Fandom Saltspill Town (IC)

[Rusty of Shackleford]

Ah...Saltspill. Founded almost two centuries ago to capitalize on the nearby salt quarry, Lady Luck seemed to always have it out for the town.

First was the fact the salt mines were infamously unstable. Collapses happened daily, often with little rhyme or reason. Expected, from a mining town.

Then the natural disasters happened.

It was literally EVERYTHING.

Earthquakes, draughts. Locusts.

But the town always endured.

Until recently.

The Storm.

Storms don't get named with capital letters for being mild. It tore through the town like...well, a storm. Flooded the entire retail district, and dozens more houses. Damage was so severe that most people just...moved out. Was cheaper than reparing.

But a few souls decided to stay.

Be it a sense of town pride, the desire to bring saltspill back to it's former glory, or just boredom, a group of...interesting individuals assembled to help the town. At first it was small, isolated. Fixing roofs, doing odd jobs, but it became more organized.

Until finally, this group had a name: the Helper's Guild.
​

Calling it a guild...sort of didn't properly describe the Guild. It was more like a club? A posse? Whatever. They were jsut like minded people who watned to help out around town rather than sulkin and hating themselves all day.

Helper's Guild HQ, 8:23 A.M.
Calling the Helper's Guild Hall a "hall" would be doing it a service. It was...something?

I in the old financial district (calling it that is a bit too kind, it could generously be described as a strip mall,) there were dozens of abandoned stores, left to rust and rot after the town's many calamaties. Seeing as it was their job to fox said problems, it was a fitting irony that the Guild would set up in the symbol of the town's decay.

And the diner was sure aesthetic.

It never really had a name. It was always just "The Diner," even before it closed. There was no need for another name, seeing as it was the only diner in town, now a dubious honor, considering. No one else had even bothered, given the town's sorry state. But the Helper's Guild weren't exactly known for taking hints.

Thankfully, no one had scrapped the kitchen appliances in the back, or the electrical wiring. Took some work, took some favors, but hey, the diner was functional!

Mostly.

Lights occasionally flickered like a horror movie, the freezer was either too warm or too cold, and one of the stoves were out of comission thanks to a gas leak, but for the most part, it was good!

Unlike the rest of the town.

Currently, there were two main problems that needed sorting out. The first was the town's roads. They were an utter mess, and made getting around a pain in the perverbial ass. It was easy, not very dangerous. But would take forever.

The more short term problem was of course more dangerous.

Recently, there was rumors of something in the woods, or more specifically, coming from the woods into the town. So far, whatever it was had yet to do anything outwardly malicious. All people found were missing tools, tool shed's door's left ajar, that sort of things, with small, humanoid tracks leading into the forest.

There was no official leader, so right now, they'd have to vote.
Calvin

Calvin was one of the first ones there, though not by choice. Given he lived out of his car, he usually just slept in it outside the Diner. The morning sun was one hell of an alarm clock, afterall.

Whoever was already there would smell the pleasant smell of Southern cooking. Hashbrowns, fresh bicsuits, gravy-wait where the hell did he get the ingredients? Did he just...keep them on him? Whatever. It smelled FANTASTIC.

"Heh...right good mornin', yeah? Never get tired 'o that fresh morning air."

He looked...slightly comical. He was wearing his usual getup: a worn, brown leather jacket, white button up shirt undone just enough to show off his chest, blue jeans, boots, and his signature hat, dotted with various pins, ranging from souvenirs of places he'd been to stuff as odd as aliens.

The only change was the frilly, flower designed apron he was wearing. He honestly looked adorable. For an archaeologist cowboy cooking breakfast in a diner while wearing a very feminine apron, that is.

Harvey

Harvey burst through the doors of the diner, panting, an old timey doctor's bag in one hand, and a small, minature cooler in the other.

"GAH! I'M SO SORRY! I got up at six, but had two checkups and one of them was a materinty one, so it took a while. God, I'm so late! Soseki will be here in a bit, had to take care of some stuff. Ellie get here okay?"

He looked across the diner, sighing as he took a seat at the front counter, placing his gear beside him. "So uh...what's on today's list? Hope it doesn't involve me patching you guys up, hehe..."

Trails of smoke fell right under Harvey's nose, causing the doctor to cough and sputter like a dying engine. "Christ, Calvin burning something? No that's..."

"GREY! NO SMOKING INSIDE!"

Grey
Grey was usually up and about early. he practically lived in the retail district. Lot of good scrap going to waste, just rusting away. PLus, not many people. Except now.

He was currently lounging on the front counter, just a few feet from Harvey, and from the looks of it, he'd been working. His jumpsuit looked dirty, well, dirtier than usual. Yet he still had his signature "UMA" hat on, which was completely spotless, somehow, yet still well worn.

The mechanic cocked his head towards the doctor, cigarette hanging from his mouth limply as smoke trailed up from it.

"Hm? Oh. Sorry, Doc. And 'fore ya ask, been tryin' to quit. Not in the mood to hear it right now."

Grey pressed the cigarette into a novelty cat shaped ashtray, probably from before the Diner closed. Actually, it was that of a famous character, hated Tuesday and loved pizza, or something.

"So...what's the job? Did we agree on what it was, even?"

Soseki

A tall, dark approached the diner, pushing the door open with a thud. They stood at the door, their figure enshrouded-

"Oof, sorry fellas! Was gonna walk with Harvey, but got caught up."

He was...literally holding a paper coffee cup.

"What? Can't start a day of work without some coffee. And hey! I'm not the only one late!"

Sure...

ApfelSeine

Nellancholy

Charles Cheese

t s u k i
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[Charles Cheese]

Elli
Overprepared would be an understatement but a compliment to a nurse like Elli. She had arrived a few days prior just to bring in extra supplies and water filters, because lord knows Saltspill's tap water record isn't a good one and a volunteer with a sick stomach would be tragic! The early bird arrived shortly after Calvin had, putting her baby blue, filled-to-the-brim tote bag on one of the counters before quickly getting to business of preparing drinks for the other lovely volunteers all the while humming a cheery tune and being careful not to get water stains on her sky blue sundress or black leggings underneath. It might've been that or something to do with the hastily concealed shadows under her eyes that made her forget to say hi to her company; either way, she jumped when Calvin took it upon himself to make the small talk. She turned to him, blinking the sleepiness away from her eyes before..
A sunny smile.
"Ah, isn't it? The walk here was pleasantly surprising. No rain! Ah, and so many children are out picking the last of the season's flowers.. Did you walk here too?"


Jake
With white tuffs sticking out from the top of his white hoodie, Jake had entered the haunted looking diner soon after Grey, giving him a quick glare as he picked a table further away, slinging his backpack on the edge after retrieving a few things from inside. A steamy thermostat, something rectangular wrapped in aluminum foil and a journal woven out of leather scraps. While the others began to turn up, the sounds of his pen hitting the journal filled the empty space with the occasional rustle of foil–as he seems to bite whatever food is hidden inside of it.

He idles away just like this for a little while, not acknowledging anything.. until Grey speaks. He glares again, before coughing and his expression becomes neutral. ".. Does trying to quit entail giving a bunch of volunteers second hand smoke?" And he waves away at the smoke in the air to make a point.


Kai
Even before he'd been in this world Kai never arrived on time. For him, it's always been hard to resist a scenic route and stopping to smell the flowers. While many have speculated this was the consequence of the drifter lifestyle, he'd be happy to correct that its what led him to it. Either way, it should've been impossible. He'd never been the first one to arrive. Maybe the town's bad luck reversed on him for a change, because here he was.
Early by hours..
9 hours to be precise. And.. unintentionally.
You see, when you're a drifter, you gotta save every penny. Sometimes, that includes settling for the first raccoon-proof hidey hole you find for a good night's sleep.
… And sometimes, that hidey hole may just be where a big event is taking place.

The utility closet. Cluttered, but just enough space for an improvised bed to be made. There, unbeknownst to his company, the young journalist soundly sleeps up against the wall, the noise from outside doing little to stir him awake.