024-027 » neither reward nor punishment

[villagemod]

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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Comments

[abrightboy]

2019. Autumn.

[He watched Will for a moment.]

The Marshal only told me what you said and did. The assumptions were mine.

[tinstar]

[Raylan had never been one to defend himself against such accusations so the correction too, was completely Malcolm's to whatever extent he elaborated. It would never serve him to let on how a jab or assumption might linger on him, on the rare cases they did and if he was fine with all of Lexington thinking he was crooked and a shit husband, he could handle some assumptions from a man who didn't know him.

Will would think whatever it is that he thought, regardless.]

[this_ismydesign]

[ Unfortunately, all the way around, Will had learned it was easier to maintain extremely low expectations. Made it easier when people eventually let you down. Not a fair or a reasonable way to view the world but life was rarely fair. ]

Involuntary?

[abrightboy]

[The edges of his lips twitched upwards.]

We had an intractable difference of opinion.

[That’s a ‘yes’.]

What about you? Are you still with them?

[tinstar]

[It was the FBI, after all, but Raylan was one of the many other federal agents who had strong feelings about how the FBI functioned, internally and externally. Only assholes really stayed with the Bureau.

He listened on, without interupption.]

[this_ismydesign]

[ The fire was starting to catch and would take a few minutes before it needed more fuel. Will stood up and turned back towards the pair. ]

I did not bring enough wood to heat the outside. [ He remarked with a pointed look at Raylan. ] We can sit at the table. It has the thinnest layer of dust.

[ Will walked towards the small, four person kitchen type table that sat towards the back of the small house. As he moved, to continue a draw for the two men, he answered Malcolm's question. ]

I retired three years ago. Retired more permanently just recently.

[abrightboy]

Was it a particular case that made you decide it was permanent? Or a cumulative effect?

[Malcolm took a seat at the table.]

How long have you been doing it?

[tinstar]

[Point and invitation taken. Raylan was raised that one didn't just walk into someone else's house without that invitation, so he wouldn't have made it past the threshold on his own. Well, not without a damned good reason.

With a bob of his head in thanks, he stepped in and shut the door, folding down the popped collar of his thigh length, familiar black wool jacket and ambling over to the table. He would have rather stayed standing but doing so would have been suspect and Raylan wasn't looking for questions about why he might be too restless to settle here. So sit he did.

He had nothing to add and everything to learn, and so, kept his mouth closed some more for now, eyes moving between the men as they spoke.]

cw: suicide ideation

[this_ismydesign]

[ The words 'it's a long, complicated story' were at the tip of his tongue as Will settled into a chair that afforded him a view of both Malcolm and Raylan. It was a long and complicated story, but Will had given up trying to excuse or rationalize his actions years ago.

Raylan already knew some of the ending events, might as well just get it out there. ]

Bit of both. [ He said, resting one hand on the table. ] I spent two years in an incredibly destructive fishing match with a prolific serial killer known as the Chesapeake Ripper. I retired after I caught him, but three years later the Bureau requested my help in stopping a prolific family annihilator known as the Tooth Fairy, or Great Dragon if you played into his fantasy.

The Ripper sent the Dragon after my family. They managed to escape but it became obvious that the Ripper and I were forever ... blurred.

I orchestrated a final confrontation that allowed the Ripper and I to kill the Dragon. Once this was done, I found myself with the opportunity to take myself and the Ripper off the edge of a cliff, over the ocean. [ All of this was shared in that soft spoken, matter of fact tone. ]

[tinstar]

[Fishing match. Well. That was a description he innately understood, but a new one. 'Orchestrated' stood out too - Will was and had been playing with manipulators.

Something to keep in mind.]

He assured me the other night that no one in the house had anything to fear from him, even if it was self defense, [Raylan said with a glance over at Malcolm before glancing the same at Will.] He kept his word as far as I'm aware.

[Self-defense covered.. quite a broad range of possibilities when Raylan was using it, but that was neither here nor there.]

[abrightboy]

[Malcolm listened to him carefully, then turned his attention to Raylan, nodding acknowledgement before turning back to Will.]

You make a lot of effort to keep distance between you and the Ripper. You were close to him at some point. There was... a moment. One moment, when you... suddenly realized what he was.

Was that the moment that broke you?

[Spoken like someone who would know...

His eyes stayed on Will's face earnestly.]

[this_ismydesign]

[ Will glanced at Raylan, but answered Malcolm first. ]

I was broken well before that moment came. [ He answered with a resignation that bordered on bitter but did not quite tip over. ] I always got close to the monsters. I had a knack for them.

[ He looked to Raylan then. ]

No one here has anything more to fear from me than any of us have to fear from one another. You all aren't that interesting. [ His voice did not change when he said that last bit, but a twitch of his lips suggested there was a very complex truth and humor to the statement.

For what it was worth, it was a backhanded compliment? ]

[tinstar]

[Raylan smiled, closed mouthed, eyebrows lifting every so slightly.]

Right. Cause normal people never do nothin'. [Of course they had plenty to fear from their fellow man. Just because a handful of them were competent and blissfully somewhere near 'normal' didn't make 'normal' harmless. Besides. Mathis had a way of twisting things to a new level and man did bring out the worst in man.]

I'd rather be seen as borin', myself. Gives me a lot more room to move around. And for the record? A general check on wellbeing ain't got anythin' to do with if you're interesting.. [So don't be handing out credit there. He glanced over at Malcolm a half second before looking back at Will.] Though that's just me.

[abrightboy]

You think we're here to see if you're dangerous. No. We wanted to see if you were settling in okay.

[He considered Will for a moment.] You know, you can understand them without empathizing with them... [But something he saw there stopped him.] Oh. You can't. That's how you understand them. [He leaned forward with interest.] Where did you learn how to know them?

[this_ismydesign]

[ Raylan. Did he touch a nerve? Will looks at the Marshall with an expression that suggests, once again, that he is used to these sort of pissing contests among the many branches of law enforcement. ]

Normal people do things all the time, Marshall. [ He said softly. ] But local law enforcement, and many federal branches of law enforcement are well up to the task of keeping those individuals under control and the population safe.

I don't get called in to play, until the body count is above eight or more. Most normal people don't rack up those kinds of numbers.

[ As for the idea that they find Will interesting? Raylan might not. Malcolm seems to and Will's expression says that clearly, before he turns his attention to Malcolm. ]

My psychiatric files have it listed as 'pure empathy'. Combine that with an eidetic memory I did not learn it, exactly. It became a hazard of the job.

I absorb the crime scene evidence. [ Eidetic memory at work ] Then climb into the head of the monster de jour, and relive the murders with them. Step by step, urge by urge, need by need.

This provides the BAU a complete psychological profile of the killer. In addition, I find connections between the evidence that is otherwise overlooked, which allows for a successful conviction.

Neat and tidy. [ Except for the part where it wasn't always an easy thing to peel himself apart from the monsters. ]

[tinstar]

[Not a personal one. Raylan was uninteresting and frankly, very pleased with that fact. It wasn't a contest he was willing to participate in. But the idea that no one had anything to fear from one another - that was a different story.

Maybe Will hadn't picked up on the Sarcasm. That's okay. He was going through something.]

[abrightboy]

[Malcolm heard that out and then, after a moment's contemplation, he realized something and shook his head. Pure empathy.]

No. You don't 'get inside their heads'. Getting inside their heads, that's how I do it. I dissect their psyches, their motives, their needs. You become them for a little while. You understand them by putting them on like a coat.

[this_ismydesign]

Semantics. [ Because that had been what Will meant, but he could see how his message got turned around. ] And you are almost correct in your allusion.

Calling them a coat suggests I can take them off when I'm done. Hang them up in a closet. Shut the door.

[ Ducking his head, Will looked hard at Malcolm, Raylan watched out of the corner of his eye but his focus on the younger profiler. ] But you know how it is, Mr. Bright. Little bits of lint from those coats like to stick to your clothes.

[tinstar]

[Even if he wasn't playing, Raylan could see the conversational chess board, appreciate what the suggested undertones implied between them. He wasn't going to stop the game, but he was keeping an ear on Malcolm's tone while his eyes stayed busy on Will's face.

Someone had to do their jobs, yes, that was true. Just like someone had to do Raylan's job. He, however, didn't take such a deep dive into things. His world was significantly simpler. His was a duty to stopping bad people doing bad things. Even if those people had once been good. By and large, that was it. End of story. The men he'd put down, justified or not, gave him no joy and took no hesitation.

If Will couldn't take off his 'coats'.. how many bad guys were under the mop of hair?

Raylan wishes he had his gun, then it wouldn't matter, either way.

[abrightboy]

It's a little more than semantics. If you know you can't take those coats off, then why put them on? [He leaned forward again.] And you didn't answer my question. Deflected from it, actually. Who taught you murder? You can use 'pure empathy' to do a lot of things. Things that wouldn't leave you in someone else's blood coat. Why do this?

[this_ismydesign]

[ Will wouldn't blame Raylan for wishing he had his gun.

As for the chess match with our clever Mr. Bright. Will tilted his head and raised an eyebrow. ] Didn't anyone ever teach you it's rude to ask questions to which you already know the answer?

[ Come on, Malcolm. Let's drop the pretenses. You know good and well why. ]

[tinstar]

[ Because he enjoys it.

This was not his chess game, so he kept his mouth shut. But all the red flags and neckhairs that Will had raised that first night they'd met were all firmly stuck in that position when it came to the case of Mister Graham.]

[abrightboy]

I'm concerned that I do. I'm hoping that I don't. But I don't think you do it for the same reasons I do. I think your reasons have more to do with the killers than the victims. I just don't understand why.

cw: suicide ideation

[this_ismydesign]

[ Perhaps some tension will break when Will sighs tiredly and sits back in his chair, drawing his hand over his face. The exhaustion is deep in the lines of his face. ]

It was about helping to ensure there were no more victims. [ He said in quiet tones. ] I gave the FBI 100% capture and closure rate.

The problem with those kind of results is you get a reputation of being able to do a better job broken, then anyone else unbroken.

[ His voice softened and he really did simply appear sad. ] I quit over and over but the BAU kept coming and knocking at my door and dragging me back into the dark. Why do you think I finally killed myself?

[tinstar]

[ It was like a lightswitch back to the man Raylan had greeted on the floor instead of the calculating dancing man that had just been sitting in front of him. Raylan wasn't a psychologist or behavilorist but his gut served him well enough. He didn't have to understand to trust what it told his senses.

Raylan's chin lifted.]

Killed yourself? [ Raylan remembered exactly what Will said when he finally got his name from him. He wasn't going to lead Will to the water path of explaining his contradiction, leaving him room to do that himself in his answer.]