villagemod: (sᴛᴏɴᴇ)
The Village Mod ([personal profile] villagemod) wrote in [community profile] villagelogs2021-06-05 08:09 pm

063-064 » no matter how much / part ii (group A)

WHO: Group A members only.
WHERE: Mathias Township proper
WHEN: Days 063-064
WHAT: Matthias becomes a little larger and a little smaller at the same time.
WARNINGS: (PM this account to have a warning added!)
NOTES: Plotting post over here!

RECOMMENDED ♫ DEADLY AVENGER "Raiju"





DAY 063-064
NO MATTER HOW MUCH

“No matter how much suffering you went through,
you never wanted to let go of those memories.”
— Haruki Murakami

At first, in the calm following the storm, nothing seems amiss. When the residents awake, it is to another glorious morning dawning in the unsettling paradise that is Mathias Township. Indeed, it does seem rather glorious that morning, for there is sunshine in a blue sky that has been cleared of any remnant of the angry storm clouds from the day before. But before long, residents will start to notice signs of something being not quite right.

It should be a familiar sensation to most by now.

It begins as just a feeling, a strange hint of something in the air, a nagging voice at the back of the mind. They can't quite put their finger on it but there is something. Something wrong, something that shouldn't be — which is quite a statement in a town where everything shouldn't be. But then the pieces will begin to come together.

A person has gone who ought to be there. This in itself is not a strange occurrence, for many have vanished and then returned, or not. This time, though, it is one person, and then two and three... A dozen people or more have gone, with no trace of their whereabouts to be found.

No resident is alone, thankfully. There are others who also remain: friends, acquaintances, strangers. Others who are just as trapped in this nightmarish place.

As the hours stretch on and residents begin to venture beyond their self-claimed shelters and move about the town, they will find that their fellow captives are not the only things that have vanished. The Chasm is gone as well, the crack in the earth that once stretched across and cut off the western part of town. There is not even the smallest mark to show where it had once been; it has gone so completely that some might wonder if they had merely imagined it.






ABOUT THE NEW LOCATIONS

POPPY COTTAGE This bed and breakfast has a sense of casual elegance with the elusive quality of being both sophisticated and comfortable at the same time. Aside from being covered in dust and grime, of course.

PENHEW HOUSE Perhaps familiar to some in Mathias, this grand house is different from any of the others the residents have entered. It looks... new. Fresh. Clean. The usual thick layers of dust and grime that would be caked onto every visible surface are nowhere in sight; this absence may be a relief for some and unsettling to others. There are certainly other unsettling things to be found in this location.

THE OLD CHURCH Barely more than ruins, the property is marked by a crumbled stone outline that has no roof and only partial walls, nothing left inside besides a broken cobblestone floor.

BANEBERRY HALL From the outside, Baneberry Hall seems like your average rich person's house, but one would be mistaken to assume anything of the sort. Even the baneberries that cover the back lawn leading to the forest treeline are deceptive, for they appear harmless but are fatal to any human foolish enough to eat them.

The building is decaying from within. The rooms have begun to rot, from the parlors and libraries still done up in grand and expensive style to the bedrooms that have locks on the doors and bars on the windows. There are restraints in some of those bedrooms, while others are bereft of sharp objects. In the hall closets, there are identical sets of white pajamas of all sizes, and the offices have locked cabinets (that may be picked) full of a rainbow of sedatives (that will not replenish). The names on doors and in logbook lists are all smudged beyond legibility, and all paperwork has been water-damaged and weathered, leaving no indication of who may have been kept in those bedrooms or why. But within each room, there is an item that may be familiar to one of the residents now wandering its halls. As caked in dust and grime as anything else, each item is placed as if it belongs there, as if it might have been there for years. But it couldn't have been... could it?



ABOUT THE ITEMS FROM HOME

Within the unsettling walls of Baneberry Hall, residents may find OBJECTS that are uncomfortably familiar to them. Each item has one singular memory attached to it that, when touched in any way, will be experienced first hand, as if the person receiving it had lived it themselves. This person will endure all of the associated emotions and psychological reactions to the memory that the memory's owner experienced.

— Items may only be found within Baneberry Hall. These items from home are not all in one room or a specific location but instead are scattered throughout the bedrooms. (Only the items on this list are available to this group.)

— Ownership and possession of the item are important elements to this event. While the item is in possession of someone who is not its owner, it will continue to infect all who touch it with the memory that belonged to its owner. The item will also, before long, begin to make the possessor ill, both physically and emotionally uncomfortable and upset. This only occurs until the item is reunited with its owner, or until it is no longer in someone else's possession. (For example, if Person A finds Person B's teddy bear and carries it with them, they will continue to experience the bear's associated memory until they no longer have it in their possession, whether this means they have left it somewhere or it has been returned to Person B.)

— Recipients of memories will retain those memories even after the event has ended.

— When the owner of an item finds their item or has it returned to them, they will also experience the memory once themselves, having it returned to them as if they had just lived those moments again. The memory is only replayed once in their minds and then the memory effect of the object is gone. After this point, the item can be held by the owner or any others without consequence.

— If a person removes an item from its room in Baneberry Hall but does not remove the item from the property entirely, the item will be mysteriously returned to its original location when no one is looking. This is so that people do not have to keep close track of where items are going in the possible changing of hands, so the original owners can still easily locate the item without having to plan in great detail. Once an item is removed from the property, it will not return to its original location even if it is discarded by the possessor before reaching its original owner. Instances such as this should be planned among all involved parties, including the owner of the item.

— Once an item is removed from the property, please comment below so that information may be updated. Items that are not removed by the end of the event may reappear at a later time, so accurate records are essential.

— Before an item's memory is viewed by someone other than the owner, permission must be granted or requested for that memory to be viewed by another character. Because the experience is an uncomfortable one for the other characters, the viewing of memories not their own should ideally be kept to a small number.








CONDITIONS UPDATE
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 new boundaries.
— 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 from the western section of town entirely.
— 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.

DISAPPEARANCES AND DEATHS continue! Yennefer, Number Five, and Tony Stark have vanished and Ellie is still missing, though this may be difficult to tell with half the town also seemingly having vanished. Will Graham's body may be found within the ruins of the Old Church; he appears to have been frightened to death. (If someone decides to take care of the body, please report it below. For in-game reasons, this does not need to be coordinated across groups.)

ALCOHOL supplies have run dry, save for any dregs that have been squirreled away by individual residents. Moonshine can still be acquired by those in desperate need.








OOC NOTES
NEW MAP Thanks so much to Scy for yet another amazing new map of Mathias!

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. IC events are also helpful to know about in advance so they can be included in the log write-ups.

MOD STATUS For those who don't know, I run a summer program that is set to start in just 2 weeks. We've only recently been given the green light to go ahead in person, so it's a scramble to get everything pulled together in time. My non-RP life is going to be busy and chaotic for the next while and I am thus asking for your forgiveness and understanding as things continue to be slow, as I cannot guarantee timely mod responses beyond weekends, and even that is not guaranteed.

NEXT LOG Because of the aforementioned real-life chaos, the next log will be more relaxed and free form with everyone coming back together again and having a few chill days. It would be very much appreciated if some of the more intense investigations could be saved to take place in future logs, as the new locations that are opening up in this log will remain open in the next few at least and there will be plenty of time to explore all their mysteries.

ITEMS FROM HOME The items from home remaining in Baneberry Hall will not be available past this log, at least not in this form, so if you would like to play with these elements, you should not sleep on this opportunity. More things may show up in the future but, for now, this is the main event.

DW NOTIFS Back at the beginning of the year, the issue of missing email notifs was discussed in a code push plurk by Mark of the DW admin team. For those who missed it, the gist is that the issue with missing notifs is not going to be fixed anytime soon. The issue is so sporadic that the dev team has concluded the only way to possibly fix it is to redo the notification system entirely. This issue does not extend to DW's internal inbox, so short of checking every thread you're involved in, the DW inbox is the best way to make sure you're not missing things.

ACTIVITY CHECK Beginning with June's AC (posted at the start of July), all tags that consist of only dialogue will count as 0.5 comments, not just those that occur in an inbox thread. This applies to both AC and AP totals.



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conning: (screencaptures_750)

[personal profile] conning 2021-06-13 07:04 pm (UTC)(link)
He leans the small of his back against the island, still watching the knife move through vegetables.

"What do you think it's going to take, for people here to start hurting each other?"
vampirebats: (pic#14493495)

[personal profile] vampirebats 2021-06-13 07:10 pm (UTC)(link)
"Don't think I'm forgetting that anytime either." He's done some fucked up shit, but that was--

He pauses when Malcolm continues on, just listening quietly. "Jesus, Malcolm... what the fuck?"

He shouldn't be surprised hearing that shit, but-- he is. Or maybe sickened is the word for it. He can't imagine having a kid and even contemplating killing them for a goddamn second... hell, killing any kid. It's fucking unforgivable.

He's not entirely sure it's welcome or not, not after Malcolm's trip down his memory lane, but he chances a step closer, reaches out a hand to rest on his shoulder. "I'm-- sorry."

Sounds like just the type of guy who'd get Lucille back home, and there'd probably be some pleasure in it, but he doesn't say that part.
vampirebats: (pic#14493494)

[personal profile] vampirebats 2021-06-13 07:14 pm (UTC)(link)
"What?" He hesitates, brows furrowing. That's... a question. He continues to chop at the vegetables, taking his time to consider that.

"Uh, well, Neal... In my experience, it's when supplies start dwindling, when people start feeling scared and helpless, more than usual. Brings out that selfish asshole in all of us. People start wanting to claim shit and fight to protect their own. They divide into groups."

He pauses, shrugging his shoulders. "But most the folks here so far seem willing to work together, so maybe I'm wrong on that."
conning: (screencaptures_346)

[personal profile] conning 2021-06-13 07:43 pm (UTC)(link)
He rubs his palm back and forth across the edge of the counter, fidgeting for the sake of motion.

When the food stopped restocking, Doc had shared his hoarded supplies. He knows more than one person started putting their own stashes away since then. He has himself, though mostly just adding to Doc’s caches. Neal stares at nothing in particular, his thoughts petering out into a static kind of buzz that’s become more and more familiar over the past week and a half.

It takes him a moment to realize the distorted reflection of himself in the metal of the fridge isn’t him. He thinks, for a moment, it’s Rey. He hasn’t seen her in a long while.

But it’s not. He can barely tell, but it’s that other man, one eye half-popped free, face intact enough still to show the surprise of dying.

Neal closes his eyes. “I don’t know if I could do it.”

He focuses on the feeling of his palm sliding back and forth over that edge. “I don’t know if it would be worth it, staying alive in a place where people treat each other that way.”
abrightboy: (consider this)

[personal profile] abrightboy 2021-06-13 07:49 pm (UTC)(link)
"In a basic form." He watches her face for a moment. "How do you feel about me after seeing what my father did?"
abrightboy: (looks up at)

[personal profile] abrightboy 2021-06-13 07:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Malcolm sees that hand on his shoulder and raises it a throwing of his arms around Negan's neck, hugging him tightly.

"I know you are; that's why we like you," he murmurs.
vampirebats: (pic#14493496)

[personal profile] vampirebats 2021-06-13 07:55 pm (UTC)(link)
"Alright--" He's got zero idea what Neal is zoning out on, what's going through his head, but for now, the knife is put to the side and he turns to face the man.

"Look at me." He reaches out to rest his hands on Neal's shoulders. Guy's spooked for-- whatever reason. Not doing okay, and that's got Negan more than a little concerned... but shit, he gets it. This place is dicking with them again and everybody's-- worried.

Everybody's not doing well for one reason or another.

"You fight because you want to keep people safe. Lives are precious fucking things, Neal, and no death is ever a good thing. Killing's no walk in the park, even if you can shove down the horror and not think about it for a while. But sometimes you gotta fight. Look at history, man. It's full of blood and people having to do shit to keep what's theirs safe."

That said-- "We'll try to make sure what we're fighting here isn't each other, but whatever assholes put us here. People get outta line, we just got to remind them of that, yeah?"
vampirebats: (pic#14493498)

[personal profile] vampirebats 2021-06-13 08:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Alright, so they're hugging. Negan almost wants to push the guy off for a second, but-- he's not sure the hug's for his sake, so his arms settle around him easily, one hand rubbing over his back in what he hopes is a soothing gesture.

"You like me for whatever goddamn reason." Doc, maybe not so much anymore if he ever did in the first place. Anyone else who sees that fucked memory? Probably not.
tinstar: (look here)

[personal profile] tinstar 2021-06-13 08:02 pm (UTC)(link)
Raylan hadn't gotten to the point of knocking on the floors and walls, but his fingers were starting to search the insides of drawers, the tops of armoires and wardrobes. He wasn't looking for anything that would throw him into someone else's head - Something in his gut said there was something else in Baneberry for him. A key maybe, into one of the tunnels, or a hatch itself. But something. He'd found his something in Penhew House, This we offer in humility and fear over the mirror. It wasn't enough.

Might not ever be enough, not till they were all home.

It was by accident that Raylan brushed the beanie from it's apparent home. It fell onto the floor next to the armoire, but for the cowboy, he'd barely realized he'd hit anything. Wouldn't have if a flood of memory hadn't sent him falling loudly onto his ass.

"Holy shit," he manages as he comes out of it, finding himself sweating a little and hoping desperately that was because of the pain he was in already and not being sent through another run of adrenaline he had no time to prepare himself for.

The sound of something being used as a blunt instrument soon followed and Raylan pushed to his feet, more concerned about who else was in the house with him (or was he hallucinating that too - could these memories be called hallucinations when they were true? Never mind how that happens-) than figuring out what he'd touched or how deeply incorrect he'd been about Eliot on a base level when they met. His feet were still raw in his boots from the night before last so it was slow going, but going it was.
myfavoritemurder: (let's start a motherfucking fiyahhhh)

chasm

[personal profile] myfavoritemurder 2021-06-13 08:08 pm (UTC)(link)
[Anyone being angrily disruptive is bound to catch Callisto's interest, and so when she hears the yell, she pops out of Penhew House and heads over to investigate... and the fact that it's Parker is really no surprise. She's unapologetically strange in a way that appeals to Callisto's own unapologetic strangeness, and Callisto likes her - and while having Callisto's attention isn't always a good thing, it is, at worst, a neutral thing today.]

Do you want to open it up again?

[She asks in Greek, tone clearly amused. She gestures to the space that the pit has previously occupied, then makes a show of spreading her hands apart from each other, miming a gap.]

You want this. Yes?
abrightboy: (sounds weird)

[personal profile] abrightboy 2021-06-13 08:13 pm (UTC)(link)
Malcolm lets go, looking up at him.

"Maybe anyone who's definitely not going to kill me is okay in my books," he says lightly, but it's a lightness that is definitely forced in the wake of the memories. "Do... do you want to get out of here for a bit? Go for a walk or something?"

Malcolm is eager to keep looking for more pills and his pockets rattle with the bottles he's gathered since he last dropped some off in his room at 1306, but the room feels tight and heavy and maybe some air would be good.
myfavoritemurder: (we can either call 911)

[personal profile] myfavoritemurder 2021-06-13 08:15 pm (UTC)(link)
In terms of questions that she's not expecting, Malcolm sure is coming up with a lot of them.

"That you're still a coward, and you still should have killed him if you hate and fear him so much." So no differently from before, really. "Why?"
vampirebats: (pic#14493495)

[personal profile] vampirebats 2021-06-13 08:19 pm (UTC)(link)
"I'd never hurt you, Malcolm." And he means that. He reaches up to idly muss the other guy's hair, manages a nod. A walk... yeah.

"C'mon, let's get out. We can always come back later." Even if everything in here gives him the creeps now, makes him wary. He eyes that book with a scowl as he turns to head for the door.

Fucking Pride & Prejudice.
welladjustedwhitly: (Puppy eyes)

[personal profile] welladjustedwhitly 2021-06-13 08:19 pm (UTC)(link)
"Malcolm, honestly?" She spins to look back over at him. She has a sudden realization that she has no idea what his usual dosage of anything was back home for that to be anything to compare it to. "If you stop breathing, I'm going do CPR on you, just so I can slap you and you'll still feel it." So there.

"What did you mix anyway?" She asks, turning back to the angel on the dresser. She picks it up and gasps as the whole thing plays out again like it was happening in real time all over again. "God, you really started the 'everything's okay' that night?" She turns to look over her shoulder at him again.

"That's what you saw, isn't it? Dad's arrest." She places the angel back on the dresser, though she's half-temped to just break the damn thing. Mr. Boots isn't the comforting memory of an imaginary friend she thought he was any more, anyway. She sighs and drops onto the bed next to him. "God, even a whole universe or weird military experiment city away from him, we can't get away." She huffs and lays down, curling up next to her brother, knees drawn up, making herself fit into the space at his side.
abrightboy: (consider this)

[personal profile] abrightboy 2021-06-13 08:20 pm (UTC)(link)
"I don't hate him," Malcolm tells her. "I want to. I wish I could. I hate what he does. But... I also remember the days before that night, when I still believed his... play acting and he was the best father in the world. I miss having that father, even if it was a lie. I miss having a family and a normal life." He meets her eyes. "Don't you?"
abrightboy: (regretful)

[personal profile] abrightboy 2021-06-13 08:22 pm (UTC)(link)
"Does that book mean something to you?" Malcolm asks as they emerge into the hallway and it's slightly easier to breathe. "Do you recognize it?"
myfavoritemurder: (who would want a single-edged sword?)

[personal profile] myfavoritemurder 2021-06-13 08:24 pm (UTC)(link)
"What do you think?" she spits. "My family wasn't a lie. None of them were playacting. Of course I'd unmake that day if I could."
welladjustedwhitly: ({Dark} Annoyed)

[personal profile] welladjustedwhitly 2021-06-13 08:25 pm (UTC)(link)
"Aw, man, not the creepy angel from Mr. Boots." She groans. Not exactly the reminder from home she wanted, thanks, Mathias.

When he explains the memory, she sinks back into the tree. "Oh..." She isn't sure how to feel about that being the one he saw. Of course, would it be any better if it was her being crowned Homecoming Queen? In etiquette school? Literally anything that's happened in the last six months at home?

Probably not. So she just lets the feeling wash over her. Grateful for the fact t hat his hat is still mostly over his face, his eyes on that stupid book she'd given back to him. "I guess Mathias decided it was time we walk a mile in each other's shoes," she says, blowing out a breath.
abrightboy: (a little confused)

[personal profile] abrightboy 2021-06-13 08:38 pm (UTC)(link)
"I mixed alprazolam and...." He looks at the bottle on the bedside table. "Very bad and cheap whiskey," he tells her. "In case the paramedics ask," he can't help adding, then laughing at the very idea.

"God, you really started the 'everything's okay' that night?"

His expression sobers. "I didn't know it wouldn't be."

He smooths a hand over her hair, if a little clumsily, when she curls up next to him.

"I see it all the time. It didn't freak me out as much as carrying some of the other memories."

It was a little different from her point of view. He knew why dad was going away: because of him and because he put girls in boxes.

"I didn't know it was a lie," he repeats drowsily.
vampirebats: (pic#14493494)

[personal profile] vampirebats 2021-06-13 08:39 pm (UTC)(link)
"My wife used to make me read it to her... hated it but she ate that shit up." He shrugs his shoulders, looking away from it, focusing on where they're walking.

"Ironic. That was the last book I ever read to Lucille before she died. That night, I gave that pregnant bride her own version of my hell. Hell of a lot more horrific though."
tinstar: (Porch Thinkin)

[personal profile] tinstar 2021-06-13 08:39 pm (UTC)(link)
"It the only pair you've walked in over the last coupl'a days?" Shit luck if she was looking for something exciting, a gift if she was looking to avoid the worst of things like Callisto or Malcolm's memory.

"And who's Mr. Boots?" It couldn't have been a play on words, but there was a joke in there, somewhere.
abrightboy: (consider this)

[personal profile] abrightboy 2021-06-13 08:41 pm (UTC)(link)
"I understand," he tells her. "That's 'Empathy'."
conning: (screencaptures_851)

[personal profile] conning 2021-06-13 08:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Get outta line--

Back to it.

That satisfying crack, that little bit of give.

Neal studies Negan's face, trying to find the good-humored executioner behind concerned hazel eyes.

Buddy, you still there? I just don't know.

That eye, that eye, fixed on a crying woman in line as the eeny-meanie tries to force words through damaged human machinery.

The world goes a little blurry as Neal fights tears.

"Why did you name the bat after your wife?"
abrightboy: (displeased with this)

[personal profile] abrightboy 2021-06-13 08:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Malcolm nods. "I've seen some gruesome crime scenes but that was definitely a lot of... brains," he admits. "Though... it was less mindful than some of the horrific acts I've seen. The last man I arrested with the FBI... he pickled his victim's faces in mason jars and kept them on a shelf in his kill room."
myfavoritemurder: (we did it)

[personal profile] myfavoritemurder 2021-06-13 08:56 pm (UTC)(link)
"And you don't know the Greek word for this?"

Maybe she can bug one of the others about it later - but Malcolm's handle on her dialect of Ancient Greek is miles better than that of anyone else she's met so far.

"If I were you, I wouldn't want to go back to a lie."