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!


1, 2, 3

★

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

[illomened]

[CLEMENTINE THINK OF THE SWORDS!!!

He will accept this amicable silence, though he's still holding this sword like he's not sure he's supposed to be touching it.]

Perhaps it'll come in handy later? [To Clem, first. Then, to Sieg, mildly scolding:] The walk isn't very long at all! See? We're already here.

[AT THE GARAGE. i. what's even here to scavenge. i hope they just straight up take pieces off of their only car. break off the windshield it's fine who needs that anyway.]

[stillnot]

Guess I shouldn't break it apart if we're gonna use it...

[ it would be too convenient for there to be like a tire iron or wrench or hammer in here, huh...

she's looking over the car for something she might be able to break off without. you know. completely wrecking it. the bars holding up the windshield are currently the top candidate... ]

[ercnerd]

[Souji can scold him all he wants. Sieghart still does not like walking.

Not being in need of a weapon himself, he parks himself against a wall of the garage and waits.]

See anything you can use? If so, let's deal with the monsters before they go somewhere else.

[illomened]

[USE YOUR LEGS SIEGHART!!!

Souji will sure use his as he starts scouting the area, looking for a miraculous tire iron, wrench or hammer. Not finding anything immediately, and because it is simply hilarious to think that everyone else will just show up to this balded car, he'll gesture toward the windshield bars.]

--Would something like this work?

[stillnot]

It's about all we've got. Help me break it off?

[ break shit break shit break shit ]

[ercnerd]

[As expected, they're going to break something. Sieghart watches from the side, but will step up and assist if they have difficulty breaking off a bar. The two of them seem feisty enough, though.

Ah, kids.]

[illomened]

[BREAK SHIT BREAK SHIT BREAK SHIT]

Of course! I'll get this end.

[Trottin' over to the other side! Unfortunately even for an oldass car, things that get welded usually end up pretty sturdy... So after a second of pulling, tugging and testing the general strength of the metal:]

I'm going to break the glass!

[WHICH IS THE ONLY HEADS UP in addition to a brief pause before he just fckin slams his elbow into it with all the precision you'd expect of someone trained in martial arts. Goodbye, at least part of this glass pane...]

[stillnot]

[ well okay then. ]

Uh... Good job.

[ she is yanking on this bar to pull it out now that it's no longer attached to the glass. 'isn't it still welded to stuff?' leave me alone ]

[ercnerd]

[Congratulations on obtaining one (1) bar! Souji has a mean elbow.

Now back to the bedrooms they move to go, where their nameplates and portraits await.]

Which room should we try first?

[illomened]

[IT'S FINE their bar now... BUT BACK THEY GO!! The idea of Virgo just watching them vanish and then come back with part of the car help.

Once they're back at the doors, he'll glance across them. If he knew that they're MADE OF NIGHTMARES even he would probably be a little more hesitant, but alas.]

Shall we start with this one?

[The nearest! He will lead the way ONWARD TO VICTORY.]

[stillnot]

Check for all the entrances.

[ they. already know where they all are. also they don't need advice. she is saying this out of habit. ]

[ercnerd]

[Silly Souji. Nightmares are for kids.]

I checked them on our way in.

[The doors have not moved since then. Souji is leading the way, so Sieghart follows after him into the first room and leaves checking the bed to him.]

Do you see anything?

1/2

[illomened]

[It's fine WHO KNOWS LISTEN maybe a new entrance could have appeared when they weren't paying attention, things happen like that here...

But he'll approach the bed! And lean down to take a look.

Which is like, SURPRISE SKELETOR IS UNDER THERE. A SKELETAL ZOMBIE??

Or just an extremely emaciated hand. Attached to an extremely emaciated, paper-white body, which breathes and coughs in a way that sounds almost painful, a tell-tale rattle in its lungs. The face of this creature as it peeks from beneath the bed seems simultaneously like nothing at all and a combination of shifting features, with the only consistent one being its bloodied mouth.

It starts to pull itself out from under the bed, one hand stretching toward them...]

[illomened]

[But like it sure doesn't get much further because 1) IT'S SLOW and 2) Souji's Fight or Fight reflex kicks in and in a blink he's. Taking its hand off with the edge of the sword almost like his body is acting without him.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE MONSTER REPELLENT it's a distant memory now, goodbye nasty hand, off it goes flying into the distance hopefully not to hit anyone.]

[stillnot]

[ i'm emo, but this is unfortunately a pretty standard monster to clem.

she has to kind of sidestep the nasty hand (gross) but then she'll try to jab her metal bar into its eye. this is fine just go for the brain?? obviously??

sorry about your inner demons tho ]

[ercnerd]

[A monster's a monster. Perhaps it means something for Souji to react so viciously, but it's also the correct response to a threat. The two have the monster handled, and three will become a crowd in this position, so Sieghart simply looks down and gives the nasty hand that's landed near him a couple casual sprays of the repellant.]

[illomened]

[Sometimes your inner demons are too existential and must simply exist in the form of a zombie...

At least it seems easy to kill! CLEM REALLY OUT HERE GOING FOR HEADSHOTS it makes a nasty bar-through-eye and blood gurgly sound, thrashing around a bit in presumed death spams. Souji will join in and neatly decapitate the thing in a smooth motion while it's pinned by the noggin. Teamwork!!

The hand Sieg sprays is absolutely trying to skitter away Addams Family style into the next room over though because that's hilarious. IT NYOOMS FOR THE BED OVER THERE SO SOMEONE ELSE CAN BE TRAUMATIZED as Souji whips around to pursue. Are these corpses just going to stay here help.]

Don't let it get far—!

[stillnot]

[ clem gives chase as the dismembered hand scurries under the bed. and for convenience because my tag is next... wow it's her turn for trauma.

and it's... weirdly similar. but at the core of humanity aren't we all just afraid of death???

there's a weak groaning from under the bed. the hand that reaches out moves slow, weakly trying to drag the rest of its body out from the shadows and failing. its skin is dark and dead, dried out and rotting.

this is also very clearly a child's hand.

and clementine is just backing away from it instead of attacking, this time. ]

[ercnerd]

[Damn hand. Seeing as Souji's got the rear, Sieghart takes off after Clementine. He arrives just in time to glimpse a dead child's hand and Clementine's hesitation, which is understandable—but not what the situation demands.]

Don't look!

[Ultimately, it's her choice whether she looks or not. Sieghart isn't waiting to see what she decides. Dropping the monster repellant, he sweeps past to kneel down, yank the enfeebled body out from under the bed by the rotting hand, and bring his blade down on where the head should be in one swift motion.]

[illomened]

[Considering the fact that Souji has already been personally unsettled by his own rude monster under the bed and knows what that probably means for all of them, he's darting forward at about the same time Sieghart does. Not to do a murder this time - just to move between Clementine and the dead child.

It's not that he thinks she needs protecting from a zombie or shielding from the Murder™ Sieghart is delivering to it like a Christmas gift. But no one should have to deal with things that rattle them before being ready to.]

--Are you alright?

[TO SWEET CLEM Sieg's got it he's not worried about captain stabbins over there.]

[stillnot]

[ for a second she considers actually turning and looking away for the first time in a very long time, but - having her vision a little obscured by the other two helps.

and she pretty quickly shakes off the existential despair and flips over into anger over it. this was such a rude thing to show her!!!! ]

I'm fine.

1/2

[ercnerd]

[The head splits in twain, and the body stops moving. Sieghart waits a moment, as if daring it to start twitching again, before he straightens.]

. . . It's done. Let's move on to the next room.

[He turns around to head out and into the room over.]

[ercnerd]

[A flash of green crawls deeper into the shade cast by the bed. Sieghart leaves.

Returning to where he left Souji and Clementine, he picks up the discarded monster repellant. Then he's gone again and bent down to aggressively spray the monster feigning sleep. An affronted hiss accompanies each spray.]

Stop pretending to be somebody else and get out. [There's another hiss as he sprays again.] Out!

[The monster shoots out from under the bed, desperate to escape the repellant. With minty hair, glassy green eyes, and a broken neck, it's a grotesque imitation of a face not unfamiliar to those present. The monster flees toward the entrance while Sieghart stalks after it with spray bottle and sword in tow.]

[illomened]

[existential despair to anger is hilariously a pipeline that i think everyone in this thread can relate to

He'll just nod at Clementine's insistence, though, even if there's something still vaguely understanding and sympathetic lingering in his expression.

BUT OFF TO THE NEXT ROOM!! YEEHAW. Once he sees the form this monster has taken, his expression instead shifts to one of distaste, with a flicker of anger briefly shining through. It's also like COMING RIGHT TOWARD THEM so he'll help Sieg get his stabbins on by trying to block one of its escape routes.]

I wonder if this is also a form of "entertainment"...

[stillnot]

[ with our powers combined we can definitely keep this nightmare creature from getting away! ]

It's fucked up is what it is. But these places love throwing fake stuff at people.

[ and she says this as if she is reassuring them and not just herself, but: ]

None of it's real.