Event Log #002

[caelumstaff]

EVENT LOG number 002 The hotel humbly hopes that you're settling in well and are taking advantage of the various pleasures on offer for your stay. In Mr Bennet's opinion, things have been going quite well and he doesn't think that the guests are unhappy at all. New guests have arrived, some have left, it's all going along perfectly. So, of course, this is when the next troublesome thing pops up. SHADOWS One morning, characters will find the hotel to be a little dimmer than usual, a little more shadowy. Yet if anyone asks Mr Bennet about it, he will claim to not have noticed anything different than usual. Either way, as the characters move on with their day, they'll start to notice a few odd things start to happen. PHASE ONE: Initially, characters will notice their shadow beginning to move a little out of sync with them. Discreetly at first until eventually, their shadow takes on a life of its own, mischievously playing with characters and enjoying their newfound freedom. Very Peter Pan, and completely harmless. PHASE TWO: Now, shadows might disappear entirely, roaming the hotel to their own discretion and ignoring the characters they belong to. As the shadow takes on this free will, characters will begin to feel slightly off balance and have a hard time feeling whole without their shadow around. The shadow may become slightly aggressive as well if told they should return to their characters, fighting back in their own way from knocking things over to outright attacking other characters. It's a little hard to fight back though when your opponent is a shadow, isn't it? PHASE THREE: The shadows have become fully aggressive now, fighting anyone who tries to get them to return to their original person. Characters will find themselves feeling weak and low energy as a result of losing their shadow. Eventually, the shadows will come back to their owners but the characters will find themselves sinking into their shadow, eventually changing places entirely with their shadow. The only way to rescue a character from this fate is for another character to pull them out of their shadow forcibly. The bright side is once a character is pulled out of their shadow, it all returns to normal and their shadow is no longer sentient. These phases will last over the course of the week and it is quite alright to stay in phase one/two/three. Not all shadows will become aggressive, not all shadows will be playful. Feel free to manipulate your character's shadow in the way that's most fun for you. NAV | PREMISE | RULES | FAQ | TAKEN hotelcaelum | caelumserver | caelumooc

Comments

[likesitruff]

I am, yes. Which direction would you prefer to head?

[unliminal]

[ That's more like it. As the shadow gives way and Sumina returns to them fully, her shadow returning to its rightful place, Gojo offers up no resistance as the three of them tumble backwards into the grass. That could have gone much worse, yet they were able to pull her free — Sumina chose to return.

She really doesn't give herself enough credit for how strong and capable she is.

With one hand still grasping onto her, just in case, the other lifts to his blindfold, pushing it up over his hair to peer at them both with his natural gaze. ]

Welcome back, Mina. [ A warm smile, that passes to something more sheepish a moment later. ] Don't worry, your shadow made way less of a mess than we did!

[ He's helping! ]

[likesitruff]

You dare to run!!

[ Well.

It's fine if she just hurls her sword at the shadow, right.

Barghest, it's a shadow. But she can't just run after it, she's supporting Sumina!! ]

[unfastens]

Yeah... On the fourth floor.

[ he remembers!! the curry thing is just slightly more memorable. sorry, akira...

he lifts one hand to rub at his temples. Now that he's not in immediate mortal danger, he's remembering how acutely terrible it feels to be in wet shoes and clothes. It's past time to get out of this bizarre infinite pool. Easier said than done - he feels so exhausted that it's miraculous he's not falling face-first into it. ]

My body's still weak... Will you help me up?

[unfastens]

[ Huh. That's different. For a moment, he tenses, preparing to fight an entirely new enemy - but the eye vanishes along with its shadow into the zipper. Were it a regular, corporeal person, it might have dropped into the floor below them; as things stand, he's guessing it simply got sucked down into the darkness. At the very least, it's not trying to drag Sumina down with it anymore, and that's about all he was hoping to accomplish. Once he's confident enough that it's not about to come back, he lowers the two of them back down to the grass again, with the zipper that had previously engulfed the shadow closing up and vanishing as if it hadn't ever been there.

The question seems to catch him somewhat by surprise, stern expression shifting briefly. ]

... Yeah. I wasn't expecting you to be able to see it, [ he replies, setting her on the ground before himself. The arm that had been hanging onto the willow tree zips back up, too, reattaching itself normally to his shoulder, but he hardly pays attention to this; instead, he gives her a once-over. ] Are you hurt?

[velluminous]

[ you mean Teaferth?

...

oh, the Vaux estate?

...

or, no—her little flat in the South Ward...?

... ]

...I do not live anywhere now.

[unliminal]

It's not like you had anything to do with them gaining minds of their own, or the way it's behaving.

[ His own shadow chimes in with a snide "oh, that's rich!" which he swiftly ignores. ]

[vecna]

[…?]

You have to live somewhere.

[Even Henry lived somewhere, even if that somewhere was another dimension parallel from his own.]

[velluminous]

I am living here, then.

[ quietly, somewhere in the room, a clock ticks... Mammon, just let the coma take her. ]

[vecna]

[Well, now she’s just being difficult.]

You have a knack for avoiding answering very basic questions, you know.

[velluminous]

[ her grip becomes nigh-crushing ] My college burned, my family home is vile and loathsome, and I am being evicted from my boarding house. I live here now! There! Happy? Same answer!

[airdnd]

[ Fully feeling the absence of her shadow and the listlessness that has settled in its place, Sumina can't help but seek more, her hand absentmindedly lifting to curl into the fabric of his shirt. It's... warm, like this. He is warm like this, in what feels like the very coldness of the space itself within their hallway. ]

It's... Nothing to worry about. She's harmless, like me.

[ Smash cut to her shadow throwing an absolute rager on the Ren Faire floor. ]

I'd appreciate the help getting to my room, for now... I'll - I'll search for her again later. You need to rest, too, Satoru...

[ She fully intends on resolving this by herself, but we all know how that's going to go. ]

[unliminal]

[ Waylaid as he is by the shadow's effects — both in not having it for as long as he has, and this new psychological attack of it's — it takes him a moment to even fully realize that Gale has arrived to help him, and cast chains to bind his shadow before it can pull him in any deeper. But is that really what he wants? It's...right, isn't it? He should just...

— No, he absolutely can't listen to it, and that's the worst part about it. He knows he's being had, he knows that voice isn't real, and yet, no small part of him still wants to listen to it.

For the time being, however, Gale's hand in his own keeps him anchored. ]

Ah...this is embarrassing. Not very "greatest sorcerer" of me, huh?

[ He murmurs, still pretty out of it, but at least he manages to focus his attention on Gale. ]

[unliminal]

[ He can't help but scoff at the insistence that her shadow is harmless, given the state she is in just from its absence. Not all shadows he's encountered seem to be as barbed as his own, but that doesn't mean they're not causing problems in their own way. Sumina's is no exception. ]

Ehhh, after barely being able to move for the last day or so, the last thing I want to do is just lay around resting. C'mon — up and at 'em.

[ You know, in a metaphorical sense, since he isn't expecting her to get up at all, as evidenced from the way he winds his arms around her back and beneath her knees and pulls her against his chest. Princess carry!! ]

I'll have you there in just a sec. Comfy?

[ Or, comfy enough for a quick teleportation trip. ]

[unliminal]

This hallway splits up ahead. I'll take the left, you take right, and we corner it by the elevators.

[ It's probably fine that he's detailing this plan with his own shadow still within earshot. ]

[vecna]

[Ow? Ow??? Wherein Henry realizes how strong she is for such a tiny woman, help him.

His other hand moves to rest on her crushing grip, fingers flexing, as though asking to dial it back a little.]

Your college burned down?

[And then a series of not-homes followed. That feels familiar. ]

[astarion]

[Oh, this is not quite what he expected from the cornfield itself, opening up to a scenic little park. Are they at the center of the maze, he wonders?

He gives a shrug and saunters in a step or two into that scenic little space, which should be answer enough as to whether or not he wishes to venture that way.]

About my vampirism? Oh yes. He knows. I tried to keep it rather hush-hush when we first met, but... given the situation at hand, I needed what strength I could get. I thought nibbling on a neck at night would be worth the risk, but I was wrong.

I was caught red-handed, so to speak.

[likesitruff]

[ Sure. Surely the Shadow won't know. ]

Understood.

... Is it able to pass through objects?

[hexensabbat]

Right, right, though what I am seems like it's a hassle to explain these days.

[She flaps a hand.]

You're... not a demon, are you?

[hexensabbat]

[Black Frost puts her down ever-so-gently with a gentlemanly "hee-ho!".

And Ringo just swings around to aim a punch at one of the shadows.

It's a shadow so it probably doesn't do anything, but it sure is satisfying to try.]

Now leave! Nobody wants you here, jeeze, take a hint!

[hexensabbat]

I'm thinking construction lights. Maybe we can use it to herd them to a specific spot, too.

A hotel this big definitely has to have some somewhere. Probably.

[astarion]

[A beeline, huh. Someone likes smoothies!

Astarion follows, eyes tracking all around, actively looking for anything that might seem unusual. He manages a 13 for his perception check, which means he does manage to catch a flicker in his periphery -- but not much else.]

Er, did you see that?

[airdnd]

[ Resolving the conflict with her shadow returning to its natural state and Sumina's being made whole once more feels very much like coming out of a stupor. And while one might argue that she might have gotten the most sleep that she's gotten in a long while in that state, could it really be considered restful when she'd been missing a part of herself...?

And so as she fully returns to herself, to the moment, to them, it's almost as if... everything over the last week starts to catch up with her. All those days spent without her shadow, pushing herself to try and catch up with it and resolve its many troublemaking instances by herself, narrowly escaping some rather frightful attacks... She's no adventurer, or thief, or jujutsu sorcerer. She isn't built for the stress of such an ordeal.

So as she peers at Winter and Gojo in turn, and all that's transpired coalesces in her mind, her starry eyes glisten and sting with something that she blinks back—

Before she hears what Gojo says, anyway. ]

...What do you mean by that...?

[airdnd]

[ oh. oH. That's a whole-ass sword being flung into a wall!? Innkeeper Sumina can't help but shriek because all she can think of is the property damage. But at once, she does let go of Barghest's arm, leaning over and supporting herself on the wall once more. ]

G-Go, ma'am. I can— I can wait here!

[ Allowing this will surely be more productive than her just flinging her sword like that!! Especially since the Shadow just sort of... bends out of the way, and then does a little dance as if to taunt the warrior. ]

[astarion]

[He can rely on Astarion to be snippy and argumentative when the mood strikes him; and though that's rarely a flattering trait of his, it seems to work in his favor today.

More life in his look, more energy in his bones. He actually does reach up and grasp at Gale with both hands, clenching at his forearm, as though it vies him more energy to argue.]

Well, then why don't I have an excuse when my shadow is trying to swallow me up?!

[When his shadow is... wait.

The cold, dire realization of what is happening, truly happening, kicks in. It spread across his expression.]

M-my shadow-