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

[cluing]

[ Shockingly, it works.

Well, less because Sherlock's nice enough to comply to a stranger's request, but more because he'd nearly forgotten there were others here. At the very least, he's been so caught up in his own thinking that the presence of anyone else had become unimportant.

So he's really just a bit surprised to hear a voice that isn't his. ]

Pacing frequently helps stimulate the thought process.

[chuju]

[ Honestly, Daisy is a bit shocked that it works. Even more so that it works and doesn't get her snapped at. It's a little thing, but even the smallest victories seem like a mountain scaled at the particular moment. ]

You get any bright ideas from this session? [ She tries to keep her tone conversational this time, taking a large sip of her coffee. It's not so much for the caffeine anymore as it is for the comfort of the drink. ]

[cluing]

[ He presses his lips together. Sherlock is loathe to admit that he's come up with nothing in the last twenty four hours, not even a vague hypothesis in lieu of something concrete. For him, that's abysmally poor performance. ]

No.

[ Perhaps it's the pace of his pacing. Maybe he needs to make his steps more methodical to help alter the rhythm of his thinking. ]

[chuju]

Well, I'd probably have been suspicious if you had.

[ It's partially muttered before she takes another sip and meant to be followed up with something else. But suddenly the building is shaking again and Daisy is quickly setting the mug on the counter so she can hold onto the bar with both fabric-wrapped hands. Her grip is unnecessarily tight, exposed fingers whitening enough to really show off the rainbow of bruises speckling her skin. ]

My name's Daisy, by the way. [ Just keep the conversation going like everything is totally normal. ]

[cluing]

[ Hmm. Interesting take. Sherlock mulls over that particular idea while he braces himself as well, less concerned about it than she seems to be while he considers that. It's certainly a way of thinking that's been used against him, particularly recently, so he knows that it's not necessarily pointing to the truth.

But now that she brings it up, he realizes he'd be suspicious, too. ]

Daisy.

[ Now they're introducing themselves. Why do people constantly want to introduce themselves to him? ]

Sherlock.

[chuju]

[ The sight of her coffee mug rattling against the counter, delicious liquid gold sloshing up over the rim, is a truly tragic one. She tries to keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't fully topple over, but her attention is instantly diverted by the name he says. ]

Seriously? [ The incredulous look of shock is in full force as she (very temporarily) forgets that they're essentially being tortured and held against their will. ] Wow, your parents must be big fans. Please tell me your last name isn't Holmes.

[cluing]

[ Now his eyes narrow a bit. Technically, he supposes, his name is William, but nothing about him really says William, and that's hardly the point because when she mentions his last name, he's moderately suspicious and mostly intrigued. ]

Big fans of what, exactly?

[ He's never heard of some grand story of the origin of his name. His parents are very smart, but not the sort to keep such secrets, and Mycroft would have spilled the beans ages ago if it meant he could hold something over him. ]

[chuju]

[ That look of disbelief stays firmly in place. He can't be serious. Even people who've never read the stories know the name Sherlock Holmes, it's such a ubiquitous part of pop culture. ]

Of the character. The really famous detective? There's like hundreds of stories and movies about him?

[ He is doing a great job at distracting her from the intense pain she's in, at least. Thanks for that. ]

[cluing]

[ The look of suspicion stays on his face, but it's now tinged with undeniable curiosity. He's wary of this for plenty of reasons, one of which being, of course, the entire ride Moriarty's taken him on in recent days. Sherlock feels prickles of familiarity. ]

I wouldn't say there are hundreds of stories.

[ Certainly not even close. John likes to write his blogs up but Sherlock keeps reasonable tabs on that, and can they be stories if they're all true? ]

Certainly no movies.

[chuju]

[ The shaking stops but Daisy keeps on staring at this strange man, something clicking in her mind that almost threatens to break it just a little. It's one thing to know all the possibilities of parallel universes, but to actually be faced with something like this? Fitz would lose his mind over it. ]

Wait, are you seriously telling me that you're the detective Sherlock Holmes? The stupidly smart guy who sees all sorts of clues other people don't? Friend named Watson? Brother with an equally weird name I can't remember?

[ She fights aliens for a living but somehow this is even trumping the vampires are real revelation she'd been slapped with the day before. ]

[cluing]

[ The term stupidly smart ruffles him a bit, because it's a ridiculous turn of phrase, and it sounds like something John might say and he misses the man terribly. ]

Yes, I'm the detective.

[ Her quip about Mycroft certainly brightens his mood a bit, though. ]

But it would seem as though I've missed something entirely.

[chuju]

[ Look, the brother isn't the ridiculously famous one, okay? It's Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson who are ingrained in the minds of generations, not whatshisname who did something-or-other. ]

Wow.

[ It's all she can manage for a moment as she gingerly moves the few inches to the nearest chair at the bar and lifts herself into it. She rescues her poor coffee mug too while she's at it, taking a sip and savoring the flavor on her tongue before explaining. ]

Well, you don't look like you're from the late 1800s, so I'm guessing we're from parallel universes then. In mine, you're a really famous character created by an author over a century ago. In yours, I'm probably in a comic book or something.

[ Surprisingly, this shift in the conversation lifts her mood miraculously well. It'll be short-lived, of course, but nice while it lasts. ]

[cluing]

[ Right. Of course.

Sherlock does a very good job of not rolling his eyes or scoffing. He wonders if she's part of the whole plot, now, or if she's been conditioned into such a way of thinking, or if she's just a bit not all there.

He decides that with nothing else giving him anything to grasp on to that he'll play along. ]

I'm certainly not from the 1800s. 2012, actually, which thankfully affords me the wonders of modern technology.

[chuju]

[ He might resist any physical displays but he still gives off that vibe she's felt from half the people she's met here. Of course, he doesn't believe her. Of course, she gets stuck with the guy who hasn't met any of the others who aren't from normal worlds.

Why does this always seem to be her lot in life? She's really kind of tired of playing welcome wagon. ]

Well, in my 2012, aliens invaded New York City, and a few years later, people with superpowers were popping up everywhere.

[ She turns enough to pick a chair at the nearest table, holding up her bandaged hand and letting out a gentle sonic blast that sends the chair toppling backward. It's possibly not the best approach to have taken in this situation... but sue her, she's too tired and in too much pain to take the slow approach. ]

[cluing]

[ Sherlock watches, but if he's at all fazed by the display, it doesn't register. He's very good at keeping a stoic demeanor. Besides, there's reasonable enough advancements in technology - both disclosed to the public and otherwise - that can explain what's just happened. There's also very rudimentary explanations, as well, and suddenly she's becoming quite a suspicious character in all of this. ]

Of course they are.

[chuju]

[ Cue a suddenly even more exhausted superhero covering her eyes with a hand. Why is this her life. Of all the people to get trapped with, she gets the skeptic. ]

Great, you're one those. [ Sighing, she lets her hand drop to the counter, then gives a sweeping gesture. ] You know what, it's not like I have anything better to do. I can manipulate vibrations — what sort of demonstration would you like?

[ Might as well use this excuse to pass the time. Maybe it'll keep him from pacing again for a while. ]

[cluing]

[ If his reputation precedes him the way she insists it does, then she should hardly be surprised by his response.

But he's not John Watson, so it takes significantly more than a simple demonstration to impress him or convince him of something's truth. ]

You'll understand how I can't take such a show at face value, I'm sure.

[chuju]

So what would you like, then? We're not going anywhere anytime soon. Do you have something else you'd prefer to spend your time on?

[ That piercing shriek sounds again and Daisy flinches, the sound going right through her aching bones. It's moments like these when she almost considers trying to blast a hole in the wall and risking the blizzard. ]

[cluing]

Oh, plenty of things.

[ At least he's honest.

He just raises his eyebrows and looks around, because, as far as he's concerned, this place is full of more pressing issues than convincing him of super powered people. ]

Trying to find a way out of here seems to be the highest priority that everyone's annoyingly ignoring. And what, exactly, this is supposed to mean.

[ "This" being the strange mark on his hand. ]

[chuju]

[ Okay, he has a point about the marks on their hands. That is more than a little disconcerting. The other thing though? He seems to be ignoring one extremely important piece to that problem. ]

There's a blizzard outside with extremely low visibility. If we go out there right now, we'll be lucky to make it to another shelter without getting lost.