villagelogs | 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.

navigation | faq | setting | mod contact

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Not for you.

( Different worlds, David Copperfield. )

You are welcome. I'd do it again.

( But he's glad he doesn't have to. That would not be a great situation. Hitler returning again. )

My magic isn’t, uhm, magic?

[He pulls out a coin from his front pocket, it takes a bit of wiggling in his seat to get at it, but it’s doable. Once it’s in his hand, he lets it travel across the back of his left hand. The coin falling in to each groove by his knuckles like clockwork. Fast as first, back and forth, until he slows it down. It crawls from left to right, disappearing once it reaches his pinky finger.

He holds out his empty hands.]

Ta da.

Dude. That's -- you a telekinetic?

( He's wary, but impressed, but still wary from the telekinetic he's encountered. From his own brother at one time. Is that what Quentin calls magic? )

Sleight of hand.

[Quentin gives Dean a sly smile, letting the coin appear seemingly from out of nowhere.]

You should see me with a deck of cards. I’m pretty good at poker.

[Understatement. Even without real magic, Quentin is amazing with cards, and coins. Street magician-level sleight of hand, and a good way to make money. But not as interesting a topic at parties as you might think.

He lets the coin walk across his knuckles again, palming it before opening his hand one finger at a time to show his now-empty hand.]

And that's what magic is for you.

( Seems... small time. But, no less impressive. With Quentin and gods he didn't expect... whatever that is. )

Uh huh.

[What did you expect, mister makes-a-mean-sandwich? Quentin wants to show off magic, real magic. It's been so long since he's had it, even if it only works like half the times hes tried to do it. The spells small and harmless, but it's magic. Like liquid warmth flowing through his veins once it works. Like coming home.

But this guy apparently kills magicians who's killed people, and. Sure, maybe Quentin didn't personally cast the spell that killed people, but he sure as shit set things in motion that killed people. So many times.

So, these muggle-tricks are what he's going to show off, settling back in to his seat to drain his cup.]

Isn't this what your brother can do?

Not because he was magic. The magic he can do, is - spells. Ingredients, symbols, incantations.

( Q didn't even say anything, just sent the coin on its way around his knuckles. It was pretty cool as far as sleight of hand choices go, but it's his real magic. As for telekinesis, or whatever it's called, it was Sam who'd had that, thanks to his demon blood. But, that was thirteen, fourteen years ago.

Lately, they'd had Rowena or her journals. )

Oh...

[Quentin stares in to his cup of coffee for a moment, before looking up, tilting his head to the side.]

So. You don't kill people who can do magic just on principle?

Not what I do.

( You can rest assured, Quentin. )

[Quentin falls silent. For longer than just the regular 'let me gather my thoughts', before he looks back up, jaw clenching.

He holds out both hands, and since there's nothing here that looks broken, he grabs the piece of bacon from his uneaten sandwich and crumbles it on the table between them.]

I swear there's a reason for that.

[He flexes his fingers through a complex series of tuts. Fingers twisting around each other before he cups both hands above the bacon-bits.

For a second, nothing happens and Quentin has that flare of panic, that this isn't going to work and he's just going to sit here, like an idiot, waving his hands at bacon, when the magic picks them up and the bacon knits back together. Leaving it looking as good as new.]

I kind of know real magic, too.

( First off, why. He makes a face, but keeps himself composed. So, the kid's not mad or anything? The tuts are pretty mesmerizing. Dean's never seen tutting outside of some middle of the night Youtube blackhole-ing.

His eyebrows shoot up as he nods and sits forward. His mouth breaks into a wide smile. )

Dude. That's cool.

Yeah. This is how magic is for me. I-- I learned about incantations and potions, but they never really. I never really got it. Not like this.

[A Physical kid, even if all of his friends had been miles better at it than he could even dream of being. They all knew their Discipline while Quentin was still stuck at being a.... nothing-mancer.

He tries another spell anyway, tutting his way through Popper number 4 and straight in to Popper number 46. Bending the light around the sandwich, and while Alice might be able to bend light enough to turn invisible, even before Brakebills, Quentin only manages to make the sandwich very, very transparent.]

It's really not that useful. But yeah, it's really cool.

It is. I'm impressed. ...Sandwich still there?

( He waves a hand, attempted to swipe through it. )

It's-- yes! Oh, shit. I should have told you-- yes, it's still there. I just. I didn't make it not-here. You just couldn't see it?

[The spell breaks as the sandwich goes flying. Quentin tries to catch it with magic, which predictably fails, and it smacks to the floor with a thunk.]

I am so sorry.

( Shit. )

It's fine. It's a sandwich. We never run out of food, remember? Do you do that a lot? Apologize for things that aren't your fault?

Uhm... no? [he said shifty-eyed, even as he’s sliding off the chair to pick the smushed sandwich up off the floor.] I mean. No, of course not. Why would I even—- I don’t, okay? I just. Should have maybe mentioned the whole ‘it’s still there’ part of the magic trick.

[Holding the sandwich out, Quentin says-]

Where do you want this?

Trash.

( Dean swipes the sandwich, getting up. )

Five second rule will probably kill us in this place. Apologize less. It'll do you good.

( And into the garbage it goes. )

Thanks for sharing.

You're welcome? I mean, it's not like I was the only one talking and-- thanks. For. Helping. And the sandwich, even if it didn't really--

[Since Dean got up, Quentin gets up off the floor and just kind of hovers somewhere between the table and the door.]

Thank you. And for telling me about- well. This place? And about everything else.

021-023 » the ghosts of fallen leaves

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject