hotelcaelum | Event Log #006

Entry tags:

Event Log #006

EVENT LOG
number 006

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.

Threaded | Flat

[The eyes of Reiju's doppelganger are cold and her lips, set in an unfeeling frown. It's not a look to which she's unaccustomed, meaning she knows what's to come. The doppelganger bends her knees into a low crouch, and Reiju, similarly clad in her raid suit, angles her head toward her companion.]

Careful not to let her near you. Her very touch is poisonous.

[And what of the other doppelganger?

Once the battle is won, she finds herself alone in a familiar room. It's one thing to be told about a memory lost; it's another to relive it and understand in retrospect how heavy of a burden retelling it must have been. Reiju can't say that it gladdens her, but she's grateful nonetheless . . . though, for what exactly, she can't say.

Back in her usual attire of a short dress, she leaves the building to walk the perimeter. The asteroid on which the hotel sits is desolate and gray. It's perhaps a welcome respite from the overwhelming colors and bustle, and she strolls the area with folded arms and an impassive gaze.

Her lips curl into a polite smile when she crosses paths with a fellow rover.]

Hello. What brings you all the way out here?

🔮 test of courage

[Gale is probably more enthused than he ought to be when the Labyrinth catches up with him, but he's very quick to decide that finding himself amidst towering hedges is an intriguing opportunity rather than an inconvenience. It's been a bit since he's gone courting danger on some of the more adventurous floors, and he's been starting to feel the itch.

The first bit of explanation turns out to be rather straightforward; he'll come across a spike trap that is easily averted with a Misty Step, and offer a helping hand to anyone nearby who might need assistance in bypassing it as well. There are a few small monsters that are dispatched of easily enough along the way, but it's when he comes across his first riddle that his face positively lights up.

Straight ahead, there are two doors set into the hedge, each guarded by a suit of armor. Between them, a sign stating the rules:

One door leads to certain death,
the other shall lead you to your goal.
One guard shall speak true, the other false;
a single question and no more shall decide your fate.

Gale smiles broadly, folding his arms across his chest as he surveys the scene before him.]

Now this is interesting! One simply can't have a proper labyrinth without a good riddle.

🔮 who am i?

[The journey to the center of the maze is hard-fought, but eventually, the way is found. Though the labyrinth has offered any number of interesting diversions and curiosities, none of it quite manages to prepare Gale for what awaits at its very heart— a far more somber-looking version of himself, with nothing more to set them apart than the fact that the wizard awaiting him happens to be wearing a crown, something Gale's own gaze lingers on for but a moment before gritting his teeth and setting his jaw.]

Well— that's certainly unsettling.

[To say the least— and it's very quickly apparent that his double isn't content to just stand there and stare. Even as the doppelganger begins to reach for its staff, Gale's eyes widen before he throws a hand up and proceeds to erect a magical barrier around himself and whoever else may be in the immediate vicinity, intended to shield against whatever is about to be unleashed.]

Get back!

🔮 wildcard

[Other labyrinthine shenanigans! Hit me with whatever you like, or catch me on discord to discuss.]

💀 dead ends

[Mazes aren't really Kanji's thing. When the labyrinth catches up to him, he remembers hearing that the best way to deal with it is just to go through. Seems easy enough. At first, he figures it can't be all that different from exploring the TV world with the rest of the team. Nothing he can't handle, right?

Five or six dead ends later, he's over it.]

Come on, this is bullshit!

[The monsters he's come across so far haven't been a big deal, but coming up against a dead end every time he starts to feel like he's getting somewhere? Yeah, that's frustrating as hell.]

Man, to hell with this! I'm goin' through!

[Good thing he'd had his weapon on him before coming in, because he hefts his shield and starts trying to bash his way through the wall of the hedge. It may not be sharp, but enough blunt force trauma ought to make some headway, right? Hopefully, you're not on the other side— but he's definitely making enough of a racket to draw the attention of fellow guests and monsters alike.]

💀 i am thou, thou art i

[Getting to the center of the maze takes some doing, but Kanji is sure whatever is waiting for them there is going to be so freakin' worth it. Imagine his disappointment when all he finds waiting there is a copy of himself.

He deflates visibly, his expression going incredibly flat beneath a slightly furrowed brow.]

... I dunno what else I expected, actually.

[This kind of shit is always at the end of a labyrinth!]

Alright, come on, me. [He gestures broadly towards himself, giving an impatient sigh.] You probably got shit to say, yeah? What about the rest of you? You assholes feelin' chatty?

[Sorry if you wanted there to be some gravity in facing off against your doppelganger— but Kanji is definitely ready to throw down.]

💀 wildcard

[Anything goes! Hit me with whatever you like, or catch me on discord to discuss.]

🐇LABYRINTH

[ At this point, Megumi's accepted this hotel and all its eccentricities and nonsense. He could ponder for hours how any of this had come to be, what all of it even means, but then he would end up with a whole lot more questions and nothing to show for it. It's similar to being in a domain, in some ways. The imagination can come to life, and things don't always have to play by the rules of physics.

All he wants to do is retreat to his room, but every time he tries to make it there, he ends up coming face to face with a hedge wall once again. It looks like there's really no choice but to get through it somehow. He's going to cheat, though. Because he can. Megumi possesses the ability to warp through shadows and he's not afraid to use it.

This definitely means that from within your character's shadow, a hand will emerge, very much like something you would see in a horror movie. Pull the rest of the person it's attached to out? Kick the hand? Step on it? It's up to you. ]

🐇🐇🐇🐇BUNNIES FOR DAYS

[ At the center of the Labyrinth, a fight seems to be happening between two people, and it's looking to be a pretty intense, evenly-matched one. It looks like something to be cautious about at first.

Until, from behind a hedge explodes a lumbering hoard of white rabbits, filling up all the space available in their sheer multitudes. This has to be a dozen, no a hundred, maybe even a thousand white rabbits! Who knew the center the labyrinth could be so cute?

These bunnies aren't completely friendly though. Some of them are known to kick, even if they aren't very strong. They can be picked up but they continue to be feisty little things.

And buried in the wave of bunnies is a boy who looks bruised up and is bleeding in a few places. He clicks his tongue in frustration. ]

Seriously ...?!

[ Or do something else with me! Feel free to PM me to plot. ]

--test of courage

[ the thing is. akechi is more than capable of solving something as silly as a labyrinth. it's just a maze; he knows all the tricks to get through it quickly, whatever. so the first two days he's fine with doing that and using reason and logic and c a l m l y going through.

but if you catch him on the third day, he's had fucking enough and will be slashing at the hedges angrily.

...at the very least it seems like a nice way to get his anger out?]

--who am i

[ haha. ah. well, akechi sure has seen himself in this very situation before-- facing down a double of himself. it's enough to... actually make him freeze for a moment, when they come upon them. ]

Be careful. It could just be a trick. [ he says warily to his companion before the doubles ATTACK!! ]

monsters & mayhem

a;
[ Juniper intends to put her adventuring skills to the test in navigating this labyrinth, and can easily be found always following a path with her left hand tracing along the wall, complete with her adventuring gear! For once, she appears to be deeply focused—

Until she walks past an opening admitting someone into a little nook in which a treasure chest sits. ]

Oh, look! Treasure! Want to see what's in it? Maybe it'll have something to help us get out of here!

[ That's totally it. This is definitely a helpful treasure chest. ]

b;
[ There are more obstacles present along the way, it would seem, including something of a puzzle preventing Juniper (and you!) from progressing any further.

The labyrinthine path seems to lead to a dead end, where there are six cups sitting atop a weathered stone table covered in vines and moss. In each cup is a different colored liquid: red, yellow, blue, green, orange, and purple.

Juniper approaches it without hesitation, beckoning you along. ]

Ooh, boy! A puzzle! I'm glad you're here with me, because I'd definitely never get past this!

[ What will you do, intrepid adventurers? ]

dungeons & doppelgangers

[ Somehow, someway, likely with your aid, Juniper manages to reach the center of the ~~dungeon~~ labyrinth! The only thing is— ]

Hey, wait... isn't that... Another me!?

[ Or is it the real Juniper, and you've been traveling with an imposter!? Who knows? Either way, the second (or is it the first!? ok I'll stop) Juniper is quick to swing her greataxe around into a proper grip with both hands as she giggles, manically. ]

Heh, I don't think she's here to be friends, like me. Don't worry— I'll protect you!

[ Please choose or roll a number from 1-8 to see which flavor of wild magic Juni-Two you get! ]

wildcard
( alternatively, plot something else with me on discy or DMs! )

-Labyrinths, why is it Labyrinths?-
As Leonidas navigates through the labyrinth, he feels the weight of frustration building with each dead end and obstacle he encounters. Despite wielding his magical spear, he realizes that the labyrinth's defenses are formidable, with the hedges proving resistant even to his powerful weapon.

Jumping over pitfalls and overcoming various challenges, Leonidas presses forward, driven by determination and a sense of urgency to escape the maze and confront whatever awaits him at its center. With each step, he grows more focused, channeling his skills and instincts to overcome the labyrinth's trials.

As he continues his journey, Leonidas remains vigilant, knowing that at any moment, he may encounter monsters or puzzles that test his courage and resourcefulness. Yet, he presses on, refusing to yield to the maze's relentless attempts to thwart his progress.

Do or Die
What's in the middle of the maze is more dangerous than ever before. Leonidas faces himself wearing a smirk on his face, a lot more dark and dangerous looking than before. Seems like his doppleganger had been stronger, cocky, intellegent and worst of all, he didn't give a shit about anyone or anything.

Leonidas squares his shoulders, his grip tightening on his magical spear as he prepares to confront his dark counterpart. With each passing moment, the tension in the air thickens, as the two versions of Leonidas lock eyes, a silent understanding passing between them that only one will walk away from this encounter alive.

[If you are nearby, The ex-king will protect you from some blows from his own self, his doppleganger mostly going for anyone and everyone in his way first before focusing on his good side.]

Winner winner, chicken dinner

[Leonidas finds a gift inside his hotel room, something more important than he found he was missing from years ago.]

Wildcard

Feel free to discord me for this one!

Edited 2024-03-20 20:21 (UTC)

i. test of courage;

[ Apparently at some point, Evan will get sick of being haunted by the labyrinth. It's bad enough he's already dealing with his usual hauntings, but now we're throwing a weird, stalking maze on top of it? So at some point, Evan decides enough is enough and takes it upon himself to go through a decent amount of prep, scavenging the hotel of bits and ends.

The end result is that Evan is sneaking through the labyrinth with his push broom strapped to his back. His left forearm is wrapped in a thick sweater. In his left hand, he's carrying one end of what appears to be a long sock, stuffed with something heavy. It's quite likely he raided a planter of its decorative gravel for his makeshift sap. In his dominant hand is a steak knife.

And topping off his ensemble, he has layers and layers of newspapers duct taped around his middle as makeshift armor.

Evan is clearly taking no chances!

If he stumbles upon anyone, he'll approach a little cautiously – because he's a wary bastard, first and foremost, and he's expecting some kind of trick. ]

You okay over there?

ii. riddle me piss;

[ What would a labyrinth be without riddles?

Standing before Evan are two guards – one who tells only the truth and the other who only lies! And the guards are standing before two doors – one leading further into the maze, and the other leading to a deadly monster!

And they've stipulated that he's only allowed one yes or no question!

Evan is a clever kid, but he's never seen the Jim Henson cult classic starring David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly. And his patience is clearly being tested more than his wit. ]

Listen, I'm not trying to be a dick. I'm really not. And I get that there's a whimsicality that you guys are trying to maintain here. I can respect that.

But if one of you doesn't just tell me which door goes where, I'm for real gonna stomp your asses into the ground.

iii. who am i;

[ Upon reaching the middle of the maze, Evan and his doppelganger regard one another for a few charged seconds.

After a moment, the doppelganger lets out rattling breath before his vitality seems to melt away. For the span of a breath, the Evan-doppelganger looks like a desiccated husk before the shadows of the labyrinth start to devour him.

The real Evan reels around on anyone nearby. ]

Run!

[If you reached the part of the labyrinth where the sphinx who deals out riddles is normally blocking your way... Well, it's still there, but is looking incredibly weary and tired because of one excitable River Kwan who hasn't moved from his spot.

With a heavy sigh, the sphinx gives the healer another (yes, another) riddle to solve.]

"Two men are in a desert. They both have backpacks on. One man is dead. The one left alive has his backpack open and the man who is dead has his backpack closed. What is in the dead man’s backpack?"

Hm... Oh! [River snaps his fingers.]

A parachute!

"... Correct. You may pass now."

Nah, man! Gimme another, these are fun!

"You've solved ten of my riddles already. You've proven yourself more than worthy to..."

C'mon, what's one more?

"... Fine. Here is my next riddle. How do eight eights add up to one thous—"

888 + 88 + 8 + 8 + 8 = 1000!

"At LEAST let me finish before you answer, human!"

[Someone save the sphinx from River (or save the latter from being eaten bc he's being annoying, idk)]

Edited 2024-03-25 19:58 (UTC)

Threaded | Flat

QUESTIONS

no subject

no subject

no subject

fushiguro megumi| jujutsu kaisen

no subject

no subject

King Leonidas | Assassin's Creed: Odyssey

no subject

no subject