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.)

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Comments

[thering]

"Oh." Doc's eyebrows crawl up towards his hairline for half a second. He narrows his widened eyes a little before a small smile tugs at the corners of his lips. "Well I do beg your pardon. I thought you were--..." Nothing polite comes to mind. A nice guy, to be sure, but also a little clumsy. A little soft. All the magicians before him have been of a more cynical, maybe even bitter disposition. Mercurial and weary and dangerous.

Suffice to say, he hasn't met many happy go lucky magicians. The closest might be the likes of Eliot and Quentin, but they're barely adults in Doc's eyes, and he has no doubt they've been through some shit too.

"...a professional musician. People so... rarely take up multiple trades these days." Awkward save. But it will have to do. Doc quickly changes the subject back to the house.

"There were others in the house when I was first there. A mix of us ordinary folk and people of various talents. I think it safe to say everyone experienced the same oddities."

[bardish]

"Amateur musician," he corrects softly, trying his best to force a little smile and inject some humor into his voice. Jeff's music career, such as it is (or, rather, isn't), may be something of a very sore subject, even after all these years.

Jeff takes the awkward save at face value, at least. He's got no reason to suspect he doesn't fit some kind of mold for magicians; back home, he's considered so painfully obvious as a bard that he might as well be a total fucking stereotype.

"I wouldn't call it a trade. Where I'm from, I mean, it's more like... It's just who you are. One of many pieces that make up the whole person, you know?" White. Male. Bisexual. Gifted.

Jeff huffs, with just a little bit of disappointment.

"So much for that theory. I'm no good at this detective shit!"

[thering]

"Hey, it's alright," Doc tries to reassure him. "Hardly anything in this town makes sense." Many others before Jeff have tried figuring out the mysteries of Mathias but every time they uncover something they think might be of significance, they find only twenty more questions waiting behind each revelation.

"Perhaps it seems a little unambitious to focus on the here and now but this may be something that needs to be approached with small, incremental steps," Doc remarks. He admittedly hasn't been as interested in the ongoing investigations since getting caught up in the day to day, just trying to keep everyone afloat in these dangerous, murky waters. But sometimes he feels there's too much on his plate as it is.

"There are some records in the Town Hall and you may wish to speak with people around town, gather everything we know thus far into one place and see where we are at."

[bardish]

Jeff shakes his head. "I think that's all above my... skill set." He's not smart enough, observational enough, to have anything to offer to investigations. He could scour the town's records, and he doubts he'd pick up on anything out of the ordinary. After all, he's not a historian, he's just a history teacher. All the stuff he knows is from books written by historians.

"I just thought I had something with the mirrors for a second there." Because that, at least, was familiar. He'd thought that maybe his past experiences could have offered some insight, or had some value, or...

"I guess it's better to leave it alone." He gets up, shrugging carelessly. "Smarter people than me have been at this for longer, right?"

Just some casual self deprecation dressed up as a joke.

[thering]

"A great many discoveries have been made entirely fortuitously in the most unexpected circumstance." There is hope for Jeff as much as there is hope for everyone to find something that would help them. But there's also hope in winning the lottery, he supposes.

"I was going to go looking for a few people. Perhaps if you had the same intention, we could go together?" Doc offers. Of course he will want to be alone with Wynonna at some point, but given other peoples' proximity to this house he might as well pretend to be rational and sweep the immediate vicinity before chasing down his love.

[bardish]

"That's a nice way of putting it," Jeff concedes, even if he pretty much agrees that, yeah, winning the lottery is about as likely as Jeff Calhoun making any sort of discovery. At least Doc's got a lovely way with words.

Still, for as down on himself as he may be, Jeff perks up at the invitation. It's totally obvious, way too visible, like night and day. It's possible the bard's a little too eager to make himself useful.

"Oh! Yeah! That'd be great, we'd be like census takers, only without all the paperwork and--" For once, he manages to stop himself before launching into a ramble. Could it be? Is Jeff learning?

Only--

Wait.

"But... I should probably stick close to home until Athena's up. After the past few days, the last thing I'd want is for her to wake up in a totally empty house.

[thering]

That would be the responsible thing to do, eager as Jeff seems to be about tagging along. Doc offers a small smile and nods.

"I will be circling back, after making the first round." There's usually someone to bring back to 1306, or something to be picked up. He will probably be spending some time at Wynonna's for a while, so he doesn't anticipate it being all too quick.

"I will stop by next door to check in on the both of you, and you can decide if you'd like to come along, if she is awake by then." And of course, it should go without saying that Doc would offer any reassuring words if he deems it necessary. None of them really need the help, Doc suspects, but it is nice to have the company.