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

[villagemod]

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.

navigation | faq | locations | report updates

Comments

[conning]

He nods. Pauses. Nods again. Tries to convince himself that the people here would close ranks before they ever turned on each other.

"You're not going back there," he says, vicious conviction in his tone. "I don't care what it takes, we'll figure it out. You're not going back there. You can come with me, or with Malcolm, or maybe someone else if we have to do it that way, but we won't let you get pulled back into that."

[vampirebats]

"We'll see how it goes..." They might not have a choice in the matter. Who the fuck knows how this shit will go, right? He doesn't want to get his hopes up he's going anywhere except back to a shithole.

"Believe me, I'd love to nothing see another dead asshole again."

[conning]

Neal won't press him about it. He knows how Raylan reacted when Malcolm proposed changing the order of their returns. But there has to be a way. They were all brought here from disparate places. There has to be a way to get sent back somewhere else. He's going to find it, even if it means making himself more like the person he felt in that memory.

Neal presses his face against Negan's shoulder. "Does anyone else know?"

[vampirebats]

Negan's arms settle around Neal a little more comfortable when he presses his face in, seemingly content to stay there for as long as Neal wants. He's quiet for a moment at the question.

"Well, not yet."

[conning]

"They won't hear it from me," Neal says firmly. His voice sounds steadier than he feels. More tentatively, he asks, "Do you know what his name was?"

[vampirebats]

"Thanks, man..." Seeing and hearing are two different things after all. The fact Neal feels safe enough to lean on him is pretty fucking impressive in all honesty. "Glenn. Learned it after. His wife's name is Maggie. Two names I'm never forgetting."

He pauses. "I didn't kill for the hell of it, you know. I only killed when I had to make a statement... take one or two out, others fall in line real quick. Seen other groups who'd slaughter everyone and laugh about it without giving a shit that life's too fucking precious to waste." He just doesn't always get a choice in the matter.

[conning]

"I know," he says, still quiet. He can't help the tiny shiver that rolls through him, though, both at the idea of killing people that way and at the idea that there are whole groups who would laugh about it.

No. They're not letting Negan get pulled back into a place like that.

"I'm going to make a memorial," he says, still to Negan's shoulder. "To put in the graveyard. Way back when I got here, I told Ellie I was going to make a headstone for Rey. But I want to make something bigger. So we can write down the names of people who disappear, too. The ones who don't come back."

He hesitates, "We could put his name on there. I know he didn't die here. I know it was different. But we could."

[vampirebats]

"Yeah?" Negan doesn't seem to have any intention of pushing Neal off anytime soon, letting him lean on him as he listens to that little plan of his. Not a bad idea. Sometimes people need that closure, those memories.

Maybe it'll keep them all in touch with their humanity a bit longer.

"... We could, yeah." It's a name he can't forget, but a name he shouldn't either. Having the reminder there might at least remind him why he's trying to keep doign this-- why he's trying to be better.

"I don't know if the guy ever even got buried or by who."

[conning]

"We'll do something for him," Neal says quietly. He tightens his grip on Negan, the motion driven in part by a sudden little spike of fear. "You're not leaving, right?"

Maybe Negan wouldn't go far, couldn't even go far, but still. Neal liked knowing people were close by. As safe as they could get in this town. It occurs to him with faint and pained amusement that his question is the kind of thing that Malcolm would ask and so often does. A little accidental reminder to have patience in the moments when Malcolm needs that reassurance.

Neal draws back enough to look Negan in the eye. "I don't want you to."

[vampirebats]

"Hey-- I know you'd be sad, losing all that Negan time." HE's trying for light, for joking. Truth is, he's not sure what'd be best... people start seeing him for what he is, he can't just stay, right? He's surprised that Neal even wants him to.

He meets his eyes, manages a tired smile. "I'm not gonna leave, Neal. Not unless you all get together and boot my ass out."

[conning]

Neal manages a small smile in return. "Good."

He bites his lip a moment, glancing down before he makes himself meets Negan's eyes again. "You're not nothing, you know. Without Lucille. You're not who you were, maybe, but that's not nothing."

[vampirebats]

"Maybe not nothing, but-- I'm nothing good without her. Hell, I wasn't anything good with her. She was more than I ever deserved... and in the end, even though I tried, I couldn't fucking save her. Hell, pretty sure she just gave up on me." Or maybe she thought she was sparing him watching her die, or maybe she thought he'd run out on her, abandoned her.

He'll never get to know, not really. "But anyway, I am sorry you had to see all that shit. It was... a real bad time. Wouldn't have wished it on my worse enemy."

[conning]

"You're wrong," Neal says quietly. "Maybe you couldn't save her, maybe we can never really save anyone--"

He can't help thinking about turning to face that monster the first time he died, how irrelevant the action was. Running back into the fire after Raylan. Neal shifts his grip on Negan so he can squeeze the other man's upper arms lightly. "Maybe you can't save anyone. But you can try. And you want to try. You keep trying."

His smile is small and worried and fades fast as he relives the impact of the bat against Glenn's skull again. "You're not nothing until you stop trying."

[vampirebats]

"... We can save some, or at least keep them alive a little longer. That's what I was doing back home, you know?" He shifts his weight a bit, eyes dropping for a second.

"Maybe not always in the best way, but I became what they needed me to be. What I needed me to be to get the job done. It doesn't-- excuse it, I know." But it's all he can offer Neal, as far as why he beat a guy's fucking skull in without a wince of disgust in himself.

He lets out a sigh and reaches out to rest a hand on Neal's shoulder. "Hey, you wanna get back to-- whatever we're cooking here?"

[conning]

He smiles--small, genuine, a little embarrassed. "Chicken noodle soup, only the noodles are spaghetti. It's..."

Malcolm knows. Malcolm knows about his mom, about where he comes from. Raylan knows a little. After what he's seen, after what he and Negan have been through together, it's all right if he knows a little bit too. "I used to make it when I was a kid, if my mom forgot to go grocery shopping. Usually canned vegetables, not fresh, but the canned vegetables weren't by choice."

[vampirebats]

"If your mom forgot--?" There's no judgement in his expression as he takes a step back, but there's a curiosity there.

"Didn't have much money growing up, I'm gonna guess." It sounds like the potential case anyway.

[conning]

"Not really." It still feels like a confession. Neal has to wonder if it always will. Maybe he'll tell Peter about his family when they all get home. He's always wanted to know.

Maybe.

His hand is still shaking. He'll leave the vegetables to Negan, fetching the largest pot they have for the soup itself. "She... wasn't the most put together. Had trouble keeping a job nailed down."

[vampirebats]

"Must have sucked for you." Negan focuses on the vegetables. Maybe it's not the best topic either, but getting Neal talking about home, about people he knows seems like a better bet than dwelling on what he saw straight from Negan's head.

"You two close or anything now?"

[conning]

He's quiet for a few moments before hunting around to find the necessities to make coffee. It really is a thing with 1306: have a talk, make a hot beverage to go with it.

"I ran away when I was eighteen," he admits softly. "I haven't seen her for sixteen years. I sent money, every once in a while, but then the--"

He stops. Deep breath. "Then the Marshals Service moved her and I had no idea where to send it any more."

He focuses on the coffee maker. "I grew up in WITSEC."

[vampirebats]

"WITSEC? Why the fuck?" He gives a curious look over his shoulder. Sounds like trouble has always followed Neal. "But I'm sorry about that. Must be rough, not getting to see your mother, even if you wanted."

[conning]

He gets the coffee brewing, then goes back to set up the pot and broth for the soup, using bullion cubes, loathe though he is to do it.

"My dad was a corrupt cop," he says bluntly, because he hates dancing around it. "I don't know everything he did, my aunt never told me, but I know he shot his superior officer. There had to be more though, or we wouldn't have needed WITSEC."

Neal rubs his face. "I thought he was dead most of my life. My mom told me he was. That he... died a hero, got gunned down. But he wasn't. And he's alive out there, somewhere. My aunt told me the truth when I turned eighteen." He half-smiles. "Which is also when I learned that she wasn't actually my aunt, she was my dad's former partner. It was a lot for a kid."

He carefully avoids the question of how hard it is not to know where his mother is.

[vampirebats]

"Jesus... you think he'd still be after you?" Sounds like the guy must have done a lot to warrant all that, to put his kid through any sort of protection. Had to pose a potential danger to him, right?

"Sorry though... can't imagine what that must have been like, getting the rug pulled out from under you like that."

[conning]

"I don't know if he would. I think whoever he worked for could be." Neal shakes his head. "I... if he wanted to find me, he would have tried by now. Neal was the name I was born with. Caffrey is my mother's maiden name. I didn't exactly try to make a secret of who I was, not from him."

He fixes on the soup, lifting his shoulders in a prolonged shrug. "We've all got baggage."