hotelcaelum | Event Log #002

Entry tags:

Event Log #002

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.

Threaded | Flat

PHASE I

[ The majority of you have probably never seen this massive suit of armor--sorry, woman? Woman. She's pretty damn tall. And wearing the armor easily, but more than all of that, which is admittedly pretty obvious, she is.

Uh.

Staring at you? More specifically, staring at some area just slightly off of you, her mismatched eyes narrowing in...? Irritation? Disapproval? Regardless-- ]

Don't move.

[ Hm. ]

PHASE II

[ Things have minorly escalated and this knight looks less than thrilled with it. Perhaps because this doesn't seem to be conducive to relaxing, as promised, and she likely expected that there was little to trust about this place, but.

For whatever reason, you pass her. Maybe you're chasing after your shadow. Maybe you're running. Maybe it's just sedate walking. Whatever it is, there's a very minuscule breeze generated by this action and she suddenly staggers, putting one hand on the wall for balance.

This is followed by a very low growl as she immediately straightens, glancing around quickly to make sure no one saw that.

... You probably saw it. ]

PHASE III

[ So it's come to this. What is this?

Well, that depends. Catch her fighting someone's shadow (maybe it's yours, maybe it's her own), using her sword to slice through a flung pillow, or if you're currently being sucked into shadow quicksand, there'll be a hand reaching for yours. ]

Catch hold!!

[ It's not a request. ]

[ ooc: also open to wildcard! ]

a. phase two

[ A little trouble with shadows isn't all that unusual for a jujutsu sorcerer, even if these are a little more spunky than what he's used to. Gojo's own shadow has detached from him but is never too far behind, ready to heckle him at any given opportunity. It's whatever — nothing the Strongest can't handle, at the very least, and he's sure that like with the ninjas, this will probably just resolve on its own, eventually. Better he use his time to keep others from getting whaled on by their shadows instead, right?

Shadows are, by their definition, a lack of anything, however, and so his cursed technique, which relies on the manipulation of space and matter, doesn't work on them. But again — it's fine. He loves an opportunity to think outside the box, and figure out how to send them packing.

If he encounters someone in distress from their shadow, he will teleport behind the shadow and lift a hand to cover where their eyes would be. ]

Hah. Gotcha.

[ From behind him, his own shadow (which appears to be leaning back against the wall with his arms behind his head) chimes in with a helpful, "Don't tell me you actually think that's going to do anything." ]

— Ehh, just ignore him. We're not on speaking terms at the moment.

b. phase three

[ As it turns out, ignoring his shadow wasn't really the winning solution he wanted it to be.

His condition only worsens as the week goes on, and he can be found taking frequent breaks in hallways and around the hotel as he tries to get around without his shadow. You might even find him floating around in the zerograv of floor 24.

Eventually, when his shadow catches up with him again, he no longer has the strength to fight back against it, but as it attempts to tug him into the depths of a shadowy whirlpool, he at least manages to, like, grab onto the leg of a chair or a vase or something. He's fighting back as much as his sapped strength allows him to, okay. ]

Ugh...this is the worst. Do you have any idea how uncool I look right now? Just — hold still so I can hit you with this.

[ "Would you even have the heart to kill me again? Satoru?"

Gojo freezes. That...isn't his voice, but it's one he knows by heart. ]

c. wildcard

[ Not feeling either of the above prompts? Hit me with something else! I'm open to any kind of shadow business, either as the rescuer or the rescued! ]

I. wardrobe malfunction (phase I)

[ Perhaps it starts as a hard tug on your hair, or your shoelaces getting untied. A sleeve getting cut off? An accessory stolen? Any and all of the above, the maid is there watching the (mostly) harmless prank be pulled by your shadow. She lets out a quiet tsk sound, raising a hand to shield whatever part of you is being terrorized. ]

Now, that is no way to treat someone.

[ Briefly, she'll meet your eyes with a kind smile, before looking back to the offending shadow. ]

Shall we go over our manners?

[ She speaks to your shadow the way one would talk to a young child who is acting out — gently, but firmly. In her mind, these shadows are something like restless spirits... bored, and longing for attention. They don't deserve derision, at least not yet.. Perhaps all they need is for someone to talk to them. It's why she makes no further effort to stop the prank — will your shadow keep acting out? Switch targets instead? ✨WYD??✨ ]

II. FINISH THEM (phase II/III)

[ As the week progresses, it becomes more and more obvious that reuniting people with their shadows is to everyone's benefit. While she would much rather just wait and let things settle... she's open to collaborating, when it comes to cornering these apparitions, especially once the weakness from their absence becomes noticeable. For a while now, the two of you have been on the tail of your shadow and hers — and the chase has led you to a floor ironically themed after a restaurant kitchen. ]

Where could they be...?

[ But oh no, what's that? As soon as they walk fully into the room, the shadows ambush them from behind with nary a sound. In a blink of an eye, she gets a knife plunged in her back, and a pan gets swung hard at the back of your head, Tangled™ style. Better do something quick!! ]

III. sneepy (phase III)

[ Look, sometimes, you haven't felt the human emotion of Tired in so long. It's actually... almost kind of nice? To feel like if she closed her eyes, she might drift off into sleep for the first time in hundreds of years? Where would this shadow take her, anyway? Would it matter? They remind her of the house, so the thought crosses her mind that she's just being whisked away from the hotel to return to where she belongs. It'll be fine.

By the time her shadow begins pulling her under into the abyss, its antics have worn her down enough that she's really just getting dragged into her shadow by foot from where she's laying on the floor. On closer inspection, she doesn't even appear conscious. somebody wake this bitch up before it's too late!! ]

IV. wildcard

( always down to wildcard too, if you have something specific in mind!! :^) )

1 ✦ phase one

[ While it wouldn't be too out of place to see Sumina randomly fixing misaligned wall art or taking a cloth to a dusty surface and quickly wiping it clean on any given day, today she does so in the wake of her own shadow. Mischief for Sumina's shadow in particular comes in the form of doing the very opposite of these things.

Case in point: Sumina tries to set a nondescript abstract painting to level, only for her own shadow to poke it back to a slightly tilted positon. And then trying to fix it again. And it going askew again. And again.

She draws in a deep breath, and then looses the longest, most withering sigh. ]

Stars preserve me...

2 ✦ phase two

[ Being a very ordinary-shaped person, the silhouette of Sumina's separated shadow might be difficult to discern. She's just got one of those shapes that could belogn to literally any other of the NPC guests around here, you know?

Upon closer inspection, however, there is an ordinary-shaped shadow with a few not-so-ordinary features: the twinkle of starlight around where eyes would be, and every now and then... a very faint halo of what looks like cosmic plasma, like the solar wind of a sun's crown. And if you try to converse with it, it will respond, though it sounds like this. Weird!

It is escalating its antics from a few days prior, this time knocking vases off of surfaces entirely, pulling out every chair from a table, and leaving banana peels everywhere!! Watch your step! ]

3 ✦ phase three

a.
[ Ultimately, Sumina's shadow settles in at a tavern on the Ren Faire Floor, having the time of its life, dancing freely and humming loudly to every jaunty tune, standing on every table, chugging every pint of ale, though it doesn't actually have a body, so everything just passes through its now fully star-speckled silhouette and spills out onto the floor.

As soon as someone approaches with even so much as an intent to reunite it with its owner, the solar wind haloing its shape flares brightly, and the party halts.

...And then it throws a chair at you! You won't be getting this Shadow back without participating in a good, old-fashioned tavern brawl!

(The NPCs, at least, will mostly stick to roughhousing each other.) ]

b.
[ When the time comes for the shadow to return to its owner, the real Sumina can be found not too far away, having apparently tried to pursue her shadow but fully running out of energy. She is properly curled up on the grass beneath a willow tree, with a fake flower crown haphazardly placed on her sleepy little head. The shadow returns, joyfully shaking a tambourine in its hand to wake its owner up. ]

Mmmn...? So you're done partying...

[ We all know what happens next. Sumina's shadow sinks back into the ground, taking on its proper shape over the ground, but soon that plasma and starlight previously lining its shape seems to lift up from the shadow's silhouette and ensnares Sumina's body. ]

wildcard

( feel free to hmu as usual for plotting! )

Edited 2023-11-06 15:39 (UTC)

phase i;

[He’s having a bit of trouble with his shadow; it has sticky fingers, you see.

Not literally. But the sort that likes to steal little objects, here and there, from those who wander a little too close. But it’s getting bolder, and Astarion’s shadow reaches out from its spot on the wall, wrapping its hand around the hilt of one of the vampire’s daggers.

Astarion twirls around and slaps its hand away.]

No! Gods, what’s wrong with you? What does a shadow need a weapon for?

[Worrisome.]

phase ii;

[His shadow is being more than just a little trouble now — it’s a bloody pain in the ass. Astarion has noticed the hollow, weakened feeling gnawing at his middle when it traipses off, too quick to keep up with, and spends several tiring hours tracking it down. Hilariously, he finds it at the scene of the crime of the Great Espresso Heist: the continental breakfast area, tsking and waggling a finger at him, standing near where the espresso machine once rested on a counter.]

Aren’t you hilarious. Listen, I’ve not the patience for this right now, so come here—

[He steps forward to grasp his own shadow by the wrist, pulling it closer… when said shadow lurches forward in retaliation, biting Astarion on the hand like some wild animal. Shadowy fangs still hurt; they sink in and leave him bleeding as he pulls his hands away.]

Ow! [Disbelievingly:] You bit me!

phase iii;

[…ah, well. Maybe this isn’t so bad.

Maybe resting isn’t so terrible; maybe forgetting about anything that ails him, all this blasted exhaustion, is worth sloughing off if it means just falling into his shadow. Just a little.

Astarion’s already halfway sunken into his shadow splayed across the floor, as though sliding into an inky darkness. Weakly, one arm extends and fingers grip onto the flooring, as though instinctively he knows he should resist… just a little. But mentally, his desire to do so has long left him.

When he sees the form of someone standing over him, he blinks owlishly, and waggles that hand.]

Ah, just… step over me.

PHASE 1/2:

-- Watch out!

[ are you also here to enjoy a fresh pizza from the legendary Pizza Floor? Perhaps you are too distracted by delicious pizza smells to heed the warning called? Either way, think fast: a football-sized hole opens up out of nowhere right beneath your character's feet, seemingly timed just so to make them trip and spill their food, fall right into a member of the wait staff, or some other high school bully-level prank.

Early in the week, it's restricted to just that: pranks. However, later in the week, his shadow's behavior takes a decidedly more sadistic turn. Anyone visiting the beach floor may suddenly find themselves being shoved towards jagged rocks, pointy seashell shards, and particularly large waves by a shadow that constantly seems to be a minute ahead of the man who cast it. ]

PHASE 3:

[ As much as he might be used to long hours staking out areas or keeping watch for enemies, he's never had to do so while actively being drained of strength. Old habits die hard; weak as he might feel, he'd resolved to catch his shadow before it caused any serious trouble, and so he'd pressed on through the exhaustion. By the end of the week, his search finally bears fruit - technically. It's more like the shadow finds him. And by that point, he's weakened enough that he can barely fight back.

Which leads to the current situation: Bucciarati, halfway sunken into the ground in a floor of the hotel that looks like some kind of endless swimming pool. Not only is he waist-deep in his own shadow, he's about chest-deep in the shallow water, too. However, he's still hanging on - somewhat literally. All that's keeping him from being tugged down into the darkness is his Stand, Sticky Fingers, which has one hand, still barely connected to its arm by a long zipper, desperately clutching a beam along the ceiling. Its other arm is around Bucciarati, who's holding on rather weakly.

(If your character is acquainted with the supernatural, anyway. If they have zero acquaintance with magic, then his Stand's invisible, and this scene is at least twice as weird.) ]

... Pull me out, [ he croaks. Demandingly, even, as much as one can be demanding while this enervated. ]

Edited 2023-11-08 04:28 (UTC)

i. phase 1 & 2

[ A shadow is something he's always taken for granted — of course, he's never had reason to believe it wouldn't be there — and the loss of it comes close to what he'd imagine it would feel like if he woke up tomorrow and Moody Blues was inexplicably gone.

The first few days, the shadow is benign in its behaviour, trailing its hand across the wall and leaving behind a thin dark line with a waxy texture in its wake, as if the shadow itself had stolen someone's makeup supplies, and if the pale line that forms the scowl on Abbacchio's mouth is any indication to go by, that's exactly what happened. But it's towards the end of the week, fun and games (at least from the shadow's perspective) are off the table, and instead it has turned its focus directly on Abbacchio — minor things at first, deliberately interrupting conversations by yanking harshly on his hair, appearing when least expecting it and shoving at him, at one point it's responsible for Abbacchio taking a tumble down a stairway — unless someone steps in? ]

ii. phase 3

[ He's slumped against a wall, shadow at his back, and as time goes on he's quite literally sliding both down and seemingly in to the wall. The tiredness he feels isn't wholly unknown to him, it's the sort of lethargy that calls apathy its friend. It's comforting in its familiarity, almost, the darkness that comes with being pulled out of the light and into the shadow, it feels natural, even. Like it's where he knows he belongs.

Anyone who happens upon him will find he's unresponsive, he's conscious and present, but not really. Some distant part of him is aware enough that the allure of the shadows he's allowing himself to sink into is false, that the comforting presence is a facsimile of a different time, one that he'd clawed himself out of before, though not without a helping hand. Maybe that's why Moody Blues is there beside him, silvered hands wrapped around his bicep, attempting to haul him up off of the ground. His mind is at odds with itself, and for those who can see the Stand, it's clear that the more Abbacchio himself resists, the more effort his Stand exerts in their attempts.

If Abbacchio can't be convinced to fight back, then he might need to be removed from the shadow by force. ]

first:

[ it starts the way most teasing does: tugging on a lock of Sprezzatura's hair when her back is turned. a little push, as of someone playfully nudging her shoulder. each time, so fleeting that it's easy to miss—not just for Sprezzatura herself, but for anyone else who might happen to see.

because the thing about Ms Vaux is that she has two shadows, as though cast by two sources of light, even when no shenanigans are afoot, and regardless of the actual lighting in the room. one tugs at her hair and turns with her as she looks waspishly for the culprit; then the other creeps a hand up and snags her sleeve, and she turns again, the other way.

finally, tiring of the disembodied aggravations, she locks eyes with the first real person in proximity. ]

Are you doing this?

second:

[ when in doubt: research. not like she's needed more encouragement to while away her hours in the hotel's library—but if there's anything to be said about animated, sentient shadows, it would be here. something from the Shadowfell, perhaps...?

and so she's up on the ladder, straining for those books beyond a petite woman's reach. every now and again, she scales back down and slides it further along the shelves to try again. every now and again, too, she sways, or places a hand to her temple, or removes her glasses to clean them. it's so hard to keep her eyes open these days...]

Mammon... Still nothing.

[ BACK UP ONTO THE LADDER, whereupon suddenly Shadow 1 and Shadow 2 dart out from between the aisles and with a heave and a ho, they start to shake the ladder this way and that. and before you know it... ]

Gaack! Stop! Stop that this instant! [ and away they dance again, leaving Sprezzatura shrieking and teetering and shrieking some more ] Don't—you— Knaves! You ne'er do wells!

[ ... ]

Someone—?

third:

[ she succumbs faster than some, perhaps. blame the insomnia, blame her propensity for curling up in one spot in the library, how easy it becomes to confuse her own lethargy for that of a few nights' disturbed sleep, the hotel's strangeness, and her own stress.

the tower of amassed books has fallen. now strewn across the floor and the woman herself, still doggedly thumbing through musty tomes even as she's slowly sinking into her seat, the table she's strewn her study out across, even the cracks in the wood. her twin shadows flicker across her face as though eager to get a head start at being her, making strange chiaroscuro patterns dance across her face and body.

dully, she lifts a hand, so heavy, as if from quicksand... and tries to swat at them... but she's so tired, and she's so close to finding something. she has to be. so, grunting, Sprezzatura's hand falls again, and she sighs... adjusts her glasses... blinks bearily at the page... and steeps a little deeper into shadow. ]

Ah... shite.

phase two.

[ Ryuji has lost his shadow. He knows that this is part and parcel for whatever the hell is going on right now at the hotel but he still feels completely disturbed by it. He's roaming around from floor to floor to try and find wherever it went when suddenly — ]

Ah!

[ On whatever floor Ryuji has ended up, his shadow sticks its leg out and somehow manages to trip him, knocking him straight to the floor.

Ryuji has found his shadow. ]

phase three.

[ As you go and get food today at the hotel buffet, you might find a blond teenager stuck in the floor with half his body submerged in shadow. He looks a little exasperated by this, trying to pull himself out and failing before just giving up and falling back against the shadow. It doesn't seem to be pulling him past his waist though, for some reason, so that's... good?

Either way, he clearly can't get out of the situation he's found himself in. Instead, in defeat, he mumbles — ]

... All I wanted was some pancakes too.

wildcard.

[ wildcard me up, babey!! open to anything!! ]

Threaded | Flat

QUESTIONS

no subject