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

[abrightboy]

“Do I? I’m sure that looks good on me. But I don’t try to save everyone. Nobody can save everyone. Better to focus the effort on people who want it. Or deserve it,” Malcolm points out.

[myfavoritemurder]

"Excuses," she scoffs. "I don't want or deserve it, but here you are."

[abrightboy]

“I’m not here to save you,” Malcolm tells her. “I’m here to see you.”

[myfavoritemurder]

"Good," she says - most of the hostility draining from her voice, her tone going back to something more tired and neutral.

"So who here is worth saving? Parker? Carter?"

Just pulling random names out of the air, here.

[abrightboy]

“You know them? I met Parker once. We have a mutual friend. Carter duels with us sometimes. He knows how to fight with a sword. You should try his skills,” Malcolm suggests, sidestepping the question.

[myfavoritemurder]

"He told me he's not very good," she says skeptically, though the information tidbit does catch her interest. "Or I think he did, anyway; he only speaks English. We have to struggle to get by when we talk."

[abrightboy]

“I’m better than he is,” Malcolm admits. “But I studied more. Practiced more.”

[myfavoritemurder]

"You're better now than you were when I met you." She says this like it's a statement of fact, not like it's a compliment. She's not trying to be nice - it's just something she's noticed.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm gives her a bit of an odd look.

“You haven’t seen me fight with a sword,” he comments.

[myfavoritemurder]

"I was talking about speech. Speaking. If he speaks my language at all, I don't know about it, but you do."

[abrightboy]

“I studied Homer and Herodotus when I was a child. But practice makes… better.”

He’s far from perfect at it.

[myfavoritemurder]

"And you studied sword-fighting, too. You haven't told me about this."

For shame, Malcolm.

[abrightboy]

“I had to do something when I was forced to leave ballet…” That’s a probably unfamiliar French word. “It’s a sort of dancing. And so is sword fighting. That’s probably why you’re so graceful.”

[myfavoritemurder]

"Well, it's certainly not dancing," she says dryly. "Sword-fighting is good for stabbing fathers."

Hint, hint.

[abrightboy]

He huffs a laugh. “That’s not how I did it,” he tells her. “But I was on a team for sword fighting at my university.”

[myfavoritemurder]

"I didn't know you were a scholar, either," she says, raising an eyebrow. "Careful, or I'm going to start thinking you're making all of this up."

[abrightboy]

"Most people guess that I'm a scholar. I have big scholar soul. Most people don't believe I know sword fighting. I don't have very warrior soul," he tells her.

[myfavoritemurder]

"Then why learn?" She digs her fingers down under one of the roof tiles, trying to pull it up and off. "Was it just a passing whimsy?"

[abrightboy]

“No. Other kids used to beat me after school.” He gestures to the scar on his lip. “Sometimes bad. I wanted to know enough fighting to make them stay away.”

[myfavoritemurder]

"And you fought them with swords?" she asks, clearly as flummoxed as she is impressed. Children teased and bullied each other in Ancient Greece too, of course, but generally not with weapons.

[abrightboy]

He laughs.

“No, I learned hands first. Enough to keep them off of me. But then I found a place to learn axes and swords and I thought it sounded like… enjoyment.”

[myfavoritemurder]

"I've never used axes much," she muses, in a tone of voice that hints that this is something she might like to change. "You're a talented man, Malcolm."

[abrightboy]

"I guess talents are something we develop when we have a lot of time and no friends, right?" he suggests with a laugh. He looks at her a moment. "Do you want to come inside and have a cup of tea?"