villagelogs | 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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Raylan managed to hoist a faint curl of his lips at the way Ellie grabbed on to the guitar and he shrugged in return at the question, pushing off the doorframe and meandering into the room properly. If he was going to linger, he could at least do it in full view.

"Sittin' down might make me too comfortable, so I'm good." He wasn't 'good'. But upright meant conscious, meant he wasn't going to fall back into the nightmares that tormented what few seconds of rest he managed. "Not that you're looking like you're at top scratch, missy," he drawled back, wagging one finger at her.

He didn't doubt her sincerity, but they had a repertoire. One he'd tried and failed to adjust so this was what it was. This was good, for how few things in Mathis were. None of them were okay.

"Fire's got a way of.. motivatin' us," he accepted with a bob of his head. "I couldn't stay and help as much as I wanted too." Raylan was sure he didn't need to explain why. "But the food stores are still replenishing, the lights are still on, we've still got potable water.." Raylan started pacing then, thumb worrying the backend of his horseshoe ring again. The poor thing might give out soon, considering how much he's fiddled with it.

"But you're okay? No burns or nothing?" Even as he paced, his eyes drifted back to her face at the question, leaving the door open to non-physical injuries if she wanted.

She bites back a remark about how she's pretty sure he's not fucking good because what's the point? They both already know.

"Yeah, well. No one here's really hot shit these days, are they? Henry's all banged to shit down the hall and I haven't even seen Neal or Malcolm. There's fucking bodies all over, but I'm not even sure all of us are actually dead, or if this place is just fucking with us." After all, she saw the guy whose body she buried in this same room, so what's the truth here? There isn't any truth in Mathias, maybe. She hates that thought.

Plus she's also pretty sure there is actually some kind of death curse on her but she hasn't said that out loud to anyone because that's extra batshit. But she can't shake the feeling.

She shrugs as best she can despite holding the instrument.

"I don't know. I buried some dude I don't know. I found him in the fucking cemetery. Slap in the fucking face, you know? This dude bites it in the cemetery? Except then I just met him and he was fine. I might have thought I made it up, but Ainsley helped me bury him. No burns. I'm not hurt, but…were you in the woods a few days ago? Before the fire? There was some messed up shit out there."

She has no idea if anyone else saw it. She'd run into Klaus when she'd booked it away from those creepy shadow women or whatever they were. Not women, not human. Something else.

Let him have somethin' El.

As she gets into her lists, Raylan's chin drops, jaw working faintly as he tried to handle the images that flashed through his head of pulling Malcolm off his rebar spike, Doc with the crusted blood around his mouth, the limbs of Tim sticking out of the lighthouse rubble. "They felt real enough," he protested softly, brow pinching faintly as he picked at phantom dirt under his finger nails before dropping his hands with a nod. He was fine with himself having to suffer doing that work but it killed him more than a little that she had to.

Raylan looked over with a sharp interest as she mentions the woods, before the fire. Oh, he had seen and the way he turns his body to face her with full attention suggested as much. "How much did you see?" he asked, stepping half a step forward with a forward cant of his head. "How far did you go, Ellie?"

079-081 » to the hideous end

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