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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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.

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."

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?"

"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.

Edited 2021-07-09 16:56 (UTC)

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.

Dorian watches her as she circles him, cautious and a little tense as she rounds behind him. Though she doesn't seem like she's about to stab him in the kidneys at least. In his mind, he honestly can't blame her if she's checking him out. More like sizing him up, but his ego likes to chime in so he seems less intimidated.

"Good with a blade or two then. That's useful. I'd think." He can't quite tell if the expression she makes is genuine or mocking, but he won't blame her for taking a little jab at his exaggerated expressions in this instance.

"Seems this place has stolen from all of us then. That's frustrating." He makes a furrowed brow looking rather perturbed to emphasize frustration.

"I'm Dorian." He lays a hand on his sternum when introducing himself and gives a small bow of the head in greeting, all warm smiles.

"And you are?" He motions to her to introduce herself.

Edited 2021-07-11 00:45 (UTC)

"Callisto," she says - luckily, introductions are old hat by this point, and always easy to understand. Satisfied that she's gotten the measure of him, she takes a step back once she's done two full circles, looking at him expectantly.

"You say ice, lightning--?"

The latter word she knows, thanks to the storm that rolled in last week. The former word is unfamiliar, but that's fine; she assumes it's something similarly big and impressive.

"Do this. The lightning."

Who cares about danger and the potential of being harmed? Not this girl.

"That is a beautiful name." He smiles, still charming despite how she circles him and the tension still in his shoulders.

"You want me to..." He quirks a brow then sighs. In his mind he's thinking what am I? here for entertainment? but he supposes that's the whole reason he's out here anyway. To practice. And if anyone knows him, they know he likes to show off a bit. He'd feel more confident or comfortable with the idea if he knew his powers would work right.

"Alright." He takes a step away from her and motions to the side. "Stand back a bit more, give me 10 feet."

He waits to make sure she does as he asks, motioning for her to go a little further and when he's satisfied she won't get stuck if this goes badly he'll start casting.

"This would be a lot more impressive if I had my staff." He mutters, it's loud enough for her to hear it but mostly it's him grumbling. His arms swing out in wide circles purple energy crackling through his fingers. He murmurs the incantation as sparks dance back and forth between his palms, lighting up his expression, brow furrowed and dotting with sweat. He'll then throw the energy from his hands...

What should have happened was a bolt of lightning should have struck the ground several feet in front of him. Instead, it fizzles out. The purple energy arches out into the air and dips to the ground. There's a clap and a flash, but it's far from impressive. Dorian frowns.

"Kaffas!" He shakes his head, hands on his hips. He'll wind up to try again, chest heaving. This time when he launches the energy there IS a bolt of lightning but it strikes dangerously close to his feet, making him yelp and jumps back. He smiles though, that's closer to what it's meant to be. He's huffing and panting, however. It's taking a lot more out of him than he'd like to admit.

"That one was a little better." He's somewhat out of breath.

Callisto steps back reluctantly, and only when it becomes clear that he's really not going to start showing off until she does. She'll roll her eyes in an effort to show just how ridiculous she thinks these safety precautions are, but she'll do it.

And then, of course, she'll immediately step forward again once he starts demonstrating his powers - not close enough to be in the danger zone, at least, but possibly a bit too close for comfort. She isn't awed or impressed, and she certainly isn't scared, but there's sharp interest in her eyes all the same. And when he nearly hits himself and then smiles, she smiles, too.

"Hurt?" she asks, peering closely, on the lookout for smoke or any sign of injury.

Dorian laughs, still a little winded and he'll shake his head, "No, no, I'm fine. Just... frustratingly tired already?"

He says that last bit with almost a confused assessment of himself because really, he shouldn't feel this exhausted after just a few spells. The absolute weight of trying to cast things in this world is perplexing. Sure he's likely far from the Fade, worlds away even, but obviously, it should still be within him. Yet his well of energy is a lot more shallow than it normally is, it's not just his ability to cast, or the strength of the focus of the spells, but the energy it takes to even do the casting. It's endlessly annoying him. He's better than this. He knows he can do better, but the limits of this world simply won't let him.

"Honestly. At this rate, it may be easier for you to show me how to... you know." He makes a stabbing and slashing motion.

"Could you teach me?" He knows how to fight with a staff, but it's literally only for last-ditch effort in battle. He's supposed to stay miles away from danger and just blast the hell out of his enemies. He's not made for close combat, not really. He's built for a magic user, he's strong in his own right so it could be channeled into a sword or knife with practice, even if the thought of it puts a bad taste in his mouth. He always made fun of fighters, but honestly, this world is putting him in a position where it may be prudent to learn how to defend himself in such a way.

"I have no sword."

But she says this thoughtfully, rather than in a way that makes it sound like she's shutting the idea down. Turning away from him, she starts casting around the forest floor, looking for any downed branches that are approximately sword-sized. Finding one potential option, she tests the weight of it, then drops it on the ground at her feet. Finding a second, she strips it of a few clinging leaves, then tosses it at Dorian without warning. Hopefully his reflexes are okay!

"It's not much," she says in Greek. "But we'll make do. Here, try. Show me."

She wants to see what, if anything, he already knows, and she can work from there.

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065-071 » assign to oblivion / part iii

woods; day 067

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