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_050)

[personal profile] conning 2021-06-28 02:22 am (UTC)(link)
He kisses Malcolm's forehead lightly. "I'd rather you keep them."

A pause, a slight cant of irony to his tone, and he adds, "I might change my mind about that later, but for now, I'd rather you have everything you can get your hands on while it's here."
abrightboy: (secret smile)

[personal profile] abrightboy 2021-06-28 02:25 am (UTC)(link)
Malcolm breathes out a laugh.

"At my mother's house, yes. Pretty much. Um. At home, it's mostly licorice and yogurt and fruit and sparkling water and take-out."
thering: (Doc714)

[personal profile] thering 2021-06-28 02:27 am (UTC)(link)
"No. Next door," he explains, illustrating with his hands. He reads off a list of names in the stretch of Phillips Drive they have cornered, using his hands to show her where all the houses are in relation to each other, assuming she might have heard of all of the people since she was at the grilled cheese and CandyLand party. Raylan, Malcolm, Ainsley, Neal, Jeff, Athena, Tim. Conveniently he leaves Negan out.

"And where are you living?" No doubt somewhere ridiculous she's going to make him climb, he expects.
myfavoritemurder: (did you know I know kung fu?)

[personal profile] myfavoritemurder 2021-06-28 02:33 am (UTC)(link)
[They are absolutely twinsies on that front. Callisto toes the ground again, kicking up dirt and dust, and then turns to head towards the new part of town - waving for Parker to follow.]

Very. I think it is gods, not-- magic person.

[She glances back at Parker.]

I think they never will tell you why they do this.
thering: (Doc451)

[personal profile] thering 2021-06-28 03:04 am (UTC)(link)
"We are all drawn to shiny things," Doc reassures. Although, he is a bit of a scoundrel himself. Neal is not so different from an outlaw. Maybe that makes them both biased.

"Perhaps I could make you some tea," he offers. "It might help you feel a little more settled." A bit of fresh air outside of this big building might do Neal some good. It would do both of them some good.

"And if you'd like to talk about the things you have seen - in confidence - I am here for you."
conning: (screencaptures_072)

[personal profile] conning 2021-06-28 03:22 am (UTC)(link)
Quiet for a moment, silent debate. Then he glances Doc's way as the two of them move toward the exit.

"Even if... even if one of them was yours?"
thering: (Doc873)

[personal profile] thering 2021-06-28 03:26 am (UTC)(link)
Sparkling water. He is familiar with the concept. Soda was fairly commonplace even in his time, but the flavours were fairly limited. Rarely was it simply gassy water.

"Sarsaparilla was wildly popular. I remember being told it would help wean me off my uh, so-called 'opium problem'," he muses ruefully. "Coca-cola was a guaranteed hangover cure, too. Sparkling water sounds comparatively plain."
thering: (Doc692)

[personal profile] thering 2021-06-28 03:43 am (UTC)(link)
That does make him pause. He is a little surprised, to be sure. But Neal gets a small nod from him after a moment passes.

He's not always so forthcoming about his own past. The blend of fact and fiction that the modern man has conjured for Doc and his contemporaries has always served to let him gloss over the ugly details of Frontier life.

But Neal is a friend and friends deserve... more than whatever tall tales they can find in the Wikipedia.

"Yes." He remembers more than he cares to, more than he lets on. "Well. I will try, at least."
conning: (screencaptures_858)

i am 100% good with him having seen neal's btw, or not, whatever you want to do!

[personal profile] conning 2021-06-28 03:57 am (UTC)(link)
Neal nods without answering right away.

It doesn't feel right, knowing what he knows about Doc now without sharing something of his own.

"Have you... you didn't find a rubber band ball in one of the rooms, did you?"
sharker: (never a bride)

[personal profile] sharker 2021-06-28 04:07 am (UTC)(link)
"Your job."

She says it slowly and carefully, like he's the one not quite getting it. And then she huffs out an annoyed breath, gesturing at his hat. Good thing he'd stepped back again after taking it back, or she would have flicked the brim.

"Your real job? Not US Marshal or wizard thief rock star."
sharker: (pic#2399032)

[personal profile] sharker 2021-06-28 04:18 am (UTC)(link)
[ She's still not entirely sure, and it shows. Parker doesn't trust easy, and she still doesn't know Neal that well.

But he's seemed okay so far. Besides, the lure of the mystery is almost impossible to resist. Slowly, she sits up, still clutching the rabbit, and follows him to the door. ]
abrightboy: (counterpoint)

[personal profile] abrightboy 2021-06-28 04:22 am (UTC)(link)
“I like it with a little lemon in it,” Malcolm informs him with a sidelong smirk. “Wasn’t Coca-Cola the original cocaine recipe at that time?”
conning: (screencaptures_060)

apologies, I am too lazy to HTML on my phone

[personal profile] conning 2021-06-28 04:31 am (UTC)(link)
He leads the way to a house on Stoker, never far enough ahead that Parker has to struggle to keep up. Never close enough that she has to worry about him touching her.

When they get to the house he’s aiming for, he looks back. “I’m not sure what kind of state it’s in. I haven’t been here for… a while.”

A long while, a while that feels like years. Still, he leads the way inside. The lights are off, but when he first picked this house, it was because the living room had dimmers. He hopes, as he slowly brings the lights up, it won’t be a disappointment.

He exhales a little in relief to find the space intact.

There's no furniture. Well, there is, but it's all shoved to the edges of the room or into other rooms, where he could manage. The blue carpet has tiny multicolored "flowers" laid out in little clumps, little origami arrangements in a dozen colors and flat little blossoms. The clusters of paper plants almost seem moss-like in their field of sky blue. He’s meant this to be a quiet space, a retreat, and even if the person he made it for isn’t really here any more… well, maybe it can serve that purpose for somebody else.

sharker: (pic#14996111)

[personal profile] sharker 2021-06-28 05:08 am (UTC)(link)
[ Parker's more than ready to follow her. The chasm is gone. There's nothing left to see here. And if it really was the magic of the gods that had done it, she's just as happy to get somewhere else.

She thinks as she joins Callisto, still unsettled. ]


Do the gods do that kind of thing a lot?

Do they - [ She waves an arm back towards the place where the chasm had been, trying to think of another way to phrase it. ] Use big magic a lot?
thering: (Default)

[personal profile] thering 2021-06-28 06:42 am (UTC)(link)
"Well. I suppose that would explain a few things," Doc notes with a tip of his head and a purse of his lips. He was too busy getting drunk to really buy into the soda craze.

"There won't be any of that in today's biscuits. Sorry to disappoint." Drugs do go a long way to making anything more tolerable but sometimes a warm and fluffy biscuit can bring a few moments of bliss too.
thering: (Doc292)

I'll let Neal decide if he wants to tell him :P

[personal profile] thering 2021-06-28 09:11 am (UTC)(link)
"I did not. I'm not actually familiar with the concept," he admits. He would probably know what a rubber band ball (well, it's either rubber, a band, or a ball, and he's going to guess it'll look like a ball) looks like if he saw one but he can't say he's seen all that many rubber bands in general.

"Is it yours?" The memory vessel capability of it is implied in the question.
abrightboy: (legit smile)

[personal profile] abrightboy 2021-06-28 02:01 pm (UTC)(link)
Malcolm grins at him. “I don’t take uppers. I’m too up as it is. I’m on therapeutic downers.”
tinstar: (Badge)

[personal profile] tinstar 2021-06-28 02:45 pm (UTC)(link)
Raylan 'ah'ed and nodded faintly. "Sorry Miss Kitty. You're talkin' about Jeff Calhoun. Guy from California. Smiles too much, plays guitar, little high strung, says he's a Bard.."

Thank god he knew who Jeff was otherwise this would have been really confusing.

"My name is Raylan Givens. Nice to meet ya."
abrightboy: (wants to help)

[personal profile] abrightboy 2021-06-28 02:57 pm (UTC)(link)
“Oh, we broke it. We salvaged some tools from a garage nearby and beat the hell out of it.” He looks at Neal. “How’d you get yours? Lockpicks?”
abrightboy: (fond contemplates)

[personal profile] abrightboy 2021-06-28 03:03 pm (UTC)(link)
“I don’t know,” Malcolm confesses. “I suppose I’d want to be some sort of detective…” He slaps Neal’s arm with the back of his hand. “Oh! We could be private investigators!”
abrightboy: (a bit smug)

[personal profile] abrightboy 2021-06-28 03:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Malcolm smiles, closing his eyes at the kiss before looking up at Neal.

“Raylan is worried about me getting carried away and ODing,” he relays. “I promised I’d be careful.”
conning: (screencaptures_335)

[personal profile] conning 2021-06-28 03:12 pm (UTC)(link)
Neal considers that for a moment. "I think... he's probably known more than a few people who have."

Maybe it's a rude or cruel assumption to make. Neal isn't sure. He shakes his head. "I do want you to be careful. We don't know if everything here is what it says it is, and you have been off of things for a comparatively long time now. But if it's a choice between you closing yourself in your room alone to fight your demons or getting a little chemical help..."

He shrugs, letting the answer to that question be his silence.
abrightboy: (regretful)

[personal profile] abrightboy 2021-06-28 03:18 pm (UTC)(link)
“I’m going to… I’m going to try not to take them,” he says. “I want to try only taking them when it’s really bad. They’ll last longer for one thing.”
ofthegeek: (believe me man i get it)

[personal profile] ofthegeek 2021-06-28 03:27 pm (UTC)(link)
[ God. Malcolm's so much cooler about this than Nate. Nate would've gone full Shakespeare? Seriously? about it.

Eliot, too, probably.

Criminal consultants can be so elitist.

Hardison's a little pleased that he got a laugh. Considering the locale and the disappearances, it's not a bad time to get a few. ]


That's nerdy as hell. Always starts early. [ Pot? Kettle? He tilts his head forward, a tiny bit conspiratorial. ] I used to take apart Nana's microwave before I had a computer. Did not help me solve any murders.

[ Did get him in trouble. C'est la vie. ]

Am I allowed to ask about your literary theme murder case details or do you have a whole NDA going?
conning: (screencaptures_295)

[personal profile] conning 2021-06-28 03:32 pm (UTC)(link)
"I know." He gives Malcolm a little one-armed hug before nudging him to lead the way again. "But I'm glad you have a choice now. I'm glad there's something that can help you get even a little relief."