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

[bardish]

Jeff accepts it with a nod of thanks, taking a bigger pull of moonshine than he knows he ought to. It's not as hard as he'd hoped it would be. The shine's rough, but it's a familiar kind of rough.

He takes in Dorian's concerns with a feeling of guilt pooling in his stomach, curdling with the liquor. Here's this fellow mage, opening up about his vulnerabilities, warning Jeff about the dangers of things that are Other, and Jeff's acting like he's totally fucking innocent.

"It's..." He passes the shine back to Dorian with a wavering smile. "It's okay."

He hates this demon shit. He hates talking about it, he hates thinking about it, and he just wants to hide and play ignorant and let Dorian and everyone else here continue to see him as this soft, hapless nobody who's never experienced anything rougher than some mild suburban disappointment.

And he almost does it. Jeff's so fucking close to thanking the guy for the demonic heads up, but as he opens his mouth, all he can think of is his conversation with Kirigan the other day. The more one runs or ignores the past, the higher the chance it will catch up to them.

Fuck.

"In my experience... Demons are like moths. They're drawn to bright, shiny things." Powerful magic, flashy magic, burning through the aether. "I figure us being weak here? Makes it easier to hide from them. It's a good thing." He snorts. "Good, but fucking frustrating, dude."

But that being said?

"You shouldn't go at it alone. Trust me, that shit never works out."

[nottevintersoldier]

Dorian would like to think of himself as at least somewhat compassionate. He may not always have the most astute awareness of someone's emotions or how they might react to the things he's blurted out but when it comes to it he can read and attune. So when the other says it's "okay" there's something wavering in his smile and expression that makes Dorian wonder, "is it really?" Perhaps he did strike something close to home after all. At first, with Jeff's initial response to the subject matter, he was beginning to think that perhaps, wherever he's from they didn't have the same kind of concern over demonic possession, not nearly to what it was in Thedas anyway.

Until now. Now he's thinking maybe Jeff has had some kind of experience with it after all. That's only defined further with his attempt to assuage his worries over such things, with an admittedly sound thought.

"Perhaps. I do think you are at least close to something there, I can only hope you are right." But he knows what kind of a beacon he burns to anything attracted to such bright flames of the magical kind. He's a powerful mage, one of the best. Even weakened as he is he can't imagine he's going to put off that much less of a flare to anything attracted to him. He's more concerned they might take notice and be able to see the breaks in his defenses to weasel their way in. Though perhaps he's not giving himself near enough credit, he'd have to break first and allow them power over him. He'd have to give them permission to come in. And he'd rather die.

To the rest, it gives him pause. He's not wrong. He'd gone alone for a time and if he were honest with himself he hated it. People were messy and frustrating and awful at times but he liked being around them anyway. That bit of chaos was worth not being alone. Maybe he should be around someone if he accidentally sets something on fire. Or maybe he should have someone there to pull him out of his own head if a demon gets in and starts to pull him apart.

"I suppose you're right." He sighs, "I just... well I haven't made many friends as of yet. Not anyone I'd think would want to put up with me as a roommate on the daily. I'm rather particular. I can be incredibly demanding, especially when it comes to cleanliness." He has a soft laugh at himself.

"I suppose if I were to shack up with someone I should find someone who could handle my powers going awry, among other things." He's aware of what 'shack up' implies, that's also a little bit of a joke. Though depending on how things go or how he hits it off with someone he's potentially living with, friends with benefits isn't exactly off the table.