012-014 » even the air itself was grey

[villagemod]

WHO: Everyone.
WHERE: Eastern/Central Mathias.
WHEN: Days 012-014
WHAT: The weather is behaving strangely. Again.
WARNINGS: Will update as necessary. PM this account to have a warning added!
NOTES: Plotting post over here!

RECOMMENDED ♫ Michael Andrews "Liquid Spear Waltz"

DAYS 012-014
“The overcast skies had the colour of deadened stones, and seemed closer than usual, as though they were phlegmatically observing my every movement with their apathetic emptily blue-less eyes.”
—Simona Panova, “Nightmarish Sacrifice”

Rain has returned to Mathias. While those who remember the storms from nearly two weeks ago may fear reprisal of such tumultuous weather, this rain is far tamer. The cloudy grey skies let loose a steady drizzle that remains constant from start to finish, which is in itself, perhaps, a bit unusual. The patter of droplets against windows, small streams forming in the roads and on grass as the ground becomes saturated, all of it may seem normal to some, but a little too normal to others.

What is without question abnormal, however, is the sun. Though it cannot be seen distinctly behind the thick grey clouds, its light remains as constant as the rain throughout these three days. Hour after hour, regardless of the time of day, there is light in the sky. Unchanging, an inescapable reminder that Mathias is not home, and none who are brought here have any control over what will occur in this place.


NEW ARRIVALS
Once again, more unfortunate souls have been brought to Mathias by unknown means, deposited at the edge of the forest near the empty houses that tell of those who once lived in this strange little town. They may find themselves wandering through the trees until they encounter the strange fog that envelops the town, or stumbling upon the rotting remains of houses that have felt the passage of time more than others.

---

LOCATIONS
LIGHTHOUSE Residents will notice the lighthouse to the north of Mathias, situated on a cliff that is above the town level. Even the most observant individuals will not have noticed it before now, which might be quite unsettling to some. There is no path available to reach the lighthouse at this time, though residents are welcome to try — they will be blocked by fog in the forest and a sense of unease that becomes debilitating if they walk too far along the beach.

NO NEW LOCATIONS are available for exploration at this time. Residents are welcome to further explore available locations, including utilizing AP rewards at locations they may have previously explored.

CONDITIONS UPDATES

— CLOCKS continue to be unreliable. Some may keep irregular time at different rates, while others have ceased to work at all, each having stopped at a different time.

— VOICES are not openly haunting our residents, though they may still be occasionally encountered in the more heavily decayed buildings where some rooms seem to almost swallow whatever light tries to enter them.

— WEATHER conditions are both typical and atypical for late fall. Temperatures consist of chilly "sweater weather" days and nights that can dip below freezing — you don't want to be outside without a coat when the sun goes down. A constant light rain continues for all three days, only stopping on the night of the third day. And for all three days, there is constant cloudy grey sunlight, with the sun unable to be seen and tracked from behind the cloud cover. Darkness will return to Mathias on the third night when the rain stops.

— FOG continues to block the way of those wishing to travel further than the Town Hall, and all who venture into the forest will be met by its impenetrable wall after a few hundred yards. The fog will allow none to pass; those who try will find themselves overcome by fear and panic so intense, they can physically do nothing but flee back the way they came.

OOC UPDATES

— HOUSING LISTINGS now have a permanent home! A few of these may have been missed or information might have changed, so please do submit updates as needed, including if your character moves into a new location or if there are rooms still available at said location.

— NEW PLAYERS are still arriving with each new log, so make sure to keep an eye on our ooc intro post. (An easy way to do this is to track the post — click the bell icon, select More Options, and track when someone makes a new top-level.)

— INFORMATION may publicly be shared between characters at the bulletin board in the town hall. This is meant to be a permanent place for pieces of the Mathias puzzle to be shared and archived to both help information be shared ICly and to allow new players to easily dive into the mystery.

— THE CALENDAR has been updated through the end of the year. With the approaching holiday season, we will continue a lighter log schedule, but as always, players are welcome to create their own logs, conduct intensive investigators, and make more terrible decisions. (The mod is always happy to enable these shenanigans, never hesitate to reach out with ideas.)

QUESTIONS ABOUT THE LOG?

HOUSING DESIGN/EXPLORATION

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Comments

[hellblaze]

"There is back home. Here? Well, we'll see. I'm partial to think that there's a something here. Though, some people think its Hell." John shakes his head. It's not Hell, because he knows Hell. "Some think it might be an abandoned movie set that we just happened to stroll past. Maybe we're on the television!"

He snorts at the idea and pockets a few more packs of cigarettes. He's been smoking a bit more since his fight with Zed. Not that many people can tell that.

"Most parents are. Most parents also think they're doin' right by their kids." He turns to lean against one of the shelves, pushing a can or two of chili to the side with his elbow. "Then you get the parents that just really never should of bred."

[vampirebats]

"It'd be a boring as shit Hell, I think. No big guy with horns, no pitchforks... I mean, come on." He has no doubt in his mind he'll be in Hell when all is said and done, but this ain't it. Probably.

"What, like some sort of extremely fucked up Truman Show?" Interesting theory, really. One he's not heard tossed around yet.

"Yeah, well... less of those where I come from. Less of the good ones too." Less of anybody, but he's trying to keep the ones around him alive.

"Sounds like you might have some experience."

[hellblaze]

John shrugs. "Hell is more about being personal. Your own torment depending on what landed you there. Sure, maybe you share the scenery with people, but, it's a bit more personal."

Spoken as if he knows first hand.

"Not much of a fan of television myself, so, I'd rule that out first." A smirk touches his face as he reaches into his coat to grab a cigarette. "Had a father and an older sister. Father was a useless git, if you really want to know."

[vampirebats]

There's a lingering look at that explanation, studying the man. He'd think he was a complete lunatic if he hadn't been whisked away to some... whatever the hell this is. "Well, I'll take your word on that one."

To him, Hell is the life he'd been living at home, surrounded by the dead and just trying to keep people alive, but no reason to get fucking depressing or anything.

he gives a nod at that. Not a surprise. "Some of them can be. But what about your sister? What's she like?"

[hellblaze]

"More people should take my word. Too many people here haven't got an idea or care about the bigger world." John figures the other man falls into that camp. You can only do so much, Johnny.

John huffed slightly. "With a dead beat bastard and a daughter. Haven't talked to her much in the last years. Figured she was better off without me."

Given Cheryl had been the one that left him with their father. Oh, he'd go running at the first sign of trouble and if his sister ever called. She was family and at one point she loved him. Though, he wasn't sure Cheryl would love him now.

"What about your family? Anyone you've got waiting for you back home?"

[vampirebats]

"Isn't that the same everywhere? A lot of people lack a sight of the big fucking picture, or what else is lying out there. Too focused on themselves, I guess." It's why they die without proper leadership, without someone watching over them.

"Yeah? I don't know... you get stuck with a bastard like that, you might not be opposed to a little familial support." He's been that bastard after all, even if he wasn't a deadbeat.

"Me? Nah... had a wife, but she died a long time ago. Sometimes I'm grateful with what came next." But mostly, he'd give an arm and a leg and whatever's left of his fucking soul to see her again.

"I do have some people I need to get back to though. Hoping I can do that soon."

[hellblaze]

"Too focused on the idea of how they perceive reality and the world to be the right one. Humanity does good, sure, but, we're a right stubborn bunch that don't like admitting that we don't know it all." A pause. Well, let's not talk about how he falls into that camp more often or not.

There's a shrug, a press of his lips, and a look away. Cheryl doesn't need his shitstain of a live on top of the life she's gotten herself into. There's still hurt from her running away and leaving him with their father.

"Seems like I might be the one uprooted the least by all this. Mathias knows how to bloody pick 'em, eh?"

[vampirebats]

"It's how it is back home too... seen it come back and bite people right in the ass, time and again." How many lives could have been spared if people weren't stubborn fucks individually?

He'll let the subject change happen though, nodding along absently. "I don't suppose you know how we're drawn in? There's no rhyme or reason?"

[hellblaze]

"Karma's a right bitch."

He pockets a few more of those cigarettes. If one couldn't tell by the smell? He's a walking chimney.

"Can't find much of a reason until I can find out what it is that brought us here. For all I know? It's broken the boundaries between realities just for the fuck of it."

[vampirebats]

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Because hey, this guy might be one crazy motherfucker who has no idea what he's talking about, but Negan's got a pretty good instinct about people. He doesn't think that's the case. He thinks he might wanna put some trust in this guy, just in case he's a ticket out of here.

Or to making this place safe, at he very least.

[hellblaze]

"Information is the key right now. Find whatever might of happened to any of the former occupants. Then, move onto the chain higher. Who knew what and who knew who. I've got some early connections down..." John made a 'tch' sound, but, shook his head. "Not too much to go by."

[vampirebats]

"Information, huh? Well, I can do that. Keep an eye out, do a little poking around." Maybe that's not usually his forte, but he's capable of doing a little bit of dirty work.

"Is there anything we know for certain though? Just out of curiosity."

[hellblaze]

"At least one family wasn't expecting whatever it was that happened. There's transactions between the Grey Gull and Town Hall for lunch deliveries. The library has fiction, non fiction, and an entire section burnt out for no bloody good reason." John shrugged. That hole in the floor? Yours truly. "Somewhere here in town there's a bloody fishing company."

[vampirebats]

"Well, that's not not even the littlest bit creepy as fuck, is it?" But hell, he's seen it happen. It happened back home, easy enough.

"People ignore signs though. They don't wanna see the bad? So they don't." Not until whatever is coming is right on their sweet little asses.

"But alright... I'll keep an eye out for anything useful. I'll get back to you. What's the easiest way to find you anyway?"

[hellblaze]

John grinned as he pulled a cigarette from his inner coat pocket. With a quick flick of his lighter it came to life. They weren't nearly as good as Silk Cuts, but, Mathias loved to kick him in the bollocks every day. What did he ever do to this town other than exist?

"Precisely." He agreed fullheartedly. Though it applied to not just the bad but the good. The true state of the world. "I've got a business card up at Town Hall with the number for the house I've holed up in. Each of them have a bloody landline. Landlines."

Christ, he remembered when those were normal.

John pushed himself from the shelf and gave the man a friendly pat to the back. "That or, I'm sure you could find someone in town that knows where I'm lurking. I seem to know nearly everyone."

For now? He was going to continue poking where he could.