Downfall RPG

Who: Andre and open to all
When: Sunset
Where: The dining room

Andre had tried to keep things short. It had been hard to fight his natural instincts to "speechify" and go on for a long time, but he knew this wasn't the time for that. Besides, as much as he didn't want to admit it, he knew that some of the people didn't necessarily share his beliefs, and in the current situation, he was learning that he needed to focus more on comforting than converting. There would be a time for that. When they were ready, they would come to him, and he would lead them to the Lord. His head still sporting a small bandage from getting busted open- it had looked worse than it actually was-, he closed his Bible and recited from memory.

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever."

He crossed over to the table he'd set up earlier, decorating it with a homemade cross and several candles he'd managed to scrounge up from the storage room that the hotel had obviously saved for fancy dinners. "At this time, as you feel led, I'd like to offer everyone an opportunity to remember those who are no longer with us. Come up, light a candle, and if you like, share something about the people you're remembering with us. As long as we remember them, they are never truly gone. Once I get the feeling that everyone has had their chance, I'll wrap things up. Now if you don't mind, I'll start."

He turned and picked up the clicky lighter and lit the first candle. He didn't turn to face anyone, but kept his gaze on the flickering flame. He didn't know how well he was going to hold up, and he wanted to appear strong for the others. "Sandra Washington. You were a beautiful woman, a wonderful partner, and an amazing servant of the Lord. I didn't deserve having someone like you in my life, but somehow you stuck with me through the good times and the bad." His eyes began to tear up a little, although he quickly wiped them. "I miss ya, baby. I miss your smile, your laugh, I miss holding you and sleeping next to you. I miss your beautiful voice. But I know when my time comes, you'll be right there, waitin' for me. I love you, baby." He stood for a moment, wiping the few tears that had come, then kissed the tips of his index and middle fingers before raising them to the sky. After he collected himself, he turned back around, then stepped back to let anyone else who wanted have their turn.

placeholder for the rescue stuff

Who: Tayne, Erin, Keith, Verity and Jasmine
Where: North of the hotel; Oakwood Mall
When: Early morning

After the group of hostages were searched and rendered weaponless, they were escorted to a bedding store in the back of the mall on the top floor. There was never a moment where they were alone, or where they felt their powers returned to them. The group seemed almost too confident, too sure of themselves. There was another figure that stayed nearby, but out of sight enough that his face was never fully visible. As soon as the metal gates were pulled into place and locked, the group left, no second thoughts given to their hostages. For now, they had other business to tend to, and the hostages were last on their list of priorities.

( Plans foiled. )

For KJ, Carson and Joyce doing Important Things to the south of the hotel...

Who: Tayne, Keith, Verity and Jasmine
Where: North of the hotel; Oakwood Mall
When: Day 14, late afternoon

The long trek across town had been relatively miserable for Tayne, who was starting to think this had been a bad idea, only a day recovered from being ill for three, despite the need for someone who could protect the group if need be. He'd loaded his bike down with crackers, some warm cheese that was starting to go hard, and lots and lots of water. At least half the water was gone, now, and a good chunk of the crackers and cheese, and there was still the search and trek back to consider. The silver lining was, he definitely was done throwing up: nothing had come back up, today, and if something was going to, this was definitely the way to make sure of it.

However, they had made it to the mall-- the building full of broken windows and ruined merchandise strewn across the floors-- and Tayne rolled his bike across the parking lot with some relief. At least maybe they'd let him sit down for a minute once they got inside, in the shade.

"And Terry really thinks Landon came out here," he commented dubiously, shielding his eyes despite the protection of the sunglasses as he looked up at the second story of the mall. "It looks pretty damn picked over, already...." Though maybe they could find a little something useful while they were here, if they didn't find Landon. Tayne was all about collecting everything and anything a body could that might eventually prove useful.

( You were warned to stay out of our territory. )

Who: Terry, Andre and Josh
When: Late afternoon, 6pm
Where: The depths of the hotel

( Let's just get their bodies out of here, and we'll worry about the rest later! )

WHO: Landon and OPEN
WHAT: We'll find out, won't we?
WHERE: The kitchen
WHEN: Around 2 PM


Landon was thinking about Tom Waits. Not in any serious or important manner of course -- how serious or important could one's thoughts be when they revolved around a man who had been nearly seventy and smoked nearly forty packs a day? Still, it was what his mind was revolving around. Tom Waits and his poem "What's he Building in there?". The lyrics were running through Landon's head on repeat as he made his way into the kitchen, and the redhead found himself remorsing over the fact that he'd never get a chance to see Tom perform live.

In the Bostonian's hands were a knife and a canteloupe. The fruit was heavy and reassuring. He'd been careful about eating only when he really needed to, and even then it was sparingly. His stomach had been roaring dully for the past few hours. The meagre breakfast he'd shared with Loren that morning had hardly filled him, and only a little while later he felt as though he were starving again, his stomach clenching and growling. He felt a little bad for using the fruit, as though he were doing something wrong, taking away what little they had in fresh vegetation from everyone else, but the canteloupe was close to going bad, he could smell the syrupy-sweet almost too ripeness even through the thick and textured rind.

Setting the fruit on the counter, Landon began to cut into it, first slicing it in half, and then dividing it again. His suspicions of the age of the melon were confirmed as soon as the two sides fell apart. It cut like butter against a hot knife, the insides were soft and vibrant orange, so bright that it looked artificial. As he continued slicing it the smell became cloying, and for some reason Landon thought of his summers in Alabama, before he'd moved to Boston. The smell reminded him of honey-suckle blooming along the buildings of his youth, the pink and white blooms attracting everything from ants to hummingbirds. He smiled a little, thinking of the hot winters and even hotter summers, and finished dicing up the fruit, removing it from the cutting board and putting it on a plate.

Who: Tayne, Richard, John, and Carson
Where: Outside the hotel
When: Late afternoon, 4ish

Even when sick, Tayne couldn't stay still all day. He wasn't going to risk going outside much, not feeling this awful, but he could move around inside the hotel. With a handkerchief tied around his mouth, so he wasn't spreading germs. There were things to do inside that made him feel a little useful, like he wasn't completely wasting his time: finding places where sunlight fell during the day that they could put indoor plants; trying to get an idea for security positions people could take based on empty rooms and hall windows; verifying how full each hall was, based on the strong scents in bedrooms, to designate storage rooms or rooms they could fuss with to facilitate heating and the like.

But even just walking and taking notes in one of his notepads was pretty tiring, when you were feverish and still felt a little nauseous. So by the time he was done, at about four, he was ready to call it a night.

Ready to check on the eggs and call it a night. He had almost forgotten about those. Before too long, he needed to get those inside, but for now, he just needed to turn them and check the heat in the truck.

( You folks wanna come out where I can see ya? )

Who: Pepper, Dhaval, and Tayne
Where: Dhaval's room
When: Mid-morning

It was once again mid-morning, and Pepper had returned from her usual dawn jaunt in high spirits, satisfied that her little secret back 'home' was still safe. Now her mind turned to more immediate problems; namely, Dhaval. She'd spent a good part of the day before checking up on him, and she wasn't about to stop now! No, her friend would probably need more water and some badgering to see whether he needed the doctor. Zane, that was who she had to find if he was still sick, yes.

Humming tunelessly to herself, Pepper refilled one of the pitchers in the kitchen and strode over to Dhaval's door. It never occurred to her to knock - Dhav had never mentioned it bothering him, and it wasn't like he slept naked or anything - so without hesitation she pushed the door open and ducked inside. "Morning! How do you feel?" In the darkness of the room, Pepper didn't notice right away that anything was amiss.

( Oh, I forgot to mention.... )

Who: Alex, Reiko, Neil, KJ
Where: Somewhere in Detroit, not incredibly far from the hotel
When: Day 10, mid-morning

Alex creeped through the cars in the middle of the street, keeping his eyes and ears open for monsters. They were all over the place this morning and he silently cursed the weather for making this day a dark one. He shouldn't even be out and about today, he should be somewhere safe to wait it out but who knows what tomorrow would be like? He had to get out of the city, or at least try and find other survivors. There just had to be some, right?

He hid behind a truck as he came to the intersection and looked around for any monsters before he crouched next to one of the tires to grab a bottle of water from his bag. Just as he put the bottle to his lips something large slammed into the roof of the truck, caving it in and shattered the windows. Alex instinctively rolled away from the truck, still in a crouching position and looked up at the intruder. It was, of course, a monster and one that still looked partially human if it weren't for his overly large arms and upper torso.

Alex froze, his heart rate and breathing increasing significantly. He wasn't sure he could even move, that was until the thing roared at him. He sprang to his feet and sprinted down the street just as the monster lunged for him. "Don't look, don't look, don't look..." Alex repeated over and over again to himself, he had seen enough horror movies to know that looking back at your would be assailant slowed you down enough for it to grab you so he kept running and tried to formulate a plan that would let him grab his gun to shoot the thing. Unfortunately, however, the monster ran fast and he didn't know how long he would be able to keep up his present pace and he seemed to have lost his ability to think fast for the time being. It was quite possible that he was going to die.

Who: Carson & John
Where: The edge of Detroit, just outside city limits
When: Day 10, early afternoon


( I've been traveling since the monsters came out of the closet. )

Who: Juan, Pepper, Rowan
When: Late afternoon, 5ish
Where: The hotel, then a neighborhood a little ways away from the hotel

Juan was loitering in the Lobby. After playing in the dining hall for a little while, he was getting antsy. Teleportation made the act of putting his violin away and grab his empty backpack on the seventh floor feel like an afterthought and Juan was ready to go. His talk with Terry the day before about helping with outings really got him excited and any chance that he had to leave the hotel would be taken at a moments notice. SO what better way to go about this goal than by hanging out in the lobby. It was the only main exit to the building that he knew of so someone was bound to happen by with the intent on going out. He'd just be patient.

Pepper had gone out earlier in the day - on super-secret business, of course. But spending so much time inside with nothing to do but bother Dhaval and scribble on her walls left her rather restless. She'd initially wandered to the first floor in search of food, but on her way out of the kitchen, touting a rather impressive sandwich, she spotted Juan popping back into existence.

"Oh, wow! Can you do that again?" She bounded forward and crouched down to peer at him, grinning in what she presumed was a friendly fashion.

( The actual monsters. )

Erin is interrogated by Landon (supervised by Terry). Possibly attended by a few others. TBD. 2pm.

Who: Megan, Charles, Tony and Terry
Where: Bar, ground floor
When: Day 9, 9am

( A woman's cry was a powerful thing, it brought sensations of fear and pain that even Charles couldn't fathom. )

Who: Terry, Joyce and Landon
When: Joyce's room
Where: 8:30pm

( He's part snake? So like...wait. Really? )

Who: Dhaval, Erin & Terrence (npc), and then Terry & Tayne
When: 8:15pm
Where: The lobby

( His head hit the wall, he fell to the floor -- and stopped moving. )

Who: Everyone
When: 8:35pm
Where: Dining room

Once all of the votes had come in, Terry sat down in his spot again and began tallying it all up, assigning a simple point system to the names and how often they showed up in which spots. The results that came up weren't entirely surprising, but he hadn't expected them to go quite the way they had, either. He stood up when he was finished and cleared his throat, calling out for the attention of the group.

"Alright," he said, glancing around at a few of the faces he was trying to assign names to in his mind. "The results were pretty clear. It seems that I'll be filling the role as leader, and... as my second in command, I have Joyce, and then Landon for my third. I'll be keeping the back-up keys as I already have been, though I'm going to be placing Landon and Zane in charge of our medical supplies and questions. If you need medical help, see the two of them. Zane, seeing as your name came up several times as sort of a fourth place choice, I'd like for you and Landon to get something set up. A room we can sterilize, and use in case of emergency. Joyce and I are going to take over food maintenance, organization and cooking." He looked to Tayne, pointing him out. "And Tayne, since your name came up multiple times, I'd like to talk to you about security options." Terry remembered the ideas that had been brought up, and wanted to be able to take advantage of that.

He handed the voting results to Charity afterward, who was nearby, and asked her, "Please recount for me, just so that there aren't any questions."

"Thank you everyone, for your patience and cooperation. If you have any questions and concerns in the future, or if you need to alert someone that you're leaving the hotel, please try and come to me first. I'm in room 501 if you need me. Otherwise, you can talk to Joyce and Landon. We'll get through this, so long as we continue to work together."

And now, maybe he could attempt to sleep...

Who: Everyone
When: 8:25pm
Where: Dining room

Once the discussions on group preservation came to a close, Terry held his hand up to gather the attention of everyone again. "Okay, I have one last thing before we all leave tonight. There seems to be a rather widespread desire for someone to be named leader. I think we should assign the titles to three people, as a first, second and third. These three people will be involved in major decision making events, hold the back-up keys, deal with threats as they arise... It's probably wise to do it now, before we run into bigger problems. The... other group, or whatever they are... it's a big deal. What we don't want is to end up in a situation where we need to negotiate and we don't have a chosen person for it. We don't want to seem weak if a challenge is brought to our door. We need to be organized, and I agree with the others that have mentioned it to me or spoken quietly to each other about it. We need leadership, if only to have a sense of normality, and a body... or in this case, three, to make important calls. If the person chosen to fill the top role is... lost for some reason, we'll have two more names to fall back on. Two more people to step up, take over when a leader is needed most."

Terry bent down to retrieve a pot he'd set on the floor, bringing it up to set it on the table. Inside was a pad of paper and a box of pens. "Write down the names of the three people you feel are best suited to handle threats, to keep us safe, and to keep a level-head when he or she is needed most. Order them, from one to three... obviously the first name being the person you would like to name as the... head of the three, I suppose. I'll tally the votes and announce the names of the three after everyone is finished."

He picked up the pad of paper, tore off a corner for himself and handed the pad and pens to the nearest person. As people began their votes, he walked over to Megan, leaning down to say, "I... wasn't sure if you needed help or not. Please tell me if you do, or I'm sure there are others here you can call on if you'd rather someone else..."

[ Directions: All you need to do for this is to give the three names of the people your character wants to elect. If your character doesn't know everyone, and only wants to write down one or two names, that's fine! Everyone should at least write down one name. All comments are screened! ]

Who: Everyone
When: 8:15pm
Where: Dining room

After introductions were over, and the group had been given the opportunity to speak, Terry stood up again. "Thank you for your cooperation so far, everyone. I'm hoping that since we've now all been familiarized with each other and our abilities, things will be easier... at least socially. It's important in a disaster situation to be comfortable with, or at least aware of, your peers." He stopped suddenly, clearing his throat as he realized he was cultivating his old habits, stepping all too easily into the professor-like position he'd held for so many years.

"Before I get into the main reason we're all here tonight, I need to mention a few things. Obviously we lost power last night sometime in the early hours, which was unfortunate, but inevitable. For now, we seem to still have running water... though how long that will last, I'm not sure. Starting as soon as we can, I feel we should take advantage of it and fill up as many empty bottles and containers with water before it's gone. Obviously collecting and filtering water on our own will be much more difficult, and given the size of the group... anything we can do to make our lives easier should be taken into consideration. Another idea I had is to fill up the bathtubs in all the empty rooms, just in case."

Terry stopped to pick up his water, sipping it before moving on.

"A few days ago, Zane, Landon and I went to the nearby hospital to collect supplies. We brought back with us many medicines and tools needed to care for people as best we can. Pain relievers, antibiotics... but all of this has been locked away. Zane and I both carry keys to this storage, so if you need something, please come to one of us to ask for it. Keep in mind that supplies are limited. We won't be handing out pain pills for every headache or bout of back pain. I'm sorry... but we have to be smart about our resources." He thought about the grocery store, the threat of running out of supplies sooner than they'd anticipated...

"Furthermore... two things: If you're hungry, eat. But don't take what you don't need. Our food stores are good for now, but they are not going to last forever. We need to do the best we can to make what we have last. Also, if you feel the need to leave the hotel grounds for any reason... I ask that you please let somebody know. It's not asking for permission, but it's letting someone know so that in case you come up missing, we'll have some kind of idea when you went missing, or where to search for you. This isn't a difficult thing to do, and it's not a huge request. It's for everyone's safety, which is most important, above all else."

Sighing heavily, Terry cleared his throat and shifted his weight, not really wanting to talk about the things he'd seen at the grocery store, but knowing he didn't have a choice. Their safety and survival depended on everyone being made aware of what had happened. "Today, a group of us traveled North to visit a grocery store and to gather supplies. When we got there, we discovered that it had been basically cleaned out. There had obviously already been visitors to the location. Tayne and I went to clear the store, to be sure it was safe, and when we reached the back, we found the body of a young girl." He reached up, running a hand through his hair to get it off of his face. "There was a sign, written in her skin... it said, looters beware." There was another short pause. "We immediately headed to the exit, but as we tried to leave, a horde of creatures came after us... from inside the store, as though someone had... let them out. I don't know. We heard gunshots too, but... we didn't stick around long enough to find out where they came from."

"With this information, I ask that you take my warnings into consideration. Please... just be careful. We don't know what we're dealing with, here. We literally don't know anything about these other people, yet. If they're people... how the creatures figured out we were there... We're in a completely new world, now. We can't just... run out into the streets whenever we please. It's not going to be easy to adjust to, and I know that... but until we've figured this out, I don't think it's a good idea for anyone to be out... much less on their own, or for silly reasons. I'm not telling anyone not to do it, but use your best judgment. Keep the group in mind."

[ Directions: The same as the last post, you may respond as your characters once. You do not have to reply to this if you do not wish to, but here you may offer more suggestions for conservation of supplies or opinions on the threat discussed. Branching between character responses will be considered off-screen information, as it is not necessary in this case. Simply offer up anything else your character would want to add, if anything. The aim of these posts is to simply make sure all characters are up to speed on the situation, not to write out a cohesive and in-depth scene. ]

Who: Everyone
When: 8:00pm
Where: Dining room

As dinner drew to a close, and chatter began to creep into the dining room, Terry stood up from the table he'd chosen. He sent a glance around the room, and then took in a long breath to force himself to find a sense of calm. The day had been long and traumatic for most involved in the trip to the grocery store, and as he scanned the room to be sure most of the others had finished with their meals, he cleared his throat.

"Thanks for coming," he said, offering a soft - yet forced - smile to the group. "We have some things to go over, which is why I requested the presence of all of us for dinner tonight." Pausing to tuck back a stray lock of hair, Terry held out both of his hands, palm-up, and continued with, "First off, I really think we need to get more familiar with each other. I realize that in this kind of situation, not everyone will know everyone all the time. We seem to be gathering survivors every day... and that's -- that's great. But I think there's a certain level of importance in knowing the people you're living with, so... with that in mind, I'd like to start this off by having everyone introduce themselves. Just one after another, give us your name and..." He wasn't sure how to phrase this, so he simply went with, "If you've noticed any extraordinary abilities or changes with your physiology, please say so now. If you... can read people's thoughts-" He gestured to Landon, "-or can teleport, for example. If you haven't noticed anything about yourself yet, you can say that, too. Also, you can mention any skills you may have that will help us to better our chances of survival."

Terry paused, and then tapped himself once on the chest. "I'll go first, though I'm sure everyone already knows me by now. I'm Terry, and so far... I haven't noticed any special changes in myself. I used to be a professor, so I think that above all else I bring a level head to the table. I know how to handle a handgun, and I can cook." He shrugged loosely and then glanced around.

"Who'd like to go next?"

[ Directions: Post as each of your characters in response to this. Write in paragraph format, where your character gives the information they feel they need to give. You may make it as long or short as you would like to, so long as it is written in proper rp format. Do not thread your responses - simply post a new comment when you're ready to add your character. Posting order is not important. Post when you see this, at your leisure. You have until Sunday night to be included in the scene. ]