065-071 » assign to oblivion / part iii

[villagemod]

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.)

navigation | faq | locations | report updates

Comments

Days 65-71 - Quick Options

[nottevintersoldier]

+ Dorian will spend some time in the Town Hall at the Bulletin Board he will likely take down some names, numbers (not that he knows what to do with them just that they seem important), and notes on the provided papers before stuffing his notes in his pocket (if there are some on the pajama pants). He'll then set out to wander.

+ The first order of business will be to find clothes, so he'll likely be at Poe's Clothes grumbling at the offered selections before settling on something more his speed. He chooses the Khakis over jeans and a nice button-up dress shirt in light forest green. He'll grab some extra underwear and socks to stuff in his pockets just in case.

+ Second-order of business is to find shelter and people. So he'll be walking around until he sees someone. This means he'll likely discover the Library at some point. Also, he'll frequent the General Store for food if he has to fend for himself.

+ He will spend a lot of time in the Library over the next few days trying to learn things or figure stuff out. That and the Library is comforting so if he doesn't find a place he can settle down he may be found snoozing there.

+ But after a few days, a shower/bath is very important so he'll be seen grabbing soaps from the Beauty Supply Store. He'll want to find a house or any place with a tub and clean, HOT (preferably running, not that he knows what plumbing is but he'll LOVE IT) water ASAP. If none can be found he'll settle for the Lake out on Hill Lane it's not ideal but he's done it before in a pinch while traveling.

+ He may even be seen out by the woods, in a big open spot at any time testing out his magic as he's very aware things feel... off. He's not near the Fade so his connection to it feels distant and it's unsettling. He'll soon discover that his powers aren't what they should be and it's not just because he doesn't have a staff or his book for focusing. Someone may stumble upon him casting any number of things before becoming winded. One or two spells may even blow up in his face.

[ooc: these are just some general ideas I've thrown out there. Mostly he just needs to meet some people and ask questions, find himself a place to sleep, a warm meal, and a stiff drink. I'm honestly open to whatever!

ALSO ALSO I will happily match your format! It doesn't have to be prose.]

General Store any day from 67 forward

[walkingtrigger]

Dorian had company in the General Store on this particular day. Tim was down looking for some brass polish of all things, maybe a sponge if he came across one. He was dressed in a "Hello Kitty" t-shirt and some khaki cargo type shorts, wearing flip flops. The ensemble caused him to resemble a middle aged dad trying to reclaim his youth.

He heard the sounds of another person moving around the store and warily glanced up. Normally he wouldn't have bothered, but there were people he was actively trying to avoid and if Dorian had proven to be one of those Tim was going to go hide in a a clothing rack.

But the face he saw was definitely not one of the people he was trying to avoid. In fact the face wasn't one he recognized at all. Lawman instincts towards suspicious curiosity trumped brass polish and Tim inched down the aisle a little until he was within casual conversation range.

"Hey." Just the one word, because he'd been about to follow-up with you're new, but that would have just been a case of stating the obvious and stupid.

[nottevintersoldier]

Dorian is minding his own business, wasting time by perusing the random items on the shelves, picking up various things he doesn't recognize, which is a lot, to be honest, to read labels with curiosity. He's startled by the sudden voice behind him and half-juggles the item in his hands before staring at the stranger.

"Festis bei umo canavarum!" He sighs, putting the item back and smoothing out his hair.

"I didn't realize anyone else was here." He frowns.

"Do you always just sneak up on people?"

[walkingtrigger]

Oddly enough, that was a question he got asked more often than one might expect. As such he decided it was rhetorical and simply answered it with a sardonic twitch of his lips.

"Did you mean here in the store, or in the town as a whole?" Asking a question of his own with a lift of his brows. It was a legitimate question. They were a small population, spread out with various times of coming and going. The guy may not have run into anyone else yet.

"Tim," he offered his name and a nod of greeting.

[nottevintersoldier]

"Both. Seems like a ghost town." He's met one or two others by now, but that's about all. He's at least changed by now, having chosen a nice, plain button-up and a pair of khakis. The style is nothing like what he's used to, but he didn't mind the figure he cut in the mirror. To the introduction, he can't help but quirk a brow and look the other over, what on earth is he even wearing? Is that a cartoon cat?

"Dorian, of House Pavus." He smiles softly and gives a little nod of the head to go with a tip of his shoulders in an almost bow.

"Do you know how many others are here?"

[walkingtrigger]

It is in fact a cartoon cat. An absolutely adorable pink and white cartoon cat with cute red bows and he is rocking this look.

Tim's brows knitted then bounced upwards as he was initially thrown by the 'of the house...' part of the man's name. This before he remembered that Mathias brought a lot of different types of folks here and Tim needed to not have a set criteria of expectations. After all, he read a lot of books where a 'of the house...' was in the name of every character.

"Last count I think we're around twenty, twenty-five? Assuming everybody made it back from the latest shenanigans," he hasn't had the focus to perform a nose count. "Do you go by Dorian or Mr. Pavus?"

town hall

[prevenance]

Sometimes, Elijah still goes through the motions that he did when he'd first arrived in Mathias and wasn't as resigned and frustrated about things as he is now. Sometimes, he wants to hope there are answers lurking out there and he still tries to find them.

And today, that brings him to town hall. While a lot of the people he'd once known are gone, there is someone in there that he doesn't recognize. For awhile, Elijah stands back, watching the other man before he approaches.

"I see you've been gifted the same clothes I have." Elijah hates them, thanks.

[nottevintersoldier]

Dorian is lightly tapping his chin whilst looking over the various notes on the bulletin board. He feels the sort of prickling at the back of his neck and skull that signals he's not alone and there's a mild tensing across his shoulders when the other speaks. He turns to look upon the stranger, eyes moving over him and their matching pajamas.

"So it seems. Aren't we the lucky few?" His tone is very dry, he hates it.

"I'm curious who had the audacity to knock me unconscious, strip me, and dress me in these awful clothes. The least they could've done was give me some more color. I don't know about you, but I have a few choice words to say to them. If you could possibly point me in the right direction..."

[prevenance]

"Well, that is a question that you'll be asking for the duration of your stay because I've been here for awhile now and I still don't know who's behind all this."

And he hates it. It's frustrating and it's embarrassing because he prides himself on being a problem solver. And yet, this is a problem that he cannot and hasn't been able to solve.

"You should resign yourself to the fact that the answers you seek are not going to come easy. Or at all."

[nottevintersoldier]

"Charming." He says flatly and sighs, turning his eyes to the board.

"I suppose there's not much here either. I noticed a lot of numbers and what seems like places, but I haven't a clue where to even start." They'll both be endlessly frustrated with the conundrum of this city for sure. At least Dorian can't complain about the variety of eye candy so far.

"Though an introduction may be a good place. Dorian, of House Pavus." He lays a hand over his sternum giving a slight bow of his head and a dip of the shoulders in a half-bow.

[prevenance]

"Elijah Mikaelson," he says, nodding. He puts a hand to his chest in a similar show of greeting before he glances around. "And you've ended up in Mathias. Congratulations, it's a terrible place."

He's just going to be honest about it. He sighs, stepping up next to Dorian and peering at the board.

"The clothes are a new development," he says after some silence. "Yesterday, we had different clothes. Today, we've all woken up in this and I have no idea why."

woods; day 067

[myfavoritemurder]

Callisto - very weirdly dressed in white pajamas, the arms and legs of which have been ripped off, torn into strips, and then braided around her shins and forearms - wanders into Dorian's spell-casting area quite by accident, but she's immediately drawn in. For once, she doesn't interrupt or try to make a scene herself: she just watches him struggle, making no move to help or hinder. After a rather messy explosion, when it looks like he's pausing for a break, she finally speaks up.

"What are you? Not a god."

The tone of this suggests that this is half-question, half-statement; she doubts that he is, but she's still willing to entertain the possibility.

[nottevintersoldier]

Dorian's so focused on casting he doesn't see the woman wander up nearby to watch. Sweat is beading on his brow and his chest is heaving as he's going through some exaggerated movements, trying to will the flow of energy through his body and out of his arms in the direction he wants it to go. A lot of it is frustration, twisting in his exhausted expression. It's a miracle the fire he casts doesn't blow up in his face and singe his mustache, really.

He's panting softly, fingers flexing and feeling the ache in his muscles. He hasn't worked this hard in ages. There's a soft tsk and he's about to wind up for one more when he hears the voice nearby and turns to see Callisto.

"Oh, goodness, how embarrassing." He sighs out a breathy chuckle, using the back of his arm to wipe his brow. He has a few buttons on the nice, plain button-up undone, and his sleeves rolled up for better movement.

"No," He laughs heartily at the thought, "Not a God, though I'd be lying if I haven't been called as such before. I mean do you see this visage? Disheveled as I may be."

He clears his throat and swipes a hand through his hair to smooth out his appearance, knowing his casting may have put a few hairs out of order.

"I'm a Mage, m'lady. And normally the show would be a lot more entertaining from there, I assure you." He sighs, hands on his hips.

"Though I'm quite glad nothing untoward happened to you, my magic has not been behaving since I arrived here. I wouldn't want to hurt an innocent bystander in my practice."

[myfavoritemurder]

Callisto may have come to Mathias as a monolingual speaker of Ancient Greek, but all the same, being surrounded by English-speakers for the past couple of weeks has done wonders for jump-starting her comprehension - and while she doesn't pick up everything, she does at least get the basics. He's not a god. He is a user of magic. And he's weirdly sheepish about the whole thing, probably because of how quickly his spellwork has winded him. He must be new at it, she thinks - or maybe he's just not very good.

"I don't understand everything," she says, with a languid shrug - and then, with the intention of making her language barrier conundrum more obvious, adds in much more fluent Greek: "But it looks like you nearly singed off your own eyebrows, so I can see why the others have banished you to train out here. This." She gestures to her own face, then pops her hand away, splaying her fingers to imitate the spell exploding on him. "It is always fire, like this?"

[nottevintersoldier]

"Oh." His brows raise as she speaks some fluent language at him he doesn't recognize, though it is very similar sounding to Tevene. But he gets the gist of what she's trying to say.

"Sorry about that, I was only prattling on." He clears his throat and tries to reel himself in and how much he speaks to make it a little easier for her. Which is harder for him than it sounds.

"You have a lovely dialect." He is failing at plain words and corrects himself, "Ah, your language. It's lovely."

A little better, he thinks, though he's trying not to raise his voice as if she's deaf as well. But he watches her gesturing and laughs a little.

"Not always fire. Unfortunately for me." He sighs.

"Ice. Or Lightning too. I would show you, but I don't want you to get hurt." He ponders for a second then continues.

"It's unusual. I am normally a lot stronger with magic." He flexes a little on the word strong. Which for a Mage he's rather toned. Sorry about all this Callisto.

"But this world seems to have weakened me." A furrow of his brow and an almost pout, he is not happy about this development.

"Do you not have magic where you are from?" Perhaps wherever she comes from only Gods have powers like his? Just average people. Maybe even a more primitive people, depending? If she does not speak a common tongue, but that's a very shallow perspective. He's trying to do better with not having those.

[myfavoritemurder]

He does the impromptu charades well, like Tim does, and it obviously helps: she watches him intently, gaze flicking between his hands and his face.

"Yes, there is magic where I'm from," she says, as she starts to slowly circle him. There's something distinctly predatory about the way that she moves, but she shows no signs of actually attacking. "There is mage-- are mage. I'm not, but there I have a sword, and this--" She curls her hand into a fist and makes a stabbing motion, indicating a smaller blade. "But now? No. And I'm also--"

She copies his pouting brow furrow, even more exaggeratedly than he'd initially done - either mocking him or playfully teasing him, depending on how forgiving he's feeling. Truthfully, her intention is a bit of both.

the woods; sorry for the delay!

[bardish]

There's something going on in the woods. Nothing that feels bad or unsettling, but rather... kind of familiar? Not that he can see much through the trees, but whatever sparks he's seeing, they feel kind of like the distant cousin of his own Gift.

Magic. He can never fucking stay away.

So, sorry, Dorian, Jeff walks into the clearing just in time to watch a spell blow up in your face. He winces sympathetically.

"Dude, isn't this place the worst! I swear, even the easiest fucking spells will blow back on us!"

No worries! <3

[nottevintersoldier]

Dorian's wearing thin by this point but he's determined and he'll continue in his practiced flourish to try and cast his magic. The style is almost like a dance, looking almost a little more elegant without the use of a staff or a book in his hands. He knows he has the timing right, he knows he's whispered the right words, his focus is laser sharp and the only thing waning is his energy, feeling physically tired. It should work.

There's an illuminated circle of glyphs and runes at a point, safely away from him and when he flicks his wrist after finishing his tutting he's expecting it to sort of "lock" into place there. However, it backfires spectacularly and instead of arching out away from him, it detonates practically in his face with a spray of sharp ice and a cloud of cold.

There's a yelp as he staggers back, coughing, arms up, coated in a layer of ice that's thick around his wrists and arms above the elbow, but thins out across his chest and shoulders, splashing a bit over his waist and thighs. He managed to save his face, all except for a small cut on his cheek and brow.

The ice breaks easily as he shakes it off, so he's lucky in this instance that the power behind it wasn't what it was supposed to be. He's stood brushing off the frost from his person and frowning, cursing under his breath in Tevene. He ruffles a hand through his hair to fluff the last of the snowy frost out of it and set his quaff back into place. It's only about then he's realized someone saw that spectacular mess.

"Indeed, it certainly seems that way." He grumbles, eying the stranger, "I'm just glad it didn't do harm to you instead."

He finishes 'dusting' himself off and raises a hand to his cheek, touching the small cut with a hiss. He's a little winded as well, and what sweat was on his brow has been frozen off at this point, but he's aching and tired.

"I haven't had the pleasure of meeting another Mage as of yet. The name is Dorian Pavus." He looks... strikingly familiar to another fellow he met the other day, but the accent is a little different.

[bardish]

That's magic for you: beautiful one moment, and then totally blowing up in your face the next. Once the dust (well, ice and frost) settles, Jeff moves closer to his fellow wizard, frowning sympathetically at the state of him. At least he seems fine, aside from some ruffled hair and a little cut.

As Dorian looks at him, Jeff's frown quickly morphs into a bright, friendly smile, like he doesn't want to embarrass the other man by fussing over him.

"There's not a lot of us here," he says, a little note of regret in his voice, which he doesn't hide very well. But any loneliness he feels is quickly pushed back down, replaced with a cheerful tone. "But, um. Anyway! I'm Jeff! Nice to meet you." With a teasing grin, he adds, "Haven't been called a mage before. That is so old school where I'm from, dude."

[nottevintersoldier]

"Do you know how many of us there are?" He'd asked this of someone else and they didn't have the answer, so he was still curious to know.

"Likewise, Jeff." He smiles softly, finding the odd manner of speech a little jarring.

"Old school?" His brows furrow some, trying to puzzle out the meaning. He assumes of course that it is somehow an old term for magic users, which is a strange thought in and of itself. But he supposes, if he were to consider this world and all its unfamiliar architecture, he would think to call it more advanced? perhaps? so maybe he COULD be from a time well before Jeff's own??

"I'll admit that's very strange considering there are a lot of Mages where I'm from and we aren't called anything else. Unless of course, you're a witch, but their magics are very different."

[bardish]

"Um..." Jeff takes a moment to consider Dorian's question, head tilting as he hums thoughtfully. "Besides the two of us, there's Athena-- she's a kid from my world. She's like, my apprentice." It seems the easiest way to sum up their relationship, though she's closer to a daughter than a student at this point. "And then there's Kirigan-- tall, kind of intense, always wears black. He's hard to miss." There's a beat, then Jeff snaps his fingers as he remembers another mage. "Oh! Tai! Young guy, bald, has this really chill vibe..."

And that's it for the town's magical population, far as Jeff knows. If there are others, he either hasn't met them yet, or he just doesn't know what they can do.

Jeff laughs a little and shakes his head. "Not a witch. Gifted, that's the word we use, back home." He shrugs a shoulder and fixes the other man with an amused look, mage to mage. "It's like... society's way of dressing it up and pretending it's not really magic."

Gifts and Talents, little euphemisms to make ordinary people feel a little more comfortable with the fact that magic exists.

"Witch is making a comeback, though! My daughter likes to use that word for herself."

MAAAAGIC - i feel you should know i almost tagged this as gil arroyo from prodigal son whoops

[conning]

For all that Neal knows people here have powers, he hasn't seen them used very often. Yeah, there was Jeff's display in the record store, but he never saw Daisy use her abilities and those are the only two opportunities he's really had. He's fascinated, watching Dorian from a distance--until one of the spells seems to go wrong and sends a blast of light in all direction. Neal throws a hand up to shield his face, but he's already running forward.

"Hey! Are you okay? Can you hear me?"

I MEAN Gil is A+ but he's also not in Mathias XD so sad

[nottevintersoldier]

Dorian's been making it a point to come out to practice every day, even if it's only for a little bit. He's determined to make progress. If he doesn't have his staff or a book, it's back to the basics, retraining himself to just use his hands and incantations. His focus isn't as honed as he would prefer, and it's not just because he's been so used to using a weapon for it. This world is making him really have to work for the pull and push of energy. It's like trying to pull taffy while static hisses in your ears. It's hard work, it wears him out fast for very little success. If he gets a spell off it's half the strength it should be, or it misses its target. Sometimes it's wildly off base, if he's lucky it doesn't blow up in his face.

This time, he's not so lucky. He's swirling crackling purple energy in between his palms, trying to throw a bolt of lighting out to strike a point safely away from his person. It instead strikes down right by his feet, close enough that it arches through the ground and rattles up his spine. There's a yelp and he's practically thrown back, sprawled out on the grass in a woozy heap. He groans, sitting up, every part of him trembling from the aftershocks. He shakes it off, blinking blearily as he realizes there's someone nearby, running over to him. what he's saying is muffled as his ears ring but he is more distracted by the wash of embarrassed shame. He's better than this. So much better than this and it's utterly frustrating.

"I'm... I'm alright." He murmurs, still a little shaken but no worse for wear.

"My pride is more wounded than anything." He sits up fully and just decides to remain seated for the moment, his heart is beating fast from adrenalin and his head is swimming a bit. He doesn't want to risk jello legs if he tries to stand, his extremities are still a little tingly.

"That was incredibly embarrassing..."

[conning]

Neal slows when the other man is actually responsive, walking the last few feet to kneel next to him. "I'm sure it would have looked very impressive if it hadn't been."

It's a gentle tease, but still. "No one's powers work right here. There's not one person I've talked to who hasn't felt it somehow."

[nottevintersoldier]

"Well, to be quite honest, I'm quite lucky it wasn't at its full potential, I wouldn't have shaken it off so quickly. Though my legs aren't yet trustworthy from the shock." He sighs, smiling a little sheepishly up at Neal.

"I appreciate the vote of confidence, or the reassurance it's not just me. But my pride isn't quite satisfied." Even if they all are put at a disadvantage with their magic, he prides himself on being the best and brightest, that he should be able to recover quicker and get the hang of all of this. He should be able to cast. It should be working. He'll just have to keep at it, surely. He'll be practicing tirelessly every day, burning his magic down until he needs a few hours rest to recover it.

"My name is Dorian Pavus." He says while extending a hand, not only for a greeting but for a help up to his feet. If you please?