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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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Course I don't. But I am." And that's all there was too it.

The sharper command at nothing had all of Raylan's attention. "Sure, I could sip some tea. So long as you fill me in on what's exactly happenin' here and how I can help with that too."

He gestured towards the door in invitation. He'd ask if Malcolm was up to going out, but he knew that it would probably be better to get Malcolm out of the house. The cold might seep in somewhere and keep him a bit more sharp.

"Things gettin' worse?"

Malcolm looked... exhausted, emotionally more than physically and he didn’t have the wherewithal to shove it in its box.

He nodded down at the floor, only hesitating slightly before slipping out the door to lead the way down to the kitchen, twisting the towel between his hands. He left it on the counter when he got there, putting the kettle on before turning to look at Raylan, his hands gripping the counter behind him on either side of his hips with almost white knuckles.

“There’s nothing you can do about it,” he told him softly. “The withdrawal is passing now, but.” He sighed. “I take an antipsychotic at home and I still see things under stress. Without it? I don’t have any control.” His grip on the counter tightened a little. “I’m afraid of getting to a point where I don’t know what’s real,” he confessed.

The exhaustion wasn't hard to see and Raylan could guess why, with all that thrashing and screaming. Following behind in a lazy amble, Raylan emptied his hand into the trash can as he came to it and headed over to the sink to rise his hands after Malcolm was done filling the kettle. Once he was done, he turned around to lean against the counter as well, arms crossing loosely over his chest as he let Malcolm speak in his own time.

"Okay, so we mitigate stress to the full limit we can. What's stressin' you out this mornin'?" There wasn't anything they could do for Malcolm's medicinal needs and Raylan knew there was no stopping them out right, but he'd found Malcolm over a dangerous mess, yelling at a corner. He felt right to be worried.

"I don't suppose settin' up some kinda code word for reality will work, since your information is.. well, yours." No use trying to set up that structure if Malcolm's mind could take the information and twist it against them.

Malcolm took a shaky breath.

"Nothing," he breathed. "I'm off the meds. They'll show up whenever they want." A beat. "I don't know where or when. But when I'm at home, when I'm... having problems in my head, if I can get a case to work on... it helps me focus. It helps me sleep. I... can I still go with you to... the thing you wanted to see?"

There was nothing worse than being shown a problem and being told that there was no way to solve it or mitigate it. Malcolm was the same as Mathis, in that way and Raylan stared at the floor for a long minute as he chewed that over. The question had him looking back up from under the brim of his hat, brow pinching a little.

"So long as you promise you don't throw yourself into it." He'd hate to have to find a leash for a fully grown man. "If you're up for it. It's no case and we're probably gonna come out with the same amount of information, the way this place seems to not want to give it up.. We can try to keep you busy, if that'll help. I'm sure there's plenty to do, if you don't mind gettin' your hands dirty and doin' some manual labor."

Malcolm nodded. "I... can help with... whatever needs done." He crossed his arms across body. "I'm not..." Suicidal? There'd been a time when he was sure of that. "Going to jump off of anything." Probably. "You don't have to worry about me." Well, that was probably just a lie, but he didn't want to be a burden. "I'm..." He jumped slightly when the kettle whistled and he turned to take it off the burner and pour it shakily into two cups, splashing hot water on the counter. He dropped teabags in. "I can manage," he assured, pushing one cup towards Raylan.

Malcolm wasn't suicidal today, anyway. Raylan vividly remembered the lighthouse and the look in Malcolm's eye. It was common sense to keep it in mind, especially with his instability.

"I can see that," he started, pulling the cup closer but ignoring it to prop a hand on the counter and watch Malcolm's profile. He was doing this a lot, this particular counter lean. Something to think on later. "How long am I supposed to let this sit for? And what kind is it?" He ended with a pinched look at the cup, as the second question occurred to him.

It was a question of distraction, another role he'd been finding himself playing with a few people now and then.

Malcolm looked down into the cup and then looked at Raylan, too worn down to hide the gratitude in his eyes.

"It's English Breakfast tea. They don't have a lot of choices here. Three to five minutes is good," he said. "It's nice and mild. Sometimes I put a bit of the willowbark that Doc gave me."

Raylan nodded with a look into his cup before swinging back to Malcolm. "Never much got into tea myself, but that's to be expected. Not even old ladies drink tea out in the country. They drink as much as the rest of us. Started drinkin' coffee when I was 10."

Same year he had Arlo force a gun into his hand and tell him to 'Go deal with them damn rats'.

"Ten? I'd say 'that's early' but I was finding women in trunks at that age so I guess everything is relative, huh?" he said with a weak laugh.

He took the bag out of his cup and set it on a saucer.

"There was willowbark in the one I dropped. I wasted it," he confessed.

"Later than Arlo woulda liked but yeah, I'd say so," he admitted with a curl of his smile as he did the same, picking up the cup as he folded his other arm over his chest.

He shook his head at Malcolm's assertion. "I'm sure Doc's got more. He'll get more if it's needed." They were gonna take care of Malcolm, as best they could. "You mentioned finding a warm coat. You think it's gonna be warm enough with just one layer under it? Near freezin' out there."

He stared into the contents of the cup for a long moment, then realized that was a question and his eyes moved slowly to Raylan's face.

"I have a sweater," he said. It was a little long on him, like most of the clothes he found that would fit him. A curse of his build. Someone with shoulders the width of his were supposed to be taller, apparently. "I have a sweater and a t-shirt with long sleeves."

"I think they call that just a long sleeve shirt," he said with a smirk as he took a sip. "We're gonna havta fix that. That's barely enough for Kentucky cold."

But Malcolm was from New York, Raylan knew he knew cold.

"Might be able to do that after."

"I'll be okay," Malcolm told him. "I like to be a little cold. It... makes me feel sharper."

He hoped there was a biting wind. It was like a constant slap in the face.

"Mm," he conceded with a bob of his head. "If you say so, I won't push."

Once they'd finished their tea and Raylan made sure Malcolm was ready to go out into the wide world, he lead the way out of the house and down the road. "I took a walk this mornin' before I went and made breakfast. Work out the kinks-" And the moonshine hangover that was only just starting to fade "-saw somethin'... New. Wanted to see what someone else thought of it while I got a closer look."

He got Malcolm's attention about halfway through that explanation and when he was done, Malcolm went back to it.

"You made breakfast this morning? Where? What did you make?"

He remembered the mountain of scrambled eggs the morning after the moonshine party.

"Up at the Grey Gull. Ellie wandered in so she got to have some weird lookin' pancakes and bacon. I needed somethin' made on a griddle, instead of 3 different pans. Gull's better set up for it. And their coffee pot is larger. You know her, Ellie?" Raylan was still learning who'd met who and who hadn't.

“Yes!” Malcolm enthused. “She was the one looking for a guitar. I found one in my bedroom closet when we moved in and left it for her. She spend a lot of time at the Grey Gull,” he mused. “Maybe it reminds her of somewhere back home.”

"Oh she finally got her guitar? Good for her. Let me know if you find a .45 in any closet, I could use one." There was only a little bit of bitterness that someone found something that made someone happy and it wasn't a gun. Then again, Raylan had very little that made him happy so maybe that's just how it was.

"Maybe I'll get to catch her play sometime. Music is somethin' I wouldn't mind hearin' again." He glanced over.

"It's gonna be a bit of a walk. Other side of town, really. You been down here at all yet?"

"Not to the new section," Malcolm told him. "I was helping John with... an investigation yesterday. Into his own corpse. But Doc said there's a medical clinic and he'll take me there this afternoon to see if there's any... thing. There. To find."

He looked at Raylan.

"I'm trying not to get my hopes up."

That had Raylan stopping with an uneven step, one finger pointed out at him.. "I'm sorry, what? Elaborate on that, an investigation into his own corpse. Suggests he had access to it."

Malcolm looked at him hesitantly.

"I assume he dug it up, from the state of it. I didn't ask." He perked up a little. "Though, interestingly, decomposition was less advanced than I expected." No. Finding that interesting was probably weird. He sobered. "He. Um. Wanted to do magic on it to see if there was anything in it that shouldn't be there."

"He du-" Raylan's mouth worked and then snapped shut and started walking forward again, forcing Malcolm to step to keep up as he continued. "He's been down there for less than four days, of cour-" All that was bottled up again.

Of course John dug up his own body, just like Claire did, with no care as to what that meant to the people that buried them. But maybe Raylan was being selfish, surely that was it. So no. It didn't matter.

"Great," he said darkly, clearly not pleased at all. "Did he find anything interestin' while he was desecratin' his body or was it just a morbid exercise in Mathis?"

“Four days in the ground, only protected by a sheet? It did well, trust me. I did a whole study unit on decomposition of human corpses in different environments.”

He glanced over. “No hairy angels or demons, apparently. He. Um. He burned the body after. Some people favour cremation, I guess.” A beat. “But not you.”

"I've seen men dropped down a mine, left there for 4 years and brought up, I'm sure he did better than that," Raylan replied as his long legs kept them at pace. "Not unless I die in a fire, not really. I already got a headstone and a place to lay... You don't bury ashes."

He was grateful for the west side of town coming up on the horizon and he gestured that way, changing the subject as he did so. "You let me know when you see it, I'd hate to ruin the surprise."

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DW ate this tag ;o;

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