villagelogs | 065-071 » assign to oblivion / part iii

065-071 » assign to oblivion / part iii

WHO: Everyone
WHERE: Mathias Township proper
WHEN: Days 065-071
WHAT: The residents of Mathias reunite under unnerving conditions.
WARNINGS: (PM this account to have a warning added!)
NOTES: Plotting post over here!

RECOMMENDED ♫ Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross "Outside"

DAY 065-071
ASSIGN TO OBLIVION
“No matter how much time passes, no matter what takes
place in the interim, there are some things we can never
assign to oblivion, memories we can never rub away.”
— Haruki Murakami

Only two days have passed since the town was fractured, leaving residents cut off from those they'd come to know and even care for. A mere two days of wandering the new streets, uncovering more secrets that continue to make little sense of this strange place. Two days with sunrises, sunsets, and nights that seem like any other.

And yet.

When residents wake on this third day, they will find that much has changed. All around them, wherever they may be, there are signs that time has passed without them. Dust covers everything, indoors and out, even areas that were spotlessly clean seemingly hours ago. The residents themselves are covered as well, dust clinging to their hair, skin, and clothing—

Clothing that they may not have been wearing when they went to sleep. Each resident, regardless of the state they were in previously, is now clad in a pair of white pajamas, with long pants and button-up shirts. Those who thoroughly explored Baneberry Hall will easily recognize these articles as identical to those well-stocked in the decaying great house. On top of this, the clothes they wore from home have disappeared, along with anything else they may have brought with them when they arrived or items from home that have been found within the borders of Mathias.

There is no sign that anyone has entered their place of shelter, nor is there any sign of what may have been done with these items or how they came to be wearing these clothes. The dust all around them is undisturbed, almost as if they had been sleeping there for quite some time, though it seems impossible for such a thing to have occurred naturally.

THE NEW ARRIVALS
The newest arrivals to Mathias will wake up on the lawn of Town Hall, at the center of the little town square. They, too, are bereft of any items from home and clothed in the identical white pajamas. There are shops all around them, with houses just beyond, and at first glance, everything seems almost picturesque. Except for the silence that is at times so complete as to be maddening... Welcome to Mathias.

SUMMERTIME
— When summer arrives, so too does an outdoor stand in front of the General Store. Sporting a handpainted sign proclaiming Whateley Farm, the stand is overflowing with a variety of produce: berries, plums, carrots, cabbage, cucumbers, green beans, leeks, onions, peppers, potatoes, zucchini, tomatoes, and garlic bulbs. These do not replace the produce offerings normally found inside the market, but they do behave strangely. The stand replenishes sporadically, sometimes every other day or every five days. There is no discernible pattern to when it replenishes, nor is there any sign of how it came to be there at all.

— With the now-complete reverse change of season, much of the autumn debris has cleared from around town. Only a few stray leaves and fallen branches remain, their crisp colors at odds with the warm summer days. The forest has also cleared of much of the fall detritus, making it easier to both follow the paths and potentially spy things that might be out of the ordinary.

CONDITIONS UPDATE
— THE WEATHER Summer has arrived in Mathias, bringing with it warm days that average 70°F and comfortably cool nights. The skies are clear throughout the week save for Day 68 when a light rain falls from a grey sky throughout the day.

— THE FOG has maintained its 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! Max Guevara and Liz Brundy have disappeared, and now that everyone is back together, residents will notice that Yennefer, Number Five, and Tony Stark have also vanished.

— 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
— 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 My non-RP life is busy and chaotic and I continue to ask for your forgiveness and understanding as game things continue to be slower, as I cannot promise timely mod responses beyond weekends and even that is not wholly guaranteed.

— ITEMS FROM HOME All items from home that characters would normally possess have vanished for this log and will return in the next. This includes clothing and possessions they had when they arrived in Mathias, items that were found in the rain, and items that were found in Baneberry Hall and removed from the property. Items from home that were left behind by other characters no longer in the game have also vanished. (All other items and clothing still remain, it is only items from characters' homes that have disappeared.)

— BANEBERRY ITEMS The items from home that were not removed from Baneberry Hall in the last log have vanished from the property. These items will not reappear in the next log. (Please be sure to comment in the appropriate spot on those logs about the state of your character's item for inventory purposes, ie whether they were removed from the property or left behind.)

— 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 points, not just those that occur in an inbox thread — this applies to both AC and AP totals. This adjustment is an extension of what has been in place since the start of the game: that all dialogue-only inbox tags counted for a half-point. Since such tags have occurred regularly in log threads as well, the half-point status is simply being extended to all tags regardless of location in order to be fairer in point distribution. (Examples will be provided in the AC post to assist with proper counting.)

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"That... he was on the other side of town?" Why does Jeff sound so uncertain? He read the note, and that's what it said! And yet, there's a questioning lilt in his voice, like he's not sure if he's conveying the message properly.

It's a lot of pressure.

"And yeah-- uh. Me and Athena? And Klaus! I ran into him, too. And Kirigan-- he's cool, do you know him?" Wait, Jeff's veering away from the point. "There wasn't a lot of us, but we were here, and it was like... more than half the town just vanished. None of us knew if you guys were dead or lost or-- fuck, I don't know, man! It was really fucked up!"

“That’s what happened to us, too. Except you guys were gone and I was here with Raylan and Doc and Neal and Alec.” He pauses. “Kirigan… tall, dark, wears a cape?”

"Huh," he breathes out. "That's so fucking weird."

Weird, but... good, honestly. At least nobody was alone, or in, like, a state of oblivion. At the description, though, Jeff perks up. "Yeah! That's the guy." He hums thoughtfully. "Talk about a statement piece. So few people can pull off a cape..."

"So... if you're back, does that mean Athena is back, too?" he asks. God, Raylan and Doc would be so relieved. Doc is always worried about the young ladies being harmed or taken and not being able to do anything to defend them.

"Yeah." He smiles. "You should go see her. Don't tell her I said it, but she was pretty shook up by..." Well, by everybody disappearing. More than Jeff was, but that's to be expected. They're her people, and they totally vanished without a trace. Jeff, meanwhile, doesn't exactly have people here.

Just... neighbors. Acquaintances created out of necessity.

"Anyway, she'll probably hug you and punch you in the arm, so be prepared!"

“I think she’d rather see Raylan than me,” Malcolm tells him. “Though we’re doing better than before. She enjoyed learning about murder,” he shrugs. “So… you’re okay? Nothing weird happened to you before waking up this morning?”

"Luckily, there's an unlimited number of people Athena can see," he points out lightly. Just a little tease! But on a more serious note, he adds, "Look, not to meddle, but I think it'd mean a lot to her if, ah... if you-- and Raylan and anyone else-- went to see her, before she heads out to find you herself, you know? Get the drop on the kid! Beat her to the punch!"

And now it's Jeff's turn to shrug. "I'm okay." Like he ever answers that question with anything else. "There was a little bit of weird, but honestly it ranks pretty low on the scale of weird shit I've experienced, so all things considered I'm pretty good." He gestures around them. "Just another fucking day in paradise!"

Dial back the cheer, buddy.

"What about you? Anything crazy happen?"

Edited 2021-07-03 13:52 (UTC)

Malcolm nods with an uncertain smile at Jeff's announcement, but at his question, the smile turns wry.

"We found an insane asylum, but at least I could harvest its goods. I'm on some of those medications at home and I haven't had access to them since I got here. Had some pretty horrific withdrawals after I arrived. That's sort of how I fell in with Raylan and Doc."

"Oh... yeah?"

Malcolm's on medication. Malcolm hasn't had any of those meds here. He's been dealing with the shit here, without any of his prescriptions. He had to experience fucking withdrawal.

"Jesus. Withdrawal can be fucking horrific even in the best conditions." Speaking from experience. "I can't even imagine how bad, here..."

Jeff glances down, frowning in sympathy... with a splash of guilt thrown in. He'd taken a bottle, stashed it away in his room, and he doesn't even need it. Hell, he doesn't even plan on taking any of the pills. But it's there because of a stupid, selfish junkie impulse, and he feels like the biggest fucking shitheel as he looks Malcolm in the face and plays the innocent act.

"How much did you find? Like... how long do you think...?"

"I can't even imagine how bad, here..." He nods. It was bad. It was very bad.

"I cleaned the place out. Some of my friends helped. It's a sizeable stash, though some of them are.... less good. I never take barbiturates, despite how often my mother offers them and some of the pills..." He glances around and leans closer conspiratorially. "I think they're experimental. I don't know what they do, but they don't have any names. Just designations. Like they have on drugs during clinical trials."

He'd noticed them, the unnamed pills. Even with his lapse in judgment, Jeff at least had enough sense to steer clear of those, opting instead to go after something familiar. Not that it says much about his self preservation; given enough time and desperation, he'd probably swallow the mystery shit in a heartbeat.

(But it won't come to that. It won't. He won't let it.)

Jeff lets his brows go up, like he has no idea what Malcolm's talking about, because he certainly never gave any of the meds a second glance when he was in Baneberry!

"You mean, like... Do you think they were experimenting on the patients there?"

"Maybe. They had them restrained," Malcolm points out. "I stole some of those, too. Thank god. One night, I almost slit my wrist when a bungee cord hook snapped." He turns his wrist out. There's still a pink mark where it did cut him, luckily missing the vein.

It doesn't occur to him that Jeff may not know where the screaming comes from at night.

Jeff didn't know, and it shows in the surprised expression that he doesn't manage to conceal. He'd just thought the screaming was... ghost town bullshit.

(Though, come to think of it, the past two nights had been very quiet.)

"God..." He winces sympathetically. "So it's... what, night terrors?"

Malcolm nods. “Yeah,” he replies, running a finger along that mark. He looks up at Jeff. “I fell asleep on the floor at Raylan and Doc’s place after the first moonshine party back… weeks ago now. A couple of months. They had to tackle me to the ground in the kitchen. Then they informed me that I was going to live with them. That’s how our whole…” he gestures around. “Thing started here, with all of us living in the same area to look after each other.”

Fucked up circumstances aside it's kind of... nice, hearing the origins of this little community within the town.

"So... it went from Raylan and Doc's place, to your place. All of you, I mean--" He gestures broadly. "Everyone here." In 1306. He smiles warmly. "It's kinda sweet. People are--" Generally speaking, awesome. Great. Inspiring. "Well. I knew those two were big softies."

“You’re not allowed to say that to their faces,” Malcolm warns him with a laugh. “Some kind of cowboy rule.” He gestures around. “Everything dirty like this at your place?”

Jeff laughs, shaking his head. "My lips are sealed. It'll keep on being the worst kept secret in town."

And then he nods, looking around their dusty surroundings with a huff. "Yeah... Like the place has been abandoned for months. I'd feel like Rip Van Winkle but I don't even have the beard to show for it!" So it's not like he-- or anyone else-- was in a months-long coma or anything, right? Jeff offers Malcolm a wry smile. "Guess we've all got a lot of spring cleaning to do now. I can already hear Athena complaining..."

He says that with love!

Malcolm laughs. “Is she still worn out from washing every mug in 1308?” he asks innocently.

There's a little grin when Jeff responds. "Somehow, she was able to recover. Must be one of the perks of youth." He wouldn't know, since it's been sooooo loooonnnng since he was Athena's age. A lifetime ago!

"I think that was also the most devastating thing that didn't reset that week," Malcolm adds with a grin, "so we got lucky."

He's not counting the destruction of the museum. Good riddance.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

065-071 » assign to oblivion / part iii

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