villagelogs | 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.

navigation | faq | locations | report updates

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Good," Neal says, voice barely audible. He can't look Doc in the face. "I got burned, yeah. I..."

His throat feels squeezed around the words. "I died again," he manages. "Or... whatever I could do that was like dying, there. Woke up on the beach after that."

That raised some uncomfortable questions, about the nature of the fire, what it was for. Whether you need to die twice to come back here. He hadn't heard of such a requirement the first time people had died when the fog got to them - they simply woke up again. The beach it seems, is symbolic somehow. Water and birth and life and all that, maybe. Doc doesn't want to read too much into it. He is just grateful that they are back, and they don't have to contend with any fires here on top of everything else that has already happened to them.

"Let's get you settled in for today," he suggests gently. They can talk at greater length about the monster that got to them, the other place and the fire and all the rest of it when some time has passed. When it's not so difficult and traumatic to dredge these things up.

Neal exhales softly, smiling a little. "Yeah. That's probably a good idea. I'm just... used to having to go through it all on the spot, you know, for... arrest records, that kind of thing."

When did he get used to that?

"Well I am not placing you under arrest Mister Caffrey and if that is a sex thing it is far too early for that kind of talk," he jokes, trying to lighten the mood. Doc plants his ass in the adjacent seat next to Neal and folds his arms on the edge of the table, disguising how keenly he is watching him.

The joke startles a small laugh out of him, less because he actually feels the humor of it than because it's so unexpected. He fiddles with his teacup for a moment.

"Did you ever... I know magic, things like that, they exist where you're from. Have you ever seen anything like the things that happen here?"

"There are witches and demons who can do extraordinary things," he concedes. Angels, too, although he hasn't encountered any yet. "Sometimes, you live long enough, and nothing in life gives you any thrills anymore? You might toy with people for the sheer, cruel enjoyment of the torment.

"Right before I came here we were facing a sleep demon, put the whole town under. Sometimes I think I'm just dreaming, and nothing of this town, these events; not even any one of you is real."

The thought of living long enough to not care about people, to be that kind of cruel, makes Neal's stomach turn.

At the idea that all this is a dream, that it's all inside Doc's head, well. Neal can't deny he's had the same thought from time to time. That something happened to him, that he's in some kind of coma.

He shifts to put his hand on Doc's arm, for himself to feel the other man's solidity, for Doc to feel his. "Even if you are. Even if we are... I kind of like you guys."

"It would be a shame to wake up and lose all this," Doc admits after a brief stretch of silence. Not all of Mathias was worth remembering. But she's not worth forgetting, either. Doc would rather take the bad with the good than take nothing at all. After all, these memories are his burdens to bear.

"Might make a good story for you to tell one day," he offers with a raised eyebrow and a tight-lipped smile. "Five quirky gentlemen under one roof. I hope we have kept things interesting."

Neal laughs a little, softly, one hand fisting on the tabletop to keep the tremor from showing as it starts again. With the other, he gives Doc's shoulder a tiny squeeze before picking up his tea.

"That's certainly a word for it," he says, barely teasing. He takes a sip of tea, waiting a moment to see if the heat of it sets off the same panic it did a moment ago. More thoughtfully, he adds, "I never thought the phrase 'truth is stranger than fiction' would get driven home quite like this."

"Oh... well I have found that, facing down witches and demons, this is not that strange, all things considered. I couldn't dream up a gentleman half as talented as you." And Doc means that - he has no reason to butter Neal up or flatter him for some hidden agenda.

"I only wish that this town had been kinder to you. To us all." But since they can't all have nice things, Doc is going to station himself in the house today. Perhaps tomorrow as well. Until they are all starting to be okay with settling back in, at least. He imagines that would take some time.

Neal ducks his head a little at the compliment, the warmth of appreciation and bashfulness stirring a little under everything else. At the declaration about Mathias, though, Neal's spirits dim again.

He nods.

"I'd say I hope it gets better, but I have the feeling it's going to try and get worse."

"Let's just take things one day at a time." He has plenty of experience doing that. His Mathias experience, thus far, in some ways, is not so different from tuberculosis. There are good days and bad days. Given enough time, the number of bad days start to outnumber the number of good days. You can always find different ways of coping, and a steely determination and an unwavering mindset go a long way to combat that sense of hopelessness, but you can never really stop what you know will be inevitable.

He has learnt a few techniques for conjuring some good days out of nothing, though he has only ever managed it in few short spurts scattered throughout the years. He hopes, in this area, he can be of little service to them.

"Today you have returned. It is a cause for celebration. And you will no doubt need some rest. We will worry about tomorrow tomorrow." Doc will of course be staying in the house watching over them. He can't do much for the nightmares that are to come, but he can feed and water them at least, keep them alive just a little while longer.

037-040 » the reason for time

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

wrap this one in a tag or two?

sure!