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

[abrightboy]

"It's available for takeout," Malcolm assured him about the moonshine while he scooped coffee into the french press. "But I still wouldn't advise 'out' as a destination right now."

[thering]

If Negan did insist more than once on leaving, they might not have stopped him, but Doc would have insisted on walking him back to wherever he thinks is so important to be returning to. He owes him at least that much, after he had come all this way.

"Your place will still be there tomorrow. Most likely," he adds as an afterthought. Can't put it past this town to leave the buildings and the people staying within them well enough alone.

"Meanwhile we can get you settled in at least for a meal. And to finish that bottle with us." With any luck this will all blow over in a few hours, but he highly doubts it. Doc would find a time and space to warn Negan about the potential early morning start a little later, after they've prepped a space for him to sleep and a change of clothes. For now there is no reason to bring it up.

[tinstar]

"This snow is gonna call for more than a roof, I promise you." That cold was no joke and if the snow kept going at this rate, they might have to shovel their way off the porch. This place being the bitch it was, Raylan would not be surprised if, in the morning, they found themselves buried.

"Nah, better you hunker down with some faces you know. Shit gets pulled in the night in this town." It was better to have other sets of eyes and ears to go with the live fire and bullshit that got slipped under their doors at night. At any rate, Raylan wasn't keen on the idea of anyone walking anywhere late at night. Even Dusk had earned a side eye. When was going to be the last one they saw before the darkness fell again?

"Sides, we might be able to scrounge up a deck'a cards to go with that bottle - y'all play poker? Malcolm?" Doc and Negan looked like men who had been playing poker since they were four and a half. Malcolm was a little too clean cut to fall to it naturally, in his head.

[vampirebats]

"Hey, I'm not saying no," he reassures everyone. They want him, they can have him. Everybody deserves a little old Negan time.

"I'd rather be snowed in with people than stuck by myself in this place." As long as it doesn't turn into a cannibal adventure at some point, you know? Anybody starts eyeing him up like a steak, they might need a word.

"Hey, sounds like a good way to pass the night."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm grinned. "I'm familiar with the rules," he allowed. "I've played a hand or two."

[thering]

"Oh don't worry. I'll go easy on you." Not on Raylan obviously, and maybe only just a little bit on Negan. Whether he has something to prove or just respects Negan, he won't toy with him too much. Raylan he would just mess with and enjoy every moment of it.

"Make yourselves at home." They'll be sprawled around the dining table accusing each other of being filthy liars soon enough.

[tinstar]

Raylan grinned as he got to his feet. "Poker it is. Full table."

Oh yes, he could handle that as a way to pass an evening.

[OOC: Since I don't suppose anyone wants to RP a poker game - Should we call it there? ]

[vampirebats]

[OOC: Yeah, I think this is probably a good point to call it if everyone else is cool with it!]