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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caelumstaff) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
hotelcaelum2024-01-12 09:44 am
no subject
Each and every person is capable of great change, yes.
[ Physical, mental, emotional. She agrees, it's probably normal among the guests to have changed. But the phrase is said cryptically, like she means it in more than one way. ]
Some more than others. If at all possible, it is best not to not regret those changes.
[ She tries every day not to. ]
In that sense, though you may not require rest... I hope you can enjoy the night's passing nonetheless, my dear.
no subject
Yes, he can't argue with that. Every person is capable of change, should they tear past what holds them back and choose to move forward, at any cost. Change is exactly what everyone needs; change is what his world needs, even if it has to be shattered to pieces first, and to exert one's will in a transformative way is truly the ultimate kind of power.
...But that's probably not exactly the same degree of change she had in mind.
Still, he agrees with her on the whole.]
I don't regret anything.
[This is a lie, but he examines himself so rarely and never so deeply that he thinks it's true enough.]
Not having to eat, sleep, or drink is only ever an advantage. [surely a man loses nothing at all when they become more(?) than human, right] You sound like you know something about change yourself.
no subject
Why, yes. I have changed in many ways, over the years. Learned a wide breadth of things to serve a number of masters. My hair, too, has changed...
[ She offers that first, the first parts seriously, and the last in jest, a hand raising to brush a few strands of hair from her face. The part of her so deeply locked away naively wants to reach out, to say I'm like that, too, but she barely restrains it, deciding that her longing for someone who may understand this persistent distance from other beings should be trumped by her reflex to keep an arm's length. ]
Though I am unsure if I see such a change as yours as purely advantageous. [ Her tone is kept light, curious, trying not to seem as though she's judging his opinion. Perhaps that will be more evident in the even, pointedly unconcerned way that she asks: ] You were human before, were you not?
no subject
She doesn't give too much away, does she? He might have wondered if she changed in more ways than hairstyle or knowledge--because who doesn't, over the long, dragging years--but perhaps she's not the sort to offer that information freely. Not like Henry, who sees no need to hide the matter if it comes up.
To a certain degree, anyway.]
Hm? [Unsure if it's purely advantageous? He wonders why.] I was.
no subject
The larger part of her feels like honing in on this information, though. She's never been able to figure out if there were others who had been cursed as she had, with eternal life and a dearth of human urges. Maybe if she just knew... if there was a way out... ]
...Might I ask how you came to be this way?
[ It's as polite as the question can be asked, plainly personal as it is. She's not oblivious to the nature of the question, and so, she opens up a bit more than she had a moment ago in a show of good will. She does away with the usual or so people would say muddying that she would usually affix to her explanation, perhaps feeling more secure in the cloak of night and their solitude. ]
Methods to induce such an affliction are few and far between, in my realm. The work of witchcraft and the unknown, and not sought after. An eternal curse, some would say.
[ There's way too much certainty in her words for her to be hypothesizing; though she doesn't say it outright, the implication is heavy that she's speaking from personal experience. ]
no subject
Henry doesn't mind telling this tale, though there are certain details that are better left on the cutting room floor. For ease of... digestibility, one could say.]
Do other dimensions exist where you're from?
[Well, rather, he'll start by answering a question with a question.]
no subject
...In a sense, yes.
[ For as long as she had spent in this other "dimension," she finds it hard to describe what it was truly like, having been pinned stagnant within one physical structure for all that time. She doubts it's the kind of dimension he's thinking of, so she elaborates. ]
There is the dimension of the living... and that which is devoid of life. Unknown and vast, yet also empty, like an abyss.
no subject
That sounds lonely.
[The dimension she's thinking of.]
In my world, there's a dimension that runs... parallel, I guess you could call it, with the "real" world. It's vast and raw and barren in some ways, too. But it churns with a storm overhead. Strange creatures roam its rocky terrain.
I was trapped there for years. And that place changed me.
no subject
....I see. It can be maddening, being trapped in such a place for a prolonged period. [ She knows not how to bridge the gap between them, to say I know what you're talking about, so she communicates it in a roundabout way instead, hoping that he might understand some of the same loneliness she endured, locked away in the realm of the dead. ] Difficult to keep track of time. Easy for the person you once were to slip away, hmm?
[ He says that the place changed him, and she doesn't doubt it — however, he's still standing here, and is easy enough to talk to. Friendly, even, to an extent. So, her head tilts, eyes appraising. ]
How fortunate that you one day broke free, my dear.
no subject
Maddening in so many ways.]
Either that, or it's easy to see the actual kind of person you are.
[In dire circumstances, with nothing else but the will to survive, does one not become their truest self? Something to think about.
He tilts his head at her, taking a sip of the cooling tea she's supplied him.]
Oh, I'm still trapped. I imagine if I return "home" from this hotel, I'd just end up back in that place.
no subject
As am I — and as would I. Do forgive my thoughtlessness. It was not my intention to bring up an unpleasant matter.
[ She delivers the apology politely, despite the fact that he doesn't seem overly torn up about the matter of still being trapped. Then again, neither does she, about confirming that if she were to leave, she'd get sent straight back to that void of darkness. ]
When the invitation came, I could not help but be curious, if it were possible to leave. [ And here she is — here they both are. Perhaps he, too, had grasped at a ticket to get out, not to mention the potential for a wish. She would understand if the former were his only motivation. ] Though I cannot fathom how the invitation arrived in the first place. It does not sound as though mail is common in this "parallel" place, either.
no subject
[And, indeed, the inviation was far, far from expected. How could he not have accepted it?
He's glad he did. For a myriad of reasons -- some he will acknowledge, and others he won't.]
So you're trapped, too? In that case, what kind of power do you think we're dealing with here? The kind that can send "invitations" to trapped souls like us without any issue? I never could have imagined it.
no subject
[ Being cast into the world of magic when she'd never even believed in the supernatural had been unfathomable — and still, after all these years, she doesn't understand it nor its full capabilities. ]
But the work of a witch could certainly pull souls from the dead or elsewhere.... could pull them to a location as though it were fate.
[ There's a firmness in the way she explains it, clearly rooted in experience. While she doesn't understand it fully, the one thing she can feel sure of is that she has seen magic pluck lives out from ether, only to drag them within the bounds of the house's curse. It's not far off from picking and choosing people across realms to bring them here, she thinks. ]
no subject
But here? He has no choice but to acknowledge its true existence. (Sprezzatura would have his head otherwise.) He's seen it in action. And the idea of a witch with immense power offering invites to everyone here, drawing them in for unfathomable reasons beyond just a "vacation" feels almost fairytale.]
A witch...
[He hums. She must have some experience with witches.]
Mr. Bennet hardly seems the type. [That's a joke. This part isn't-] But do we know who's really in charge of this hotel?
no subject
[ Bluntly, with her smile fading to something faint. ]
Nor do we know if the hotel itself bears a will of its own. It is not impossible.
[ Whether literally (like a sentient hotel) or metaphorically (some other force or person's soul haunting it), in her imagination, the force "in charge" of the hotel is not someone or something physical. ]
Perhaps a force unseen is what manipulates the hotel so. Perhaps it is not someone we can "know." Hehe... [ She chuckles, the sound a little impish. ] Are you intent on discovering the truth?
no subject
To be honest with you... My wish is of greater importance right now. If I'm granted that, then the truth can wait. I'm curious, but not curious enough to disrupt what's important to me.
[And maybe everyone else. But who cares about them.]