master of the house, quick to catch your eye (OPEN)

[checkingin]

Who: Everyone!
Where: The initial arrival rooms, the main lobby, all over the place.
When: April 5rd
What: Welcome, newbies + happy Easter eggs.

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 an empty, ashy fireplace, to your right is a lobby desk. straight ahead are three large sets of doors, all three of them thrown wide open and welcoming. 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. there is, however, a pad of paper and a pen neatly aligned with the desk edge. you know. for notes.

terribly sorry for the inconvenience.

SCREENING ROOM.

on a long pull-down screen, a silent version of the cabinet of dr. caligari 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 caramel corn and a large hot drink dispenser full of hot water, with a few cups and some old looking packages of hot chocolate mix.

BALLROOM.

the third set of grand doors have been thrown wide to reveal a brightly lit, festively decorated ball room. all across the polished wood floor, all over the tables and chairs around the edge of the room, under the curtains, in the corners, hiding in the shadows, and behind the doors, characters will find:

easter eggs.

plastic easter eggs filled with jellybeans and chocolates, real eggs dip dyed and rolled in glitter; foil wrapped chocolate eggs, sugar eggs with little diaramas in the middle. there will be novelty plastic easter bunny rings sprinkles about, and general little plastic childrens toys. there will be plastic and paper easter basket grass sprinkled all over, and upbeat ambiance music intended to excite.

by the front door will be basket for people to use in their quest to collect the hundreds of eggs scattered all over the room. a sign on the floor invites them to "take one" in curvy handwritted script.

but there's no sign to warn that — some of these eggs?

are going to explode in your face.

( event details. )

OTHER.

the ballroom is currently open, 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, food is currently being served. a lot of it is candy.

ROOMS.

you've a room key with your assigned room number on it. all the new guest residences will be located on floors 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.

EGGSISTING GUESTS.

happy easter, kids.

Comments

Zhaneel | OTA

[bondedgryphon]

Main Lobby;

[It takes far longer than it should for Zhaneel to reach the lobby level, not having bothered to claim the luggage that had arrived with her. Good thing that it would just appear in her room later, yes?

Unlike many of the other guests who had appeared at least mostly prepared to act and live like humans, Zhaneel is much less so. She is only wearing a mid-thigh length tunic, the material and appearance that of a time long gone. It's too large for her, dangling dangerously off one shoulder and threatening to spill to the floor with nearly any movement. Her feet are bare of any socks or shoes, blonde hair a tangled disarray that hangs loose to her hips. However, despite her general state of undress, she doesn't seem particularly bothered by the amount of skin she's showing. If you happen to catch a glance of her golden eyes, clearly inhuman, you might begin to understand the air of confusion and fear around her.

In fact, she seems far more focused on the normally simple act of walking, moving in short and calculated steps that lead her from one thing to lean on to another. Her gait is unsteady... like someone that hasn't walked upright in quite a long time... or, in her case, ever.]

Ballroom;

[Zhaneel stands in the doorway of the ballroom, leaning against and clinging tightly to the frame as her wide eyes sweep the room. Certainly, she knew what eggs were, but this was an explosion of color and oddities to her already confused and fear filled mind.

The gryphon turned human looks over the gathered people, watching as they collect the brightly colored eggs into baskets. Her brows knit tightly and she frowns, voice a soft lilt when she speaks to herself without any expectation of a reply.]

What is this?

Breakfast Hall;

[One thing that is a given with nearly any species is that they will eventually grow hungry. It's the scent of good that ultimately draws the stumbling girl toward the breakfast hall.

Only... there is little that catches the eye of the gryphon as she moves through the room. There are no raw haunches of meat to sate her hunger, and everything she looks over is unfamiliar save the eggs.

Being too uncoordinated to manage a plate or utensils, she might just be caught standing at the buffet with her hands in the serving platter, eating eggs and bacon by the handful.]

For Alec;

Continued from here, the only change being she arrived with her tunic on (as she wouldn't have thought to pull clothes on)

[When it becomes apparent that her kind voice hasn't been heard, her throat tightens and she nods briefly. It had been a small hope, but a hope none the less. It could be that he was shielding, or it could be that he was incapable of the mind-to-mind speak that was present to some on her own world.

In either case, she feels suddenly isolated all the more and draws into herself mentally and physically. Her hands clutch pull free of his own and at the front of her tunic to still the tremor that seems ever present in them now.

She forces herself to focus on what Alex is saying, rather than her own tumultuous emotions. She rolls her gaze back up to his own after a moment.]

It... It seems the only explanation... To have been in one place and in yet another the moment after... It is like traveling by Gate, but without the exhaustion... [Though the disorientation had been the same.

At his last words, one hand reaches toward him again and her time is plaintive.]

Do you believe others are like me? [Perhaps not gryphon, but of another form and forced into a new one.] Others that are just as lost in this? [She casts her gaze around the elevator as she speaks, seeming to include the entire experience of her arrival in the question.]

Wildcard;

[Open to anything!!!]

lobby

[avengeme]

[Coulson makes his way to the same lobby eventually and he's a little taken aback when he sees Zhaneel. What with her state of... dress. Still, he can tell when someone needs help, so he's stepping up to her loudly, making sure he's heard so he doesn't surprise her.]

Do you need any help, miss?

Coulson!! <3

[bondedgryphon]

[Though focused on retaining her footing, there is no ignoring the tromping of steps as they approach and Zhaneel half turns to look over her shoulder. She doesn't recognize the man, though this isn't any different from any of the other people she's seen in the building since her arrival. Everything was different and new in this place.

Still, while she isn't surprised at his appearance, thanks to his announcing steps as he approached, she's still a bit of a hot mess.]

Ahh... No, I'm fine... Thank you...

[She offers a smile, though it's far from reaching her eyes.]

I simply must take my time... [So saying, she tries to walk away from the arm chair she was leaning on, but trips over her own feet in the process. She makes a startled sound in the back of her throat, golden eyes going wide as she reaches for whatever is closest to maintain her balance: in this case, Coulson.

She clutches at his arm, clearly unsteady despite the bravado she was attempting. In fact, as she holds tight to his arm tears begin to well in her eyes and her throat tightens as she chokes back a sob.]

I'm sorry... [The thin shell of composure she'd managed to build back up comes crashing down again.]

F-first d-day on two... two legs.

hello!

[avengeme]

[It's obvious she isn't fine and Coulson takes a step closer just in time to hold his arms out to her when she nearly loses her balance. He steadies her as best he can]

Take it easy. Why don't you sit down for a minute?

[he coaxes, trying to get her to take a seat on the nearest chair available]

What's your name?

[overprotective_hunter]

[Something happened but Alec wasn't sure what. Something had caused her to pull away. Maybe she had finally connected what the Marks on his skin meant and thought he was one of the Shadowhunters that killed Downworlders for sport. He'd tried to glamour the runes on his skin so they'd be hidden but the effort it had taken had made him decide it wasn't worth the attempts.]

I'm not going to hurt you. I promise.

Gates? We have something similar where I'm from but only a warlock can open them.

[Which meant whoever had brought them here had to be powerful. Someone strong enough to get past Magnus' wards and to shift someone who had been non-human into human form. Again, he wished Magnus was with him so there was someone. who knew about magic and might be able to help her.]

I think there's probably other people who were brought here but I don't know if there's others that have been changed. I've never heard of anyone changed from one form to another unless they were a werewolf.

They brought me here so there's at least two of us that got dragged here against our will.

[bondedgryphon]

[She searches his face as he reassures her once more that he won't hurt her, golden eyes wide and fearful. Still, despite the fact that she'd heard similar from her peers in the past, she believes him and some of the tension in her shoulders eases. She had seen the marks on his skin, and though unfamiliar to her she was curious about them, but not quite in the kind to ask.]

I believe you. [And though soft, her voice holds certainty. Then a heartily to one side, the motion birdlike.] Warlock? Is that like a Mage? A magic user of a similar fashion, perhaps? [There were several of her own world capable of building Gates, but they had undergone extensive training to learn how to harness the magic of the land before attempting it. Gates also had a tendency to react against those that used magic, giving them at the very least terrible reaction headaches both at their formation and when traveling through them. All in all, Zhaneel had much preferred flying wherever she needed to go.

She makes a soft sound in the back of her throat, and were she in her natural form it would sound far less like the whimper she manages to produce. If she was the only one this had been done to when they'd been summoned to this place, who was to say that it could be undone? She swallows back the sound, letting out a slightly trembling breath as she voices the opposite.]

I've not heard of a werewolf before... but I should think if they that brought us here are responsible for my change, that they should be able to change me back... [Unspoken is the additional 'I hope.'] And if we two were brought here unwillingly... I'm fairly certain others were as well... and even if not, we are two too many. [She exhales and leans her head back against the elevator wall, eyes closing before she opens them and looks back at Alec again.]

I am called Zhaneel... I am... was... [There is a verbal flinch, because she thought she was human now, but who really knew.] ...a gryphon in service as scout of the Sixth Wing of Urtho's Army... I hail from Velgarth... [A weak smile, her hand never fully leaving contact with his.] And I have no idea where I am or what this is... [She glances around the elevator and flits her gaze back to his face.] I don't suppose any of that sounds remotely familiar?

[overprotective_hunter]

[Part of him knows that she has more to fear than just a Shadowhunter but the look in her eyes reminds him of how the werewolf had looked at him when his date with Magnus had been interrupted. He hated knowing that some Downworlders thought of him as a kind of boogie man, even if that reputation wasn't completely false. At lest if she doesn't fear him, then it's a step toward getting her to calm down. If she'll trust him then they'll be closer to getting out of the elevator and finding out what's going on.]

Good because I want to help you. [Ignoring a pang of worry for Magnus and his family, Alec compared the Mages he'd read about in Mundane books and Warlocks. Not quite the same but he doubted that explaining demons was a good idea at this point.] They're similar. In my world only people with a certain parentage can work magic.

[Smiling wryly, he taps the edge of the black rune curling around his neck.] And there's some of us who are born to be more resistant to it.

[And with a few other traits but that was a subject for later.

Gently rubbing her hand, he tries to soothe away whatever had caused her to whimper.]

Werewolves who have a human form and shift into a wolf but their change is different than what happened to you. Their human form is the one they started with not a wolf. [Why would anyone force someone into human form? He'd seen callous and cruel things done using magic, but Alec can't understand the reasoning for that kind of spell.]

[For a moment, his expression turns to awe when she says gryphon. He'd seen things that Mundanes thought only existed in books, but a gryphon? He'd thought those were just myth.] I never thought I'd meet a gryphon before. I wish we could have met in a better situation. Urtho and Velgarth isn't familiar to me but I know there's different worlds than the one I grew up in.

I'm Alec. I'm a Shadowhunter from a place called New York. We keep evil things from hurting people and help people that have been hurt. I'm not sure where we are either but we'll find out. [Looking over at the elevator doors, he grimaced, wishing he had one of his weapons.] Once we get out of here.

breakfast room

[oceanborne]

[ Annie comes later to breakfast than usual -- this is the second time another group of new people has arrived, and she lingers in the lobby to see if there are any familiar faces among them. When there aren't, she finally turns to find something to eat... only to find a blonde girl eating directly from the serving dishes like she hasn't eaten in days. Hunger like that is something Annie is (unfortunately) familiar with, and she approaches the girl with a concerned look. ]

You'll get sick if you eat too much so fast, you know.