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

[prevenance]

If you want to know about me, you can ask. I can't promise to always tell you because there are some things I will keep to myself but you can ask and it doesn't have to just be about vampire related things.

( like how he gets his blood and all. )

But to answer your question, there are regular people who we...employ at the compound in New Orleans. Again, they're compensated and taken care of for their time. There are also instances of taking from people spontaneously. It's all very...go with the flow, I suppose would be the phrase.

[descendent]

[ elena knows she has to be careful with what she asks him. now that he's offered her the world of questions and potential answers, she's not quite sure what she wants to dive into first. there's so much she wants to know. what's it like being an old vampire? does he ever grow tired of the world? is he ever surprised?

she eyes him kindly, lips pursed lightly. she continues to eat her crackers. ]

And what do you prefer? Going with the flow or having it prearranged?

[ his answer will say a lot about him. she personally feels she already knows it's the latter. ]

[prevenance]

I think a lot of it depends on the situation, Elena. I don't really have a preference. I do what needs to be done depending on the circumstances at the time. Sometimes, we make plans, sometimes there's no time for that.

( it's probably not the answer she wants but it's the one he gives. it's the truth. he sighs, looking out the window like he might be able to see something moving out there. )

If I had to choose one, I'd want to have something prearranged so I can prepare but living with the people I do, that's sometimes impossible.

[descendent]

[ elena watches him as he looks out the window, softening her gaze now that he can't see her. that's the answer she had been expecting. elijah seems like someone who values control and consent, even if what he is makes that very dubious at times. her gut telling her she's safe with him had been right: she is.

her biting into the cracker is very loud even to her ears. ]

What's your favourite colour?

[prevenance]

You know, I cannot remember the last time someone asked me that question.

( his shoulders slouch a bit and he laughs, shaking his head and turning to look at her. )

Would it be so surprising to hear that it's black? I like dark colors.

( hides the blood. he wants to say that as a joke but she might believe him and he doesn't want to frighten her. )

[descendent]

[ she smiles, liking the fact that he can laugh. he hadn't laughed at all when she had interacted with him at home. it feels like a shame; she likes the sound. ]

Technically that's a shade, but I'll let it pass for now.

[ somewhere, caroline's proud of her for saying that. she sits up straighter and looks around the room for some inspiration. she has her selection of questions, but she's not quite sure which ones she wants to ask first.

she looks at him with her brows arched. ] Cats or dogs?

[prevenance]

A shade?

( he slants a look in her direction for that very specific and precise statement. but he isn't going to argue with her either. black is his favorite color or shade or whatever.

her next question gives him pause both because he doesn't know if she's going somewhere with this or if she's just that curious. )

Neither. I've found that animals don't really care for me. I think it might be the vampire thing.

[descendent]

Hm.

[ she furrows her brows in interest, trying to recall a moment with stefan and an animal. she can't. the neighbourhood cat prefers jeremy over her, possibly because he'd always feed it.

biting her cracker thoughtfully, she finishes it and dives into the sleeve for another. ]

Do you know how to ride a bike?

[prevenance]

Elena, how many questions of this nature are you going to ask me? I'm not telling you to stop, I just need to prepare myself for a lengthy amount of time answering questions that I haven't thought about in years.

( when people meet him, his favorite colors or if he can ride a bike are not typically the first things on their minds. )

Yes, I know how to ride a bike. No, I haven't ridden one in a long time. I haven't had the need but I'm sure if I needed to ride one, I could.

[descendent]

Until I've finished eating my crackers and you're hungry.

[ she looks at him pointedly, eyes playfully widening slightly. she imagines sitting in silence is something he might be used to... but that doesn't mean she wants to be used to it. no, she wants to talk and get to know him and see that he's just like her. she wants to stop thinking about the shadows outside. she wants to get to know him. he's her friend, isn't he? ]

You can ask me questions, but I can tell you that mine will be more interesting.

[prevenance]

Why the question about a bicycle?

( the other questions he can somewhat understand because they're simple, inane, getting to know you question but the bicycle? )

Last I visited Mystic Falls, there weren't too many people riding their bicycles around so I doubt I would want to be the one to start a new fad if I ever did visit.

[descendent]

I was curious. [ she shrugs as innocently as she can. ] I wanted to see if you'd ever taken the time to learn how to ride a bike. It's such a... normal thing.

[ and he's not normal. elena doesn't even think she's normal anymore. riding a bike is something she had learned with her parents. she doesn't ride one anymore. he's right that mystic falls seem to value either walking or cars, not cycling as a mode of transport.

she doubts he could start the fad. a man wearing a suit riding a bike would be a sight, though. ]

[prevenance]

I learned. I just had no need to do much with that skill after I learned. I had vehicles and I had my speed, if anything.

( he could get most places without a bicycle so if he were to buy one now, it would be...well, he can't even think of a reason. maybe in the future he would have a reason but not right now. )

Did your parents teach you how to ride?

( he assumes that's the case. his own parents were not...the type to teach their children how to ride a bicycle so he has none of those memories of his own. )

[descendent]

My dad did. He had better luck teaching Jeremy. He seemed to have a better sense of balance.

[ and elena's the flexible one. she smiles kindly despite the pang of grief she feels in her gut. she misses him. she misses her mom and she misses the isobel she never got to know. she misses jenna.

she smiles up at him. ] I rocked being on training wheels.

[prevenance]

You may be surprised but my parents did not teach me to ride.

( things like bicycles weren't really prevalent in their village and once they'd started moving around, they'd taken other modes of transportation instead. )

But, you got it eventually, didn't you? Perhaps it took a little time but you got it.

[descendent]

Eventually.

[ she remembers with a gentle, kind smile. a painful pang hits her chest, something that feels all too familiar. she wonders when it'll stop.

rubbing her hands against her thighs, back and forth, back and forth she feels anxiety begin to bubble in her gut again. she lets out a deep breath and smiles up at him, feeling a touch shy. ]

Thank you for entertaining me about that. It distracted me from what's happening out there.

[prevenance]

You're going to be all right, Elena. I promise you that. I won't let anything happen to you.

( and he wants to hope that this place protects them from something slipping in while his attention is elsewhere. they can't leave but she'd been able to get in. that meant something else might be able to get in as well. )

Ask me more questions.

( since it seems to help her forget about what's going on out there. )

[descendent]

[ that's the problem, but he says the same words she's heard before in a completely different voice. she doesn't want him to protect her at the cost of himself. things have to happen to her. she learned that lesson brutally through klaus. fighting him isn't on her agenda.

she opens her mouth, as if about to protest, and then stops herself. if he wants her to ask questions, then she thinks it's only fair that she obliges. she may learn a few new things about him.

remaining seated on the bed, she rubs her hands hard against her thighs all the way to her knee. ]

What's your favourite place you've ever travelled to in your long, long life?

[prevenance]

France.

( he always has and always will have a soft spot for france. its's not all that exotic or exciting but it's a place that he loves going to and spending time in. )

I haven't been there in quite some time but I want to go back. In fact, I think once we manage to get out of here, I will go to France and spend a long time there. Unless it's winter. If it's winter, I'm going somewhere hot and sunny.

( he's over snow. )

[descendent]

[ elena's unsure if she likes that answer. it implies he'll be far away from her in virginia… and she doesn't like that.

she cracks a smile and shakes her head in amusement, ] I can't imagine you on a beach.

[ elijah in his suit, sitting on the sand? it's a no go. while she's seen him dressed down, it's strange to think of him in swimming trunks and nothing else. it kind of makes her blush a little. ]

[prevenance]

That's because you won't find me on a beach.

( he's not really the type as elena guesses. he's been to a beach and if someone he cared about wanted to go, he'd go but he wouldn't make that choice on his own. it just...wasn't his thing. )

I prefer restaurants with extensive wine menus, clubs with good music, and my own home with my family.