villagelogs | 030-035 » a-hunting they will go

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030-035 » a-hunting they will go

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.

navigation | faq | setting | mod contact

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Ugh- no. [He sounds annoyed, but there's a definite worry sort of uptick to the sound of his heart between the cage of his ribs.]

Oh, uh- just the other day. like...after the earthquake. I didn't notice it at first, but by the second day after, I kinda realized nothing was filling back up.

[Elijah doesn't have to panic, Klaus can do it for both of them. He's really good at spiraling.] Oh, man, this is bad. What if it keeps up like this? There aren't even any animals to, like- hunt, if we needed to. If- if this doesn't get fixed, we're fucked.

[A thought occurs to him.] Maybe that's what happened to the people that were here before us, right?

[Forget the fact that there weren't tons of bodies in various stages of decay. Logic doesn't go here.]

( the thought of the previous group of people dying from starvation isn't a pleasant thought. he knows that he could sustain as long as there was blood around but that isn't a finite source.

and the fact that there's no explanation for this is even more concerning. elijah rubs his chin, looking around like he might find the answers that way but there's nothing.

he sighs, shaking his head. )

There's enough food that if we start to ration, we'll give ourselves time. But, we're going to have to be very careful.

( he wants to hope that this is temporary, maybe a result of the earthquake but he can't be sure. )

The important thing is that we don't panic. Panic is only going to make it worse.

Is there? [He doesn't mean to snap, at there's not actually that much heat behind it, but--] With more and more people constantly showing up, everything in that store won't be enough if there's no way to get, or make, more food.

Yeah, I'm-- not so good at that part, honestly. [Not panicking had never been his forte. Someone else will have to take up the mantle on that one.]

We will figure something out. Are you going to just take the food not reappearing as a death wish? You make it sound like we're all doomed to die.

( elijah isn't going to let that happen. he isn't going to just roll over and let this city try and defeat him. they're not out of food yet but they're going to need to act to make sure they don't run out and end up on the cusp of starvation. )

Panicking isn't going to do anything, though. If you panic, everyone is going to panic and that is going to help no one.

If this isn't temporary, it kind of is one. [He feels like Elijah is underestimating how incredibly dire this might be.]

No, no. Most of you guys are way calmer than me-- [He waves one hand dismissively.] I'm sure that part'll be fine.

( elijah isn't trying to underestimate anything but he knows that if one person panics, other people will panic and it could make for an even worse situation. )

It's a concern but we need to see if it's just temporary or if it's going to continue. Have you mentioned this to anyone else?

( other people are going to notice, there's no way to keep it a secret but maybe they can make it not be such an issue for a little while longer. )

My brother- but I mean, I'm sure other people have noticed, you know? Everybody comes here, like, all the time. [Five keeps him updated on need-to-knows of the bulletin board, and Klaus keeps his brother stocked in Fudge Nutters, it's a pretty fair trade.]

I know. But I haven't heard anyone talking about it around the Boarding House so if people have noticed, they're not too worried.

( even if they should be. elijah's worried though he's trying to keep it low key and under wraps. he wants to think that this is just temporary. )

What did your brother say when you told him?

He said- and I quote: Ah, fuck. [He shrugs a little exaggeratedly, arms spread wide.] But consider: He spent almost half a century utterly alone in the world post-Apocalypse, so his concerns are a little different than mine.

( well, elijah doesn't disagree with his assessment of 'ah, fuck.' it's good to be worried but he still thinks a panic is unnecessary. )

There's little we can do about it right now. We can't make the store restock itself. What we can do is conserve.

( not that he thinks people are having buffets and big meals all the time. )

When was the last time you ate? ( he looks klaus over and frowns. he's skinny but he doesn't look malnourished. still, elijah wants to make sure one of the few people that he does know here is taken care. )

Oh- no, I'm fine. I promise. [He waves a hand, dismissive of the concern.] I've low-key stockpiled a mound of snacks in my room. While not the most nutritious, it's...better than nothing.

Maybe we should take stock of what's in the boarding house, though. Figure out... how short to divvy up the rations, how far it might take us...?

That's a good idea.

( and he's not just saying that. it is a good idea to see who has what and to see how long they can last on the current supply. )

Do you know about how many people are in the boarding house? I'm still fairly new and I'm not sure who all's there as of yet.

( but good thinking, klaus. )

Uh- well, Daisy moved out... which leaves-- [He starts counting on his fingers.] me and Five, you and Elena, Max and...that new guy that just showed up. [He frowns a little as he reaches the end of the list.] Damn... the house used to nearly be full and now it's just six of us?

[People keep... disappearing. Dying. Leaving to live somewhere else. Klaus hates the separation; he thinks they should be banding more together than spreading further apart. But why would anyone listen to him.]

( while elijah wants to hope that everyone has enough food to survive, he's really going to prioritize the boarding house because that's where elena is and that's where the people that's talked to the most are. )

All right. Elena and I have put aside a few things just as a precaution before we even realized this was happening so we'll share those. Do you know this Max person at all?

( could she be trusted? would she share? he would interrogate her himself but with klaus here, he decides to ask. )

[He nods a little, kind of conversationally more than a real action. Then he nods a little more firmly.]

Yeah, yeah. Max is cool. If she has anything, she'd probably crowdsource food with us, I think.

All right. So, we'll just have to check out this new person and hope they're agreeable with this plan should we need to put it into place.

( they can worry about themselves and then worry about the rest of the town but elijah wants to hope they're figuring out that the food isn't restocking and making their own plans. )

I suppose I should be glad for the amount of snow that's on the ground since we won't run out of water anytime soon.

Yeah, sounds like a plan. [He nods a bit, and gives an amused scoff at the other point he made.] I didn't even consider that, but it's definitely true.

It won't be perfect but it's something.

( it would keep them alive for a little longer than they would without it. )

But hopefully we don't have to use it.

Yeah... maybe not. [He makes a vague motion with one hand.] I'm gonna head back to the boarding house. See what I've got lying around in my room. Meet up later, see what kind of stock we've got?

Yes.

( before klaus can leave, elijah reaches out and snags his arm, trying to get him to pause just for a moment before he heads back. )

Tell who you'd like about this but try and not send people into a panic. Nothing good will come of that. We will figure this out.

( he hopes. he's not willing to let this be the thing that takes him out. )

[His eyes widen when he's tugged back to attention, eyes wide as he stares up at Elijah, confused, curious and--

He sighs, half in amusement, half in relief.] Oh. Yeah. [He nods and echoes: ] We'll figure it out.

( elijah nods and let's klaus go. )

We will. I'll speak with you soon.

See you around. [He nods and gives him a wave as he turns to leave.]

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030-035 » a-hunting they will go

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