Duh? I stand still now, perhaps around half-way along the corridor from where that storage area entrance is and where I believe 'my room's doorway is. I mostly watch towards the storage area, but I frequently scan behind me. Things, man. This place is clearly full of things, and they're weird and scary. I still can't remember if I'm supposed to have a sword or not.
I'm also wondering if the place is now on fire. I try to remember:
I think every wall I've seen so far is made of stone blocks.
I think every door I've seen so far was made of wood. I think my bed was made of wood, and the mattress and fittings sure seemed of fabric and likely flammable. Those crates in the storage area also all seemed made of wood, I think. I assess the floor, ceiling, and areas I can see, trying to judge how likely a fire is to spread.
Which reminds me; I ran with my candle so I check on my candle too. Did it extinguish? How's it doing?
In addition to my earlier bold actions, I also try to keep an eye on this eerie talking crow that's now circling me.
Duh? continues to stand still, his back to the north corridor wall, trying to simultaneously watch the crow circling him, keep an eye on the corridor leading towards the storage area, and frequently glancing at the corridor leading further away from the storage area. And he checks his candle in the candlestand he carries, to see if it went out when he ran, if it's fine, or what. He's predicting the crow will answer him, and still getting strong 'Duh? this is a horror movie I'm in, right?' vibes.
In addition to my earlier actions, I raise my candlestick-carrying arm and hand for the crow to land on, raise my other hand to shield between the crow and my face, and my body language is extremely expressing fear.
In addition to my earlier actions, I move to the south side of the corridor and head back towards the storeroom, really ready to fight, with the crow on my candlestick-carrying arm, my other hand still up to protect my face from the crow, and I'm moving with tense, aggressive fear. Unless I see someone like Hireshite behind me, then I stay still watching them, and talk to them before they get too close.
Taarkara perches on the human.
"So, what now?"
You stand still for a while and your candle remains lit, but when nothing happens you return to the warehouse area and see what happened there.
Val chuckles ruefully and shakes his head, "Ah, hell, you ain't got a clue what I said," then beckons the girl over, "Wanna help me see if there's aught to eat in here?"
He continues his efforts to break into one of the crates, silently cursing his scrawny arms.
Grumble and float along with Val.
Celosia jumps down from his perch, then jumps onto the crate Val is trying to open. He sniffs it, checking to see if it smells like food. If it doesn't, jump to the next, and then the next, sniffing them as well. If none of them have any smell, start trying to claw at the wood of the third one, marking it.
Ignoring the obvious dining area on the far wall, you instead collectively cluster around a wooden crate that has been nailed shut and attempt to pry it open with your bare hands.
Shockingly, bare hands do not a good crowbar make, though Celosia's claws do leave a satisfying mark on the wood.
The crate doesn't smell like food, it smells like wood and dust mostly. So do the others. Maybe they aren't food crates?
Esselez does find that she can actually float... sort of. It's more like... like she falls unusually slowly. It's sort of like swimming in still freshwater while wearing a weight. But it wasn't like this earlier, just... just now, when she tried it.
Also Van's passenger seems to be settleing down to take a nap, and the flames from before seem to have faded, leaving only faint scorch marks on the wall.
Oh, and the man and bird from before are coming back apparently.
“Staff such as?..”
Oddly mundane word.
Hireshite was about to turn to leave, but was stopped by a suspicious thought.
“Will I know the park when I see it? I can't help but wonder if we mean the same thing by the word.“
“I have no more questions.”
Pick up the candle and leave. Approach Duh and Taarkara in the corridor.
EDIT: Take a moment to prepare for teleport back that apparently isn't coming. If they are already gone or going, explore side hallway instead.
"Staff such as the medical staff, the handyman, and the manager of course.""The manager will make it clear I'm sure, you have to pass him in order to enter it anyway.""Then go. You should get your first task shortly, use your remaining time to prepare."Taking the candle and leaving, you return to the corridor, and see the man and bird as they leave. Given this, you head down the side corriror, finding yourself in The Mirror Room
You find yourself in a large open room, with a ring of stone benches surrounding a large bowl-shaped indentation in the center of the room. On the north wall, where you entered from, is a single open archway to the unlit corridor you went through, on the west wall is a pair of open arches leading to the warehouse, on the east wall is an archway covered by a white curtain with a red cross on it, and on the south wall is a giant pair of brass double-doors, decorated with designs of twisted and malformed faces, some showing looks of horror, some a predator grin, and some comepletely emotionless and placid. The doors are easilly large enough to fit a vehicle or wagon though them if they were open. They are not.
In the center of the indentation is a massive floor-to-ceiling mirror, its oval frame seemingly made of brass or gold. As you move throughout the room, it seems to turn with you, always facing you as you move.
And beside the mirror stands a short and overweight ?man? in a checkered orange and white suit with a black bowler hat and a massive toothy grin that is far oversized for his face, his pearly teeth each individually larger than his eyes or nose.
He's stands there leaning on a solid black cane, and checks his empty wrist as you enter the room.
"Well at least one of you have finally arrived." His jaw hinges open as he speaks, the connection between his upper jaw and lower jaw resting near the far back of his head, with only a tiny section of flesh holding them together.
"I was thinking I'd have to tell the Doctor to drag all of you into here. Now, sit down, I don't feel like explaining things twice."He then bellows out a demand, heard to everyone
EVERYONE:You hear a loud bellow from the room connected to the warehouse, the one with the giant floor-to-ceiling mirror
"ALRIGHT THATS ENOUGH LOLLYGAGGING. GET YOUR USELESS ASSES THE HELL IN HERE SO I CAN BRIEF YOU ON YOUR FIRST TASK!"