051-058 » the past increases, the future recedes

[villagemod]

WHO: Everyone.
WHERE: Eastern/Central Mathias
WHEN: Day 051-058
WHAT: Time is a funny thing. It likes to repeat itself.
WARNINGS: (PM this account to have a warning added!)
NOTES: Plotting post over here! The next log will be posted the weekend of May 8th.

RECOMMENDED ♫ Marco Beltrami "The Dinner Table"

DAY 051-058
THE REPEATING
“Unfortunately, the clock is ticking, the hours are going by.
The past increases, the future recedes.”
— Haruki Murakami
With the dawn of this new day comes an unsettling experience that many longer-term residents will find unfortunately familiar. As the sun begins to rise over the ocean's horizon, an earthquake arrives with it. The vibrations are strong enough to shake buildings but not damage them; items may be broken and nerves will certainly be rattled, but after a full minute of wondering when it will decide to finally end, calm will return to Mathias.

This first day will seem otherwise like any other. The rain has stopped but the skies remain a gloomy grey, providing no sense of escape from the horrible situation they've all found themselves in. And as the day stretches on, each of them going about the lives the routines they have made for themselves here, they will each of them have a feeling of being stuck, as if in the end today has been no different than yesterday.

But when tomorrow becomes today, they will find that it truly is no different than yesterday.

The earthquake arrives again as the sun rises, and they are in the exact places they were the day before. Any broken items they may have cleaned up will break again. Their clothes are the same as the day before, the food they prepared will be unmade, and the only certainty that they are not crazy will be found in the knowledge that everyone else is experiencing the same thing as well.

Memories are the only things that remain intact as the day resets. Again again, residents will relive the same day, every physical thing resetting to the state it was in at dawn. Patience will be tried as these days stretch onward, and the most enterprising of the group will use this as the opportunity it is to experiment without consequence.

(But all things have consequences in Mathias.)



THE NEW ARRIVALS
The newest arrivals to Mathias will wake up on the beach near The Grey Gull. It's a bit 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 RESETS
— The earthquake happens again each morning at sunrise, signaling the day resetting and beginning again.

— Everything physical resets to how it was at the beginning of Day 051. Food will be uncooked with no leftovers in the fridge from the day before. Items that were broken or moved will be returned to their original locations. Anything that was built or modified will be undone and returned to its original state.

— Everything resets except for the memories of residents, which remain intact from one day to the next.

— It doesn't matter if your character tries to stay awake in order to watch the reset. Exhaustion will overtake them just before the earthquake happens at dawn, and when they wake, they will be in the exact same location and in the exact same physical condition as on the morning of Day 051. Their clothes, their health, the state of disarray of their hair — all of it will be exactly the same. This includes new arrivals waking again on the beach each day.

— Resets includes the death of any character. The new day will reset their body just like on any other, and for this log only there will be no corpses left behind. Sanity may still be lost depending on the nature of their deaths.

— If a resident has wanted to burn down a building or take other drastic measures to test the limits of what Mathias Township will allow, now is the time. Everything will be returned to as it was the day before... Though there may still be consequences. The resets will cease after Day 058, so anything done on that day will remain in effect in the next log.

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CONDITIONS UPDATE

— THE WEATHER conditions are fairly typical for early fall: warm days and cool nights. It feels almost like spring arriving except that there fewer red and orange leaves on the ground and more of them oddly returning to the trees and slowly fading to green. It's like watching one of those nature documentaries that have a timelapse of the seasons, only it's going in reverse.

— THE FOG continues to block 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, shortly 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; residents who enter it will be gripped by a panic so strong that they must retreat the way they came.

— DISAPPEARANCES are occurring again, with Helen Magnus and Alex Millar vanishing. Thankfully, a few residents have also returned. Welcome back!

— ALCOHOL is still in Mathias! Maybe. (Supply is definitely running low after recent town events.) 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. For this log only, alcohol is replenishing in the same way food does due to the time resets.

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OOC NOTES

— BIG CHANGES If your character is planning on making any big changes to the town (ie setting something on fire or other major destruction of property), please comment below ASAP and plan for these changes to take place in the second half of the log so that everyone is able to react to them in their own threads.

— THE GIFTS Before the next log, please comment over here with details of what your character did with their "gift" from the last log, if they found one of their personal items out in the rain. This information may be used for future logs.

— UPDATES Don't forget to report updates as they come up! Changes to locations (like toppling a few bookshelves in the library), big plots you have coming up that will affect the game (parties, major property destruction, etc), or exciting discoveries that may tie into the game's mythology (even the things provided by the mod) are very helpful to have in one place so relevant page updates can be made.

— MOD STATUS The usual reminder that it's just Amy steering this ship, 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

[myfavoritemurder]

[Oh.

Well, that's useful.]

Animals? Out to attack little old me?

[She continues in Greek, assuming that he won't be able to pick up everything but figuring he'll at least get the sarcastic tone, if nothing else. The amused sneer on her face probably helps.]

Well, I've certainly never encountered dangerous animals before, helpless waif that I am. I've definitely never killed game with my own hands. I'm simply terrified.

[She follows this up with a contemptuous sniff, turning more serious.]

Do I really look like someone who's never slept in a forest before?

[abrightboy]

[He takes a moment to process what he can of that. Then he shakes his head.]

Animals... no... eyes? Um. No... visual? No to see the animals. Dangerous.

[myfavoritemurder]

[Interesting. Another point for this being Tartarus.]

Spirits?

[She tries a few more words, in case he doesn't get that one.]

Dead things? Hades' creatures? Is Mathias in Tartarus?

[abrightboy]

Sp... no. No. Tartarus... no. [He points to the nearest street.] Sleep... inside... home.

[myfavoritemurder]

No. I haven't slept inside a home since I was a child. Young. Small.

[More synonyms in case he needs them.]

I have no home here. I'm a dangerous, dead thing too, and I'm not afraid.

[abrightboy]

You... are safer... when afraid. Shelter from no seeing monsters. Learn them before... outside.

[myfavoritemurder]

[She gives him a long, searching look, then drops resolutely down onto the comforter, crossing her legs in front of her.]

If this isn't Tartarus, then where are we?

[abrightboy]

We can't know. Somewhere... in a... prison.

[myfavoritemurder]

So is Tartarus. Maybe we're there and you don't know it.

[abrightboy]

[Hard to argue when he doesn’t actually know what this is, but she’s not the first to suggest ‘Hell’.]

Maybe. Choice one home at night. Please.

[myfavoritemurder]

I don't like sleeping indoors.

[She says flatly, finally dropping the remote control onto the ground.]

Walls make the echoes of screams worse, and staring up at a ceiling in the morning makes it easier to forget where I am.

[She doesn't expect either of those explanations to make any sense to him, even without the language barrier to contend with, so she barrels on.]

If one of your dangerous, invisible creatures kills me, then its belly will be full, and it won't come attack your village. You should be happy I'm out here. Think of me as an appetizer. Or maybe I'm right, and I'll be able to kill it before it kills me. You can think of me as a protector, then.

[abrightboy]

[Well. If he understood that properly, that's... sure a take. Okay. Different approach.]

My name is Malcolm. You?

[myfavoritemurder]

Callisto.

[She says, still eyeing him carefully.]

Did you wash up on the shore one day, too?

[abrightboy]

Near forest.

Callisto like the nymph?

[myfavoritemurder]

Do I look like a nymph to you?

[abrightboy]

Named like her. But I didn't see one before. Maybe?

[myfavoritemurder]

[She smiles a humorless, sharp smile.]

I'm not. Never been turn into a bear, either. Can't two different people have the same name where you come from?

[abrightboy]

Yes. My name very many people. What is your work at home?

[myfavoritemurder]

[Well, that's an easy answer. Her grin widens.]

Vengeance.

Do you know that word?

[abrightboy]

I think. [If he understands her correctly.] Vengeance to whom?

[myfavoritemurder]

Xena.

[She hops to her feet and starts to pace, because she can't tell this story while sitting still.]

The Warrior Princess. The one who ruined my life. The one who ripped me up and made me who I am today.

[abrightboy]

She is not here I think.

[myfavoritemurder]

So what?

[Callisto snaps, rounding on him.]

She'll die and find her way to me eventually. Or I'll claw my way back to the mortal world first. Either way, I'll get her.

[abrightboy]

...Okay. [He pauses, watching her.] ...Nothing else to live about?

[myfavoritemurder]

[All that fire drains just as quickly as it had come. Her expression goes flat, her eyes go dull, and she turns to drop back down onto the blanket.]

No.

Nothing else to live about, to live for, to live to, to live from--

[Just gonna copy his awkward phrasing and run with it here.]