037-040 » the reason for time

[villagemod]

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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Comments

feel free to handwave this thread if too old, im just catching up from hiatus c:

[liliowy]

Spoilsport.

Yennefer wasn't terribly good at handing out compliments - honesty too deep set in the passing years, and perhaps Henry could forgive the directness of her statements.

"I could," she hums, thoughtful, lilac eyes giving him a pointed stare. "Illusion magic isn't the same as forcing a lifecycle from a half-frozen seed." Illusion magic was convincing the chaos around them to shimmer blue, or green, or smell like roses instead of dust. The magic of forcing dormant life to blossom was difficult, perhaps cruelly so.

"It's a matter of perspective," she says carefully, raising a hand in front of her, curling thin fingers in with a twist of a wrist. "Is it lacking in what this world has to offer? No, perhaps not. She seemed delighted. But -"

- the illusion magic takes in a small beat, starting in a swirl of softly flickering stars above the cake, before lifting off to the ceiling like fireflies. Settling there, there will start to be something of a reminder of the night sky, as she raises her hand higher and higher, fingertips flickering as a cold passes across them.

She's most satisfied, she thinks, with the fact that it doesn't make her feel like shit. Small victories.

"...though, party tricks wasn't the reason I stopped by."

[thering]

He had seen magic before, sure, but nothing as delicate, deceptively simplistic and elegant like that. The mock stars are capable of capturing the imagination that no doubt sent Ellie's mind all the way into space in the first place.

Before his eyes lingers too long on the shimmering display, a reminder of a time now long past that he will never get back again, Doc tears his gaze away from it and focuses on Yennefer. Who knew chaos could come in such a beautiful, bespoke vintage bottle?

"Why did you stop by?" And please, don't tell him it's because of his or anyone else's riveting company.

[liliowy]

Chaos came in many forms. Sometimes, it was a nice excuse to carve it into something deceptively elegant. Easy to forget the simple beauty an illusion can make, and a celebration was a perfect excuse for it.

She smiles, a brief passing thing before reaching into her pocket. She holds a delicate looking coil of leather, a small glass bead in the middle of it, and one on each end. The so-called Antique store had plenty of odds and ends for her purpose.

"For you to humour me," she presents it, carefully so, voice soft. "- It's a simple charm. Should the events of the Hunt repeat itself —" she cuts herself off, finds she has to keep herself still from fidgeting. The night's events had shaken all of them in different ways, and while the fear remained, the anger had finally caught up. Spurred her into plotting rebellion in minute ways.

This was a challenge, now. A game of cat and mouse, and she's won it once, by the skin of her teeth. The next step is to make it harder for more lives to be taken by creatures she can't name. "— or should you find yourself in a location from which you cannot leave, breaking the bead will set off a tracking spell. It will allow me to create a portal to reach you, and anyone with you."

"It is dormant otherwise. I've better things to do than be watching your every move, but I've also no intention of making it easy for anything to get to us again."

At the same time, even as she presents the idea, he's free to take it or leave it.

[thering]

He plucks the charm from her grasp gently. It looks like any ordinary trinket, but he would be sure to keep it on his person. He wouldn't even care if she wanted to follow him around - he's not doing anything that he doesn't want anyone else to find out about. As far as routines go, his is fairly boring around town.

Looking up at her again, part surprised and part-... something else - he's usually the one who looks out for others, not the other way around - he nods and pockets her charm.

"Thank you," he adds a little belatedly. "And do I get one for when you are in trouble, so I know where to go running to?" he asks, his voice clearly teasing although his intentions are pure. He might not be a magician himself but he does play the part of the hero, from time to time. He would not mind her help, her saving his life. But he should like to be able to repay the favour, too.