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

[ His singular focus is appreciated — it allows for them to make the remainder of their escape in relative silence, lessening the chance of them being followed. She accompanies him away from the kitchen until they've turned at least two corners, using her free hand to keep her skirts from grazing the floor — and when they're finally out of earshot of the kitchen, she slows, lessening the weight of her rested hand against his back. ]

We should be able to take a reprieve here...

[ She murmurs, quite calm despite having allegedly walked all this way with a knife through her back. Inwardly, she feels down as she always does, being made to face the undead state of her own body. But she reminds herself that no matter how she may feel about it, she need not express it. As long as she acts around it, it shouldn't affect her real self too badly. Her eyes cast back to the direction they came in briefly, before returning her gaze to him, bowing her head in a polite bow. She even gives him a small smile. ]

I do humbly appreciate your concern for me, my dear. But you will soon find that a healer will be... unnecessary. [ Her word choice is a bit blunt — almost wry, as she tugs her long braid out of the way of the knife protruding from her back. ] Not a drop of blood has spilled from me, now has it?

[All the while, he supports her as best he can; he is, fortunately, stronger than his lithe frame and loose, drapey clothing would suggest. Once she starts to slow, he does as well, following her lead until they've stopped. His own expression is still pure concern, though that wild panic has settled now that they're away from their shadows (and since she hasn't collapsed).

Finally, with her gestures and her explanation, he looks at her back, seeing for himself that she isn't bleeding.]

Ah. [Well. It's startling, a little, but it isn't as though he's unaccustomed to non-humans in various forms. Maybe he'd be frightened or uncomfortable under different circumstances, or if they hadn't already spent such a pleasant time in the greenhouse together, but as it stands, she's still precisely who she was before. Just, y'know. Slightly to the left.]

Are you-- [...] --in pain? I don't know how to pull this out without hurting you.

[It's not as though he isn't curious, of course--but his priorities haven't changed. First and foremost, he needs to make sure she's okay, even if that means something different than what he thought a moment ago.]

[ She's grateful for his continued concern — it's a far cry from the shock or fear she's come to expect. Perhaps it is that people in this hotel have more exposure to beings like her, which tempers their reaction... she's not going to question it. She's just grateful. Her lips curl more, and she keeps both of her hands out of his way by tending to her hair, wanting to make sure she's inconveniencing him as little as possible. ]

You needn't worry, my dear. I am not in pain. And it will not hurt... that, I can promise you.

[ Getting in to the details would make her feel a bit of shame... so she hopes these words will be acceptable and believable enough. Her smile doesn't seem strained in the least, even if it does come off strangely artificial — so it does appear that she's telling the truth about not being hurt. Should he move to extract the knife, he'll find that it will slide out with little resistance, and that the skin underneath will remain unmarred, as if never pierced by the blade to begin with. ]

[For Kaveh, at least, it's a combination of things. He's fortunate enough to come from a world with a wide variety of human-like entities--his best friend being one of them, though Tighnari certainly (presumably?!) bleeds and scars like anyone else. Even if that weren't the case, though, it's likely his reaction would still be the same. He is, after all, chronically soft-hearted.

He'll accept her explanation, at least; with a slightly reluctant nod, he moves to rest a hand on her back, telegraphing his movements while he's mostly out of her line of sight.]

...Alright, if you're sure.

[Carefully, very carefully, he starts to pull the knife out--even when she doesn't flinch and there's no blood to be seen, he remains patient and cautious. His hands are unwaveringly steady, and he doesn't flinch or jerk away, simply committing to his task until the knife is all the way out.

It is, admittedly, bizarre and mildly discomforting to see her completely uninjured skin--if not for the knife in his hand, he would wonder if he'd imagined the whole incident. He doesn't comment, though. He looks for a moment, then pulls away and steps back with a sigh.]

Well, I'm glad you're truly unharmed. That attack was no joke--I didn't think they could get that violent.

[HE DIDN'T SIGN UP FOR THIS]

[ She's grateful for the... almost normalcy with which he treats this. He could have prodded with more questions, or shown more dismay, but he didn't — and it doesn't go unnoticed by her. Perhaps he's merely being considerate of her feelings... but she'd like to believe that it's because he's simply a kind person. Predictably, as he extracts the knife from her, she makes little movement, truthfully not even able to feel the blade as it slips from her skin. ]

Yes... I was unaware of this, also.

[ She murmurs, voice quiet — and now that the knife business and the escaping business are taken care of, she's able to comfortably resume keeping her hands folded in front of her proper. She turns to face him again, ]

But I have you to thank, for helping me as you did — despite my... circumstances. [ She's not sure how else to refer to the state of her body, having notmuch experience with needing to talk about it in such an up front way with others. Her head dips all the same in a formal show of her gratitude. ] My apologies for the inconvenience.

[He waves a hand, dismissing her apology.]

Don't worry about it. It's what anyone would do.

[It's really not, and truthfully, he knows that--but he says it like it's undeniable fact anyway. It's what anyone should do, and that's close enough.] ...It might be best to wait our shadows out. They'll have to leave at some point.

[He doesn't really want to challenge them while they're still in a room full of sharp objects, even though it annoys him to think of the mess his is probably making while it's unsupervised. He's the only one of the four of them that can bleed, after all.]

Event Log #002

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