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]

[ And Barghest is here to aid her, backing up as Odette braces herself to try and pull her out completely. ]

I wouldn't accept it as a fair loss. I've noticed these appear to sap us of our strength while we're distanced from them. In that sense, there is no shame in accepting help and there is hardly a point to granting this thing the satisfaction of a victory that isn't rightly won.

[cardsharked]

That so? [She chuckles wearily. Odette's not one to make excuses for her own failures - they're rare enough, for one, but she's the only person in the world so aware of her own weakness.

She slips right out of the tide of shadow with sudden ease, almost as if she was never held there at all.]

Too bad... looks like a rematch ain't in the cards. Thanks to my mysterious benefactor.

[likesitruff]

Call me Barghest.

[ She releases her once she's sure she's steady enough on her own. ]

If we're fortunate, it won't act up again, but you may find yourself having to face it once more.

[cardsharked]

Barghest, huh? The name's Odette. You came in clutch.

[She sure could use a seat on the floor right about now...but it's not like she's about to just squat down here. She'll go until she hits the floor, which might not be too far off.]

New here? Hell of a time. [One can't keep tabs on all 100 floors of this hotel, but Odette is fairly confident in her ability to recognize a new face regardless. Maybe she is keeping a rotating mental roster of all the guests.]

[likesitruff]

Yes, that's right. Is it normally much more peaceful? I can't say I have a basis for comparison, currently.

[ Which. A shame. But she always liked to feel prepared, so she hadn't exactly lowered her guard completely upon arrival in the first place. ]

[cardsharked]

A little less unsolicited fighting, far as I can tell. [She stretches a little bit, wincing as she raises her arms over her head. There's a bit of stiffness in there, like she's been wrenched a little too hard in her struggles to wrench free of the shadow.]

... 'Less you go around stealing espresso machines. Heh... or steam up in the sauna a little too long when they're running a promo. [Okay, so maybe she's still been getting into plenty of little conflicts and is therefore not the right person to ask.]

[likesitruff]

.... Espresso machines?

[ Okay, she's just looking a little blank here. ]

[cardsharked]

... Okay. Which part're you hung up about? [The machine part, the espresso part, the combination of those two words together, or the theft of such a machine?] Gonna make it a little easier to cut to the chase with my explanation.

[likesitruff]

Espresso is some form of coffee. I suppose it wouldn't be too strange for there to be a machine made to dispense it.

... But the theft of one... is it in popular demand here?

[cardsharked]

Like you wouldn't believe. [As one of the victims hit hardest by this completely victimless crime, Odette just barks a good-natured laugh over it. She has long ago released the espresso heist grudge, content with the interesting ruckus she got out of it. Maybe she'd been playing along with being upset at all in the first place?]

Only not by the people who went and stole it. I think they just wanted to see it all burn - and that's what they got. Broke the shit outta the thing. ...Oh, but seriously, it's usually pretty chill around here.

[likesitruff]

... Beyond shadows trying to devour people... I see.

[ Well, it does sound more like the shenanigans of idiots more than the hotel itself trying to make people miserable? ]

[cardsharked]

[It's also certainly possible that she's downplaying things others find more disruptive. In fact, if Odette had to hazard a guess, there are some people staying here who'd say there's much more interference, regardless of whatever extra magic mojo they also happen to be carrying around. But everything she's listed, even the shadows? Just blips, really.]

Something tell me this's far from your first rodeo. Hah... you can probably handle way more than a handsy lil shadow, right?

[likesitruff]

[ Rodeo....? ]

I am accustomed to far greater threats, yes. I had merely hoped I would not encounter such things here, when they emphasized a relaxing stay. But this will not dull my fangs, I suppose.

You also appear to be used to such things, or perhaps one to enjoy a challenge when presented?

[ You don't get muscles like that by avoiding conflict or spending your free time reading. ]

[cardsharked]

[The energy's all returning to her, so Odette no longer feels like melting into oblivion. There's just the mild irritation of letting herself get overwhelmed remaining, matched only by the annoyance at needing to be saved - rather, in letting herself be.]

Sure do. The shadow shit's new. [As annoying as being blindsided by new and unexpected magical developments is, at least she's not stuck beating up some mediocre human waste of air.] But I'm here for a good time, so I don't really care what form it takes. It's still fun, so I can't say my stay's really been disrupted yet. Otherwise I'd lodge up a formal complaint with the house manager. [Barghest doesn't need to be particularly keyed in to intuit that she means she'd throw hands with Mr. Bennet himself.]

[likesitruff]

[ He'd probably deserve it. ]

Is that why you chose to stay here? For a good time?

[cardsharked]

[Immediately:] Yep. What else is a vacation for, if not that? [Even if she isn't asking the question directly, she wants to see what she'll learn about the other woman's reason for being here based on her answer.]

[likesitruff]

I came here to have a wish granted. I'm afraid I'm not very... prone to taking time off.

[ The armor probably explains that much, honestly. ]

[cardsharked]

Yeah, you're in good company there. [There's a little deadpan sarcasm in her voice. Barghest will find herself at no shortage of workaholics, in fact. Plenty of people take working vacations, but some of the folks at the hotel take it to the extreme.]

Got your wish all figured out already and everything? Lucky duck.

[likesitruff]

I am not a duck.

[ Ma'am.

But she frowns, glancing off slightly to the side. ]

It wasn't that difficult. I simply know what I want. Were I truly lucky, I wouldn't need a wish at all.

[cardsharked]

[She pauses just long enough to open and close her mouth, the second where she might had a catty explanation just overwritten by a coarse laugh.]

Course you ain't. You think it's really that black and white? No matter what we've got, there'll always be something we want beyond our reach. This place'll have no shortage of guests anytime soon.

[She looks directly at Barghest, eyes starting to reaccumulate their typical intense flame the further she gets from her shadow-induced peril. Does that kind of hunger resonate with her?]