The Charity Shop that Time Forgot

**Forn Clakes** · Nov 15th, 2014 05:52 AM

Tick-tock, tick-tock..tick-tock, tick-tock..tick-tock, tick-tock.....a heavy sound that seems to sound in time with your heartbeat; disconcertingly, every other tock, it pauses almost for breath.....the store-front of an old thrift store, dusty with age, shadows enter and crumble to nothing as they leave.....the sound of many clocks begin to chime as the store front's windows shatter.....

Eyes open. The dream is fresh in the changeling's mind as they climb out of bed and do whatever is part of their morning routine. But the dream and the sound of that clock still counts every second, every heartbeat, the cliche of the splinter stuck firmly in the changeling's mind. It cannot be shaken away, every passing moment it causes a distraction.

Something is calling out to the changelings. The store is clear in the changeling's mind and with a little searching on the internet or simply from flicking through a local paper or pamphlet, they find it, along with an address. Lunch has passed as the changelings make their way to the address. For the first time, they see the exterior of the shop from their dream and it is nestled away from prying eyes, a place that locals know and have forgotten, remembering it only in passing.

The sound of time chimes in the changeling's mind.

Store Exterior

Welcome to the scene. Please post your arrival to the shop's exterior

**Nathan Griffin** · Nov 15th, 2014 07:08 AM

It was a chilly afternoon. Or maybe it was just his imagination. Heck, maybe that ticking sound was just his imagination. God knew he was crazy enough. You start hearing weird sounds that are not there, and before you know it you're back in the madhouse. But this dream and this sound in particular were... creepily enthusing.

Back to following lights in the night sky, are we, private? Because that turned out so well last time. He never learned, and he suspected he never would. Might as well follow the trail to the bitter end, even if he couldn't shake off a feeling this whole enterprise was luck of the worst sort.

He took another look at the thrown away newspaper he had managed to salvage earlier that day. Yep, he was pretty sure this was it. Kind of underwhelming, when you saw the thing in person. It just look like any little charity shop anywhere in the country. Still, he desperately wanted to get inside and find out what the hell it was that had woken him up that morning.

Whether it was the weather, his imagination or his Mantle that caused the chill (wouldn't be the first time he forgot about it), he found it reassuring, even with his ripped, dirty jeans and T-shirt barely covered by a camo jacket. This was his time, alright, and he wasn't about to be the one to get spooked by a harmless looking store, dream or no dream, clock or no clock. He approached the shop and tried taking a look through the glass. He crunched and put his hand against it. It felt cold to the touch.

A ticking clock though... Maybe the reason he found that dream so strangely alluring was that it reminded him of something. Some fairy tale or legend, maybe? He had heard his share of those.

Nathan tries to recall

**Gregory** · Nov 15th, 2014 12:22 PM

Gregory awakens, sitting hunched upright from the cot and drawing in a gasp of air as if suddenly coming to life. Ticking clocks...broken glass... These images are fresh in his mind. He looks around him warily, still trying to get a sense of his surroundings. The shelter...he had taken refuge there for the night. A cot and a blanket, more comfortable than a sheet of cardboard. No wonder he fell so deeply asleep. His dreams were not by his own design. He had not wished to probe too deeply in his memories. His mind must have gotten itself too drawn in to something.

The strange feeling persists throughout his day, making his way to the kitchen for a roll of bread and cup of water. Soup wouldn't be served until lunch, unfortunately so he heads out onto the street, the bright light of the sun hanging in the sky and causing his eyes to squint. A discarded paper sits in the trash which Gregory sifts through. What news has the world to bring me today? he wonders, paging through the parchment. His eyes widen at the sight of the store front. Why is it there so prominently to match the intensity of his dream? It calls to him, needs him to go there. A trap? A prophecy? Did it bring good or ill? He would have to go there to find out. But lunch came first, sustenance to give him strength to take on the day. Only that seems to delay the urgency from his wonder.

He finds the address easy enough, walking the sidewalks and side streets to his destination. Standing outside of the store front he observes the forgotten building, hidden away from the hustle and bustle of the city commerce.

OOC

**Forn Clakes** · Nov 15th, 2014 12:36 PM

The store appears as in the picture; No shattered glass. Any mention of the store is simply as a reference of it's address, nothing more

**Whisper** · Nov 15th, 2014 03:43 PM

The Oneiromancer wasn't suprised in the least when his eyes laid upon the decrepit store from his dreams. Nor did it come as a shock to him when his eyes fell upon others drawn to it. The Wyrd ran deep within dreams, and though his grasp of Fate was tenuous at best, he knew the role it sometimes played within the dreamscape.

It was a rarity for the Darkling to be up at this time. His nights were spent running tasks or in others dreamscapes and his days were spent asleep within in his own. While he would have preferred to wait until nightfall, that nagging sensation just would not leave him be. While he didn't have a clue what it all meant, he was at least thankful that there were familiar faces.

As he saw them, part of him wondered if they were in the dream as well. He was so focused on the ticking of the clocks and the store itself, that he did not even take notice of what surrounded the store...

Nov 15th, 2014 10:43 PM

Tessa had had many dreams as of late. Flashbacks to her time in Arcadia. It used to be a nightly thing, even if she could barely make sense of them and commit them to memory. The rushing of trees past her, the nipping of beasts at her feet, the coppery taste of blood that she couldn't tell was her's or someone else's. All brief tidbits that left her waking up in a cold sweat and were as quickly forgotten as they were had. Luckily, they had stopped occurring so much, giving her much easier sleep. But this was different. For one, it was a different subject matter. Some old antique store with dusty, broken windows and shadows entering but disintegrating before they could leave. The second thing that was different about it was that it wasn't so easily forgotten. Her other dreams seemed to flee her mind as soon as she woke up. But the ticking clock in this one never left. While she was brushing her teeth. While she was taking a shower. While she was putting on a fresh pair of clothes. Tick-tock... tick-tock... tick-tock. The pesky sound had gotten stuck in her head like a song you couldn't remember the lyrics to.

As she went out for breakfast that morning, she noticed something on the local paper someone was reading at the 7/11. And wouldn't you know it, that same shop was printed on there. Not a story spread, no, but just a photograph it happened to be apart of and an address for the place next to it, the real star of the story in the paper. She let out a sigh as she purchased a bag of chocolate donettes. She knew where she was going later today. If nothing else, maybe it would stop the infernal ticking in her head.

And such as how Tessa came upon the storefront, clad in a pair of jeans and a sweater, the last of a McDonald's fries being eaten from her lunch. Her tail curled itself as much around her as the short thing could, it not having any protection from the Autumn chill like the rest of her. She didn't know whether she was surprised or not to find other Changelings gathered around the place as well. Apparently she wasn't the only one to have been visited in her sleep. However, the only person she really recognized was Gregory, his tall stature negated by his perpetual hunch. Though there were other Changelings here as well, she decided to sidle up next to him.

"It looks like I wasn't the only one to have that dream. And to think this place actually exists. At least it looks nicer now than it did last night." Though she standing next to the Lurkglider, the statement isn't exactly directed at him so much as the general gathering.

Nov 16th, 2014 03:03 PM

Catherine strode through the streets of Sacramento with some measure of urgency, the clicking of her heels and her strange and stilted pace unwittingly synchronising with the vexatious jangle resonating behind her eyes. She had not rested well, her slumber plagued with the sounding of what seemed an inordinate number of timepieces, interspersed only by the melodious tinkle of splintered glass scattering across a hard surface. She had risen groggily; then followed hours of fruitless depiction besieged by this irksome din, but all she produced was the likeness of some humdrum storefront from an assortment of angles. She had finally surrendered to the fickle whims of the afflatus and migrated to the lounge in search of sustenance and, Wyrd willing, a reprieve. What she’d discovered had been an article in some local rag showcasing an all too familiar structure.
Bowing to the inevitable she scooped a fruit from its basket, retrieved her favourite footware, and departed forthwith with an avid intent to arrive at the crux of the matter. Descending the steps from Coco’s loft she drew upon Separation, more out of habit than any cogent reason.

Catherine invokes Tread Lightly: 1 Success

As she neared the address she’d lifted from the paper the echoing patter seemed, if anything, to escalate. Rounding a bend, clad in charcoal jeans, snug navy scoopneck and arriving at the relevant thoroughfare, Catherine was confronted with some familiar forms. It wouldst seem that she had not been alone amongst the lost in heeding this summons, as Gregory and Tessa had evidently felt a similar pull to this otherwise banal locale. Though they were not unaccompanied, two further figures faced the perplexing place of purveyance. One sported a soft pallette of distinctly monochrome hues, a state of affairs to which she could relate; the other seemed shaped by feathered strokes, though ivory and ebony too featured prominently upon their person. A quintet of changelings then, drawn unwillingly to an uncertain lodestone; what suspect snarl in the threads of fate was this?

Come to think of it, when have you ever seen Cosima reading a newspaper?

She gave a dismissing shrug; for the present such questions must remain unanswered, a mystery for another time perhaps. A more pressing matter vied for Catherine's attention, for she must needs exorcise the tiresome clamour from her cranium, ere any fancies might she fabricate. She approached the incongruous gathering, mayhap she might glean answers in addition to peace.

**Forn Clakes** · Nov 17th, 2014 04:29 PM

As the group initially converge, the entrance to the charity shop opens and a man in his mid-30's steps out carrying what appears to be some old vinyl records. Dressed in typical autumn clothing (hat, scarf, olive woollen hoody) he pauses after taking a couple of steps and pulls up his sleeve to check his watch. With a slightly dazed, confused look, he begins to walk away at some speed.

Please feel free to continue, I'll interject when required.
Oh, and roll Wits + Empathy if you want of get a read on the man that has just left

**Whisper** · Nov 18th, 2014 11:58 AM

Maredrauga gave a soft nod of his head to the other members of the Freehold, before movement caught his eyes. His attention shifted as the door swung open and his eyes followed the man's movements. His hand slowly drifted to his chin as he considers what role this figure could have in the midst of it all.

Wits+Empathy/Spec if applicable

**Gregory** · Nov 18th, 2014 12:16 PM

The Beast girl, Tessa, voices his thoughts appropriately as she comes to stand by him. Gregory twists his head to see her and acknowledges her with an affirming nod. "So you did see it too..." he mutters in his harsh rasp of a voice. Other Lost have made their way into the obscure location too, perhaps called by the same reasoning.

Seeing Catherine, Gregory nods to her as well, silently in wordless understanding. The others he does not know.

Observe the Man, 2suxx

Gregory takes note when the man leaves the shop, carrying the supposed vinyl records. He tilts his head the other way curiously as he regards him. And yet he makes no effort to follow or to approach the shop just yet. The Gargoyle instead looks between the gathered Lost for their reactions.

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-11-15 07:04:45		Nathan rolls 3 to rolls 3 to Int + Occ to recall		9, 3, 4		1 success

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-11-16 14:11:11		Catherine rolls 5 to tread lightly (10 Again)		5, 6, 8, 2, 2		1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2014-11-18 11:11:56	Maredrauga rolls 1 to Motives (10 Again)	8	1 success
2014-11-18 11:11:29	Maredrauga rolls 8 to Wits+Emp (10 Again)	4, 6, 7, 9, 3, 7, 7, 6	1 success

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-11-18 12:12:00		Gregory rolls 4 to get a read on the man exiting the charity shop [WIT+Emp] (10 Again)		8, 9, 7, 7		2 successes

The Charity Shop that Time Forgot

Similar Threads

Open Art Expo Charity Event

Garden Grounds Charity Night and Coffee!

Open Insults for Charity

Open Running Naked...For Charity?

Holiday Charity (Open)