hotelcaelum | 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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Never going to live that down, am I?

[No. He never, ever is.]

You— [He interrupts himself with a grunt, giving Astarion's arm another pull. Curse you, 8 STR!] — try creating a portal when you're hurtling towards the ground at top speed and your powers have been sealed off!

[He doesn't need to defend himself. Especially not now— but as ever, he can't help himself. It did seem to light a fire beneath his friend, if only for a moment. Maybe they can use that.]

[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-

Finally on the same page, are we?

[Gale's voice is unusually sharp, but he does sound glad that Astarion seems to have found some bit of vigor in his words, and his grip tightens as he gives another pull, putting his weight on his back foot for some leverage.]

Your shadow is trying to swallow you whole, and you're letting it! That's hardly the Astarion I know!

[The Astarion he knows would be fighting against it, kicking, hissing, anything to break free of its control— but this isn't the first shadow he's seen. Clearly, his friend needs a little help remember himself.]

Nobody drags you down, now, do they?!

[Fighting, kicking, hissing. Yes, indeed, he would-- He should be. For how much he hates being shackled and deprived of his freedom, isn't being swallowed up by his own shadow into gods-knows-where the equivalent of the same?

To give all that he's fought for away?

All that Gale, this blastedly stubborn wizard, has helped him achieve?]

Ugh... gods! Pull harder!

[...This is how Astarion shows his gratitude, clearly, but thankfully, their combined efforts are just enough to yank him free of his shadow, the darkness unlatching itself from its form like tendrils snapping away.

Leaving only momentum. He will indeed lurch forward and crash straight into Gale.]

[Magic can do many things, but in this case, with so little warning, fighting physics is not one of them. Astarion crashes into him head-on, sending the wizard reeling backwards— blessedly away from that grasping shadow— and towards the wall immediately behind him.]

Agh!

[They slam against the wall, hard, but it's a small price to pay for his friend's freedom, surely— even if he does wince as he grabs Astarion by the shoulder and wedges a bit of space in between them.]

Well, that's an improvement! Not the most graceful exit, but we hardly need to worry about points for style at the moment.

[Oh, hitting the wall hard with his shoulder, jostling his jaw, enough to make him see stars is well worth being free. There is nothing that Astarion holds in higher regard, especially if the alternate meant being lost to his shadow.

Still, he lets out a noise of shock, and instinctively reaches out to grip Gale by the arm, holding on tight.]

My shadow, did it-?!

[Is it still there, being a menace, he means. Trying to pull him back into some unknown abyss again. But, even as he begins to bark out the words, his shadow crawls along the ground and attached itself... properly to Astarion. In the correct shadow way. Acting very normal.]

[Gale looks over his friend's shoulder to glower at the shadow, a half-hearted attempt at menacing, refusing to move his gaze from it as he watches it steadily reattach itself.]

We must proceed with caution, until we're certain it's behaving itself.

[They certainly don't need a repeat of this.

He exhales, grimacing as he spares Astarion himself another glance.]

How are you feeling? Any more yourself?

[To be fair, it's acting very shadow-like. Making no odd movements, attached to Astarion the way a shadow should. Could it be that's the end of that...?]

I... I think so. I'm still tired, but I don't know what came over me. It was as though I was just resigned to being pulled in by that damnable thing. Like it was-

[Some kind of escape. From everything.]

-promising me a very long, long rest.

[Gale's expression is somber, his brow furrowed. Of course, he can understand the appeal of that, especially for someone like Astarion.]

It certainly would be very tempting. One can hardly blame you for listening to its siren song.

[He's only glad he'd arrived when he did.]

But resignation ill-suits you, I think. Not quite your color.

Event Log #002

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