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

( before this, if asked, elijah would have said that heat was his least favorite type of weather. but, he thinks that he's going to be changing his mind and amending that to snow.

he dislikes snow. his pants are went, his shoes are caked with snow and he's disoriented. the only thing that he can see is that crack and he starts to follow it, thinking it might lead him somewhere.

and he's right but it leads him to something that he doesn't expect. because standing right in front of him, looking very much like she should be in a hospital was elena gilbert.

he stops, blinking a few times and then strides forward, already trying to assess what was wrong with her and what, if anything, he could do to help. )

Elena.

( he doesn't know if she's heard him but he keeps moving towards her, long legs eating up the space quickly. )

[ it's difficult to mistaken elijah for stefan, but she instantly thinks it's him. it's always stefan. he's always there when she needs him, always bracketing her and softening her fall. she hopes to see him so badly that she manipulates elijah's voice to sound like his.

having gotten a little lost staring at the crack, she looks up and frowns. her first thought is that elijah looks a little rumpled but impeccably so. her second thought is that she likes his hair. the floppy hair was hardly formidable. he looked like a puppy dog that liked to nip at someone's heels.

she doesn't remember him being at the clearing.

lifting her hand to the base of her neck, she tilts her head to the right so that her hair covers the blood on her shoulder. ]

Elijah. [ she frowns; on the tip of her tongue is her obvious statement that he's not supposed to be here. her gaze drops to his shoulder, wet just like the rest of him. ] You have snow on your shoulder.

[ such a stupid thing to say. she should've commented on his haircut. ]

Yes, thank you, I know.

( but the snow is the least of his concern when she looks ashen and like she's just crawled out of a coffin herself. it's been some time since he's seen elena gilbert, since his family left mystic falls but he still feels concern for her especially in light of what his family had put her through.

he wants to blame his brother but he knows it wasn't just them. )

Elena, are you all right? You look like you're going to fall over and die.

( he's never been one to pull punches with his language but she really does look terrible. )

Did you just wake up here?

[ elena can't help but purse her lips and give him an unimpressed look. although she hasn't ever heard this quip come from him, all she has to do is thin out the broadness of his shoulders and lengthen his hair slightly, and swap his hazel eyes for bright blue and she's already heard it all before. elena has a death wish. elena's going to get herself killed. elena looks like death warmed over.

she is dead. there's no joke to be found in that, but there is a nice slip of denial he offers her. ]

I did.

[ she lifts her hand up to brush snow from the ends of her hair. even though she'd much rather remain standing in one place, she wants to prove to him that everything's okay, so she closes the distance between them with short, human steps. ]

I take it you did, too. Since I doubt you'd ever willingly cover yourself in snow.

[ she can't help herself. with a pinch to her lips, she lifts her hand up and brushes snow off his shoulder rather harshly. ]

Yes, near the crack in the snow. but, I don't remember getting there and I seriously doubt you do either.

( for a moment, he thinks that it might be tied to elena as all things seem to be tied to the doppelgangers but he doesn't think she would have brought him along if that was the case.

it would have been a salvatore or one of her friends. not him. he was very little to her.

when she actually brushes snow off his jacket, he frowns and tries to catch her hand in his, fingers feeling for her pulse to make sure she's still with him. )

Elena, focus. You know who I am, correct?

[ elena sighs, letting him grab her hand. she knows that it's sometimes best to play along and let the overpowered vampire take her hand even if she'd like to let her arms hang by her sides. eljiah isn't damon.

looking at him with her lips pressed together, she regards him with a familiar gaze. it's warm despite their very strange surroundings. ]

You're Elijah Mikaelson. Original vampire, brother to Klaus. I don't know your favourite colour. We never covered that.

[ and he hadn't been at the clearing, had he? his hair is so short; her gaze flickers up to it. ]

It's black, if you must know.

( is it? he doesn't really have a favorite color, if he's honest. darker colors are probably the obvious choice but —

why is he thinking about this? why does he care? it doesn't matter right now and he has to focus on the present. )

But yes, everything else is correct. Niklaus has not shown his face so I imagine it is just us. You look unwell.

[ relaxing at the fact klaus isn't here, she slumps slightly, no longer standing so tall to try and match his height. she looks over his shoulder at the snow covering the ground, as if in search to confirm that klaus is very much not here.

then she peers up at him, slightly haughtily. she wills all the colour to surface on her face so he can eat his very accurate words. ]

Black isn't a colour, it's a shade. Weren't you around when that was confirmed?

[ somewhere, caroline's very proud of her. ]

Elena, I would rather not talk about colors when you and I are suddenly in the middle of a frozen tundra. You did not go to sleep in a place like this, correct?

( because he knows that he was last in new orleans, having just come away from his mother's clutches after her torment and torture.

a flash of something — of elena's doppelganger — thrums through his mind and he shakes his head, trying to shake her away. )

Are you all right? ( he says it slowly, deliberately, while he looks at her. )

[ she thinks to make a quip, but she honestly doesn't know how far she can push elijah. he's always been so well-put together, but she's gotten the impression he's strung as tightly as a string. she's seen his temper be so well-relaxed and under control that she doesn't particularly want to see that string snap. ]

I've woken up in the snow when it wasn't even snowing in Mystic Falls. [ she exhales, shoulders sagging once more. she lifts her hand to brush her hair behind her left ear, mindful not to touch her right side. she's hoping he can't smell anything through the thickness of her hair. ]

I'm doing... okay. [ she narrows her eyes, brows furrowing. ] What about you?

I'm fine.

( he's confused and he's irritable but other than that, he's fine. he doesn't think there's a scratch on him, in fact, if there is, it will have healed.

he's fine which means his concern turns to her. )

Come on, we should get moving. If we stay here for too much longer, you're going to freeze.

( because elijah, of course, will be fine. )

I didn't realise when you became a vampire that you lost all feeling in your body.

[ pursing her lips unhappily, she's quietly grateful that he's given her something else to focus on than the pain in her neck and how cold it actually is. her entire back is covered in snow and the back of her head is damp and cold from being cushioned by it.

inhaling deeply, she tilts her head up defiantly. in front of someone like elijah, she always has to appear strong and well-composed. she always wants to meet his energy.

she begins walking, passing him. ]

Maybe there's something this way.

[ she has no idea. it's not like whoever brought her here popped a map in her back pocket. ]

( ah, it's good to see that the stubborn streak that he knows from both tatia and katerina exists in elena. he sighs, feeling a headache begin to form behind his eyes. yes, he's a vampire and he shouldn't be getting a headache but doppelgangers were special in being able to give him one. )

Do you know where you're going, Elena? Or are you going to wander into the snow, never to be seen again?

( elijah doesn't follow her, standing in the snow and watching her impatiently. )

Come back, we'll find shelter together.

You can see me, can't you?

[ she's being a brat, she knows.

elena keeps walking until she realises that he's not following. as stubborn and reckless and stupid as she is, she does know that if she wants to find warmth, she needs to stick with the person who can hear, smell and see better than her.

with a little sigh at this realisation, she takes a moment to inhale deeply, steel herself, and ignore the way her neck and the back of her head hurts, and turns around to face him. ]

Which direction do you think we should be going in?

No, I don't know that but I also don't think just picking a direction and wandering off is smart either. Perhaps the crack in the ground is something we should follow.

( elijah can't seem to get his bearings here, turned around and blasted by the white thick of snow wherever he looks. )

Come back, Elena. Stay with me and we'll go together. We shouldn't wander alone.

[ crossing her arms against her chest petulantly, she walks back over to him. tilting her chin up at him, she arches her brow and says, ] Say crack again. It makes this feel even more surreal.

[ elijah mikaelson acting like the janis to her damian is one of the most absurd things to happen this year, and she's met hybrids, vampires and died.

looking around, she purses her lips and points to her left. ] I think we should go this way.

Fine but why do you think that? Do you sense something or are you just guessing?

( they could probably do this all day, arguing about where to go and when they finally come to a decision, they will both be covered in snow.

but, he doesn't know if he's ready to just follow elena without question. )

I am willing to go with you, Elena, but we can't just wander. You will freeze and I don't want that to happen.

Of course, I'm guessing, Elijah. I'm human, remember? I wasn't born with a built-in compass that helped me find where north is.

[ she's not a vampire, and she's grateful damon's attempt to save her life hadn't worked. nothing feels heightened; she feels dull and sore and very unspecial.

elena wrinkles her nose and brushes her hair away from her face. she looks to her right and then points that way. ] Which I think is that way.

[ there's a good chance she's wrong. but it's nice to feel a little light, even if she's trying to get them moving in the direction she wants to move in. was elijah always this stubborn? ]

I'd forgotten just how stubborn you can be.

( he says 'you' but he really means the petrova doppelgangers in general. they were always very bull headed and set in their ways.

right now, he thinks elena needs to sit down and rest more than she needs to go trekking through the snow but he doesn't think he's going to be able to stop her either way. )

Fine, we'll go your way for awhile. But, if the only thing we're still seeing after a few minutes is snow, we're going my way.

What's your way?

[ elena arches her brow and sets off, walking to her left. she knows that time is of the essence with elijah. all it takes is a moment and he'll easily snare her and make her go the way he wants to go.

she may not have the supernatural senses that he does, but she has the ability to make her own decisions. quietly, she's grateful that he allows her to do that. ]

Aside from the wrong way, obviously.

[ she says that with complete respect. if she admires anyone, it's eljiah. ]

Did you suddenly gain the ability of precognition after I left Mystic Falls?

( because now she seems to know where to go and she knows that anything that he's thinking is wrong. it would really be quite the thing if she had and it would be handy but he thinks this is more a situation of elena thinking she knows best. )

I hadn't chosen a way just yet because I was too busy getting my bearings instead of just setting off in a random direction heading towards nothing but hypothermia.

[ after he left mystic falls? wasn't he still lingering inside of it, waiting to kill klaus? did he kill him and then immediately leave? this is what happens after you die: you stop being subscribed to the daily newsletter.

elena shakes her head, amused by him being playful. it's a different side to elijah than she knows. she'd gotten familiar with the dusty, slightly jaded and passive-aggressive elijah she'd freed from the confinements of his dagger. ]

I feel like you're talking about me.

[ she turns and walks backwards, a dangerous thing to do when in the snow and wearing converse shoes. at least her laces are tied tightly. ]

You could literally pick me up and vamp speed away from here, but you don't.

Where would I go? I have no idea where we are, Elena. So yes, I could pick you up and get us away from here but I do not know this place.

( so, it seems like it would be a waste of time to do that. time and energy especially if he was going to have to find a willing blood source. he doesn't want to have to think that far in the future, though. he wants to be gone and out here in the next hour. )

It would be a waste and if you know me at all, you know I don't like to waste anything.

I know.

[ she knows him in a way that's still so incomplete. he's a puzzle where she only has a handful of pieces out of a thousand. elena lets her shoulders sag but keeps her focus on the snow ahead and the cluster of trees around them. ]

This isn't Mystic Falls. The trees look different.

[ not that she's a tree expert, but she pays attention. ]

No, it's not.

( there are plenty of cold weather places near mystic falls which tells elijah that he's far from new orleans. there's definitely not enough humidity in the air for that.

but, it is probably a positive that this isn't mystic falls. that place was a beacon for the strange and supernatural. he gets enough of that in new orleans. )

Honestly, this could be any number of places. I've been to many places and none of this is recognizable.

ARRIVAL

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