villagelogs | 021-023 » the ghosts of fallen leaves

021-023 » the ghosts of fallen leaves

WHO: Everyone.
WHERE: Eastern/Central/Western Mathias.
WHEN: Days 021-023
WHAT: A cold storm approaches.
WARNINGS: Will update as necessary. PM this account to have a warning added!
NOTES: Plotting post over here!

RECOMMENDED ♫ Emily Kinney & Lauren Cohan "The Parting Glass"

DAYS 021-023
THE WORLD TURNS WHITE
“Are ye the ghosts of fallen leaves, O flakes of snow,
For which, through naked trees, the winds A-mourning go?”
— John Banister Tabb
The howling wind is what wakes the residents of Mathias each day now as the world turns slowly into a bleak stretch of white. Snow continues to fall in thick curtains of flakes that accumulate on trees and rooftops, swirling sideways in the gusts of wind that bow trees and whistle through any crack they can find. The drifts of snow grow taller against the buildings and the wind makes the already freezing temperatures feel bitterly cold.

By day 022, the far ends of streets begin to resemble the hazardous fog with how little becomes visible as the winds pick up. Buildings can still be discerned as dark shapes but the weather's warning becomes clear — a storm is coming. And by day 023, the storm arrives properly, the wind still screaming through the streets like a winter banshee announcing so many deaths to come. These conditions are far from hospitable and only the truly mad would be foolish enough to venture outside in weather such as this.

THE NEWLY ARRIVED
With an embrace of wintery white, Mathias offers a chilly welcome to its newest residents. They awake along the southern treeline bordering Mathias, near the small makeshift cemetery containing a handful of wooden markers erected without names or signifiers of those buried within. And not far from them is the schoolhouse, where in a snowdrift they will the frozen corpse of a young woman named Rey.

LIGHTS IN THE DARKNESS
“A lantern can give you light only when you light it”
— Munia Khan
When residents wake on the morning of day 021, they will find outside in the snow the abandoned lanterns of those shadowy spectres who have moved so silently through Mathias. Each nestled in a patch of frozen white outside their door, the lanterns are now cold to the touch, the half-burned candle within each one seeming to have been lit so very long ago. Inside the glass encasement is a small rolled piece of paper, upon which is written:

keep it lit
There is nothing more, and the prior owners of these lanterns will not return within these days.

There is one lantern waiting outside the building for each resident wherever they are sleeping — the exception for this is those who may have already claimed a lantern as their own. Removing a lantern from its resting place results in no apparent reaction, nor does lighting or not lighting it. However, whatever residents ultimately choose to do with these lanterns should be reported.

CONDITIONS UPDATE

— SNOW continues to fall, resulting over the three days in upwards of a foot of accumulation. The winds blow in gusts over 35 mph.

— 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 still receded from the town proper and much of the eastern and northern beach, with the path through the northern forest to the lighthouse still clear on day 021. On day 022, however, as the storm worsens, the fog returns to the paths in the forest, urging residents to stay huddled within the town proper or else.

— DISAPPEARANCES continue to plague the town. While Zed Martin has returned, Rey's corpse will be found in a snowdrift near the Schoolhouse; she disappeared on day 018.

— THE STRANGER is gone.

— THE SPECTRES are gone.

OOC UPDATES

— DISCOVERIES have been collected and collated for your review. Please note that this is OOC information only, put together for the purpose of helping you as players see connections and possibilities for CR and your own character's potential avenues of exploration and investigation. (If we are missing something, please report it so we can add it to the list.)

— AP REWARDS have a new option now — Ideas may be requested if you find yourself stuck. You may now claim up to 2 rewards per log: (1) idea and (1) other reward.

— SANITY may be regained in two ways: self-medication and treatment. In Mathias, this means such coping mechanisms as drinking or drugging oneself into a stupor that allows them to face their fears and issues, or talking to someone about those fears and issues. Since both of these will take some time, best get started. (A form will be added to the Sanity page.)

— REMINDERS — Don't forget about the bulletin board. Please continue reporting your updates to locations, plots, and discoveries. The map of Mathias has been added to the locations page for ease of reference. Make sure your character's sanity level is kept updated. Prospective players are still joining the TDM, so it's recommended to track new top-levels so you don't miss them.

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[ elena feels proud by her find, liking the fact that elijah doesn't disregard her. he's much like stefan in that regard. on the tips of her toes, she stands beside him and looks at the photo as if it's capable of changing based on them looking at it. ]

They look happy.

[ that's the most important thing she's taken from it. it may look recent and the condition of the frame may prove that the people who owned this photograph were here recently, but she can only focus on how happy they seem. ]

I wonder what happened that made them and whoever else lived here leave without taking this photo.

Well, if the current weather conditions are any indication, they might have gone out and been unable to return. I've been in cold, snowy places before but nothing like this.

( he passes the photo back to elena and starts combing over the room a little more carefully, looking for anything else that might give off clues as to who the people in the picture were. )

I've heard stories during my time of towns and cities buried under great mounds of snow. I don't know if that's what happened here but I wouldn't be surprised.

( except he hadn't heard anything about bodies or remains from anyone. )

Or perhaps there was an emergency and they meant to come back but couldn't.

[ elena looks at the photo one more time before returning it back to its place on the table. inhaling deeply, she lets it out, feeling her shoulders sag. with her hands behind her back, she moves away from the couch at a slow, leisurely pace, looking around the room to see if there's any hint of what had happened. ]

I really want to know what happened.

[ she lets out another sigh before pulling her arms from her back. brushing her hair behind her ear, she regards him with a curious furrow to her brow. ] Don't you think it's strange that there's no newspapers in the Boarding House? No one works there, yet there's nothing there that could clarify where we are and what happened.

I think the entirety of this place is strange, Elena. We should be able to find historical records of those that lived in town but I've been through town hall and haven't found much. There are no ledgers or anything that most towns have.

( it's as if everyone vanished and took all the records of their presences with them. it shouldn't be possible and it doesn't make sense.

he shakes his head. )

But that picture proves there were people here. Whoever or whatever made them leave didn't take everything. They did leave some things behind.

( breadcrumbs, really. )

So yes, I think it's strange but it's hard to figure out what to do. I don't know where exactly we are.

What if it's a stock photo?

[ she highly doubts it, but with no proof in sight, elena knows that she needs to look through the house to dig up the other photographs—and she has to hope that this family left a trail of thick breadcrumbs that could hopefully lead her to discover their identities.

frowning, she turns on her heel and walks over towards the small side table with the photo. picking up the frame, she glances down at it and holds it with both hands as she stands and looks around the living room for more. ]

There has to be other photos with these children in it. Can you see any? Who doesn't have photographs in their living room?

Not everyone has family that they can have photographs of, Elena. Some people are on their own.

( he does have pictures there, both old and new but he tends to not display them, wanting to keep those things for his own.

the compound back home is ostentatious and pretentious with its portraits of the mikaelsons but, at least, they're not displayed all over.

he moves around the room, opening drawers here and there but doesn't find another picture. )

Perhaps that's the only one. Whoever was here left in a rush and wasn't able to collect that.

A family packed every photo but this one? [ she laughs lightly, incredulously, and arches her brow as she looks at him in amusement. if she was in a hurry, she'd only take a few photos—most likely the ones pinned to her mirror. ] I doubt it. [ no offence, elijah.

no, that doesn't feel right. this room doesn't seem like the one that would contain all the photos, either. he's right in that respect, even though his commentary had been more general than specific.

standing still, she purses her lips and surveys the living room. ] Maybe there's a photo upstairs.

[ she begins to move out of the living room and to the staircase. ]

Maybe they didn't have time to pack this photograph, Elena. If they were rushed and hurried, it's very possible they just missed it. If there was something urgent happening that required you to leave, do you think you could possibly pack everything you wanted?

( he's seen your house, elena, and he knows that you wouldn't have time unless you had a vampire with you. and considering stefan salvatore tended to be around her, maybe she would get what she wanted.

still, he doesn't think his theory should be completely ignored. )

Be careful, Elena. I don't hear anyone in here but that doesn't mean this house is all together stable.

( after one more moment of looking around, he follows her upstairs. )

[ elena shakes her head, disliking his rationality. there's no way this photo would've been left behind as a sacrifice. she can still hear him when she's upstairs, walking down the hall in search of something. ignoring the rooms she walks by, she has no plan on which one she ventures into. stopping abruptly, the one on the left calls to her.

pushing the ajar door aside, she steps in and finds herself in a bedroom. from her framed photo, she'd imagine it's the daughter's—the room is light purple and the bed is a deeper shade. the room is a messy sort of clean, the bed made. the dress thrown over the desk chair is what gives away this being the daughter's room.

elena stands in the centre of it, looking around, unsure of what to look at next. ]

( elijah thinks to follow her so he can keep an eye on her but decides against so she doesn't think that he's hovering.

instead, he wanders downstairs, finding himself in what he guesses is the kitchen. the cupboards are mostly bare save for some dust and the refrigerator and oven are both rusted and creaky from disuse.

he peers out the window, trying to imagine what whoever lived here might have seen while they'd been here. once he finds that there's nothing here, he walks back out and starts checking into some closets off the hallway. )

Elijah!

[ elena knows she doesn't need to shout, but it's a force of habit when she wants someone's attention. sitting at the desk of the young girl's room, she flicks through a calendar that had been stuffed inside of a drawer. some of the squares signifying the dates have been coloured in like a patchwork of remembering dates.

pressing her fingers against the smudged out year, elena tries to touch it as if the mere press of her fingertip can wipe the smudge away. ]

( elijah really wishes she wouldn't shout because he thinks something's wrong and thus ends up beside her in the blink of an eye, looking around to try and find the source of her shout.

but there's nothing but elena and that's who his eyes land on after a moment, eyes narrowing. )

What's the matter? Why did you shout? What happened?

( had she seen something else? )

[ she gasps, surprised that he's there when she turns around in her chair. really, she should be used to it by now, but elijah's a different sort of surprised presence.

heart racing in her chest, she slaps her hand against her collarbone before she swallows, inhales and drops her hand. turning around, she noisily grabs the calendar—paper sliding against desk—and holds it out for him to see the dates.

she smiles excitedly up at him. ]

Look at the year. It's smudged out.

All right.

( elijah says the two words slowly, looking at the calendar and then up at elena to see what that could possibly tell him. he rubs a thumb across his lips. )

That tells us nothing, you realize. If the year is smudged out, what are we supposed to do with it? Do the pictures or notes tell you what year it could possibly be?

It tells us something!

[ it's clear to her elijah likes to look at glasses half-empty rather than half-full. she understands that perspective, considering she used to think that in the aftermath of losing her parents.

but, right now, the glass is a little full.

at his question, she shakes her head and parses through the pages to show him a calendar of cute ragdoll cats. the pictures are close-ups and nondescript. ]

How many times do you cross out the year of your calendar until you can't see it? Someone doesn't want us to know.

But what does that tell us, Elena? Someone doesn't want us to know the year for...what reason?

( the question isn't solely focused on her. he's speaking out loud, trying to figure out what about a year would be so significant. he shakes his head. )

It tells us that they don't want us to know, yes. But why wouldn't they want us to know? What about the year these people disappeared is so important that they wouldn't want us to know?

When I was with Five, he found a photograph that had 1964 written on it. Maybe the calendars give us a clue as to what happened here. The spectres came with the snow and winter, there's a dangerous fog…

[ it all doesn't make sense to her, but she's sure all of it comes together appropriately. it's like the puzzle has its pieces thrown all over the town with some of them broken and bent on purpose.

that doesn't stop elena from feeling excited, though. ]

There has to be some pattern that we're missing because all the information is scattered and scratched out.

Yes, the fog. The fog is something I've heard...a lot about. And I intend to go and see what it is.

( who better to explore a murderous fog than a man who was already dead and who could only be killed by one specific thing. )

I don't see any pattern in what you've just told me, though. Snow and winter and fog are both weather events. 1964 is...what happened in 1964 that's important?

( he shakes his head. )

No. [ she says it firmly, looking at him with a frown.

her excitement over her discovery of a manipulated calendar is left in the dust. she wants to think of what could've happened in 1964 and ask him, her historical search engine, but all she can muster is a mere thought that's overwhelmed by what he's admitted.

she stares at him, expecting him to say "psych!" but he's serious. ]

You can't go out into the fog, Elijah. Everyone keeps saying it's dangerous.

Yes, I've heard that as well.

( but that means very little to him when he thinks he can survive and even get through it. he's not going to let the stories scare him off.

the fog might be their only way out of this place and he's an original. there's no one better suited for this. )

But I'll be fine, Elena. You know what I am.

[ an idiot.

when she looks at him, she sees someone, not a vampire, who she wants to keep by her side. yes, elijah is useful tactically to have beside her, but she doesn't want him because he's strong and powerful. his company has been one of the most constant things in her life over just a few short days.

pushing her chair back, she stands and crosses her arms against her chest. ]

How do you know that fog isn't filled with vervain? It can still hurt you.

But even then, it won't kill me.

( yes, it would hurt and yes, he would be very angry that it hurt so badly but he would survive. he would survive and live to fight another day. )

I've dealt with worse than vervain over the span of my life, Elena. My own brother has put daggers in my heart. Vervain is absolutely nothing.

( except a nuisance. )

[ she has never had to deal with elijah when he was determined to hurt himself. maybe teaming up with her and assisting her to possibly survive the ritual had been an example of him putting himself in harm's way, but she hadn't believed him helping her had been a demonstration of elijah on a suicide mission.

something in her gut is telling her this is the worst idea he could've had in a very long time, and a part of that reasoning is her fear of being left alone.

her frown only deepens. ]

How do you know that? What if this fog is something that can?

Unless the fog is made of a ash from a white oak, then it is not going to hurt me. That is the only thing that could kill me.

( not that he particularly wants to burn or be ripped apart or anything like that. while he would recover, it would be quite the annoyance and he has better things to do than that. )

It could be our only way out of here, Elena. Is that not worth the chance of me going through to it?

[ she shakes her head. ] No.

[ the only time self-sacrifice is ever worth it is when she's the one doing the sacrificing of herself. too many people have died trying to protect her. while she understands that he wants to find a way out for the both of them, it's still a potential sacrifice. she trusts nothing of this place; with the way the people talk about it, it's not safe. ]

No, I don't. There has to be another way. If a witch can't get through it, there's no way to tell that you can.

[ a magic user and a magical being are one in the same, aren't they? ]

021-023 » the ghosts of fallen leaves

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