059-061 » the place where you stop the story

[villagemod]

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.

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Comments

[tinstar]

"Very dangerous threat, deadly even," Raylan replied in faux seriousness, nodding his head but the curl of his lips around the edges twitched a bit. Oh, he fully believed that Tim would resort to it, given the right motivation.

As Tim spoke, Raylan's brow took a more genuine pinch, the steady inward curl of his features as he considered all of it with what he already knew.

"They didn't replace him? Maybe he was collectin' too much information," he muttered at the last words, leaning forwards with nudge of his hat back on his head. "Followin' what we were talkin' about earlier today.. If it was an honor. Bet a dollar he got given up to whatever was running this place.. The 80's really isn't that far from when the town stopped. Puts a crack in the idea that the tradition of it was lost.."

Cracks were a good thing, he wanted people to poke holes in it, suggest what made sense to them, things that his brain might never circle around to thinking about. Many hands made this work lighter.

He sighed and rubbed at his forehead, nodding again. "It's more than we had before. I'd be interested in seein' those newsletters. Just to get a feel for the place when it was alive."

[walkingtrigger]

It was in his bag of tricks! Though it would probably require a much more egregious transgression on the older marshal's part before Tim resorted to such diabolical revenge.

At the question Tim shook his head. "Going back over the newsletters I think this was a one man show but it'd be good for you to take a second look." That was simply solid law enforcement work and part of what a partner was there to provide. A second set of eyes, a second point of view. "Even if he got given up? It's weird Raylan, that final issue and his letter to his readers. It reads like a man who knows he isn't coming back. He's saying his goodbyes."

Tim sat and the far off stare in his eyes suggested he was mentally re-reading the newsletters.

"I got the impression he knew he wasn't coming back," yes he repeated himself there. "But he believed it was a good thing. Whether that proved to be the case?" The younger marshal could only shrug.

[tinstar]

Raylan nodded. Something to do later, in that case.

"Yeah, and by that I mean put on a goddamn alter and had his heart cut out. Fanatics eat that shit up, why wouldn't he be proud to be offered up to his god in the name of steel and blood," Raylan said, bordering on a ranting kind of tone as he pushed himself up to his feet. He wasn't going anywhere but he needed to move. It helped him think.

"No, I'd expect him to be shootin' sunshine out his ass in joy to be chosen. I wonder if he's the one Athena saw gettin' drug down the tunnels. I wonder if there's a tunnel that connects there.. We still got a lot of doors ain't been opened. We'll need to get on that. Athena will wanna come." They had to start prepping for that too.

[walkingtrigger]

Tim let his partner's sharp commentary go without a remark. He knew how Raylan could get, and it was usually better to let the man use his words as a pressure release on his temper. In these situations Raylan was rarely looking for a response; rather talking just to bitch and so Tim waited and responded to what was a genuine question.

"Had the same thought," he said, leaning back in the chair and lifting his hand up to rest his fingers lightly against his forehead. It was a gesture that did not make an appearance often. It seemed to indicate a tired sort of resignation. "Went through every single newsletter from the first to the last looking for a picture, any picture to show her but there wasn't anything."

[tinstar]

Without the glories of swearing, Raylan's violent tendencies would have gone wild. No, better he say a few sharply spoken words of frustration than lean into all that. He was glad Tim understood that without it having to be laid out in plain words.

"Shit," he swore, rubbing his eyes again before his hand dropped back to his hip in his own resignation. "I know we're not gonna find and put together all the pieces but I wish she'd give us enough for a fraction of a whole corner and not this piecemeal off 14 different lives and possibilities. At least back home we had leads we could follow, places to get into that we could actually get into."

Welcome to the root of his frustrations. It wasn't the terror or the general mind fuckary, or the magic fog. It was the puzzle offered that he couldn't solve.

[walkingtrigger]

Tim remained in his chair watching Raylan with knowing eyes. He understood that frustration. The very unique barb in the craw that was having everything in front of you but no way to actually pull the case together and gain conclusion on a matter. It was its own kind of living hell for men like them and Raylan had been in this pressure cooker for months now.

It bothered Tim to have to realize that he had no answer for his partner. Not at this time anyway. All he could do was keep trying his best to help cover ground that needed covering and let Raylan have time to see to his people. Then they could back each other up as necessary, but tonight was another dead end.

"Think I'mma head upstairs and gaze at my navel," he said, moving to lever himself up and outtah the chair. "You okay closing up down here?"

Tim didn't know where Raylan planned to spend the rest of the night and he found himself afraid to ask. Because if he asked, he knew his partner would tell him, and there were enough tigers chasing their tails in his head without adding that particular bundle of emotional landmines.

[tinstar]

No, there was no answer. No fix. No help for their situation until Mathis decided to find it. He didn't blame Tim for leaving. He wasn't exactly the best company when he got this way.

"Yeah," he replied with a nod of his head, jaw released, eyebrows lifted with the movement. "I'll make sure everythin' is shut down and secure. Your little get together went well, you oughta be proud. Only a little blood on the porch. Go get some rest."

Raylan's head was still too busy, too full to consider not moving a little more before he even considered where his bones were falling for the night.