The Grand Hotel

A bellhop loads your luggage on an old fashioned cart, then hands you a note. With a short nod, he's off. You unfold the vellum stationery and find a set of directions and a small map of the grounds. The title of the map is "The Tunnel", which is strange. Wasn't there supposed to be an exposed, open-air environment, like the forest? Or was the tunnel supposed to lead you away from the hotel?

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Either way, if you want your demon you have to go...

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You walk through the hotel – past the café, beyond the pool, through the gardens – and you find an old abandoned greenhouse. The panes of glass are dirty and covered in mosses and ivy, and what used to be white metal frames are now spotted with red-orange rust. Inside you can see tropical plants, overgrown but somehow tame enough to be contained inside the greenhouse. You check your map again. This is supposed to be where the tunnel is located. 

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You decide to walk inside. If nothing else, an abandoned greenhouse seems cool and exciting! Surprisingly, the iron-wrought door doesn't squeak when you open it, and a rush of humid, hot air basts your face. Potent floral scents assault your nose, almost overwhelming, but you suddenly have a desire to venture further in. It's almost like you recognize that smell: a memory long forgotten but taunting you to remember. If you could only find that plant, maybe you could remember...

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As you walk down the rows of unfamiliar flowers and trees, the air becomes thicker, denser. Perhaps it's just the humidity, but you swear it's getting harder to see as well. You breathe in the moisture, and the air tastes like tea oversaturated with sugar. You keep thinking about the scent-memory, trying to place it, but it's harder to think when it's so hard to breathe and all you can taste is the air–

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Someone grabs your arm. "Whoa there!" he says. You find a tall man with his hair pulled back in a dreadlock-ponytail and a couple of goblins perched on his shoulder. His gold wire-rimmed glasses are fogged up from the humidity, and they hang low on his nose. He lets go, a little embarrassed. "Sorry! You were heading towards the Bone Flower."

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"The what?" you ask.

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He points up towards the ceiling in the back. It's only then that you notice a beautiful white flower with a red center growing far above the other plants in the greenhouse. It's huge, probably the size of a small car, and it's moving. You also notice a dusting of pollen that is slowly falling from its stamens in a steady stream.

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"It's a carnivorous flower," he says. "I keep telling management that it's not necessary to keep it around anymore, but... well, they insist. It's not that I don't like Bone Flowers or anything, but it's just too risky to keep around guests."

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You swallow a lump in your throat, wondering what would have happened to you if this man hadn't come along and stopped you.

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"You smelled something curious and followed your nose, didn't you?" he asks. He's not surprised, nor is he chastising you. You nod, embarrassed. "It happens to the best of us, don't worry. It's why I have these little guys," he says, reaching up to scratch the furry goblins between their ears. One of them bounces off of the man and onto your shoulder. It frightens you for a moment, but then the strange smell goes away and it's much easier to breathe. The man smiles at you. "Keep her for the moment! She'll come find me when we're done with the summoning... that is why you're here right?"

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You nod enthusiastically! You can't wait, honestly.

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"Awesome!" he says. "This is your first summoning, or do you already have a demon?"

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