GRAVEYARD.

[guestservices]

GRAVEYARD

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today...

...to be super dead. No, did you think you were getting a funeral? Sorry.

When you wake up, no matter how you died, you'll find yourself all in one piece, inside of a fairly large box that upon further inspection may in fact be a coffin. However, throwing the lid off isn't too difficult, and as you step out of your own grave, you'll find yourself standing in a cemetery behind a large mansion, where an iron gate stands between you and the entrance. Thankfully, the moment you approach, dirty and tired as you are, the gate swings open, and you're allowed immediate entrance into the mansion.

The mansion itself is a little dusty, and the furnishings are vintage at best, but... hey, it's home. Why don't you explore a little?

★

FIRST FLOOR.

★ On the first floor is a parlor and sitting area. On one of the tables is a phone, which as of Week 3, Saturday has a dial tone and can be used to contact hotel staff. In addition to that is a kitchen stocked with food - not to mention a large wine cellar full to the bursting with every kind of wine you could imagine. Vintage!

★ Walking down a long hallway, you'll find a laundry room with a washbin and a washboard, a few closets full of dusty old clothes, a large library, and an ornate dining room with a crystal chandelier.

Of note, the dining room in particular has a very tall wall of what look like portraits to one side. If you walk closer, however, you may notice that the portraits are moving - and appear to actually be holding black and white images of your friends (and enemies?) back in the hotel, so you can monitor their activities. That's nice! There are record players set up beneath the portraits, which come with blank records set in there already; if you turn them on while the blank records are set there, you will be able to hear what is being said by the people in the portraits.

★ At the very end of the first floor hallway is another door - it is locked up tight with a padlock, and has a message painted on it.... Don't dead? Inside here is the basement that the dead locked Qi Rong into on Friday of Week 5. In theory you might be able to take the key from someone and go in, since it hasn't been returned to Virgo; inside here is a dark, dank basement illuminated by a lantern giving off a dim green glow. There are barrels of stale water and sour wine, boxes containing stale crackers, extremely questionable jerky, and other rotted foodstuffs, and... uh... there are some unpleasant-looking rats skittering around. Icky. In practice, why would you want to? Just keep it locked.

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★

SECOND FLOOR.

★ On the second floor of the mansion is a series of bedrooms. Just like the hotel, you'll find a room already booked with your name on a nameplate on the door - and a portrait of yourself, as well as your hostage, hanging just above the nameplate. The inside of the rooms are simple - a bed with red covers, a desk with a typewriter, and a small bathroom with a toilet and a clawfoot tub. Provided that you didn't give your belongings away, you'll find all of them on your bed, waiting for you upon your arrival. This includes tickets (so long as they weren't looted from your body and used to pay for hints) and other things that may have been evidence in your case but belonged to you beforehand.

★ A dumbwaiter sits at the end of the hallway of bedrooms. Inside of it is a typewriter, and a space where there once sat a golden bell labeled as Virgo's; however, the bell is currently missing. An unlabeled bell sits to the side of it. A small sign above the dumbwaiter says: PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT STAFF BY LEAVING A MESSAGE. VIRGO MAY ALSO BE SENT A TIP AND RUNG. PULL THE LEVER TO PRESS SEND. - STAFF

It seems you can reach out to the hotel staff by leaving a message or ringing the bell, though your options are limited for the latter. Sure enough, a lever in the wall next to the dumbwaiter is currently set to the "down" position. Push it to "up" and watch your message disappear.

★ Beside the dumbwaiter is one last bedroom. This room is marked with a plaque that says "Dream Suite", and has several familiar constellations decorating the door. Occasionally, when you ring the bell by the dumbwaiter while thinking of a member of Hotel Staff on the living side, the corresponding constellation on the door will light up, and you'll feel as though you should walk in. Inside, there is a line of comfortable beds. Lie down in one, and you'll have a dreamlike "in person" audience with the NPC you had attempted to contact.

★

OUTDOORS.

★ Outside of the mansion is a small garage. The ground here is worn down and thin, and you can almost make out what look like railroad tracks embedded in the dirt. Inside of the garage is a rattly old car that moves along those little railroad tracks, from the garage to the mansion front, and then back all the way around to the cemetery.

★ On the grounds, there is a garden full of flowers. There are also the remnants of gardening supplies and supplies to package and send bouquets, but none of these supplies are in useable condition now.

★ A "bumper cars" rink has been made by clearing out all of the rocks, weeds and grass in a sizeable area. There are some small slopes and dips, and a bumper barrier along the outside of the rink which was made by piling up compacted dead leaves from the graveyard. There are two "cars": laundry baskets that have rudimentary jar lid wheels with ladle axles and nails stolen from a dining room chair. They have been padded with some old clothing, like that will save anyone. Since we don't have electricity in hell, each "car" has one paddle made from tree branches broken down into the appropriate size, presumably used to push the cars around.

★ The cemetery where you first awaken is a direct copy of the cemetery outside of the hotel - right down to the placement of statues, mausoleums, and the creepy atmosphere. Your grave remains after you wake up in it, in case you want to take a dirt nap.

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N̸A̵V̴I̶G̶A̶T̴I̴O̸N̷.̷

█ LOCATIONS █ STATUSES █ PROFILES █ AUDIENCES
█ REPORTING █ PRIVATE CONVOS █ MURDER

Comments

w7; wed, later that evening...

[sageguidance]

[ It's been a little bit since our gang headed off for that walk, huh? If you're wondering how they're doing...

Well, they're back! Probably pretty suddenly, if you happened to turn around for just a moment. Either way, they look unhurt, so that's good news right?

Though... Alphinaud, at least, is definitely shivering something fierce, arms wrapped around himself. ]

W- we—are returned? Oh, thank the gods...

[supremity]

[ hua cheng is actually holding tanhua over his shoulders in a technical fireman carry, holding his hind legs with one hand and his forelegs with the other, his nine tails wrapped around his collar and face. ]

Fuck, that was as cold as Mt. Tonglu on a good day...

[sageguidance]

Or Garlemald, for that matter... We—certainly lacked the adequate clothing to be making such a venture.

[supremity]

[ the huli jing sneezes, and then pathetically whines, flopping his head into hua cheng's shoulder in defeat. mood. ]

Theoretically, we could likely have some fighting again later to get our blood pumping if we fail to warm up. At least for some of us. [ a sigh, but he levels a look down to alphinaud over the top of tanhua's tails that is more calculating than defeated by a longshot. ] Perhaps this relates to the earlier dig from the candy at us being unable to do anything.

[ walk. don't get lost. don't lose hope. ]

[callalilies]

[ this bitch is cold he's just gonna eventually huddle up next to hc and shove himself into his side. he keeps one arm around him, but the other is tucked between them to warm his fingers. polaris meanwhile just tucks in close too. ]

I'll second that. It's just as bad as Dragonspine... nothing cuts the cold. Pretty sure even if we'd been better equipped for such a walk it wouldn't have helped.

[ he pulls out a little shard of some hair from hua cheng's long princess hair. ]

[supremity]

[ he allows this, not hunching into himself for warmth but obviously miserable. he's dead twice over and naturally cold, what's that going to do? tanhua - and now kaeya - is his only source of personal warmth.

the arm closest to kaeya lifts without letting go of his daemon, tucking behind his shoulder while the ice shard is picked out. his HAIR. god. ]

If I wasn't - what is it they say? nerfing? - if I wasn't nerfed, this wouldn't be a problem. But no. No, here we are. Terrible.

[ktiseos]

I require a warm bath before-- before aught else.

[he's also shivering pretty badly, voice a little distant. emet-selch is in hell, thanks, he's freezing, he just wants to exist in front of a nice fire for several hours.]

[sageguidance]

A warm bath and—tea, I do believe.

[decaptych]

[ SNEEZING. And while sniffling: ]

Ughhhh, fuck. Too early to ruin my snow day. Ugh.

[ Please, he had to dodge a lightning strike or two because he's tall enough to be their lightning rod (Emet's right there) let me almost get hit by lightning. ]

[callalilies]

That was too close... you didn't get singed, did you?

[ aikawa your sneezes ]

What we need is a hot drink, and as many blankets as we can manage to gather. That's for sure.

[decaptych]

Nope, just a few spooks.

[ Sniffles. ]

Yeah, hundred percent. And all for nothing, too.

[ He (and I, Lowe) thinks this is how they're supposed to talk maybe. ]

[sageguidance]

The weather appears to remain calm here, at least.

[philandery]

A snowstorm, huh... Here you go.

[ hands him warm mug of tea!!!!!! and like, idk a handkerchief ]

Maybe I can get Souji to fix some soup for everyone... [ if souji hasn't already ]

[frostythehitman]

What happened to you guys?

[supremity]

The snow was far less festive, after a while. Some of us are probably bruised to hell and back from the hail.

[decaptych]

Went wandering out to see how far we'd get. Turns out what we 'get' is a snowstorm.

[sageguidance]

'Twas... 'twas terribly cold...

[ shudder ]

[callalilies]

[ shaking and just clutching at his jacket, kaeya tries to wear a somewhat cheerful and easy-going face. ]

Archons, I haven't felt that cold in ages... Talk about bracing!

[ excuse him he's going to be hugging polaris very tightly somewhere now, teeth clenched tightly together and not looking half as pleased as he was this morning to be in the snow. ]

[sageguidance]

Last I ventured out into such weather, I was at least better prepared...

[ THIS WAS AWFUL ]

[philandery]

[ obligatory hugging kaeya while he is hugging polaris ]

Wow, you weren't kidding.

[ not that sylvain thought he was. UR SO COLD! ]

[illomened]

[WELL TIME FOR ALL THE BLANKETS AND SCARVES HE'D GATHERED EARLIER TO MAKE A SECOND APPEARANCE. Souji is just bustling around to greet them all, offering blankets and other various warm sundries to anyone who appears like they need one.]

Are you all alright—? You've been gone for some time!

[sageguidance]

[ Oh, bless. Alphinaud does not hesitate to grab a thick blankie to wrap around himself. ]

I—I am unhurt, a- at the very least. [ shiver, shiver ] But very cold.

[supremity]

Dianxia, I almost don't want to ask for how long...

[ he actually puts a scarf over tanhua, disappearing the daemon under a bit of warmth. ]

[philandery]

[ tea time!!!! he starts passing out hot tea... hope you like (checks pantry) english breakfast ]

Here, drink this....

[ they can keep a kettle going so everyone can have a hot beverage... ]

[sageguidance]

[ Sylvain is his other favorite person right now. ]

Oh, thank you. You are a blessing from the gods themselves.

[ wrapping his super chilly hands around that toasty warm cup so fast ]