a town called lethe. open

[Kveykva]

──────── 𝐓𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐞
[✦] | Psychopomp | Resident - Doctor | ➡ Lethe Public Library | Tags: Amelia
❝ 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛'𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑡 𝑔𝑜 𝑖𝑛 𝐿𝑎𝑑𝑦 𝐻𝑒𝑙𝑙❞

"Aww," Tavie tutted, tilting her head and perching herself on the desk. "Sorry to give you such a fright! I have a tendency to sneak up on people." It wasn't entirely intentional, either, but she imagined Amelia would soon forget the ordeal just in time for the reaper to surprise her again. With any luck, she might manage it twice in the same day. "I'm ready as ever, doll," they purred. "I wanted to see if I needed to pull your snoot out of any books, some days you need a bit of coaxing to even leave the library behind." They picked up a book from one of the stacks, delicate fingers tracing along its spine. Her words may come across as disdainful towards the idea of the library, but Tavie was rather fond of the place and its caretaker. She'd seen many others take a more digital approach to record-keeping, but something about the sensation of paper on the skin made her feel... something. "Feeling" wasn't something they were familiar with, or even certain they were capable of doing. At best, Tavie preferred experience paper record-keeping to digital record-keeping. Any more than that was lost to her. "Delightful." They closed the book with a solid thud and returned it to the stack, bouncing back to her feet. "I'm sure you know the way, even if you never take the train."

──────── 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫 𝐆𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐲-𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧
[✦] | "Guppy" | Human | Tourist | ➡ Train Station | Tags: Hallsteinn
❝ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦❞

Guppy tried his best to tune out the chatter of those still inside the passenger car, directing his attention to the town ahead. Lethe gave off the air of a quaint, hole-in-the-wall village, likely similar to the one he'd been destined for before his setback. With any luck, it would have its own little legend passed around the townsfolk, and he'd mark it down for a return trip if it proved to be anything of interest. He didn't expect to see a unicorn or anything, of course, but maybe there were rumors of a more obscure myth, such as a White Thing. "My luck hasn't been much better here, though." A sigh escaped his lips. It dismayed him that so many of these incredible myths ended in dead ends when he dedicated so much time to investigate them. All he'd learned from his major was that a natural habitat could feasibly sustain such creatures, but how they managed to avoid human activity still evaded him. Maybe someday.

As the station spilled into cobbled stone, the glittering lake that the town sprawled around nearly blinded Guppy. In an attempt to shield his vision, Guppy's averted eyes met with a marble statue perched beside the path. Wolves were common imagery in Europe, right up there with lions and dragons. He'd seen a turtle once too, but that felt a bit out of place with the rest. He squatted, peering at the sentinel's base in search of plaque. Symbols like this were either in memory of something or represented a person or family, and Guppy was curious to know who founded the village. He frowned, pulling the bushes aside. "Is there not one?" He asked aloud to no one in particular, brushing dirt off the stone. "It's been here for ages, it's got to at least have an engraving."

──────── 𝐍𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐦
[✦] | Horseman of the Apocalypse | Tourist | ➡ Train Cabin | Tags: Matty, Raincloud Mystery Man
❝ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑠𝑎𝑡 𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝐷𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ❞

Within seconds, somebody else had taken up the mantle of asking stupid questions. Oh dear God. He inhaled for a moment, holding onto his composure; they had no way of knowing how he knew, but it didn't make the question any less annoying. "Everyone is overreacting." Nicholas stated matter-of-factly. "You missed the stop is all, I guarantee it. No trouble." He delved into the driver's quarters at the head of the train. "In and out in a jiff, que─" a pause. The driver wasn't dead, per se, but Nicholas wouldn't use alive as an alternate descriptor. "A mystery, sure. We'll call it that," he responded, distracted. The necromancer could sense growing unease from the two men on his heels, not that their feelings affected the situation in the slightest. What would they do? Jabber his ear off until they were back on track? As if he had any control over the train or its conductor. Potentially.

"Don't touch anything." A sudden warning, but one Nicholas gave often, usually to officers or detectives with wandering hands. He pinched the bridge of his nose. "They didn't─no. They didn't go out the window. Unless the driver is a leprechaun or a gremlin, at least, which I highly doubt even in these remarkable circumstances. So don't even consider it." Nicholas ran his finger along the window's vertical edge. "It's fourteen inches, no one's getting through that. There's a chance that it's a runaway," He suggested. "I've heard cases about runaway trains, where the operator steps out for a moment to run a lever and the train starts down a slope without him. They're dangerous, and stopping one can definitely include halting it remotely at the nearest station." Granted, Nicholas knew fairly little about trains; this was one of the rare opportunities he'd had to ride in one, and aside from hearing a whistle late at night from time to time, his interactions were seldom. "So runaway train, no conductor, at worst you wait a few hours for them to send someone down to retrieve it and get you folks back on your merry little way. No harm─" he turned, amethyst eyes meeting those framed in golden locks. "Hey!" The smug look didn't sit well with the horseman, in fact, he felt rather insulted. "Mind the gap."

[indigo']

———[☁︎]???
𝚝𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚝|𝟸𝟻|𝚑𝚎/𝚑𝚒𝚖|𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗|𝚝𝚊𝚐𝚜: 𝙼𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚢, 𝙽𝚒𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚊𝚜

The man cast a glance upwards, eyebrows raised slightly, then looked pointedly back at the man who had suggested they wait, his expression indicating something akin to disbelief. “Wouldn’t they have said something already?” The question wasn’t meant to come across as harsh or challenging in any way, simply the ingrained cynicism in his mind shining through. He wasn’t sure why, but the concept of help arriving seemed like a far flung fantasy. Trains didn’t stop without reason, and when there was an issue it was usually clear. Something was off, but for the life of him he couldn’t figure out what it was, and it wasn’t long before not knowing would start to get on his nerves.

It wasn’t on the schedule. That was an issue. What seemed to be more of an issue was that he couldn’t remember where he had been going. His brow furrowed, a muscle jumping in his jaw as he attempted to grasp at thoughts that were slipping through his fingers like water. He rubbed a hand across his forehead, unsure what exactly it was he was trying to remember. Another question was asked, this time directed at him, and he looked up in surprise. “Yes. Yeah. Right.” He nodded before following the two through the open door.

The optimism—if it could even be called that—was noted, as was the forcefulness of it, the waver in the tone. The other man seemed a lot calmer, a lot more sure of himself. He wasn’t sure what to make of either of them, though it seemed easier at the moment to analyze their behaviour than his own foggy brain, which wasn’t relinquishing any useful information. The compartment was empty—not quite the reveal he’d expected. He frowned a little at the warning, patronizing as it was. He cast a glance at the windows, opening his mouth to dispute the suggestion, but the calm man beat him to it.

“You’re suggesting we’ve been in a train without a driver this entire time? And nobody noticed? What about the tannoy he mentioned?” He nodded towards the other man. He hadn’t gotten his name, but it didn’t seem like the time to ask. Introductions could come after they’d figured out their bizarre little mystery. “They can control the train’s breaks from a remote location but can’t get a signal through to say ‘oh, by the way you’re barrelling down a hill with no driver, completely out of control but don’t worry, we’re going to stop you at a station in the middle of nowhere? A station that apparently isn’t on anyone’s maps?’” He drew in a slow breath, running his free hand through his hair. He wasn’t freaking out. He didn’t do that. If he knew anything about himself—and he wasn’t sure how much he did know at the moment—it was that he was always in control.

Something seemed to have caught the attention of the other men, and when he took a glance to the window himself, he didn’t quite believe what he was seeing there. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, finding disappointment upon opening them and seeing the translucent face still hanging in the glass. “Is that…” No. He turned his gaze away, not willing to voice what he was seeing for fear that it was another trick of his addled mind. He’d been going somewhere. He was supposed to know that. The thought was still nagging at his brain, an underlying pound to everything else going on, the uneasy realization that he couldn’t remember. “I don’t think they jumped.” He managed finally, his mouth suddenly feeling very dry.

[•Carina•]

| Hallsteinn/Entity | They/Them | Tags: Spencer |

==============================

A notable sense of shock, varying in degree. Seemed to be affecting most of the new arrivals. They supposed suddenly disappearing conductors were strange. Though their idea of strange had changed so long ago, that it really didn’t have any affect now. That and of course being what they were, it wasn’t even something that would concern a statue. Or that’s what they might have said, when one of the new arrivals seemed to notice them. They would smile if it wouldn’t give them away. Hall could see the boy, Spencer from a few angles. The one he was approaching obviously had the best view, though the other across the street could see him from behind.


This person was very curious, eyeing them this way and that. Before crouching to search more thoroughly. Ah! He was looking for a plaque, a shame as many of the smaller statue bases didn’t carry one. But he was adamant, and curious so they figured maybe a helpful nudge would do. They then spoke to Spencer, this particular one of the three statues having a feminine tone to its voice. They spoke in Spencer’s head. “Perhaps the bigger statue has what you want on it..” They mentioned, unmoving. While the voice was not his own, it didn’t seem like there was any way the statue could have said it. But it wouldn’t be the oddest thing that happened for the new arrivals. The tip though was indeed truthful. The much larger statue in the middle of town did carry a plaque. Though the vague nature of it may not be what Spencer wanted. It reads as: A town hero, Hallsteinn saved Lethe. He has been immortalised here and in many other places around town. Do not vandalise the statues…

[WitchHazel]

🗡 Liliana Swann 🗡
tourist; PI | 28 | location: train station | tags: Claire, Rike

Magpie? What the hell does a type of bird have to do with anything? Liliana's brow furrowed. She glanced back down at her notebook. There it was, underlined as it had been on the sign before her. Praise the magpie. What the hell did that mean? Did this whole town worship a damn bird? Something to look into. That's for sure. She made a quick note of that.

Liliana let out a little huff in annoyance when her question was disregarded, but it was no matter. She'd just have to find it herself. Or maybe get one of these other freaks to tell me where I can get a decent cup of coffee and some internet. She thought she could make out some figures in the distance, but uncertainty prickled at the back of her mind.

Her attention was quickly diverted when a bright yellow car blasting metal music - was that Metallica? - rolled into view and parked near the platform. The thing looked like it had driven right out of the '80's. The person who exited the vehicle was cute, she'd give her that. But she was smiling at Liliana and the rest of the train passengers with an overtly happy grin. Too happy. Liliana hated people like that. At least I'm not the only American here. That's gotta count for something.

☙ Amelia Porter ❧
resident; librarian | location: Lethe Public Library --> Streets | tags: Tavie

"Um - yes. Right." Amelia Porter had never been one for banter. Most conversations tended to make her nervous, if she were being completely honest. But what didn't make her nervous? Perhaps that was the better question to ask. "Let's - let's go then." The petite librarian shuffled her way around the desk, leading Tavie outside. She took great care not to touch the doctor, even with her white lace gloves. Best not to chance any unwanted visions.

The morning air was a pleasant temperature; the soft breeze feeling almost alien on her skin. That was one of the hazards of being a shut-in, she supposed. She only really left the library for groceries at this point. Or if she was getting dragged out by someone, as was the case now. I suppose it's time to meet the travellers, then... Visions flashed before her in her mind's eye; fragments of memory from the most recent dream that had plagued her nights. "...the Eye... the ghost-walker... the girl stained with darkness..." She was barely aware of her own mumblings as the two figures walked down the quiet streets.

☀ Cami Rivera ☀
resident; forensic scientist/mechanic | location: train station | tags: tourists; open |mentions: Spencer, Hallsteinn, Rike, Claire, Liliana

Metallica blared from Cami's speakers as she pulled into the train station, parking in a manner that was sure to earn her a ticket had the sheriff been lurking. She quickly killed the engine and hopped out of the car with a cheery wave.

"New friends! Hi! Welcome!" Cami beamed at all of the newcomers she could see; a radiant smile that transformed her face. There were quite a lot of them, and they had brought their ghosts with them as well. A guy who seemed to be very interested in the statues - had they been there before? Meh, it was probably Hallsteinn. She would have to say hi to Hallsteinn later. A red-haired individual who seemed to be talking to one of the library workers - Claire, a spectral voice reminded her from somewhere nearby - and a tall, mean-looking woman with a nasty scar running down the left side of her face. But that's not what caught Cami's eye about the grumpy lady. There were three people crowded around her; people the glaring woman didn't seem to see. It clicked in Cami's head that they were probably spirits. The family of apparitions didn't seem to notice that she could see them, but they rarely did at first. I'll have to make friends with them later, when there aren't so many new faces around. Don't want them thinking I'm crazy! That's not a good first impression. She doubted she would get a moment alone with those ghosts, however. They clung to the severe-looking blonde woman like they'd been glued to her side. Huh. Probably relatives, if I had to guess. That would explain why they looked similar; the man's green eyes and the woman's straight blonde hair. The spirit's eyes were greener than the angry woman's, but the bone structure carried an air of familiarity.

It wasn't until the woman in the leather jacket shot a seething glare her way that Cami realised she'd been staring. How rude of me! Abuela would have cursed me out if she were here, God rest her soul. Rather than blush in embarrassment, Cami's smile grew wider and she offered the woman an enthusiastic wave. Her sunny disposition deflated slightly when it was met by nothing but a small huff before the woman turned away, pointedly ignoring her presence. And I thought I was the one being rude.

[tawneypelt0504]

Cordelia Remington|180 years old|she/her|Resident|Empath|Bisexual|Loc:Street|Tags/Mentions: Veronica,Olivia,Cami,open

Cordelia's eyes widened when she saw Veronica look as if she was going to fall out of the ground but relaxed once her friend was once again fluttering around. Cordelia smiled at Veronica's gushing and was glad to see that both of her dogs were enjoying it as well since both of their tails were wagging at the attention. "Oh I'm sure your sweet personality and beautiful flowers will help them warm up to you" Cordelia encouraged the butterfly lady with a smile. Cordelia legitimately enjoyed hanging out with Veronica, she was naturally a very happy person which made it easier for Cordelia to get to know her without her powers interfering. That's not even mentioning how genuinely sweet the butterfly lady was.

"Speaking of genuinely sweet people" Cora thought to herself as she heard the voice of Olivia. "Good morning, Olivia darling" Cora greeted the blonde with a friendly smile. "Oh, why thank you dear that's very sweet of you" Cora purred while accepting the cup of coffee with a smile. Although Cora wasn't a huge coffee drinker she was appreciative of the gift nonetheless. "Well, we should be off it would be rude to keep our guests waiting" Cora said with a wide smile. She was slightly thrown off by the rather loud sound of Cami driving by but Cora quickly recovered and returned the mechanic's wave before turning and following Veronica down the street.

Arthur Blake|121 years old|he/him|Resident|Invisibility|Homosexual|Loc:Street|Tags/mentions:open

Arthur walked out from the store that he had stopped in to buy groceries. It had been a bit since he had stocked up the kitchen and wanted to grab some ingredients for tonight's dinner. As he was about to head back to Cordelia's house he paused when he heard the sound of the starting whistle. "Hmm It appears we have some visitors" Arthur mumbled to himself not overly enthused about the new faces he would be seeing in town. Arthur paused on the sidewalk debating as to whether or not he should go down and see the newcomers. Arthur let out a small sigh didn't really want to go and see them but Cora would harp on him if he didn't, she had been trying to push him to be more social since he didn't really interact with any of the other residents unless he needed to. Letting out another small sigh "I'll just pop in invisible check them out and then leave" Arthur thought to himself although he didn't look it he was feeling a touch nervous about dealing with these strangers. Taking a deep breath, gathering up his groceries as well as his courage Arthur began to head to the train station.

[Kveykva]

──────── 𝐓𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐞
[✦] | Psychopomp | Resident - Doctor | Lethe Public Library ➡ Streets of Lethe | Tags: Amelia
❝ 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛'𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑡 𝑔𝑜 𝑖𝑛 𝐿𝑎𝑑𝑦 𝐻𝑒𝑙𝑙❞

So stiff! Poor Amelia, some days Tavie felt they were living a more vibrant life than the librarian. Such an impossible thing to say, yet it was nearly the truth. Still, there were many things Amelia could experience that Tavie could not. They had no empathetic abilities to feel as spirits felt, and while she could read a spirit's mood, it just wasn't the same. "Lead the way, Missus." Tavie purred, in the fashion that a tiger does on a full belly. The reaper was practically oozing excitement; not in the same way the townsfolk did, of course, but she always looked forward to their visitor days. Slightly more than she did delivery days, but not as much as days that combined the two. "I wonder if the conductor will stop by for lunch this time," Tavie mused. They'd so far turned down all of her offers, but perhaps today would be different. One could only hope. "Who's on the roster for today, doll?" They inquired in response to Amelia's murmurings, producing a clipboard somewhere from the confines of their clothing. There were several names, but finding out who was who was half the fun.

──────── 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫 𝐆𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐲-𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧
[✦] | "Guppy" | Human | Tourist | Train Station ➡ Town Center | Tags: Hallsteinn
❝ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦❞

Nope. Strangely, neither of the wolf statues appeared to have any plaques or engravings marking their purpose. They could just be for decoration, but he'd noticed exclusively decorative statues were more of a modern thing, but even that was already falling out of favor with the public. They tended to prefer "minimalism" now, which he despised in every fashion. Almost enough for him to change majors to graphic design, but Guppy imagined that would only lead to more misery. Ecology is fine, thanks. Almost about to give up his search, the college-aged tourist had a thought. "Perhaps the bigger statue has what you want on it." Is there a larger statue? Sure enough, just by the lakefront in the center of town stood a much larger replica of the other two canine sculptures. "I guess I'll go have a look." He said, adjusting the backpack on his shoulder and parting ways with the train station. He could see some of the others aboard starting to file out, but he had a feeling this delay might take a while. "Ah! There is a plaque here." Guppy jogged the remaining distance, coming to a halt in front of the towering statue. "A town hero: Hallsteinn." he read aloud, admiring the craftsmanship of the memorial. It had aged well, all things considered. "Guess that explains why there's two more by the train station. I wonder if this place has a brochure."

[•Carina•]

CS POST SCHEME

| Hallsteinn/Entity | They/Them/He/Him | Tags: Spencer / Cami|

==============================

Hallsteinn chuckled to themselves, all of them doing so inwardly. It was nice to see someone so interested in them. Enough even to jog to the town center just to get a better look. Hairline fractures on the surface of the stone had closed up before Spencer had gotten close enough to notice. Along with almost a noticeable polish that looked maybe a week old. It’d been a long time since Hall cleaned himself up so well.

The smaller ones, also noted Cami’s recognition of them. No matter how short it might have been. They even seemed to have cleaned up even a little bit. All of them looking much better than this morning. What a blessing new souls were on the mood. So much so in fact Hallsteinn decided to speak to Spencer more directly. A whisper being heard from the stone above him. “There is much to this town. Architecture of decades, and eras long past. Explore. I shall keep an eye on you however.” He mentioned to Spencer, no real movement noticeable. Some may of thought it was all in their head.