villagelogs | 059-061 » the place where you stop the story

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059-061 » the place where you stop the story

WHO: Everyone.
WHERE: Eastern/Central/Southern Mathias
WHEN: Day 059-061
WHAT: Time returns to "normal" and Mathias grants a reprieve.
WARNINGS: (PM this account to have a warning added!)
NOTES: Plotting post over here! The next log will be posted the weekend of ~~May 15th~~ May 22nd.

RECOMMENDED ♫ Nathan Johnson "Foul Play"

DAY 059-061
A BRIEF REPRIEVE
“There is no real ending. It’s just
the place where you stop the story.”
— Frank Herbert
Residents awake to a peaceful morning with the sun shining and earth remaining still. There is no unsettling shaking to rouse them at dawn, and time has continued moving onward as they slept. Whatever state they were in the night before, they remain that way now, for good or for bad.

On the surface, there seems to be little lasting effect on the tiny town from that strange series of days, save for the memories of any traumatic experiences residents may have faced — but there are always consequences within Mathias. The perpetrators of acts against the town are tormented by nightmares of those acts being used against them, and those who did not raise a hand to stop those acts of destruction may yet face consequences of their own. For now, however, the unwilling townspeople should do their best to rest and recover from the disturbing ordeals of late, for this reprieve from the madness shall surely be shortlived.

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.

CONDITIONS UPDATE

— THE HISTORY MUSEUM has not fared well with the return of "normal" time. The once esteemed wooden building is now a charred ruin, the recent fire leaving behind little of the contents within for study. The structure is unstable and it is not wise to venture into the ruins for long.

— THE WEATHER conditions remain 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 has retreated from some areas!
— Residents may now wander the southern stretch of the forest surrounding Mathias Township — it is possible to leave the paths but potentially unwise to do so.
— The fog has also retreated farther into the western section of town, now stretching across town between Stine Road and Shelley Drive. This has revealed the Chasm in the earth that stretches from one side of town to the other between Stine and Hill Lane.
— Access to the northern section of the forest is still blocked 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.

— DEATHS & DISAPPEARANCES continue! Max Guevara has vanished into the fog. Claire Novak's body can be spotted on Day 059 facedown at the bottom of the Chasm between Hill and Stine, near Phillips Drive; by the morning of Day 060, her body will be gone. (Attempts may be made to reach her body but will likely not end well for those involved. Such attempts should be reported under Exploration.)

— ALCOHOL is still in Mathias! Just barely. (Supply is running very 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. (Alcohol does not replenish as food does.)

OOC NOTES

— PROJECT HELP Your mod needs help with some projects!

— FUTURE PLANNING If you haven't, please answer the questions here for future log planning. I will almost definitely need some of these answers for the log going up the weekend of May 15, so act quickly! Late submissions will not be considered for that log.

— 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 are going to be pretty slow for a while. Apologies in advance, and please don't feel shy about pestering me if you're stuck waiting for something.

navigation | faq | locations | report updates

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[sometimes, you can’t outrun prophecies. but to be fair, this town had a talent of twisting at people’s fears.

it twisted at yennefer’s too, but it’s easier to greet fear with anger.

elena takes her hand and she pulls her towards her, as near a reflex as anything, to sidle to her side. ]

This place makes it difficult to tell, [ she spits, narrows her eyes in the same direction. ] - but I don’t think there’s anything there.

[ a beat, another small tug at her hand before her fingers slip away. ] Still, should we continue the opposite way?

[ which will lead them to the beach. Which means if anything follows it will be at a disadvantage - the ocean is residual chaos, more than anything else here. ]

Yes, please.

[ maybe it comes out more desperate than it should, but elena doesn't want to go in the way she'd come. tugging her shoulders up, she shivers, disliking how she feels. it's like her skin wants to peel itself off her bones and flee. it's like someone's watching her, even though she knows yennefer would spot them with her eagle eyes. ]

I just feel really ick... which I know is ironic, considering where we are... and this town...

I see little irony in that, Elena, [ Yennefer moves in near tandem to Elena’s agreement, impatient in putting more distance between the uneasy woods. ] I’m waiting for the day we finally see their faces. If the boredom doesn’t kill me first.

[ one can be afraid and bored of being afraid all at once. ] You’d think decades would teach me patience.

I don't think that's entirely teachable.

[ elena's tried to learn patience from caroline, but she's not good at it at all. she wants to know what she wants to know and she often wants it on her own clock. it's partly why elena's always finding herself in messes... and like why she had been out here, by herself, without anyone else.

she smiles, wanting to feel a little more at ease. ]

Besides... isn't life more fun when you're impatient?

Mm, my old teacher would certainly agree with you on that. [ a hum. partly, she's surprised she even brings tissaia up at all.

but it's easier to fall into a semblance of conversation, even if its an attempt to ignore the tension behind them. she rolls her shoulders, and feels better for it. ]

Well, you get things done faster, that's for damn sure. [ a small smile, a snort of a laugh. ]

Speaking of which - I found a good view of the lighthouse, and I intend on reaching it. Do you care to join me?

There's no way I'm missing out on going to a lighthouse.

[ she brightens smiles, feeling a little more at ease. although she still feels like something's watching her, elena's grateful for the change in location and the little mission. she likes being nosy. the lighthouse is a place where she hasn't been nosy about yet. ]

I've never been to one before. Have you?

[ mystic falls had a clock tower, one place to eat, drink and hang out at... and a lot of vampires and werewolves. ]

Good. [ it's a change of scenery, to be sure. it's also an excuse for yennefer to use her magic, lest the itch under her skin gets too hard to ignore. she hates the exhaustion that comes after, but would hate never having to use it even more.

for how complicated her relationship with magic is, it is what made her. it's only natural to fall back to the strength she's sharpened through the years.

they track along the path, until she can see the glimmer of ocean water strike a long line along the horizon. ] I have - though it didn't look very much like this one. And was powered by a much different source.

[ that, unsurprisingly to elena, piques her interest. she had always thought lighthouses were powered by electricity, stood tall and blindingly white, and remained burdened by the sea's fists. it's strange to think of how one world may differ from another. ]

What was it powered by? Wait, no. [ she holds out her hand as if to stop herself from pursuing too many questions. ] First, and most important question... was it white?

[ if it didn't look like this one... then elena thinks it's totally fair she ask! ]

No - [ yen's exhale is almost a laugh, stopping at the edge of the incline to the sandy beach, air still cutting and cold even with the turning season. The woods stood behind them, and she looks to the lighthouse across the way, nestled on the rocks rounded by ocean winds and cracked by the waves.

It stood like a beacon, though how anyone could see it amidst the snow weeks before was a wonder to her. ] - No, it was grey, I think. A dark spire, jutting out by the shores. More of an omen than a guiding light.

[ was she sounding nostalgic? for that shithole? ] It was powered by magic, Elena.

So much bottled chaos, it would feed it for centuries. [ her smile is sardonic. it was the fate of her sisters, those who could not ascend. ]

[ this is when she would turn to bonnie and ask her if she understood what chaos magic was, but bonnie wasn't here. elena wishes that her friend was. she thinks yennefer would've liked her.

so all she does is look out at the lighthouse and try and picture it as yennefer has—nostalgically—described it. there's no harm in yearning for what's a shithole. at least it's home and familiar, unlike mathias that seems to change its footprint every day. ]

Does that mean it would feed off of people like you? [ her brows furrow together as she looks at yennefer. is that the catch? there's always a catch. ]

[ she likely would have.

magic, she's learned, takes so many different shapes throughout the realities she never knew existed and talking to anyone in possession of something she is not has thus far been a curious experience.

any other point, it would have raised the question of searching for more ways of getting her choice back, but she's resolved to the inevitability of that loss. but if anyone back home knew about this...she's not sure if this knowledge staying hidden would be such a bad thing.

she pauses, mid step, and raises her head to look back at the girl, black hair whipping around her face. it doesn't really cover the raised brows, a mild look of surprise ] That's perceptive of you.

Yes - on my sisters, who never ascended. [ she turns back around, because its easier to hide your expressions when you're not being looked at. ] They become true conduits of chaos. No need to worry about loosing control when you've had it taken away.

Just a bloody eel powering a windmill full of idiots. [ her back is stacked straight, and she chooses to look out to the water, instead, squinting out. ]

[ elena ensures to stay a step behind yennefer, suspecting she may prefer to have her space. the lighthouse from her home seems to hold something personal for her. it's how the cemetery is for elena; while it's not the mystic falls cemetery, it reminds her of it, and that in itself is enough for her to feel a pang of nostalgia and discomfort. ]

My best friend's a witch. From what I understand, her magic comes from nature. I guess that means the world around us.

[ she's not completely sure. elena wishes she had spent more time learning with her than trying to figure out curses and being stuck between two boys when her choice would never change. it meant she missed out on learning more about bonnie and preventing what happened to her grandmother from happening to her. ]

She taught me that her magic always came from somewhere. Sometimes it came from her and drained her. I guess magic's like that everywhere; all it wants to do is take from you.

It seems that's the preferred title from most of everyone around here. Witch. [ yen keeps her tone light. it isn't a complaint as much as observation, and a curious one at that.

it was a miracle she didn't laugh at the face of the warlock who said he'd rather be called magician. Like being named after a charlatan was a prideful thing.

witch made sense, she supposed, against the odds of pride all sorceresses seem to develop through the decades living. ]

It sounds as though we were taught a different side of the same coin. [ she walks forward, eyes the lighthouse, kicking up sand under her heel and measures the distance. It's far away, in as much as anyone is concerned. It doesn't look like a direct path they can take without risking a plummet into the rocks. But it's also a very much direct view. there's a satisfied hum. ]

Chaos is around everything. A part of everything. Magic is organizing that chaos, [ she parrots. ] People like me are its conduits, but it's always been about balance and control. A give and take. You can take from it as much as it takes from you.

It sounds like your friend knew that, too. [ she pushes her hair out of her face, and props a hand on her hip. ] She ever take you through a portal before?

[ it sounds like bonnie's magic to elena. maybe it's not "chaos", but it's witchcraft. you can't take from it without expecting to give back in return. she remembers the sacrifice shiela bennett had made for the salvatores, a sacrifice she doesn't think has ever been repaid.

elena eyes her curiously, her heart already beginning to race excitedly in her chest. no one asks those types of questions on a cliffside without having a plan to follow through. she doesn't want to presume... but being presumptuous is kind of her thing.

she shakes her head. ]

I don't think Bonnie knew how to do that, if she could even do that at all.

[ but if it could be done, bonnie would've figured it out. bonnie always figured things out. ]

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059-061 » the place where you stop the story

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