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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[ She watches him closely, not with suspicion but with something almost like concern. This dance isn't an unfamiliar one to her, it used to be a regular part of her job, she just hopes she isn't barking up the wrong tree. ]

Not that I've seen. [ She spreads a hand in something intimating a shrug. ] Maybe I'm wrong and that doesn't apply to you, but it does to me. So.

And what are you?

( elijah isn't quite ready to just tell her what he is even if she's deduced that he isn't human. they're in an enclosed building that's refusing to let them loose and he's already had a slip.

he doesn't want to put a target on his back bigger than the one already there. he sighs, rubbing at his head to try and ease the pain there. )

If this is affecting you as badly as it is me, what does that make you?

[ What are you? How many times has the answer to that question earned her irrational hatred and judgment? She's not the least bit ashamed or embarrassed by what she is — it's her birthright and part of who she is, but she's gotten really tired of having to fight to convince others that people like her aren't monsters or things. ]

I'm an Inhuman. Basically, part alien. [ She could elaborate, and she will, but she kind of just wants to see what his reaction is first. There are so many people here from other worlds... ]

Part alien.

( he says the words slowly, looking her over. he doesn't know what an alien looks like so he can't really judge but still.

she is not what he would think an alien would look like. )

How did that happen? ( what he wants to ask is if she's from another planet. )

[ As reactions go, his isn't terrible. Surprisingly. Maybe they're all just too tired for a normal level of skeptical no way. ]

Thousands of years ago, an alien species came to Earth to conduct experiments on the native population, adding a piece of their genetic code to our DNA. That gene has been passed down through generations.

[ She shifts uncomfortably in her chair as another piercing shriek sounds but keeps going. Might as well give them both something else to focus on. ]

When we're exposed to a chemical compound, the gene is activated, giving us unnatural abilities. [ She's said this so many times over the years that it's almost comforting. Almost. ] My thing is vibrations.

How...unfortunate.

( it seems that she had the same choice as he did in her transformation. that is to say she had none. she was made into what she is just like he was made into what he is.

he eyes her, trying to focus in an effort to tune out the sound. but the sound is stronger, burrowing into his head and making him wince. )

Are there many of you?

( she talks about alien dna in the genetic code so he assumes there's more. )

[ The matter of choice is something she has a lot of opinions on, but that's a very different kind of conversation and perhaps one better left for when they don't have a sonic drill boring into their skulls. ]

It's hard to say. We aren't born with our abilities, there's a transformation we go through later, and not everyone even knows they have the gene.

[ She's quiet for just a moment, shifting again and crossing her arms. Her tone is distinctly uncomfortable and more than a little angry when she continues. ]

There were more of us before, but something happened a few years ago and a lot of Inhumans died.

That sounds like an unfortunate situation.

( elijah decides not to ask what happened since she seems like it's difficult to talk about. he doesn't need to know so he doesn't ask. )

Can more be created? Or...I don't know exactly how it works with alien DNA. As you might have suspected, I have no familiarity with that kind of thing.

( his knowlege of the supernatural stops before getting to aliens. )

[ An unfortunate situation. The possibly not entirely human guy sure has a way with words. ]

Yeah, not a lot of people here do. Which is so weird, everyone knows about aliens where I'm from — they kind of invaded New York a few years ago.

[ She shakes her head, then reaches up to run a hand through her hair. ] But more is... complicated. It's not really a good time for powered people on my Earth. Government registration, being hunted by terrorists, people thinking you're some kind of monster...

( oh, he knows that last part very well. for a moment, elijah's quiet before he nods once. he's luckily been able to avoid the government and terrorists but that doesn't mean he hasn't been hunted.

and he knows that it isn't easy. )

I don't know whether it's a good thing or a bad thing that that sort of thing never changes from place to place.

( people that are different are always looked at as dangerous, as monsters. )

It does keep things unfortunately predictable.

[ Yes, mysterious guy, she's co-opting your word. It seems too fitting not to. She straightens up again suddenly, facing him head-on, expression completely serious. ]

It's my job to protect people. It's my purpose in life. That extends to everyone here, especially anyone in that not-quite-human category who could use someone in their corner. [ She relaxes slightly again. ] Just... throwing that out there.

( it's a good word and he's willing to share. at her not so subtle comment, he hums, wondering if he should just tell her or if he should continue to play dumb.

he supposes that it's obvious that he's being affected by whatever's happening here more than someone who's just a normal human. )

I don't have alien DNA.

( so, he's not an inhuman. it's a start, isn't it? )

[ She's not going to push further. He's not denying anything, so she's pretty sure there is something, but it's his secret to keep. Her stance has been made, the ball's in his court now.

He does get a smile for that comment, though. ]

Yeah, I kinda figured.

A lot of things exist where I come from but aliens is one thing that I haven't encountered.

( save for in movies and such. he'd never thought about the existence of extraterrestrials before this. )

I didn't think I'd experience something new and here you've proven me wrong.

[ He probably didn't mean it that way, but she gets a very ominous vibe from a lot of things. Trying to imagine what there might be besides aliens brings up thoughts of the Darkhold and the hell dimension Robbie had gone to, followed by the fear dimension Izel had come from... Yeah, there are a whole lot of possibilities she'd really rather not consider but probably should. ]

Most people on my Earth were of the 'aliens aren't real' variety until they suddenly invaded New Year City a few years ago. Glad to be able to share the revelation with you.

[ She's only half joking. ]

Amazing.

( he stares at her and then shakes his head because it truly is something. he's a thousand year old vampire and he's feeling amazed by aliens.

at least he has the ability still be surprised. sometimes, he thinks he can't be anymore. )

I suppose that's yet another thing I'll be on the lookout for if I do get back home. An alien invasion. I'm sure aliens would love New Orleans.

[ Amazing isn't usually how people respond to this information. Makes for a nice change of pace. ]

How long have you been in New Orleans? You don't have the accent.

[ She can't actually place the accent he does have. His formal way of speaking stands out but the sound itself doesn't match the usual anywhere in the south. It's curiosity that has her asking, along with a need to keep her mind off... well, everything else. ]

My family has lived there most of our lives but I was actually born in Virginia.

( which probably still doesn't make placing his accent easy. he knows that. )

I've lived in a great many places though, both in America and out of the country.

( a thousand years was a long time to live and the world was a big, big place. )

[ Born in Virginia but still no accent. Huh. His comment about living a lot of places clicks something into place for her, but it's not the puzzle of this place or of mystery guy himself. It's something a lot more personal than either of those. ]

My mom didn't have an accent that matched where she lived, either. [ How weird it feels to be sharing that with a stranger, but this is a very strange place. ] I never really thought about it before now. I don't know how many places she lived or when. Her gift was long life but I don't even know how old she was.

[ Maybe he's like her. Maybe he's not. Maybe he won't tell her a damn thing either way. ]

( elijah starts to answer but the pounding in his head gets the best of him and he just barely stops himself from slapping his hands over his ears. he doesn't want to hear this but it's all he can hear.

even trying to focus on her questions doesn't dull it in a way he would like. )

How old was your mother?

( he doesn't think she could be like him considering he was one of the firsts but there were older vampires, like katerina, that existed so maybe her mother was someone like that. )

At least 100, maybe. She didn't raise me, and in the time we had together, we never talked about it.

[ There was so much they didn't talk about, so much she would never know. Some days, she's glad for that, because she can fool herself into believing she can't miss what she's never had. But she did have it, for one single night, and she's always missed it and always will. ]

I know she was an adult in the '40s and looked the same 70 years later. Beyond that...

( so, much younger than him but he knows that a lot of humans (or inhumans) don't really expect anyone to live past one hundred. )

I suppose one benefit of long life is a permanently youthful appearance.

( it's a slight admittance on his part. he doesn't say how he knows or what he is but he allows himself to admit that he's long lived. he assumes she'll think he's a hundred or so which is fine with him. )

You get to see the world change right before your eyes.

[ Suddenly, she's thinking of Coulson. While his appearance won't be permanently youthful, he'll always look the same. Never aging, never physically changing... He'll get to see everything he knows become the history he loves so much. ]

And you get to watch everyone you care about die.

[ It slips out without her conscious thought, the idea hitting her like a pile of bricks. Shifting in her chair, she tries not to think about the fate she's forced on her friend, or how she couldn't possibly blame him if he decided he didn't want to continue that existence when they finished the mission. ]

I don't know that it's really worth the tradeoff.

That is...a downside, yes.

( elijah's been lucky in that his family is just like him and therefore, he'll be with them until the end. they won't pass on before him unless something drastic happens. )

Does that mean you shouldn't allow yourself to become involved entirely?

( he's asking her genuinely. it's a question that he's wrestled with from time to time. he's closed himself off only to be unable to stop his feelings for certain people. it's a very delicate balancing act that often ends with you hurt in one way or another. )

[ She's quiet for a long moment, even if the nightmare world around them isn't. Could she do that? If she were in Coulson's position, could she cut her ties and just move through the world, watching history unfold like an impartial bystander?

It's Enoch's life she's thinking of. Enoch, who had lived a solitary life of assigned purpose until he'd met Fitz. Enoch, who had become a strange part of their family. ]

I couldn't live a life like that. [ It's an easy conclusion, in the end. ] I've done the loner thing before. Looking back, I'd rather care about someone and lose them than never have anyone at all.

024-027 » neither reward nor punishment

dw ate the notif :|

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