villagelogs | 018-020 » what he hides

Entry tags:

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.

navigation | faq | setting | mod contact

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ shaking her head, she tsks him as if he did have the luxury of knowing. it makes her feel a little normal, at least. his suit looks worse for wear and he looks very dishevelled inside of it... but at least he's all right. if elijah wasn't okay, she doesn't know what she'd do.

but that gives her an idea. they're in an abandoned house that looks like it had been lived in. surely they can use it for their benefit... ]

Maybe there's something here?

[ planting her hands on the couch, she pushes herself up to stand. ]

Elena, you don't need to look for a new suit for me right now. Sit down.

( he reaches up and puts a steady hand on her shoulder, giving her the slightest of pushes down. of course, the slightest of pushes from him is stronger than nearly everyone else so. )

Please, stop trying to do everything right now. I have a feeling we're going to have time to do go...suit shopping. You need to rest.

[ she can't help but pout, peering up at him in slight annoyance. looking after people is something she hasn't been able to do over the past year, but it's a habit of hers that she feels the strong need to fulfil right now. he needs a new suit and she thinks she can help him find one.

but she doesn't fight him. she's fought against vampires before (specifically damon) and she knows she can't win this battle. ]

I have rested, now I want to go look for a suit. I'm sure there's one upstairs.

[ she may not physically fight him, but she'll still fight him. ]

Elena, a suit is not important right now. We just got here. You don't think trying to figure out where here is is more important than the matter of clothing?

( he doesn't need a suit right now, elena. he can survive just fine in this one and clothes are the least of their worrie. )

You're not going upstairs and you're not going to look for a suit for me. You're going to stay there for a little while longer before we leave again.

[ he's right, which annoys her. elijah is right, and she shouldn't be thinking of exerting herself with searching for a suit for him when he's perfectly fine in what he's wearing now. he's hardly materialistic, even if she wishes he was in this very moment.

but she's like a dog with a bone, and an idea pops up into her head. ]

Suits have tags, don't they? [ she remains seated, head resting against the back of the chair once more. ] You have to promise me that when you find a new suit, you look at the tag and see if you recognise it and tell me.

[ it sounds strange of her to ask it, but, days from now, elena will realise why. right now, she seeks some familiarity, even if it's through the manufacturer of a suit. ]

( elijah narrows his eyes at her. he doesn't really understand why she needs to know that but it seems like a simple enough request and one he can fill without her exerting herself. )

Very well.

( fine, he'll do that. he nods before he gets to his feet, dusting his hands off and looking around. )

When you're ready, we'll go. There has to be more to this city than just this one house.

[ she watches him rise and wonders if elijah is capable of sitting still. even at the lockwood mansion, he hadn't been able to sit still, needing to move about as he told her his story and rising to his feet to walk away when things seemed to grow uncomfortable. she wonders what he's uncomfortable about right now, other than the obvious—being thrown into a different town with no answers, let alone no map.

she keeps her head against the chair, rubbing her hands against her legs. ]

If you want to go, you can go. I'm not going to get up and go exploring. [ exhaling a small huff of breath, she smiles small and lifts her shoulders. ] This chair is kind of comfortable.

I'm not going to leave you, Elena. We're going to go wherever we have to go together.

( he also doesn't trust that she won't go exploring right now. he doesn't want to take the chance and leave her so she could find her way outside and get lost in the snow.

he's not going to let that happen. )

When you're ready to go, we'll go. But, I'm not going to leave you here alone.

[ she can't help her deep sigh. the last thing she wants and needs is a babysitter, but saying so to elijah is like wearing a very light red in front of a bull and tempting it to charge. she doesn't know his reactions, and she doesn't know if he'll be offended. ]

I'm going to stay here. [ she nestles a little further into the armchair, pulling her legs up to fold underneath her. she rests her head against the back of the chair and lets her head loll to the side. maybe she's telling the actual truth; elena feels more tired than she has in a long time, and this chair is really comfortable. she knows she's safe with elijah lingering in the house. she can lower her guard right now.

it's with a small smile that she admits, ] I'm kind of tired and could use a cat nap.

Very well.

( he's already given her his jacket so he nods at it to make sure she uses it as a way to keep warm. after a moment, he finds a place to sit, situating himself near the window and peering outside to keep an eye on things. )

Close your eyes, Elena, and rest. I'll stay here.

( he would stay here and he would stay awake and make sure they both were safe. )

[ elena pushes herself up and begins to pull his jacket off her arms. at his confirmation that he's going to stay here, she feels as though she can lower her guard just a little. she's as safe as she can be, especially with this particular original by her side.

with his jacket off, she uses it as a blanket to wrap around her once more. it doesn't matter to her that it isn't stefan's jacket or her own. it's something warm, and a kindness that he has given her. ]

Do you watch people sleep?

[ her eyes are closed and she wears a smile on her lips. ]

Now, why would I do that, Elena? It seems like that would be quite the creepy thing to do.

( a tiny smile flickers over his face as he says it but he doesn't turn and look at her. he keeps his gaze out the window, on the snow and anything moving. )

I've never been much a fan of that. Watching people breathe? Quite boring if you ask me.

[ elena smiles, opening her eyes for only a moment before she closes them again. she's resting, just as he's asked, even though she knows he wants her to drift off and sleep. so does she, but she doesn't want to sit in silence. it makes her feel uncomfortable to know he's there, possibly uncomfortable. ]

Why does every film and book portray a vampire as being creepy, then? Did you start that?

[ she imagines that he could've if he wanted to. after all, klaus had begun the sun and moon curse that seems to have its place in pieces of fiction. ]

Me?

( this time, he does turn to glance at her, shaking his head and rolling his eyes a bit before he looks back out the window. )

If any Mikaelson perfected the art of creepily watching someone sleep, it was Finn.

( but finn was kind of creepy all around, wasn't he? )

As to why we're always portrayed that way, I wouldn't know. Maybe it's to make us more mysterious.

[ she can't help but open her eyes, brow furrowed. she keeps her head planted on the chair—it's so comfortable—despite the fact she wants to turn around to look at him and try and spy his face. ]

Who's Finn?

[ she's guessing a brother? she kind of presumed it was him and klaus… and hadn't he mentioned something of family? perhaps that's the family member he's been searching for. ]

One of my brothers.

( so yes, there was more than just klaus. if it wa just klaus, elijah probably would have spent a lot more time daggered since he would be the only person for klaus to take his anger out on. )

Older brother to be exact. I haven't seen him in quite some time.

( his relationship with finn hadn't been terrible but it could have been better. )

I think he would be the creepy one if any of us have earned that label.

[ so, elijah has an older brother, which means there are three original vampires out there. there must be; she can't see that elijah would have a mortal thousand-year-old brother. how would he even stay alive? so it's easy and safe for her to assume that finn is a vampire.

god, just what she needs. another original vampire. the one sharing this house with her is enough. ]

Why?

[ it's just a curious thing to say, a brother being a creeper. ]

What?

( her question catches him off guard and he looks over at her, frowning. )

Has anyone ever told you that you ask quite a lot of questions?

( he sighs and doesn't answer this one. he has no good answer because she doesn't know finn and know how he is and it's not easy to describe. )

Finn is a serious person. It isn't really something you should be thinking about all that deeply.

I have been told I ask a lot of questions, and I ignored that person's criticism. [ as that person had been damon. he seemed to have an issue with her asking questions as it meant she was getting closer and closer to getting the truth and winding up in danger.

she smiles in amusement, wondering if elijah, who postures himself to be so patient, is growing impatient at her asking him questions he doesn't want to answer. but he's also the one who had offered her those slips of information in the first place.

she closes her eyes, feeling a little pleased she's been able to find a chink in his armour. ]

I'm not thinking about it deeply. I'm just asking you a question, Elijah.

And it's a question that I've answered. Finn and I are not close. He was the oldest and thus, he was more serious, more...stern.

( he'd grown up with just their parents for awhile, until the other siblings came along and it showed. )

But, you don't have to worry either which way, Elena, because Finn will not be standing above you, staring down at you and giving you nightmares.

That means it'll just be you standing over me, right?

[ she says it with amusement, but she does wonder, deep down, if he's going to continue to be that shadow damon and stefan often embody themselves. she doesn't need a protector. she's perfectly capable of protecting herself against most things.

suspecting he won't get any more details on his family, she closes her eyes. ]

You don't have to protect me anymore. The sacrifice is over.

I'm not protecting you. I'm here, you're here, I'm just making sure you're all right. Nothing else.

( he's protecting her and he knows it. but he doesn't say that to her. they both know it anyway. )

If the sacrifice is over and I don't need to protect you any longer, you should be able to close your eyes and sleep, hm?

[ she chuckles, shaking her head. ]

You are so smooth, Elijah.

[ and he's got her in his own little web. it's true; if she doesn't need to be protected, then she doesn't need to keep herself awake in the hopes he won't leave. deep down she knows he won't leave. he's protecting her.

eyes closed, she shifts on the armchair, slouching a little on it as she curls herself up. ]

I don't even know your surname.

It's Mikaelson.

( he says it quietly, like saying it any louder might draw the attention of whatever bad luck tends to follow the mikaelsons.

his thumb rubs against the ring on his finger and sighs before he looks back at her. )

Elijah Mikaelson. It's a pleasure to meet you.

[ that's a very old sounding name to her. she wants to know everything about it—when was he born? why is it mikaelson? if he's very old, is his father named mikael?—but elena knows her line of questioning will only encourage him to grow exasperated. ]

Don't watch me sleep, Elijah Mikaelson.

[ that's a nice sounding name to her.

to her credit, she does keep her eyes closed and she does have every intention of lightly sleeping. she has no idea how far she can push elijah and she doesn't want to be compelled… so this is her meeting him halfway. ]

(no subject)

prevenance - 2021-01-05 14:45 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

descendent - 2021-01-06 10:16 (UTC) - Expand

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only