Wellspring: A Family Affair (IC)

[Addy]

Welcome to Wellspring

In the industrious hamlet of Wellspring the sun begins to set on yet another gorgeous fall day. The leaves have already turned and most are beginning to make their way to the ground. The temperature has been turning cold at night, though the days have still been rather pleasant. While the rest of the hamlet is going on with business as usual, the Palance Farm* is a rather somber place. All of the Palance siblings are gathered around the dining room table, the head of both ends of the table distinctly empty. There isn't much to the farmhouse, a small entryway into the dining room and conjoined kitchen, a bedroom belonging to your former parents, a tiny bedroom Vena, a loft bed area for the boys, and a large storage closet. As the four occupants sit around the table, the conversations alternate between their late father, their sorely missed mother, and periods of painful silence.

After a brief period of awkward silence, there are three slow knocks at the door. With little effort, anyone can see out the window that it is John Trimmack, town councilman and blacksmith. He is a very dark complected man of above average height and a muscular build and is wearing what might pass as nice clothes in town. The grey hair beginning to pepper his jet black, short cropped hair and goatee are the only indication you have that he is in his 40's rather than his 20's. He appears to be holding a try of some kind.

Perception DC 15: John Trimmack has obviously been crying, and appears to be fighting back tears now, probably for the sake of the family.

Knowledge Local for the following. A success on the latter gets the info for all of the formers as well.
DC 5: John Trimmack was a good friend of both your mother and father.
DC 10: John was actually your father's best friend, and typically gave his services around the farm at a steep discount.
DC 15: Your John was actually your father's best man when he married your mother.
DC 20: John and your father served in the Southaven Militia together before both moving to Wellspring together with their earnings to start a new life. They even lived together until your father married your mother.

*Palance is the last name unless/until you guys picking something different/better in the OOC thread.

[NightDweller]

[roll0]

Daniel looked at his family for a second before heading over to the door and opening it.

"Hello Mr.Trimmack, how may we help you?" he said with a small smile to try to make the man feel more at ease.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Trying to draw some attention from the elephant in the room, Vena tried talking about what Joey made for breakfast, but it was no use. The crew needs some time to process the last few days in silence, herself included.

I'd lazily take 10 on these, but that's probably cheating since I know the DC's ahead of time.

Perception: [roll0] +6

Inspired Knowledge(local): [roll1] + [roll2] +8

"Hi John," Vena says. She smiles, but her voice cracks over the tears in her sinuses. She would usually ask him what's wrong, but today the answer is pretty obvious. Everyone here feels the same way.

[Llyarden]

Morgan was idly shuffling his deck of cards - something he'd been doing on and off more or less since waking, with an uncharacteristic lack of care for the deck, as if they'd done something to offend him - and trying not to look at any of his siblings when the knock at the door came. How can he be so calm? he thought angrily, when he saw who the visitor was. His brief glare at Trimmack softened after a moment as he looked more closely at the councilman, though.

Seeing Trimmack here again brought back memories of when he'd visited before - on more than a couple of occasions, to be fair, because of Morgan's recklessness getting him into trouble. Morgan started to greet the man, as was only polite, but managed nothing more than a quietly sobbed gasp before closing his mouth sharply.

[Addy]

John enters the residence and forces a weak smile. "Hi Daniel, Vena, Morgan, Joey..." he says nodding to each in turn. "I hate to bother you, but, I just wanted to come by and bring you this homemade blackberry pie that Tara made for you." John sets the still steaming pie on the table. "You guys know that if you need anything, Tara and I will be there. Just come by the shop, or to the house any time." John then shakes hands with or hugs each of you in turn, depending upon your preference. He then backs away and seems to be struggling to keep his bearing. "I... uh... I'll give you guys some time to be alone... but, don't be strangers ok?"

If nothing else is said, John leaves the room with the four of you staring at each other in silence.

The sun is setting fast and it will be dark within minutes. Knowing the way the area works, the only place open after dark is Emma's Place, the Tavern in the middle of the hamlet. It takes 15 or so minutes to get there.

------
Play as you wish of course, but try to be concise with your posts. I don't want the whole group stuck in the house for several IRL days. I also would hate for two people two have their characters go to bed and two stay up all night talking, effectively keeping the other two from posting for a few days. I would much rather see everyone talking, or everyone progress the day until tomorrow. I have no preference.

[NightDweller]

Daniel, trying to keep his mind in the present, decided to speak up.

"We better go ahead and eat the pie, I do not think we can make it last long otherwise. I know you may not feel up to it, but I doubt that anyone wants you to sit there and starve while we waste some perfectly good food."

[Wheaton's Whelp]

Father would have been irate if he found good food was left to waste

The foreign feeling of weight upon his legs, and the audible crack of joints, met Joey as he stood. He didn't think it had been that long, but then again he didn't even realize the sun had gone down. Placing his hand on Daniel's shoulder for support, in more ways than one, Joey scanned the counter for clean utensils and dishes. Heaped upon a pile a of rags stood day's worth of dishes left in a grimy state.

Grabbing a couple passably clean plates and utensils, Joey returned and began to cut into the blackberry pie. Mrs. Trimmack was a local legend for her pastries; the perfectly browned crust a testament that her skills persevered in the face of tragedy.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"John, wait!" Vena searches her mind for any excuse to make small talk, maybe the other event coming up in a couple of days, or that he really could have given the eulogy if he wanted... but in the end she just settles on giving him a supplemental hug. "Thanks. I really mean it. Tell Tara thanks too, okay? We'll see you tomorrow."

She lets out a barely-audible, "Keh!" at Joey's observation and wipes some tear-gunk out of her eye. "Yeah, he'd probably threaten to eat the whole thing himself if we didn't get to it fast enough!" She takes her piece in hand and raises it to mimic a toast. "To dad, and to fond memories, right?"

[NightDweller]

Daniel nodded and returned the favor.

"Yes indeed little sis, yes indeed."

Daniel began eating some of the pie but part way through he spoke up again.

"We need to plan out what we want to do."

He said before eating some more of the pie.

[Wheaton's Whelp]

"We haven't much gold, barely enough to pay for the animal's feed, neh near enough to rebuild the barn and replace the lost equipment.

Gritting his teeth and cocking his head slightly to the left:

"We could sell the surviving livestock and buy new farm equipment, mayhaps we even salvage this year's crop? Mr. Trimmack and other's in town may be willing to help as well, Father was well-respected in Wellspring."

[NightDweller]

"I think Joey has a point. The real question is what we are going to do after that."

Daniel said as he rubbed his temples with his fingers.

[Addy]

The pie is devoured by the four heart-broken youth. It was perfect. The crust, the filling, even the fresh blackberries all seemed to be just right. Not the first of Tara's pies the family has eaten, and hopefully it will not be the last. The family tries to decide what to do next. There is nothing pressing as far as bills, but with no seed for planting the coming year, it will be very tough to make ends meet next year. So the decision becomes, do you work to get enough money to buy new seed, find other career paths to pay to keep the farm without working it, or sell it? There are no easy answers, but the group will all have to decide upon one.

After much deliberation, consulting, and a bit of arguing, the group goes to bed. The next morning is brisk, but clear. It will probably be a very comfortable day once the sun completely rises over Wellspring. This time of morning thought, the town is already bustling.

--------------
Take time to finish RP deciding what to do etc. and talk amongst yourself. Once you are content, you can RP getting up and going about the day. This can be done as a group, or as an individual. If you are going somewhere on your own, please put at the top of the post, your character name and where they are going. For instance, it could look like this.

John Trimmack - Emma's Place

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"Right! We're mature enough to handle ourselves now, right?" Vena excitedly stands and slaps her hands on the table. Finally, something else to think about!

"So, in the morning, when we have the light, we can go through and salvage most of the tools - the metal parts, at least. Then we can go to town and get new handles for them if we have to. Other than that, we need to focus on what to do with the animals for the winter. We can try build and stock a new barn, or we can sell them to a good home and use the proceeds for something else."

[Wheaton's Whelp]

Each dawn seemed to be growing colder, the morning dews lasting a longer on the blades of grass outside the kitchen window. From years of practice Joey stealthily moved about the small farm home as to not disturb his sleeping siblings. Having gathered a couple eggs from the coop, Joey lite a low fire and prepared a small breakfast: no meat but eggs, and a little coffee gifted from the Trimmack's.

Rejuvenated by the previous night's pie indulgence, or perhaps the embarrassment of having Mr. Trimmack see the state of the kitchen, Joey decided to clean the dishes. Having been left for a number of days, the caked on material added duration and effort to the normally quick chore.

Placing the eggs and coffee high above the fire to keep them warm, Joey decided to head into Wellspring. His skills in cooking would only be useful if there was food to be cooked. In his previous experiences in Wellspring Joey remembered seeing town boards within the central square. The odd job here and there, that's how he'll contribute.

Joey packs a quick bag, unsure of the day before him, and heads out for Wellspring.

[NightDweller]

Daniel wakes up to the smell of breakfast. Yawning he walks into the kitchen.

"What are you cooking Joey?" He asked until he noticed he was alone in the kitchen.

"Son of a bitch..." Daniel muttered under his breath before stopping and taking a deep breathe to calm himself. He ate his breakfast a bit hastily before yelling at his siblings.

"Get up and get ready! It's past dawn already and we need to go to town!"

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"Hang on, I'm up already! Sare..."

Vena mutters a minced oath as she finishes fastening the buttons on her blouse. It's the same one that mom always wore on these outings, save for the new patches on the elbows.

"So, what are we taking with us?" she asks between bites of scrambled eggs, "Anything we need to load onto Donkey? Also, where did Joey run off to?"

[Llyarden]

Morgan arrived shortly after Vena, still rubbing sleep out of his eyes though fully dressed - he'd gotten up considerably earlier, got dressed, and then gone back to sleep with the realisation that there was no need to be up with the dawn to tend the farm. "Maybe he's looking at what we have left in the way of tools," he suggested, coming in on the tail end of Vena's question. "It's not like there's much point going until we know what we need." Despite his words, though, he was anxiously adjusting the brim of his hat, which he had brought down with him and which he invariably wore on whenever he went into Wellspring proper.

[NightDweller]

"Are we sure we can trust him to act his best at the moment?" Daniel asked his siblings as he stretches his arms and legs.

[Addy]

Palance Farm

The tool shed still has a fair amount of equipment in it. Several shovel's, hoe's, a woodcutting axe, and various other implements. There are also a few heavier pieces of equipment such as a plow to be pulled behind a donkey. Most of these are either homemade or old and not worth nearly as much as they were when new.

-------
Wellspring

In town, Joey goes to the front porch of Emma's Place, where there are a few letters and papers hanging on a rather generic help wanted board. The lumber yard foreman, Jack Youngblood, has a post for more woodcutters. Emma has one saying she is looking for a server. The rest are old bounty posters from Southaven. They are mostly months old. That said, Emma's seems rather busy this morning. Through the windows, you can see several people inside eating breakfast.

[Wheaton's Whelp]

"Hmm... the lumber mill. Perhaps a server... perhaps. And bounty hunter."

It was a common game for the neighborhood kids when the siblings were younger. One kid would play the dastardly villain with their group of henchman: the villain almost always was based off the new posted bounty. The wanted signs were always vague enough to let our childhood minds wander. We'd take a simple man "Wanted for Theft," and suddenly their theft was of royal jewels and magical tomes. Deciding to reminisce, Joey looks over the names, faces, and crimes of the bounties.

Joey is looking closely at these postings, not intending to hunt down these suspects, but in the event he should run into one of these names/faces again I'll try a knowledge roll to commit their information to memory. I'm not sure which knowledge skill works best here (Local or History?), but my modifier is the same for both:

[roll0]

The idea of hunting done bounties makes Joey laugh a little, as Joey grabs the posting for a new Server and begins to walk into Emma's Place.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Whoah, we have a tool shed? In retrospect, I guess that makes more sense than just keeping all that stuff in the barn. Still, none of that amounts to any sign of Joey.

"Ugh! Joey, did you seriously run off without us?" It's not actually a big deal; Vena's just having some fun at his expense. "Well, let's go catch up with him! The animals are safe here for now, right?"

She continues trying to develop her middle-term plans for all present during the walk to town. "We might be able to push Bessie and Porky to Louise's old place, or throw them in with Old Ted's property if he's willing. He was thinking of selling his farm, so we should ask him about any buyers he'd found anyway... Also! We should keep an ear out for whoever or whatever it is Trader Flogrim's bringing with him from Southaven tomorrow."

[Addy]

Emma's Place

Joey looks over the bounty's and finds that many of them are quite old. A few are newer, thought most are for criminals from Southaven. One looks familiar to him. The Brunskill Bandit looks familiar to someone you have seen before, but are having trouble placing. The scar they drew on the left side of his cheek reminds you of someone you have seen here in Wellspring recently, but who? Nonetheless, Joey makes his way into Emma's place and see's that it is bustling.

Emma is running around like crazy going from back in the kitchen, to running food out, refilling mugs, and the disappearing back into the kitchen, all while taking orders yelled at her from patrons seated at various tables. There are about 15-20 patrons, most are woodcutters, a few farmers, all are familiar to you.

-----------
Palance Farm
Three of the siblings can't seem to decide what they want to do. The only thing they can decided is that they are peeved at Joey for setting off without them... and that they still don't know exactly what they want to do.

[Wheaton's Whelp]

Emma's Place always seemed to have patrons despite Emma's frantic attitude. A kind and hardworking soul, but there was a reason her staff never lasted long. Her expectations for herself were outrageous, and she wasn't the best at slowly acclimating new workers to the job. Quick, decisive, and at times brash: this is what Joey had to personify to win over the Hostess.

Gracefully weaving between the tables and mugs raised in exuberant celebration, Joey found his way to the bar just outside the kitchen. New orders continued to be barked from the mob of hungry patrons.

"Another serving of the creamed hash!" from a portly woodman, and "I find myself parched and in need of a refill!" from an older gentleman siting at the bar seating.

Having noticed a slightly worn apron, Joey quickly tied the fabric to his chest and slid to great Emma as she left the kitchen with three plates in hand.

Disarming Emma of the plates, Joey abruptly quipped in with, "There is another order of creamed hash, Mr. Rhorlief is about a minute out from his second order of sausage and eggs, and Mr. and Mrs. Thordis have indicated they'd like refills on their coffee. I'll start a new pot for them and bust the empty tables. No need to thank me! That's what the job pays for."

Before Emma could respond Joey had artfully squeezed his slender figure through the bar and into the dining floor to deliver the plates.

[Llyarden]

"Yeah, he really did," Morgan replied to Vena's rhetorical question, shaking his head. "I guess some things don't change."

As the siblings walked to the town, he grew increasingly concerned by Vena's plans. "Hang on, who said we were selling everything?" he protested. "Surely we can manage with what we have at the moment, like we always have?" Even as he said it, though, he had to admit to himself that that wasn't the case. But he had every intention of doing his best to preserve his parents' legacy.

[NightDweller]

Daniel put his scarred hand on Morgan's shoulder."Look..it might be time for us to admit we cannot do this without mom and dad, and I dbout very much they would like to see us living in misery trying to. Maybe we should try to become merchants, bounty hunter, or adventurers of some sort.'

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Vena opens her mouth to respond to Morgan's reaction, but Daniel's words catch her off-guard. "Keh! Bounty hunters. ...wait."

Just at the edge of town, Vena dashes ahead and looks almost straight up to regard her brother. Daniel had always been a huge kid, and as a man he's as stoic and inscrutable as Dad ever was. But she knew him, how he'd stop to listen to stories about the Southhaven guard, how he'd talk excitedly about martial arts and high-flying excitement abroad. Vena or Morgan might have just blurted out those suggestions at random, but him? "Wow. You've really been considering this, haven't you? For how long? Where were you thinking of going?"

Daniel may be a man now, but Vena still talks like a nosy little sister. She soon realizes this, drops the questions and resumes walking to the inn.

"Well, I'll be honest, too - I've been trying to save up for an alchemy kit." She's visibly embarrassed about this. "They're a big investment, but you can do some pretty amazing things with the right tools and ingredients, right? And if one of you were to have a family and take the farm over, I'd probably need a source of income for myself..."

Wow, not only is Vena a terrible liar, but she would apparently rather appear selfish and greedy than admit she has an interesting hobby. Weird!

[Addy]

Joey finds himself on the end of a perplexed look from Emma. She frowns for a second before shrugging. "Ok, keep things going out here, I'll run the kitchen." She disappears back into the kitchen without another word.

Daniel, Vena, and Morgan make it into town about an hour after Joey has abruptly started working at Emma's Place. There is a steady stream of workers making their way out of Emma's place, on their way to work for the day.

Joey finds that he made 9cp in tips this morning. Not bad. Not great, but more than he had. Emma walks out of the kitchen and sighs a large sigh of relief. "Thanks Joey, I don't know what I would have done without you. Sarah got married and her new husband doesn't want her working." After a brief pause she asks, "So, is this a one time thing, or do you want to make it permanent? I can either use you during the meal rushes or I can probably afford to bring you on full time. Your call."

[Llyarden]

"You know, I think we're missing a pretty key element of bounty hunting - knowing how to fight," Morgan pointed out, a slight grin creasing his face as he noticed the fact that he was apparently being the sensible one.

He just gave a casual shrug to Vena. He knew her well enough to know that there was more than just wanting to keep herself solvent behind the idea. "You're gonna be saving up for a while, though, aren't you? How expensive are those things?"

Like Joey had earlier, Morgan drifted over to the noticeboard. "Ah, this looks promising. Emma wants a server...oh, only one server. Maybe not so promising. I guess woodcutting would be an option if we really needed money?" Morgan's sum of experience with the lumber yard was sneaking in to climb recklessly around the logs and trees.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"Keh, yeah," Vena responds to Morgan as they approach the board. "It was kind of a long-term plan."

She follows her little bro's gaze to the bulletin board and groans playfully. She's seen all of the Wild West wanted posters before, and if anyone on a wanted poster has ever appeared in Wellspring she's not heard of it yet. She always figured woodcutting might be more up Daniel's alley, but: "Well, not for me! I'll go check in on Emma."

The inn is right across the street from the board, so Joeseph quickly comes into view as she approaches through the exiting crowd. "Joey! There you are! I guess you really got the jump on us today!" She looks from him to Emma and lights up as she connects something. "Oh! Did he get the job?"

[Addy]

The siblings all meet each other back in Emma's place and it is readily apparent that Joey, at least in the short term, has a job. After a few minutes of back and forth, Daniel chimes up. "Hey guys, I'm going to run a few errands, ask some questions, and I'll meet with you all tonight at home." Without another word he heads back out of Emma's Place.

There isn't much going on in Emma's place now, just two retired patrons, Cledd and Homer, who are drinking coffee at a corner table.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"Excellent! Come on, Morgan, let's let Joey get back to work."

Vena takes off and starts explaining her itinerary to Morgan as she quick-steps down the path. "Okay, my plan is to head to the woodlot to ask about business, and to see if we can talk to the Youngbloods about market tomorrow and see if they need help with anything and if they know more about the guests coming up. If you want, you can ask about the woodcutting job. I'm more interested in whether there's been a spike in demand lately or whether someone else just retired...

"Anyway, after that, I'll probably make my rounds in the market real quick before heading to John's place. He might know if anyone's in the market for the animals... though I guess it's kind of a lame question since they'll go easily at market tomorrow. We could probably just trade them plain as money; people do it with chickens all the time. It'll be nice just to talk to Tara for a bit before heading home. Maybe swing by Emma's in the evening and eat there if Joey's still around."