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

[shaft]

[ sometimes you are eurydice sometimes you are orpheus... sometimes you are indecisive.

a. eurydice it's so dark and scary in this mausoleum!! in an attempt not to accidentally run into anyone face first (😘), claude is telling a story to himself to warn anyone nearby of his presence: ]

There once was a prince with raven black hair and aquamarine eyes. One day, the prince awoke to found two knights, one with hair the colour of rubies and the other with eyes like a crescent moon, fighting for his hand in marriage...

[ and they all chose polyamory in the end...

b. orpheus the next day, claude is a hero! he will happily extend his hand to anyone in need of help.

except one hand is full of a sandwich, and the other hand is full of a water bottle. ]

... I got a little parched last time I was here.

a

[agleam]

[as he comes closer to find him......]

So what'd he do?

[immediately invested]

[shaft]

[ ajsdlfia rupert

claude is glad for his own prince ]

He hid away! Embarrassed by his feelings and the turmoil in his heart.

[agleam]

And after that...?

[shaft]

The two knights conferred with one another, laying down their arms, and understanding that they both had the prince's best interest at heart...

[ suspense... ]

[agleam]

Which one did he pick, though?

b

[highestheim]

[ hm. in a playfully suspicious tone: ]

Have you just been carrying those around the whole time you've been in here?

[shaft]

[ hope!! ]

I didn't expect to find someone so soon. [ he'll hold out the water ] Trade you for a hand?

[highestheim]

Come on, I already lost an eye.

[ HE'S TRYING TO BE FUNNY... but he'll take. ]

[shaft]

Are you worried I'll bite?

[ haha!

anyway, gives him the water bottle and takes hope's hand. ]

[highestheim]

Please don't.

[ bro we are holding hands... ]

a

[dms]

[ a story... well, i hope claude enjoys the spotlight, because there is a phone flashlight shining right in his face now. ]

Why fight about it when they could all spend time together, though?

[shaft]

[ oh god goes blind ]

Oh? What would you do?

[dms]

Throw a party for everyone, of course! A mixer for everyone to find true love!

[shaft]

So they shouldn't be together...?

[dms]

Hey, I never said that! They can totes be together in the end, just not when they're fighting! They've obvs got some tension worked up, so the party's to help them relax, and then the baes can find some common ground and talk things out. That's what mixers are for, you know!

a... mashup!

[philandery]

[ runs into him face first 😘 (no)

i want a story about polygamy but also claude can be his hero, wa ]

...I feel like I'm obliged to cheer for the knight with red hair.

[ he takes claude's hand! ]

[shaft]

[ they're holding hands! ]

You think he's more deserving of love?

[philandery]

Depends. What's his backstory?

[ does he have a tragic childhood? is he "misunderstood" by his peers? ]

[shaft]

Hmm. Well, he comes from a long line of prestigious knights and has excelled in both martial arts and his studies since he was young, and grown up with suffering abuse from his peers and idolization for his family's status from strangers.

So he travelled to a neighbouring kingdom, determined to escape his family's shadow, where he fell in love with the prince.

[philandery]

Oh-ho... Yeah, it sounds like this knight could use some tender loving care.

How did they meet? Was the prince in disguise, seeking a temporary reprieve from the suffocating expectations of royalty...

a

[overruns]

[ maybe he should leave this rescue to someone else. but after a second, he sighs and responds like a terrible game of marco polo, reaching out to see if he can find claude's shoulder or something. ]

Is this how you intend to spend the journey to the surface? Regaling us with love stories?

[shaft]

[ easily, ] You can find someone else.

[overruns]

No thank you.

[ give hand ]

[shaft]

[ gives hand ]

I wouldn't want to burden you, your Kingliness.