028-029 » the winds of change

[villagemod]

WHO: Everyone.
WHERE: Eastern/Central Mathias.
WHEN: Days 028-029
WHAT: A town meeting is called.
WARNINGS: Will update as necessary. PM this account to have a warning added!
NOTES: Plotting post over here!

RECOMMENDED ♫ Deadly Avenger "Ikiryo"

DAY 028
SOMETHING ON THE WIND
Another day dawns in the fair town of Mathias. The sky is a blanket of light grey, tiny specks of snow lightly falling as the hours pass. It makes the town feel almost quaint, the scenery quite peaceful in its winter garb. But beneath the veneer of peace there is a pervasive dread of something approaching. Something inevitable is on the wind, something that has come before and will come again...

Throughout the day, residents will consistently experience feelings of deja vu, that sense of having done or seen or said something before that can never be fully recalled. It happens again and again, tugging at the back of their minds, the memories just frustratingly out of reach.

Residents will also notice a note pinned around town:




The note can be found on the town hall's bulletin board and the front doors of many town establishments, including the Grey Gull, the library, and the boarding house. At the bottom of the note it is specified that the meeting will take place "tomorrow, when the sun is over the town square."


NEW ARRIVALs
The newest arrivals to Mathias will wake on the frozen lawn of the town hall atop a snowdrift. They had best hurry inside and get warmed up before hypothermia sets in.

DAY 029
A GATHERING OF MINDS
In the late afternoon when the sun hangs over the town square, residents will converge upon the Town Hall, where a larger meeting room has been filled with rows of chairs. After most people arrive, John Constantine stands and addresses the room... and then sits again. A grand introduction, truly.

Residents are encouraged to share their experiences and information they have gathered in the town while holding questions until the end. Rather than getting tangled in the intricacies of each person's tale, it seems better to absorb the broad strokes and try to connect the puzzle pieces to get a look at the bigger picture that is the mystery of Mathias Township.


THE INEVITABLE
As the meeting comes to an end and residents begin to converse among themselves, the feeling of something approaching and sense of deja vu begin to build, becoming almost oppressive as night falls. An hour after nightfall, residents learn the reason for these sensations that cease immediately as the earth begins to rumble. The buildings shake, furniture tumbles, and breakables crash to the floor as the earthquake sets in without warning.

The tremors last around a minute, far longer than a normal earthquake, and then the town settles again. There are no aftershocks, which many may note is quite unusual. Residents will find quite a bit of mess in their homes and other locations around town, but there is no structural damage to be found despite the intense shaking.

---

CONDITIONS UPDATE

— THE WEATHER is fairly typical of a northern winter. The sky is grey, the temperature hovers just below freezing during the day (colder at night), and a light snow falls during both days. Residents should bundle up when going outside and not venture too far into the dark night...

— 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 with Sherlock Holmes being the latest victim of the town's unsettling whims.

---

OOC NOTES

— TOWN MEETING STRUCTURE The town meeting section of the log is designed for characters to share any information they would like to with the other residents in attendance. ICly, characters should "hold questions until the end" with the intent that they can get the Big Picture first and connect any dots they see. OOCly, this means players should post their character's information sharing tag in the Meeting section, but the actual conversation about whatever they share happens after the meeting proper in the Mingle section. That way, these conversations can happen however players prefer, be that one-on-one or in small or large groups.

— HOUSING Please be sure your character's housing arrangements are up to date on our list. We're missing a few people and it really helps to know where everyone is for planning. Frequent updates for wandering characters are perfectly acceptable.

— THE BULLETIN BOARD has been updated. Players should note there is a change to the wall near the board that may be of great interest to some residents.

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Comments

REWARDS

[villagemodama]

Use this space to ping the mod if you'd like to use one of your AP rewards (Idea, Spot Hidden, or Spooky Encounter). Submit your request using this form:

Requested reward: Idea, Spot Hidden, or Spooky Encounter
Characters involved: Please list all characters who will be involved if claiming a Spot Hidden or Spooky Encounter. You can also add characters by mentioning them in a later comment.
Link to thread: If available/applicable. May also be added in later comment.
Additional details: Location where this is happening, the circumstances of the character being there/searching, their current mental and emotional state, what they are searching for, etc.

<b>Requested reward:</b> <b>Characters involved:</b> <b>Link to thread:</b> <b>Additional details:</b>

[thering]

Requested reward: Spot Hidden (or Spooky Encounter if something weird happens, open to either option)
Characters involved: will add later if someone is tagging along
Link to thread: will add later
Additional details: After Ellie shares her Idea that there may be underground passages, he will want to walk slowly and carefully around 1307 Phillips Drive (the moonshine/Hirano house) until the floor creaks differently, or feel some wind/air coming up between the floorboards, or check in the rooms/move furniture around looking for any trap doors etc. If the floor is just normal he will start prying up floorboards at random. If it is more convenient for something to be unearthed/revealed after the earthquake I can time this thread for end of day 29; quite flexible with this.

[villagemodama]

For clarification: What are the timing options for this? Not sure when you mean for Ellie sharing that information, whether at the meeting or earlier.

[thering]

Sorry, I should have made it clearer. Ellie told Doc about her idea on day 26. The best timing would be after the earthquake day 29. Otherwise day 28 morning/early afternoon is okay as well assuming it's not a fatal endeavour.

[villagemodama]

Late on Day 29: Doc will find a corner of the living room that creaks just a little differently. Lifting the corner of the rug there, he will see the faintest square outline that, if pried up, will turn out to be a trap door. There is a ladder leaning against the wall and allowing easy access to the stone tunnel floor that is around 14 feet down.

[thering]

Thank you! He will be going down with Raylan and I will update the discoveries tracker shortly.

If they follow the tunnel do they end up at any other potential exit, or is it kind of an underground maze that they can easily get lost in and is heavily reliant on other peoples' trap doors being open and their ladders being lowered?

(Or we can just have them explore the vicinity of the landing area and I can claim another round of spot hidden AP next log for actually going down the tunnel, please let me know what is preferred :D)

[villagemodama]

Descending into the tunnel, their lights will not travel very far at night, almost seeming to be swallowed up by the darkness after just a few feet in any direction. The tunnel is stone on all sides, leading in two directions.

They will be able to notice a few additional spots that appear to be more trapdoors and ladders, but they will not be able to open any from this side even if they try. After a few dozen yards, the tunnel will diverge into more paths, not corresponding to the streets above them — it does appear as if it would be quite easy to get lost down there.

(Using more AP next log will absolutely get you more things.)

[this_ismydesign]

Requested reward: Spot Hidden
Characters involved: Will Graham (open to adding more!)
Link to thread: TBA
Additional details: After the earthquake, when there are no aftershocks, but while it is still dark out, Will is going to head for the Library. He is going down the stairs to the tunnel to see if there are any additional voices, if the rocks blocking the entrance have shaken loose, your usual bad life choices.

[villagemodama]

While descending the stairs, Will and any companions will strangely encounter none of the voices from before. Indeed, the silence of the space seems almost oppressive with how thick it is, the sound of their own footsteps on the creaky stairs almost being swallowed up into it.

When they reach the bottom of the stairs, the stones previously blocking the tunnel's entrance are now gone. Not shaken loose by the earthquake, but gone, as if they'd never been there before.

Do they venture into the tunnel? And if they do, what sort of light source are they using?

[this_ismydesign]

Will would have taken a lantern from the library. The lure to explore the tunnel is too much for him not to try, though if anyone with him wants to stay behind that would be understandable.

He will be very cautious though. Inspecting the walls/ceiling and floor of the tunnel not only for more clues but also stability.

[villagemodama]

The stone tunnel seems miraculously stable after the earthquake, not a single sign of cracking. It becomes clear during his inspection within the first few yards of the tunnel that it was made with purpose — there are spiraling carvings along the walls and the floor has been worn smooth over time.

The silence continues to be oppressive, almost ominously so. Footsteps on stone make hardly any noise at all.

[notanemptymotto]

Requested reward: Spot Hidden
Characters involved: Helen Magnus, Zed Martin
Link to thread: Clinic Shenanigans
Additional details: Helen is looking for anything that will be of use, or of the mystery of the town! Preferably medical related items, but ay, a spooky sanity loss could be fun too! She has been in and out of the Clinic all day.

Zed may try to get some visions as well if that helps!

[villagemodama]

Helen and Zed manage to find these items in the decaying disarray of the clinic:

1 ophthalmoscope, 2 packages of cotton wool pads and swabs, 1 box of hypodermic needles, 2 containers of sanitizing product, and 1 blood pressure monitor.

[tinstar]

Requested reward: Spot Hidden
Characters involved: Neal Caffery, Raylan Givens
Link to thread: here
Additional details: With a free couple of hours, Raylan and Neal are going to peruse and poke and explore the Antiques shop. The art and old books are nice, a couple of each might find their way out with the boys but whatever, they will be poking around in all the drawers too.

[villagemodama]

While poking around the main counter, which also serves as a jewelry case for the more expensive pieces, the gentlemen will find a notation in a ledger of sales and acquisitions:

April 2, T.F., Gull apt.
— book, Ashbury
— pendant, gold
— box, wooden

Each item has six numbers beside it, correlating to the tag of each item. This is the last acquisition listed in the ledger, for which the year is noted as 1993.

ADDITION: If they search for any of the items in particular, I'll use that for the Spot Hidden requested for Neal.

[tinstar]

WE WOULD LIKE TO LOOK FOR BOOK, PLZ AND THX U

[villagemodama]

THE BOOK! Fisheries of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts by Howard Ashbury can be found in a haphazard pile of other books on a table near the front window. It is leatherbound, clearly old, and features many sketches of fish, fishing tools, and the fishery buildings, as well as very dry details of the complex fishery management practices and legal regimes that governed the businesses.

Re: REWARDS

[waywardsister]

Requested reward: idea
Characters involved: claire novak
Link to thread: n/a
Additional details: claire requires a spark of inspiration regarding the locked door in the boarding house. Having tried everything within her and other's powers without any result, she is trying to wrangle an idea from the depth of her brain.

[villagemodama]

In a moment of runaway train of thought, Claire has the sudden idea that maybe the way past that locked door and into the room beyond isn't in the boarding house at all.

But that's impossible... right?

[waywardsister]

Is there any inspiration on where/how to begin looking for the way in throughout town?

[villagemodama]

Trying other doors seems to be a good place to start in Claire's mind.

[conning]

Requested reward: Spot Hidden!
Characters involved: Raylan Givens, Neal Caffrey
Link to thread: here!
Additional details:

Requested reward: Idea!
Characters involved: N/A
Link to thread: Forthcoming!
Additional details: Because Neal makes Good Life Choices, he's going back to the library to investigate the creepy tunnel on the morning of the 29th. Anything library-related would be great!

IDEA

[villagemodama]

While staring into the creepy darkness like the brilliant man he is, it occurs to Neal that it doesn't make sense for this to be the only spooky hidden entrance tunnel in town.

There must be others, somewhere... right? Maybe even a lot of others...

SPOT HIDDEN

[villagemodama]

While examining the Ashbury book, Neal will notice these things about the book:

— there is no copyright date or publisher/printer information, but Neal easily dates it as being early 1800s based on paper, ink, and binding
— the book is in incredible condition for its age, with some signs of wear but the binding intact and only normal aging signs
— the exception to the above is the back endpaper; there is something that strikes Neal as off about it, and upon closer examination, he is able to easily remove it, for the original glue had worn and the page was reattached with strategic precision to allow for it to go unnoticed

[conning]

omg.... i thought.... i replied to this.................

IF HE REMOVES THE ENDPAPER, WHAT WOULD HE FIND?