Where to go for help/warmth/money at 1AM in a 40's small town?

[BraselC5048]

It's the 1940's, its something like 1AM, and a character is walking into a small town, population 4,000, at 1 AM. It's also in the middle of a winter windstorm. She needs warmth to regain lost FP, some clothes to put on (she's naked, they were wet, so she would have taken them off anyway, except the people who dumped her in a nearby lake took all her clothing anyway), and some money for a short train ride to the closest city, where she "lives." (And a taxi back to her hotel room, hopefully, or else she can just walk, and breakfast in the morning before the train comes.) She doesn't have any of that, and I'm wondering where the best place to get some help would be. Preferably not involving the police, since she's a career burglar/killer, and they of course would the rather obvious questions.

The only place I know for certain would be staffed 24-7 is the telegraph operator on duty at the railroad station, since safe operation of the line in those days required that. (Railroad buff.) Perhaps a fire station, would they have a professional full-time force in that size town, that would always be there, or would it be a volunteer department? Would the doctor's office be always staffed, or would the doctor simply be at home waiting for a call?

If all else fails, I guess she could just pound on the door of a house that looks like it has a family, and hope they help. And hope they don't call the cops, he's a man of integrity, and doesn't try to do something worse...

[mr beer]

It sounds like she needs to bang on the first door she gets to rather than scoping out the whole damn town. Try to pick a place with a family IMO if given a whole street to choose from. Pound on the door and shout "help!" loudly until someone comes to the rescue. Most people would help out in this situation.

[Kilmore]

How notorious is the character? The local cop will have some knowledge and posters of local wanted people, but he isn't going to have access to a modern database and a lot of information sharing equipment like today's police. The obvious lie (maybe) is that she was picked up off the street, stripped and assaulted, and left for dead out in the wilderness.

[thrash]

As described, she probably doesn't have a lot of leeway for checking out options: she needs to get under cover before hypothermia sets in. The most likely is a barn or haystack; she can burrow under the hay and be warm enough to pass the night.

Sorry to say, but if she can't or won't go to the police her best bet is probably to steal what she needs. There're just not enough plausible excuses for her situation that wouldn't require whoever helped her to take her to the police. If she still wants to look for help, the minorities on the "wrong side of the tracks" would be the least likely to turn her in.

[Turhan's Bey Company]

I agree that the best course of action is to pick a door, bang on it, and hope for the best. Outside of the railway station, assuming the town has one, the only other place I can think of that might have someone awake--and it's not a sure thing--at that hour is the police station/sheriff's office. Even if the fire department is staffed, the fire fighters will probably be asleep there to be awoken if there's an emergency.

One other thing crosses my mind. If the war's still on and it's a coastal town, there might be a civil defense warden making rounds to make sure that everybody's got their lights out. That would at least provide a person awake at that hour.

[acrosome]

The local pastor's house, of course. (Or, for the more ruthless, break into the church and stoke the stove.) Make up a story about being a naive woman who ran away with wrong man and was deserted in the night, and who just needs help getting home to mommy and daddy in Kansas City...

Where in the country is it?

[Ashtagon]

It's the 1940s. Is WW2 still going on?

Assuming it is post-war, the police would be the most likely port of call, although that's apparently not an option. Calling on a domestic home for help would most likely result in police attention for any plausible explanation of what happened to cause the character to be in that state.

Next best option might be the local church. These were traditionally kept unlocked, and the modern security fears wouldn't yet apply I think. If unlocked It would certainly be good for basic shelter without drawing attention (except possibly for homeless people). If the character sticks around till morning, they may or may not get assistance from the local vicar.

[Xplo]

If she's white, almost anyone might take her in for the night. All she has to do is pound on the door and look like a helpless woman freezing to death, which she shouldn't have any trouble with. This is a perfect time for a reaction roll.

If she's not, there's gonna be a penalty to that roll...

The vast majority of men aren't psychos or rapists of opportunity.

She'll want a good story handy when they ask who she is, how she came to be there, and why she's naked, especially if it has to convince them the police don't need to get involved.

Getting money might be harder, but again, with the right story, whoever helps her might offer her enough for a train ticket as an act of charity.

[BraselC5048]

Originally Posted by Ashtagon

It's the 1940s. Is WW2 still going on?

Assuming it is post-war, the police would be the most likely port of call, although that's apparently not an option. Calling on a domestic home for help would most likely result in police attention for any plausible explanation of what happened to cause the character to be in that state.

Next best option might be the local church. These were traditionally kept unlocked, and the modern security fears wouldn't yet apply I think. If unlocked It would certainly be good for basic shelter without drawing attention (except possibly for homeless people). If the character sticks around till morning, they may or may not get assistance from the local vicar.

Originally Posted by acrosome

The local pastor's house, of course. (Or, for the more ruthless, break into the church and stoke the stove.) Make up a story about being a naive woman who ran away with wrong man and was deserted in the night, and who just needs help getting home to mommy and daddy in Kansas City...

Sounds like the best option I've heard. I guess this was the era when the pastor lived on the church grounds, so there would be no trouble finding it?

My story was something along the lines of "I fell off the boat next to the coast right outside town, and I took them off so I wouldn't freeze to death," but that both makes her out to be more knowledgeable then would be good, and leads to more questions such as "how did you make it to shore?" and "which boat?"

Originally Posted by thrash

As described, she probably doesn't have a lot of leeway for checking out options: she needs to get under cover before hypothermia sets in. The most likely is a barn or haystack; she can burrow under the hay and be warm enough to pass the night.

Sorry to say, but if she can't or won't go to the police her best bet is probably to steal what she needs. There're just not enough plausible excuses for her situation that wouldn't require whoever helped her to take her to the police. If she still wants to look for help, the minorities on the "wrong side of the tracks" would be the least likely to turn her in.

She's right at 1/3rd FP due to cold alone. Any more cold FP and she gets her move halved and loses all ability to defend herself. That's either 10 minutes or half an hour. She can last for either little more than an hour or 4 hours out in the cold without falling unconscious (yay Very Fit!) (Once again depending on the results on the other thread on cold. I might as well repeat the question here - if wearing no clothing and it's raining, does the additional -5 for wet clothes apply? The first number if yes, second number if no.)

Originally Posted by acrosome

Where in the country is it?

Two Harbors, Minnesota. The city is Duluth. There likely aren't any minorities. Looking at the map again, she already walked somewhat comparable distance along the shore road to get where she is now to the remaining distance to Duluth. It's 'only' about 15 miles to downtown Duluth, there's a paved road, she's fast, she can cover the distance in two hours at a hiking pace (which at her move, is faster than paced running for an average Joe). So apparently no need for a train in the first place, which nicely gets rid of the need for money and a train ticket. And also eliminates the need to wait until morning. Which is good. I wonder if a store would keep the heat on all night?

If so, considering she's still got the lockpick she used to escape (don't ask where she hid it), a simple break in to a clothing store or department store would pretty much solve all her problems. They likely don't have any fancy security other than a lock, she can curl up by the radiator and get warm. Assuming very fit doesn't apply to reversing the effects of hypothermia, it'll take 2 hours. If it applies, it's an hour. If Breath Control applies, which I wouldn't allow, it's 10-15 minutes. That just doesn't make sense. Exertion, yes, but not from freezing. Then it's a pain in the neck to find something that kinda/sorta fits a Very Skinny character with -1 SM. Likely looking in the kid's section. And a pair of shoes, although that might be another store, at least it's a simple case of picking the right size, small, but a regular size. And a big coat.

If not, curl up by the radiator in an out-of-the-way corner of the railway station, than on to the store as above. Even if it's not too out of the way, it's certainly likely that nobody will even enter the waiting room in that time.

After that it's just two hours on foot back to her hotel room. Hopefully before another character who thinks she's certainly dead (they 'did' tie her up with weights and dump her in Lake Superior, after all) decides to go to her hotel room and pick up her belongings. Which have a lot of stuff that would be very bad to get pawned off. It would only take the boat they dumped her in Lake Superior in a hour to get back to Duluth a 5 knots. Hopefully he'll hit a bar to drown his sorrows over his failure to save her first. Depending on the results of the other thread I started about cold, and what exactly Very Fit does, she'll only be from 4 to 7 hours behind them. If they dumped her around 10 PM, whatever time last call is in Duluth might be late enough for her to make it back while he's still drinking. If he goes home to sleep it off, she's sure to make it in time.

[Turhan's Bey Company]

Originally Posted by BraselC5048

I guess this was the era when the pastor lived on the church grounds, so there would be no trouble finding it?

That's less a question of the time period and more a question of the specific religion and the arrangements made by the local church. A pastor is likely to live near his church, but one shouldn't count on living in it. But breaking into a church may be a viable option. It's probably well within her abilities to pick the lock on even if the door's been locked, and once she's in she might be able to find some clothes in the form of accumulated donations for the poor or a lost-and-found box.