logsinthenight | Darkness Descends on the Landmark Inn

Entry tags:

Darkness Descends on the Landmark Inn

characters: Ardyn + OPEN
location: The Landmark
date/time: March 9-16
content: The Landmark gets a little Darker
warnings: Sickness related things including purging in the Ardyn portion with elements of body horror

Closed to Carmilla

Ardyn lies supine on the floor of his suite, gazing up towards the ceiling with clouded eyes. The bed is too soft; he feels like he'd drown in it.

The firmness against his back, however, his calming. It's real... not like the two phantoms standing in the room with him. He knows that Somnus and Aera are not really there; it's hardly the first time his fevered mind has conjured their faces, either. It's happened before out of crushing boredom or loneliness.

"Aera..."

His glowing eyes turn towards the blonde woman kneeling beside him.

"I'm dying."

"You're not dying," she scolds. "You can't die, even that choice was taken from you."

Despite the harsh words, she reaches out and touches his cheek, now damp with miasma. Ardyn could swear he actually feels her caress.

"You're just sick, you big baby. You'll be fine."

Sick? Preposterous, he doesn't get sick.

In the corner he sees Somnus move through the deepening shadows. Miasma is spread across the floor. Clouds of it rise to the ceiling only to condense around him the moment he feels sleep start to take him, when his body radiates light enough to burn the Starscourge and fill him with pain. The miasma gathers to consume that light.

I'm eating myself.

He thinks and barks with laughter.

Someone moves on the other side of the door and the phantom Somnus points in the sound's direction.

"Now, brother, I shouldn't have to tell you this but remember: Friends, not food."

Open

Ardyn's miasma seeps throughout the building, consuming light. It creeps under door frames, through windows and through areas damaged in the storm.

Shadows deepen and lanterns are growing dimmer.

[ooc: People are encouraged to make top levels and mingle among themselves at the Landmark. Go forth into the shadows and bump into each other!

If you would really like for your character to seek out the source of the darkness and locate Ardyn, drop me a PM at this journal or at

PsiYamaneko which accepts PMs from anyone.]

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[ elektra's also learned that lesson, though hers has less to do with experiencing death again and more to do with seeing the effect on her lantern when she'd thought she might die, along with the general discussion of lantern related mishaps and deaths she'd observed during her time in beacon. but if this is something that could spread, it's important to investigate, so she nods at rosi, joining him at the end of the staircase and peering up, her hands hovering beside where her sai are sheathed at her hips. ]

Feel like trying to find out?

Yeah. Let's have a look. Just keep an eye on your lantern.

[As he'll be doing. He'd been ready to back off, but she seems game, so now he can't back down. Besides, it's the right thing to do even if it's risky. Can't let whatever this is get out to the rest of town.

So up the stairs he begins, with the gun in one hand and the other grasping the banister. He nods to the ultra-black shadows that stretch around them, cast from the railing and the steps themselves, as they climb.]

It's not just our lanterns, it's the whole building.

[ she's just moved here. if something's going on, she'd like to know what it is, if it can hurt them, and if it can be fought against. and if it can't, she'd like to have sufficient time to get herself, matthew, wanda, and anyone else she can reach out of there before it starts affecting them. ]

Looks like it. [ it's difficult to see and the only light source is their lanterns, which flicker weakly as they head deeper into the building. but they don't go out and she doesn't feel any different. ] Can you tell where it's coming from?

Not yet.

[They come to the second floor landing and he trips as he tries to leave the stairs, sending himself rolling backward into the railing with a grunt of surprise. Just the usual, balance acting up again, and he's thankfully plenty fast enough and strong enough to catch himself on the railing with a hand and keep from falling all the way back down.

Apologies if he smacks you in the process, though, Elektra - when someone his height goes sprawling there are sure some long limbs everywhere.

He pulls himself back to his feet and shakes it off, then prowls down the hallway like it didn't happen. Tests a door, but it's locked, as most of these probably are.]

Do you know which rooms in here are occupied?

About two or three on every floor. There's seven occupied and fifteen still available, according to the check-in, but you can't get into them whether they're occupied or not if you don't have a key.

[ which seems disproportionate given the size of the place, but given everything else that's happened in beacon it's hardly the strangest thing.

she manages to dodge the flailing limbs, watching him carefully in case he needs to be caught and straightened out. he manages it on his own, but elektra looks over what she can see of him, focusing on any potential injuries or shakiness. ] You okay?

Fine, yeah. So most of these are empty, then, huh.

[It's not quite exact details, but it'll do. He can stop and knock on doors, and press an ear to one now and then as if that's going to help.

What is he expecting, anyway? Evil groaning? The sound of darkness? Nothing reveals itself as the obvious source despite his searching.]

Don't really know what else to try. The spirit in the lobby probably isn't someone we want to make an enemy of by breaking down doors, but this might be a bigger problem than one spirit.

Allegedly. [ matthew would be able to tell for sure whether or not they actually are, but they don't have the time to find him at the moment. she gives rosi another once over, not quite buying the 'fine', but he moves on without another incident so she doesn't call him out on it. yet. ]

Yes, it wouldn't do to piss off the new landlord. [ she's quiet as she listens, too, but she doesn't hear any more than he does. ] Do you think it is a spirit?

Maybe?

[The darkness swirls and pools around them, but he can't tell if it's any thicker here than it was downstairs. It's a little frustrating, and so he turns back toward the stairs to go up another level, to the fourth floor. He jiggles the handles of a few doors as he goes, but he doesn't expect them to open, and they don't.]

Seems like every time I get a feeling for what the spirits are like I run into another one that defies all of it. They come in all sizes, some crawl and some fly, and there's even one that apparently likes spiced cigarettes.

[Which, those things are pretty damn good, actually, but it's weird to have something like that in common with a forest spirit.]

[ it's becoming more and more difficult to see as they ascend higher, and elektra hazards a glance at her lantern and pauses for a moment to take stock on any effects it might be having on her body - it's still dimmer than it should be, but she doesn't feel any different. ]

Which one's that one? [ not that she smokes, but it is an interesting tidbit. and then: ] I think at this point I've stopped having expectations when it comes to them. But that it's centered around this building is strange. They usually have a purpose for what they do, don't they?

Kretek. Spirit with a cloak that looks like stars. Daylight introduced us.

[Sort of. Only after the spirit was stalking him for a while. It still kind of creeps him out, but he tried to be gracious about it, especially since it's not often anyone takes such an interest in him, much less a spirit that goes by a human-like name.

Poor Daylight.

He begins up the stairs, taking them slowly. At any moment he feels like he should be out of breath or something with how his lantern looks, but he's fine, and if it wasn't for that he probably wouldn't persist in this search.]

Dunno if they all have a purpose though. Some seem like they act kind of like people, but others do things I can't make any sense of at all. I'm not sure we should expect there to be a purpose for anything they do. Some of them just are.

[The fourth floor is noticeably darker than the lower ones. The shadows are heavier and almost seem to have tangible weight.

The most intense shadows snake out from beneath the door to Suite 405.]

I think you may be right.

[ as they start to ascend to the fourth floor, elektra can hardly see in front of her anymore. she shifts to feel along the wall, listening carefully for rosi as they move and for anything else that may be out of the ordinary.

she holds her lantern out in front of her for whatever good it will do - it flickers dimly, but she still doesn't feel any change. ]

I think we've found something. [ no telling of what yet, but everything becoming significantly darker seems a pretty telling clue. ]

[It's a wonder, he thinks, that he's not choking. The air is so thick it's practically some sort of fluid, like he has to wade down the hallway rather than simply walk.]

We're closer, anyway. It's gotta be here somewhere. Can't get any higher up.

[The shadows crawl at the edges of his lantern light as if reluctant to give way, and it's at the foot of 405 that he gets a clearer sign of their source, flowing out like rivulets in the gap under the door.]

Here. This one.

[Just so she looks his way before he tries the handle, just in case the door happens to open and he finds himself needing help.]

[The door is locked but after a moment there is an audible click and it flies open with force.

The room beyond is inky black. If there is a lantern anywhere within it is no longer visible.

The only light seems to come from a pair of glowing green eyes that glare from the shadows.]

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Darkness Descends on the Landmark Inn

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/slips in

oh hey

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