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

[tinstar]

Raylan didn't even bother nodding at Neal, letting the natural state of this many souls explain itself in its own order. If Dean missed who it was, he'd be deeply surprised. He did give a passing look to Malcolm and his seemingly innate knowledge of Dean's coffee preferences.

Managing to keep from huffing out a breath of amusement at Neal's quip, Raylan headed towards the kitchen to refill his own cup of coffee while Dean did an initial check. He'd be back in time for the Q&A with Dean Winchester.

[cholesterol]

"Thanks," he says to Malcolm, first. Bright is right in thinking his assumption does bring about a silent reaction. What it means, Dean doesn't know, but Dean also doesn't have the time. He's not here to be shrunk. But, he leaves the coffee for the time being. If someone brings it to him, cool, but his focus is on...

"Neal," he says, sitting on the edge of the couch.

Dean does take in his surroundings, the kitchen, the fireplace, Doc Doc Holliday - no, keep cool, and his hangover partner.

"I'm not," he replies simply, but seriously. To know Dean Winchester is to witness him buzzed. He is not to the point he reached with Neal the night before, but he was on his way. He didn't think he'd see Raylan twice in one day, but that's this town. Surprises. And, apparently, vampire bites.

"Tell me what happened." Leaning forward, he tries to get a good look at where Neal might've been bitten. Neck, shoulder, gaping wound, something covered, or bandaged.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm lingered near Raylan with his own cup, his attention on the livingroom, but staying well back. He watched Dean for a moment, then looked at Raylan.

"You're not going after the vampire tonight, right?"

[thering]

"You are welcome to peel the gauze off to take a closer look, but don't leave it uncovered for too long." Doc had done a quick but decent and neat job at washing out the puncture wounds and covering it up prior to Dean's arrival. They cannot be risking an infection in a place like this, with no proper modern equipment.

He would rather Neal be getting some rest but since he insists on sitting up and putting on a brave front, he does appreciate that the young man (they are all young men here. Except maybe Raylan who is close to being as old and cranky as Doc is) has been patient and answering all their questions so far. Doc has a few questions of his own - no doubt they all do - but they can wait until Dean's finished with Neal.

[conning]

Neal puts a hand to his neck with a weird twinge of self-consciousness, then lets his hand drop. If Dean wants to take a look, Neal will let him. Not happily, but he'll let him.

"Man followed me out of Town Hall, we were both heading for the boarding house--said he lived there--we got part way, he yanked me into an alley and..." A broad gesture indicating his neck. His heart is pounding, and he can't tell how much of it is blood loss and how much is the memory of the way the vampire's eyes went dark when he attacked. He takes a deep, quiet breath, determined to be as okay as possible in spite of everything. "Before he bit me he said he needed a favor."

[tinstar]

If you wanted to know a person, you stick them in front of someone who is injured and needs help. Raylan may have heard some of Dean's stories over breakfast and records, but he was curious as to how the inspection would go.

He glance over at Malcolm at the question and shook his head softly. "No, not tonight. Possibly not even tomorrow. We won't be doin' much of anythin' until this storm passes. And even then, it'll depend on what we can do. Last thing we wanna do is go pissing this thing off with no way to defend ourselves. Maybe we can get away with not pissin' it off in all this."

Another gift, another parlay, another bottle of moonshine.

[cholesterol]

Dean does, peeling the gauze away enough. It's a vampire bite, (or it resembles one). He knits his brow with a sigh, setting the patch back down and running fingers along it to keep it sticking.

"Vampire McGruff," he says. Taking a bite out of a criminal, instead.

"And after, he drop you in the snow and -- have you seen him before?" Immediately, he sees Elijah in his mind, Elijah a man. But, he doesn't forget that reality can be altered, and maybe it has. It's more complicated than storming the boarding house. Especially in these conditions.