030-035 » a-hunting they will go

[villagemod]

WHO: Everyone.
WHERE: Eastern/Central Mathias.
WHEN: Days 030-035
WHAT: Unexpected changes come to Mathias, followed by a Hunt.
WARNINGS: Will update as necessary. PM this account to have a warning added!
NOTES: Plotting post over here! And shiny new CR meme too.

RECOMMENDED ♫ Marco Beltrami "It Hears You"

DAYS 030-032
A CHANGE IN CIRCUMSTANCES
The day after the earthquake dawns like any other in Mathias Township. The sky is a light winter grey, clouds obscuring even a hint of true sunlight, and snow falls off and on in dustings that rest atop the piles left from the storm a few days past. The air is bitterly cold, a gentle wind feeling like ice in the sub-freezing temperatures, and residents should be grateful that the earthquake didn't do more damage than just breaking a few household objects.

It seems like business as usual. It will not be until the second day that residents will begin to notice the difference.

The General Store's shelves have not been restocked. Items in kitchens have not replenished in the passing night. Food from the previous day has aged as normal, and as the days continue to pass, things will begin to grow stale or become moldy as they would in the outside world. Two days pass, three, four... Still, the food does not return.

Perhaps rationing should be considered.



NEW ARRIVALS
The newest arrivals to Mathias will wake on the snowy beach near the Grey Gull restaurant. They should probably hurry inside and get warmed up before hypothermia sets in or something finds them out in the cold...

---

DAYS 033-034
IN THE NIGHT, IN THE DARK
These days, too, seem to be simply more of the same. The days are cold and grey, the food does not replenish, and they continue to be trapped in this eerie town. But when night falls, the story changes.

An hour after sunset, it begins. Scratching sounds at walls, like something searching for a way inside. The ominous feeling of something out there in the darkness, moving through the town, stalking through the night. The inability to find any sign of something being there at all. It's enough to make anyone feel like they're going mad. To happen just one night, it could be a fluke, a trick of the mind as so many things here seem to be. But to happen a second night, with more intensity... There is something there, or they are going mad.

It's hard to know which to hope for.

DAY 035
THE HUNT
This day is not like the others. There is something in the air, a dreadful anticipation that rises inside them all as the hours pass. Every moment that brings them closer to nightfall brings it closer too — if only they knew what it was.

An hour after sunset, the Hunt begins.

Those who are outside at this time are gripped by such terror that they can do nothing but run and be chased. They are prey and the predators that stalk them with steadfast determination are creatures never meant to be seen by mortal eyes. All lights outside go out, from streetlamps to flashlights, and the world descends into deeper darkness, only the clouded moonlight and curtained glow from illuminated houses lighting their way as they flee.

Those who are inside at this time are trapped in their safe havens. No doors or windows can be opened from within, nothing can be broken or forced, and they can do nothing but wait and listen while their friends and neighbors are pursued by creatures whose very presence they can feel in their bones and whose growls echo in the night, entwined with the screams of their victims.

In the thick darkness, these creatures appear little more than shadows, large and looming, deadly and unknown, but in rare glimpses in scattered pieces of light, the Hunted are met with a sight they cannot comprehend and will never be able to properly describe or fully remember, for these creatures cannot be fathomed within the limits of the human mind.

The Hunt lasts for one hour exactly and then the creatures vanish into the darkness, leaving only fear and death in their wake.


ABOUT THE HUNT
— Players may choose to have their resident be one of the Hunted or a Witness to the Hunt. None are exempt from the the Hunt and all will be affected by it in some way.

— Those who are hunted must flee the creatures or they will die. The Hunted may move throughout the town at any speed, for the creatures may choose to move both quickly or slowly, but the creatures will always inevitably find them. The only escape is to seek shelter — the creatures will not enter a building where living people are, but they will follow the Hunted into buildings where there are no other living people.

— Those who are trapped within buildings at the start of the Hunt are unable to open doors and windows from within, but the Hunted may open them from outside in order to take shelter in these safe havens.

— Those who are hunted are unable to fight back against the creatures until the moments just before their death. This is due the creatures only having physical form in these final moments, rendering any attacks against them useless, whether they be physical, magical, or psychic in nature. Attempts may be made in those moments before death, but by then it is too late — the prey has been caught.

— When one of the Hunted is caught, there is no escaping, there is only screaming in madness as death falls painfully upon them. No one can come to their aid and their body will be found afterward, the bloody remains ripped and torn apart by something that cannot be identified. Large sprays and pools of blood stain the area around the corpse, turning the snow sickening shade of crimson that darkens as the hours pass.

— After the creatures have vanished, there are no signs of them to be found in the snow. There are no tracks or marks of any kind save for the carnage of the fresh kill.

— Those who have been sacrificed to the Hunt will revive two days later on Day 037. The conditions in which they revive will be detailed later, but there will be only minor lasting physical damage from the Hunt.

— The Hunted will lose 5 points of sanity. Those Witnesses who find the corpses will lose 2 points of sanity, or 3 points if they are not unaccustomed to this type of sight. Others who are merely Witnesses to the sounds of Hunt may choose to lose 1 point of sanity as a result of the experience.

---

CONDITIONS UPDATE

— THE WEATHER is fairly typical of a northern winter. The sky is almost always grey, the temperature is below freezing during the day (and colder at night), and a light snow falls intermittently. The sun sets early in the evening. 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 beginning a few dozen yards past the treeline, urging residents to stay huddled within the town proper, and it also now blocks the northern section of town, beginning just past Hill Lane, before where residents know the chasm in the earth to be between Hill and Stine Road. Venturing into the fog is ill-advised.

— DISAPPEARANCES continue. Sherlock Holmes is still missing, and Phil Coulson, John Constantine, Zed Martin, and Helen Magnus have vanished as well.

---

OOC NOTES

— FOOD will be restocked in some fashion in the next full log, don't worry. We aren't going full survival mode yet.

— DAY 036 The next log will cover Day 36 only and will include the locations of deaths and any corpse burials that occur the night of Day 35 or are planned for Day 36. (There will be prompts included for both the "living" and the "dead" in this single day log.) Please submit all information by Wednesday, Feb 17.

— MOD STATUS It's mostly just Amy steering this ship for now, so things will probably be pretty slow for a while. Apologies in advance, and please don't feel shy about pinging me if you're stuck waiting for something.

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Comments

[vampirebats]

"I ever tell you I like how you look, all huffy and frustrated? Like you're seconds away from shoving that moonshine somewhere I definitely wouldn't like." He can't contain a grin, playful as he lets himself lean back a bit, stretching out a little more comfortably on the floor if he's gonna be sticking around.

"Let me tell you, it was a real wild night too... that man knows how to cuddle." C'mon, Doc, lighten up a little bit. "You know I was piss drunk that night, right? Like almost everybody else. And we'd just had our little bout in the bathroom, Klaus had already accidentally climbed in with Neal... it wasn't like that, man. Pulling your goddamn leg. Well, except for the hookup before that. But we'd done a little B and E into an empty house..."

[thering]

Doc didn't realise he looked any different although his voice might have gone up and up. Negan is going to make him regret inviting him to sit on the floor now. But of course, once the invite had been extended and Negan is laying out on the floor like a starfish, Doc won't be able to get rid of him.

"I don't need to hear any of this," he cuts Negan off before the story can get any more saucy. "I'm sure you had a most wonderful time." He snatches his bottle of moonshine back and takes a big drink from it, adjusting the angle he's sitting at so he can stretch his legs out even though that puts his toes and the blanket dangerously close to the fire. Maybe if he went to sleep early Negan would shut up and leave him alone.

[vampirebats]

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry." Right now, he's folding his arms up behind his head for a makeshift pillow. But hey, at least he distracted Doc from thinking about the shit that was eating at him for at least a minute, right?

"I didn't mean to offend your delicate sensibilities, Doc. Did guys back when you come from not indulge in a little... locker room talk? Brag as much?"

[thering]

He doesn't know what locker room talk is but he can suspect what it means. Men brag, plenty. It doesn't matter if it happens in some locker room or elsewhere.

"We did. But not about any... exploits with other men." They talked about plenty of guy stuff. Sexual conquests. Guns. Horses. They did not mention sex with other men if such a thing ever happened.

"I am not against the idea. I just- would not talk about it, if I did. Have sex." See? He can say it just fine. "With another gentleman."

[vampirebats]

"Different time, different attitude, I guess." Negan can't say he gives a shit who fucks who as long as it's consensual. He's generally got bigger worries than that. But he can understand this guy's old as fuck from what he says.

"Still plenty of people from my time who'd throw a fit too." Even in the middle of goddamn Walkers.

"Do whatever makes you comfortable, man."

[thering]

"Don't people have other things to worry about?" At the end of the world as he knows it, he doubts anyone would mind who he's sleeping with.

Kicking Negan out of off floor would make him more comfortable. And yet. Doc is putting up with him just fine. Maybe he's a little too comfortable with the prospect of having company. "...were you actually planning on sleeping with me tonight?"

[vampirebats]

"You'd think, but... people are people. They're gonna get wrapped up in petty shit all the time to feel normal."

He looks over at Doc at the question. That's really not fucking fair that Doc keeps setting him up and expects him to have the will to not take it. Goddammit. "I feel like you're trying to set me up for a hell of a punch to the dick here. But yeah, not planning on going anywhere right now."

[thering]

Doc tosses some of his blanket over at Negan. It's not big enough for both of them but since he's not planning on going back upstairs to bed right now, it's too cold to be just rolling around on the floor.

"There's a cushion on the couch." Negan can reach it if he stretches over. Fluffing up his own pillow on the floor, Doc shuffles and lies down, turning to face the fire.

[vampirebats]

"Hey, that's not a bad idea." He's not getting tossed out, so Negan is going to do just that when Doc mentions getting even more comfortable. He stretches over to grab for that cushion.

Because let's face it, he insists he'll be here until Doc falls asleep, but he might nod off before that happens, depending. "Next time we have a little camp out, I should grab us a bigger blanket..."

[thering]

"Seems like you're capitalising on mine just fine to press up awful close," Doc gripes without any barb to his words. Barely holding it together as it is, he actually doesn't mind having someone... volunteering for big spoon. Tucking one foot in behind the other knee, Doc moves the moonshine bottle away where it won't get knocked over and roll into the fireplace, and buries half his face in the pillow.

[vampirebats]

There's a laugh as he puts the cushions down on the floor and settles back in... and turns towards Doc a little more properly. Might as well slide an arm around him -- at a respectable fucking height just so he doesn't freak out he's going for a crotch grab or something.

"Well, what can I say? Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?" He breathes out a sigh as he settles in.

"Besides, it's warmer together."

[thering]

Nothing of what they are doing is respectable but at least Negan isn't getting a punch to the nether regions or an elbow to his face. He smells familiar, like the nice soaps Malcolm had gotten for the cowboys and the same cheap aftershave Doc uses, probably on account of them sharing the same bathroom. The weight of his arm and the crackle-spittle-flicker of fire in the fireplace lulls Doc easily into sleep.

Just tell him it's the bottle of moonshine and not Negan being happy to see him when there's unsolicited poking and he probably won't get too upset about it.

[vampirebats]

There's plenty of less respectable things they could be doing right now at the very least, right? But right now, he's staying quiet and letting Doc drift off, get some proper rest.

And hey, if he doesn't want any unsolicited poking, Doc needs to make sure the butt to crotch distance is acceptable, that's all.