021-023 » the ghosts of fallen leaves

[villagemod]

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.

navigation | faq | setting | mod contact

Comments

[abrightboy]

[Malcolm glanced down at his suit and looked up at Quentin.]

Because I can't find any clothes here that fit me properly.

[He got back into the suit whenever it was reasonably clean. All the clothes he found that fit his build were too long on him. Clearly nobody with any muscle mass that allegedly lived in this place was... a bit on the short side.]

[moderatelymaladjusted]

And you picked that?

[Which, okay. Fair. Quentin knew people who knew about clothes, and who might even wear something like that. On purpose. But only because Margo knew how to rock it. Still...]

And it's just a coincidence that I ended up here, and not in some remote corner of the Neitherlands branch. Sure, why the fuck not.

[So not convinced, but...]

If you're not with the library, how do you even know my name?

[A beat]

... and I know I'm not wearing a nametag. I checked.

[abrightboy]

['That' is a ten thousand dollar bespoke English-tailored suit and the remark makes him frown faintly, because his wardrobe isn't usually talked about like a middle aged dad going to a parent-teacher meeting in a Hawaiian shirt and corduroy pants.]

You keep saying 'library' and I feel like it should have a big 'L' when you say it. I know your name because you were here before. I take it you don't remember.

[moderatelymaladjusted]

Jesus.

[Not that Quentin is going to drop his hands much, because you never know when magic might come in handy. But also, there had been 39 other timelines and who the fuck knows what could happen with those when magic slammed back in to the world.]

Okay. Okay, alright, let's say that's... what happened. That I've maybe, possibly been here before. That doesn't explain you. Or, you know, anything.

[abrightboy]

What doesn't it explain about me? I met you when you were here before. My name is Malcolm Bright. You showed me a trick. Sleight of hand.

[moderatelymaladjusted]

Oh—- so, like a card trick or something?

[Because it could be worse. And wasn't that just the tag-line of his whole life?]

Okay, so. I’m Quentin and you’re Malcolm. Nice to meet you— again. Uhm, I didn’t happen to mention where I was going, or anything that might actually be helpful?

[abrightboy]

You mentioned that you also know real magic and that you go to a school for it. But that has nothing to do with why you're here. We're all here for the same reason.

[moderatelymaladjusted]

I...what?

[He was here, mentioning Brakebills? And magic? And this guy, who is not a Librarian just-- believed him? Quentin blinks, hand curling around the strap of his messenger bag and he tugs a strand of hair behind his ear.]

And you just-- okay, so-wait. You're not sent here to kill me and I just-- you know me? You know why we're here? And it's not because someone shoved me through a portal and this is just another trick to get me to not try and blow up the Library?

[abrightboy]

Unless this Library of yours wants to kill random people who’ve never heard of it. At any rate, I said we’re all here for the same reason, not that I know what that reason is. Not yet, anyway.

[moderatelymaladjusted]

Well, actually-- [Because they would probably do that, if they had something to gain or something to hide. Quentin shakes his head, and messy strands of hair that escaped the pony-tail at the nape of his neck, fly around his head.]

That just-- wow, that doesn't even make sense, but. Sure. Why not? Stranger things have happened. This could all be connected and there could be a reason why you know me and why I've never seen you before in my life. So. Hey? For the second time and-- I don't know. What do you usually do around here, when you're not. You know, meeting people for the second time?

[He tugs his hair back behind his ear, shrugging. Not that he isn't going to keep an eye out, but there's just too much emotion and too much mystery to keep up with.]

[abrightboy]

[Malcolm watched his face carefully.]

This is the first time I've met someone for the second time. I think it's interesting you haven't retained any memories of your first time here. I wonder if none of us remember anything if we ever get back home.

[But that's just a musing.]

Have you found somewhere to stay yet? You can't be out once night falls. And you have to have somewhere safe to go if the fog advances.

[moderatelymaladjusted]

Interesting? Yeah, that's me.

[It's really not.] But since I have no idea what you're even talking about, why can't it just be that someone's been messing with your memory? Maybe I'm the one who remembers things and you just-- uh, dreamed it all up?

[... not really likely, but jesus, would it hurt the universe to let the bad things happen to someone else for once?]

I-- why? I can take care of myself. Even in the fog.

[abrightboy]

Normally, maybe.

[He lets that comment about him being the one that might remember wrong go by; he can see Quentin doesn't really buy it.]

But this fog is toxic. It killed five people in one night.

[moderatelymaladjusted]

Just... what? What the hell kind of place is this?

[And yeah, he’s going to look around at that, like the fog is just going to sneak out past the tree line to catch him. Quentin turns his attention back on Malcolm.]

That is... good to know. I’ll find somewhere. Somewhere not outside. So—- anything else I might need to know? So that I don’t-uhm- die again?

[abrightboy]

Wouldn't recommend going out after dark, either. People hear voices. And see... things. What kind of place it is, though.... is something we're still working to determine.

[moderatelymaladjusted]

... and you’re sure this is real? Like, we’re really here and it’s not just—-

[Quentin pokes Malcolm in the shoulder, just to make sure he’s... here]

Okay. So, you’re here. Or, my brain thinks that you are. Which... fine. And you really don't know anything about the Library?

[abrightboy]

[Malcolm's eyes follow that finger and he frowns faintly at the poke.]

There's a library here in town, but... it's just full of books and stuff.

[moderatelymaladjusted]

[There's no just about books, Malcolm, and Quentin looks up, head tilting.]

Yeah? I mean, a real library and not a branch of-- you know what, nevermind. If it has books in it and--and does it have a computer? Can you show me?

[abrightboy]

Sure. Happy to. [He tilts his head in that direction, then starts walking.] You did find some kind of special book there when you were here before. You loaned it to my roommate, Raylan. I’m sure he’d return it if you want to see it.

[moderatelymaladjusted]

[Half-scrambling to catch up once he realizes that Malcolm is actually moving, Quentin makes sure to keep a healthy distance between them-- yanno, just to make sure.]

Special. Do you have any idea how or should I just-- ask around, and see if I can find this Raylan?

[abrightboy]

It had something to do with something called... [He searches for the name.] Fillory? Anyway, you can't miss Raylan. He's tall and wears a white cowboy hat. If you don't see him in town, we live at 1306 Philips Drive.

[moderatelymaladjusted]

Fillory? He-- I found a book about Fillory? [Jesus, what's next? Ember or Umber dropping by? Quentin cracks a smile.] A cowboy hat? I'll be sure to look out for that. I went to cowboy camp. When I was a kid? Always liked the hats.

[abrightboy]

Yeah? He pulls it off well. My other roommate has a cowboy hat too. A black one. His name's Henry, if you see him. They're both reliable people, if you need help with anything. And Henry has some medical training, if you hurt yourself.

[moderatelymaladjusted]

You live. With several cowboys? How does that even-- because no offense, you don't really look like one? [Not with a fancy suit and a shirt and everything.] That's-- I'm sorry, I. It's fine, I'm just not used to [meeting people, Quentin? yeah, that tracks] I'll keep an eye out. Especially for Raylan. Fillory...

[The streets are eerily deserted, nothing moving and no sounds except for the ones they make as they make their way towards the library.]

[abrightboy]

[Malcolm offers him a soft smile.]

I'm not a cowboy. I'm a criminal profiler. I used to work for the FBI. Then I was working with the NYPD. Now... I live with cowboys and try to help out with... survival and the mystery of this place.