041-044 » the ghosts of the living

[villagemod]

WHO: Everyone.
WHERE: Eastern/Central Mathias
WHEN: Day 041-044
WHAT: Something is in the fog.
WARNINGS: (PM this account to have a warning added!)
NOTES: Plotting post over here!

RECOMMENDED ♫ John Carpenter "Antonio Bay"

DAY 041-044
THE GHOSTS OF THE LIVING
“Maybe before you die, it's your ghosts you see.”
—Lauren Oliver
The fog remains within the town, a cloyingly stagnant blanket turning the world a soft white that is the opposite of comforting. It has, at least, dissipated slightly since its initial entry into the town: residents can now see roughly twenty feet in any direction around them before the mist blots out the world again. Progress, perhaps, but at what cost?

Residents who venture into the fog will find that prolonged exposure still leaves them disoriented and eventually ill with dizziness, lightheadedness, or nausea. But with this new level of visibility, some may find the tradeoff worthwhile in exchange for being able to move about the town without getting too terribly lost.

But that's not all they find in the fog.

Beginning the morning of Day 41 and continuing until the night of Day 44, residents will begin to see Others in the fog. Appearing almost wraithlike and startlingly recognizable, these figures even feel a bit like ghosts to those who can sense such things, though everyone will feel that there is something wrong about them. Truly, there are many things wrong that residents will begin to notice as they encounter more and more of the apparitions that do not acknowledge their presence in any way. They simply exist, silent and subtly terrifying like so many things in this town.



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. They may even find some alcohol within — and not just the cowboys' homemade moonshine.

ABOUT THE OTHERS
The figures encountered in the fog over these four days will be unnervingly familiar to the unwilling residents of Mathias Township. They are like misty ghosts of those who have been in the town at one point or another, specifically those who have died or disappeared and even, perhaps, themselves. The likeness is truly uncanny, to the point of being completely terrifying.

There is no way to communicate with the Others. They do not acknowledge anyone's presence nor anything said to them. At times, they may be only one in an area, or there may be a dozen existing in the same space. There is no limit to how many people can see them — if they are there, they are seen by all.

The Others do not enter buildings and cannot be contained in any way. They can appear at one moment and be gone in the next, or they can exist in one place for hours on end. Whether standing stationary or slowly wandering throughout the town, there is no discernible purpose to them. There is something absent and distant in the way they hold themselves, the way they walk, and their expressions, as if even they cannot grasp what is happening.

---

CONDITIONS UPDATE

— THE WEATHER conditions are fairly typical for mid fall: cool days and chilly "sweater weather" nights. It's getting warmer like spring but the leaves still look like fall...

— THE FOG remains stagnant in the town while also blocking the paths in the forest. Beginning a few dozen yards past the treeline, this section of fog will urge residents to stay huddled within the town proper by inducing a physical reaction of panic and fear. This type of fog also 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. Tony Stark, Neal Caffrey, Quentin Coldwater, Melanie King, Jaime Lannister, Yennifer, and Number Five have vanished without a trace.

— ALCOHOL is still in Mathias! (Unless they drank it all already.) 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 was also restocked with its lower-end offerings of a variety of alcohol types. Alcohol is not replenishing in the same way as food.

---

OOC NOTES

— PAGES that have been recently updated: deaths/disappearances, locations, madnesses, housing. Please give these a look and make sure any character information is correct and up-to-date.

— REWARD REDEMPTION has a new option now! Anyone looking to spend big AP and learn a bit more of the lore of the town may now redeem History Revealed for a cost of 10 AP and 1 Sanity Point. This is an advance redemption — dreams about the past in Mathias will occur in the following log to allow for proper planning and utilization of any plot or lore elements revealed. Note: This reward may be gifted to another character than the one claiming the reward.

— MOD STATUS The usual reminder that it's 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

QUESTIONS?

[villagemodama]

Use this space to ask general questions about this log and the circumstances or locations presented within. Players may also use this space to ping a mod to a thread to give feedback on the spooky happenings therein.

EXPLORATION

[villagemodama]

Use this space when exploring new locations or revisiting older ones, including residential housing locations. (AP rewards are not needed for basic explorations, only if you want a little extra that might not otherwise be found.)

REWARDS

[villagemodama]

Use this space to ping the mod if you'd like to use one of your AP rewards (Idea, Spot Hidden, or Spooky Encounter). Submit your request using this form:

Requested reward: Idea, Spot Hidden, or Spooky Encounter
Characters involved: Please list all characters who will be involved if claiming a Spot Hidden or Spooky Encounter. You can also add characters by mentioning them in a later comment.
Link to thread: If available/applicable. May also be added in later comment.
Additional details: Location where this is happening, the circumstances of the character being there/searching, their current mental and emotional state, what they are searching for, etc.

<b>Requested reward:</b> <b>Characters involved:</b> <b>Link to thread:</b> <b>Additional details:</b>

To submit for History Revealed, use this form:

Requested reward: History Revealed
Character: Character who will be dreaming.
Additional details: Any plot or lore elements your character is especially interested in or intrigued by.

<b>Requested reward:</b> History Revealed <b>Character:</b> <b>Additional details:</b>

[bestfuneralever]

IDK if you'll take 2nd hand info, but I know Nav had mentioned Five being fog-napped for her hiatus.

[villagemod]

Thanks! Added Five to the list for now, waiting for Nav to confirm the fates of Five and Yen officially.

[enduresurvive]

Would the Others only be dead people who died in this setting or could they be dead people from home too?

[villagemodama]

Only people who have been in this setting. Anyone in the game since it opened is able to show up as an Other.

[tinstar]

With the fog everywhere, could Raylan find his way back to the Lodge? He's really looking for the end of the gap so he can get over or.. like a tunnel hole at the bottom of the gap that will get him into the lodge - any play I could find there?

[villagemod]

There are two types of fog occurring right now: the type inside the livable area of Mathias and the type blocking the forest and western section of town. Residents are still unable to venture into the latter without being forced back by an uncontrollable physical reaction.

So no, there's no way presently to venture to the Lodge from aboveground.

[thering]

Is the lighthouse accessible, and if so, does it have some radio equipment? Doc mentioned to Tony Stank on day 37 that it might be nice if he could build them some short range communication equipment like walkie-talkies and Doc would be scavenging for such supplies (transistors, circuit boards, microphones, whatever).

Happy to use AP for this :3 And also we would like to know when they eventually get to starting work on this side project if it's going to be a spectacular failure of an endeavour or if they can MacGyver something that sometimes works and sometimes picks up some weird signals.

[tinstar]

Worth a shot! I'll be back later for some Tunnel Info. Thank you!

[villagemod]

The path through the forest to the lighthouse from the town proper is currently blocked by the panic-inducing fog, but there is another slightly more hazardous way to reach the building. The stretch of beach from the Grey Gull area to below the lighthouse is covered in large rock formations that will have to be traversed in order to reach that precarious path winding up the side of the cliff.

There is some old radio equipment within the building that may be salvaged.

They will be able to put something together that can work within the town, though results will vary and occasionally be on the more interesting side. Players can check in on future logs to see what's up with the radio once it's built!

daisy johnson | mcu

[chuju]

I see red
My blood is boiling and it shows
When all you are is a weapon
You shoot 'em down 'til you end up alone ♫

day 41 » closed to bucky

[chuju]

i always say that it's the last time, a promise i can't keep

Daisy wakes up feeling alone. The bed is empty, cold, and she can't feel anyone else's heartbeat. That's how she knows something is wrong.

It hasn't been unusual for Neal to wake up before her. It's become pretty common actually. She's been managing better sleep with him beside her but he still has trouble resting properly, the trauma of the past weeks haunting him. So his absence that morning isn't especially concerning in and of itself, but when combined with the hour... The sun is barely coming up, the muted light from the fog filtering through the windows.

Climbing out of bed, she looks in the bathroom despite the silence she could feel with her Inhuman senses. Nothing. To the bedroom door then, peeking outside almost hesitantly before stepping out fully and looking down into the open expanse of kitchen and living room. Bucky is there, as he had been the night before, but there's still no sign of Neal.

Back into the bedroom. She checks the closet, noting that the few pieces he'd brought over are still hanging there, as are the items he'd placed neatly into the drawers of the dresser. His shoes are there, carefully placed to the side. Even his clothes from the day before are still where he'd put them, tucked into the hamper and waiting to be washed.

Dread begins to fill her like icy water in her veins, the chill sinking into her bones. There are only two possibilities she can think of and neither is good. Maybe that strange sickness had taked hold of him again, forcing him to seek out something dangerous and beyond his capabilities. Or...

She can't bring herself to think that second possibility. It's too much too soon after she'd lost him twice. If this is to be the third time, she doesn't know what she'll do.

[exsto]

Given how things went the day before, Bucky wasn't looking to risk his usual routine of nightmares that cycle their way through his head as soon as he feels himself surrender to sleep. It is inevitable. But also nothing he wants to chance given the hours spent reliving the torment of some very specific words and the men that spoke them.

Before he hears her, Bucky is on the floor, sitting against the sofa on the floor, reading now that it's light enough in the house to do so. The blanket Daisy gave him is folded and placed exactly where she put it, so it's not obvious if it's even been used.

It hasn't.

Bucky looks up when he hears the door open and as soon as he sees her, he knows something is not right. Moving to stand he calls after her right after she disappears again.

"Daisy? What's the matter?"

Re: EXPLORATION

[this_ismydesign]

In a reversal of fortune, these circumstances are actually fairly stabilizing for Will. Once he sorts out how his "regular" group of hallucinations deviate from the "ghosts" he will be clear headed on top of having been happy in the non-lethal fog bank for a bit.

With his wits more firmly about him, he would like to take a closer look at the History Museum?

bucky barnes | mcu

[exsto]

[ Plotting. ]

[chuju]

Bucky's voice filters through the haze of dread and slowly growing panic, pulling at her consciousness for the few moments she spends taking stock of the room. It grounds her as she takes a deep breath, two, and moves out to the little landing above the living room again.

"Neal isn't here," she states too simply, clenching her fingers around the ends of her pajama sleeves. Her voice is even but there's no keeping the worry out of her expression. "Did you see him leave?"

[exsto]

He's waiting for Neal to appear, to ask the same question and it doesn't dawn on him that it's about him until Bucky sees her again. He figures it out at precisely the same time as Daisy confirms it.

Neal is gone.

His eyes swing to the front door. "I've been awake all night," he replies, shaking his head. "No."

Even if he had slipped into a light sleep, it would have been fitful enough that he would hear even the lightest of footfalls or movement. But how else could he have disappeared? He couldn't do it without making noise if he snuck out of a second-story window.

[chuju]

Awake all night. Later, Daisy will worry about that, because even supersoldiers need to rest sometime, but for now, she's too distracted by the more pressing problem at hand. She looks to the doors, back at the bedroom, and shakes her head, her thoughts following the same path as Bucky's.

"I didn't hear him open a window. He's a thief, he's good at that, but even—" The words just stop as the panic threatens to overwhelm her. Eyes closed, deep breath, in and out. It doesn't do much.

"I have to go look for him." Even if all signs are pointing to him being gone the way Coulson is gone, the way she'd been gone — she has to try.

[exsto]

It's hard for Bucky not to think about the words he told Daisy a few days prior, telling her that Neal was there when he had no business saying something like that to a person who knew better than him that nothing should be considered constant in Mathias.

He looks back up, remembering what he told Neal that evening he came by the boarding house to talk. He promised his new friend that he would watch over Daisy. So, when she expresses her need, Bucky nods.

"I'll go with you."

[bestfuneralever]

No problem <3

[bestfuneralever]

Can Klaus end up possessed by one of the Other?

[chuju]

She'd started to turn to go back to the bedroom, the logical part of her brain processing that she needs shoes and probably clothes that aren't plaid pajamas, but she stops when Bucky speaks.

Frowning, she looks down at him and shakes her head. Even though she's desperate to find Neal, that doesn't mean she can set aside her worry for the other man who's becoming a central figure in her life. "Bucky, you don't have to. The fog's still out there, and after what happened yesterday, I can't ask you to go back out there."

Ainsley Whitly | Prodigal Son

[welladjustedwhitly]

Plotting comment. Wildcards welcome. Prose by default.