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villagelogs2021-08-01 05:41 pm
villagemod) wrote in villagelogs2021-08-01 05:41 pm
Entry tags:
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 August22 29.
MOD NOTE: Thank you again for your patience!
RECOMMENDED ♫ Deadly Avenger "Kosho"
SANITY LOSS
CONDITIONS UPDATE
OOC NOTES
navigation | faq | locations | report updates
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
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.
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.
— 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...
— 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.
Day 81 - Closed to Parker and Hardison
[He finds his body first, early. It's the second time this has happened and while technically, it should be easier since he's gone through this horror before, it just...isn't.
There really isn't anything that can prepare yourself for seeing yourself. Dead. Physically, right there, dead, in front of you.
There doesn't seem to be any sign of trauma, and for all he knows, his doppelgänger could have dropped dead from cardiac arrest or anything, really. At least, he thinks it's a doppelgänger. Maybe it's still himself, and he simply didn't remember dying this time.
At this point he can't be too sure of anything.
He buries...himself, in the graveyard, and thinks about all the people he's killed that would have been pleased about this.
How many times can you bury yourself to make up for all the lives you've taken?
He finds her the next day. Outside the Antiques place, signs point to strangulation of some kind.
If he was not okay with finding his own body, he's absolutely beside himself (no pun intended) with finding her.
Because she shouldn't be dead. Right now he's not entirely sure that this isn't a double, or this might be...it.
It can't be it, she can't really be dead, but that doesn't mean she might not have gotten killed between now and when he'd seen her last and...
...this can't be happening. Parker simply can't die, he won't allow it. He promised, he promised to keep them both safe until his dying day, so maybe his dying day came and now they could no longer be kept safe.
Eliot stays next to Parker's body for awhile. Keeping her company. He wonders if maybe she would like that. Appreciate that. He doesn't cry, not on the outside.
He buries her in the graveyard.
He finds him the next day.
From what he can tell, looks like a head injury of some kind. Not from a fight, likely, he's seen enough of these to know what probably went down. Maybe from a bad fall.
He can't keep them safe anymore because he died, he gets it. That's what's happened here.
He closes Hardison's eyes and picks him up, carrying him to the graveyard to bury next to Parker.
He could still be alive, just because he found a body simply could mean this was yet another double.
This could be the last time he ever sees Hardison. But the age of the geek never ends, right?
He doesn't want to bury him. Hardison wouldn't like that, he hated being buried the first time. But he doesn't want Parker to get lonely, so into the dirt he goes.
He falls to his knees next to the fresh piles of dirt and hits the ground, over and over again, until his arms are sore and the ground is wet from angry tears.
He might be yelling in rage.
Eliot doesn't leave the graveyard for awhile, but eventually his legs protest and his stomach growls and he remembers that he might still be alive, somehow, even though he doesn't really feel like he's alive. Not with so much death. Not with seeing his own body.
He gets up, wandering back over to the movie theater, wondering if he'd see Hardison and Parker alive and well. Or their bodies, splayed out again on the ground in front of him.
He rubs his face. He's been through war, he's done horrific, irredeemable things. He will never, ever get the sight of Parker and Hardison's bodies out of his head.]
no subject
She hadn't wanted to return to the theatre afterwards, not without Eliot. So they'd stayed away, wandering like ghosts, until two days later. There's food there, at least, and a secure place to sleep. Parker doesn't plan on sleeping, but she doesn't tell Hardison that. He'd just worry.
But she does let him drag her back, the two of them leaning heavily on each other, arms around each other, sober and silent. They've changed, both of them, haunted by what they've seen.
When they get back, the theatre is dark and quiet. For a moment they just stand there, hand in hand, looking out across the empty room. And then Parker sobs, a sound ripped from deep in her throat, and throws her arms around Hardison, burying her face in his chest. ]
no subject
Hasn't been the greatest couple of days. To understate. Anyone who ever made the case that a second time doing this might be easier to swallow than the first was either wrong or an outright liar.
He can't even say Eliot will be back again. If he's gotten any vital takeaway from the extended time in this town, it's that doesn't always happen. It's not a huge hardship to avoid the theatre for a little while, all things considered. There's still places to go.
But it's a start. Walking back in. Having Parker's hand to hold.
It's a start. It's terrible. The half-expected, half-unexpected gut punch of an empty room. He wraps his arms back around Parker immediately, tight as he can. ]
I know.
[ The first time, at least, had terrible finality. The uncertainty that comes this time around, being in this straight-up horror movie town, makes it all that much worse. Leaves just enough room to hope a little, which is just enough hope to get the wind knocked out of them every time they turn around and Eliot's not there. ]