villagelogs | 072-078 » pages of possible futures

WHO: Everyone
WHERE: Mathias Township proper
WHEN: Days 072-078
WHAT: The future is set in motion once more.
WARNINGS: (PM this account to have a warning added!)
NOTES: Plotting post over here! Next log will be the weekend of July 31.
MOD NOTE: The week did not go as planned. Apologies for the delay on this log and thank you for your patience!

RECOMMENDED ♫ Marco Beltrami "Bad Omens"

DAY 072
“The visions are fragmented and a dark cloud spreads
like spilt ink across the pages of possible futures.”
— Garth Nix
Blue skies greet residents on this bright new morning filled with summer sunshine. It's a day when birds would normally be singing, when there would be boats taken out on the water, children laughing and running through the streets. But in Mathias there is only silence, eerie and almost deafening in its absoluteness, and those blue skies do not stretch on forever. Far off on the horizon are dark clouds stretching ominously in all directions, never moving closer or farther away. They are always there, dark and angry, as if waiting... For what, who can say, but they will remain there for the days going forward, circling the town like a shark circles a meal.

Despite that dreadful darkness in the distance, there is some good news. Residents will also wake to find that their previously missing belongings have returned to them. Clothing and other personal effects are right where they should have been, as if they have always been there, and there is no sign of them having been returned by someone or something. They're just there.

That is, however, the extent of the good news. Residents who visit the Town Hall will find the bulletin board much changed, and those who have thrown caution to the wind and made use the sedatives found within Baneberry Hall will begin to find themselves changing as well. They are easily distracted while awake and plagued by nightmares while asleep. They dream of Mathias burning, fire spreading from the east until it consumes everything in its path. With increasing intensity as the week continues, they will wake with terror gripping their chests and sweat covering their too-hot skin.

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. 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.

DAY 073-075
With those dark clouds still hanging on the horizon, some residents may find themselves watching the ocean a little more closely, searching for signs of whatever it is they are beginning to sense is approaching. If they do, they will find those signs, for every so often a dark shape will appear from out of the water before disappearing a few moments later. Residents are welcome to try getting a better look at those shapes, though moving to higher vantage points will be ineffective and swimming may not be the best investigation method.

Nightfall strengthens the sense of that elusive something. Though nothing can be seen in the darkness, there is something out there. They can feel it when they are outside themselves, a heavy presence that their animal instincts warn them against, urging them to flee to safety indoors. But once inside, they can hear whatever is out there in the night, the sounds horrifying and yet utterly indescribable and beyond the limits of their perception.

There is no way to glimpse what might be making those sounds, nor is there any way to properly record them, though attempts may be made to do so.

DAY 076-077
The strange occurrences of recent days continue as something attempts to lead residents out into the southern forest should they venture within view of the treeline. Unrecognizable voices may call out incoherently or the sounds of someone moving through the trees may pull at their attention. Or, perhaps, a dark figure entering the forest will catch their eye, pulling them to follow the possibly feminine figure with no discernible characteristics.

Whatever it is, it will lead them along the paths or even away from their relative safety, winding this way and that until they're completely lost within the expanse of sun-dappled trees that seem innocent and threatening at the same time. There is nothing left to do but continue following that figure that is always just ahead at the edge of sight.

Eventually, the trees stop and there is a stretch of clearing, the sky a crisp blue overhead, sun shining down and yet—

That dark figure is still shrouded in shadow, as are the other four that have joined it. All slight with long hair, something feminine in the way they stand with hands held out at their sides, facing outward in a line along the edge of the ravine that borders the township, though for some reason their features cannot be focused on enough for true comprehension. They stand there in silence as if waiting, so close to the edge that a strong wind could easily knock them over into oblivion. A concerned resident might try to stop them; a curious one might try to finally get a better look at the figures that led them to this place. Regardless of the reason, any movement into the clearing toward them will end in the same result.

All five figures step forward as one and disappear into the nothingness below.

The ravine so deep that the bottom cannot be seen and wide enough that the other side is tantalizingly out of reach. At first, there is the sense that safety is just beyond if only they could get there, but with that sensation is also the knowledge that if they stay here, death will be a certainty. The edge seems unsteady, like getting too close would set it crumbling and send them tumbling into that as well...

That is when those who do venture to the edge see the truth of the ravine and what lies beyond it: nothing. There is a neverending dark nothingness below and beyond this ravine, beyond this town, and there is something staring back from within the dark.

DAY 078
As morning arrives in Mathias, so too does the storm. Those clouds that hovered in the distance move in quickly, plunging the town into a twilight-like darkness. The rumbling that breaks the silence is like that of a thunderstorm but infinitely more ominous, signaling something approaching that is not meant for the world of man. Within just a few minutes, the residents will learn why as lightning arcs across the sky, the cracks of powerful energy echoing through the air. Those branching spikes at first remain in the sky, but then suddenly they crash down to meet the earth, striking the Lighthouse. The sound of splintering wood and pierced metal fills the air, followed moments later by the roaring crackle of a fire raging into existence. Those cracks and crashes continue as the lightning moves inward, hitting the forest, the beach, and the Grey Gull before moving down Phillips Drive to attack the homes left rotting by time.

While the lightning eventually retreats to the sky, the fire spreads with purpose. It leaps from building to building, consuming everything in its path. It is a living, breathing thing driven by a need to devour. There is no stopping or controlling the almost sentient entity, for it does not behave as fire normally would — it skips buildings before doubling back, burns when there's nothing to fuel it, and seems to almost actively pursue residents fleeing to safety. Ultimately, the fire consumes everything east of the Library, from Jackson Boulevard to the beach and the northeastern forest to the Lighthouse; for an unknown reason, it does not venture farther inland than this.

Ash falls from the sky like snow throughout the town as the eastern half of Mathias glows a terrifying raging red. Residents may seek sanctuary in businesses along the square or in areas in the western half of the town, though the latter will not be without its own risks and consequences.

SANITY LOSS

There are multiple opportunities for sanity loss within this log. All instances of such should be reported before the next log.
— BANEBERRY SEDATIVES These will effect all who have taken them, regardless of type, quantity, or frequency, until the storm on day 78. Each night of nightmares will result in 1 point of sanity loss for a potential total loss of 6 points.

— FIGURES IN THE FOREST All who witness the figures jump into ravine will suffer 3 points of sanity loss.

— SEEING BEYOND THE RAVINE Any who see the truth of what is beyond the ravine will suffer 7 points of sanity loss that cannot be recovered. Additionally, any Madness that results from this sanity loss begins immediately.

— DEATH BY FIRE All who are killed by the fire lose 3 sanity points and gain the Madness pyrophobia for seven days, which should be reported. The pyrophobia will be experienced at an intensive level for the duration of the Madness.

CONDITIONS UPDATE

— THE WEATHER Summer has arrived in Mathias, bringing with it warm days that average 70°F and comfortably cool nights.

— THE FOG has maintained its recent 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 have ceased for the moment but they're sure to begin again soon.

OOC NOTES

— ENDGAME We are officially heading into endgame. Over the next few months, things will begin ramping up and moving toward the always planned conclusion, with the last log projected to go up between the end of October and middle of December.

What does this mean? Essentially, hopefully, this will mean more opportunities to dig into the mysteries and lore of the game, as well as more chances for your characters to creep toward insanity. However, how things progress and what information comes to light will depend upon character interaction with the setting and involvement with the mysteries of Mathias.

— ITEMS FROM HOME All items from home have returned to the exact state and location in which they were last seen. This includes all clothing and possessions they had on their person when they arrived in Mathias (or, for arrivals in the previous log, what they should have had). Items from home that were left behind by other characters no longer in the game have also returned.

— THE FIRE A rough representation of where the fire spreads is available over here.

— REMINDER There are a lot of moving parts to this log, as there will be for all logs going forward. Read the narrative and all OOC notes thoroughly and carefully. Ask questions if something is not clear, but please also look through questions others have asked for further clarification.

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I suppose.

( he sighs, looking around and shaking his head. )

That's where my family is. Who knows what's happened while I've been here.

( he's sure that someone's been daggered and put in a coffin. )

[ elena's brows furrow as she considers his answer. he really does feel responsible for them, doesn't he? while elena worries endlessly about jeremy to the point where she feels anxious butterflies flutter in her ribcage, she knows he'll be okay. he's resilient. she can trust him to be smart.

she wonders if elijah can trust his family in the same way.

she regards him with a teasing smile. ] Are you the responsible one?

Yes.

( of course he's the responsible one and he's pretty sure that she knows that. even when he'd been doing some terrible things, he'd still been the one to clean up the messes of his family because that's how it was.

he sighs and makes a face at her. )

I am the responsible one. Did you honestly think my brother was going to hold that title?

You have other brothers, don't you?

[ elena glances at him before looking away. while he may be mr responsible, surely someone else in his family could hold that title? coming from a smaller family means that title sharing doesn't happen as often as it perhaps does in a larger family. jeremy is the pain in the ass younger sibling who acts out and elena's the older sibling who keeps her shit together.

quietly, ] I definitely don't think Klaus is the responsible one.

Klaus is definitely not the responsible one.

( klaus is the one that goes off half cocked and gets them all into things that they wouldn't want to be in. klaus is the one that shoves them into coffins when he doesn't get his way. klaus is not responsible. )

Klaus is the one that likes to be irresponsible and that leads to me or perhaps my sister having to do something to stop him from getting himself killed.

( it doesn't matter that it's not easy to kill klaus. he can still be incapacitated. )

Edited 2021-08-09 22:51 (UTC)

Why don't you let him?

[ elena knows the answer as soon as she thinks to ask it. family. he'd do anything for family, just like she would. it doesn't matter to her that jeremy's her biological cousin and not her brother, he'll always be her little sibling. she imagines it's the same for elijah. klaus, no matter what he's done, will always be his brother. ]

I thought he was invincible.

Because he won't truly die. He'll be incapacitated for a short time and then he'll come back and he'll take it out on everyone and everything. I'd like to prevent that.

( and klaus is his brother. he wants to do his best to protect him from that. )

I don't want to expose anyone to his temper.

So...

[ elena pauses for a moment, glancing down at the ground. she's beginning to realise quite quickly that she can say almost anything to elijah and he won't seemingly grow too offended. he's not emotionally volatile like damon... but he's still an unknown.

her brows furrow together. she muses, ] You let him hurt you instead?

Edited 2021-08-09 23:38 (UTC)

Better me than someone who wouldn't survive it. I'm used to it.

( elijah is aware on how that sounds but he stands by it. he sighs and shakes his head. )

Klaus isn't perfect but he's my family and I will do everything I can to keep my family in one piece.

[ elena's not sure if things have changed since she last saw elijah. she remembers him being hellbent on stopping his brother, even implying he'd kill him to end the suffering his family has undergone... maybe things have changed. maybe klaus has given him some glimmer of hope...

or maybe elijah isn't quite as strong with a spine made of steel like she had originally believed of him. klaus still killed her. he still killed jenna.

feeling her heart begin to race a little too heavily and quickly and her breathing begins to grow shallow, elena quietly withdraws her hand from elijah and holds her wrist in her palm. after seeing those silhouettes leap from the ravine...

she's fine. ]

What's the matter?

( it's not hard to notice that she's reacted to either something he's said or something around them. but, she's not talking and all he can do is ask.

he frowns. )

We should go back.

[ isn't that what they're doing? she's not near the ravine and she can't peer down it and almost tip over. they're walking. that's all they can ever do here—walk. walk, walk, walk, walk, walk. elena's growing tired of reacting.

elena stops walking. ]

I want to go back. [ she looks up at him, regarding him with a furrow of her brows. ] To the ravine. I want to try something.

You want to try something at the ravine?

( he really doesn't like the sound of that but he knows he can't stop her. still, he makes sure she knows that he doesn't want her to do that. )

What do you want to try, Elena?

[ it isn't an outright refusal. elena jiggles her foot for a moment before she twists, almost turning around fully to go back. she remains standing on the spot as she looks to where they've come. ]

I want to know what's at the bottom of it.

[ she looks to elijah, anticipating him rejecting her proposal immediately. ]

By throwing something down there... like a rock. I want to hear if it has a bottom.

( he's very glad that she adds something to that because he'd been prepared to scoop her up and haul her back if she wanted to get into that hole.

even this isn't an action he thinks they really need. )

And what is that going to do? If there's a bottom, you're still not going in there.

072-078 » pages of possible futures

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