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

[skladka]

The Darkling's eyes narrow, though they're not on Raylan, for once--he's looking at where the chasm once was, and then to the horizon.

"My initial theory was that the chasm was created to keep us separated from him," he says, soft but sure. That if it's was gone, then it's no longer needed." It's what he would do--it's what he had done in a way, his own version of the chasm far larger, for more powerful.

Time, though... The dust. The food, fresh and refilling at the farmer's market. What Raylan is saying makes sense. He piggybacks off that theory, brows arched, a bite to his voice that's unfamiliar: a dog that smells a bone, working with Raylan's theory, latching onto it.

"Are you suggesting we're in the past, or the future?"

Either option doesn't sit well with him. None of it does. He moves to Raylan's side, hands clasped in front of him.

[tinstar]

This is what Raylan wanted. What he needed. Some with a strategy brain and fresh eyes that wasn't making fun of his slip of control and show of frustration. Not that he thought outright mocking was a look that Kirigan would take on it's face, a little outside what Raylan thought the man's style was anyway.

"Malcolm thought the same too, with a twist - that they hadn't finished building or creating the other side of it. That we had to be held off." Not for a lack of trying. He wasn't the only one that had taken a crack at the crack.

"I'm not sure yet. Nothing to tell us either way. Not even the seasons. I had a sense they were going.. backwards but we still haven't had a spring. This is our first summer type weather," he mused, peering up at the sky for a long second. It was all connected, he was dead sure of that.

"Either we're rollin' back to when this place was last full of it's own townspeople or we're rollin' forward to... I dunno." His mind could conjure up a million different nasty scenarios but freaking out and getting ahead of themselves didn't help anyone. "You find anythin' interestin' on the other side?"

[skladka]

Malcolm. The Darkling's jaw flexes as he shifts through his memory--the one at the bookshop, with too large eyes and a rather distinct personality. So he's smarter than he seems.

Interesting.

He listens to Raylan patiently, and he has to admit, despite the fact that the other man irritates him (too smart for his own good, too observant, too much, especially for an Otkazat'sya), he does find himself wanting this. Someone of a like mind to strategize.

A necessary evil.

"Unfortunately, nothing. You're lacking your hat." A light observation, his tone completely neutral.

[tinstar]

"And you, your 'King of the Night' cape," Raylan replied evenly without missing a beat, tone equally casual neutral. "But it looks like you found a way to rock the Man in Black look. I hope you don't sing. Be doin' Johnny Cash a great disservice, stealin' his gig."

Irritating people like Kirigan, inadvertently or on purpose, was one of the reasons that Raylan got out of bed in the morning. Even though he didn't know the man himself well, he now had the conversation with Athena rolling around in his mind.

"He hates normal people."

"Why? What'd we do to him?"

No, he got it. Humanity was an asshole and he was one who fell right off the prime asshole tree. This wasn't about starting a fight over semantics and things he didn't have the full story on, but he was aware of the divide. This was just testing banter.

"You get into Penhew House? Giant spooky ass mirror on the wall - This we offer in blood and fear?"

[skladka]

"Kefta," he corrects sharply, and he doesn't bother to hide the unamused look he slides Raylan's way as he makes a reference he can only assume is disparaging. He doesn't know who Johnny Cash is, nor does he care--he supposes Raylan's doing this on purpose. It's working, too, which is annoying in and of itself. "It serves a purpose." 'Unlike your hat' is left unsaid as he addresses what's actually pertinent.


"Penhew's hospitality left much to be desired," he says dryly. "Your version, the mirrors, were there figures in them?"

[tinstar]

Raylan tried to hide his amusement as he felt that cold gaze slide over and he failed spectacularly, but it was kept under control, a twitch of a smirk, and he didn't dare look over.

What do you mean? Who, where?

That was until he mentions figures in mirrors. A much more serious, concerned look snapped over.

"Wait, you saw the figures? You mean in the-" he gestures at the ground and then at their new territories. "This most recent separation?" Had to be - Kirigan wasn't here for the others - but maybe someone had told him about the figures and that's what he was talking about.. Raylan hoped it was the latter.

[skladka]

The Darkling cocks his head to the side, taking in Raylan's sudden shift--the smirk has been wiped off of the other's face in a matter of seconds, replaced by what the Darkling can only assume is the calm focus of whatever a deputy is. The Darkling, in turn, settles into something a little more like himself, posture still straight but somewhat relaxed, no longer rigidly militant. Raylan gestures, and the Darkling stays still, nodding his head.

"In the reflections of the mirror--all facing backwards. All composed of shadow." His eyes narrow.

"Were you able to interact with them?"

[tinstar]

"All facing backwards, huh?" It was a rhetorical question. Darkening hazel eyes turned back to stare at the new side of town. "Maybe it's the people that lived here. Or those that were sacrificed," he mused to himself.

But the man had asked a question.

"They weren't there. Not for any of us as far as I know, anyway." A long beat passed. "But them having their back turned is new. Last time I saw 'em," he continued with a glance over at his new, begrudging companion, "They were only there out of the corner of our eyes. When we focused on them or turned around, they were gone."

The studious gaze turned back to Kirigan as Raylan's files folded in what he knew about the man. "That's your thing, right? Shadows? I'm guessin' you tried to interact with them and failed-" Judging by the way the question had been asked. "How'd they react? They vanish or twist or.." Get closer?

There was something there, in that mechanic specifically that screamed IMPORTANT. He just couldn't say what it was.

[skladka]

The Darklings gaze remains steady on where the chasm is while Raylan pries, eyes narrowing. He'd usually slide the other a look as the other asks about his powers, but he's not detecting any negging qualities.

"My thing, yes," he confirms, and his lips part in an almost sigh. It's not exactly painful to admit, but it is something he dislikes and it shows.

"They did nothing," he says eventually, and his gaze pulls back to Raylan's. "Even a pond moves if you skip stones, and this didn't seem to be the case--they merely stood there. I should have been able to control them entirely."

Unless. He tucks a thought away entirely, wondering if there's an equivalent--wondering if Merzost exists here. Perhaps that's why.

"My powers have been diminished, but not so much that I shouldn't be able to. Perhaps they're not shadows after all. Perhaps they're something else."

[tinstar]

If Raylan liked him more, he might be more sympathetic but considering he didn't have his gun on his hip - his thing - he was perfectly fine with Kirigan being displeased. At least the magician had something left to his name. A scrap of what he once was. The experiance of his knowledge to help him.

That's what Raylan was interested in. If Kirigan was the type to use them, then Raylan would take the opportunity to learn and know what he could of the man in kind.

His features pinched and twitched towards a frown as he took that information in. He didn't trust Kirigan, but he trusted this information. If he had been successful, he wouldn't look as half as sour as he does.

"Somethin' else like what?" If anyone knew, it would be the man next to him. Raylan wasn't even mad at him for it; whatever helped him get the hell outta this town. Kirigan hadn't killed anyone yet, he had to earn that badass badge and Raylan hadn't seen much of his actual talents.

[skladka]

The Darkling takes time to think at that moment, contemplating not if he should hide information from Raylan, but instead because he's unsure how to phrase it.

"There's always something," he says carefully, quietly, narrowed, beady eyes glancing to the horizon. "An unsanctioned book. Forbidden research. A twisted myth. Some practice no one should never touch or engage with, something that gives you power at a price. Whispered tales of why one shouldn't tamper with what the world already gives you."

He pauses, but only for a few moments. "In Ravka, the father of all Grisha didn't just use the small science that we used. He used Merzost. Magic. Surely there's some equivalence here."

[tinstar]

Oh well if that's all that he was looking for, Raylan was happy to unload all the information that he knew was important but lacked the higher context of magical understanding to thread together in the proper order. The Marshal was missing something, you couldn't know what you didn't know.

"There's ward-like marks, swirls in some of the buildings, tucked behind the tile at the top of the lighthouse, along with a three lobed eye and a whole host of signs that point towards ritual blood sacrifice of the human variety. Mathis likes it collected in ceremonial bowls apparently, and the tunnels under the town undoubtedly attach to the Lodge. The Lodge that we can't get to and gates in the tunnels we can't get through, but." His hand bounced back and forth. What they had was better than nothing.

"As curious as I am about your 'small' science-" What was the Big Science? "- I don't see any kinda science to do what I've seen her do here. Then again, I'm happy to grant that 'magic' is possibly just something else that Science hasn't gotten around to figuring out just yet." He rolled a shoulder.

"'The Father of all Grisha'," he repeated questioningly. "The first of your kind to.. be your kind?" Why yes if there was a specific button for that story, he'd be hitting it.