Happy New Year, folks! The Hotel is settling into the New Year with little fanfare. Mr Bennet remains at his post behind the hotel desk and helps check guests in and out daily. The Hotel continues to hustle and bustle and nothing seems to be going too awry beyond the usual shenanigans. In fact, one might even call this the slow season for the Hotel.
THE FLOOR IS LAVA
That is until the second week of the month where the intercoms start with Mr Bennet's pleasant voice coming through.
"Hello, hello! This is just a small warning that one of our floors, the current 79th floor to be exact, has had a small... malfunction, I suppose, and will be affecting the other floors of the Hotel. No word yet from maintenance when this will be over, so stay on your toes, my dear guests!"
And that's it. No indication of what the problem is, or anything like that. It's up to you to figure out what's going on! And what is going on? Well, it'll become obvious very quickly when wherever characters happen to be in the Hotel, they'll soon start feeling a very obvious warmth on the floor below them. It'll increase the longer they stay standing in one spot until it's almost burning their feet.
The only salve for this will be hopping onto a nearby piece of furniture and getting their feet off the floor. It'll soon become obvious that the entire Hotel has been wrapped in a game of The Floor is Lava, including the floor turning into actual lava on some of the floors.
SAFETY SLEEPOVER
Of course, the Hotel is not cruel enough to make the entire Hotel unsafe and soon enough Mr Bennet's voice will come through on the intercom again.
"For those looking for respite from our current Hotel wide game," because clearly it's a game now. "We'll be serving tea and cake in the lounge on the ground floor. Maintenance has been able to fix the lounge for now so feel free to come by when you can if you'd like to rest. We have sleeping bags!"
As folks enter the lounge, they'll find that Mr Bennet is true to his word. The lounge has been converted into a giant sleepover, with sleeping bags lining the floor and a long table off to the side where people can eat their tea and cakes. Mr Bennet is near the food table, handing out pajamas, toothbrushes, and sleep masks to those who request them. There's some new doors off to the side leading to some restrooms, at least, so guests can change in private.
Though, one thing to point out is when Mr Bennet says there's tea and cakes, the cakes happen to be lava cakes. He thinks he's funny.
THE FLOOR IS ICE
It'll take about two days for hotel maintenance to fix the Hotel and return it to normal. So that's two days of living out of the lounge or hopping around the Hotel to get places. What a headache. Mr Bennet will make another lively announcement on the intercom.
"We are back in business, folks! I've just been given word that everything should have return to normal now. Though, there is a warning to make sure not to walk around barefoot for at least another day or so while the Hotel settles. Thank you for your patience!"
What that means becomes obvious soon as anyone walking around now will feel that the floor is especially cold. That's a bit better than the heat, at least, but still kind of a pain in the ass. Anyone who tries to walk around barefoot will find that their feet quickly start to freeze but any permanent damage is easily avoidable by putting on some socks or getting off the floor entirely.
Though that said, the ice does lead to some furniture sliding around and even with shoes on, characters might find themselves sliding too.
What a lovely end to the holidays.
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hotelcaelum2024-01-12 09:44 am
writing this while literally wearing a kigu
[ He supposes when she turns around to face him, the hood looks sort of like a frog. Without that, she just looked like an odd caterpillar. Not that he says that, of course, if he knows anything about women — and he absolutely doesn't — it's that telling them they look like a bug probably isn't great. ]
I think… Frabbit sounds better. [ frunny doesn't have quite the same mouthfeel. ] But why are you dressed like a frog?
[ Unfortunately, he's like a boomer trapped in a twenty-year-old body; he wasn't around for the craze, so he's instead oblivious to the fact kigurumi are a thing. He's wondering if he missed a memo. No one else seems to be dressed up as an animal… ]
im so glad
I don't know! This is what they gave me to wear!
[ As a ye olde, Juniper has no idea what this is, either, but she's clearly the type to just go along with literally anything. ]
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So, if you're not upset being dressed as a frog? Then why— [ the almost ear-splitting dramatics?] The, ah… Commotion?
[ The wailing he'd heard, but not the specifics of why. ]
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[ She blinks, looking truly, genuinely like she's forgotten why she was upset mere moments ago. Because she has. At least, until her gaze thoughtfully falls back down to the plate of lava cake in her hands, at which point— ]
Oh, right! 'Cause Mr. Bennet said these cakes were made of lava! How are you supposed to eat a cake of lava!?
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What? [ She can't think they're literally made of lava, can she? ] Do you… not know what a lava cake is?
[ He gives her a look that's only sort of incredulous. Okay, maybe he shouldn't be so quick to judge, she's clearly not from the same world as him, and so maybe the one she is from simply doesn't have lava cake, or they could call them something else. He sincerely hopes that her world doesn't have them in the literal sense, anyway. ]
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[ Who's to say? They probably have literal cakes of lava in the elemental planes. Or in one of the Nine Hells...
At his question, she hums thoughtfully, cupping her chin with one hand as she tips her head to the side. Her ears sway and flop over with the motion, and she things some more... Real Winnie the Pooh think, think, think going over here... ]
Nope! Is it not made of lava? Because then - why is it called a lava cake! Oh, waiiiiit... I guess it's kind of like "elephant ears" at the carnival!?
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The "lava" is just chocolate but… Hold on, elephant what?
[ No, really, what? There's enough context for him to clue together that it's probably not a real elephant's ear being served up as a dish, but that leaves him with no other ideas as to what in the hell she's talking about. He is at a complete loss. ]
That can't be real, it doesn't sound appetising at all.
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[ Though apparently having been sated by the new knowledge of the cake not actually containing any molten rock, Juniper sees fit to simply sit on the floor, criss-cross applesauce, and start digging in. ]
It's— mmm! Oh, this is yummy! Anyway, elephant ears are fried dough! With sugar all over it! You've never had it, mister? So we're even!
i admit i had to google this
[ Maybe it's the context after all, like, he knows that it's chocolate and so that's why it sounds appealing. Like how elephant ears doesn't sound great if taken literally, either. But she describes what they are and his expressions changes from one of light confusion to vague recognition. ]
That sounds sort of like zeppole, but why would you call them elephant ears…? It makes them sound like they would be leathery to eat.
[ Abbacchio is too European for this.
And unfortunately, so am I.]lsdfds you're method rping
[ Wow, that kind of sounds more magical and whimsical than elephant ears! (It's Italian.) ]
'Cause they're shaped like elephant ears! I guess like this thing is shaped like a volcano?
[ Well... it isn't anymore, seeing as she's getting through it fairly quickly. ]
I bet this would be so yummy with strawberries too!
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[ It… looked nothing like Mount Vesuvius even before she began demolishing it. ]
Oh, yeah. Strawberries and chocolate always go well together, shame there aren't any. Guess you'll need to lodge a complaint with Mr. Bennet. 'Course, if you're a frog, you should be eating flies.
[ That's probably a joke. Probably. ]
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Who's Vesoovus?
[ She tried. Maybe their head looks like a volcano or something..? ]
Hehe. You're funny, mister! The frog people I know eat a lot of fish!
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[ Being able to look out across the gulf and see the volcano that caused destruction in Roman times, knowing that it could happen again, feels as much a part of life in Naples as pizza does. That's not important right now, though— ]
Sorry, you know frog people?
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[ Rest assured, Juniper will forget this new trivia knowledge soon. Especially as now, she's been given a chance to talk about her adventures! She visibly perks up, too, her leporine ears slanting forward and her eyes brightening.
...Just give her a second to finish chowing down on this bite of lava cake. She's definitely got chocolate all over her mouth now. ]
Yes, yes! The bullywugs who live in the Feywild! I've met rabbit people there too, the Harengon. Er— as in, actual rabbit people, hehe. Not a regular person with rabbit ears like me.
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What she describes to him all sounds made up, like she's telling him things from a story book; but her earnestness and her own rabbit ears, and of course the other people he's met, all lead him to accept it. Sure, why not? ]
You're not a rabbit person? Or do you mean like… Walking, talking rabbits.
[ He's fully picturing Rabbit from Winnie the Pooh. ]
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[ Hither, Thither, rabbit bandits and frog royalty... She well and truly sounds as if she's describing places and characters and from fairy tales, doesn't it? At least compared to "Vesuvius."
Juniper at least recognizes that this is how she sounds, so she asks in turn: ]
Do you have fairy tales where you're from, mister?
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We do, yeah. Lots of different ones, they vary across culture, or even language, obviously. The ones I remember most seemed to revolve around kings and their children — like they'd be looking for someone to help find the missing princess — or they tried to teach lessons, I guess?
[ He's not entirely sure what the moral of The Golden Lion is supposed to be… Listen to old women? ]
So, why did the frog king let you go? Don't suppose you had to find a frog princess, did you?
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Oh. He let us go 'cause we completed a trial by combat! We had to fight some kind of weird monster in the coliseum... I didn't get to meet a frog princess, but we did become friends with a frog knight! Ser Morgort is so strong...
Anyway, this was all in the feywild - that's the realm of fairies! Where all fairy tales come from. That's why there's frog people and rabbit people and all sorts of whacky things. I guess the normal plane is whacky, too, but... different.
[ And she would much rather have the fey kind of whacky, honestly. ]
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So, you entered into a battle with your team- [ no, that's not right— ] uh, friends, so that you could be released. You must be pretty impressive if you all managed to beat monsters.
[ That wasn't supposed to sound so backhanded— He's not entirely sure what a weird monster might be by her standards, but hey, he's seen weird flesh Stands, it can't be that different. ]
Travelling to different planes seems to be fairly normal for some people here… Someone told me about different types of "spaces" at the masquerade, but she didn't mention the Feywild. It sounds… interesting.