018-020 » what he hides

[villagemod]

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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Comments

[thering]

"I would if you promise I won't be needing to kiss anywhere else better." He wouldn't put it past John to stick his little friend somewhere stupid so he would have to kiss that better too. Or stick anything else anywhere stupid. Unless he's got a clever, reasonable explanation for what happened to his hand.

"Let's go have a look, shall we?" He's going in front since he has two hands and is less likely to slap a pair of safety scissors.

[descendent]

[ honestly, she would peg klaus for being at least in his late twenties. the height does make him look younger. is his brother like paul rudd who only grows a little grey hair, but otherwise looks like how he did twenty years ago?

she jokes, ] Does he have a really good skincare routine?

[ and if he does, he better tell them all. ]

[descendent]

[ as soon as elena feels the knee-jerk reaction to tell him not to smoke, it seems to serve a better and more magical purpose. regarding the now lit lanterns with a smile, she figures any display of magic will never get old. she wonders, briefly, if bonnie can do that, light a cigarette and flicker the fire to somewhere else. ]

Elena Gilbert.

[ it's not as impressive, but it's the one thing that's hers and hers alone. no doppelgänger can take that from her. ]

And… no. [ ducking her head and gaze to the floor, she looks a little sheepish nonetheless, sighing. ] I just yelled at him. You'd think someone being creepy would want to yell back. But it was like he didn't care. It bothered me a lot more than it should've.

[40seconds]

It wasn't- I didn't do it on purpose. [ That much is true. The events leading up to his death just happened so quickly that they're little better than a blur when he looks back on it. ]

And I didn't want to wait to tell you, only for you to find out from someone else before I could.

[ It doesn't make this better, or easier, and he knows it, but he's trying not to regret his decision to tell her here and now. ]

[chuju]

[ Logically, she knows he didn't do it on purpose. He never would, that's not who he is, not unless the lives of others were at stake. But from what she knows of the situation, that doesn't seem to have been the case. It just... happened. And now she has to deal with the aftermath. And nothing she's feeling right now leaves any room for logic. ]

But why... [ She presses a hand to her forehead, trying to calm her breathing and failing miserably. If anything, she just makes it worse. ] You didn't do it on purpose but you keep doing it. You keep dying and I can't—

[ The buzzing in her bones grows more powerful by the second, everything in her shaking until it begins to leak out around them. The counters begin to shake, just little tremors that barely rattle the coffee maker and other appliances stored there, and the table vibrates enough to disturb the coffee in their mugs. ]

[cholesterol]

"He's big city. He gets anxious. Has too much sugar in his coffee."

He sees everything Doc says as the excuses he gives. This is just confirming to Doc that's what he sees. But, he's not one to call someone else on their addictions. If they become a liability, that's when it matters.

"I feel it. Not all the time, but. I feel it. You feel it here?"

[40seconds]

[ That is also true. If others' lives were on the line, Coulson wouldn't hesitate to lie down on the grenade to save them. But this wasn't an act of self-sacrifice. It was a strange turn of events that he couldn't have predicted, and unfortunately, it ended badly. ]

I know. [ That's all he says at first, because he's not supposed to know, but he saw something that gave him a glimpse of his future, so he knows what's coming down the road. ]

No one lives forever, not even me. But if I can do something to make what time I have count, whether here or at home, I'm going to.

[ It's not exactly what he meant to say, but he figured that saying the older generation has to make room for the next wouldn't be very well received. And what happens next only confirms that he's right to think that. ]

Daisy, you're making the room shake. [ Probably the whole boardinghouse, if she keeps going the way she is. ]

Stop, I don't want you to hurt yourself. [ Again. ]

[descendent]

[ that doesn't bode well, but creepy shit, strange disappearances, and rather mystical towns is elena's bread and butter. although she does't particularly want to explore someone's house uninvited, they're not here, and it might get them answers.

she leaves the doorway to see if she can find any photos, newspapers, books. there has to be something here that can reveal to them what happened, who was here, and where they went. ]

Creepy shit like a sentient fog?

[ elena's still not sure if she can wrap her head around that one, but it keeps coming up and will keep coming up. perhaps the more she talks about it, the easier it will be to accept. dating a vampire is easier to process. ]

Where would they have gone? I didn't see any signs indicating there was a town a few miles away from here.

[ truthfully, it feels like a little isolated bubble. ]

[enduresurvive]

Ellie isn't entirely dressed for the weather, either; the weather in Seattle is a shitshow but it's not cold like Jackson. She'd had a heavier coat, but it's presumably still at the theatre back in her own world. She has several layers here, though; they've held up so far and worked out in the storms, so they're going to have to do for now. The only shoes she's got are her beat up Converse, but she runs around in snow with them all the time. She's pretty tough about weather, all things considered.

She has her bag with her, her knife in her pocket, and her journal like always. She also has a flashlight just in case, because you just never know, right?

"Hey. The weather here is bullshit. Too bad we didn't get teleported into some stupid nightmare town in summer, huh?"

She stands a little bit away, closer to Eliot but further from Klaus because one of them is a (slightly) known quantity and one of them is not. She doesn't wave or anything, instead keeping her hands in her coat pockets. It's better than being a fidgety mess, after all.

"Ellie," she says. "You know stuff about plants or whatever?"

[thering]

Doc turns his hand up and shrugs. City folk. What can you do?

"Well don't let me taint your impression of him. Perhaps you can talk to him sometime. He's uh... a bit on the chatty side, but he means no harm." Raylan had been more blunt, called it annoying. Especially every time Malcolm tries to attribute a flippant comment to some underlying psychological whatsit. Doc is too polite to say as much. He would not presume that White Hat and Black Hat are the only two people Malcolm knows, but he could always use some more friends.

"I do. Right now. I think we oughta leave." Doc starts back out towards the door, rejoining where Malcolm is waiting. He gives the young man a firm squeeze on the shoulder, flashing him a small smile. It could have meant anything. It's fine. They're fine. He's sorry there was no medication to be found in the clinic. They should keep moving. He is free to interpret the gesture.

"We will be continuing northward. You are free to join us. Otherwise, we will see you again soon." Doc flashes Dean a tight-lipped smile and his hand slides halfway down Malcolm's back before falling away.

[chuju]

[ No, him saying that would not have gone over well at all. She already isn't taking anything he's saying well, but that... Those words would have shattered her the way little else could.

He tells her to stop but it's too late for that now. The shaking grows stronger, effecting the entire room, and then spreads to the rest of the building. Their coffee sloshes in the cups, the pans rattle in their stacks, and she can hear the metallic clattering of silverware in the drawer. But none of it matters.

Nothing matters when he's telling her she nearly had to live without him. Again. ]

You're right, you don't live forever. You died a year ago and you didn't come back. [ The words just tumble out, anger and fear and panic jumbling together with the grief that grabs hold of her heart and threatens to crush it like one of her quakes. ] You don't get to tell me to stop when you left me.

[ And then she's crying, her voice breaking along with her heart, and the entire house rumbles. ]

[hellblaze]

[ only this time. she can harp all she wants about smoking another time.

he lets out a puff and looks up at the library around them. ]

Nice name, that. Elena.

[ an eyebrow lofts at her sheepishness. she'd just been calling out to a man she didn't even know, asking questions about the library, and now she's shy? piece of work she must be. ]

No. I get the feeling he was more amused by our theatrics than anything else.

[40seconds]

[ And that's precisely why he doesn't say them. So he doesn't know the events that transpire between what he remembers and what he does, but it doesn't take a genius to tell that something's shaken her. Oh, she mentioned the part about torture at the hands of some psychopath, but as significant and distressing as that is, he really thinks it's something else: something that encompasses several difficult things, and it's left her shaken.

He wishes he could do something to reassure her, to see that she finds her way back to solid ground, but now that seems easier said than done.

For just a second, his gaze travels away from her to take in the coffee sloshing out of the mugs to spill on the table, the pans clanging against each other, and the ting of silverware in the drawer. ]

I saw that, Daisy. Not that, specifically, but I saw myself making a deal, and then I knew.

[ Knew he'd die, knew he'd leave her and May and the team... ]

I'm sorry I left you. I'm sorry we didn't have more time.

[ It's an apology that feels incredibly inadequate, because how can he apologize for all the missed moments they'll never have now? They pop into his head like snapshots from a photo album: Daisy getting married, having her first child, then having grandkids, and so on. When he realizes she's crying, it's like taking Loki's scepter to the heart all over again, except this time, it's worse. The shaking of the house only adds to the ache he feels. ]

I let you down, didn't I?

[hellblaze]

A coy grin takes his face. "Oh, best not to tempt me."

Except he isn't in much of a sparing mood. There's a nod and a grand gesture for Doc to move ahead of him. Though maybe now he'll just find a pair of safety scissors to make another point. He's in one of those moods after his row with Raylan.

[thering]

Doc isn't aware of their little lover's tiff. He might have different words to say. As is, he is cautiously approaching the old florist, glancing around and studying the doorframe, the external structure before thinking of entering.

He's got a heavy duty torch in one of his gun holsters, salvaged from one of the Phillips Drive houses shortly after he had first arrived. He'd rather only have to use it as a light source but he's keeping his grip on it fairly loose, just in case.

"Mind your head," he cautions as he ducks inside, stepping over a dark pile on the floor. The place has got an earthy, woody smell, but musty also. There is evidence of other people having been inside recently, but clearly no one has been here before them in a while now.

"I do not think your woman is here," he observes, his beam of light sweeping across the store.

[prevenance]

( elijah's pretty sure that he doesn't believe the man but he believes that klaus believes it and he doesn't feel strongly enough about things to argue with him.

elijah doesn't think this man seeing god is going to help any of them with their current predicament. )

Ghosts? ( that's what he's going to focus on right now. ) You can see ghosts?

( elijah had dealt with a lot of supernatural elements through his long life but ghosts were one of those things that he didn't have a lot of experience with. )

[prevenance]

( oh, that sounds like a challenge. or maybe it's a warning but to elijah's ears, it sounds like a challenge. he can't help but stand a little straighter, pulling his jacket around him to button it instinctively. )

And you're basing that entirely on what?

( oh, he knows. )

My appearance? You think I wouldn't be able to handle it because of how I look?

( it has to be that since elijah hasn't done anything else to give him any idea of who he is and how he is. )

[prevenance]

Absolutely abhorrent.

( he's worn turtlenecks before and he regrets every single one of those neck huggers. they were good for one thing: keeping your neck warm and elijah prefers scarves for that.

he shakes his head, easing his way through the aisles while looking for something that might be wearable. he can't say in one suit for too much longer. )

When it is? ( elijah looks up from where he's rifling through jeans with patches on the knees. ) It isn't present day?

[prevenance]

Wonderful.

( honestly, elijah wasn't sure if there was a place that he could grow to hate more than mystic falls but just a few days in this place and he's beginning to think that mystic falls has competition.

he sighs, rubbing a hand over his brow. he's over a thousand years old and he thinks he feels his first migraine coming on. that shouldn't be possible but apparently mathias is going to make things possible.

he's so glad. )

Tell me about the man on the other side of the ravine.

[prevenance]

Ah, a very riveting work of fiction I'm told.

( though the mention of fog catches his attention once more. )

Someone else mentioned the fog to me as being quite lethal. Were you here for that as well?

[thering]

Well, the technique does need a little more refining. It hasn't been aged, hence the lack of colour. [Doc gives the young man another once-over at the mention of his appearance. Everybody gangsta until they crack open a bottle and take a sip of some moonshine. And then they're making faces, going pale, and he's trying not to shake his head thinking about the cleanup efforts involved when they start throwing up all over his floor. He's not intimidated by the posturing.]

You look like a refined young gentleman. Last time we cracked a few bottles open it had not gone down particularly well with the-... [What was the word they like to use? Millennium?] Younger crowd. [Ambling into the kitchen, Doc fetches a bottle off the shelf and turns to hold it out.]

In any case, you are welcome to it. Just thought I should warn you. [This ain't no hippie organic quinoa-infused kombucha with floral overtones shit.]

[abrightboy]

Touch was a powerful gesture towards the touch-starved New Yorker and more tension eased out of his frame at the shoulder squeeze, his eyes lifting from the otoscope to meet Doc's smile. He let that hand guide him easily as they moved away from the clinic.

"I can show you how to use this," he offered, holding it up. "You can keep it in your medical bag. Just in case."

[abrightboy]

[Malcolm steps forward, taking a sip of the moonshine, grimacing slightly as it goes down.]

A few nights ago, the phone rang at, like, six in the morning. It was a warning not to go outside, where a thick fog had suddenly rolled in. From what we've been able to gather, the fog then attacked anyone who didn't answer the phone and anyone who stepped outside for more than a few minutes. Then it was gone, leaving bodies all over town with indications of death by asphyxia. Then a day or two later, most of the dead people? Came back. There's also the weird feeling of dread some places in town inspire for no real reason. The way the books in town are... just a little bit wrong. Basically, the town is designed to make us question what's real.

[abrightboy]

"I'm familiar with the concept," Malcolm told him, "but I thought it left when you died." A beat. "If your spark is in that body," he said, pointing to the dead John, "then..." He pointed to living John. "What's holding this body up?"

[prevenance]

It's been quite some time since someone's called me a young gentleman.

( it actually makes him laugh because if this man only knew exactly how old he was. elijah's not in a rush to tell him because he's amused enough to let it fly for now. )

How old are you, if you don't mind me asking, that you think I'm young?

( he has the look of someone from the past, an old fashioned sort that doesn't exist in this day and age. maybe that's just his style or maybe it's something else. )

I'll have a glass and it it decimates me, I will not hold it against you. It will have been my own fault.

( but he's pretty sure he'll be fine. )