tushanshu_logs | August Midnight Hotel post

Entry tags:

August Midnight Hotel post

Characters: Anton Shudder and OPEN
Date: Month of August from about the 3rd onward
Location: Midnight Hotel and various shopping areas around the city
Situation: Anton retakes the Hotel and opens it to the public
Warnings/Rating: Possible violence

A: Reclaiming the Hotel
A wise man scouted his new area before committing to anything within it, and Anton was if not wise then at least practical. It was during his second day exploring that he found the entrance to the Midnight Hotel. It was, frankly, quite unexpected and Anton entertained the possibility that it was an illusion before entering.

The interior was in the newly-repaired condition as he recalled three days ago, if still unfurnished. It was also full of kedan with what Anton recognised as gang tattoos. Several different gangs, in fact, taking cover from the heat and arguing over who owned the Hotel.

He told them he owned the Hotel and asked them all, politely, to leave so he could clear up the mess. They refused.

Ten minutes later they all left anyway, some of them bearing their unconscious comrades and all bearing bruises or broken limbs of some manner. The odd thing was that when he went to the door, it was as though they had all exited into different, unseen areas of the city.

B: Heatwave
Once it became clear that the heat was going to persist, Anton started double-booking the rooms and offered linens and mats to anyone who wished to bed in the common areas. It was almost just as well that he’d lost all his furniture.

There were, of course, strict stipulations dividing the lines between any gang-members who chose to retire from the heat in the Hotel’s rooms. Word had gotten around about the first brawl, and although there were one or two idiots who insisted on pushing the boundaries they were put down quite smartly and evicted. Within a few days all gang-kedan present were on their best behaviour, treating Anton with utmost courtesy and always with the appellation ‘Mr Shudder’.

The same offer was made to the rest of the public, naturally. Anton didn’t make a habit of hiring staff, but he might well have to do so on this occasion.

Either way during the heatwave the Hotel is a hive of activity. The gangs behave and even interact politely with others, and one or two enterprising kedan have requested permission to make stalls by the door for ice and cold water. In general it's like an extended family reunion, with friends meeting everywhere, playing games, exchanging stories, using the facilities.

Within a few days part of the front-wall has been removed to make space for the turtle hatchlings through the door.

C: General tagging
After the heatwave was over Anton had more time to do some needed shopping for the Hotel. Many of the kedan had donated sleeping mats and sleeping bags, and other odds and ends (the library had gotten bigger) but what he really needed was furniture.

He also needed to go back to his other accommodation every three days, which was a nuisance, but one he could put up with for a six-hour rest before returning.

[ooc: The Hotel is sort-of stuck between sectors. It’s accessible from all five sectors, but someone entering from one sector will, at this stage, only be able to exit onto the same sector. Information about the Hotel can be found here. Feel free to ask questions in that post; just identify them as OOC. Please note that if you’d like your characters to have an argument, even a verbal one, because Anton will get involved.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I know little about you, as well, beyond that you run this place." She had been by with Ryder during the worst of the heat, but if she had seen Anton it had only been in passing, and she was sure she had not had the chance to talk to him. "For my part, I'm a scholar, and a healer as well: I work at the hospital most days of late."

Basic introductory material thus handled, she moved on to something a little more interesting. "Where did this building come from? It doesn't look consistent with the rest of Keeliai." Even with the differences between sectors, she could tell that much.

"The hospital?" That drew Anton's attention, and he put down his spoon to regard her with a touch more intensity. "This recent weather has unfortunately consumed all of my remedies for symptoms of the heat. Would I be able to arrange an exchange with you for supplies?"

Most of his first-aid items were still in good stock, but the headache medication and re-hydration liquids--commercial, natural and magical--had been depleted by the influx of patrons in need during the heatwave.

"It is mine from home," he said. "I was repairing it after a recent attack. I believe the Emperor's attempt to ensnare me caught in the Hotel's wards and drew it into Keeliai by accident--though not at its full capacity." He glanced around at the walls. Some of them were still sooty, burned as if symbols had been seared into them. He hadn't had the opportunity to repair them yet. "The Hotel changes location every twelve hours, but as this place occupies a location outside of time, it seems that feature has stalled. Now it opens into all the sectors simultaneously, and I cannot move it."

"That should be possible. If you write up a list of what you need, I'll run it by Septimus and see what can be arranged." At the very least he'd have to have the final say. They should still have some of the appropriate supplies to spare, at least, despite the recent demand for them.

Raine followed his glance at the walls, noting the burn marks though she didn't quite know what to make of their significance. "Fascinating," she said, and sounded like she meant it. "I'd presume it's closely tied to you, then? How does it usually manage changing location?" To say nothing of opening into all sectors at once, but the two were probably connected.

"I am willing to pay whatever you require as compensation," Anton assured her. "Such supplies are in high demand, I am quite sure. I can afford to pay higher prices to meet the need." Many of the kedan had paid in favours or materials, but more than enough had paid in juulan for Anton to be quite well-off at the moment.

"Closely tied, yes," Anton said, picking up his spoon again, "though not by magic, explicitly. I built it a little under one-hundred-and-thirty years ago. I developed its wards and boundaries, and invented its manner of travel. Ordinarily, it travels along the leys to specific locations on land. I would have imagined even a turtle's back would contain some corollary, but I believe the Hotel is not truly here--not in a manner enough for me to use its time-related wards."

"I'll mention that. I don't anticipate much difficulty, but it's not solely up to me." In truth Raine had much less to do with the administrative aspects of the hospital than Septimus did: while she might know the workings well enough, Septimus handled most of the oversight.

She paused to eat, listening, and didn't even blink at the number of years he mentioned. The surprise had completely gone out of meeting people who were significantly older than they looked. "Would you say, perhaps, that it's the essence of the Hotel that's here?" she asked after giving it a little thought. "And-- ah, 'leys' What are they?"

"An echo, perhaps," Anton acknowledged, "of its magic, if nothing else. Wards of this caliber have a tendency to leave imprints--to settle. It gives them weight and strength." The question was a touch surprising; Raine called herself a 'healer', which implied magic, and most magic-users ought to recognise at least the concept of ley-lines. He raised a finger at her, putting down his cutlery and rising. "A moment."

He went out into the foyer and into the office behind the reception-desk, and found one of the old maps he had used to draw the leys before putting them into the Hotel's wards. A moment later he returned to the dining-room and unrolled the map on the spare area of the table.

"These are leys," he said. "They are a land's magical geographical markings. It is the means by which the land aligns itself, and where its magic joins together. Confluences of leys are where magically powerful landmarks rest. The Hotel travels along the lines--" His finger traced one until it came to a confluence. "--and comes to rest at such a crossroads, where the geographical magic is stable enough to hold it."

The errand proved informative. Raine moved her dish aside to get a better look at the map, instantly interested. "Fascinating," she said aloud, following the path Anton traced. Magic in the land was not such a new idea, but the following of specific, mappable patterns was. "There are rough analogues in my world, places that have unusually high concentrations of mana, but to the best of my knowledge this concept isn't one we have. Can most people perceive them?"

She wasn't clear either on how much by way of explanation newcomers were getting lately, though she assumed at least some of the soul aspects must be explained to impress upon them the importance of the lanterns. "Perhaps, then, the Emperor took hold of the Hotel's 'soul' as well-- inasmuch as it can be said to have one?" As ideas went, it sounded a bit farfetched, but she had none better.

"No," said Anton. "It took me many years to map these. I began with the largest and strongest, and added to the Hotel's wards as I found others. It was partly a matter of logic, and partly a matter of experience--you see, as with these, many leys follow the natural contours of the land." His finger traced some of those winding around a hill. "Many of them lie in rivers, or valleys; following the water is usually a good rule of thumb. Otherwise, take your cue from places of magic--they are nearly always a confluence."

Anton considered that, taking his seat back. "It's possible," he said, "though I suspect more that my soul was what caught in its wards, and dragged it after me. It is old enough and magical enough to have left an imprint, though unintentionally so."

"Hmm." Raine thought about that a little longer, following the lines on the map before her even as she tried the idea against the Temples and what she knew of the feel of a flourishing world. "Perhaps," she said finally, "but I don't anticipate the opportunity to investigate this in my own world, as much as I'd like to. But you say there's nothing comparable here, either? You arrived after we made landfall, correct?"

Coming at the issue of the Hotel's presence from the other direction made sense, as well, and to that Raine nodded. She had little experience with wards of this sort, and was inclined to trust his judgment in this. "Is that the extent of what's changed since your arrival?"

"There is nothing to which I can connect," Anton admitted, "but that does not mean that there are no leys; simply that I do not know where they are, or how to connect them to the Hotel." A turtle's shell, after all, was not made of one flat surface, but one pitted by rivets and curves. They likely served, in some way, as leys.

"From what I have seen, yes," Anton said. "But I have not quite had the opportunity to examine the wards in detail. It is possible there was cross-damage, as you can see by some of the more severe damage." He nodded toward the sigil burns on the walls.

"Perhaps Tu Vishan's head would be a place to start looking, if you mean to," Raine suggested, after a bit more thought. "Confluence or not, Keeliai is a city on the back of a living creature. The nervous system and blood vessels are paths that already exist, so if leys tend to follow geographical features, they may serve as a rough equivalent. And if there is a concentration of magic, his head would be it." She'd skipped straight past the idea of the contours of the shell.

She would have suggested the palace, but it definitely was not an acceptable option at the moment. Instead she peered over at Ryder, part to check on his progress and part to study the shape of him. He twisted around a little to peer back at her after a few seconds of this, bemused.

"That is logical," Anton agreed. "Geographical leys do not usually depend on deposit beneath the surface, however; not unless they have been brought to light, such as in a mine. The turtle's head would certainly qualify as a point of great magic."

It might be worth investigating when he got the chance, though Anton would have to investigate exactly how the wards had been damaged first. It might not be possible to attach the Hotel to the leys here, even if he could track them. It was clear to him that Raine was the scientific sort, however. "You are a researcher as well as a healer, are you not?"

Raine inclined her head, acknowledging he was significantly more likely to know what he was talking about as far as leys went. "I am, yes," she said. "My primary interest is archaeology, but there's been more than enough cause to study a wide range of subjects. Do you have something in mind?" She'd prefer to know what, first, but the odds that she'd agree for the opportunity to learn more were fairly high.

And, of course, he was Ryder's other parent now, and that left her somewhat kindly disposed toward him, even though she knew little of him save that.

That a healer was also a researcher wasn't a surprise, but it was gratifying. A great many healers Anton knew weren't--or they hadn't had time to be during the war. Her interest was an unusual one, however.

"No," he admitted, "but it's good to hear. When healers have no time for research, it's usually because they're too busy saving lives to be able to do so. I find your field of research surprising, however. What made you choose it?"

She was silent for a few moments at that, studying Anton as she thought. "Multiple reasons," she said finally. "For some years I was looking for a particular set of ruins that held answers to a personal quest. In that time, however, I traveled all across our world, and visited remnants of many different places and times. There was, and still is, so much to be learned from even what little is left, especially now that..."

Another hesitation, her passion for the ancient past warring with the desire not to revisit every single thing they had been through simply in the pursuit of context. "A number of things recently came to light which quite literally restructured our world," she decided on eventually. "There's a wealth of material that hints at the answers to questions no living person can now answer, which I believe are vitally important even if only for an understanding of how the world came to be this way. If I'm lucky, my lifetime may be enough to find those answers and pass them on."

The length of time it took Raine to answer already told Anton that the answer was personal. He let her decide whether or not she wanted to answer at all, using the time to finish his stew.

"And you seek to reclaim the truth for your world," Anton said. "An admirable goal. I wish you luck." Anton had been able to detach himself from mortal affairs fairly early on, but as a sorcerer who didn't associate much with other sorcerers it had still been impossible to miss the ways in which the English stole Ireland's history. Gods knew Larrikin had rambled on about it often enough--Anton distinctly recalled helping him escape from Guards, on more than one occasion, in search of some manuscript from the past regarding Ireland's oldest gods.

The Faceless Ones didn't count. Not that Larrikin had denied their existence, quite--but he'd complained mightily about them 'appropriating' the world from Lugh and Aengus and the rest. Then again, Larrikin had also just liked complaining.

Ryder rubbed his head against Anton's hand, and Anton automatically moved to stroke him behind his eyes. The turtle made an approving sound and asked, "Why are you both suddenly sad?"

"Thank you," Raine said, and fell into contemplation of her own stew. The monumental nature of the work ahead of them when she returned was not something she often dwelled on lately, simply because there was nothing she could do at the moment and it only served to distract her from the more significant problem at hand.

There was an entire world to rebuild and scant foundation to build it on, and for all her students' limitless hope and determination, she wasn't always sure their group was equal to the task.

Ryder's query lifted her from those thoughts. Sometimes the turtles surprised her with what they understood despite their relative age, and sometimes... well, it was rather like her brother all over again. "The past, I assume," she said, with a tilt of her head in Anton's direction, intended to invite him to contradict her if she spoke for him in error. "While it would be foolish to forget what's led us here, recalling it isn't always pleasant."

"Why?" Ryder asked, his big eyes focussed on Raine, but his head still leaned into Anton's hand. That also unexpectedly reminded Anton of Larrikin. Larrikin had been ... tactile. Frustrating, invasive, loud, overly gleeful.

Funny. Comforting. Compassionate. Loving.

"Because it hurts," said Anton quietly, but steadily. "Miss Raine's society is lacking knowledge about the foundation of their existence. Such a thing makes it difficult to define one's self. If you did not know from where you had come, would you not wish to know?"

Ryder thought about that, his eyes half closed. "Yes," he decided after a moment. "If we had all hatched before we were found, we wouldn't know anything. That would be awful."

"Such is Miss Raine's pain."

It was a neat way of explaining things without having to admit something of his own. It wasn't like Anton to hide thoughts, and he wouldn't if asked directly, but Larrikin was something precious. A precious thing, shown too much, became less. That wasn't something he was willing to do to Larrikin's memory.

Edited 2014-08-19 04:08 (UTC)

While oblivious to specifics, Raine could catch on to the fact there was something personal attached to Anton's words. It wasn't particularly surprising, nor was it something she was going to remark on -- that was hardly introductory material -- so instead she inclined her head toward him in thanks for fielding the question.

"It is, however, also the reason I've learned as much as I have." The need to know everything she could had driven inquisitive habits in every single place she'd been. It also meant she could answer many of the inevitable questions Ryder asked, and she did enjoy having such a genuinely interested student.

In the quiet of a contented turtle receiving excellent attention, Raine let her focus wander, from food to architecture and finally back to the sigils burnt into the walls. Something about the shape of them reminded her of a conversation from a few days past-- they were not the same shapes she'd seen then, but had some similar structures, and she would be comfortable with assuming they were of the same language.

And Skulduggery had said he might know the new parent. Raine rested her chin in one hand, amused. "Do you happen to know Skulduggery Pleasant?" she asked, almost idly.

"As a matter of fact, I do," said Anton with a nod, letting the previous topic fade in light of the obvious discomfort associated with it. He did not, however, let the movement of his fingers on Ryder's head stop.

His gaze had been following where Raine's was going, more out of quiet observation than censure or suspicion, and he'd noticed her staring at the walls. "You've seen the sigils before?" he asked, inclining his head toward them. "I am surprised he showed them to you. He uses them more than most sorcerers, but only with a purpose."

For all his words, he didn't look very surprised.

"Not these, specifically, but they do bear a certain resemblance to the ones that generate his façade." The principles of identifying scripts remained the same whether it was familiar or foreign. Raine could no longer resist, and got to her feet to go and take a closer look, mindful of where Ryder was as she did. "I take it such sigils are a common foundation, and can be used regardless of discipline?"

Any remaining wistfulness had by now subsided into interest, and some little amusement at just how many of the foreigners she knew in Keeliai had a world in common.

"I was not aware he had one." Though it was certainly a practical thing to do, the skeleton had always either delighted in his awful disguises or felt the extra effort expended to keep himself hidden was only his due. He most likely commissioned it from China Sorrows.

"They are," Anton confirmed, rising to follow her over with one last pat to Ryder's head. Ryder grunted his complaint, but put his head down on the table to watch them from where he lay. "Many sorcerers use simple sigils, but more complex results require an understanding of the language that most sorcerers do not bother to attain. Some sorcerers have chosen sigils as their discipline, due to their complexity and strength as a magical tool. I simply use them as such a tool."

Raine hadn't been aware he'd had one, either, until a stranger greeted her like they should be familiar, but somehow she thought Anton meant it a little more long-term. "Perhaps it's something new, then," she said absently. Were they from different time periods? It could happen.

The sigils on the walls didn't mean much to her, but she could at least try to follow the way they were put together, and she was more certain now she'd be able to recognize the language if she saw it again in another context. "You said you'd been working at this for quite a while-- but it's not what you chose for your discipline?" That much she was pretty sure of, or he'd have counted himself among 'some sorcerers,' but if she asked outright perhaps he would elaborate.

"Quite possibly." Anton hadn't spoken to Skulduggery overly much, for all that they were good friends; there hadn't been much of a need. It hadn't occurred to him that differing timelines might be a factor, but he couldn't say it was a surprise.

"That is so," he said. "Magic from my and Skulduggery's world settles in a person upon their age of majority. Mine settled long ago, before I knew there was such a thing as a language of magic. When I later discovered it, it seemed the most practical way to create a building with the features I required. The research took a great deal of time."

"As in, sometime between eighteen and twenty-one? That seems rather early to make a decision, if sorcerers are so long-lived." That wasn't said without some self-awareness; she was, after all, more or less a mature adult at roughly 2.5% of her maximum lifespan.

Raine could only assume the research had taken at least a century. He'd already said he'd began work on the Hotel in excess of a hundred and thirty years ago, at least, and while research could presumably be conducted as he went, he'd likely have needed a solid foundation of knowledge from which to start. Certainly he'd put in hundreds of years of effort, all for this place. Not insignificant, even for the functionally immortal. Why?

The answer was probably some kind of personal, but at that point she could hardly not ask. "What drove you to build this place?"

August Midnight Hotel post

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