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

[cholesterol]

"Got a few new theories because of it," he admits, but he still shakes his head. Nothing new, nothing that blows the case wide open. "You?"

Malcolm believes they're imprisoned and that this city was made just for them. For imprisoning them. Maybe. But, it's more metaphysical than he thinks. Dean knows. Kidnapped girl thinks so, too. But, he lets him stay analytical. Dean believes he's overthinking the knives. Easy to snap into existence a town and snap out real weapons.

[abrightboy]

"Heard some information I didn't know," Malcolm conceded. "The hidden swirls are an interesting development."

[cholesterol]

"Yeah, interesting," he dismisses. "What's your take? Religious? Magic? Repeated art?" It's easy to not take the profiler seriously, because he's good at what he does, but Dean's better at the supernatural. Let's see if he accepts any more than what his brain can understand.

[abrightboy]

"Well, as I said when I spoke... magic isn't really my area. They could be ritualistic. Rituals exist in a lot of different contexts. Then again, maybe they're left over from whatever set dressing they last had on this place before they repurposed it for us," Malcolm pointed out. "Maybe at some point they changed the elephant enclosure into a tiger enclosure."

[cholesterol]

"So, you think this was something else entirely. And they slapped - what, cosmic paint on it?" That could be something. No matter what you do to the environment, the symbols stay the same. Or, it's the symbols that keep them in. "We're betting on ritualistic."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm nodded. “A reasonable bet. Any ideas on what sort of ritual?” he asked curiously.

[cholesterol]

"Summoning or sacrificial. Maybe something someone or something they sacrificed to." That's their current theory. "Either it got the upper hand, it was summoned wrong, the spell was unstable, or, they ran out of people. Only so many of the population if you give something once a year."

[abrightboy]

“So... in that scenario.... the very last person in town threw all the knives and blades and pills into the sea, summoned the monster and jumped into its maw?”

If he sounded skeptical... he was a bit.

[cholesterol]

"No. Knives and blades and weapons? Never made it. Place wasn't built for weapons. Probably never had 'em. Or, whatever came in got rid of them. Full stop. It happens. A snap can erase something from existence. Nobody rounded up the pills and weapons. They're just gone." He tilts his head. "Or, they stockpiled pills and weapons. Maybe, pills because people had to be in their right mind and weapons, because, people with weapons fight back. It's one - theory of theories. You're not going to hear something you like. 'Less you come up with it."

[abrightboy]

"I'm not discounting it," Malcolm clarified. "What do you mean 'snap out of existence'? How does that work?" he asked.

[cholesterol]

"I mean," he starts. "Someone with the power, they snap, physically snap and something can disappear. Or, it was never there in the first place. Usually archangel. Sometimes, a god. Sometimes, God."

Literal snaps.

[abrightboy]

"So... Okay. So the pagan 'gods' and the Judeo-Christian 'God' all actually exist where you're from?" Malcolm clarified.

[cholesterol]

"Yep. Not just Pagan. Indian. Mayan. Norse." All of the above.

[abrightboy]

"That sounds exhausting," Malcolm told him.

[cholesterol]

"I don't chat every one of them up. Kill the ones that deserved it, though." That was unavoidable.

[abrightboy]

“Any that I’ve heard of?” Malcolm asked, lifting an eyebrow.

[cholesterol]

"I should make a list and just put it up on the board," he says, remember his talk with Coldwater. He lists them off again. "Zeus. Calliope. Vesta. Moloch. Chronos. Plutus. Veritas. Eve. Samhain. Cacao. The sons of Odin," he says.

He doesn't name drop Hitler this time. But, damn does he want to. There is something so know-it-all about Malcolm. Smarmy and better than him. Maybe he will after.

[abrightboy]

"That sounds like it must be an impressive resume in the god-killing business," Malcolm concedes. "Zeus, in particular, must have been quite a feather in your cap."

[cholesterol]

"Zeus deserved it. Tried to kill Prometheus' kid. After a billion years, history repeated itself and he still couldn't stop torturing the guy." And at this point, he was a wandering amnesiac. "I don't carry them around like a badge of honor. Hitler I carry around like a badge of honor." It was only a matter of time. "This Nazi cult brought him back in another body so of course I shot him."

[abrightboy]

"As one does," Malcolm replied evenly. "Shortened the war and saved thousands of lives, right?"

[cholesterol]

"No, he brought him back in like, 2011, 2012? Maybe 2013. There was no war. Guy kept screaming about his dogs, though. Really wanted to get snarling, body-ripping dogs." He was actually pretty whiny about it. "We saved his descendant whose blood they transfused, too." It was a whole thing.

"Dude, you'd kill Hitler, too, if you had the chance. Imagine Hitler with Twitter and Instagram."

[abrightboy]

"I'm not saying I wouldn't. If Hitler was back on his bullshit, I imagine there would almost certainly end up being a war," he assured.

[cholesterol]

"He didn't relive long enough to start one. Also, not 2013. Like, 2017." Not that it matters. "Back on his bullshit?" he asks, making a face. "Is that what the kids say, now?"

[abrightboy]

"I'm not sure I qualify as one of 'the kids' but... it's a pretty common saying in 2020?" he offered.

[cholesterol]

"Same year," he replies, pointing between them. "There's a doctor from the 90's here now." Does that add to the puzzle? Or, help solve it. Or neither. "I'm over 40. My best friend's a billion year old angel. Everyone but Ray and Doc are kids to me."