079-081 » to the hideous end

[villagemod]

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?

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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.

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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.

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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...

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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

Comments

Night79/Early morning 80 - Locked to Fedyor

[tinstar]

Raylan had finally fallen into a fitful rest, the first bit of rest he'd seen in days, but Mathis was keen on ruining whatever peace that the Marshal might find. He'd curled up in a corner, tucked into himself like he had when he was small and trying to avoid Arlo's fury and fists.  The restless darkness that folded him up was quickly replaced with-

He was sure he'd only stepped out for a minute but as soon as he turned around, the house was on fire, Doc and Malcolm and Neal, Negan and Ainsley beating on the windows. He tried his best to beat on the windows, tried to kick in the doors until the heat beat him back. But his stumble back stumbled him right into Penhew House.

A glamorous party was clearly going on and despite the fresh smell of smoke in his nose, there was no fire to be seen. As Raylan's eyes darted over the faces, he realized - 'I know some of these faces'. He watched in an enraptured fascination as the butler came out and everyone, in their fine 70's attire, collected a dagger. He half knew what was coming, though not in what form, and stayed stock still as they cut themselves for the morbid ink like it was turning their keys in for a swinger party.

This we offer in humility and fear

Raylan jolted awake from his passing respite with a sharp breath, brow beaded with sweat as he hastily pushed himself to his feet, eyes darting left and right as the bumps in the schoolhouse grew, the fluttering of paper like a ghost that followed them around. He couldn't stand it anymore - being in here, listening to the shuffles of other people and not knowing if they were there or not and it only took another few seconds of that before Raylan was breaking for the schoolhouse door.

Ten minutes later, he's ambling past Town Hall and the center part of town, half muttering to himself as he heads towards Phillips Drive and the beach.

[etovosts]

Fedyor is awake, partly because he's trying to keep a steady watch on Kirigan throughout the night in case he needs to try and put him back to sleep, and partly because the bookstore isn't making it easy for them to rest. It's minor nuisances, really, the way the door seems to open and close or the sound of someone perusing the books, but it adds up. And Fedyor is still moderately convinced he can catch whatever it is that's doing it.

Which is how he sees Raylan wandering, seemingly aimless along the streets of the little town. He's about to close the now opened door of the shop and ignore the man - the town is strange, after all, and likes to play its tricks - but he can't quite bring himself to turn away. Fedyor frowns momentarily. He glances back inside the shop to make sure Kirigan and Alina are fine, then he steps out into the early hours of the day.

"I'm not certain it's wise to be out on these streets alone."

[tinstar]

Normally, the Marshal was an attentive man, head kept on a swivel, drink or not. But there was no drink. No drink and no job and no security to give him ground to stand on. The stresses of Mathis were starting to show on him, looking thinner than a healthy, if lean, man should be, and his face was pale and haunted in the pale moonlight as he jump started with a back of the throat sound.

Fedyor was taken in with an open expression of fear that slowly crept down into wary, wild-eyed suspicion that likely looked worse for the healed scars across the left side of his face. The ring on his right hand was worried back and forth as he prepared himself for Fedyor to be some kind of hallucination or another one of Mathis's tricks.

"There's no safe space here at night, we're all doomed-" he started, a little too manic and unhinged for even his unhinged liking and he tried to reign that in. "I don't know your face, who are you?"

[etovosts]

Fedyor waited a moment, trying not to frown as Raylan started to rave a little. Luckily, the man seemed self aware enough to catch it and move on, which Fedyor was internally grateful for.

"My apologies," he said, giving a demure sort of nod of his head. "My name is Fedyor. I recently arrived here. Perhaps you're familiar with my General, Kirigan?" He felt like most people around here seemed to have some knowledge of Kirigan.

[tinstar]

Doc would have been horrified at Raylan's manners and if he was fully in his right mind, Raylan would as well. He wasn't normally so curt.

Raylan's face pinched softly at the name; it was wildly, delightfully unfamilar, but his face opened, eyebrows lifting and Kirigan's name. He didn't get the same sense off Fedyor that he did from Kirigan, but that didn't mean they were far off from each other. Still, everyone was granted their grain of salt here. It did mean he assumed that Fedyor was a mage of some sort, and he assumed that wasn't too bold of him.

"The bad Johnny Cash dressup with furs, yeah, I know him. Well. We've talked a couple of times," he admitted with an almost nervous glance down the street that had nothing at all to do with the Darkling. "So that means you're a magic user right? I'm sorry, I'm not the best at pickin' up new vocabulary and he ran through all the terms kinda fast; I'm not sure what you call it. Do you also do the Shadow thing?"

Fedyor had a kind face, but a lot of terrible people did and Raylan was a wary soul anyway.

[etovosts]

Having no idea who Johnny Cash is, Fedyor decided not to dwell on it. His hunch was right, the man was familiar with Kirigan. More or less.

"Not quite, but magic will do for now." He offered a smile of understanding. It didn't take a heartrender to see the distress inside Raylan, and the last thing he needed was a more thorough education on Small Science and how a Grisha's gifts work. Then, he shook his head.

"That particular ability is unique, only found in the General's bloodline. Mine is a touch more common. I can manipulate the body, internally, which has many applications from physical to emotional. Perhaps one day I can explain it more thoroughly to you."

[tinstar]

He was sure that Fedyor meant that to be comforting but frankly, 'I can manipulate all the different parts of you' was not something that was easily taken as that. The reassurance of having a basic understanding, the permission to apply the generalized 'Magic' label, was immediately undercut by confusion.

A sound from their left made Raylan swivel his head away - there was a threat here, but it wasn't Fedyor or his scary sounding abilities.

"Can you manipulate them then? Whatever is out here, can you make it stop?"

[etovosts]

Fedyor's gaze followed Raylan's, less frantic but still concerned. His lips pressed together as he looked out in the darkness.

"Perhaps. I must be able to see them, and anything beyond human physiology is tricky. To say the least." Because he studied the human body, and he knew the human body inside and out, and one ran into complications when trying to connect that knowledge to something built differently.

Not to mention, he wasn't nearly as strong here as he should be.

"I cannot even pinpoint a heartbeat."

[tinstar]

"Shit," Raylan swore under his breath, ansty now that he wasn't moving. "I wouldn't be out here if it wasn't for that goddamned dream in the first place."

He shook his head and focused back on Fedyor. Back to things to things he could see and understand.

"Seems to be that no one's magic works the way it ought to here, from what I've heard. You said it wasn't safe to be out here and you're right so what are you doin' out here?"

[etovosts]

"I did say it wasn't safe to be alone, and now neither of us are alone, hmm?"

Fedyor smiled again, a fleeting attempt at keeping Raylan's panic from rising. Then he tilted his head curiously.

"You're suffering from nightmares?"

[tinstar]

"Suppose so."

It worked, in hand with Fedyor's yet unbroken confidence. Ah to be young and self assured again. It had almost been too long since he'd felt that feeling, seen people largely untouched by Mathis's bullshit, full and whole in their stable idea of Self.

"Yeah," he continued with a short nod, eyes already busy looking for something else. "Normally, they're about everyone I know here trapped in these buildings, burnin' alive and screamin' out for me. Tonight was.." He shook his head sharply. "Different. Saw the people that used to live here. Mid 1970's if I had to guess by the black tie attire. Cuttin' themselves, offerin' up a spiral of their blood.. This we offer in humility and fear." The end was dry and bitterly sardonic. Mathis could have his humility when she pried it from his cold dead hands.

Fear, however, was a different story.

"Do you have him? Kirigan? Did he get away from the fire?" Raylan might not be what one would call a 'friend' of Kirigan's, but such petty luxurious titles didn't have much of a place here in Mathis, not when they were negitive.