015-017 » enter the fog!

[villagemod]

WHO: Everyone.
WHERE: Eastern/Central Mathias.
WHEN: Days 015-017
WHAT: The fog murders a third of the town. This is Fine.
WARNINGS: Will update as necessary. PM this account to have a warning added!
NOTES: Plotting post over here! Thank you so much to everyone for your patience!!

RECOMMENDED ♫ Kevin Penkin "Core-collapse"

DAY 015
ENTER THE FOG
“If you want to see what the fog hides in itself,
don't wait for the fog to disperse! Enter the fog!”
— Mehmet Murat ildan

In the early hours of the morning, when darkness finally descends upon Mathias once again, so too does the fog. It moves slowly, filling every inch of the forest before spilling into the streets like water, a wave of thick white vapor surrounding every building and structure in the town until it reaches the rocky beach. And at this early hour, before the sun has risen in the sky, the residents of Mathias will learn the true power of the fog that has surrounded their prison.

In every building in town, in every room that has one, the phone rings. The sound is shrill in the quiet of the town, the cacophony of ringing echoing into the night. Again, and again, and again, the ringing is incessant, continuing if unimpeded for minutes that feel like hours.


If the phone is answered:

— There’s a strange clicking sound, like an old tape player that’s reached the end of the reel, click click click, and then a crackling whisper comes through across the line: “Don’t go outside.”

— If your character still chooses to open a door or window, the fog will remain in place, a wall of white just beyond their entry. It will not enter that room and they will feel no ill effects.

— If they choose to ignore all warnings and step into the fog, they will immediately begin to suffer mild side effects from the exposure (headaches, nausea, and weakness) that will be gone in a few hours if they retreat to safety but will increase in strength if they continue forward. More than two minutes in the fog will bring on a sharp pain in their head and nausea that forces them to the ground. They will be unable to breathe and unless they are somehow brought to safety, they will die in three minutes.

If the phone is not answered within a few minutes, there is a knock at the nearest exterior door or window. Polite, at first, and then pounding, a deep sound that echoes through the room, louder and faster, seeming to come from every wall all at once.

— If your character opens that door or window, there’s nothing there except the fog, which immediately begins to seep into the room through the open door. Those who shut the opening again will suffer mild side effects from exposure to the fog (headaches, nausea, and weakness) but will recover in a few hours.
— If they don’t open the door or window, the pounding stops suddenly, complete silence pressing in. And then— every window in the room implodes inward, shattered glass raining down everywhere as the fog rushes in. They are overcome by a sharp pain in their head and nausea that forces them to their knees. Breath is stolen from their lungs, leaving them gasping, and unless they are somehow brought to safety, they will die in three minutes.

The fog withdraws after one hour, just as the sun begins to rise.

Only those who answer the phone are truly safe from the fog. If any player wishes to opt-out of this event, their phone will not ring and they will sleep soundly through the hour. All those who perish in this event will leave behind corpses where they died and they will resurrect in separate bodies on the beach later that day as the sun sets, in the exact state they were in before the fog appeared. There are exceptions to these conditions...



A WAYWARD ARRIVAL
There is one new face in Mathias on this strangest of days. While so many are suffering and struggling to come to grips with the new facets of their strange reality, the latest resident to arrive in town will wake on the beach in the afternoon, when the sun has begun to dip on the horizon but the sky hasn't yet started to change color.

DAY 016
IN MEMORIAM
The sun rises and the sun sets, the day passing like any other. There is nothing eventful worth noting on this completely normal day beyond the return of even more of our weary residents. By sundown, all have returned who fell to the fog — except for those who don't. One has perished for good and the other remains lost.

New notices have been added to the bulletin board, including notes of memorial and missing persons. There are also a few graves that have popped up near the treeline, thanks to those who have taken it upon themselves to take care of the corpses left behind.

DAY 017
DECEPTIVE BEAUTY
Residents wake to a winter wonderland. Under the cover of night, snow has moved into Mathias, dusting the town with a coating of white that gives an almost picturesque quality to the eerie ghost town. It's a beautiful sight, concealing the deadly secrets that they've discovered existing beneath the surface here.

The snow brings with it an extra chill in the air. Breaths come in white puffs of air and frostbite and hypothermia are dangers to be mindful of. Stay inside, stay warm. Repair those broken windows and doors. Hope that another storm isn't on the horizon...

---

THE FOG'S AFTERMATH

THE PERMANENTLY DEAD
— Jill Valentine's dead body will be found in the street outside the Boarding House. She will not return to Mathias.

THE TEMPORARILY LOST
— Daisy Johnson will be missing from the town following the fog's departure.

THE RESURRECTED ONES
— John Constantine's body will be found inside 1308 Phillips Drive by Doc Holliday, who will bury him. He will resurrect on the beach the afternoon of Day 16. (x)
— Number Five's body will be found between the beach and the Grey Gull by his brother, Klaus. He will resurrect on the beach the morning of Day 16. (x)
— Phil Coulson's body will be found outside the Boarding House by Doc, Raylan, and Malcolm. He will resurrect on the beach the evening of Day 15. (x)
— Claire Novak's body will be found inside her room at the Boarding House. She will resurrect on the beach the evening of Day 15. (x)

LOCATIONS

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

— WEATHER conditions for days 15-16 are typical for late fall, with temperatures consisting 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. The temperature falls overnight into day 17, bringing with it a light snowfall that continues throughout the day.

— 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

— SANITY levels are now available as part of the game. Your characters have settled in and seen some things, so it's time to figure out just how crazy they're starting to go.

— REPORTING updates to locations around town may now be done over here. Did your character dig a moat around their house? Have they burned down part of the town hall? Are they growing magic carrots on the beach? These are important things to note for the rest of the class, so let us know about them and the updates will be added to the locations page!

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Comments

[thering]

Lord help them both.

Doc moves in further into the room and closes the door behind him, so no one else has to witness this, giving Klaus a bit of privacy. He hurries over to the bed, crouching down onto one knee, reaching over to tentatively touch Klaus on the arm. If he goes into a full blown panic, Doc might withdraw his hand like he's been burnt. Otherwise, he'll give that upper arm a firm squeeze before giving a few squeezes and pats on Klaus's shoulder. His other arm stays folded, draped over his bended knee.

"Mister Klaus." Doc could say he is sorry, offer his condolences, but the words feel empty at the moment. It is not okay, and it may not feel okay for a little while yet, so he cannot offer such reassurances either. At this juncture he is not even certain if Klaus can hear him.

"You can. You must. Take a few deep breaths. Please."

[bestfuneralever]

Don't ask for help from the big guy upstairs-- They've got it out for Klaus, personally, Doc. They said so right to his face, once.

The press of fingers around his arm, the weight of a hand on his shoulder, are all good, solid things to focus on. He tries to remember how breathing works, but it feels like this is how it's worked for as long as he can remember. He knows that isn't true, distantly, but it's hard to get outside of his own head like this. If he could just remember one of the tricks that one of the many, many shrinks he's talked to through court orders and NA meetings had given him, he might be able to handle it.

But he can't. He can't think through the panicked fog in his brain and instead, he just focuses on the one thing he can-- the solid, realness of the man kneeled in front of him. He reaches up to clasp Doc's hand in his. Maybe it's just not being alone. Maybe it's something in the smooth cadence of the other man's voice. Maybe it's both at once, but it's helping, even if the desperate gasps of breath still aren't quite calmed, there's a difference in the rhythm of them that's going in the right direction.

[thering]

Doc forces a smile and gives Klaus's hand a firm squeeze. He brings his other arm up to press his palm against smooth knuckles. It is fine to cry, to let it out. What is the alternative? To keep it in, keep everything bottled up. That is his own personal preference. That is not what he would recommend to anyone else. These moments will come and they will go, and more moments will come again, and they will pass. They do not need to speak of this moment again, or any more moments to come.

Rising a little, he moves to perch on the edge of the bed, careful not to put too much of his weight on it. They are now a little closer, more side by side rather than face to face. Not once does he let go.

"He loved you very much, Mister Klaus. I know you loved him, too."

[bestfuneralever]

The unspoken almost...permission to cry makes it all feel so much lighter, somehow. Like maybe it's something he can learn to carry, eventually, with enough time. And maybe a little help.

That doesn't necessarily make all of the emotions dissipate, though.

"It's not fair," he chokes out between sobs. "It's not- it's not fair, I just got him back. I just..." He lets out a shaky breath, shoving both hands into his hair, knees drawn up to his chest as rests his forehead against the tops of his knees. "I keep losing people." He moans the words out. "I can't... I don't want to... I'm not sup-p-posed to. I'm supposed to s-see them. Ta-talk to the people I loose, whenever I w-want." An echo of Diego's own words falling out of his mouth; he wonders if Number Two knows exactly how much that little handful of words had gotten under his skin? "And... and I can't. I can't, and I don't know why. It's not supposed to-- be like this."

His words skip and stutter around half-gasps and sobs that he can't quite stop yet. Not being alone is helping, but he has a lot left to work through to make it all stop yet.

[thering]

"I know, son." Nothing about these wretched lives they lead has been fair to anyone. He keeps one hand on Klaus's upper arm, rubbing up and down like it subconsciously gave his hand something soothing to do.

It must be difficult. Klaus has never had to experience real loss, because he can still see and talk to them like they are still here. A privilege to have gotten this far without really losing someone that has been so abruptly revoked. The unfamiliarity of their surroundings too, all the unanswerable questions about the fog - nothing about their current predicament is particularly helpful.

"Mister Five... had some troubles doing what he does, too." Maybe there's something about this place. Or something in the water. Doc doesn't know. He doesn't understand this family and how their... unusual abilities work, or the magic that the magicians possess, or any of it. Hell he doesn't even know how a microwave works, how food can get hot without a direct heat source. But he understands loss. He can speak of that, at least.

"We do not have the privilege you do, of spending more time with the people we have lost, taking back all the nasty things we said, righting our wrongs. But we remember them in different ways. You will still get to talk to Mister Five. It's just..." Doc shakes his head and shrugs. "He might not say anything back. A hundred years could pass and it will always ache every time you think of him, long after people stop asking you whether you're doing alright. And that's okay. That is what family does. Fight. Argue. Love. He will always be there, even if you cannot see him anymore."

[bestfuneralever]

That's just the crux of the whole thing-- this kind of truly, permanent sort of loss is new. It's novel and unknown and not familiar to him at all. He spent two decades running from his powers, but they were always there, if and when he wanted them. Ben was always there, even when he was high, and he'd always assumed it had something to do with the way he'd called him back to the world right after the funeral. But he's gone, too, now, and it's not just this place that stole him away; Ben chose that, and he shouldn't hate that his brother chose to finally move on, but he does. He hates that he chose it. He hates that he had to hear it in a third-party sort of way. He hates he didn't get to say a real goodbye to him.

And now this.
This, in this place, that he just showed up in barely a few days ago, and it's another family member just gone, gone, gone and how is he ever supposed to be okay with that? How is this supposed to ever get better, hurt less?

He doesn't move from how he's sat, but he tries to breathe deep, and slow, and he listens. Doc's voice has a soothing sort of cadence and he tries to focus on that, maybe even more than the words. Though, he hears those, too. Somehow, he says the same thing Diego did, and it sounds so much more reasonable, less like an accusation thrown hard and fast his way. Every word he says, Klaus knows he means it about Five, he doesn't even have any way of knowing about Ben, but... it hits so much harder of a note toward that end. Probably because Five's death is still just a little too fresh, a little too not-real yet, but Ben is different. Ben has been dead for nearly two decades, but now he's gone, too.

Klaus sniffs, doesn't lift his head or look up, but all the same he leans into Doc's side. There's comfort to be gained, there, and he wants to soak up every inch of it that he can.

[thering]

"It ain't ever gonna get better." Those were not reassuring words, but it was the truth. It has been over a hundred and fifty years for Doc and still he has not forgotten the loss of his mother, the first big blow to him. He barely recalls her face now, but her voice he still remembers. Her fears, her hopes, her prayers - he still carries some of those with him.

"But you will learn how to cope without him." He remembers that Klaus found Five on the beach, so. As he wraps an arm around Klaus's shoulder, holding him close, a water analogy feels appropriate.

"The grief will ebb and flow, in waves. And sometimes it is high tide, and it will hit you out of nowhere, wash over you, leave you cold and shaking, feeling like you're gon' drown. But the rest of the time? You're gonna feel a little more okay." He takes in a deep, slow breath, brushing the side of his thumb across Klaus's upper arm.

[bestfuneralever]

There's a soft huff of sound from him at that. The jagged-edged truth, which he actually appreciates so much more than any countless number of platitudes he could have given him. At least he's honest. Most people would have tried to make him feel better, but maybe Doc just isn't that kinda person. Maybe he could tell that isn't the kind of thing that would benefit Klaus, specifically. Either way, Klaus is thankful for it.

He's silent for another long stretch of minutes, while Doc explains what Klaus assumes must be his own experience with death, loss, and grief, and several long moments after his word are all out, too. He finds it mostly a cold comfort, but that's better than nothing, isn't it? And the arm around him, the thumb running against his arm, those are solid. Real. Warm comforts that he never got as a child. The soft kindness he should have gotten at four years old, terrified of the monsters in his closet; but all he got was told he was being insolent, chided for being out of bed during sleep hours.

"Thank you..." he finally manages to choke out, still pressed into Doc's side, his head leaned on the older man's shoulder. His breathing has evened out, the sobs have stopped and so have the tears. He's tired, bone-deep exhaustion sinking down into him in the aftermath of such an upheaval.

[thering]

Doc sort of grunts in reply with a small jerk of his head. He opens and closes his emotional response like a valve. For better or worse - likely worse - he does not know how to do what Klaus is doing right now. It seems healthier, more earnest than what was expected of men of his own time.

What Doc had shared had seemed like the right and necessary things to say, and now he no longer needs to say any more, so he falls quiet again, giving space for Klaus to soak in a new kind of silence in this room that he is going to have to get used to, teething pains and all.

He wants to stay. There is a chair he can spend the night in. He had made a promise to Five after all. It does not feel right to leave Klaus in this state. But he had also made a promise to Raylan. He was supposed to be on Malcolm night terror duty.

But maybe he can stay a while. Make sure Klaus gets some sleep, watch over him, maybe search the room quietly, if nothing else to keep himself busy doing what he wanted to do when he came here, and make some hot food when Klaus wakes up. And that is how they will get through grief. One step in front of the other.

"Would you like to lie down?" He asks quietly, hand sliding down to Klaus's elbow, turning ever so slightly over his shoulder to face Klaus although he doesn't make direct eye contact.

[bestfuneralever]

His head is fuzzy, from the overwhelming amount of emotion, from the exhaustion, all of it. He could probably stay right here, like this all night, if Doc just let him. The weight and the warmth of another person would be enough to lull him easily asleep. But he can't ask this man to do that, can he? Not like he'd meant to come in here and find Klaus all a mess.

The question is almost like he took a peek directly into Klaus' mind and he can't help the sleepy half-smile that quirks at the edges of his lips. "Yeah... probably should." he admits in a soft mumble, shifting to move to lay at the head of the bed, tugging Five's blankets up around himself; smells like coffee and cigarettes and makes it easy to relax.

"You can... go, if you need to. I-I'll be fine." Maybe. Probably. At least until he wakes up again.

[thering]

Well, it's not like he woke up this morning and meant to dig five holes in the ground for five people he knew, even if he had only known them in passing. They don't always get what they want.

"I should like to stay for a while. Could use the company of a strong man today." Because it takes strength to wear your heart on your sleeve, knowing anyone could just pass on by and take cheap shots at it. Doc doesn't have that kind of strength. He hides. Compartmentalises, as Malcolm puts it, breaking down the heartaches and the frustrations, stashing them in a hundred drawers hoping he will never have to revisit them. Only, these days he's finding he's starting to run out of drawers.

Rubbing his empty hand down his thigh a few times, he watches Klaus get comfortable and moves to stand, giving him space to stretch out and relax.

"Get some rest. Nothing's going to happen to you, Mister Klaus. I promise." Upon his brother's grave he did swear to uphold that promise. Even if he could not see or talk to Five anymore the way Klaus could.

[bestfuneralever]

If he wasn't so exhausted, he'd argue-- that he doesn't feel very strong; that he's always been the weakest link in his family; a hundred other counter-arguments to that statement could flood his tongue if he wasn't so goddamn tired. But none of them form right in his mind, to pass to his mouth, so they're all left unspoken and he nods.

"Okay...thank you." Maybe for saying he was strong. But mostly for staying. He's sure he's doing it for Klaus's sake and not his own, and Klaus appreciates it more than he can adequately put into words.

His eyes are already half-lidded, as he watches the older man move away, but not leave. In no time, he'll be asleep from weariness.