D23: Birthday Party

Birthday Party

The double-doors to this room are bound in a fine red ribbon bow secured with a heft iron padlock. An envelope bound by fanciful pink string is dangling from the doorknob. Inside, is a perfume scented envelope with a short message written in a flowing cursive. The message reads, “Happy Birthday [Character Name]! Your present is inside!”. Regardless of the time before arrival any time pieces or other devices register the time and day as being their birthday down to the minute.

When the door is opened gears begin to shift in the walls rhythmically like the sound of a clock ticking down. The room is the size of the other dining halls but contains only a single buffet table covered in a sheer white tablecloth with a redwood wardrobe trunk haphazardly thrown on top almost as big as the table. The trunk is secured with an array of numeric keypads made from chains and typewriter keys with a kitchen timer secured to the center ticking down. The clock will go off in a minute with the ticking getting seemingly faster as it gets closer and closer to the end. The passwords to the keypads are the exact date, time, and second of the character’s birth.

If the locks are broken through or picked the gears stop and the room falls silent before a cavalcade of party-goers wearing animal masks and holding a birthday cake. Several shoot off firecrackers and others bring to distribute shot glasses of fine liquor as they begin to sing happy birthday. They end this performance with a picture taken on a vintage camera on a tri-pod. They linger for about an hour, as it is a party after all, willing to talk gossip or even give the characters advice about navigating the hotel but never about their purpose. If the characters stay this counts as a rest. The picture of the occasion is granted as a gift as well as a birthday hat.

The next time the characters enter this room the trunk remains but the locks have been replaced. Inside is a mimic.