villagelogs | 018-020 » what he hides

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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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is it only when you feel a part is empty, that it's gnawing at the corners of your mind

[ She's cold. It's the first thing she notices as she takes a step forward, her boots crunching on the snow. When did it snow? How had she missed it? And when had she left the boarding house? She'd gotten up early that morning to do some taichi, try to tap into that meditative calm May had taught her so many years ago, but then—

The fog. It had come suddenly out of nowhere while she'd been on the porch. And... then what? Why can't she remember walking across town? And when did it start snowing? Just a few minutes ago, she'd been surrounding by fall colors and suddenly it looked like some sort of deranged winter wonderland outside. The weather didn't change that quickly, not unless there was another set of rogue science students with a weather machine on the loose. Despite this place never providing any sort of explanation for its circumstances, she still finds herself searching for one as she walks, her hands shoved deep into the pockets of her borrowed brown coat.

She doesn't feel any different aside from the cold seeping into her bones, but that could be the weather as well. (She really wishes she had some gloves.) Then again, she hadn't felt any differently when she'd arrived in their weird town either. So if something did happen... It's all frustrating to think about and enough to stir the beginnings of a headache. ]

Edited 2020-12-06 23:56 (UTC)

[ John has many things to do that day. One of them is finding that know-it-all-bastard that likes to read people. He's a science person, meaning it'll be easier to find out what he needs to from the man. He's just on his way to stalk back to King Lane in hopes of seeing the man wandering around when he sees a familiar figure.

It's been a few days since he's seen Daisy. Someone even told him she'd gone missing. No body to be found, so they couldn't confirm if she was dead or not. The good thing about being a conman? You never forget a face. That way you know if they've figured out a past con or not. It just makes it easy to know the faces here in Mathias.

He rushes over to her, gently reaching out and snagging her arm. It must be a shock for Daisy. After all, who expects to see John Constantine in a different coat and a red shirt? Still has the black tie though. His fingers curl into her arm to hopefully get across that he's a friend. ]

[ She's so lost in her own thoughts that she doesn't notice the quiet crunch of snow as someone approaches. Even her powers don't alert her to the quick steps or the change in the air. Instead, she startles as there is suddenly a hand around her arm.

Her free hand raises to knock the person back with a burst of her powers, but with fingers spread and palm facing him, she freezes at the sight of John Constantine. It's so unexpected and she is so oddly dazed that she takes one look at him and says the first thing that comes to mind. ]

You changed.

Bloody hell, Daisy. [ John lets out a sigh of relief at her face. He pulls her hand back with a bit of a wave. Right. Touching is out of order. ] Had to after certain circumstances.

Where the hell have you been, luv? They said you disappeared.

[ The way he says it... the emotion behind that sigh... She's missing something. It hits her like a blunt force, threatening to knock the air from her lungs. What— ]

I what? [ The confusion and shock on her face doesn't begin to explain the depth of those emotions swirling within her. ]

[ He perks his eyebrows up at her question. There's not much more he can elaborate on -- he has no idea how long it's been. ]

It's been a few days. [ Probably more than a few. A handful. ] Proper days, with the sun setting and rising.

Days? I don't—

[ She can't help it, she takes a step back and just stares at Constantine in complete incomprehension. Days. A few of them. Because what reason would he have to lie about something like that? The way he'd looked at her was certainly real enough. ]

I don't remember that. I was at the boarding house and then— [ Gesturing back the way she'd come, she looks at her footprints in the snow. There hadn't been any leading to her before... ]

Days.

Now, I'm sorry, Daisy. I can't explain you disappearing because I don't know why or how it even bloody happened. Let's get you inside for now. One of us has already had to deal with hypothermia. So let's not try to start out doing the other.

[ He slowly raises his hand to her back, gently nudging her to walk beside him. After a moment he even slides off his new coat and drapes it over her shoulders. He'll be fine for a short spell in the cold.

Although, it really does remind him of when he first met Claire. Properly - not when she rang his phone.

John makes sure to stick close to her. He's not the sort that has a big heart or is a walking teddy bear, but, he'll do his best to catch her if she stumbles or falls. The questions can wait till they're back inside and she's not ready to turn blue on him. ]

[ She's in such a state of shock that Daisy actually lets him guide her for a few moments. He puts his coat around her and she hardly notices, turning everything over in her mind like it might suddenly make sense if she just thought about it long enough. But it doesn't and she can't wait to ask her questions until they're inside.

After perhaps a minute of walking, she suddenly stops, snapping out of her stupor and turning to face him. ]

What do you mean, you had to deal with hypothermia? Did something else happen? [ It's like night and day. One moment, she's a lost little girl needing something to help her make sense of things. The next, she's a SHIELD agent, intent on getting her own answers. ]

[ Well, that's a quick turn around. John pauses at that and looks her over. Christ, she's one of those hero types isn't she? They're the ones that usually snap to attention. The ones that want to go on saving people and wanted and needed to know the status of everything. ]

How about we just get you inside first, then, we go the round of twenty questions? I'm not in the market of freezing my bollocks off.

Still got that room of yours in the Boarding House?

[ When someone she loves is here and she's gathering new people to care about, this British idiot included, yeah she needs to know the status of everything. That's her job but it's also just who she is. John Constantine sure as hell isn't going to change that and he'd better not even try.

Shrugging off his coat, she presses it forcefully against his chest. ] So put on your coat and answer the question. What else happened?

[ Because clearly something did and he can either tell her now or he can leave her standing there in the snow because she's not moving until she has some answers. ]

[ Oh, try? No. Push away and tell her eventually to back off for her own safety? That will most definitely happen.

He rolls his eyes and pushes the coat back towards her. ] I don't usually do this sort of thing, Daisy, so just... [ he exhales sharply, giving her a look. ] Take the bloody coat till we get you inside.

[ He'll take that as a yes to the Boarding House. John gently takes her arm and continues leading her. Though, he does move faster now. The quicker he gets her inside the better for both of them.

A few moments later and he's opening the door for her, giving a wide gesture that she better take the gentleman like behavior. It isn't often John is outwardly caring like this. Usually he lets Zed or even Chas handle it. Although, one of them isn't here in Mathias, and the other has her own things she deals with during the day. ]

[ She does not appreciate being manhandled or having her own wishes be ignored. No matter how gentle he is or whatever care is behind his actions, all they serve to do is make her angry. It's a low rage that churns through the shadows of fear that has been crawling into her chest, and by the time they get to the porch, he's very lucky she likes him.

He opens the door and she forcefully pulls away from, stepping back along the porch and very pointedly not moving to go inside. ]

I'm not going in there until you tell me what I need to know. [ There's a fire in her words, though not hot enough to burn. Yet. ] All you're doing with this game is pissing me off.

[ His back is to her as he turns inside first then--until she speaks. It's not the words, it's that anger that burns behind them. An anger he recognizes because he feels it every damn day in this town. The lack of answers - the lack of knowledge. Not knowing how to fight against something that is clearly so fucking evil ...

John whirls to face her, maybe faster than she would expect. There's an anger set in his eyes. One that smolders and goes deep. Deeper than any of them know. Deeper than he'll let them know. ]

This isn't a bloody game! [ His voice echos off the walls off the external walls of the Boarding House and down the lane. His hand is gripping the door handle tightly to the point his knuckles are turning white. ] Not one moment of this is a fucking game! Did you think that maybe it's better to talk inside where maybe, just maybe, we've got some control over what happens in this town?!

[ Fuck it.

He slams the door shut and turns to face her proper. A maroon shirt, tie adorning it. Both of his hands raise to his chest. ]

I died, Daisy. There, happy now that I said it out enough to remind everyone? I bloody well died and so did a handful of other people!

...and I came back! I came back to this goddamn town! Me! Do you think out of anyone in this fucking place, I deserve to come back?! What about the innocent ones -- the ones that lived here?!

Edited 2020-12-10 07:16 (UTC)

[ That anger in him is what takes her by surprise. She'd expected it in response to her stubbornness (she's used to that from her team by now), but this is something else. There's something more that's feeding this rage and she can feel it approaching like a tidal wave...

And there it is. Her own anger dials back to a simmer and she just stands there watching him, taking in every word and processing it, filing it in with everything else she knows. When he finishes, she looks down at the coat in her hand. ]

I guess that explains this. [ Whatever the details, something happened to the coat he always wears. Maybe it was covered in blood or torn to shreds or—

Her anger is extinguished completely as numbness begins to fill her like icy water. He'd died. She might not know exactly what happened but that much is more than enough to bring up the pain and grief of everyone she's lost. And that he'd died and come back... It's just like Coulson and for a moment she struggles to draw a breath. And then she pushes it back down where it belongs and focuses on the matter at hand, posing a question that's been nagging at her for a while now. ]

Why would you think that we'd have any more control inside than we do standing right here? If something has the power to bring us back from the dead, to bring us here at all, and then make us disappear again — why would being inside change any of that?

[ It's better not to touch on the other part of what he'd said. In his position, she might be saying the same thing, after all. ]

[ It'd be so easy if he could just wipe away his anger like hers can melt away. Everything about him would be so much easier if he could be like everyone else. He can't. The fact that something evil enough in this town can exist, and that Heaven won't do anything about it? It fills him with a righteous rage. The same that lit him to start his life long crusade against Hell and all the things that go bump in the night. The fact that evil was allowed to run around with no payback, no punches, no consequences. That wasn't going to stand as long as he drew breath. He is going to send every bastard demon back to Hell, even if Heaven is going to damn him for it.

His hands drop limply to his sides as he holds her gaze. That pain in her eyes - oh he knows that too. Maybe she can tell. He's lost almost every single person he's loved, romantic or otherwise. Not all of them have died. They've walked away from him with no intention of returning. He's let them go. He's buried them. He's held their hand as they are devoured. He's sat next to them in hospital rooms as they suffer from blown fuses. He's watched their marriages fall apart because they chose him over their families...

John gives a huff of a laugh at that. ]

Because it makes the conversation private and not remind everyone else that can't handle this life that they're in it. [ He gestures to the houses behind her. ] People - normal people? They turn the other cheek. They advert their eyes. They ignore that this part of reality exists. Not because their bloody stupid or don't know better. It's because they can't handle it.

Reminding them of that is low, even for me.

[ Daisy's lost more than anyone here could ever hope to comprehend. A normal family upbringing, a childhood of feeling loved and wanted, so many people she's loved... The thought of losing even more is almost too much to bear, but she has to. She is the one who always has to remain standing so she can fight for those who can't fight for themselves. And she will fight for the people here — but that doesn't change the reality of their situation. ]

No one who is here gets to be normal anymore. I'm sorry if you can't see that, but it's true. [ Maybe once upon a time she would have agreed with him. Certainly back at home, she would have; that's what SHIELD did, after all, facing the things that normal people can't deal with. But that isn't an option here. ] we were brought here against our will, people are disappearing and dying, and so far, there's not a damn thing we can do about it!

[ Her voice raises until she's almost shouting at the end, her emotions wavering above that numbness, anger and anxiety rising. She doesn't notice that the boards of the porch beneath them begin to shake ever so slightly. ]

You can't protect them anymore, John. Not by keeping them in the dark. We're all stuck here and people need to face that or they're going to end up dead too.

That's where you're wrong. Because there's a line, Daisy. There's a point people cross. One they can't come back from. They can stand at that line, they can stare this life in the face, but they don't need to cross that line!

[ He was determined to keep people as upright as they could be. Innocents didn't deserve this life. They had their hand forced, they couldn't go back. That didn't mean they needed to step over that threshold and join him on the other side. Who the fuck would be stupid enough to do that? Who would be insane enough - besides Zed and Chas - to ever willingly walk into the world he dealt with?

There is a difference between willingly and forced.

In his mind, Mathias had become no different from home. No one from the higher powers that be would step in and protect the people that got drug into this hellhole? Then he'd find a way. He'd fight the demons or whatever it is plaguing Mathias. This is his job. It's what he does. He will do it alone and push all of them away if it'll keep them even an ounce safer.

He stops when he feels his legs shaking. His eyes dart down to the boards beneath them. Eyebrows knit together as his head tilts.

That's new. ]

[ It's the way he looks down that catches her attention and makes her realize what's happening. She can feel the strain in her arms, the slight pressure on the healing bones as they shake in a way the human skeletal system isn't meant to. And she can feel the increase in vibration beneath them, the incident thankfully contained just to the porch they're standing on.

Daisy takes a deep breath, focusing on steadying her heartbeat, calming her body's reactions the way May had taught her all those years ago. And after a few seconds, the shaking stops and the bees in her bones quiet down just a little. But those emotions are still there, just more carefully tempered now. ]

They don't need to cross the line? Tell that to the thing that's coming to kill them. [ It's harsh, but so is everything about this place. ] This fight isn't just on you, so stop acting like it is. Maybe there are some people here who can't handle it, but you've got a pretty low estimation of them all if you think that applies to everyone.

[ He stays still in that moment. Oh, he's been around long enough to note when it's time for him to actually shut his mouth and let things play out. It's rare, but, it does happen. His hands go out to his sides to prepare to steady himself - just in case.

John just gives her a look. One that says he's far too old and too experienced to hear her patronize him on things that lurk in the dark. He knows the people who can't fully grasp what they're up against. He's been arguing with them about the nature of the universe since he arrived.

Still, for once in his miserable existence, John decides not to press it further. Something about power or magic coming from her is shaking things up -- literally. ]

How about we put this conversation on ice, luv. Since you ah, seem to be ... quaking. [ Literally. He doesn't even know the name or the irony of it. Again, he gestures to the door behind him. ] Let's go inside and get you warmed up.

[ She's tempted to give him a look right back, because he's not the only one with experience with the dark. The fact that hers has been in space doesn't make it any less relevant or deadly. She doesn't though. She's too tired and cold for this fight to continue on any longer.

Shaking her head, she sighs quietly. ] I'm going inside alone. There's someone I need to see, make sure he's okay.

[ Well, quaint. He gets the subtle hint of it all. Which means he simply makes sure the door is open. A gesture to it, then he's sliding his coat back on and moving past her. No point in pushing the conversation when the other party is ready to move on.

There is a small wave as he heads off into the snow. Hopefully that person she's checking in with and her do better. ]

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018-020 » what he hides

» day 18, closed to constantine

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