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]

Sadly it seems no one in 1306 believes they are deserving, for one reason or another. Maybe it is the weight of their burdensome sins. Maybe it is what they have been told time and time again by others. Doc at least is unwilling to stoop, and beg, and grovel for what he wants. He will try his damnedest to pursue his own happiness, but he won't waste his time pounding on a closed door. Sooner or later he will muster up the courage to walk away. He can only hope that others might learn to love themselves enough to walk away.

"So many vexations could be so easily solved, if we could but make someone love us even a fraction of the way we have loved them," Doc muses with a huff of a sigh. He is a romantic at heart. But the heart is a complicated matter. And soulmates are not so easy to find.

[conning]

Neal’s eyes widen a little. A small tell, but it’s there. Does Doc know? Does everyone but Malcolm know? No—-maybe he means Raylan and Malcolm, their situation.

He sets the mixing bowl down, studying its contents. “I’m helping Raylan plan a date for them. A real date.”

Again, somehow, it feels like a confession. “He—-”

Even more quietly, almost shyly now, Neal says, “I have a new project. I’m turning one of the houses on King into a kind of… painted garden, for people to use. That’s the plan anyway. I’m going to try and get one of the rooms done so Raylan and Malcolm can have a kind of picnic. Raylan is helping with the basics.”

[thering]

When in doubt it's usually safe to assume that Doc is generally perceptive enough to know - and where perception fails him he'll end up hearing about it through the small grapevine they have in this tiny little town - though ordinarily he doesn't make a big deal of peoples' private affairs.

He is curious about this painted garden though. Does it mean Neal is taking up the brush again?

"Do let me know if you need any help," Doc offers. And Doc doesn't make disingenuous offers - he would roll his sleeves up and start pitching in if Neal were to give him a task right now. Of course, he'd like to take a look when it's all finished, but hopefully this is a many hands make light work rather than too many cooks spoiling the broth situation.

[conning]

"I'd love some." There's tentative enthusiasm in the words. "The broad strokes need to be finished before I can do any real detail work. That's mostly just priming and painting walls."

He busies himself with the next step of the cookies for a moment before quietly adding, "I figure this gives me time and reason to practice with my left hand."

[thering]

Broad strokes, Doc can easily manage. He's fairly certain he's found some roller type paint applicators, which should help the priming and base layers go by quicker than a broad brush.

"If it turns out terribly it'll have felt like someone else painted it anyway," Doc tries to rehash this... semi-inappropriate... dad joke?

"But I'm sure it will look better than anything else we can manage with either of our hands," he reassures with a warm smile.

[conning]

Neal breathes out a tiny little laugh at the repetition, before looking Doc's way with contemplation on his face.

"How are you doing? Things have been..." A pause. "Intense."

[thering]

Things haven't stopped being intense for a while. He has learnt to live in this heightened state of too many strange things happening and sleep deprivation wearing him down. It is still preferable over the maddening silence and isolation of solitary confinement in a claustrophobic space.

"Awful kind of you to check in on little old me," he comments, sans malice or sarcasm in his tone. He knows how easy it is to get caught up in the minutiae of Mathias. It is important for him to acknowledge and appreciate Neal's concerns.

"I'll be alright, Neal. I'm just--" This Raylan thing is a hot mess that he never wanted to get involved in to begin with. And he suspected, neither did Neal. But here they were. Wasn't really necessary to add on top of everything else.

"Sometimes I think we create more trouble for ourselves than even this wretched town can muster up for us."