villagemod: (sᴛᴏɴᴇ)
The Village Mod ([personal profile] villagemod) wrote in [community profile] villagelogs2021-08-01 05:41 pm

079-081 » to the hideous end

WHO: Everyone
WHERE: Mathias Township proper
WHEN: Days 079-081
WHAT: More mysteries are revealed in the aftermath.
WARNINGS: (PM this account to have a warning added!)
NOTES: Plotting post over here! The next log will be posted the weekend of August 22 29.
MOD NOTE: Thank you again for your patience!

RECOMMENDED ♫ Deadly Avenger "Kosho"





DAY 079-081

“If I am mad, it is mercy! May the gods pity the man
who in his callousness can remain sane to the hideous end!”
― H.P. Lovecraft

The day dawns red from the smoke that still hangs in the air, though the fires have long since burned out overnight. Ash covers the ground like grey snow all throughout Mathias, even to Baneberry Hall at the far edge of the town. There is still a strange heat clinging to the little town as if the fog that surrounds them has trapped even the temperature within its borders, but the skies have at least cleared of those ominous storm clouds.

While the fires have gone, the ruin they left behind remains. The eastern side of town is full of the charred shells of what were once homes, collapsed walls and questionable flooring warning off those who might consider venturing inside. There may be a few salvageable items within the wreckage but it certainly won't be much, and those foolish enough to try searching the rubble may sustain injuries in the attempt.

What residents are almost guaranteed to find in their wanderings through the town are decidedly more unsettling. Scattered throughout the town are the corpses of current residents seemingly still alive and well, their causes of death as varied as their locations: crushed bones and organs on the beach; asphyxiation on the steps of the library; broken neck in the tunnels under the residential district. The time of death is equally as varied, with some still warm to the touch while others have begun to rot and decay like the buildings around them.

And if that isn't enough to send their anxiety spiking, they will find that the darkness in Mathias has become even less welcoming than before. From nightfall to sunrise, wherever they have chosen to shelter, strange things may happen from one night to the next. These occurrences are not consistent, either across the night or the location, and no patterns arise to make sense of what happens. It is simply another oddity of Mathias perhaps designed to drive them further into madness.



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.



THE RESURRECTED

Those who perished on Day 078 will wake with the smell of burnt flesh still filling their nostrils, near what little remains of their former body. This will likely be in the crumbling, unstable remains of whatever building they were trapped inside. Welcome back to the land of the... living?






CORPSES BY DAY

— During any day of this log, characters may find one or more corpses in a location around town. This is an activity that must be opted-into by both players involved: the corpse-owner and the corpse-finder.

— The corpses that appear are only those of current residents within Mathias. The cause of death does not need to match any previous deaths that characters may have experienced in-game, though it should be only natural or possibly accidental — there should be no signs of the cause being an intentional death. (And, for the sake of your fellow players, please try to keep it light on the gore.)

— Corpses may be found in any outdoor location or inside any space where characters are not currently sheltering (such as the crumbling homes on the west side or the burned homes on the east side). The corpses will not appear inside any location where characters have been sleeping.

— The corpses can appear at various times throughout the day, meaning that a character may pass by the library in the morning with no corpse on the steps and then pass by again in the afternoon to suddenly find a corpse hanging out there.

— There may be items or clues found upon the corpses! These are not guaranteed for everyone. Players should submit this form to find out if they've won the Mathias Lottery.


TERRORS BY NIGHT

— Where players have chosen to shelter at night may have unexpected consequences, especially for those in the western half of Mathias. All characters must be accounted for.

— Mod feedback will provide either confirmation that nothing unusual happens in this location or details of any strange or unsettling occurrences on a given night and the potential consequences of staying there.

— If a player wants to opt-out of the consequences of their character staying in a particular location on a specific night, they must find another location at which their character can shelter.








SANITY LOSS
There are multiple opportunities for sanity loss within this log. All instances of such should be reported before the next log.
CORPSE DISCOVERY Depending on your character's mental state, their relationship to the corpse, and the cause of death, sanity loss can range from 1-5 points per corpse found. This amount is up to the individual player. Items found on a corpse may also induce additional sanity loss per mod instruction.

NIGHTTIME LOCATIONS Some locations within Mathias are safer than others at night. Players will receive mod feedback on their chosen nighttime locations which may include sanity loss for some things experienced.







CONDITIONS UPDATE
THE WEATHER Summer continues in Mathias, with 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 & DEATHS have started up again. Neal Caffrey, Athena Carrigan, Jeff Calhoun, and Caitlin Snow have vanished from the town while Wynonna Earp died in the town fires.

THE SHAPES in the water may be spotted more frequently, and residents may get the sense that whatever is out there is watching them and waiting for something...





OOC NOTES
ENDGAME (Repeat message.) 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.

SANITY NOTES
— Make sure that you're reported any sanity losses from the last log and claimed any madnesses earned with those losses. And report all the losses from this log before the next is posted!

— There is now additional guidance available about what happens when characters fall below 50 sanity points.

— A reminder that sanity may be regained through character actions.

APPLICATIONS There are only two application rounds left before apps will be permanently closed. If you're trying to lure someone in for the end of the game, now is the time to get enabling.

FORMS If there are comments on posts that have forms, please try to remember to respond directly to that comment. With DW notifs sporadically going missing, I rely on those comments ending up in the proper journal inbox, which is the only way I'm guaranteed to see them.

MOD UPDATE The summer program I run is over but I'm back in person at the office for the first time in 16 months, so life is still incredibly stressful and I will continue to be slow for the next while.

I will be prioritizing sleeping location and corpse responses for this log since these are timely matters with information you will need in order to move forward.

REMINDER Once again, there are a lot of moving parts to this log. Ask questions if something is not clear! Please also make sure to check questions others ask, as well.


navigation | faq | locations | report updates

ofthegeek: (can you believe this guy)

[personal profile] ofthegeek 2021-08-13 07:07 pm (UTC)(link)
[ So maybe every time something terrible and traumatic has happened in this town and Hardison has thought to himself, "it could've been worse, my first day here busted out the worst-case scenario, I can compartmentalize everything after that as a cakewalk."

Maybe every time he did that, he was just jinxing them and lining himself up for another worst-case scenario to sideline them when least expected. Maybe that's on him.

He comes looking for Parker because he thought he heard her, and then because he definitely heard her and it was terrifying, the tone of her voice. When he runs up panic is already squeezing his chest like a painful vice. Which is handy, because that's what it would've done anyway. Parker, Eliot, CPR. Questions like how did this happen can wait until later.

Right now, what matters is gracelessly sliding in next to them on his knees and reaching over. ]


I got the compressions, lemme know if you need to switch.

[ And if Eliot is cold, looks too pallid, well hey, the man drowned, but it could've just happened, it might not be too late, and he told Eliot he couldn't do this again, he told him-- even with Parker here, even knowing they're in some weird matrix thing where dying doesn't always stick--

For as long as he can wrangle it, for as long as it takes for the reality of what they're dealing with to set in, Hardison wants to hope that there's a real chance he won't have to do it again (that Parker won't have to, up close and personal). ]
sharker: (hang on now what)

[personal profile] sharker 2021-08-15 03:55 am (UTC)(link)
[ Feeling Hardison kneel down next to her doesn't fix anything. It doesn't bring Eliot back. It doesn't make everything okay.

But he understands like no one else could. There are no impossible questions (what happened?), no exclamations of shock and dismay that would only make the whole situation worse. He's just there, accepting the situation for what it is and taking over for her, and she gasps in a shuddering breath, what feels like the first breath she's taken since she'd first discovered Eliot lying on the shore.

She moves over to let him take over the chest compressions, counting the beats to continue giving mouth-to-mouth in tandem with him. Deep down a part of her already fears the truth. There's been no change. There won't be. Eliot's body is too bloated with lakewater, his skin cold and clammy. If there'd been a window to save him, it's long since closed.

But she can't let herself accept it. So she keeps going, filling her mind with counting and breathing and nothing else, fighting until her hands are weak and shaking and her vision is spotted black with dizziness.

And then further. She has to keep trying. She has to. ]
ofthegeek: (time 2 do something brave)

[personal profile] ofthegeek 2021-08-18 06:37 pm (UTC)(link)
[ He keeps going as long as it could possibly make sense to and then some. If nothing else can be said of them, they're no easy quitters. Not when it's this important.

But there's a point, somewhere down the line, where the inevitable gears of reality click into motion. It's not any easier than the first time. Not really. Brings some veneer of numbness with it, maybe, some bare remove and inability to process that he didn't have last time, but it's not any better.

No such thing as "enough is enough" with Mathias. The hits keep coming.

And what they're doing right now is, by every definition, too little too late.

Hardison falters.

Slows down.

Stops. ]


Parker.

[ His voice cracks on the tail end of her name, already straining. ]
sharker: (pic#2398620)

[personal profile] sharker 2021-08-20 03:27 am (UTC)(link)
[ She knows why he's stopping. She knows what he's trying to say without him saying it. Just hearing him say her name, in that awful, heartbreaking voice that brings fresh tears springing to her eyes, is enough.

But she doesn't stop. She shakes her head, refusing to look at him, keeping her eyes fixed on Eliot instead. ]


No.

[ If he won't continue, she will. She moves over, shoving him aside a little roughly so she can get in to start chest compressions again. It's not anything personal, a push to express her frustration or anger. Just Parker moving aside an obstacle that's in her way. She furrows her brow, focusing on the rhythm.

One. Two. Three. Another one bites the dust. ]


No!