hotelcaelum | Event Log #002

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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

[Well, that's not something one sees every day.

Reiju is in the middle of a greeting when a shadow appears to shove Abbacchio with a great deal of feeling. She blinks slowly after the fact, making no sudden movement while she processes what just happened.]

Was that your shadow?

[Her own is long gone. She's been feeling a little under the weather since, but her posture is still impeccable as she regards him with curious bewilderment.]

[ Oh, it's her, from the unfortunate breakfast. He's thankful to see a face he recognises somewhat, less so that she witnesses him be unceremoniously pushed around like he weighs nothing. Though he stumbles, he regains his balance and grimaces once she gets closer, nodding in response to her question. ]

Unfortunately. [ Nowhere to be seen now, however. He's sure that won't last. ] As long as it stays focused on me, I suppose it's fine…

[ Even if he technically wouldn't be the one responsible, he doesn't want to hear about his own shadow taking whatever its issues are out on anyone else. ]

Do you know where yours is?

[His own shadow has a vendetta against him. How unfortunate. Is it a sense of responsibility that leaves him content as the sole victim? Time will tell, she supposes.]

No. It slipped through the cracks and I haven't seen it since. As far as I know, it hasn't accosted anyone yet.

[In fact, her shadow has been squatting in the kitchens of the eateries and slinking around somewhat populated floors to peer at passersby from the shade.]

[ What other people's shadows are up to isn't something he's really caught wind of, and the fact his own has taken a liking to tormenting him… there's an irony in there, he supposes. He hadn't really questioned it, because at the time it had made sense to him that his own self (if that's what it is) would turn against him. ]

Yet… [ he sounds contemplative. ] The sooner this is all brought under control, the better. Not that I've managed to figure out exactly how to control a shadow.

[ Behind Reiju, there's a flickering of his own silhouette, but it seems to not like having an audience and vanishes again. ]

["Yet."

She begins to glance over her shoulder when she aborts the turn halfway. Whatever it was, it's already gone, unless her senses are playing tricks on her.]

If it's anything like the ions, it should resolve itself. On the other hand, there may be conditions we need to fulfill.

[Do they have to tell their own shadows three things about themselves?]

It could… though I'd rather not take any chances. It's not easy to get rid of shadows, asides from the fact they can apparently up and walk away.

[ Initially, he'd thought maybe light exposure would enable them to bring them back under control, but they'd need to surround someone in lights to ensure there were no chances of shadows being cast, then he'd figure that probably wouldn't be feasible in the first place. ]

As far as I've been able to tell, they're somewhat intangible.

[ Like a Stand, almost. Against his better judgement, he calls upon Moody Blues — keeping an eye on Reiju to gauge her reaction on if she's able to see his Stand or not — he's not sure what the rules are here. ]

[Either he has prior experience, or he's been at this since it all started. How troublesome. At least there was an explanation last time; is this how things are going to be from now on?]

They're shadows, after all. Do you suppose the concierge is aware of what's going on?

[Reiju is a daughter of science. A shadow is one thing, but the Stand's presence goes entirely unnoticed by her as she focuses her attention on Abbacchio.]

[ Moody Blues doesn't seem to elicit a reaction, so having them out might be more of a hindrance than a help if he can't explain his thought process. For the time being, the Stand remains hovering just behind him, and he offers a small nod in response to her question. ]

Mm… with some of the chaos that has been happening, most definitely, though I don't think Mr. Bennet is aware of what is causing the shadows, or how to put a stop to them. Do you think he's all right?

[ Maybe there's a reason there was no announcement? ]

If you're concerned, we can always correspond with him. [They've got the server.] He seems to revel in some of that chaos, though.

[But what does she know? Their dear concierge is shrouded in mystery. She'll have to talk to him one-on-one sooner than later.

Moody Blues continues to go ignored. Sorry, buddy.]

No, you're right. I'm sure he's fine. [ And if he's not, then he'll sit and blame himself for it later. ] In any case, there must be some way to get rid of them, though I don't think it'll be anything like stitching them to the soles of our feet.

[ There's a pause, contemplative, like for the briefest of seconds he's considering that as an actual option before he shakes his head. ]

An absence of light, maybe.

We'll need a strong needle for that.

[Stitching, that is.

She glances around them. Absence of light means darkness, which can spell danger, but she isn't opposed to trying out his ideas.]

Shall we try a room without lights?

[ Whether she's merely playing along or being serious, he can't tell, but it gets a quiet huff of laughter out of him all the same. ]

Maybe just try glue. Or staples. [ or zippers. ]

Better than plunging the entire hotel into darkness and hoping for the best. Ideally, one without windows, too. They can be covered, but it might still introduce some light — same for gaps around doors.

[ He starts heading off in a direction, not that he has any real idea of where he's going. ]

[Time to find Bruno. Or some industrial glue, since the staples would have to be strong, too.

A place so dark that someone might as well be dead to the world. She can think of one fairly fast as she trails after him.]

Do you suppose there's a basement somewhere?

That'd definitely work. If there is, I don't think I've seen it listed on the elevators… [ Still, that doesn't mean there isn't one, though. ] A service elevator, or stairwell maybe? Something that would be for staff only.

[ Maybe they'll run into the concierge after all. ]

If that's the case, would they let us in?

[Rather, would he let the restrictions stop him? Or is he a man who shirks the law for his convenience?]

Well, if they saw us, probably not. [ A glance over his shoulder to catch her eyes. ] So we'll just need to make sure they don't see us.

[ He's not above a little breaking and entering, even if it is only a service elevator. ]

Either waiting for when no one is around or distracting them with something else.

[Very bold—and reckless.

She's done (and attempted) her share of breaking and entering, so it's not as though she's above him in that regard. Rather, she finds herself wanting to exercise a little more caution when it comes to this place. As such, while she doesn't break away from him, she maintains her easy strides.]

Well, we're still a ways from the ground floor. Why don't we take a look around and see if anything else can be done on the way?

[ He's much the same himself, he'd really rather find a more straightforward solution to their problem than resort to outright rule breaking — that's more Mista or Narancia's field of expertise. ]

That would be preferable, besides, who knows what this hotel has to offer on each floor. They're rather nonsensical — I know there's at least once that's fairly dark, but I couldn't tell you what floor number it was. [ He'd been preoccupied. ] Maybe we can take the stairs, check each as we go?

[ Using an elevator to go floor by floor doesn't make much sense to him, and they run the risk of potentially missing out on something if they skip something otherwise. ]

[And given the sheer number of floors, she can't fault him for getting muddled.]

Yes, sounds like a plan. We can also use this opportunity to further acquaint ourselves with the hotel.

[That's the bright side of things before they look for the darkness.]

Knowing what we can find on floors will be helpful, I'm sure… So long as they don't change around, of course. [ Which he thinks they might, but he hasn't been able to confirm. ]

Still, whatever we can discover in the meantime will have to be good enough.

[ And with that he heads towards the nearest stairwell, making note of the floor number they're on, before holding the door open for Reiju and gesturing with a small nod towards it. After you, signora.]

What a gentleman.

[Smiling widely, she steps past and waits for him before descending the stairs. Midway down, she glances in his direction.]

Your composure is remarkable. Are you accustomed to this sort of thing?

[Whatever he chooses to construe "thing" as.]

You could say that.

[ If he didn't know by now that this was the hotel's doing, at least in some way or another, he'd surely be proclaiming, 'this must be the work of an enemy Stand!' ]

Not quite like this, but oddities that aren't easily explained to most aren't something I've never had to deal with before. [ Cocking his head to the side, he regards her, wondering how much he should say. Unseen to her, is Moody Blues mimicking the action behind him. ] Where I'm from, some people have… I guess you could call them abilities. Powers, that sort of thing.

[ Discussing Stands isn't something he's all that used to doing, especially his own, but he also can't see the harm in alluding to it. ]

[Her expression is steady as she continues to watch him, descending the stairs by measuring her steps.

Powers. Now, that's a thing she can grasp.]

My world has something similar—powers that only a fraction of the populace possess and are unique to the individual.

[ That's sort of a relief to hear, honestly, that her own world has something similar. Trying to explain anything otherwise probably ran the risk of him sounding crazy. It does leave him wondering if that means she's someone without powers, however. ]

I can't begin to imagine how that must have been exploited, with the fighting and such… Although, I guess it was the same where I'm from.

[ Without the literal war, anyway. He clears his throat, stepping down the last couple of stairs and pushing open the door to the next floor, in lieu of pressing the matter. ]

[Naples sounded quaint, but the emergence of oddities and powers paints an off-color layer over that picture. It's not so different from the rest of the world that way. Still, she ponders this as she exits the staircase and enters the floor.]

Are those oddities you've experienced violent in nature?

i. phase 2

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