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hotelcaelum2024-03-10 11:00 am
whereinthefloors) wrote in hotelcaelum2024-03-10 11:00 am
Entry tags:
the hotel heist
WHO: Intrepid Gumshoes (that's you!)
WHERE: The Restaurant Formerly Known as Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville
WHEN: Early March
WHAT: The end of the rash of thefts around the hotel.
WARNINGS: Gambling, alcohol, geography. Please let me know if anything else needs to be added.
THE FINAL INVITATION
Sometime in early March, the hotel server will receive a final post from the mysterious, glitched-out UNKNOWN user:
The stakes have never been higher, and all bets are off.
To see if you can win against the house, come back to where it all began.
Bring a friend, but make sure you both can keep a secret before you visit me in my new HQ. What happens here should stay here.
Those who correctly determine that they are being invited back to the location of the former Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville are correct. They’ll find that the drab remaining façade of “-Ville” has further deteriorated into flickering florescent lights and a path leading into the restaurant shell, painted in blacklight paint. The remaining illuminated sign has seen better days, too, now reading only “V I L E.” Following this path will lead the curious to an old-timey detective agency door concealing a dark portal that looks like…a roulette wheel.
Do you dare to step inside?
THE COAT ROOM
Need an excuse to dress your blorbo up? Don’t worry; we’ve got that here.
Passing through the portal will dump guests in a large coat room. An attendant will immediately swarm them and demand they adhere to the strict dress code. But don’t worry! They’ll also provide tickets for reclaiming any clothing items left behind, and the dress code to enter only demands that guests are dressed to impress. All manner of fancy tuxedos, gowns, regalia, jewelry, and accessories from any imaginable region are available, so guests may select a look that suits them…as long as it is fancy. Once they’re dressed, they’ll be allowed to proceed into the casino.
THE GAME FLOOR
And what a casino it is.
Beyond the coat room is a veritable indoor Vegas. Those familiar with the city of sin will recognize several essential landmarks, like the Bellagio fountains and the Sphinx and Pyramid (flanked by familiar palm trees, of course). The music pumped through the speaker system includes an astounding amount of Jimmy Buffet. Plenty of the casino’s layout is clearly Caelum-inspired, but several landmarks from tourist attractions around the multiverse are also stuffed into this sensory overload. Feel free to get creative! Is M****y M****e here? Maybe! That copyright sure expired!
Everything is—surprisingly—free, including the coffee, the appetizers, and the alcohol. This would be an excellent opportunity to try a house margarita or moonshine cocktail. There’s no shortage of games for gamblers. Successful play rewards chips that can be exchanged for surprisingly familiar basic amenities and items one might recognize from the hotel or even their inventories, like some super fucked up Chuck-E-Cheese. Like any casino experience, it’s easy to lose a lot of time here if one loses track of why they came in the first place…but the ride will surely be fun.
THE HEIST
The unlimited games and drinks might be enough to hold attention for a time, but many guests may have come here to regain something that was taken for them. Play long, hard, smart, or pathetic enough, and you might just be offered a special prize at the counter—entry into the high-rollers club. This is allegedly where the boss keeps her stash of most prized items. Guests are encouraged to bring a +1 to the VIP experience.
If this offer is taken, a velvet rope-drop will invite the new high-rollers into a distinctly film noir-inspired back hallway, lined with portraits of famous gangsters and criminals throughout history and dotted with century-appropriate décor.
It’s not a straight shot to the boss’ office. Guests will work through a veritable maze of self-same corridors with crackling radios and nested CRTVs. Every so often, when it seems someone’s come to a dead end, one of these devices will crackle to life. To open the barrier and reveal a new door or hallway, everyone must correctly answer a geography trivia question or three about a world they know. Hopefully, they paid attention in school!
Combat-minded individuals might instead find themselves getting into the occasional brawl with trench coat-wearing, sunglasses-indoors type mobster individuals, who, when bested, will give them a new directional clue for navigating the halls. Maybe there are lasers to dodge or a stealth sneak section or an obstacle that requires wit, guile, fake flirting, or sleight of hand? All obstacles that can be overcome by such an intrepid group of investigators.
THE END
To finally retrieve the last of the missing items and reclaim the coffee and the Margaritaville (and any other missing hotel fixtures), guests must enter the boss’ office after completing the maze of geography quizzes and mooks.
Busting into the final agency-style door at the end of the final hallway, the proud heroes will find…an office, completely laden with artifacts both familiar and inexplicable, along with no shortage of strange contraption controls that seem to be the key to returning the stolen items that are too big or too abstract to be delivered by hand.
Equally inexplicable is the broken window (in space?), the red trench coat on the coat rack blowing mysteriously on the breeze (in space???), and the fading purr of a helicopter fleeing the scene of the hoard (IN SPACE?!?!).
Congratulations, Gumshoes. You’ve solved all of the riddles and reclaimed the missing objects. Feel free to sort through the treasure trove and return things to their rightful owners, or try skimming a little off the top if you're brave. Now enjoy your vacation in pseudo-Vegas in peace.
OOC
I hope everyone enjoys the end to the plot heistline (for now....?)! While Carmen got away, her plans were thwarted, so everything in the hotel will go back to normal, and people who opted to have their characters lose things will now be able to reclaim them. Please let me know if you have any questions, but feel free to treat this casino as your sandbox of classy Vegas fun! Thanks for playing!
WHERE: The Restaurant Formerly Known as Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville
WHEN: Early March
WHAT: The end of the rash of thefts around the hotel.
WARNINGS: Gambling, alcohol, geography. Please let me know if anything else needs to be added.
THE FINAL INVITATION
Sometime in early March, the hotel server will receive a final post from the mysterious, glitched-out UNKNOWN user:
The stakes have never been higher, and all bets are off.
To see if you can win against the house, come back to where it all began.
Bring a friend, but make sure you both can keep a secret before you visit me in my new HQ. What happens here should stay here.
Those who correctly determine that they are being invited back to the location of the former Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville are correct. They’ll find that the drab remaining façade of “-Ville” has further deteriorated into flickering florescent lights and a path leading into the restaurant shell, painted in blacklight paint. The remaining illuminated sign has seen better days, too, now reading only “V I L E.” Following this path will lead the curious to an old-timey detective agency door concealing a dark portal that looks like…a roulette wheel.
Do you dare to step inside?
THE COAT ROOM
Need an excuse to dress your blorbo up? Don’t worry; we’ve got that here.
Passing through the portal will dump guests in a large coat room. An attendant will immediately swarm them and demand they adhere to the strict dress code. But don’t worry! They’ll also provide tickets for reclaiming any clothing items left behind, and the dress code to enter only demands that guests are dressed to impress. All manner of fancy tuxedos, gowns, regalia, jewelry, and accessories from any imaginable region are available, so guests may select a look that suits them…as long as it is fancy. Once they’re dressed, they’ll be allowed to proceed into the casino.
THE GAME FLOOR
And what a casino it is.
Beyond the coat room is a veritable indoor Vegas. Those familiar with the city of sin will recognize several essential landmarks, like the Bellagio fountains and the Sphinx and Pyramid (flanked by familiar palm trees, of course). The music pumped through the speaker system includes an astounding amount of Jimmy Buffet. Plenty of the casino’s layout is clearly Caelum-inspired, but several landmarks from tourist attractions around the multiverse are also stuffed into this sensory overload. Feel free to get creative! Is M****y M****e here? Maybe! That copyright sure expired!
Everything is—surprisingly—free, including the coffee, the appetizers, and the alcohol. This would be an excellent opportunity to try a house margarita or moonshine cocktail. There’s no shortage of games for gamblers. Successful play rewards chips that can be exchanged for surprisingly familiar basic amenities and items one might recognize from the hotel or even their inventories, like some super fucked up Chuck-E-Cheese. Like any casino experience, it’s easy to lose a lot of time here if one loses track of why they came in the first place…but the ride will surely be fun.
THE HEIST
The unlimited games and drinks might be enough to hold attention for a time, but many guests may have come here to regain something that was taken for them. Play long, hard, smart, or pathetic enough, and you might just be offered a special prize at the counter—entry into the high-rollers club. This is allegedly where the boss keeps her stash of most prized items. Guests are encouraged to bring a +1 to the VIP experience.
If this offer is taken, a velvet rope-drop will invite the new high-rollers into a distinctly film noir-inspired back hallway, lined with portraits of famous gangsters and criminals throughout history and dotted with century-appropriate décor.
It’s not a straight shot to the boss’ office. Guests will work through a veritable maze of self-same corridors with crackling radios and nested CRTVs. Every so often, when it seems someone’s come to a dead end, one of these devices will crackle to life. To open the barrier and reveal a new door or hallway, everyone must correctly answer a geography trivia question or three about a world they know. Hopefully, they paid attention in school!
Combat-minded individuals might instead find themselves getting into the occasional brawl with trench coat-wearing, sunglasses-indoors type mobster individuals, who, when bested, will give them a new directional clue for navigating the halls. Maybe there are lasers to dodge or a stealth sneak section or an obstacle that requires wit, guile, fake flirting, or sleight of hand? All obstacles that can be overcome by such an intrepid group of investigators.
THE END
To finally retrieve the last of the missing items and reclaim the coffee and the Margaritaville (and any other missing hotel fixtures), guests must enter the boss’ office after completing the maze of geography quizzes and mooks.
Busting into the final agency-style door at the end of the final hallway, the proud heroes will find…an office, completely laden with artifacts both familiar and inexplicable, along with no shortage of strange contraption controls that seem to be the key to returning the stolen items that are too big or too abstract to be delivered by hand.
Equally inexplicable is the broken window (in space?), the red trench coat on the coat rack blowing mysteriously on the breeze (in space???), and the fading purr of a helicopter fleeing the scene of the hoard (IN SPACE?!?!).
Congratulations, Gumshoes. You’ve solved all of the riddles and reclaimed the missing objects. Feel free to sort through the treasure trove and return things to their rightful owners, or try skimming a little off the top if you're brave. Now enjoy your vacation in pseudo-Vegas in peace.
OOC
I hope everyone enjoys the end to the plot heistline (for now....?)! While Carmen got away, her plans were thwarted, so everything in the hotel will go back to normal, and people who opted to have their characters lose things will now be able to reclaim them. Please let me know if you have any questions, but feel free to treat this casino as your sandbox of classy Vegas fun! Thanks for playing!
no subject
But, here they are... In front of a hall of lasers. ]
I, ah...
[ She looks at the lasers. Then back at Yeyasu in his very floofy dress. And then back at the lasers. ]
I wonder if we ought to find a different route.
no subject
Hyahya... Actually, I've got a bit of an idea! If we wanna break through this, then we should think more out of the box!
[That's when he walks over to a little corner in the wall. Reaching into one of his dress pockets, he takes out a slice of cheese.
Huh? What's he up to here?]
Alright... I'm gonna call upon an ally. Here, micey-micey-miceeeey~! ♪
[He'll be placing the slice of cheese down. After a moment... A mouse is going to shyly poke out of its hole.]
no subject
All to say, she welcomes any and all ideas here that don't involve going down the hall of lasers, so when Yeyasu pipes up seemingly with an idea, she's quick to acquiesce and watch. ]
Oh...?
[ Slowly, she follows him over to the corner, where he produces... a slice of cheese and then beckons for a little mouse to come out. If not for last month's events, Sumina would have shrieked and scurried away at the mere sight, but... having spent a good amount of time as a mouse now, perhaps she feels a bit of empathy for the little guys. They're just doing their best.
But most importantly: ]
Wait a moment, Yeyasu. Were you just... keeping a slice of cheese in your pocket?
[ ??? ]
no subject
Though Sumina's reaction gets an innocent look of surprise out of him. Sometimes, whenever you're on the battlefield... You had to scrap by with pieces of food to survive.]
Huh? What's wrong with that? A guy's gotta have some spare food on hand whenever things get dicey!
[Though that's whenever a question comes to his mind... It might've been a silly one, but it was worth bringing up.]
Say, Miss Heartleaf... Have you ever gone dungeon crawling before?
no subject
Well, I suppose that's fair...
[ Can't have people fighting on empty stomachs, after all. That's the best way to end up in the belly of a dragon.
At his question, however, there's not even a moment's hesitation when she answers straight away: ]
It's definitely not for me, Mister Yeyasu. They're dark and the air feels stagnant and all manner of unexplained substances and monsters and—
[ Oh. She's getting a little worked up. But it comes from a place of going on family vacations where the main activity was dungeoneering and Sumina had to be the scared little NPC cowering in the corner in a party full of chaotically-inclined casters.
She clears her throat. ]
Apologies. I don't mean to be rude. I'm simply not cut out for dungeoneering, is all I mean to say!
no subject
However... After going through his own personal adventures and getting a new perspective, he could see why warriors loved to fight and travel through unexplored lands. He might've not looked like it, but he carried the bloodline of demonic samurais and warriors!]
Hyahya... Well, you're not wrong! Going through dungeons can be a real pain sometimes and it can be scary whenever you're dealing with monsters and such. I used to be content just kickin' back and hiring people to do the heavy lifting like adventuring!
[There's a hint of respect in his voice as he continues, though. Yeyasu's smile was quite bright as he thought back to his friends from home. He's learned to be more courageous nowadays!]
That is until I discovered how much fun it is to see the world for myself! Doing it alone can be mindboggling, but whenever you've got friends... It's pretty awesome. [A beat.] And it gives me a chance to get closer to the people! A shogun can't just simply chillax out in his castle~!
no subject
...He goes on, earnestly speaking of how his perspective on it has shifted over time, and that's... Well, she can't be anything but impressed by that. The adventuring life may not be for her, but... for the people who fall in love with it, who become all the better for it, she only hopes for the best. It's difficult not to be swept up by his cheery attitude, in any case. He continues to surprise her every time they cross paths. ]
Ahaha, is that so, Yeyasu? You're reminding me very much of the adventurers who come to my inn, so... I would say you've found yourself on the right path.
What are they like? Your traveling companions.
[ She says, while glancing back over to their little mouse friend. What's it up to? ]
no subject
Whenever it comes to his friends, he loves gushing about them! In all honesty, Yeyasu loves his friends more than he loved himself. So hearing her Sumina's curiosity about them gets him even more pumped up!]
Oh, you wanna hear 'bout my bros? I'd be happy to tell ya! [He says with a prideful puff of the chest.] The first one is Fuji! He's a villainous lookin' dude who likes to shoot death threats at people, but he's actually one of the kindest warriors around. A big ol' tsundere if I had anything to say.
[If Fuji were to hear these compliments, he'd be coughing up blood right now. Kind compliments were literally bad for his health...]
And the second is Pirilika! A cute cat girl with a heart of gold. ♥ She's a big ol' otaku who runs her own fashion company. I could totally hook you up with a dress or two from her if you're interested.
[As for the mouse, it looks up curiously between Yeyasu and Sumina as they were talking... Then it begins to walk away from them and starts to navigate its way through the laser field! Yeyasu actually had a plan here, but he was so caught up in the conversation that he forgot to execute the second part of it!]
no subject
Still, though - it's not as if she needs to know exactly what those words mean to understand what he means to convey by them. As he describes each companion, Sumina forms a vague impression of them in her mind, one that draws from a decade of experience meeting travelers and adventurers at the Elderflower Inn. It's easy enough to imagine someone with quite a villainous demeanor and a cold disposition that belies a heart of gold, as well as a fashionable young woman. And it's certainly clear enough that he holds his bros in high regard, and that he's rather fond of them indeed. It's really endearing. The shogun contains multitudes... ]
Ahaha. You're quite fond of them, it seems, Yeyasu. It's good to have traveling companions that you care about— ah!
[ She points at the mouse! ]
Is it... showing us the way...?
1/2
[There's a pause from Yeyasu as he notices Sumina pointing over to the mouse. The mouse itself is actually doing it's best to navigate its way through the laser field! It's almost like this creature had experience with this. After all, they do say that animals are quick to adapt through situations in order to get food and survive.
Eventually, the mouse manages to completely blitz through the lasers like clockwork! But what lied ahead of them was a control stand with a big red button on it. And to the right of the stand was another mouse hole for an extra route that it can get around.
The mouse pauses to scratch its ear as it looks between the control stand and the hole... The mouse is beginning to move towards the other hole.]
2/2
[You'll have to give Yeyasu a second as he lifts a hand up to summon a emerald staff! He'd have no choice, but to try and use that trick to get them out of this. But this technique came with a few restrictions that had to be fulfilled first. The first would be to have the target look directly at him and his staff.]
H-Hey, Sumina?! Could you try getting the mouse's attention? If we wanna get those laser beams down, then we'll need it to press that button!
1/2
no subject
...
She sighs and holds her hand out towards him, palm facing up. ]
All right. Hand me one of your... pocket cheeses.
no subject
[Somehow, he's caught off guard by her hand which prompts that reaction! Quickly, he reaches into his pocket and hands her another pocket cheese.]
R-Right... Here you go! [A beat as he looks over to the mouse.] H-Hey, little guy! Don't look away from here! We've got a nice little treat for you~!