villagelogs | 012-014 » even the air itself was grey

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012-014 » even the air itself was grey

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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[That was often the case; people deserved more but death put 'em in the ground. Raylan tried not to let his vengeful tendencies get too far ahead of him.]

That's a shit story. Even worse that it ain't a story.

[A beat passed.]

Might not be any of my business and you can tell me to fuck off. But seems to me that one kiss shouldn't be enough to walk away from it all. Not if she makes you happy. Not if you wanna try.

The joys of the life of yours truly, John Constantine. It'd be better if it was just a shitty story.

[ There was a small huff at Raylan's statement. Good advice, that. If it was to someone who was actually in a relationship - a romantic one. He and Zed had always teetered around flirting and being professional. His own insistence. It would cause less heartache and less problems. Sounded good in his head at the time.

Then, she started staying by his side through it all. Gaz. Anne Marie. Countless of little other things. Manny had been right about how he had started to count on her being there for support. She was someone he trusted, someone who didn't turn her back on him like so many others had. Her with Corrigan just proved what he already knew. Zed was too good for him and would eventually move on like everyone else. ]

Zed and I aren't together, Raylan. [ For once it wasn't a lie or a brush off with humor. ] She found me in a bloody mining town because her magic led her to me. It's all professional. Once we've won the damn spiritual war that we're in... well...

[ He made a gesture as if it should of been obvious she'd move on. They all did. ]

She's got a bright future helpin' people with her magical talents. A fat lot of more good than I'm going to ever do with whatever time I've got left.

Edited 2020-11-20 07:51 (UTC)

[Raylan nodded again and hummed an 'Mmhmm' that was wholly humoring.]

If that were the case, if you didn't want that to be the case, you wouldn't be pissed that she kissed someone. [Hazel eyes slid over.] Y'all haven't made it official, but you're entangled. Standin' on that edge, ain't ya. Lemme ask you this - why not? Why not try it out, see how it works. Work at it. You miss all the shots you don't take.

For all my troubles, I take my shots, when they're presented. In reflection, I'd regret not havin' done so.

[Happiness was something they needed as humans. Deserved as humans. As flawed and complicated as Raylan's romantic life was, he didn't regret taking the shots. Even the ones that hurt him in the end.]

[ there are plenty reasons to combat the why not? people died around him. he tarnished every good thing in his life. zed deserved better. he was damned and she didn't need to be pulled into that. he had no idea how to have a proper relationship. it was supposed to be professional. she didn't trust him enough to tell him her past, but she knew almost all of his.

so. many. reasons. ]

Sometimes it's better to take a shot at yourself if it saves someone else.

[He shook his head a little bit as they came up to the treeline.]

Somehow I get the feelin' that's the justification you use a lot..

Suppose we oughta move that way? [He gestured down the treeline towards the beach.] I don't see any paths in, but that doesn't stop us from makin' our own.

Tends to be what happens more often than it being a justification, mate. You'd be surprised to see who'd line up at the chance to shoot me.

[ And someone already did. ]

Might help us find that bloody lighthouse faster if we did.

I got a feelin' you wouldn't be surprised at the line up to shoot me.

[Raylan headed towards the treeline and, without a path to follow, bargoed his way right into the forest.]

How's a little affection and a little fuckin' happiness such a bad thing for you? Yeah, bad things happen. Nothin' we can do about that. I couldn't live that life, no matter how many times some gun thug comes up in my house. That's just another asshole to put down.

Who would want to shoot the golden boy Marshal? Someone you put behind bars?

[ An honest question. He figured a man as good as Raylan still had enemies. They all did. He fell into step beside the man, shuddering a bit at the cold. ]

The life I lead isn't as simple as yours. It's messy - tangled up. People close to me die. [ Cursed. ] You can't live the life I do and expect it to be rainbow and puppy dogs at the end. Hell, you can't even expect God to throw you a bone and understand when you're going bloody insane from the biggest screw up of your life.

Happy ain't happy for me, mate. Something always poisons it. I've never been able to hold something good.

More often than not, I've killed someone and they want to even the score.

[Raylan kept walking and kept silent for a long minute.]

My life is only simple because I know which side'a the line I stand on at the end of the day. Either the people that get hurt on the way are acceptable damages or not. And I wouldn't go anywhere towards callin' it happy so if you think the grass is greener on this side because I don't have to deal with God.. Well you might be right on that, but that's about it.

Bit obvious there. I was hoping for some sort of long dramatic tale of chivalry.

[ No he wasn't. He was just being an ass. ]

You're line of work doesn't get people lit on fire for talking to a deity or demon. It doesn't equal to one of your older mates being fodder for a bloody fucking hunger demon they let loose on the world. [ His voice raised then with an anger, but not directed at Raylan. It was one directed at himself. At how he kept living this bloody stupid life of his when it caused everyone around him to die, or their lives to be utterly destroyed.

... yet, he kept living it anyways.

It was the only life he knew. ]

[That made Raylan scoff. He didn't do chivalry, just manners.]

Only people who try to compare themselves against others got somethin' to prove. [Hazel eyes slid sidelong over at John as he brushed a branch out of his own way.]

You've seen some shit. I get it. Your stories aren't anythin' but. And maybe its a bit of a privilege of mine to know that the only thing waitin' for anyone I put down is a coffin and nothin' else. But lives are lives. Weighin' 'em against each other is disrespectful.

Does anything ever make you wonder about the company you keep?

[ He chuckled at that. Only a coffin. If only he were so bloody lucky. John sighed and flicked his cigarette to the side. ]

Thought you figured out that I'm awfully disrespectful.

[Raylan gave him a look. No, John wasn't going to get an answer to that. He had no responsibility to that; here in Mathis, there were few choices and Raylan was a smart man to not discount John's skills and wisdom.

That and he was an awful lot like Tim in some ways, brash and evenly unapologetic; a sarcastic ass. Raylan was self aware enough to know he needed that.]

Yeah well, manage to curb yourself somehow, I'm not interested in that kinda dick wavin' contest.

[The fog loomed ahead of them, all of fifteen feet ahead, and Raylan slowed to a stop.]

Alright, Occult Detective. What do you make of this?

[ If they were to talk about the type of people they needed around them? Raylan certainly fit the bill of someone like Chas. Good man, cared - empathy, and had a better sense of wrong and right when it came to normal day life. Reminding John the human element inside of humanity when his head got too wrapped up into the details of magic and the case at hand.

John knew he needed someone like that. Didn't mean he'd ask out loud. ]

I hope you got a pair of handcuffs to back up that statement, Marshal. Don't be a bore!

[ He turned his eyes to look at the fog. Really? That was as close as Raylan was going to get? John pushed further ahead, stopping right before he would touch the wall. He cocked his head to the side, taking the cigarette out of his mouth. John waited a moment or two more before putting it inside the wall of fog.

Then, he flicked it inside, hands stuffing into his pockets.

John looked over his shoulder. ]

It's fog, mate.

Not currently, but I'm sure I could find some zipties or a knot you can't get out of. [He firmly felt he was NOT a bore, but that was as far as he'd take the argument. Raylan didn't like emotional conflict and he'd do what he could to avoid it. Maybe John could take a lesson.]

Man like you, [he started with an incredulous tilt of his head, expression pinching to match-] All you've talked about. 'It's just fog'. [He was properly surprised, even as his expression pinched into suspicion and disbelief.] You know what happened with the storm that was ragin' when we arrived right?

[Surely ignorance was why John was so brazen.]

I'll take that bet.

[ His face remained still as he listened to the man's frustrations. Then, he sighed. Of course. No one could simply take the easy way out of an explanation when they were given it. Not after how he tooted his own bloody horn. When would he learn to shut up? ]

The fact that if you went out into the dark too far you'd come back looking like a piece of paper? Cold as hell? Yeah, I saw that, mate.

This shite is just fog. Doesn't mean that what's livin' in it is of this world.

[That's because it sounded like a lie.

Raylan shook his head as his long legs started forward again.]

I think you're wrong. Nothin' here is just what it seems. [And yet, Raylan was striding into it anyway.]

No guns, not even a bat, just us two assholes walkin' into somethin' we can't see. [Clearly it went against everything he was used to.]

[ John rolled his eyes. His hand reached out to snag Raylan, giving him a fierce tug back out of the fog. Raylan had a damn good point. John hated that. It meant it that John had to stop being a mopey bastard and actually do the damn job he so loudly proclaimed he did.

Forcing his hand. It sounded like something Chas and Manny would do. ]

Yeah, yeah, calm your spurs cowboy. [ He motioned for Raylan to take a step back. ] We'll go charging in once we've got a better idea of what we're dealing with. Now, just stay back.

[ Oh, he'd bitch the whole time he did this.

John looked side to side until he found what he was looking for. He picked up a stick. It took him a brief moment before he found a place of his liking. Somewhere with dirt that was easy to get to work in. Which was drawing a large circle around himself, and filling it with runes. ]

Now, I'm all for charging in ... once I've got a bloody idea what I'm up against. Which, if you haven't been keeping track? None of us have figured out what It is in this damn town. [ He talked as he worked. ] I can't find a single ghost in this town. There's no animals, no bugs. Last thing we try is to talk to good ol' Mother Nature herself.

Maybe she'll be a bit more agreeable.

[Successfully snagged, Raylan stepped back beside him with an expectant look. He'd let the spurs comment slide; as Doc had neatly, subtly reminded him, he wasn't that far away from it, temporally speaking.]

Still think it's the Fog itself. Like that John Carpenter movie.

[His hands found his crookedly set hips as he watched John scratch in the dirt. Reminded him a bit of chickens, but he wasn't going to say that either.]

This a.. supernatural phone call you're workin' on? [It was a genuine, non-sarcastic guess.

What the hell was he about to see?]

Could be the Fog, but, something either lives in it or is using it. Easiest explanation anyways.

[ Chickens that knew Nordic runes? Well, let him talk to those chickens. He might be able to learn a thing or two. ]

Close enough. [ John looked up at Raylan with a crooked grin. ] Hopefully we can send a signal out. If we're lucky, which I'm usually not, we might even get an answer.

[ He tossed the stick to the side and shook his arms out. Real magic always had a higher price than what you got. He wasn't looking forward to the punch that he'd get for this. A little energy revival got the wind knocked out of him. What was this going to do?

Well, he always said he did stupid in spades.

John raised his hands, palms facing the ground, closing his eyes, and giving a chant in what sounded like Scandinavian but far older. His fingers stretched out further. The runes in the dirt lit suddenly, John channeling his own energy into them. Mathias had energy--but it was like it was still. Dormant.

Then, he turned his palms upwards. The light from the runes faded and then a quick beam of light shot into the Fog. He opened one eye and lowered his hands. ]

Now, time to see if anyone will answer. Either we'll get a beam of light back... or it'll hit something and light up somewhere.

Hopefully.

You say like they ain't all equally crazy. [Raylan accused lightly with a curl of his features, head tiling as John moved about. If he'd been thinking, he would have remembered John telling him that magic had a price or that the last time he used it to see into Mathis, it knocked it on his ass.

Well, curiosity might end up killing someone, but it wasn't going to be Raylan. Not that that was worth much.

The chanting and the dirt lighting up had Raylan straightening from his casual cant, taking a wonderfilled, suspicious filled step forwards the lighted runes.]

What the hell...

[If he'd had his gun, he would have put his hand on it, but since he didn't, his shooting hand palmed his hip uselessly in a gesture that he was glad John didn't see before hooking his fingers into the pocket of his jeans.]

What kinda tongues was that?

Norse. May have gotten a few of the pronunciations wrong. Magic is more about the intent anyways.

[ John stayed where he was, eyes out on the dense fog in front of them. He could see the faint wisps of light among the rolling cloud like density, enough to make him frown. It was being redirected - bounced. He wasn't sure what that meant exactly. Either something was manipulating it, or it couldn't find something to latch onto.

Bloody hell. Not a good sign.

John suddenly turned as the beam of light shot back and whizzed past them. It hit the nearest wall and dissipated. Not good. ]

Oh, bollocks.

[ He tries to brace himself for whatever might be happening next. Hopefully the outcome will hit him and not the man standing to the side. It didn't matter what he tried to prep himself for. The rejection of his magic, the township fighting against it, whatever it was? It hit him. Hard. Harder than just when he did that little spell around Doc.

Suppose that was what happened when he tried to use his own energy to send a message to someone - something - through the Fog.

First, it felt like something kicked the back of his knees out. John tumbled down, catching himself with one hand and breaking the circle he had made. The next felt like a punch straight into his lungs. He wasn't sure if that is what it was, but it sure of hell felt that way. A broken sound escaped him as he bent over, coughing violently. His free hand went to his mouth to try and control the sudden fit that over took him.

All those years of smoking probably hadn't helped. ]

[The 'Oh Bollocks' alerted him to the fact that.. something was going to happen and Raylan shifted to a fuller attention as his eyes darted between John and the fog as the Brit fell to the ground.]

Shit, [he swore as he fell to a knee next to John, hand casting out over his back as he coughed.] Guessin' that didn't go as well as you thought it would, huh?

[Raylan looked back at the fog for a moment before looking back at John.] Take it easy, take your time. Then tell me what that told ya.

[ John managed to shake his head despite the coughing fit. After a few minutes it eased, leaving him panting and wheezing. He finally pulled his hand back. Blood and... well, he didn't really want to entertain the idea that what was in his hand probably belonged in his lung. Shit. He sighed and flicked his hand to the side, sending the piece of whatever it was onto the ground.

One long last sigh and he leaned back on his ankles. ]

Ah... fuck.

It told me that whatever is out in that blood Fog? We can't communicate with it -- or it doesn't want to be communicated with.

[Raylan watched him cast the fluid and chunk away with no small bit of horror in his eyes.]

Was that part of your lung? Shit John. [He was worried and it only had a fraction to do with the obvious whiplash - he doubted the spell alone helped that piece of flesh outta him.]

Then it can continue to kiss my ass. C'mon, I'm takin' you home. [And his tone suggested he'd broach no argument.]

012-014 » even the air itself was grey

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