[D2 LM] Return to Castle Volcanoland

[Susumu Sumiko]

"Oh this is pretty recent indeed" Sumiko said with a curious expression "burned into the wall as well. Someone really wanted to leave their mark in a way that would be hard to clean off. No usual graffiti."

She took a step back and nodded.

"I approve of the method. Very rebel."

[Yoritomo Yakura]

"Besides the ominoous vandalism, things seem to be alright."

She wondered around, checking the reception area and some of the rooms downstairs.

[Kitsune Kiyoshi]

"Yeah. I expected to see more signs of wildlife." The Fox began to explore as well.

[Bayushi Kazushi]

At the mention of wildlife, Kazushi begins looking around, as if just realizing something.

"That's right," he says. "It doesn't look like the local life has made much of an effort to reclaim this place..."

[Susumu Sumiko]

"You likely have the 'forever night' to thank for that. Whatever that is" Sumiko said with a chuckle as she turned away to head for the stairs "certainly not a Spider thing, way too cliché for us. Maybe some rebel gang thing. I'm gonna head up."

[Bayushi Kazushi]

Kazushi nods.

"Kurumi, cover her," he says to his bodyguard, "in case there's something unpleasant lurking up there."

As Kurumi moves in to provide some security for Sumiko, her employer focuses on the inscription.

"'Forever night'. I can't say that's a familiar phrase. Have any of you heard of it in this kind of context before?"

[Boogiepop]

There wasn't much in the way of rooms downstairs, especially with some of the elevators no longer running and the staircases to the utility areas seeming to have been barred and welded shut, potentially some preemptive measure to make sure that there would be no one so silly as to stumble in the basement and find themselves in an accident. At least if someone had an accident there, the body could find its way to becoming a food source rather than decay unknowingly.

There were stairs going up from the lobby to show the facilities of the hotel. Some signs indicated directions to areas such as conference rooms, restaurants, fitness rooms, and even a few shops. However, this was where the hotel showed more of its decay some of the walls were either soaked or riddled with black mould. There was a clear stench in the air, and there was even water that lingered on the marble floors. It seems the interior of the hotel design was past gaijin inspired with its abundant use of plaster, framing trims and chandeliers that barely hang on the ceiling.

[Susumu Sumiko]

"Hmm..." Sumiko mused as she studied the upstairs. Moving slowly from room to run, checking out the rooms as she went along. The water was interesting, and she peeked up to see the ceiling to see if there was holes there. If there was signs of life she'd also keep an eye out for that.

(ooc I know it's day 3 now but any chance of doing a lore roll for which gaijin people inspired the design?)

[Bayushi Kazushi]

Glancing to the Spider for permission, Kurumi takes point, her hand on her sidearm in case trouble appears.

[Kitsune Kiyoshi]

Kiyoshi had taken out his holorecorder and was taking footage of the hotel. He made sure to get the graffiti and as much of the hotel as he could. He was careful not to include any of his companions, unless they wished otherwise.

[Boogiepop]

"Hmm..." Sumiko mused as she studied the upstairs. Moving slowly from room to run, checking out the rooms as she went along. The water was interesting, and she peeked up to see the ceiling to see if there was holes there. If there was signs of life she'd also keep an eye out for that.

(ooc I know it's day 3 now but any chance of doing a lore roll for which gaijin people inspired the design?)

It wasn't entirely clear on the designer's intention, but there were some vague designs that seemed to harken to a time when there was a clear gaijin influence in all of Rokugan, when they were forced to modernize themselves, and the railroads were built. At least, that's what the abundant uses of plaster seem to invoke here.

The continued exploration of the abandoned hotel wouldn't reveal either the culprits or anyone else in the large abandoned structure. There were a few birds that would flutter between abandoned rooms from time to time, especially in its inner atrium, where the rooms at the back of the hotel meet in a circle to meet with the rooms facing the view below the mountain.

It is surprising that some parts of the hotels have been surrendered completely to both nature and time, stripping the decorations to reveal only a concrete shell. While more sheltered parts act more as a time capsule for another time. There are meeting rooms where even the gaijin-inspired carpet retains its colour. Most of the guest rooms themselves didn't fare too well, ever hollowed out by the elements or overrun with vegetation and an untold amount of mould microbes that might be living inside the walls.

They would admittedly find some scant evidence that they weren't the most recent visitors to the hotel. Some discard cans of recent alcohol flavours and some food snacks that had a manufacturing date of a few weeks ago. It was a peculiar find, but nothing that could tell a story on its own. After all, they weren't the only visitors to the island, and the hotel was an open secret.

The graffiti in the lobby was a bit peculiar, admittedly.

(That sums up the exploration of the hotel. PCs are free to continue posting.)

[Susumu Sumiko]

There was a nod of respect to Kurumi for covering her as she made the rounds upstairs, before she started heading back down the stairs.

"Interesting design choices. Not a fan of that much plastic near a volcano, whoever came up with the design maybe needs to do better research, not that it matters with the place being closed down and all. Still, there's signs of people being here recently. Alcohol cans and the like, but other rooms have been left to rot. Very odd, doesn't look like this has been turned into a base of operations, more a temporary hide out."

[Bayushi Kazushi]

"For the proponents of this 'Forever Night,'" presumes Kazushi. "I'm fairly certain we should be concerned about that."

[Susumu Sumiko]

"As someone from a planet where there is forever night, it's overrated and a really cliché name" Sumiko commented with a small shrug "whoever these people are they need to come up with a better name."

[Bayushi Kazushi]

"No one ever accused self-proclaimed 'evil conspirators' of being creative," muses Kazushi with a shrug.

[Kitsune Kiyoshi]

"It wouldn't seem as ominous, if there was more graffiti and trash. Random vandalism wouldn't seem all that odd." Kiyoshi said. "But, this seems more deliberate. I don't know if it will be taken seriously, but it should probably be reported."

[Susumu Sumiko]

"I would prefer if you didn't mention I was here if you need to report it. While we did nothing wrong it may be better to not mention any Spider involvement in investigations" Sumiko offered as she turned to look back at the burnt in graffiti

[Kitsune Kiyoshi]

He shook his head. "There's no need to drag the rest of you into it. I'm not sure how much they'd care about a minor clan shugenja snooping around. They might be annoyed, but it wouldn't be as significant politically. They may be more forgiving, considering I'm known for a character that often snoops around buildings."

[Yoritomo Yakura]

"I'll let some contacts know as well. Besides the creepy vandalism, and the lack of logistical infrastructure, this hotel would be a pretty good spot." She eyed the premises. "There is a lot to clean up though."

[Susumu Sumiko]

"I would say it needs an entire remodel, especially upstairs. That plastic just screams health hazard to me" Sumiko commented as she took one last tour around the ground floor "anyone find anything else of interest or is it just an empty hotel with a burned in message from the previous visitors?"