villagelogs | 024-027 » neither reward nor punishment

024-027 » neither reward nor punishment

WHO: Everyone.
WHERE: Eastern/Central/Western Mathias + ???
WHEN: Days 024-027
WHAT: The consequences of their actions.
WARNINGS: Will update as necessary. PM this account to have a warning added!
NOTES: Plotting post over here! The next log will be posted January 23rd.

RECOMMENDED ♫ Deadly Avenger "Onryo" 怨霊

DAYS 024-025
CONSEQUENCES
“There are in nature neither rewards nor punishments —
there are consequences.”
— Robert G. Ingersoll
When the unwilling residents of Mathias Township wake on the morning of the 24th day, they will find themselves in yet another set of frustratingly unnerving circumstances. None of them are where they last remember being, and some of them have strange marks on the palms of their left hands. It's all incredibly unsettling, but truthfully they should be used to it by now. No one will remember traveling to their new location.

Residents can wake up anywhere within their new location and in any position. Curled up in a bed, sprawled on a couch, huddled beneath a coffee table, propped against a wall... Wherever they are, they will themselves to be in quite an unusual state. While they are wearing whatever clothing items they went to sleep in, plus their shoes and a coat. The newest arrivals to Mathias Township will perhaps stand out for being slightly more appropriately dressed than their new neighbors. They are all a bit damp, physically worn out, and half-frozen from their apparent walk through a blizzard.

Each of the four locations is inescapable — residents are trapped, with exterior doors and windows being shut tight and a blizzard raging outside. The locations are stocked with fresh food and water and a large pile of firewood for the fireplaces in each building. The circumstances residents will face, however, may vary wildly between locations as the forces at work in Mathias respond to the recent actions of certain individuals.

BOARDING HOUSE | GREY GULL
NEW HOUSE | MYSTERY MANSION

These residents will wake with a mark on their left hand palms, a spiraling black symbol similar to those some may have seen around town. All marks are identical and cannot be removed, but will have seemingly vanished from their skin on the morning of the 26th day.

Castiel, Daisy Johnson, Dean Winchester
Elena Gilbert, Elijah Mikaelson, Helen Magnus
Phil Coulson, Quentin Coldwater, Sherlock Holmes

DAYS 026-027
IN THE AFTERMATH
After their ordeals of the past two days, the unfortunate residents of Mathias Township will be grateful to find that they were back where they are supposed to be, a chill still clinging to their clothes in whatever place they went to sleep the night of the 23rd day. New arrivals will wake in the living room of the boarding house. None of the residents will wake with anything in their possession from the locations in which they were previously trapped, including any notes or documentation they may have made during their time there.

CONDITIONS UPDATE
— SNOW continues to fall heavily on Days 024-025, resulting in white out conditions from the wind that blows in gusts of over 35 mph; the temperature also drops drastically, making conditions extremely dangerous for residents. The blizzard clears on Day 26 and residents are left with a cold, calm world covered in white.

— THE FOG remains blocking the paths in the forest, urging residents to stay huddled within the town proper, and it also now blocks the northern section of town, beginning just before where residents know the chasm in the earth to be. Venturing into the fog is... ill-advised.

— DISAPPEARANCES continue to plague the town. Kylo Ren and Thomas Richardson have vanished without a trace.

— NO NEW DEATHS have occurred in town, but there is a new "grave" in the small makeshift graveyard near the schoolhouse. Rey's corpse has been moved and covered with stones to wait for the ground to thaw enough for a proper burial.

— THE LANTERNS will be gone from the morning of Day 024. No trace of them remains.

OOC UPDATES
— A GIFT for everyone! As a thank you for being part of this spooky little game, every character in the game is being gifted 2 Activity Points. These may be banked over here — instead of linking to an AC post, you may put "New Year gift" in that field. Happy 2021, friends!

— NEW LAYOUTS have been installed for our communities! Huge thanks to our Eldritch Librarian Stars for putting in the time to get this place looking shiny. (You may have also noticed some new page layouts being installed — these are also our Librarian's handiwork!)

— 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.)

— 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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You....

[ Disappeared. For a few days. Repeating that in his head somehow doesn't make it better. In point of fact, it makes it worse. ]

Great. I'll just add that to my ever-growing list of the possible and disturbing. [ He shivers. ] At least we ended up somewhere with a food supply, if we're stuck for a while.

[ Ah. So he's probably not someone who is also used to Weird Shit, then. This will be fun. Better to just focus on the problems at hand. ]

Yeah well, I'd be more worried about the power going out. We can survive without food for a few days, but if we can't keep it warm enough in here and the pipes freeze... [ Her voice trails off and then she winces slightly. ] Sorry, that probably didn't help.

[ He laughs in spite of himself. ]

All right, well, in assigning roles, I think I've been tasked with optimism and you've been relegated to the position of realist. Hopefully we will not freeze to death, but in the mean time I can at least make us a passable char salmon and gribiche dressing with what I know is here.

[ He has a nice laugh. She can appreciate that too, even in a place like this.

Her role as realist makes her smile, though her brow furrows at what follows. Char salmon and what now? Whatever it is, it seems a hell of a lot pricier than anything she's ever eaten. She's had some nice meals since joining SHIELD (half of them cooked by Coulson, to be honest), but she's still a junk food lover at heart. ]

Sounds fancy. What, are you a chef or something?

Me? No. Just a fan of good food.

[ He's about to say something else when the wind shrieks against the windows. Shrieks, like something possessed, like it's trying to possess them, and Neal clutches his hands over his ears reflexively. It's hard to think past the sound, past the feeling of being cut up inside, and a moment later he has his arm around Daisy, supporting her without thinking about it, feet braced wide to keep himself upright. ]

[ Daisy doesn't even register how close Neal's gotten at first, every coherent thought blotted out by the pain cutting through her head and slicing into her bones. Every splintered crack within her arms makes itself known in painful detail as her bones shake with the force of the sound and it's instinct that has her grab hold of Neal's arm with one hand while the other presses against the side of her head.

Great, so now the good-looking new guy has not only seen her in pajamas with unbrushed hair, but he also gets to see her with a scrunched up face from being in severe pain. This is fine. Totally fine. She won't be bitter about this at all later. ]

[ It's all he can do just to stay focused and standing. God, why won't it stop? He can't keep two coherent thoughts side-by-side in his head, can hardly seem to see, all his senses short-circuited by what he can only call the psychic presence of the wind.

When it finally dies down, he's shaking, sweating, and hanging on to Daisy, and he can't tell if it's to make sure she's okay or he is. He looks down the few inches between them into her face. He's very, very clearly shaken. ]

You okay?

[ The last time she'd felt something like this... Well, it hadn't been quite like this, but the closest thing was back in that old HYDRA base when she'd had to power the monolith's opening. She'd heard that frequency resonating in her head for days afterward, but this is something else. Not a frequency exactly, but behaving like one, just worse. A lot worse.

Her face is pale when she meets his gaze, though she immediately tries to push past the lingering pain to focus on him. He looks bad, and she shifts her hold on him to be more supportive. ]

I think we should sit for a minute. [ She doesn't wait for his agreement to the idea, already gently tugging him toward the bed he'd crawled out from under. (She also doesn't answer his question.) ]

[ He doesn't resist, only making sure she's steady on her feet before he lets himself be drawn over to the bed. He sits down unsteadily, ears ringing, and he can't tell if the rushing in his head is from general dizziness or that awful, awful noise.

Neal braces his hands on the edge of the bed, taking a moment to breathe. ]

That... did not sound like a storm.

[ It feels really good to sit, though she tries not to show it too much. Him worrying about her more than he already is? That's the last thing she needs. ]

I wouldn't be surprised if it is, though. [ Unconsciously, her hands massage along both her forearms, trying to ease some of the tension out of her muscles. There's a dull ache in them that she hopes isn't more bruises forming. ] Has anyone told you about the fear storm some of us arrived to?

[ It might be the last thing she needs, but that's not going to stop it from happening. He hasn't forgotten the clear pain she was in when the building was shaking, and he notices the relief when they sit. It has him resting a gentle hand on her back, prepared to pull away at a moment's notice if she seems uncomfortable. ]

Fear storm?

[ That hand on her back is soothing — with her nerves on fire, it should only make things worse, but instead she can feel the very subtle vibration of him sink into her through that simple touch. It gives her something else to focus on, a much-needed distraction that keeps her in the present moment. ]

Yep. A massive thunderstorm rolled in when the first of us arrived. There was lightning everywhere and by the end, we couldn't even try to go outside without feeling like we were being scared to death. I only did it once to rescue someone and it was... awful.

[ She draws in a deep breath that she lets out in a loud, heavy sigh. When did she get to be so tired? ] So a blizzard with freaky screaming and earthquakes? Sounds about right, actually.

[ Goosebumps crawl over Neal's skin. He takes a deep breath, counts to three, exhales long and slow. Then again.

He hasn't had to do that since he was a kid. Not consciously, at least. ]

I really miss last week when 'weird' was the office coffee maker brewing a decent pot. You sound... used to this kind of thing.

[ The way he breathes purposefully — she takes note of that, forcefully reminding herself that not everyone considers weird to be their normal. He could come from a world without aliens or superpowers, a world where the weirdest thing he might encounter on a daily basis would elicit nothing more than a huh in reaction. He confirms that with his next words and suddenly she wants to protect him from the madness he's been dropped into.

Maybe this is why Constantine got so angry at her when she returned from who knows where. They can't protect anyone from the shit this place is throwing at them, but that doesn't stop them from wanting to try. ]

Yeah, I am. Weird is kind of my thing. [ She takes just a moment to consider before asking the question to which she already knows the answer. ] I'm guessing you've probably never heard of SHIELD before?

[ He shakes his head. ] If you're using it as an acronym, no.

[ It sounds government though. That, mercenaries, or private security. ]

[ She nearly sighs again, but instead reaches up to rub at her eyes with still-cold fingertips. ]

Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. Basically, we're the ones who protect normal people [ the like you goes unsaid ] from the weird stuff you're not prepared to handle.

[ He rubs her back a little, the move almost automatic, an attempt at comfort that he wouldn't accept if their positions were reversed. ]

Well, thank you, on behalf of the me in another universe. [ He keeps his tone wry, even if the sentiment is sincere. He hesitates. ] You look like hell, though. No offense.

[ Normally, she'd have shrugged off that gesture of comfort long before now. For whatever reason that she can't quite pinpoint (or perhaps simply doesn't want to), she accepts it now. Maybe she really is just feeling terrible enough to accept comfort from a total stranger. That would be a first.

She lets both arms rest against her legs while she gives him a very pointed look. ] So do you.

I didn't almost fall over when the building was shaking.

[ A pause. ] Okay, yes I did, but you looked like it was hurting you, the way you almost collapsed when it stopped.

Edited 2021-01-05 05:06 (UTC)

[ For a long moment, Daisy just stares at him, visibly debating how to answer the unspoken question. Sure, she could deflect again, but if the shaking returns the same way that piercing sound did...

You know what? She's too tired and in too much pain for secrets. And what good are they here anyway? None of them have been able to leave this place and who knows how long they'll have before the fog or a rabid squirrel shows up to kill them all. ]

On my Earth, there exists a small percentage of the population with a dormant alien gene mixed into their DNA. There's a chemical compound that activates this gene, giving them unnatural abilities. [ She says it all so simply, with a matter-of-fact air that speaks to just how many times she's given this same explanation over the years. ] We call ourselves Inhumans. My power gives me the ability to sense and manipulate vibrations.

[ Neal is suddenly very glad that Malcolm prepared him for the whole... aliens. Thing. This time it's something he can take with a blink of surprise instead of a full-on screeching crash into a mental wall. Never let it be said that Neal isn't adaptable, and never let it be said that he can't seem to roll with the punches if he's had a little time to brace himself.

When she says what she can do, he grimaces. ]

So the shaking, and the screaming... great. That's great. It's like tailor-made torture.

[ He knows better than to hope both won't be back. ]

[ She'd gotten the first hint of him knowing things when he mentioned another universe, but now she knows without a doubt that someone gave him a pretty good primer on what to expect when meeting people in this town. Whoever it is, she's grateful — if he'd tried denying it or calling her crazy, she wouldn't have handled it very well. Instead, here he is immediately understanding what that means for her. It's kind of impressive, actually. ]

Pretty much, yeah. [ She looks away from him then, her gaze going to her arms in her lap in a natural defense against her next words. It hurts enough to say them out loud without seeing his reaction when she does. ] Usually the shaking wouldn't bother me as much, but I don't have my protective gear and... I don't know if it's this place or something that happened before, but something's wrong with my power.

[ All of Neal's protective instincts have kicked into high gear. He shifts his hand gently from her back to her shoulder, squeezing a little. ]

Something's wrong with it? Wrong how? What does your gear do?

[ It hits her all of a sudden: he reminds her of Sousa. Not in the same way that Henry had, with his old-fashioned charm and courtesy, but— The way he keeps being concerned for her and offering her comfort, it's so like Sousa that day in the barn, and the day after when she'd been recovering. Maybe that's what convinces her it's safe to answer his questions, or maybe she's just tired of hiding. ]

It's not as strong as it was before, and I can't control it the same way. I— [ She pauses, then holds up her right hand, showing him the strip of grey fabric wrapped firmly around her palm, wrist, and arm. ] I can manipulate vibrations to create shockwaves, shields... But without my gauntlets to shield me from them, they shake me too. After I first went through my transformation, I ended up with over 70 hairline fractures in my arms.

[ It's a lot to take in. Enough that he looks away from her for a moment, down at his lap, gathering his thoughts. There are a few conclusions he can draw--from the way her arms are wrapped up, from the fact that she mentioned the hairline fractures. ]

And it's not like you can just ignore it here. Not use it when it might help someone. [ He shakes his head. He's suddenly glad he doesn't have powers. Between the vampire and Daisy, he's really not seeing an upside to being special in a place like this. Moreover, to have something so tied to her very identity be somehow broken and simultaneously at the edge of her reach--the only comparison he can think of is if someone were to cut off his hands. Take away what allows him to create.

Quietly: ] Be honest with me. How badly hurt are you?

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