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!

★ At the very end of the first floor hallway is another door - this one is locked with a padlock. It has a message painted on the door.... Don't dead? Anyway, it seems you can't check just stroll in there! From the looks of it it would be ill-advised to attempt to break in. Occasionally there are muffled shrieks coming from beyond the door. Hmm!


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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.

★ A dumbwaiter sits at the end of the hallway of bedrooms. Inside of it is a typewriter, and a golden bell labeled as Virgo's. 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.

★ 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

[ercnerd]

Yeah? Then you should try something else.

[Souji's reaction is curious. Sieghart suspects the reason for such haste, but there's no point in being nosy, so he returns to his own broken record player.

The finish is a little different from Souji's, which means it's time to experiment. Sieghart lifts the first record he picked up and pops it onto the player. The same music from before, pleasant and soothing, begins to play without skipping. Sieghart leans back and watches the record spin.

Strange. He's starting to feel just a little antsy.]

[illomened]

[Hm. Since Sieg's is the only record playing right now, that means Souji's starting to feel a little antsy, too. He pauses as he goes through his selection, glancing back over. Maybe it's just because he feels unsettled with the last record...?]

...That song is nice.

[Well.

The song itself is nice.]

It's unfamiliar to me, though. Have you heard it?

[ercnerd]

. . . It sounds like something that would play at Kanavan.

[That's to say, he's heard it before. It's just been so long since he has that he can't remember where it played.

Rather than nostalgia, though, it's starting to put him in a bad mood. That can't be right. He twists the tonearm off and grabs a different record by reaching right over Souji's arms.]

[illomened]

Kanavan?

[At least it's familiar to one of them... Souji, despite being in a somewhat anxious mood by now, will move his arms a bit so Sieg can fetch a record with greater ease.

He also then moves to the side more fully because he's about to hack up some more flowers THANKS ANTI-CONCEAL DON'T FEEL EFFECT. After spitting up a few errant petals:]

Ah... I don't suppose you're also feeling a little uneasy right now, are you?

[ercnerd]

[Oh, Souji. Sieghart coughs once as he sets the record into place.]

That's what I'm trying to figure out right now.

[Back the tonearm goes. The unease ebbs away, replaced by a series of voices.

"It's hard to believe that Master Sieghart would fall for such temptation," says an elegant voice.

"Hmph," says a cool voice. "You know nothing. That one's mind isn't so weak."

"Do you know something?" asks a youthful voice.

"As if. However . . . I know that he's up to something."

Another voice begins to speak when the record player skips.

Ah.]

[illomened]

[More flowers for their funerary floral arrangements it's fine...

Souji opens his mouth, but then Sieg's player starts to doxx his CRIMINAL PAST-- No okay, while he's a nosy and curious person sometimes and definitely intrigued by what he's heard, Sieghart did him the favor of not questioning his own record...]

...Hm. Well. I can't say I'm unused to places like this being unsettling in unexpected ways, but I also can't say that I'm fond of what something like this implies.

[He hates omnipotent creatures being privy to apparently all aspects of their lives??]

Do you think Virgo-san would mind if we broke these ones? Maybe we can make them into a nice mosaic to hang somewhere.

[ercnerd]

[Taking the record off the player, he gives Souji a look. Boy's one of those, huh.]

Ask them yourself.

[He pops the lid off to work on the player's insides again. This is such tedious work. He wants to go fight something.]

But I'm looking away.

[He himself minds the records little; however, it doesn't take a genius to sense Souji's discomfort. Whatever Souji chooses to do, Sieghart will keep his attention fixed on the record player parts.]

[illomened]

[Yeah he just straight up lets the record drop out of his hands and then picks up Sieg's and drops that one, too.]

Oh, dear. Ah. I'm such a clumsy person sometimes. Goodness. What a sad thing. I suppose I'll have to cook something nice for Virgo-san to make up for it later.

[ANYWAY after unceremoniously sweeping those pieces off to the side--]

--Do you have one of these spring-looking parts?

[ercnerd]

[His lips twitch at the contained cacophony of shattering records and Souji's facetious remarks. The whole thing's hilarious enough that he picks up said part and holds it out with a visible grin beneath his bowed head.]

Here.

[illomened]

[Sieghart starting to see that Souji is actually a gremlin beneath his gentle lonely exterior... With a bright smile, he'll reach over to take the part.]

Thank you, thank you! That's just the piece I was missing, it seems.

[He says this but after he wiggles it into place, a different spring pops out of the other side. God.]

--Well, it's fine if a few parts don't fit as long as it plays decently, right?

[ercnerd]

[Sieghart, meanwhile, is trying to push a piece into a slot at a casual pace. This is so boring. He can't be motivated to go faster.

At least Souji is providing entertainment.]

Just remember that we need to be able to replicate the process with all of them.

[illomened]

[this icon is so pretty... he looks like howl...

Anyway Souji just SIGHS about that very true statement, glancing between his own mostly finished player and a couple of the ones nearby.]

Why do they even need this many record players... This place isn't very big! Surely one would be able to fill an entire floor with music?

[ercnerd]

Maybe they want another one for outside.

[Honestly, he wouldn't mind the noise. He's used to the quiet, but music helps to pass the time. Sometimes conversations can be fun to overhear, too.]

How's yours looking?

[illomened]

Maybe we could put one in the cemetery, then.

[He's truly attempting so hard to make that stupid cemetery more pleasant to wake up in, god. But after he pops another piece in, he'll set a new record atop and set to playing it!

Unfortunately, though the sound quality is good, it's only moments in that he starts feeling uneasy again.]

--Oh, dear. No, not quite right just yet...

[ercnerd]

[It's a cemetery, and they wake up in coffins. It can't be made more pleasant.

At any rate, his chest tightens in discomfort as the record continues to play.]

Take it off already.

[Once Souji does, he slides the record player he's working on over to him.]

Since you and I are having different issues, what looks dissimilar?

[illomened]

[NEVER SAY NEVER BINCH.]

Right, right-- [OFF IT GOES very hurriedly because he does not like the rising tide of dread in his chest thanks.

He'll lean over to look at Sieg's record player, though, tapping his chin.]

Mmm... Let's see. Oh - I don't have one of these things- [Plucking at some random coil of cording.] -in mine. Do you have an extra somewhere in here?

[ercnerd]

[Never.

He glances at the coil, then reaches over to grab an extra from the other record player he's been using for comparison.]

Here. Give me that piece over there.

[He points at a corner of Souji's record player for some piece whose name he does not know.]

[illomened]

[im glad souji has no idea how record players work so i don't have to pretend like i do

Anyway he'll fish that indicated piece out, careful not to jostle the guts of his record player too much in doing so.]

This one? Here. [Passing it over!] What do you think? Have we got all of the crucial bits?

[ercnerd]

[He all but tosses that piece into the spare record player. It clatters against the wood.]

Now all of them should have the same number of parts. All that's left is to move them around.

[Which is to say that yes, thinks so.]

[illomened]

[SIEG your RECORD PLAYER. He isn't always a huge fan of fiddly jobs though, so the idea of being close to potentially figuring this out is enough to make his expression light up a little.]

Wonderful! I'll try a few new combinations in these ones, then--

[AND SO HE DOES. Now he can add record player maintenance man to his growing list of skills...]

[ercnerd]

[Sieghart is not nearly as cheerful in that, even if they fix the one, there are still more where they must replicate the process. It's going to be tedious, and he already feels sluggish for it. Ugh. Maybe Souji can take the rest.

After what feels like a thousand years, Sieghart pops the first record back onto the player and lets it play. Thankfully, there's no more dread welling inside, though the song still skips a few times before sounding slightly disturbing.

He sighs.]

I'm tired of this.

[But at least it's a marked improvement from the first test.]

[illomened]

[DON'T JUST LEAVE ALL THE WORK TO HIM except he'd do it, honestly. Terrible.]

That sounded much better, though! And it didn't make me anxious, either! So we must be going in the right direction...

[He'll fiddle a little more with the one he's been working on before popping the hatch closed again and dropping a record on top. Miraculously... this one plays through! No weird feelings! No disturbing songs! No private conversations! Though it does skip a bit, presumably because this dumbass just dropped it on there.]

--I think that was my fault.

[ercnerd]

You have to be more gentle.

[Says Sieghart, who tossed a piece earlier. He hands Souji the record in his possession—a safe bet, because they both know it's just music.]

If this one finishes without incident, we'll copy what you did and be done with the task.

[illomened]

[He'll take this record and CAREFULLY THIS TIME......... set it in its place on the record player...

And after setting the arm back in place, it finally at LONG LAST begins to play a record without incident.]

—Oh! I don't want to jinx us, but I think we've done it, Si-san!

[ercnerd]

[The end is in sight! Sieghart looks very pleased.]

Good job. Now let's take a look at the inside.