March rolls around and the hotel seems to be doing just fine, bar any of the usual shenanigans. In fact, it's one of those just fine days that Mr Bennet comes on the speaker and announces to the hotel:
"Hello, hello, my lovely guests! There seems to be an issue where one of the floors is, er, overlapping the others. Sorry about that. If you end up on this specific floor, just go through it instead of avoiding it. Then it'll stop bothering you, promise! It just wants the attention, clearly."
What this means is this: as characters move throughout the hotel today, they might end up on a floor they don't mean to be. What floor is this? The Labyrinth floor. Even if the elevator or stairs open up to a floor they're intimately familiar with, they'll be faced with a dark floor where the only view they can see is a hedge maze in front of them, beckoning them inside.
TEST OF COURAGE
The labyrinth floor will haunt characters as they go through their routine for the next three days. If they're lucky enough to avoid it for those three days, they'll be fine. But like Mr Bennet said, the easiest way to deal with the labyrinth is to just go through it.
The floor is dark, with the hedge maze reaching a whopping 15 feet high and only ending at the ceiling above. Characters will be led through a maze that has many dead ends and pitfalls. Some dead ends will feature monsters they have to fight or puzzles they have to solve (maybe a sphinx they have to answer the riddle of, for instance). If they try to ask the monsters or anyone else they find in the maze what the point of the maze is, the answer will always be to get to the middle. Find your prize. Claim your victory.
WHO AM I
If your character succeeds in making their way to the middle of the maze, they're in for quite a sight. What's waiting for them in the middle of the maze? Oh, it's just yourself. They'll be faced with a doppelganger of themselves in the middle of the maze, who just seems to be standing there, waiting for them.
And when they find that doppelganger, it'll only be a few moments of staring at each other until the doppelganger attacks. That's right, it's time to kill your double! The doppelganger has all the powers and skills that the original has with an added murderous intent. There's no hesitation from the doppelganger, no mercy. The only solution here is to kill or be killed.
If a character has teamed up with another character to reach the middle, two doppelgangers will be present instead — one of each character. The same goes for three or four characters.
VICTORY CRY
If a character managers to win against the fight against their double, they'll end up being transported right back to their hotel room and find a gift on the nearest surface closest to them. The gift can contain anything, something from home, something they want dearly, a memory they've forgotten. Just something precious to the character.
If a character ends up dying instead, either to a monster or their double, they'll wake up in the infirmary an hour later all patched up and like nothing happened. No prize! But the labyrinth will no longer be haunting them to go through it.
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hotelcaelum2024-03-15 08:31 am
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The thought is immediately throttled by a hole opening in the hedges. Another Kaveh steps through, claymore extended in front of him, matching Dendro vision glowing brightly. The branches close behind him.]
What the- [There's not a lot of time to come up with a plan; the other Kaveh motions, and a wash of green light spreads over the immediate area. The real Kaveh curses and makes the same motion. Now, the center of the Labyrinth is glowing a very garish and misty green, and little seed pods start springing up in a disjointed circle around them.]
Careful of those! [Mehrak adds an insistent beeping, just in case.] They can burst, and it hurts.
no subject
Well. Fortunately, he's in the best of company. Who better to know how to defeat themselves than the two of them?]
Noted! I'll certainly keep my distance— though do expect a number of queries later on!
[Even when battle is imminent, Gale is still Gale, which means naturally, he'll want to know all about how those things work.]
We'll need a plan— I can make an effort to incapacitate myself, but if he has access to all the same spells I do, it will be hard to take him by surprise.
no subject
[Gale may not have noticed, but Kaveh isn't exactly built for combat. Of any sort. His tricks have helped him navigate forest and desert before but he's also, you know, needed a solid rescue or three in his day.
The fake Gale seems like he might want to do the lightning thing again, and Kaveh backs up, trying to think faster than he feels like he can right now.]
If I swing at you, what's likely to happen?
[Obviously it's Kaveh's projected hand that will do the swinging, but they don't have time to bicker over details.]
no subject
You can certainly try— wizards aren't known for being good at close-combat. There might be a shield to deflect it, but I can only conjure those so often. Perhaps another shock of electricity if he's allowed to touch you, but nothing like what was thrown at us first.
[While the fake Gale does appear to be prepping another spell, the true Wizard of Waterdeep sends a sharp bolt of arcane energy in his direction, dampening the spell before it can be fired off.]
Interrumpere! If I assault you, what's likely to happen? I don't imagine you're keen on fire, given your affinity for plants.
[Just an educated guess.]
no subject
Damn it.
[They're still surrounded by a fine green mist, though it's fading.]
Fire sounds terrifying, thank you. That'll work great. It might also set this whole are ablaze, and I won't be able to stop us from being burned.
[All the little dendro cores in the vicinity have burst. Kaveh's still swinging, and so far it doesn't seem to be tiring him, but it's mostly a distraction to keep False Kaveh from retaliating against Gale directly.]
Does your lightning work like my Vision? That's the only element you can control? I might be able to do something with that.
no subject
[Gale immediately starts to make a sweeping motion with his arm as he begins to conjure flame; in the distance, his double grits his teeth and successfully falls back while his companion blocks the third of those blows. He looks injured, if only moderately so; being attacked has certainly succeeded in making him angry.
The real Gale casts an apologetic glance at his friend, a ball of flame beginning to build between his open hands.]
On that note, I have good news and bad— the good news is that given my school of specialty, the flame will only hit those I direct it to, and the arena will be safe. The bad is that if my double can perform any spell that I'm able to, then he'll have access to any element he wishes. Variety is the spice of life, as they say.
[This situation, he realizes, did not need any additional spice.]