villagemod: (sᴛᴏɴᴇ)
The Village Mod ([personal profile] villagemod) wrote in [community profile] villagelogs2020-12-05 01:22 am

018-020 » what he hides

WHO: Everyone.
WHERE: Eastern/Central/Western Mathias.
WHEN: Days 018-020
WHAT: The fog recedes!
WARNINGS: Will update as necessary. PM this account to have a warning added!
NOTES: Plotting post over here!

RECOMMENDED ♫ Graham Plowman "Edge of Darkness"





DAYS 018-020
THE HIDDEN REVEALED

“Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.”
— Benjamin Franklin


As the sun rises in the distance above the sea, the fog slips away from the unsettling town, winding through streets and across buildings until it is nestled soundly in the forest. There it waits, ready to snare any who dare test its limits — residents would do well to remember what happened the last time they encountered the fog so intimately.

With the fog receded, the western portion of Mathias is now revealed and available for exploring. There are more businesses on the town square and even some on the street that runs off the square. The schoolhouse is nestled by the southern treeline, not from the little makeshift cemetery at the end of Jackson Boulevard that is courtesy of a few kind residents in town. To the far north of the square is a sprawling garden, now covered in snow, and a greenhouse that once supplied the botanical shop. And to the west, beyond the square, is another residential district of the same size as that to the east. What is different, however...

These buildings are all in some form of decay. From the beginnings of rot to completely collapsed and little more than a pile of proverbial bones, none of these homes are anything resembling livable. Well, as far as one can tell, at least. For between the streets of Hill Lane and Stine road there is a crack in the earth. A dozen feet across and fifty feet down, the crack extends from one side of the forest to the other, either end cut off by the fog. The view to the other side is clear but there is no way across.


THE NEW ARRIVALS

There are quite a few new faces in Mathias on this day. Awaking throughout Day 018, they will find themselves laying in the snow beside that unsettling crack in the earth, houses both quaint and decaying surrounding them as the snow begins to cover their bodies. Best get inside and warm up, dears.




SPECTRES IN THE NIGHT

The days are short now that winter seems to have set in unseasonably early. Though the clocks in Mathias fail to properly keep time or sometimes even work at all, the sun rises around 8:00am and sets at 5:00pm. There is far more darkness than light in these days, but in that darkness there is, in fact, light.

In the distance all across Mathias, there are lanterns lit against that darkness. Their lights dance across the snow, the warm flickering shining like tiny stars and offering an almost ethereal glow to the crisp white snow. It would be a beautiful sight to behold... if it weren't for the shadowy figures that held them. With partially raised arms, the figures hold the lanterns and walk the streets of Mathias, drifting in between buildings and disappearing into the forest. Still yet, there are some that simply stand in place, as if waiting for something or someone.

No matter where or when these figures are seen, they always seem to be facing away from our residents, and attempts at reaching them are all for naught. They will fade from view if one gets too close, and return to sight when that distance is regained. And in the morning, those lanterns may be found in the snow, their lights extinguished but their glass somehow still warm.


STRANGER IN THE SNOW

Those investigating the western part of Mathias and venturing near that inexplicable crack in the earth will have the most unsettling feeling of being watched. Most of the time, there is nothing there and no one to be seen, but then—

On the other side of that expanse, sitting on a porch, in the shadow of a home, or standing in the oddly moonlit street, there is a man. His features are shrouded in darkness and not much can be discerned about him, but instinct tells you he is dangerous. There is a sense deep in your bones that he is maliciously amused.

He makes no move to speak, nor will he respond to any attempts on your part. Instead, he sits, or he stands, and he watches. By the end of Day 020, all sign of him will be gone, along with the eerie feeling of being watched.







LOCATIONS


Unless otherwise noted, all new locations have working electricity and other utilities.

BENEDICT BOOKS Nestled quaintly on the square surrounding the Town Hall, a thick layer of dirt covering the front windows. A portrait hangs at the front of the store to illustrate the namesake of the little shop... that may, in fact, not be so little. Dust covers everything in sight and detritus litters the wooden floor, as if someone left the door open and allowed half the forest inside. (more info)

MATHESON ANTIQUES Also on the town square is an antique store that is a lesson in chaos more than culture. The items within are stacked haphazardly, creating narrow aisles running throughout the space. Furniture, light fixtures, old revolutionary and civil war memorabilia, all of it is jumbled together with no rhyme or reason. Indeed, one wrong move could create an avalanche of aged wood and peeling paint.

POE'S CLOTHES Located on the town square, this shop carries only the basics. Loose jeans in a few sizes, khakis, solid color dress shirts and blouses, flannel in various styles, socks and underwear.

SPIN RIGHT ROUND RECORDS On the square across from the beauty store, the music shop is as dusty as everything else in this town has been. Tables line the walls of the long shop, filled with rows and rows of vinyl records, while a few wall shelves display cassette tapes for sale. One side of the store is for New items, while the other holds the Used section with items for resale. Residents may recognize some of the artists but many are unfamiliar to them.

CLINIC Outside the decayed, crumbling building just north of the square is a still miraculously intact sign with the name of the clinic's doctor, Dr. Ken Suzuki. There is no way to treat patients in this location, but with care, some salvageable supplies may yet be found in the remains.

BARKER BOTANICALS Not quite a flower shop and not entirely an apothecary, the botanical store to the far north of the square is something of an amalgamation of both. With a few broken windows to let in the rain, parts of the shop have been overtaken by nature, the house plants growing beyond their pots and rotted flower petals littering the floor to tell of seasons past. The still unclaimed walls are filled with decaying plants and jars of dried herbs and other vegetation, along with a few essences and tinctures.

GREENHOUSE A few dozen yards from the botanicals shop is a sprawling garden, now covered in snow, and a greenhouse that once supplied the botanical shop. The glass is still miraculously intact, though covered in grime so thick that one cannot see inside.

GALLERY The gallery is essentially a large empty space with framed and matted black and white photographs of the town lining the walls. There is a small selected of prints available for sale near the front entrance, and a few rooms at the back of the building — a dark room for developing photos, a small office, and a locked room.

MOVIE THEATER This single-screen theater is quite small, having only 40 seats, but there is a large collection of movies in its storage room. These are all old film reels however, so hopefully someone knows how to thread a film projector.

HISTORY MUSEUM Across the street from the Historical Society, this once esteemed wooden building has seen better days. Windows and doors are boarded up and there is visible rot and decay on the exterior walls. Part of the roof has fallen in and the accumulating snow threatens to collapse the rest of it as well. It is not wise to venture within.

HISTORICAL SOCIETY This brick building has also seen better days, though in a different sort of way. Where once had been carefully cataloged collections and cozy reading rooms for aficionados of local history, there are now stacks of bankers boxes and weathered tomes in every nook and cranny. There is no organization to any of it, everything seeming to have been stashed in a hurry and then left forgotten. Anyone who dares to dive into this archive will need to devote quite some time in order to find anything worthwhile. They will also want to bring their own light source — the electricity does not work here and the windows are quite dark from the accumulated dust and grime.

SCHOOLHOUSE A much smaller school than most of our residents might be used to, there are only a half-dozen rooms in the building, with a few comprising classrooms, meeting areas, and workspaces. All ages were taught here, and one might almost imagine the sound of children's whispered voices and distant laughter while within the empty building.





CONDITIONS UPDATE
SNOW continues to fall in Mathias. Days 18-19 see light snowfall that very slowly accumulates, but the snowfall turns moderately heavy on Day 20 and sees significant accumulation. The temperature hovers just below freezing and dips lower when the sun goes down.

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.

THE FOG has receded from the town proper and much of the eastern and northern beach. The path through the northern forest to the lighthouse is now also clear.

DISAPPEARANCES continue to plague the town. While Daisy Johnson has returned, Zed Martin, Rey, and Quentin Coldwater have now vanished without a trace.


OOC UPDATES
MADNESS has now been unlocked. Congratulations to Inky for Claire earning the first Madness! Who will be next? (Please be sure to keep your sanity updated regularly; Stars has created an amazing tracker for anyone to use if they'd like.)

HELPERS are officially in residence! Kelly is our Registrar and Stars is our Librarian — both of these delightful members of our community are helping behind the scenes to keep things organized and updated (and doing wonders for the mod's own sanity levels), so please give them some thanks for their hard work!

REPORTING updates is still a thing that your mod and helpers beg you to do. Changes to locations, plot notes that affect the community, and discoveries should be reported over here so these can all be noted in their appropriate places. (For clarification, reported Discoveries are not public knowledge unless a character has ICly shared this information.)

A MAP of Mathias now exists, thanks to our wonderful Librarian! Please note that it is not to scale and there may be a few minor errors due to your frazzled mod. Expect updates in the future as more secrets are revealed.

BULLETIN BOARD — don't forget about it. That's all.


CLAIMING AP REWARDS
Normally, only one AP reward can be claimed per log, but due to the plethora of new and old locations to explore, this restriction is being relaxed. Instead, for this log only:
— Players may spend AP on up to three rewards, though only Spot Hidden may be repeated.
— If a player is spending multiple Spot Hiddens, they must be with different characters and in different locations.

If two characters are investigating the same location together, they may each spend a Spot Hidden on that location. Players should record their spent AP after the AP request has been approved. Sometimes there is nothing to Spot with your Hidden and the points will be "refunded" to use elsewhere.


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cholesterol: 🇩‌🇴‌🇳‌'🇹‌ 🇹‌🇴‌🇺‌🇨‌🇭‌ (say it to me straight)

[personal profile] cholesterol 2020-12-13 08:31 pm (UTC)(link)
I've been there, too. Is that what you think? This is in our minds?

( Or, making them see things? Are any of them actually here? )
abrightboy: (curiosity)

[personal profile] abrightboy 2020-12-13 08:35 pm (UTC)(link)
No. But I think our minds are what they're attacking.
prevenance: (150loFu)

[personal profile] prevenance 2020-12-13 09:31 pm (UTC)(link)
No.

( but he doesn't elaborate on what he is to her. he's sure dean will find elena and will ask her about him and elena will share.

elijah feels no need to. )


What are you researching?

( yes, that's his segue. he's content with dean's answers on the elena situation and he's moving onto wondering what dean is doing in the library. )
prevenance: (FpUqIzZ)

[personal profile] prevenance 2020-12-13 09:42 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes, that is how one tends to find their way to an afterlife. But, usually when they come back and say they met God, there is...something else going on.

( and while this man might have died, who's to say what he saw was god? had anyone actually seen god before and could prove it? )

How are you so certain it was God? That seems rather farfetched.
bestfuneralever: (Smoke ~ drag)

[personal profile] bestfuneralever 2020-12-13 09:51 pm (UTC)(link)
Ghosts are pretty farfetched by most people's standards, but that hasn't stopped them from bother me since I was four. [He snorts and flicks ashes from his cigarette on the floor behind the counter he's now leaned a hip against as he talks to the other man.

Still, he shrugs at the question being asked.]
I mean, I can't prove it, obviously. It was some sort of...crossroads, between the veil space and She said She made everything. Mostly, it's just this feeling... [He shakes his head.] You don't have to believe me, but I know it's true.

[He glances over at the guy again and frowns a bit. There's some sort of... something. He can't place it. It's annoying, like the way your palm itches and you can't actually scratch it in any way that's remotely satisfying, but this is in the back of his head, on the inside, where he can't even reach it.

He brings the cigarette back up and takes a long drag from it.]
villagemodama: (Default)

[personal profile] villagemodama 2020-12-13 10:28 pm (UTC)(link)
Only the person loading the film into the projector will lose the sanity points. A nice reward for doing a dumb.
cholesterol: 🇩‌🇴‌🇳‌'🇹‌ 🇹‌🇴‌🇺‌🇨‌🇭‌ (duck in cover)

[personal profile] cholesterol 2020-12-13 10:31 pm (UTC)(link)
Some call it dumb, he calls it Dean.

If Dean were going to take an inventory of 1301 Phillips Dr, what kinds of things might he find in a downstairs closet, under the sink in the kitchen, and in the bathroom cabinets?

Would he be able to find a small travel sewing kit since suture kits are not available!
villagemodama: (Default)

[personal profile] villagemodama 2020-12-13 10:34 pm (UTC)(link)
He'd find the normal sort of house things, nothing out of the ordinary. He could absolutely find a small sewing kit.
tinstar: (Shadowed Hat)

[personal profile] tinstar 2020-12-13 11:05 pm (UTC)(link)
"Wouldn't be in any records or papers either, if no one was left to write about it." He didn't like how that sounded either but it wasn't like anyone was getting to pick and choose here.

"Looks like it to me. Haven't seen him come out of his house yet tho, despite people yellin' at him. I'd rather get across the breech here, but no one's got bridge powers yet and we don't have the equipment to make our own."

He edged towards the edge and kicked a rock off, listening to how long it took before.

"That's well over 300 foot deep, at least."
abrightboy: (thinking down)

[personal profile] abrightboy 2020-12-13 11:14 pm (UTC)(link)
Malcolm moved to the edge next to Raylan, staring down into the chasm.

"The sides don't look solid, either. I wouldn't trust them for climbing."

He looked at Raylan, about to say something else, then looked across again. "I can feel his eyes on me."
fika: (pic#14358264)

[personal profile] fika 2020-12-13 11:19 pm (UTC)(link)
"Kind of wondering -" he isn't going to turn down some moonshine, and definitely not now, and the swigs he takes might be a bit too generous, grimacing at the sting. "- if it would have been a little neater if I hadn't."

He isn't saying he's going to be doing anything so drastic as attempting a reset now, or that he wants to give another shot at the death loophole, but right now he'd take a mouthful of sand over feeling like he just got run over by a truck.

He waits for Doc to return back down the stairs, and he almost laughs if the act itself wasn't so damn unpleasant, pinpricks in his lungs. "Well, I heard the crack," stiffly, he grabs the edge of his sweater, hikes it up just enough. He hadn't seen the damage himself, and while there hadn't been too long a time between Coulson sweeping him up and coming here, the starting of red bruising was already more than evident, spindling out from his side. "Any chance they aren't broken?" It all still felt the same level of shitty.
descendent: (pic#14197201)

[personal profile] descendent 2020-12-13 11:31 pm (UTC)(link)
[ she gives him a small, kind smile. ] I know.

[ it's selfish to want jeremy or stefan here, but that doesn't mean she doesn't crave them to appear covered in snow, yelling about how cold it is. she's grateful for elijah, but nothing beats having family. ]

Is he older or younger?

[ the eternal tua question. ]
fika: (pic#14430478)

[personal profile] fika 2020-12-13 11:33 pm (UTC)(link)
[ grabbing a chef's knife is on his to do list. surprisingly, the town seems to be very good at hiding all the blatantly pointy things.

five isn't exactly used to letting anyone else take point, so when dean steps forward and into the door, he ends up doing the same thing time in accidental tandem, falling back only because...well, because dean takes up the whole damned doorway.

great.
] Nope. Just killing time.

[ inside, everything is stacked a bit too precariously for his liking. one wrong move seems to suggest the whole damn chair pyramid falling on their heads. ] Maybe an old watch.
fika: (pic#14430508)

[personal profile] fika 2020-12-13 11:41 pm (UTC)(link)
[ arguably, they don't belong anywhere here. they've been displaced, ripped out of their respective worlds and shoved messily into this one with no apparent cause or reason.

and that? that was infuriating.

at least this newcomer was a bit more perceptive. it would make for answering her questions a little easier.

he notes how she lingers at the doorway with a curious rise of a brow, but doesn't comment further than that - she's welcome to do whatever she wants. meanwhile, he starts looking again.

its all dusty and old and layered with the same amount of crap. no symbols, or clues, or proverbial maps. his sigh is through clenched teeth, before his attention pivots back to the girl.
] Yeah. More to the point - what the hell made them leave.

It feels like they were here one day, and gone the next. So, [ he's postulating, rather than offering any concise explanation, but he would if he could. ] With the amount of creepy shit starting to happen here day by day? It's a safe bet it wasn't anything good.
thering: (Doc297)

[personal profile] thering 2020-12-13 11:51 pm (UTC)(link)
It is a small town. For now. [Doc has never lived in a place with buildings that touch the sky and thousands- millions of people rushing here and there whose names and faces he cannot possibly all know. He isn't sure he can handle that kind of big city life with that kind of crowd.]

There is but the one restaurant, one town hall, one supply store. Hardly anyone can remain anonymous for long. That and the same few people keep running into trouble. [Not that he's naming names. Doc's been fairing fine himself so far but that can change at any moment, especially with these lanterns they are pursuing.]

Have you discovered anything about our new friends? [He gestures towards the winking lights that they are having trouble catching up to.]
bestfuneralever: (N4_131)

[personal profile] bestfuneralever 2020-12-14 12:05 am (UTC)(link)
Wouldn't you know, that's the weirdest question to answer for anyone in my family at this point... [He laughs a little. Time travel really does fuck things up a lot.] He's older, but he doesn't look it. He looks like he'd be my kid-brother, but he's got something like four decades on me.
thering: (Doc212)

[personal profile] thering 2020-12-14 12:15 am (UTC)(link)
[Doc looks pointedly up towards the shelf of unlabeled moonshine bottles, expecting his gaze to be easy enough to follow. Given this is a face he doesn't recognise it is quite possible that this is the latest unfortunate soul to be gracing them with his presence. Their little open bar gathering feels like a long time ago, now.]

We have been making some homebrew. It's... well no one's died or gone blind from drinking it yet but it might be a little too harsh for you. [No offense son but you don't look like you could handle the way it burns or puts hairs on your chest. Doc isn't sure what other conclusion to draw with a youthful face and a city boy look. Nobody drinks it for that warm, enriching aroma of gasoline.] You should be done after a couple glasses. [Whether that looks like rolling on the floor or sobbing over his mother or passed out flopped over the armrest of the couch.]
thering: (Doc238)

[personal profile] thering 2020-12-14 12:32 am (UTC)(link)
Doc hands the otoscope to Malcolm before he leaves. Between the three of them, it would be of better use in his than anyone else's. The other things he will take, even if he has no immediate plans to use them.

"He is from the big city, and is not handling the transition to small town life very well. He gets anxious, some days more so than others. Seems these days someone has been telling young people to take a pill for everything." Doc is not necessarily lying but he isn't telling Dean the full truth of it. If Malcolm wants to talk about his night terrors, PTSD or anxiety disorders or whatever it is he's dealing with, he can tell Dean himself. If there was anything anyone could do to help him, Doc would gladly share it. As it is, the daily struggles they have to deal with in 1306 are staying in 1306.

"Something about this place is... unsettling. It's- you will feel it too, at the edge of the fog, in certain parts of the forest. More so than anything anyone will tell you about answering your house phone or not going into the fog, heed your gut."
abrightboy: (confounded)

[personal profile] abrightboy 2020-12-14 12:35 am (UTC)(link)
Malcolm stood outside, fiddling with the otoscope to test its batteries, waiting for Doc. He was slightly less antsy outside, though his bearing still had a nervous energy to it.
thering: (Doc128)

[personal profile] thering 2020-12-14 01:09 am (UTC)(link)
I have not. [As far as he is concerned, very little that has happened so far would not give them a reason to be "overreacting". It is certainly not overreacting if they have truly gone missing.]

I could help you look for him, if you need a second pair of eyes. Do you see him often, or stay with him? How long has it been since you saw him last? [If it has been more than a day then he is definitely going to go looking, whether he has to do it on his own or with company.]
fika: (pic#14430478)

[personal profile] fika 2020-12-14 01:16 am (UTC)(link)
In more ways than one. [ five leans himself on one of the store counters, and frowns when the motion pulls at that pinprick ache of fractured ribs.

truly, his brother would be a better adviser on finding an outfit that didn't scream 'small town 90s lumberjack'.

he snorts. that's a pretty amusing mental picture there.
] You know, wouldn't be surprised if that were true.

No one knows when this is, anyway. [ trust the time traveler to hyperfocus on time, before skimming a different row of shirts on the opposite end. A point in that general direction: ] Turtlenecks? [ see? he's being so helpful. ]
villagemodama: (sᴛᴏɴᴇ)

[personal profile] villagemodama 2020-12-14 01:29 am (UTC)(link)
The decaying houses appear to be some combination of aged, damaged by the elements, and actually decaying with some sort of rot from the inside out. There isn't too much that can be found in 785 Hill Lane that is salvageable, but in the closets, he'll find some clothes that appear to be 60's fashion, and the few photographs he can find will be of people in 50's and 60's clothing.

There is one photograph in particular that he will notice that appears to have been spared much of the harsh fate the others have suffered from age and water — a photo of a large group of other people gathered in front of a very large house surrounded by trees. When Five picks up the photo from where it is laying on the floor, the frame breaks apart in his hand, pieces of it falling back to the floor and revealing that along the bottom edge of the photograph is written Lodge, 1964.
villagemodama: (Default)

Gallery

[personal profile] villagemodama 2020-12-14 02:03 am (UTC)(link)
The photographs along the walls are almost entirely shots around Mathias. There are some of the town square, with people going about their daily business. There is one of the schoolhouse, with children playing together near the treeline. There are a handful of areas along the beach, of the rocks and the waves and a narrow opening in the cliffside leading into darkness. There is one of an old well in the forest, and one of the light shining from the lighthouse.

There is not any undeveloped film to be found in the unlocked areas.

The Skeleton Key does not work on the locked door, but as Claire tries it, she notices the corner of something sticking out from beneath the door. Pulling it out reveals a large photograph, clearly meant to join the others in the gallery. This one is different from the others, though — instead of black and white, it is in color, showcasing the bloodred sky stretching out above the roof of what must be a large house, though little beyond the roof itself can be seen in the print.
villagemodama: (sᴛᴏɴᴇ)

Historical Society

[personal profile] villagemodama 2020-12-14 02:23 am (UTC)(link)
The full newspapers in the archive are quite old and do not cover many sequential years — they are from nearby towns and none of them produced in Mathias itself. Instead, there are more clippings than anything, documenting the residents of Mathias who have done things notable enough to be recognized outside their little town. Successful business ventures, war veterans returned home, the first woman from the town to attend a university, there is a smattering of them dating back to mid-1800s.

The most notable event she finds mention of, however, is quite tragic. In 1831, a fire destroyed nearly the entire town, leaving only a few buildings standing and only 12 survivors. The cause of the fire was reported to be a lightning storm.

The most recent newspaper article she can find in her present search is dated April 7th, 1993. One of the local students was awarded a scholarship to a prestigious school.
endlessflask: (255)

[personal profile] endlessflask 2020-12-14 02:37 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah. We live together.

[ The question of how long it's been since Eliot's seen Quentin last is enough to make Eliot feel like he's being an idiot. Still, he can't shake the feeling of something not being right. ]

Usually he sleeps in but he was gone when I woke up today. I didn't think a lot about it but I stopped by the places he goes, and he wasn't there. He mentioned there was a secret passage with a mirror or something in the library and I don't know if he tried to go find that and got lost or - He's probably totally fine, right?