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

[bestfuneralever]

He snorts at Malcolm's answer, shaking his head. "Don't let him fool you, neither one of us know how to shut up. It's why we're friends." And the trauma, but hey, we'll leave that for a little later, right?

[sharker]

Don't know how? She shakes her head, rolling her eyes. "It's easy. You just stop talking." When Malcolm opens his mouth, she raises a finger threateningly. "Stop - just don't."

Miraculously, there are a few, blissful seconds of silence. Finally, Parker smiles, a wide, pleased, satisfied grin.

"See? It's easy."

[abrightboy]

“Well... we did invite people here to talk....” Malcolm points out.

[sharker]

"Maybe." She gives him her most mysterious look. "Or... maybe you invited yourselves here to learn how not to talk so much."

[abrightboy]

"That's definitely not it," Malcolm assures her.

[sharker]

Really? She props her chin on her hand, gazing at him.

"And how does that make you feel?"

[abrightboy]

“Like someone with an advanced psychology degree that’s suddenly being talked down to,” he replies matter-of-factly. “How are you finding settling in? Has anything weird happened to you yet?”

[sharker]

Fine. She makes a face at him, but considers the question.

"Weird like the same day happening eight days in a row or weird like there are no bugs?"

[abrightboy]

Malcolm's eyebrows lift with interest.

"Tell us about the bug thing."

[sharker]

"There aren't any bugs here."

There's not much to tell, is there? She shrugs, still unsettled by the whole idea.

"Or animals. And there should be. And no one knows why or how."

[bestfuneralever]

"Oh, yeah... I remember Ellie pointing that out, before." He nods a little. "It's one of those things I don't think about much, but once it's in my face again, it's just really freaky."

[abrightboy]

“I think this place is artificial,” Malcolm tells her. “Like a really elaborate zoo enclosure. The boundaries are designed to look natural, but we’re hemmed in. Normal items are missing. The food gets refilled by some sort of mechanism.” He considers her. “I bet you’re wondering whether the bodies we’ve buried are decomposing. No insect life. Does that point to no microorganisms?”

[sharker]

It's exactly what she's been wondering since the moment Alec had told her there were no bugs or animals around. She stills, eyes going wide as she just stares at him.

When she does speak, it's in a hopeful whisper.

"Did you dig them up?"

Does he know?

[abrightboy]

Malcolm leans closer, conspiratorially.

“No; I buried them. And nobody’s going to be digging them up,” he tells her, matching her volume.

[sharker]

Parker leans closer in turn, never breaking eye contact.

"Then how will we find out about the microorganisms?"

[bestfuneralever]

"I second the no digging them up." Klaus says, lifting one hand as he speaks. He knows most, if not all, of the people that are buried in their cemetery and he doesn't think he could handle the idea of someone deciding to exhume the bodies.

[abrightboy]

“If some concrete progress in escape will come from knowing for sure that there are no microorganisms, we’ll consider it. Otherwise, there’s no percentage except morbid curiosity. Those people died horribly and we’re not disturbing their peace.”

[sharker]

She considers this, tapping her finger against the edge of her hard plastic chair. They kind of have a point. But also, she really wants to know.

"How will we know if it's helpful to know if they're decomposing or not if we don't check?"

She looks up suddenly, a new thought occurring to her.

"Maybe...maybe if they don't decompose, they're not dead after all! Maybe they're just waiting for us to dig them up again!"

[bestfuneralever]

"They're... definitely gone. We don't just go around burying perfectly alive people." His voice is quiet, but calm, no real edge to it, despite the emotion the topic brings up. "The bodies that turn up are thoroughly checked before anything is done with them."

He understands the curiosity, so he doesn't judge her for it. She doesn't have any attachments here, besides Alec, he supposes.

[sharker]

In her own way, Parker is taking this just as seriously. She doesn't want to disturb anyone's final resting place. But. But.

She glances down, now slowly breaking her cookie into tiny crumbs on her lap.

"Eliot died. And he came back."

What if they'd buried Eliot? What if they hadn't checked?

[abrightboy]

“A lot of them have come back,” Malcolm informed her. “And they’re also still buried.”

[bestfuneralever]

"When people come back, they- still leave the body that died behind." He explains further. "It's... we don't know how it's possible, but it's what happens."