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?

---

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

Comments

CW: Suicide, self harm

[tinstar]

Believe it or not, Raylan had gone to and graduated collage and right now, Dorian was the Professor. Questions and statements were to be saved until after the lecture; take notes, students. And mental notes, he was taking. There were some exceptions and addendums 'scribbled' down, but he was listening.

He heard the begging and understood the points presented. Shame that Mathis had deteriorated things enough that Raylan was willing to finally reach out and Test Mathis's powers. It wasn't that he wasn't interested in the history - it was the key to the future and what Not to do, most of the time. But the more that Dorian pleaded for Raylan to set aside the clue he'd been given, the more this felt like the Chasm all over again. Dorian wasn't here for that but Raylan's obsession with getting across it had nearly gotten him killed. Well, a lot of things had nearly gotten him killed and Mathis had already scarred him. Her version of gunshot wounds.

Ask Malcolm or Doc how well that had gone.

Raylan lifted his eyes, hazel locking onto those blue-greys as his fingers laced back together between his knees.

"We're in a place, in a world that has already urged someone else into bleedin' themselves dry in the tunnels and she's already got enough blood to soak her ground, her sky, her air with it." The Other Mathis. He could taste the heavy iron on the back of his tongue and glanced out the window like he expected to see something out there. "So I don't plan on doin' it alone if I can help it, stop me from diggin' in too far. But this Thing has been here and been feed by this town since the 1700's. It's in the 2000's now, for context. So I'm more inclined to believe some two hundred years of cultish religion that kept them movin'."

He shifted a little to face Dorian more directly, keeping his serious eye contact. Raylan might not be fully in his head, but he wasn't acting insane. He didn't feel insane, a rare moment of clarity like a breath drawn after holding it for too long.

"Somethin's already been unleashed. Mathis has already destroyed us all, resurrected us like Jesus-" This came out 'Jaysus', accent heavier for his passion in point. "She's already puttin' us through worse. Doin' the math, I don't think I can fuck up much else and if it's intent.." He breathed in through his nose. "I got will enough that she stop her bullshit. Otherwise, she's gonna push us all to doin' it."

Better him then the younger ones. Tim, Ellie, Callisto.

[nottevintersoldier]

Dorian listens, keeping that stern eye contact and he feels a foreboding sense of familiarity. For a moment, it's not Raylan sitting there with him it's the Inquisitor, talking about taking the weight of the world on their shoulders and doing anything and everything to protect everyone else, no matter the cost. But this time he's not so sure that Raylan can withstand what he's talking about doing. Sure, he doesn't doubt the Marshal has the willpower or the strength, but it's the understanding of what he's going to attempt to do that might undo him. They could talk for hours till he's hoarse from it, trying to teach him, but from someone who's never so much as cast a spell in his entire life, getting a crash course in basic magic would be hard. Pulling off some Blood Magic ritual might destroy him. Or worse. Depending on what the ritual is meant to do, or what Mathias is trying to get them to do for her.

He feels sick in his stomach but he can see the determination, this thing is going to happen with or without him. And he can't in good conscience let that happen. Maybe in the days to come, he could try to talk them out of it or find another way, if he were able to even get up and go to the library or look around for an alternative. But he doesn't know that much about this town or its history, not like Raylan and the other and maybe he should try to trust them on this, for as much as this feels like a trap. They are in this together and he wouldn't feel right sitting back and ignoring it while they went to their deaths. If this were to succeed or fail, he should be there with them to make sure, if anything, maybe they make it out alive. Even if he's sure Mathias would bring them back regardless. They are its only food source.

Dorian closes his eyes, and his hands in his lap tremble as he breathes in deep through his nose and releases a great, slow lung full before making a decision.

"Let me do it." He doesn't know how the Inquisitor does this. But if anyone ANYONE in this town has any kind of chance of making this work, it's him. He's the one with the most knowledge. For as much as he hates to admit it, he has some specialties based in Blood Magic, his father taught him to hate it. But being from Tevinter meant he knew exactly what to do with it if he had wanted to. And there were times, Maker help him, that he had been tempted. At least now, maybe he could do something with it that could protect others. It's unlikely, but if it's going to happen anyway, he may as well be the one to do it.

"Maker take me, I will do it. Whatever you are attempting, whatever this is, I need to know everything you or anyone else knows about this ritual. I need to see what we're working with and at least try to work out what it's for. I am the only one in this town that might have a chance at making this go how we want it to. I don't doubt you have the will for it, the anger, the desire to protect everyone, but without a lick of magical prowess you don't stand a chance." It's harsh but true.

"I think it's a trap. Maybe we will satisfy her for a few days but she'll want more, and this will likely have to be something we have to keep feeding until we figure out another way. It's likely to be putting a bandaid on a lost limb, but... I can't let you do this alone." He hates this. But he trusts them and he wants to do everything in his power to make sure they are safe.

[tinstar]

What Raylan was asking was a lot, for some reason. A reason he was very curious about but that question would have to hold for a few minutes as he let Dorian talk, eyebrows lifting a little at the offer and taking in the small cues that everyone inevitably gave, the trembling of Dorian's hand, where his words showed his inclination to jump into in front of the proverbial bullet.

Raylan wasn't sorry but he also didn't feel like he had Dorian fully on that hook yet.

He knew he'd owe Dorian for this, even without understanding the full berth of subject, but whatever the cost he had to pay, he felt it was worth it. Mathis had tormented in a new way, mentally, but he could withstand most of it. He had to, being the kind of man that was unable to give up.

"If it doesn't work or if it makes things worse, we won't do it again," he promised. "We're hedgin' a lotta different bets here, but what we learn outta it is gonna be invaluable. I know you're scared about pokin' that particular bear but we can't do nothing." With a deep breath, Raylan detailed out the dream he'd had, from the suits down to the unbothered way everyone went around it.

"It felt like it was normal for them. No sacred words, no incantations, just.. Gin and Juice."

[nottevintersoldier]

Dorian sits in silence for a moment, brows knitted as he puzzles out the details Raylan tells him about the dream. Powerful men and women from the town, gathering for a party and doing this ritual where they cut themselves, draw spirals and carry on like nothing. But there are small details that seem important to the ritual even if someone unfamiliar with magic may not realize.

"So there were 12 knives, and 12 people, all drawing different spirals on a mirror in blood." He muses, "Does anyone have one of these knives they used? The black ... stone? handle? And you said there was a spiral in the blade?"

[tinstar]

Raylan shook his head, eyes turning back up to Dorian. "We only know where one knife is. Small, ceremonial. Not a perfect match to the ones in my dream. A girl here, Ellie, found it in the tunnels with a bowl of blood. She had a dream too, people bleeding themselves dry down there. I'd rather use other tools than that. Somethin' about it makes me not trust it more than everythin' else. And I don't trust this dream either, I know a trap when I see one." His eyes drifted off into a nothing point on the wall, jaw working back and forth.

"But somethin's gotta give. We're too vulnerable in the dark. No tellin' how long the electricity grid holds up, if we're even left the wires after attacks. We'll be dead if we're left in it too long," he muttered, shaking his head and running a hand through his hair.

"Normally, I would ask you if you were sure. Don't make any sense, asking you to do what I'm willin' to. Just know you don't have to and if you beg off, no one is gonna look at you any kinda way." Just in case that was a worry. Raylan doubted it was, but just in case.

[nottevintersoldier]

"Hm," He hums thoughtfully, "You make good points, but if you want to do this sometimes there's less risk in doing it right down to the letter, rather than making do, or making it up as you go."

He rubs the back of his neck, trying to think of ways to explain this to someone who's never practiced magic, "It takes years to master spells because every detail is important to make it work properly or work at all. Missing a word, missing a minute detail in how you draw a spiral in blood, the wrong color candle, etc."

He sighs, "I do agree, this feels like a trap, but the only piece of this ritual we know is important, other than the mirror itself and the blood, is that knife. I can maybe work with something else if you don't want to trust it, but it'll be an extra step. That knife is already ... consecrated, in a way, for the ritual we are going to preform. It's like... how do I explain this... that knife already has the symbol and magic etched into it, it is made to draw blood to perhaps get the attention of whatever you wish to call to, to satisfy with the ritual, its an instrument specifically for this very thing. It's been used in the original ritual. It has significance. It has potency."

He's not sure what he says even makes sense or is even giving the right kind of weight to the meaning of the specific ritual item, but it is important to do things to the letter, etc if they want the proper effect.

"However, using something new that I can... imbue for our use to ... essentially start fresh? It may give us more sway, or it may not. It won't hold as much power as the original artifact or instrument. But I assume we have the mirror and clearly we have a location, so that alone is a start. I'll need to... essentially speak to Mathias or... whatever this thing is that hungers for blood and is leading us there. And we can hope, without the numbers, without the exact details of the ritual, that we won't fuck it up too badly that we'll be ripped apart or worse." He studies the other man a moment.

"Doing spells, especially blood magic, with half-measures comes with great risk, but it can be done. There are three ways this will go, it won't work at all, it will work as planned and maybe we'll get answers, or it'll kill us. I hope you understand that. The latter is most likely. Even more so without all the material components or any kind of instruction or guide or anything to do the ritual proper." He shakes his head when the other gives him reassurance that he can back out at any point.

"I don't feel good about it, I won't lie, but with me helping, we have just a slight better chance of surviving this."

[tinstar]

"If I ask Ellie for the knife, she'll want to join us. I ain't willin' to ask that of her," he explained in kind, gentle and patient tone with a faint shake of his head. "I understand what you're tellin' me and if it was anyone else... I would be knockin' on their door. But I've already watched too many young people get messed up by Mathis's bullshit."

Claire, Athena, Quentin, Will even - though Will wasn't exactly the same kind of Young and was pretty damned broken when he came in to begin with. But he had been an example in deteriorate. He couldn't do it again. Wouldn't do it again and bloodletting wasn't breaking into the Lodge. He wasn't going to exclude Ellie from everything for her age but this. This was different.

"Doc's sharpened butter knife. Was what I was plannin'. I can lift it from him early if you need time with it but.. Dorian, you oughta know what happened the last time a Warlock, a Magician, a Mage, whatever you wanna call it, he ended up coughin' up a chunk of his lung. I've already died by this place twice. Malcolm's already in the ground once, though he-" Raylan breathed in sharply, reaching up to pinch at the bridge of his nose as he pushed everything back into it's place. "He swears he didn't die, he didn't experience it."

Thank god for small favors.

"I appreciate you doin' this. Stickin' your neck out, helpin' me. But I'll be honest with you from the jump. This is Mathis. We might die doin' it regardless. I'm fully aware. It's somethin' that I've considered. And at this point it's an acceptable risk. Because you're right.. There are worse things than Death."

He didn't have to know Magic to know that.

"If you wanna pull out of it at any point, I won't blame ya for it. You barely know us."

[nottevintersoldier]

Dorian fixes his gaze on Raylan, listening, taking it all in, and weighing his options, which, in the end, doesn't really take long. He knows what he has to do, but perhaps Raylan should know where he stands. It's kind of him to give him an out, but he won't take it, even with the threat of whatever this thing may do to him.

"I'm not afraid of whatever pain or death I may experience. I've... I have seen and felt plenty, I'll survive, one way or the other. I don't think Mathias is quite done with any of us yet and clearly, we are her favorite toys, so I'll be back. We're here for a reason. And we're here to stay, like it or not. Perhaps the only way out of this place is death when she's tired of playing with her broken toys. Who knows? But nothing would be worse than doing nothing at all." He twists the sheets in his hands.

"As stupid as this idea may be, I can't just sit here and be useless. If I can help at all to ... get us more information or to get a step closer to understand why this is happening to us and how we can maybe escape, I want to try. Even if it kills me." There's a pause as his eyes move past Raylan and across the room.

"I'm more concerned about her getting inside my head and using me to hurt all of you."

[tinstar]

It was brave of him and Raylan wouldn't question him again. Mainly because he didn't want him to change his mind. They were all taking risks here. They all had. John, Claire, Liz, Dean, Quentin. They would continue to, him, Henry, Malcolm and Tim. Until none of them were left, he supposed.

"You start gettin' crazy and wild, we'll figure out a way to knock you out or hide until you pass out," Raylan replied quietly dropping his eyes with a faint nod. "I understand that's a risk. But it's one I'm willin' to take for the same reason you just said. Nothin' is worse then doin' nothin'.. And I can't do any more nothin' Dorian, I've already tried that route."

At this point, Raylan physically couldn't stop himself from digging in.

"I blame my job, mostly but." He took a deep breath through his nose and let it out with a shake of his head. "I keep thinkin' that if we crack it somehow, she'll let us.. go. Go home or.. anywhere that ain't here."