... lies nestled between enchanted forest and breathtaking oceanfront. Quaint cottages and houses surround a cluster of storefronts that make up Main Street, with only a few farmsteads, cabins, and shacks standing as outliers away from the village. Once abandoned as the result of an economic collapse, 100 volunteers have come back to revive it to a new glory. Although the town has been all hustle and bustle since the arrival of its new inhabitants, on this moonlit night it appears as though the village has been emptied once more. Indeed, it would seem the village had been entirely abandoned if it weren't for one large building bursting at its seams...
The Greenleaf Lodge
Winter solstice marks the shortest day of the year, which can only mean that the days get longer (and the future, brighter) from here. As a combined celebration of the solstice and the reestablishment of the village, Mayor Dottery Dink has coordinated with Greenleaf Lodge owner and innkeeper Willow Falkner, who has graciously opened her doors for a night of good old fashioned getting-to-know-you joy. So pull up a chair, or a stool if it suits you, enjoy the music, enjoy the company, and enjoy the beer, the first round of which is on Mr. Dink himself.
(OOC: The Winter Solstice Celebration is an ~Event!~ which will last for 3-7 days, longer if it warrants it. I'm leaving it up to @dndragons to describe the lodge as they see fit. Interact with one another, and if you like, interact with some of the "main" NPCs which I will be posting about in the characters section shortly, such as the mayor, the sheriff, the chief physician, etc.)
Charlotte walked quietly down the main street. She might look a bit out of place, wearing a dark cloak in this rustic little town and carrying a thick book in one hand, but she didn't care to terribly much. She liked reading and she liked the cloak, plus it was awesome for keeping warm. Honestly, she'd have liked to stay at home, curl up in her cloak beside the fireplace and read a nice, cozy book or maybe practice her craft rather than be outside right now. She wasn't exactly much of a people person, and parties were definitely not really her thing. Well, the socializing bit and the loud constant talking wasn't part of her favorite thing, at least. But parties were a great way of...getting to know people, and she could probably find someone gullible - er, helpful enough to help her around her own little shop which she had recently opened.
A small little place towards the edge of the forest, she sold herbal remedies and some minor healing potions for now, but she definitely intended to expand her stock with her own handcrafted medicines. Well...she wanted to anyways. She always seemed to fudge something up in the process. Which was why she wasn't currently at her home doing what she wanted. She needed a bit of a break, (plus she had thrown her cauldron across the room after being annoyed for the umpteenth time, and she didn't wanna set everything back up right then). So without much else to do, she decided on joining the others in this little get together.
The alchemist was remaining skeptical that anything good could come from this, but she'd reserve judgement until she actually got inside and interacted with someone. She was a bit nervous, too. She wasn't exactly what someone would call socially adept. She wasn't bad, really, but her tendency to...speak loudly and rashly put people off.
...thinking of that, sense when was she one to care what was socially acceptable?
She walked up to the Inn, and walked inside.
~Grady Keefe~
It was a quiet evening as always on the small Water Drop farm. Aside from a gentle breeze gently making its way through the crop field, the only other sound that could be heard was the soft playing of a Harmonica coming from somewhere near the tall apple tree next to the wooden house. A man stood, leaning against the tree playing his harmonica softly. He was simply dressed, in light blue overalls, durable work boots and a white t-shirt. He had messy, ruddy colored hair and bright green eyes.
Soon, the Harmonica's music died down, and he stretched, giving a tired sigh as he placed the Harmonica in his pocket. Whew, it had been a long, but fun day of work caring for his lovely little plants. Of course he had finished his work earlier that day, but he maybe overslept a bit during the afternoon and had to rush a bit to get everything back in its place and make sure everything was good to go for tomorrow. He was probably going to be a bit late to the party at the Inn...but well, he wasn't gonna sweat the small details. Still, going in these clothes would probably not exactly make a good impression, since they were still a bit dirty from that days work.
After going inside for a quick change of overalls and a white, checkered shirt and headed towards the town. Hopefully he wouldn't be too late.
Freya wiped away the sweat that had gathered on her forehead with her forearm. She was exhausted from spending the day cleaning up the old building that would soon be her very own General Store. She still had so much to do; but anything like this would be better than her awful living conditions in the old, smelly hotel room in the city. She dusted the cobwebs from the corners, wiped the dirt and dust from the walls, swept and mopped the floors, and finally looked around the room. The cleaning alone had really brightened the place up. The walls were a soft blue, and the room had nice, now-shiny hardwood flooring. Her guitar was sitting in the corner from the break that she had taken earlier. There were a few empty tables and shelves in the room, along with a counter that had a small, old cash register sitting atop it. There was a large board laying on the counter next to the register, with floral decorations and colorful words that spelled out "Sugar Pine General Store" in still wet paint. There was a door behind the counter that led to her kitchen, dining room and bedroom. She glanced at the clock on the wall above the entrance and gasped. She was going to be late for the party! She dashed through the door leading to her bedroom, nearly stubbing her toe on the counter on the way. She ripped open her closet door and immediately clutched a pair of jeans, her favorite pair of black boots, and a yellow and black flannel shirt. She put her makeup on as quickly and as carefully as she could, then ran out of her front door, braiding her hair to the side on her way out. She quickly paced down the street and towards Greenleaf lodge.
Within the walls of the Greenleaf Lodge the party had just begun and was already well underway as people from around town gathered to celebrate the solstice as well as a celebration for how far these 100 people had come. The achievement of rebuilding and repopulating the village together albeit one that isn’t fully complete yet, was still one worth having a drink over. Greenleaf Lodge’s chimney was letting out its plumes of smoke from the brick ovens they had within the old building rather than electric ovens. The main room of the building held a large open area with a fireplace being kept well in stock and burning bright which lit up the tables which people gathered as well as a the floor for moving from one conversation to another. To the left of the entrance was the bar which one could usually order a drink, pay for rent, and order a meal if they desire. It was obvious that compared to the first day a lot had changed in this building.
Originally the bar was marred with stains and damage over neglect, the shelves which now held various alcohols behind the bar had been in shambles, and overall it had been covered in dirt and cobwebs. Despite all this the current owner of the inn, Willow, had seen it as an opportunity. Having not made a sign of disgust for it she simply rolled up her sleeves and got to work which several of the people around hadn’t expected from the pretty girl and her grandma. It felt like it had been functional overnight within the speed they got the inn up, and before all the housing had been taken care of they already had been offering people lodging as they moved into town. Now that at least everyone was settled only a few remained living off the inn with rent. However, people still came in after work often to talk and drink with Willow and one another, and were doing so as of now as Willow moved with a strange elegance through the crowd. She gave out compliments, drinks, and then diving behind the bar to aid her grandmother with a kiss on the cheek.
“Take a break; it’s going to be a long night. I need to be able to handle it on my own sometime if we expect to have more than one gathering a year.” Willow stated to the old woman after her sign of affection. “And I won’t take no for an answer,” was added onto her statement as she took the tray of different appetizers they had prepared for people out from right in front of her shorter relative. Not saying another Willow simply laughed slightly as her grandmother may have wanted to say something in return, but Willow was already weaved back into the guests and got the appetizers to a table. Certainly Willow stood out compared to most here due to being finely dressed. From day one she had insisted to herself that she remained presentable no matter where she worked and having done so by wearing a lovely kimono and hair pinned up. It was simply something she didn’t aim to loose from her past, though many found it strange that she could do all the work while dressed in such a way as well.
All of the rooms within the inn were on the second floor besides the ‘master’s’ quarters which was the room Willow stayed in. On the first floor both due to its larger size than the inn rooms as well as so she can answer the front desk at night should someone ring the bell while she was asleep. The stairway upstairs was just to the right of the bar, and around under the stairs was the door to her room and area. It was one of the larger buildings in town due to it being two stories as well as the fact it functioned as a gathering spot since it also had the area for the fireplace and tables. Decorations lit by the fireplace and other lights were spread around that Willow’s grandmother had prepared. Several homemade reefs from the pine trees around hung on the wall and cure enough her grandmother had a dish of homemade sweets placed on every table as well for the season. A fine first party all things considered.
Arianna swung her prized Golden Axe over her shoulder, smiling at the job she had finished for today. She had finally finished a weekend long ordeal of chopping down an entire tree, splitting the large trunk in to smaller rounds to cut with a large saw, and then cutting those rounds in to smaller chunks of varying sizes for her fireplace, stacking them up on one side of her small, four room shack that was lucky to even have running water. She heaved a sigh as she threw the last few pieces of timber on to the top of her woodpile, which now almost completely covered an entire side of her house.
"Whew! I sure am beat!" She walked over to her toolshed, carefully setting her father's axe among all of her other tools, some she brought with, and others she found lying around the house. It must have obviously belonged to another woodcutter before her, as all the tools she needed were lying on the floor of her shack, ready to be claimed when she arrived. She closed the door, then walked back inside, throwing herself on to one of four chairs she had made for herself, coupled with a small table for her dinners. Samples of different woods from all around the area were nailed in to the walls, a price tag per pound all carved in to them, as well as a short and choppy description on what that particular wood was used best for. Sitting in the back of the room was a counter she used when business arrived, and behind that counter wass the rest of her house: Her bedroom, bathroom, and a kitchen that she barely knew how to use.
Arianna would have almost fallen asleep right there on her table from exhaustion if it wasn't for one little mark she saw on her calendar. She then groaned a little bit annoyed that the Winter Solstice party had fallen on today, while she was exhausted and did not want to put effort in to looking nice for a party. Then, remembering how amazing the food the food that the Inn cooked was, and deducing that some of it would probably free today, she sluggishly stood up from her chair. She then made her way in to the back rooms to at least put on a headband, her jeans and dark red long-sleeved shirt looking presentable, she decided, despite the wood chips and saw dust clinging to them. Oh well, she thought, Guess people will know what I do. Hey, advertisement! Finally, she wrapped herself up in a heavy black jacket, lighting a small lantern sitting on the table with a match, treking out in to the woods on the vague path to town.
The billowing smoke and bright lights coming from the Inn signaled that the party was in full swing by the time Arianna arrived. She smiled as she stepped inside, the atmosphere of fun and excitement for the approaching new year infectious. She blew out her lantern and took off her coat, hanging them both on the back of a chair she found by the door, exhaling deeply after her long walk on an empty stomach.
She looked up to call over the inn keeper, who could not ever be missed, dressed in that gaudy bath robe with her hair pinned up, who was currently carrying food to people around the main floor of the inn. Arianna decided instead to wait for little miss Inn Keeper to come to her, popping one of the treats she found at her table in her mouth.
When she finally drew near enough, Arianna raised her hand to get the attention of the inn keeper. "Hey, miss Inn Keeper!" After succeeding in getting her attention, she would look up at her and try to ask for food in the most polite way she knew how. "If you're still serving, I'll take the biggest plate of food ya got! And... And something stiff to drink, too, please!"
Naoto came and dedicated himself to Sugar Pine Village. He knew that soon everyone would need his service. Yes, he opened a clinic, a medium-sized one at his house. He carried everything from the city and finally unpacked it for his new home. After finish designing his new home, he received an invitation from the mayor about a party being held in the local inn. Naoto grinned as excitement began to fill and his heart beat faster. He was still a city boy inside and he love parties since he was born. He opened his suitcase and pulled out several fancy outfits he would use in formal occassions. After using some weird selective method, he wore a black suit accompanied with a black tie as well with some white dots all over it, underneath the suit was a white shirt. With a delightful smile, he left his home and headed towards the inn.
He could heard laughters and talks from outside. Filled with confidence, he made his entrance and was greeted by a pleaseant smell that surrounded the party. Without delaying any further, he grabbed a glass of beer. He took a seat, and in front of his seat, there was another empty seats. He thought that it would be great if he had someone to accompany him in that joyous moment.
Charlotte walked into the Inn, glad to be out of the cold night, but not so glad to be indoors with a lot of loud noises. Really, she almost turned on her heels said 'NOPE' and bolted out of there faster than a rabbit in a den of wolves. Come on, Charlotte Lachance! You were a great alchemist! This should not be a problem for you at all. Talking to these people should be a mundane, easy task for you! Quit being a little socially awkward penguin about it! With a sigh, she steeled herself and puffed out her chest, and walked towards an empty seat.
She found one easily enough, and decided to claim it as hers. She took a seat in it, and took a look around the building, getting a good feel for it. It was a fairly nice building, compared to some of the other buildings she saw here when moving in. Whoever owned it must have worked pretty hard to get it this clean. Well, that was nice to know there were some hardworking people in this town she could get to know. She wondered if they'd like to help in her 'research' and improve her work? She could use a dedicated guinea pi-volunteer. Still, she quieted her thoughts and laid the book she had brought with her on the table, along with her journal and began to read.
Or rather, at least she would have if a loud growl didn't come from her stomach right about then.
Somewhat embarrassed, she grumbled quietly to herself, and closed both the book and the journal. For now, food and then reading. Maybe multitasking would be best here? She wanted to go over her notes just once more to ensure she did, in fact have the correct formula for the potion she was trying to make. She was certain she did, but her recent failures had her questioning it. Right, for now food. Work later. Food now. After getting the attention of the person who was serving food, she ordered.
"Uhm, yeah...I'll take uh...what do you serve, anyways? I...uh, guess I'll take something with a lot of meat in it? Yeah, if you could do that, it'd be great I guess - thanks. Oh, and uh, some tea too." She probably come off as sounding as a little bit unfocused, or maybe even a little rude, but it wasn't her intention. She honestly had never really been that picky when it came to food so it never really mattered all that much. Sweets on the other hand, though....
~Grady Keefe~
Grady made it to Greenleaf as quick as he could. Well, as quick as he deemed necessary, anyways. He wasn't exactly one known to move incredibly fast. His slow, relaxed pace managed to get him there in a fairly fashionably late manner, however. By the time he did arrive, it looked like most of everything had already gotten underway, much to the farmers delight. Looked like everyone was having a good time, which was good! He wondered if any of them were eating vegetables from his farm? That'd be awesome if they were - he'd love to hear some feed back on how good they tasted, aside from his own obviously biased opinion.
He took a seat at a crowded table near the door, eager to get to know some of the people who had recently moved in. He himself had been here for a little over two years already and had managed to get his farm up and running to a nice respectable level. He hoped the rest of the town would eventually become a bustling town once again as well, it'd be nice to see everything so lively. But that was for later, though. For now he was rather hungry! And what better way to fill someones stomach than vegetables and a nice, delicious potato? He flagged down the inkeep in the politest manner possible - he didn't want to rush the obviously busy girl - and ordered.
"Hey, looks like you got your hands full tonight." She chuckled, giving her a pleasant, friendly smile once she finally came over. "If you don't mind me adding a bit to your work load, I'll take a baked potato, and a salad if you have some - Oh, and the strongest drink ya got, too if ya don't mind."
"Aw, dammit! I'm late for the festival!" Lawrence shouted as he got up from bed, getting out of his pajamas in a flash and hurriedly throwing on his clothes as he went for the door. He ran out the door into the snow, buckling his belt in hurry, and hopping towards the fence while sliding his boots on. Once he gets the second one on, he hops the fence that separates his farm from the rest of the snow-colored plains. Whilst running to town, he realizes that his boots are on the wrong feet... Too late now.
As he dashes through the snow, he hums the tune of Dean Martin's 'Winter Wonderland', before quietly singing to himself "Sleigh bells ring, are you listening? In the lane, snow is glistening... A beautiful sight, oh we're happy tonight, walking in a winter wonderland." He would then continue to the sing the song before he arrives at the town. He smiles to himself as he walks onward, before going into the Green Leaf Lodge. "Hello, everyone!" He shouts as he walks to a table, before waiting for someone to bring him a bottle of beer, which he'd then take a swig from.
While everyone else talks among themselves, Lawrence simply drinks from his bottle and watches on.
It was so cold. Freya jogged towards the inn, which was already giving off wonderful aromas of food. She quickly walked inside, smiling as soon as she saw the nice, homey place. She felt the warmth on her face and instantly felt comfortable. She kindly asked someone for the strongest drink they sell. When she got her drink, She looked around at the other people in the room while taking long, slow sips. Everyone looked fairly nice, but she would need more to drink if she were going to have to start a conversation with someone herself. She eyed the food, making a promise to herself that she would eat in a little bit. She looked down at her cup; already empty. She sighed, wishing she had remembered to bring her flask, but she figured that it would have been rude anyways. She raised her hand to signal for a refill, but she was patient in waiting for one. She didn't want to bother anyone too much since it was such a busy night. As soon as her drink was refilled, she decided that she wouldn’t meet anyone by sitting alone and drinking. She noticed an open chair at a table in front of someone. He had short, messy black hair. Open seats were starting to get low, and as nervous as she was to start a conversation, she decided to approach the table anyways. She smiled sweetly at the person across from the empty chair. ”Is this seat taken?’
As Willow flirted with disaster due to moving through people with a bit of speed despite having a platter she still held a winning smile. Seeing all of these people, some she knows and some she doesn’t, makes it hard for her to think of this as work right now. Enjoying the company as well as a reason to put her lodge to use was more than enough for now as she tossed around greetings and comments throughout getting the right order to the right person. It had taken her yesterday and the entirety of today to get everything prepared enough to serve such an amount at once and luckily her grandmother and her were used to catering to large groups. If they hadn’t been she likely wouldn’t have been able to meet everyone’s needs. First off being the arrival of the woodcutter, and what an arrival it is. Willow turned for a moment as Paul Bunyan, which Willow was reminded of upon seeing her most days, called out an order when she passed the table. This didn’t make Willow falter despite the way she was addressed and the vagueness of the order however, as once simply yelling out isn’t enough to make her lose her composure else she would have left this job a while ago.
“Alright, you asked for it.” She simply responded with a smile as she set what she had down and deftly poured a glass of whiskey for the woman as she had asked for a stiff drink. Almost as quickly back and curving around the table to the bar with everything besides the glass in tow. Moments later after retreating behind the bar and through the door to the kitchen she returned with a plate in two, piled together with a large portion of the different food that had been prepared for everyone; including but not limited to a large portion of roast beef with various crops she had purchased for the festivities to cook such as corn, potato, and some greens. To the side of the plate she even set down a good portion of soup to warm people from the cold. “That’s what I can get at the moment, but seconds are always available, dear,” Willow stated after placing it all down.
She didn’t have time to stay and say more to the blatant woodsmen due to the saw dusted jeans as the others came along as well. Since Naoto didn’t express an order right away Willow had to move on to satisfying the girl whose stomach could be heard by the trained server from across the room. Moving to the side of her Willow smiled to the younger woman before greeting her. “Hello, we are serving a bit of everything tonight as long as it could be made in large enough batches. And I think the large roasts we have prepared will be the answer for you.” As Willow carried around a platter with drinks when not directly serving food she once again quickly had a glass set down and a pot turned over to pour into it. “Not too often people prefer tea like myself, though at this time of night I think I would have myself a glass of wine for a party.” She said to the girl before moving away and on to her next customer; the local farmer Grady.
Moving through the tables once again Willow elegantly swerved her way to Grady and tilted her head with a small laugh as he commented on her work tonight. “I’m as busy as a bee, but instead of making honey I try to serve smiles.” It was a bit cheesy to say, but Willow liked to think that she could lighten up someone’s mood. Even if Grady didn’t seem like the guy who needed her to smile right now she can be happy back to him. “Thankfully a large batch of potatoes came from a local farm to have been able to purchase and cook.” She responded as she moved away with a wink. Willow liked to know where her ingredients came from, so even if she didn’t know Grady well as of yet she can recognize his face and what farm he owned. Sailing through the crowd and back almost she placed his request fresh and in front of him alongside the salad. “Just out of the oven, be careful. This drink won’t cool you down.” She spoke as she poured him a glass of whiskey like she had the lumberjack.
The bottle of bear would easily make its way to Lawrence’s hand in a matter of moments, as always served with a smile and hello like everyone else before Willow withdrew for a few moments into the kitchen to take a breather. “Alright, I think I got the first orders to almost everyone… I think it will slow down a little.” She told herself as she turned to the window in the kitchen for a moment to check her reflection. Adjusting her hair slightly after working through like that and making sure her kimono was still on order she turned around and smiled to her grandmother who had just came in to get something herself from an order. “You didn’t listen when I told you to take a break did you? Even five minutes?” Willow asked her before going over and grabbing another order herself and walking out. Now having had a breather to keep going strong for now.
Arianna wasted no time tearing up her plate. She carved up her meat, nibbled her corn, demolished her potatoe, and any onlookers barely saw a flash of green on her plate before she plopped it in her mouth. Needless to say, she had completely finished her plate within mere minutes, leaning back in her chair, her hands resting on her stomach, pleased with the taste of the food and the feel of a full belly.
"Oh yeah, that's the stuff..." Arianna would often visit the Greenleaf Lodge at least twice a season to fill up on good food. She herself could not cook to save her life, and would otherwise have to settle for the large supply of Instant Ramen that she had brought with her. She could stand them, but bland cardboard-flavored noodles sitting in a broth of water and powder for all three meals of the day could certainly get old.
And now, for some socializing! It was a party after all, and what's a party without meeting some new faces. And one girl in particular caught her eye: A new face in town by the looks of it. She was dining on a juicy, delicious looking roast (admittedly, Arianna had noticed the food on the woman's plate before he actually saw the girls face), and sipping on a glass of tea. She looked pretty dainty and fragile, seemingly not cut out for the country life of Sugar Pine. And to add to the oddities... Was that a cloak she was wearing? Well hey, to each their own.
Arianna nodded, standing up with her small glass of whiskey, leaving her belongings and empty plate unattended to return to later. As she walked to the new faces table, she took a sip of her drink for good luck before sitting down across from her, leaning over the table so her voice could possibly be heard a little more clearly. "Well hey there! Excuse me if I'm wrong, but you look like a new face in town."
Thankfully, she didn't have to wait long for her food. The juicy roast was probably more than she could eat by herself, if she had to be honest. Still, it looked delicious and she wasn't about to let it go to waste. Smelled delicious too, and the tea was the same. The lady - she supposed she was the Innkeeper. She hadn't met most of the people in town yet, only moving in recently. She should thank the lady for the food and the tea.
"Not exactly old enough to drink." She replied with a small sigh. Well, at least she didn't think she was anyways. She wasn't sure she could stand alcohol even if she was old enough though. She was enough of an airhead at times even without being drunk. Making that worse was probably not exactly a good idea. Although...maybe alcohol could be used for something in her studies? There was an idea for later, definitely. She should make a note in her little journal.
She went about opening the journal with one hand, and flipping the pages with a thumb, picking up a fork and getting a piece of the roast and stuffing it into her mouth, not really noting the taste at the moment. For now she was too busy focusing on reviewing her notes. If she had been paying attention, she would have immediately been able to tell that this was possibly one of the best damn things she had ever eaten. Unfortunately, she was too focused. At least, she was trying to focus when some loud-mouth idiot sat down across from her.
The young alchemist tried to ignore her at first, burying her nose closer to the journal. Ignore her, and she'd go away. Yep. They always went away if she ignored them. At least, that's what the other kids back home did. Unfortunately, she also got the feeling that this woman wasn't going to leave her alone. With a small sigh, she closed the book - stuffing it back into her cloak.
"Yeah, and if I am?" She replied to Arianna sharply, sounding a tad bit annoyed. She was just a little bit, but she really shouldn't have been. "Uh...Charlotte. My name, I mean." She continued, sounding a bit less annoyed. "My name's Charlotte. Moved into town recently, bought a house a bit close to the forest."
~Grady Keefe~
"Thanks, Willow! Looks delicious is ever." Grady said with a smile when Willow returned with his food. And it sure did indeed. Of course, he'd say everything Willow and her grandmother made was delicious - mostly because it was. He was an average cook at best, to be perfectly honest, but every now and then he'd whip something up himself with vegetables and fruits he grew himself. What better way to see how his crops were doing? "And thanks for the warning. Don't work too hard, now." As the Innkeep left, he dug into his food. And well, more importantly chug the alcohol that he had been given. Little known fact among the people here, was that he could rink a lot. He wasn't exactly a big dude to be sure, but that had never stopped him from drinking back in his delinquent days.
Hmm...maybe he should find someone to mingle with? Then again, the seat was really kind of comfortable. Getting up would be kind of a waste, really.
"Whew," He said to himself, setting the whiskey back down. "Perfect after a long day. Now all I could use is a nap." He leaned back in his chair, stretching and taking a look around the Inn. Hmm...there were a few people sitting by themselves, so maybe he could go say hi? Then again, it really was rather busy tonight because of the festivities. He wondered if Willow would want some help? He took another drink of the whiskey. Ahah, that stuff was really good after a day of work. Hmm...what to do?...
Mayor Dink approached Willow with two local faces at his shoulders. To his left was Joy Clemens, a young woman with dark, braided hair who had been operating the local library. To his right, Mark Hannover, a bespectacled man in his late 30's who ran a vineyard south of town. The library had actually cleaned up quite nicely under Joy's care, with many new residents having donated some more modern books to its humble collection. The winery seemed to be coming along well, rumors abound that Mark would soon be producing his own wine to sell.
"I called in the reinforcements," Dink said, "that is, if you don't mind. You and your grandmother looked like you could use some time to mingle, and we'd all like to lend a hand."
The pair behind him smiled with rosy cheeks and nodded in agreement. They'd been among the first to come, and had well settled into the evening by now. That is to say, they seemed a little tipsy. But Dink was sober with only a beer under his belt, and the two were functional at the very least.
@Rune_Alchemist Lawrence, tired of just watching on and doing nothing, decided to stand up and look around for someone to talk to. He eventually settled on Grady, walking over to his table and taking a seat. Why'd he choose to talk to Grady? Maybe he wanted to get to know his competition, maybe he wanted someone to drink with or maybe he wanted someone to talk to. Either way, he sat down across the table from Grady and took a sip from his beer. "You're Grady, right? The name's Lawrence Abbott, I own that rundown farm south of the village. Nice to meet you." He put his hand out for Grady to shake.
@Bassummoner "Oh no, you may take the seat." Naoto smiled, erasing the nervousness he had. He tried his best not to create an awkward atmosphere, but all of the faces on the inn were new to him. The inn, in just few minutes, was filled with lots of newcomers as well as the previous residences. It was getting rowdy and lots of chatters could be heard, making a bit uncomfortable for the ears. He pulled his tie, tightening it so it would look neat in the eyes of others. Without further delaying, Naoto offered his hand towards the redhead female in front of him for a small handshake, "Call me Naoto. Nice to meet you.". Naoto gave out a delightful smile as he moved the glass towards his lip and took a sip of the drink. He couldn't help but to ask her about her job or anything that's related to it, "So, what do you do in Sugar Pine? This village is pretty amazing, right?".
Arianna laughed off the curt response by her conversation partner, taking another sip of her whiskey. "Well, if you are, then it's nice to meetcha~." She smiled warmly as she spoke, hoping it would infect the newcomer. "I'm Arianna, by the way. I own a little woodcutting shop a little ways in Gnarlwood. If you ever need something built, I'm your gal."
As Charlotte introduced herself, Arianna was surprised to find that she was living all by herself. She looked to be not much older than a high school student. She decided not to pry at her age, asking instead about where she lived. "Yeah, isn't the forest beautiful? Especially this one. You picked just the right area to live." As Arianna began to get lost in describing the various typees of trees, gushing about how spectacular they were here, how they were more healthy than any other she had ever seen, a recent event had popped in to her mind. Recently she had spotted a sketchy visitor milling around the forest. She couldn't tell what she was doing or why she was there, but it was certainly unnerving to have a stranger in the woods. "Hey, between you and I forest dwellers. I've seen some creepy looking person stalking around near my shop in the woods. It's probably just some kid looking around, but I'm getting bad vibes about it. So just in case you see anyone odd looking around your house, take care for me, yeah?"
Freya sweetly shook Naoto’s hand. ”It’s very nice to meet you, Naoto. I’m Freya, and I’m opening the General Store in town.” She smiled graciously and scanned the room, taking in the sheer amount of people. Part of her enjoyed being around people, while the other part of her was a social-anxiety ridden mess. ”Wow, I haven’t been around this big of a crowd since I lived in the city.” She went to take a sip from her glass, only to realize that she had finished that drink as well. She chuckled, her face turning red; probably because of how quickly she had finished both her beverages. “I will say that most of the townsfolk are probably better company than most of the people I’ve met in the city, though. “ She set her glass on the table and sighed. She raised her hand for a server, and politely asked for any vegetarian dish, along with a new, strong drink. ”I know that you’re super busy, so please take your time helping me. I’m very patient, so if you’re running behind, just help me when you first get the chance.” She grinned at the server, trying to assure them that she preferred to have the others in the room to be helped before she was helped herself. She turned to look at Naoto, realizing how rude she had been. She blushed again. “I’m sorry if I seemed rude to order food in the middle of our conversation. It just smells so delicious."
A woodcutter? Gah! She was likely destroying the beautiful plants and things she used for her potions and stuff! That was her first thought, anyways. When Arianna started gushing about the various plants, trees, and other wildlife in the area it was clear at least she had as much love for the forest as she did. Maybe she wouldn't have to worry about her killing her precious little flowers then. That would be nice.
"Yeah, the forest is really nice." She replied, a small smile forming on her lips. "Much better than this noisy...whatever it is." She grumbled, showing her obvious dislike for this loud Inn and its atmosphere. At the mention of a shady character though, she raised her eyebrow, fixing Arianna with a semi-serious look, before frowning as she folded her arms against her chest.
"I can take care of myself." She harrumphed. "Just let 'em try anything with me, I'll make them regret it." She was referring to the various stuff she kept around her shop. The 'failures' or 'duds' as she called them. While not entirely useless, they were better suited for harmless pranks or messing with someone. Far from what she wanted to do - creating stuff that actually helped people in some way. She kept them around, just for giggles though.
~Grady Keefe~
"Yep, that's my name." Grady took Lawrences' hand, shaking it vigorously. He ran the other farm then? Well, he'd have to help him get the hang of things, then. He'd be a pretty bad farmer and friend if he didn't help Lawrence fix his farm up. Not to mention he'd hate seeing that piece of land just be neglected like that. "I'm a farmer myself, too." He continued. "Run a nice little crop farm not that far out of the town, but uh, I guess you already knew that. Anyways, nice to meet ya. So what are you plannin' on farming anyways?" He was curious as to what Lawrence was going to be raising on his farm - animals or crops. Not that he'd mind the competition, really but he hoped Lawrence didn't decide to raise crops. Of course, either way he planned on building a nice barn and getting himself some animals of his own...so he supposed he'd have competition eventually either way.
Willow continued to move as Mayor Dink came up to her and began to speak. “Oh my, I didn’t expect you to come up to offer a hand, mayor.” She replied after he finished his statement and then she gave him a small genuine smile. At the same time as doing this she passed Freya who had ordered her vegetarian dish and strong drink, and that’s just what Willow was able to present to her as she passed by. It hadn’t taken too much time thankfully. After finishing the order she was able to turn to the Mayor “Thank you very much for the offer, It’s the first time I’ve had to deal with quite so many people for the lodge, I guess it was fairly easy to tell that it’s tiring.” Her last statement wasn’t very true though as she had kept her smile through the entire time serving and didn’t seem to slow despite it being midway through the party. “Now is a good time for you to have brought people though, the second round of dishes just got done and are simply sitting in the ovens to stay warm so all you would need to do it plate it and bring it out. As for whatever extra might be done I’m sure my grandmother is going to help no matter how much I try to convince her otherwise.” With her last statement she gave herself a small laugh as she turned her head to the bar her grandmother currently was at getting a drink order. “Either way, I appreciate the help. Thank you very much.”
After guiding Joy and Hannover to the kitchen to quickly point them out to what would need to be known to them. Willow was a little overbearing at first until her grandmother came in to calm her down. Willow being as stubborn as her grandmother constantly found a small thing to fix or work on during her explanation until her grandmother nearly gave her the boot. However, eventually Willow bowed with genuine gratitude. “I’ll owe you two a free meal and drink, my treat,” she stated after finishing with her small bit of instruction and moving to re-enter the Lodge’s main room. Getting a glass of tea leftover from preparing it for the witch she let the hot liquid flow inside and give her body a nice tingly sensation of warmth during this cold time of year. While she would have liked a glass of wine as she stated before, for now she was more concerned with staying sober for all the drunken people that may result during this night. As she looked on to the tables of people as well as those walking around for a moment she realized she didn’t have anyone she became good friends with specifically yet. Most people she could converse with easily and was respected, but ninety percent of the time it was while she was working and not in free time since she had been so busy getting the lodge to be up and running efficiently and to her standards of quality. Blinking once she laughed to herself slightly. “Well, this party is for getting to know people.” She told herself. However, she wasn’t sure where to start as she saw several people already initiated in conversation.
As the night wore on, Willow's grandmother, along with the help of the mayor and his compatriots, continued to serve out dishes to the rest of the stragglers and the few who had room for dessert. Slowly, the people of Sugar Pine Village began to shuffle or stumble their way out of the inn, some alongside new acquaintances and others with old friends. A few came up to Willow before leaving, in order to thank her personally for the wonderful event, promising to return soon. Finally, the clock struck one in the morning and Mayor Dink signaled the musicians to wrap up their song. When they had, he stood before them to gain the full attention of the audience.
He spoke, "I would first like to thank everyone for-"
Just then, another person stood up from a table in the crowd, a cloaked figure whose sudden presence seemed to turn every head in the room. Mayor Dink, not one to stop midspeech unless there was a fire, simply stood in awe as the person approached him. The figure practically seemed to float across the room, cloak gliding over the floor. With regal wave of the stranger's hand, Dink stepped back into the crowd of tables and took the nearest available seat, and the stranger took his place in front of the band. The lodge seemed more silent than should be possible
Floating mid-air before the inn's crowd was a girl who couldn't be more than 12 years old. The enchantment of silence seemed to break, as the crowd began murmuring to one another uncertainly. The girl's smile faltered momentarily, then returned with a rejuvenated force.
"HIYEEE!~" she cried out to the group, then spoke in one breath, "I'm the Harvest Goddess of this area but you can call me HG and I wanted to welcome you all to Sugar Pine Village as you can see the people who were here before you left and I was sad because I thought I did something wrong but now you're all here and I want you to stay so to make sure your time here is super-duper special so I brought gifts for all of you I hope you like them!"
At the end of the HG's breathless tirade the mayor looked as though he'd developed a new appreciation for oxygen. But his expression quickly changed when he noticed a small parcel in his lap. In fact, everyone sitting down had received a parcel in their laps, and everyone standing had one pop into their hands. A few people jumped out of their chairs at the sensation, and boxes tumbled to the ground, only to pop loyally back into their owners' hands. Everyone had been distracted by the parcels, and when they thought to look back up, the little girl was gone.
Naoto would open his box to find:
A small book inscribed in childish handwriting, titled "Herbal Guide to Gnarlwood Forest." The images and words within appeared to have been finger painted, but they might just be decipherable.
Willow would open her box to find:
A note that read: This should help with all of the late nights! tied to a red berry nearly the size of her head.
Charlotte would open her box to find:
A stylish cloak! Along a note that said: This cloak will protect you as you wander through the forest... mostly.
Grady would open his box go find:
A beautiful wooden flute, with carved images of sleeping cows and pigs wrapped around it. Grady, too, had a note. It read: This flute should help calm rowdy animals. Hope it helps!
Arianna would open her box to find:
A compass encased in gold. At the end of its chain was a note which read: This will work in Gnarlwood Forest, unlike other compasses. But you'll still probably get lost quite a lot, to be honest.
A treasure map! Dotted lines travel from Sugar Pine Village, through the forest and past several landmarks, until they reach a red X at the foot of a mountain. How exciting!
