villagelogs | 037-040 » the reason for time

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037-040 » the reason for time

WHO: Everyone.
WHERE: Eastern/Central Mathias
WHEN: Day 037-040
WHAT: The dead return and the living wake to changes within Mathias Township.
WARNINGS: Some explicit sexual content in threads. (PM this account to have a warning added!)
NOTES: Plotting post over here!

RECOMMENDED ♫ Kammarheit "Sleep after Toyle, Port after Stormie Seas"

DAY 037
THE DEAD RETURN
“The only reason for time is so that everything
doesn't happen at once.” —Albert Einstein
The dead return to Mathias forever changed by their experiences. Waking along the beach, near the tree line, or among the graves, they will find that their bodies are not as they remember them. They are whole again and not torn to shreds by the shadow creatures that cannot be described, but they are also not as they were before the Hunt. These residents will find, so strangely, that their bodies are in the physical state in which they first arrived in Mathias — any injuries or recovery they have made since their initial arrival no longer exists, as if their time in Mathias has simply been a horrible nightmare. Except they all now carry a last reminder of the Hunt with them: spiderweb-thin healed scars marking their injuries from the Hunt. Those who were injured by fire in the other realm also carry those burns with them.

The dead are not the only things that have returned to Mathias. Inexplicably, fall is back, with the temperature finally reaching above freezing and snow falling from trees to reveal beautiful autumnal colors. As the sun rises higher in the lightly cloudy sky and the day warms, the snow begins rapidly melting, puddles growing in the slowly revealed grass and little rivers forming in the streets. And with that snow comes the frozen blood from the deaths to the Hunt, tinting the street river on Phillips Drive a sickening shade of red.

Another oddity that residents will notice: houses with broken windows from the encounter with the fog on Day 015 have now been completely repaired, though any boards put in place are still there somehow. A small bit of good news, at least? And truly, how kind of Mathias to clean up its own mess.

Finally, alcohol is back. Enjoy in moderation, friends, for more will not be arriving the following morning.

THE NEW ARRIVALS
The newest arrivals to Mathias will wake up on the beach near The Grey Gull. It's quite chilly out with their wet clothes, but surely there's something to help warm them inside the restaurant. Indeed, their timing is perfect, for alcohol has finally returned to Mathias Township — and not just the cowboys' homemade moonshine.

DAY 038-039
THE CHANGE OF SEASON
The continued warm weather proves that the unseasonable shift of the previous day was not merely a fluke. Once again, the sun rises and brings with it a temperature that feels almost spring-like, save for the fact that each day there seem to be more and more leaves on the trees in hues of red and orange. For those who have been in Mathias for some time, this new type of weird may be almost normal at this point, but newer arrivals will likely find it quite odd.

The gently trickling river running along Phillips Drive is still somewhat pink in color as the snow continues to melt and refreeze each night. By Day 040, the bloody snow will finally be gone completely, though the relief will be... short-lived.

DAY 040
THE BLINDING WHITE
In the late morning of Day 040, when the sun is visible through patchy greyish clouds, the fog sweeps into town like a like a tidal wave. It moves in quickly and without warning, not from the waterfront but the forest, cascading through every street in a thick wave of white. Rather than a soft blanket enveloping the town, it is a heavy weight pressing down, blotting out the sky in a way that almost feels suffocating, for none can see further than their outstretch hand.

Those outside when it rolls in are left wandering blind, stumbling toward shelter as you're unable to even see your feet beneath you, let alone any obstacles in your path. Perhaps you call out for help, hoping for another voice to guide you toward shelter or simply another living soul. Or perhaps you were lucky enough to already be inside when the fog descended, quickly closing doors and windows to keep it from creeping in.

Unlike the last time the fog swept into the town, residents who encounter it are not immediately killed. Instead, they are simply disoriented, possibly losing their sense of time and place, and it is only after prolonged exposure that they will begin to feel off. A sense of being ill will cling to them if they are in the fog for too long, including dizziness, lightheadedness, or nausea — the time it takes to manifest varies from person to person, as does the duration it will last after leaving the fog.

By nightfall, the fog still has not dissipated.

CONDITIONS UPDATE

— THE WEATHER conditions are fairly typical for late fall: chilly "sweater weather" days and nights that can dip just below freezing. You don't want to be outside without a coat, but it won't kill anyone if they bundle up. Probably.

— 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 western 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 blocking these areas is ill-advised.

— DISAPPEARANCES continue. Castiel and Sam Winchester have vanished, and Dean Winchester has not returned with the others after his death during the Hunt.

— THE GRAVEYARD has now seen around a dozen burials, both below and above ground. With the weather warming, though, something may need to be done about the handful of temporary graves aboveground...

— ALCOHOL has returned to Mathias! A small stock of beer and cheap wine may be found at the General Store, and some homes may have a small store of alcohol in the fridge or pantry. The Grey Gull has also been restocked with its lower-end offerings of a variety of alcohol types. Alcohol does not replenish in the same way as food.

— THE GREY GULL has been cleaned up and stocked with moonshine. Along with the newly restocked usual offerings, the place almost seems like an actual bar again.

— THE GENERAL STORE is in a bit of a state following the brutal slaughter of two residents during the Hunt. Cleanup on aisle 3, anyone?

OOC NOTES

— FOOD is now being mysteriously restocked as per usual, including inside homes and at the General Store. Alcohol is not being restocked. Use those rationing skills, friends.

— REWARD REDEPEMPTION is back and will soon have a new option for anyone looking to spend big AP and learn a bit more of the lore of the town.

— MADNESSES due to the Hunt have been earned by Klaus Hargreeves, Ellie, and Malcolm Bright and may now be claimed. Players may also claim additional sanity loss from the aftermath of the Hunt; only losses from the Hunt itself have been deducted from totals thus far.

— SANITY REGAIN is now available! Players will submit a form with some details of the progress their character has made and the mod will review and decide on the numbers of points that will be regained.

— MOD STATUS The usual reminder that 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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Not quite Dean, but, another brunette at least walked through the doors of the Grey Gull. Helen may not have died in the massacre of the town. Instead she had been taken by... the town? Something. A few days had been lost. If only she hadn't been. Maybe she could have saved a few lives.

She looked around the Grey Gull. She could hear the rustling up the stairs.

"Hello?"

The rustling stopped suddenly as Raylan heard the voice. Sleeping here might be an option in a few days, living here wouldn't be. Too many people in and out. Who was it this time? Cautiously, Raylan stepped up to and out of the door. That's where the caution stopped and he found himself strolling down the stairs almost eagerly, heart half hoping that the faceless beast was back for more.

He stopped short when he saw Helen, eyes wider and more wild than he'd like over the new subway map of vein-like scars over the left side of his face, breathing heavier than he should be. "Oh. Helen." He looked her over like he was looking for something specific as he ambled down a few more stairs.

"I was-" Burying his head in the sand, keeping himself too busy to think, running himself into the ground as quickly as possible. "-Cleaning. The apartment upstairs."

Why did he feel like he was reporting to the principle?

Helen smiled at the sight of Raylan. Good to see that he was in a decent shape. She hardly had a list of those that perished, but, it seemed it was more than anyone would have liked. It would of been seen as bad form for her - even as a doctor - to ask to see the bodies.

"Raylan." She greeted with a nod and crossed her arms under her bust. "Cleaning -- have you moved into the room upstairs?"

He was whole with all his limbs and everything, if nothing else.

"It's crossed my mind," he admitted with a faint lift of his eyebrows and a slight bob of his head. "You're welcome to come on up - it's still dusty as hell but I got a window open and some surfaces clean." He headed back up as he continued. "Figured if Dean and I were going to go to the trouble of cleanin' everythin' else, might as well get up here too.. Put it to use."

Helen nodded to the invitation and followed him up. She gave him room, of course. He seemed to be a little on edge given his body language. The recent events had affected them all on edge. Although, she would admit to feeling lost by it all.

"I suppose that means you would also be opening the downstairs?" A finger raised to point down below. "Although, I'm not quite sure the point of a business when there's no sign of an economy."

She looked side to side, taking note of the cleaned surfaces. He had put quite a lot of work into it already.

The sparsely furnished apartment had been mostly cleaned, the surfaces of the coffee table and small desktop shiny, stacked with the few items that Raylan deemed not trash, including his white hat, stained with a little splatter on it's rim. Blood, if Helen were to try and guess. The couch had been moved, a broom taking up residence against an open dirty window and his hands glinted with the water from the bucket nearby.

He gestured at the downstairs as he collected his broom again. "It's basically open now, really. Been puttin' moonshine down there, servin' it to people and everything. Gives me somethin' to do, I guess. Me and Dean Winchester.. Who I can't promise is around anymore," he acknowledged with a deep breath and a lift of his eyebrows.

"You uh.. heard what happened, I'm guessin'."

She takes note of how lacking the furniture is in the apartment. Perhaps who had lived here before the disaster that took Mathias struck moved out? That, or, there was never someone living there to begin with. More akin to a place for the owners to hang about after work? There were endless possibilities when it came to this town and hardly any real answers.

"Heard, but, haven't seen." Helen shook her head. "I haven't gone to the sites of the incidents yet. I figured it might be best to give everyone time before I start asking questions for those that apparently died and returned."

"The way this place is warming and dependin' on how well they did, hopefully there ain't much to see." He started to sweep as he spoke and then stopped, looking up at her again, face pinched softly.

"I'm sorry, I shoulda offered you a drink. Alls I got up here is moonshine, but you're welcome to some if you want it. Though there's a bit of the good stuff downstairs, probably better for company," he reasoned, half to himself. Alright, so maybe he sort of wanted a drink himself even thinking about what had happened, but that wasn't exactly polite either.

"No tea though."

"I heard it was... rather unpleasant." Helen figured that was the best diplomatic way of putting it. Still, at his apology, she shook her head. It was fine. They could forgo the concept of social expectations for guests given the state of things. "The lack of proper tea in this town is down right a crime."

A bit of humor to make the conversation lighter.

"What made you think about moving into the Gull?"

"Judging by the splatter, we turned into that modern abstract art that everyone seems to love." Raylan didn't really get art beyond 'Nice picture' so the metaphor was a stretch.

"One crime among many, I'm sure you'd get no argument there," he said, accepting the answer with a nod and starting his sweeping without concern, the movement only paused for a half second at her question as he shrugged one shoulder.

"Startin' to get somethin' of a full house when things go tits up. Until we can build a lean or an extension or somethin'. Place to go so that we're not sleepin' on floors is probably a good thing." Part truth but plenty of smudge and lies to make it less personal. "You drop by just to see who was in, or was it for stores. Apparently the food's back."

"Well, certain people in certain circles tend to love. I prefer the classics myself." Helen continued the joke in an attempt to keep the mood light. As light as possible at least.

"Ah, expansion." She nods in understanding. "Namely to see if anyone was here in general. It seems I missed practically everything that happened. Disappearances and reappearances seem to be rather common here."

"Better taste than me, but I got a feelin' that's a low bar, considerin'." He was what he was and pointedly not a scientist with a lab in Vancouver.

"Unfortunately, they're gettin' more and more common. No way to stop it that I can see, considerin' we don't know who's takin' em or where they're goin'." He stopped his sweeping, one hand propping on the handle as he looked at her again.

"How'd you miss it, if you don't mind my askin'. Just a cozy night at home with all the screams outside?" He wasn't being an ass or trying to be, evident by the casual, unbarbed tone.

"Art is all about the eye of the beholder. It's different for all of us." She shook her head. "I happen to be from a time where classics were far more regaled than the modern art and music."

Helen frowned slightly and gave a short nod. It definitely seemed beyond their control. After all, she too had been whisked away without her knowledge. If anything? Raylan seemed to be a man that was tired and at the end of his wits. She hardly took it personally.

"I walked out of the home I have been staying in one night. Then, I found myself inside the Grey Gull, apparently, a few days later." She looked down and sighed. "I wish I could tell you what happened. I've no idea."

"Knew a guy who certified and stored his father's collected Hitler paintings once.. Course, every one he found, if he could buy it he did. So he could burn them and store them in jars." Yeah, huge art circle in Kentucky.

He nodded in return, lips down turning a little with his passing frown.

"No.. no trauma? No torturous black void or something?" He clucked softly and sighed, bobbing his head. "A good thing, no doubt. I'm glad you didn't." It did punch a small hole in his theory about fear farming. Something to chew over later maybe.

"So much for the historical value, I suppose." Helen frowned with her eyebrows raised. "It may have let in a few ideas into the man's mind himself."

She shook her head. "No, nothing. Just... it felt like a few moments for me. Time obviously means very little in a place such as this. Although, given my skill set, it does make it difficult to help once I'm spirited off."

His eyebrows lifted a little, curling in an expression of subtle distaste, discarding that topic with a faint bounce of them that gave no hint into how deeply he might think or feel about it.

"Even the clocks don't run right from house to house.." It bothered him, greatly. "But you're back now. Like the rest of us. I'm sure someone's gonna need the help.. You got anything for seizures? Or like.. best practices for it - you do that kinda stuff, right?" He'd stopped again, eyes coming back over to her with his question.

While World War II was ancient history for most? Helen had lived it. She had been at Normandy -- for entirely different reasons than the rest of the Allies. Still, she had seen the horrors of both Great Wars. Then again, in her line of work? One had to analyze why anyone or anything did what they did or how they operated. Better to know and learn rather than hide it away and pretend it didn't exist.

She was accustomed to the fact that not many would agree with it.

"I have noticed that. Which, given experiences before I arrived? It's far from unsettling." Helen frowned. She had seen no sign of Adam... but she wondered if his time manipulation technology was in some effect here in Mathias somehow. "I can teach you how to handle a seizure once it has happened, but, finding anything that is a prescription level strength to prevent them is neigh impossible in this town."

A pause. "Who is suffering from them?"

"I'll take time bein' weird over the sun not comin' up. Still waitin' for an explanation on that." And waiting for it to happen again. Mathis did like her tricks.

He pinched his lips together faintly and let them go as he answered the question before addressing the rest. "Not sure that it'd be okay to tell ya. Nothin' personal and all.. But the next time it happens, I might be breakin' down the door to your clinic. Stoppin' much of anything doesn't seem like it's possible here, but knowin' that I'm not going to be standin' around watching someone twitch and die when I could be doin' somethin' to help would be.. helpful. I don't think it was blood sugar or diabetes, but I don't know what that really leaves us with. Seem.. stress induced though. Coupled with hallucinations.."

It really had nothing to do with Helen, but Raylan hadn't really asked Will for his consent and in such a small place, if Helen didn't already know, she'd find out soon enough.

"Reality in Mathias plays by different rules than we are accustomed to. Rules we have yet to fully discover." She paused. "It's not the best explanation or reason, but, as a scientist... it's the best that can be presented with the facts at hand."

Helen shook her head and raised her hand. "Not at all. I am a doctor--patient confidentiality is something that must be valued even in a place such as Mathias. If tehy feel comfortable seeking aid... well, you know where I have roosted up."

A slow nod to his observations. "It could be an ongoing medical condition that was treated with medications before now showing up. Or, it could be something that was always dormant but the stress of this town has finally caused it to manifest. Seizures can often get worse if left untreated by either medications or by changes to lifestyle."

"That's basically where I'm at." He didn't need that explanation. He was caught up to that point, but they were still mysteries and demanded Mathis fill out that answer. He didn't expect Helen to have those answers.

"They said it was some.. Anti-MDNA encephalitis, but I got.. no idea what that is." Now that he could use a good explanation from the good scientist doctor. Of course, what he'd actually been told was Anti-NMDA encephalitis, but it could probably be forgiven. "I.. don't think it was gettin' treated back where they came from." Well, he knew but what he knew was a much larger stack than he handed out.

For all his flaws, he's at least good at keeping details that would help Helen sus it out if she wanted to, off the table.

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037-040 » the reason for time

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Winging this room desc

all i remember is the hole in the floor cause... you know who

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