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

018-020 » what he hides

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

RECOMMENDED ♫ Graham Plowman "Edge of Darkness"





DAYS 018-020
THE HIDDEN REVEALED

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


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

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

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


THE NEW ARRIVALS

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




SPECTRES IN THE NIGHT

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

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

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


STRANGER IN THE SNOW

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

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

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







LOCATIONS


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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





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

VOICES are not openly haunting our residents, though they may still be occasionally encountered in the more heavily decayed buildings where some rooms seem to almost swallow whatever light tries to enter them.

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

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


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

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

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

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

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


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

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


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vampirebats: (pic#14493442)

[personal profile] vampirebats 2020-12-28 08:42 am (UTC)(link)
"Well, let's go check it out and find out." He peers in first, eyes scanning ahead of them cautiously before he takes the first step inside the old building.

"Couldn't have been that many kids here from the looks of it." But it's fucked up that there were kids at all caught in... whatever happened here.

"The Town Hall's pretty disappointing, that's true. Not many clues at all. You got any theories so far?"
abrightboy: (secret smile)

[personal profile] abrightboy 2020-12-28 02:54 pm (UTC)(link)
"I have a theory," Malcolm told him, slipping inside behind him. "I'm not sure you'll like it..." He glanced around at dust dancing in the light filtering through the windows. "I think we're being kept by something. Like animals in a zoo. There are certain details of the town that are... wrong, if it's just an abandoned town. Their absence makes more sense if it's an enclosure contrived to seem like an abandoned town. It's not that the people gathered up every single steak knife and jigsaw blade and prescription pill as they fled and left sentimental personal effects and clothes and food behind. It's that those things were never included in the setup in the first place."
vampirebats: (pic#14493362)

[personal profile] vampirebats 2020-12-31 03:43 am (UTC)(link)
"You're right. I hate it." A grimace twists his expression. "But the question that comes along with that theory is... who's watching us and why?"

Just some jackass who gets off on watching suffering and discomfort? "If you say aliens, I'm gonna think you've got a screw loose or two."

But fuck it, he probably does too.
abrightboy: (counterpoint)

[personal profile] abrightboy 2020-12-31 04:05 am (UTC)(link)
“I’m not willing to rule anything out, but no... I don’t think it’s aliens,” Malcolm admitted. “The problem is we’re not in a position to learn much about our captors.”

He opened a cupboard. Not much of interest. He moved along.

“We don’t even know where they’re watching from or how.”
vampirebats: (pic#14493444)

[personal profile] vampirebats 2021-01-01 05:55 am (UTC)(link)
"Thank the fucking lord." Because he's not sure he could deal with that sort of conspiracy. "But I agree... it's bullshit. How the hell are we supposed to fight back against that?"

An invisible fucking enemy isn't what he wants to deal with, but it's what they've got.

"Just the freaky-- ghosts. Spectres. Whatever they are."
abrightboy: (tries to understand)

[personal profile] abrightboy 2021-01-01 05:04 pm (UTC)(link)
"Those just showed up the other day," Malcolm told him. "They weren't here before."
vampirebats: (pic#14493371)

[personal profile] vampirebats 2021-01-02 07:36 am (UTC)(link)
"Yeah, I know, but... they gotta mean something, right? Shit doesn't happen for no reason." Not this sort of shit, anyway.
abrightboy: (consider this)

[personal profile] abrightboy 2021-01-02 05:45 pm (UTC)(link)
"Well, I mean... we don't know that. They could be playing with us. But, on the other hand? Occam's Razor would suggest that they do serve a purpose of some sort."

He riffled a couple of more cupboards, grabbing a few blank notebooks. Might come in handy in the investigation, so they could keep track of things.

"You seem pretty comfortable with the idea of abandoned buildings. Is that common where you're from?"
vampirebats: (pic#14493359)

[personal profile] vampirebats 2021-01-02 06:59 pm (UTC)(link)
"Yeah? Well, that's probably because that's all we got back home." He moves to another set of cupboards and rifles through them. Nothing useful. Nothing that'll save them or give them any clues.

It's not surprising, but a bit disappointing.

"World tried to shit itself... only some of us survived. I've had to do some real fucked up shit to keep myself and my people alive."
abrightboy: (pays attention)

[personal profile] abrightboy 2021-01-02 07:34 pm (UTC)(link)
“What happened?” Malcolm asked.

It sounded a little like Ellie’s world, from that brief description.

“Was it one massive event?”
vampirebats: (pic#14493425)

[personal profile] vampirebats 2021-01-02 07:45 pm (UTC)(link)
"There was some sort of-- I don't know, illness going around. An infection, maybe. We never got the details what it was before shit went down. The fever would burn you out until you died and then-- you'd come back with a fucking vengeance."

He shakes his head. "Spread quicker than anyone could contain it. World collapsed, ended, leaving whichever lucky bastards left alive to try to salvage it. It meant a lot of scavenging for basic needs, squatting anywhere to hide from the dead."
abrightboy: (curiosity)

[personal profile] abrightboy 2021-01-02 10:46 pm (UTC)(link)
“A pandemic... of undead? That sounds awful.”

And like a movie.

“So you’re nomadic, scrounging buildings like this for what you can use?”
vampirebats: (pic#14493366)

[personal profile] vampirebats 2021-01-02 10:54 pm (UTC)(link)
"Well, first it was just your regular fucking pandemic. Flu-like. Fever, aches... it's not a fun way to go." He shrugs his shoulders.

"Then it became undead assholes shuffling around, wanting flesh." He scowls briefly as he idly looks around their area, pokes around for anything useful.

"I was... then I found a home base, so to speak. A group of people. Now we're just trying to keep as many people alive as possible." His gaze slides over to Malcolm.

"They call us The Saviors. We secured ourselves a nice little place called the Sanctuary, had some outposts too, but..."
abrightboy: (you what?)

[personal profile] abrightboy 2021-01-02 11:07 pm (UTC)(link)
“But?” Malcolm prompted, halting his search to look fully at Negan. “What happened? The undead attacked?”
vampirebats: (pic#14493394)

[personal profile] vampirebats 2021-01-02 11:09 pm (UTC)(link)
"Some assholes came in the middle of the night and killed a bunch of my men in their sleep." There's a bitter twist to his lips.

"No remorse, no nothing. I've got a potential goddamn war to contend with back home." Not just potential. It's a fucking war that could have been avoided.
abrightboy: (empathy)

[personal profile] abrightboy 2021-01-04 04:59 am (UTC)(link)
“Wait, you mean living people did that? Why would they do that?” Malcolm asked. “Wouldn’t... wouldn’t dealing with apocalypse go better if everyone worked together?”
vampirebats: (pic#14493424)

[personal profile] vampirebats 2021-01-04 07:03 am (UTC)(link)
"Because people are the real assholes." His expression twists up before he shakes his head.

"It would've been, but it didn't happen that way." And from Negan's perspective? It was Rick's group at fault. Who in the hell slaughters people in their sleep? He kills, sure, when he has to, but it's not reckless slaughter. Lives are a valuable commodity in the apocalypse, you don't waste them.
abrightboy: (looks to you)

[personal profile] abrightboy 2021-01-04 02:40 pm (UTC)(link)
"I wish that wasn't so... believable," Malcolm noted. He glanced over. "What did you do about it?"
vampirebats: (pic#14493367)

[personal profile] vampirebats 2021-01-05 04:04 am (UTC)(link)
"Nothing I wanted to do." He gives a wry look. "We're at war now with the crazy bastards now."
abrightboy: (thinking down)

[personal profile] abrightboy 2021-01-05 04:25 am (UTC)(link)
“That’s a shame. Wasting more lives when there are so few left,” Malcolm remarked.
vampirebats: (pic#14493371)

[personal profile] vampirebats 2021-01-05 06:50 am (UTC)(link)
"Right? It's what I've been saying... people are fucking precious. We act like goddamn savages, we're not gonna make it." He shakes his head.

"Anyway, c'mon. Let's see if there's anything else in here."