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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I am exhausted.

[She says, with a sigh - scoping out the flip-flops in his hand, trying to decide if they're something she'd wear herself now that her own boots are missing.

No, she decides. Definitely not.]

I'm insomnia, sometimes.

[ Come now Callisto, you don't want to embrace the flip flop life? ]

Reliving your memories, I'd be surprised if you weren't insomnia.

[ He tries to use the gesture system they've developed for some of the words he strings together. Such as 'reliving' and 'memories'. Any other time he'd probably feel up to flashing a ridiculous expression of surprise for that one, but he doesn't have the heart for it at the moment.

Alrighty, up the cliffside path we go. ]

[Even in bare feet, Callisto seems to have no trouble at all handling either the rocks or the path - no matter how precarious the footing gets, she moves with practiced ease. At one point, she catches Tim's eye, points to the walkway, and then twirls a finger through the air, miming taking a tumble. Is this where he fell?]

[ He caught the motion and simply nodded his head in confirmation. Something he always enjoyed about Callisto's company was the fact that they could communicate comfortably in silence.

He peered over the cliff edge, then looked back at her and shrugged. There was a safer path, so long as the fog cooperated, but Tim liked this one. ]

[She's certainly not complaining, at any rate. She scampers up a particularly treacherous bit of the path, then looks back to see how Tim handles it - though her expression is admittedly more curious than concerned.]

[ Despite still being stiff and ouchie from his fall off this very same cliff, Tim managed the tricky terrain with the cleverness of someone who has experienced it before. His balance is good and he commits himself to his footing choices, rather than step and hesitate. So even if rocks shift, he's already moving past that spot to more solid grounds.

He's not quite the natural mountain goat talent that Callisto displayed, but he wasn't in danger of falling off. ]

[This is, in fact, Callisto's first time visiting the lighthouse - but all the same, once they reach the door, she shows no hesitation before barreling in.]

Why here?

[She asks, looking around the moldy, damp interior of the main house. Her standards of living aren't exactly high, but even she would think twice about spending too much time in this hole.]

[ It is a hole and it needs work.

Tim opens his mouth to answer her but then shakes his head. It's all too much to go into and he's just not that good of a mime. Instead, he sets down his supplies and motions for her to follow him.

Provided she does, he is going to lead her to the stairs and up to the top. Inwardly hoping that all the doors that are supposed to stay open, stay open. He also prepared to show her how to wriggle through the stuck door that leads out onto the walkway at the top.

Once there with its three-sixty view, Tim stepped back against the bulk of the tower to give her room to explore the walkway. ]

I like the view.

[ A partial truth. It was a good view, even if it didn't show them anything interesting at the moment. She might also notice the position of the Lighthouse made it fairly defensible, with only the two paths converging into one approach. With a fairly clear view of anyone who might approach. ]

[The view of the sea is beautiful, she thinks, but in a distant sort of way - it doesn't touch her; doesn't affect her. She slows to a stop at the curve of the walkway, curling her fingers around the railing, and then turns to face Tim, nodding at his bucket and raising a questioning eyebrow. What's that for?]

[ Tim followed her gaze to the bucket, stared at it for a moment and then gave a small shrug. ]

Just cleaning it all up a bit.

I don't understand.

[She says, but it comes out as a sigh. She supposes that if she keeps watching, she'll find out what he's doing soon enough.]

[ She didn't understand and Tim wasn't really up to trying to mime things out. So he headed for the crooked doorway and back down the staircase.

Once he was in the little cottage attached to the lighthouse, he motioned to the mess of the place. Then he shrugged. ]

Cleaning.

[ And suiting action to work, he walked over to a pile of mostly molded out pillows and began to carry them towards the door and out of the cottage. He was already thinking he'd have to pull up the baseboard in order to clean away the mold underneath. ]

[She tracks him with her eyes, not moving to follow at first - but when he disappears back into the cottage, she heads after him, appearing in the doorway not long after.]

You live here?

Not the worst thought I've ever had in my head. [ Tim responded to the question in the lazy drawl he tended to use when he was half serious but also sarcastic. ]

[She can't figure out whether that's a yes or a no, so she just snorts in response, sinking down onto the ground and stretching her legs out in front of her. And then she falls silent for a bit, watching him work.]

[ He's never felt a need to uphold conversation with her, their silences have always been comfortable enough. Today is no different.

Tim continues to work. Mostly inspecting at this point, taking inventory of what could be cleaned and recovered and what needs to be thrown out and burned. Not exactly exciting stuff to watch, though there is a pensive quiet in his expression that doesn't change as he works. ]

[Callisto's moods are mercurial and fleeting. Sometimes, she gets bored or distracted easily, and other times, nearly anything can capture her attention - because after all, nearly anything is more interesting than the dark emptiness of Tartarus. Today, she lands firmly in the second category, and shows no signs of restlessness as she watches Tim putter around the room. She's listless enough as to be teetering on the edge of a depressive spell - but alert enough that she isn't quite falling into one.

After a while - after an hour or so, perhaps - she pulls a lighter out of her pocket and starts flicking it on and off, watching the dancing flame.]

[ She does still well.

Tim doesn't entirely lose his awareness of her presence, his own heightened alertness is to sensitive for that. But he does work around her with a sense of having most of his focus on cleaning up the space.

He happened to be coming back into the cottage at the same time that she flicked the lighter on. It caught his attention and he glanced towards her, breaking a silence that may have lasted for at least a couple hours. ]

Where? [ Just the one word and a motion towards the lighter. where did you find that? ]

Doc.

[And somehow, miraculously, no one has decided she can't be trusted with fire and taken it away from her yet. Flick. Flick. Flick.]

[ Hopefully no one was looking at Tim to be the voice of reason at the moment. Oh the idea may have crossed his mind, but at the moment he's not overly chuffed by the idea of her burning something down.

If anything he was caught by the sight of her playing so closely with the lighter. Having shared her memory he would have figured that fire was a necessary evil she tolerated, rather than carried around in her pocket. But she was just cussed enough that he could see where she wasn't going to let fire rule her.

He nodded and motioned outside where he'd been dragging stuff. ]

We could have a bonfire.

A bonfire.

[She echoes, rolling the word around in her head.]

What is a bon?

Depends what culture you're asking. [ Tim responded, recognizing he was going to need to help explain his words.

He caught his lower lip between his teeth and looked pensive. ]

Lots. [ He holds up his hand, fingers splayed and makes a circle with his other index finger, trying to gesture 'a lot'. ] of whats.

Ask Malcolm. [ He adds on at the end. The profiler appeared to have a better reach across the language barrier and Tim assumed the man would know all the different origins of the idea of a bonfire. ]

A big fire.

[She hazards, picturing something like the fire that had burned down the museum and town hall. Picturing something like the fire that had burned down her own village.

That second thought and the pang that it brings doesn't stop a smile from spreading across her face. Great idea, Tim; let's have a bonfire.]

[ That smile is concerning and that shows in the look he gives her. ]

A controlled big fire. On the beach. Away from structures.

[She flicks a dismissive hand at him, assuming he's trying to tell her not to set any big buildings on fire. Yes, yes; she gets it. We'll see.]

(no subject)

walkingtrigger - 2021-07-04 21:39 (UTC) - Expand

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