a gent of good intent who's content to be ( OPEN )

[checkingin]

Who: Everyone!
Where: The initial arrival rooms, the main lobby, all over the place.
When: March 3rd
What: Welcome, newbies.

ARRIVAL.

you wake up when you hit the floor in a dark room, and the air is knocked out of your lungs. the carpet is threadbare, worn with use, kind of dusty. and you're not the first person to endure this crash landing. nor will you be the last.

once your vision rights itself, you can see the well-lit hallway through the doorjam straight ahead of you. not to say there’s monsters in the shadows, but something propels you towards that door and out into the bright hallway beyond.

and once outside your room, you can hear it: the steady thrum of rain outside.

MAIN LOBBY.

there's a staircase at the end of the lengthy hallway you tumble out of. grab your suitcase and follow the dull green exit signs on the ceiling until you reach the disappointingly bland stairs that lead you down to the ornate old fashion hotel lobby.

to your left is a warmly crackling fireplace, to your right is a lobby desk. straight ahead are three large sets of doors, though only one of them is open to the public. and outside the few (curtained, permanently dark) windows is the continually steady hiss of rain. once you leave the hallway you wake up in, you won't be able to return.

welcome to the hotel.

FRONT DESK.

though there is a bell and a plaque designating the desk to be the main desk, the customer service desk, there are currently no staff members behind it. none shall answer your calls, either.

terribly sorry for the inconvenience.

SCREENING ROOM.

on a long pull-down screen, a silent version of the phantom carriage will be playing on loop. at the back of the room, between the neat rows of fold out chairs, mounted on a wobbly table is the old-timey projector, and mounted on the walls are some rather old speakers that warble out "terrifying" old music.

along the curtained windows is another long table, with a large bowl of popcorn and a large hot drink dispenser full of hot water, but without any tea or hot chocolate packets around.

OTHER.

the ballroom is currently closed, and the grand doors locked.

there is no main door leading to the outside, good luck trying to find one.

the doors to the courtyard and breakfast hall are unlocked, but looks like you've missed the morning meal. sucks for you.

ROOMS.

you've a room key with your assigned room number on it. all the new guest residences will be located on floors three and four. while there is an open elevator in the main lobby, and the buttons light up inside, the doors will not close. all in all, you'll be better off taking the stairs.

while they're the same stairs you undoubtedly came down to get to the lobby, the door to the endless hall everyone woke up in will not reappear between the main floor and the subsequent residential halls.

there are twenty rooms per floor. feel free to get to know your surroundings; or your neighbors as they trickle in around you.

EXISTING GUESTS.

it's late when the newcomers arrive, there's a good chance you'd been about to go to sleep (or just waking up, who knows, your mom's not here to tell you when to go to bed or get up). but if you're paying attention, you might hear the hustle and bustle in the lobby below; or maybe you're just drawn there because your gut told you to go join the commotion. whatever the case may be, go mingle!

Comments

[advising]

[ Strangely, the woman is making sense. But all the same his heart his pounding in his ears and he can feel every inch of his skin crawling, because the adrenaline and alcohol both making him a little bit unreasonable. ]

Well, isn't that something. [ A bit difficult to dissociate this place with his home -- it's so like the Capitol to do something like this, to make their way into all of their heads and turn their worlds upside down. ]

Storybrooke. I've never heard of it. [ Which, if she's speaking the truth, makes senses. ] So you've been here a month, then. [ And he's only just arrived -- how much longer would this place remain stable and calm before they were trapped inside a living, breathing arena? ] And you still have no answers about this place?

[sheriffing]

Most people haven't. [Storybrooke is hidden from the outside world. Even if he was from the same time and place she is, and all of that Gaming talk has her pretty convinced that he's not, the town full of fairytale characters would be a new development. But if it helps him piece together what she's saying, Emma can at least stop mentally inventing ways to knock this guy out.] And yeah, it's been a month.

[She gestures to the empty hallway behind her, letting go of those fighting instincts for long enough to prove her point.] There's no one here to ask, no information being offered up... no clues that don't lean more toward creepy decor than hints at a real location.

[They're stuck in this hellhole, that's about all they know.]

If you don't believe me, ask around. Anyone here will tell you the same thing. We were dropped into this place without any explanation. Food appears once a day, rooms that are a mess when you leave them will be clean when you return, and every once in a while someone comes back from the dead, but good luck finding anyone who's actually a part of the staff. Whoever did this wants to stay hidden.

[advising]

Oh that's charming.

[ Trapped, hidden, no answers. These are not things that Haymitch likes to hear, and it's difficult enough wrapping his addled mind around the concept of this alone. They're from different places -- he can tell she has no recognition of what he says. She could be an excellent liar, but even Haymitch feels he would be able to see through that. ]

Well, I guess we'll just be happy little neighbors then. [ He wants to ask about Katniss, about Peeta -- anyone from Panem, but he won't reveal that. It meant weakness, it meant one more thing to be used against him. He's played these games before, no matter the playing field, he won't make the same mistake twice. ]

So you've been here a month. As well as the "we" you keep mentioning. How many are here?

[sheriffing]

That's hard to say. There's new people here now, you're one of them.

[But not the only one. Emma considers the number of rooms that seemed to be in use, people she's seen in passing, or by the fire when it was cold. Originally, it wasn't that hard to nail down a number. Maybe that's why they decided to change things up around here.]

When we started it was around forty, give or take.

[Now if she does decide to keep track, she's betting that number's going to get higher.]

Some people didn't come alone. There are three people here who I know from home, but only one who's from around the same time as me. One's from my future, the other's from my past. If you have anyone here, you might have some catching up to do.

[advising]

Great. Love being the new guy in town.

[ Except the fact that there are many others who are just as new, which can be dangerous. A group of folks who know the lay of the land better than he does, and some who know nothing at all just like he does. Not good. ]

Right, so they're from different times. Hm. I'm going to need whatever it is you're taking, sweetheart.

[ Though he can tell she's not lying, and that's probably the worst part of it all. It does mean, however, that some of his team might be here. He hopes they're not, but they could be. ]

[sheriffing]

If you don't believe me, ask around.

[She isn't the only one who it's happened to, and Emma doesn't feel like launching into a conversation about her evidence, which mostly centers around her son's father being dead in everyone's memories (his own included), but him being alive and well here. That's second conversation proof, not first.]

If you try to ignore the things about this place that don't make sense, you're going to end up having to ignore everything.

[And that has a high likelihood of getting him killed.]

[advising]

I believe you.

[ Marginally. It isn't as though he has anything to prove her wrong. If this is some twisted arena, he needs to stop denying it and adapt now, before it's too late and he's in over his head. ]

Yeah, I'm gathering that. [ He considers her for a moment before offering his hand out, despite the slight stagger in his step. Hangovers made even the best of men unsteady, right? ] Haymitch Abernathy.

[sheriffing]

[Emma's seen that stagger before. Fight like a captain, party like a pirate. The concept's a little too familiar to her now, she's definitely spending too much time with Hook.] Emma Swan.

[She steps forward, shaking his hand firmly and giving a quick nod.] You're going to want to see if you have anyone from home here, but if you need any help, I'm in 208.

[advising]

[ He gives a nod to her. Emma Swan, at least that was an easy enough name to remember. ]

Here's to hoping no one I know is here. [ Because this is just one more arena to fight in, and he'd not wish that on anyone. Except maybe Snow. ] I'm in 316. Thanks for the information, sweetheart. Now all I need is to find me a drink.

[ But this is more said to himself than not. He's going to need a lot of alcohol to get through this. ]