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.

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Comments

[chicartista]

Zed is beyond confused. Did she sleepwalk? Had one of those strange events that had plagued this town happened? She felt a bit disoriented like she had just been woken up from a dream and had no idea where she was. And where was John?

She cautiously moved towards the voice. "Uh... not exactly," she paused. "Unless you mean the ...movie theatre? I don't know how I got here?"

[bestfuneralever]

Not exactly. That answer picks the string of something in the back of his mind and Klaus pauses just a little short of halfway down, letting her come to him, if she wants to. “Are you, uh- are you Zed?” He asks curiously, head tilted slightly to own side.

She sounds confused and disoriented but not in the way fresh arrivals tend to. She knows what town she’s in, even if she hasn’t said its name, it’s just the specific location she’s unsure of. “I’m Klaus. I know John. He’s been looking for you.”

[chicartista]

She was surprised when he said her name especially since she didn't recognize him. Even more surprised when he said that John was looking for her. What had happened? She does go the rest of the way and looks at him curiously. Something had happened and somehow she got the feeling it wasn't good.

"Yeah, I am," she nodded, brow furrowed. "John's looking for me?!"

[bestfuneralever]

"We finally meet," he mutters softly, shaking his head a bit. "I think John's been trying to make that happen for awhile now. Funny, how he isn't even the reason we meet." He huffs a soft, amused sound.

He scratches at his cheek and nods a bit, "Uh, yeah... you've been gone for--" How long had it been? Well, he really isn't sure. "I don't exactly, but definitely a few days. Maybe a week?" He frowns a little. She seems... shocked about it. Which makes him think she must not know she was gone.

[chicartista]

Zed's eyes widened. Gone?! A week?! She couldn't have heard that right, there had to have been some sort of mistake. She had no memory of being missing or of anything happening. Her brow furrowed and then she ran a hand through her hair. That didn't make any sense. She remembered going to bed in the house she shared with John and then the next thing she knew she was here.

"I... are you sure?!"

[bestfuneralever]

"I mean- not exactly. I know it's been a few days, for sure. But..." He shrugs. "John'll be able to tell you exactly how long it's been." He reaches out to try and rest a hand on her shoulder. "Hey... it's okay. You're here now. For whatever cold comfort that might actually be." He manages a soft, small smile.

[chicartista]

Zed shifted her stance, just enough so Klaus couldn't touch her. It's still a reflex and at least it looks like she doesn't mean it personally. Even if her powers arent working she isn't going to risk coming into contact with those she doesn't know.

There was something so wrong about this place and she didn't even know how to begin to process any of it. She sucked on her lips for a moment as she tried to ground herself in something.

"Can we get out of here?"

end? ♥

[bestfuneralever]

He doesn't think much of the avoidance; they don't know each other, it's reasonable to not want strangers in your personal space bubble. So instead, he takes it in stride and nods at her question. "Yeah, come on." he says, leading the way out of the theater. He'd take her back to John, and everything would be okay.