourist hiker for as long as necessary... and wear comfortable sweaters while he was at it.

His own hiking gear and coat belied the contents within, obscured by the faintest trace of magic. A small string of barely-visible runes lined the hem of his coat, almost invisible within the stitching.

Klaus looked to those around and offered only a quiet, nervous word after staring for some time. "...Haalloo."

 

[Molly Dufrene]

"Hey." Molly's response to the newcomers is a bit quiet. She glances around her surroundings constantly, and when not doing that, shuffles awakwardly in place while waiting. When Mat's stomach growls, she does crack a small smile and responds "Didn't eat breakfast?"

 

[Antistita]

Lourdes stumbed through the portal, a heavy old wood frame hiking pack on her back, with what she had been able to throw in: a few packs of Korean Ramen type soup, about 40 dollars in US money, and clean clothing. The hammer she figured would pass mostly unremarked, it was a tool you could use for splitting wood, actually, she could use that, her first stop could be the local hardware store to get a wedge and gossip.

She waved to the others then went to find a pile of pine needles to roll in. Ignoring the probable odd looks she rolled in the dirt and needles because filthy is the default state for all campers. She shook off the worst of it, feeling a little more like the locals might buy her story.

"Hey yall, I'm Lourdes, you can call me Lu or Yammertime. We gotta git all campfire smelly an dirty or them locals will know right away we ain't hikers, Jeasus it's cold."

Second stop, find a decent jacket.

 

[Mathewsen]

Mat looks puzzled when she rolls herself on the floor, his mouth slightly open. Then it gets clear when she speaks.

"Fuck you're right!"

He looks around, trying to come up with an idea. The needles will have to do. He crouches down and gather a bunch of them in a pile, and sets them on fire after getting them away from anything else that could burn too. They let go of a very smelly smoke, and a few minutes next to them might do the trick for the smell.

As he waits for the smoke to impregnate his clothes, he glances toward Lourdes "I can lend you my coat if you'd like, its temperature is magically regulated."

 

[Diana Senis]

Diana ponders a few moments "I mean I guess that is true.. though not all campers immediately smell like smoke and are covered in needles"

 

[The Dullahan]

Sam nodded to each of the newcomers in greeting, his appraising gaze giving each of them the once over, though not in any overt way, just trying to get idea of what he was dealing with. When people started patting on the dirt he just smirked.

 

[Molly Dufrene]

"Or, umm, that we ya know, slept in tents and have changed clothes at some point. Or, umm, they probably won't care, uhh, all that much anyway." She says softly, as she watches the last girl through the portal start rolling around in pine needles.

 

[Atrus]

The portal pops closed right after Lourdes crosses through, leaving a thin, long afterimage for a couple seconds, like an old analog TV. That’s apparently all you’re going to get as signal that your group is complete and the mission is on.

* * *​

You’re still standing around the fire -some closer to get the smell of smoke on their clothes, and some to take the edge of the chill off- when you hear the sound of a vehicle approaching. A couple of minutes later, a police car rounds the bend and stops neatly by the town sign.

Climbing out of the vehicle is a blond man, clearly an officer. Between the headlights and the torch in his hand you can’t see his face very well, but his voice is clear and loud: “Hey, you lot. Everything all right down there? We saw smoke from- Aaah, shucks. You built a fire.”

 

[The Dullahan]

Sam eyes immediately went to the sound of the approaching vehicle. He tensed slightly, his body anticipating a fight. A response he never really got over from his team days, when people had depended on him to keep them alive.

His frowned deepened at that thought, no one should depend on him for that.

The officer had gotten here fast, almost too fast, as far as Sam was concerned. He found that downright supicious. "We're fine." Sam offered a friendly smile, that slipped on his face almost too easily, before turning a bit sheepish, "Sorry about the trouble." He indicated the smoke with a wave of his hand.

 

[Diana Senis]

Hopeing her accent doesn't cause suspicion "Ah, hello" waving to the officer "Just getting set up for the day, appologies hope there was no problem with the fire" Smiling warmly hiding the fact that she was genuinely suprised at how fast the cop had responded.. Is smoke in the woods or forrest fires a large concern around this area? she would think.

 

[Craft]

As introductions are made quickly, Craft does his best to attach the names mentioned to the faces. Lourdes. Diana. Sam. Molly. Mat.

There's one name he doesn't have to commit to memory as it's already there.

Craft nods to Klaus, "Morning Doc. Didn't think you were much for camping."

He looks to the others around the fire when the patrol car approaches. Seeing Sam and Diana start to talk to the officer, he just stands back. He didn't check to see if there was a fire ban in the area of Virginia, but as it was October, he didn't think there would be. Odd the officer would seem concerned about the fire.

Listening to the conversation with the officer, he pulls a granola bar from his jacket pocket and takes a bite.

 

[Molly Dufrene]

Molly tries to stay out of the way when a couple of the others talk to the officer. It would just get her more nervous talking to him anyway, and no one really needed more of that. She was already on edge being out in the field with a bunch of people she didn't know. Well, mostly anyway, she had never met Diana in person, but knew of her, and she had worked with Klaus once before. The rest though were unknowns, on top of the unknown that was this town and it's situation.

 

[Atrus]

"Actually yes, the fire's a blazing problem, it's is, pardon the pun."
The officer has come down the slope and you can see him better now, by the light of the fire. He has one of those faces that seems either too old for his age, or still clinging to an air of boyhood in his forties.

"You lot are doing the trail, right? It's odd they didn't tell you , but fires are only permitted in camp zones and fireplace rings. Same with camps, you gotta be in designated areas."

The man flashed his torch around. "And certainly not a slope. Geez."

 

[Antistita]

Lu smiled at the man with the utility shovel. "We can get it put out right away Sir." She said.

"That's awful kind of you. I'll take the offer of a jacket till I can get one, bound to be a thrift store in town." She smiled at Mat.

She looked at the officer. "Spilled a little white gas on my jacket, melted a hole in it. You know how everything is plastic these days. Feel like an idiot., say is there a hardware store nearby? I need one and maybe a second hand store? Grocery run too. Ohhhh a hotel, and maybe a shower?" Lu rattled on chattily, trying to seem like a tired hiker interested in getting back into some civilization.

 

[Diana Senis]

"Ah I appolosise Sir. I will take care of eet as soon as possiblt. Do not want to start any problems, and yes we were doing the trail yes. Hmm eet must have slipped their minds. No matter it'll be taken care of " smiles reasuringly

 

[Mathewsen]

Mat happily hands over his coat to Lourdes -it might be quite big for her depending on her size- then uses his foot to cover the fire with dirt, then tapping a bit on it to completely extinguish it. "Sorry about that" He shrugs and smiles to the man "We'll be sure to remember it sir."

 

[Antistita]

((I have a lot of time on my hands ))
((the ocd in me thinks listing the characters inventory is a fun thing, no one else need follow suit, GM has right to veto any of it))

>Yammertime’s Inventory

A really old whisper-lite stove and about 2 teaspoons of kerosene in a steel bottle, teensy pot and sierra cup, camp spoon and a tin plate that doubles as a base to the stove, a small ugly pair of vise grips for handling the pot, small aluminum funnel

3 rock hard slightly sandy marshmallows in a plastic bag

sleeping bag, pads, pup tent, beach sand

A heavy old pack really, aluminum frame, heavy old smelly olive nylon

7 korean ramen packages, plus one ancient pancake mix and 4 cocoa

Clean undies and socks

A filthy small towel

Really basic and tiny first aid kit with 47 ancient iodine water purification tablets.

Unidentifiable metal widget, possibly part of the old Dodge Dart or maybe the stove, who knows

42 bucks US

Craftsman 48 oz (1 kg more or less) fiberglass sledge hammer slid into loops on her pack that seem made for it.

 

[Marcos Medeiros]

Some nearby bushes rustle ominously... and out steps Marcos (who probably wandered off in search of a signal — yes, we'll go with that), now adorned with just the right amount of pine needles and scrapes from surprise brambles to pass as a hiker that's been on the trail for more than five minutes. He opens his mouth to say something, but the words die in his throat at the sight of the police officer. He looks to his teammates, eyebrows raised in question. Until he gets a better read of the situation — and of the police officer — he figures it's best to keep the teasing to a minimum.

 

[Atrus]

The officer moved by the fire, checking that it had been put out properly. "I hope this is the only fire you lot started out of a ring. Wouldn't want a wildfire under your feet."

He arched his brows at Lourdes' little speech. "There's all of that in town, ma'am. Well, a motel. Don't get that many tourists here, mostly truckers and people who took a wrong turn."

The man swept his torch in Marcos' direction, hearing him come out of the bushes, then back on everyone else's face. "In fact, you all seem kinda lost. Pardon if I'm wrong, but it doesn't look like you camped here on purpose. More like you lost the trail and wandered around trying to get your bearings back."