maddeninghatter: (debonair)
Xerxes Break ([personal profile] maddeninghatter) wrote in [community profile] exsiliumlogs2013-12-15 12:10 pm

[ Open ] A Home for the Holidays

Date & Time: December 10th - 21st
Location: The Museum of Old and New(ish) Art
Characters: Xerxes Break and you. Information about and a map to the castle has been left in the Transporter Facility, so anyone interested in renovating a warm and secure (if weird) place to stay is welcome.
Summary: An eccentric billionaire’s 27th century medieval-replica castle/art museum/hotel lies abandoned and half-buried in the snow. It’s going to take a lot of work to renovate, but hey it’s more kid-friendly than a brothel. Right? Right?
Warnings: None.

The 1980's ski-wear themed snow suits Break brought back from this mission proved to be a hit with the local population (so stylish!), as were Mister Cecil's ugly Christmas sweaters, so they have been able to trade for goods and some technical services, to help make this place more livable. Supplies from the DITR have also been a great help. However, a lot of work needs to be done: cleaning and vermin-smiting and clearing away snow. Come and help, or simply explore.

(ooc: feel free to start threads willy-nilly, action-spam or prose, name your time and place, threadjack and mingle.)


(1) Museum:

The stairway forces you straight down, past four floors, into the very dungeons of the castle. There are no windows; it was artificially lit, although the electricity isn't on at present. However, the old geothermal power generation system in the structure is simple and robust, so only a small amount of tweaking will be required to get it operational once more. In the meantime, the DITR has kindly supplied you with bright uber-LED flashlights and batteries with advanced energy storage, meaning they should stay lit for weeks. Should.

As soon as you emerge in the dungeons, you’ll find yourself lost in a maze of gallery after gallery. High sandstone walls rise up, towering over everything. What was once a set of opulent velvet curtains lining the art spaces hang in rags, having long since been devoured by rats.

Many of the paintings are destroyed, but most are intact, as are the sculptures and installations, preserved in the deep freeze. The subject matter is bizarre and disturbing. Take this human centipede for instance. And what on earth does this machine do? What’s that smell….

However, some of the “artworks” are playful and interactive. Try a game of ping pong on an accordion-shaped table; or jump on a trampoline in a cage with bells underneath; or find the white library, full of blank books (don’t deface the art!).

Try not to get lost.


(2) Castle/Hotel:

The upper levels of the castle were hotel rooms, long ago. Alas, all of the sheets and bedding were made into nests by rats. Here too, the lush velvet curtains hang in rags, and the wool carpets over the stone floors have lost their battle to the moths.

Yet most of the furniture remains intact, as well as the elaborate chandeliers. Compact heaters will keep the spaces at a near-comfortable temperature, and sleeping bags will do for now.

Let’s get cleaning!


(3) R&R

All that hard work has finally paid off. The geothermal power system is now providing electricity and abundant steam heat, and multiple hotel rooms are in habitable shape. Most importantly, the kitchen is functional. it's time to relax with a cup of hot spiced wine (or chocolate) and pastry. Some mischievous person has hung mistletoe over various random entranceways, so look sharp!


(4) Playing in the snow

The weak December sun makes an appearance, illuminating the ice crystals in the frigid air, creating a sun dog. The snow sparkles like white diamonds. It’s still freezing, but how can you stay inside on a day like this? Anyway, the snow needs shoveling, but perhaps there’s time to make a snowman (or snow angels).


(5) Penguins:

In addition to vermin of the four-legged, tailed and whiskered variety, this castle is home to a flock of penguins. These might be the principal reason the castle has lain abandoned all these years. They can be found anywhere in or around the structure. Approach with caution. Or better yet —



— run away.
soul_sister: (Aggro)

[personal profile] soul_sister 2013-12-29 08:12 pm (UTC)(link)
[Not just scrubbed, she POLISHED IT. She hadn't done this much work since she ran a boat into the Statue of Liberty... Her back was going to snap in half when her eyes alight blearily on the heavy boot tread....]

I'll kill them!

[She picks up her broom with the brutal intensity that only a nun can gather, and STALKS AFTER THE TRACKS.]
devotedtothecore: (quiet nights.)

[personal profile] devotedtothecore 2013-12-30 04:36 am (UTC)(link)
[ The tracks make their leisurely way down two corridors and a flight of stairs, finally stopping at what would, for all intents and purposes, be a dead-end wall. Save for the ladder propped up beside it.

And the square hole in the ceiling panels above, through which, accompanied by the sound of scraping and tapping, bits and flakes of debris slowly drift down, like ominous snowflakes.
]
soul_sister: (Because I'm AWESOME)

[personal profile] soul_sister 2014-01-04 05:33 pm (UTC)(link)
[She looks up at the hole. Looks at the ladder. Looks at the footprints in her NICELY POLISHED FLOOR.

Considers her backache.








Takes the ladder.]
devotedtothecore: (secretly he is a WOMAN.)

1/2

[personal profile] devotedtothecore 2014-01-05 07:48 am (UTC)(link)
[ There's a clatter of something metallic and a muttered curse, as a faint rolling sound approaches the edge of the hole and--

(wait a second are those footsteps on his ladder?)
]

Wait, mind the--!
devotedtothecore: (no that's. fine. really.)

[personal profile] devotedtothecore 2014-01-05 07:54 am (UTC)(link)
[ ---quarter-foot of steel pipe, 1.5 inches.

(as it goes over the edge, tumbling in slow motion, in perfect trajectory for foreheads below.)
]
Edited 2014-01-05 07:59 (UTC)
soul_sister: (BAM!)

[personal profile] soul_sister 2014-01-08 04:34 am (UTC)(link)
[The hollow tone of the pipe colliding with a rather hard head (by the tone and depth of the note, somewhere just off center to the middle) before clattering to the floor. The edges of the ladder vanish shortly after in a crash.]
devotedtothecore: (suspiciously gay.)

[personal profile] devotedtothecore 2014-01-08 05:20 pm (UTC)(link)
...pipe....



[ okay if she's yelling that vigorously she can't be that hurt

no wait that's not the main issue here

SCRAMBLES TO THE MOUTH OF THE HOLE and pokes his head through.
] Are you alright?!