Event Log #004

[caelumstaff]

EVENT LOG number 004 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. NAV | PREMISE | RULES | FAQ | TAKEN hotelcaelum | caelumserver | caelumooc

Comments

[vecna]

[Maybe with any luck, time would have passed differently in her world. Maybe there’s nothing to worry about at all. Maybe she’ll come back.

He’s not sure he can bear losing her the same way he lost Patty — one day there, one day gone. Just fading away.]

But I’ll miss you if you’re gone for too long.

[It sounds like an almost childish rejoinder, but maybe the core of him—this much, anyway, not wanting to be tossed aside—hasn’t ever changed in him.]

[velluminous]

[ tieflings do not have luck. ]

Welcome to life, Henry. We are all missing things which are gone. That is what makes us like human.

[ when neither of them, truly, are. ]

[vecna]

[Something inside of him balks. Welcome to life, Henry. Why does she have to say it like that? Like she's-]

Don't... talk down to me like that. Like I haven't lost things before.

[Like his entire life isn't shaped by the void left by things gone missing.]

The least you could do is promise that you'll try your best to return as soon as you can.

/2

[velluminous]

"Least I can do"? I am not owing you anything! But since we are on topic, you are talking as though I am just supposed to live rest of my life out here—why? Because you are here? Because your life is so bitter than you would rather start over here than fix what went wrong there?

[velluminous]

[ she doesn't say any of that.

she hears herself say it, plays out every word in her mind, but her voice has gone to live somewhere deep down in her throat. nothing comes out. just a strangled little breath of frustration.

puts her hands up into her hair and tugs at it for a second. takes her glasses off; cleans them on her blouse. puts them on again.

then, and only then, does she really speak: ] I will try.

[vecna]

[Again, the implication of something unsaid in the space between replies. It would be so easy to dip into her mind and hear her thoughts, catch wind of what she really wants to say.

In this case, it's probably for the best that he doesn't.

He'll just have to be satisfied with her accedence. Even if it felt like pulling teeth to earn it.]

...Okay.

[velluminous]

[ with exhaustion, ] I am not abandoning you, you know.

[vecna]

[Telling this to a man whose obsession and need for control just might stem from abandonment issues, or did she forget about what he said about his parents-]

I know. [Well, no, he doesn't. But he will try to trust her on that. For Henry's, that's big.] It's just, the timing...

[velluminous]

Would there ever be good timing to tell you I am going?

[vecna]

I'm never not going to miss you. But right after I showed you what I am, it's almost as though you're running away.

[velluminous]

[ it's because, in her own way, she is. ]

It's just coincidence, Henry. Timing.

[vecna]

[That, he’s not sure he believes.]

Well… at least let me know before you leave so I can tell you goodbye.

[velluminous]

[ for what feels like an age, her throat aches with the idea that that moment is now. right now. she can't stand to be here for one second longer, as the floors literally submerge as if falling into Phlegethos itself.

but it's too cruel. ]

Tomorrow, maybe.

[vecna]

[Tomorrow? That’ll be here in the blink of an eye.]

So soon?

[velluminous]

[ such is the march of time. ]

I cannot... be here while this place falls apart like it is.

[vecna]

[And it’ll slow to a crawl as soon as she’s gone.]

It’s just like almost everything else that happens in this hotel — it won’t last.

[velluminous]

[ but there, just outside, just up the hall from this room, her room, her home now for lack of anywhere else in this world or any other—there is lava. there's flame. and it is engulfing...

everything. ]

I do not want to watch it burn!

[vecna]

[To lose everything to the flames again… Of course she wouldn’t want that. But why did the hotel have to malfunction in a way that would deprive him of her?]

The things you want to save the most in here… maybe I can make sure that they stay safe.

[velluminous]

[ she looks around--at this idealized (yes, you read that right) space of hers, everything she already had and lost. her trinkets. her books. her phonograph. the divan from her grandfather's house and the star charts from Teaferth stencilled on the ceiling. all of it hers, though none of it gets to come with her again. ]

It's... it doesn't matter. It all already burned.

[vecna]

And why does that mean we have to leave what’s in here to the same fate?

[velluminous]

...Save what you like, then. When I am gone, it is most probably going to vanish, regardless. Like so many motes of stardust.

[vecna]

[GIRL DON’T SAY THAT, THAT’S DEPRESSING to think every trace of her might be gone if she leaves.

Honestly, the thought is hollowing enough for a few rare seconds that Henry has no reply to it.

But finally-]

I’ll save all of it, if I have to.

[velluminous]

[ what is going on why does this feel the way it does ] You do not have to save any of it, Henry.

[vecna]

[you're doing this to you, sprezzatura]

I don't want all traces of you to just disappear for however long you're going to be gone.

[velluminous]

But that is what happens! I do not know what else to say to you! [ dismayed frustration, not anger ] When someone leaves, even if it is only for one week, it is empty room they leave behind.