Louie Sulphur: Yeah, I'm not buying any of this for a second.
Clint Tortoise: This is either some elaborate scheme to build trust, or a giant trap. Should we report this to the higher-ups so they can shut it down?
Louie Sulphur: Eh, that sounds like too much paperwork and interviews. You really need to live a little. I propose we investigate the situation ourselves, and report our findings after we've done the fun part for them.
Clint Tortoise: Leaving them to do all of the paperwork?
Louie Sulphur: Two great minds think alike.
Clint Tortoise: No. This is ridiculous and dangerous. You're proposing we walk right into The Beast's trap, or scheme, or whatever it is, for fun? We should let the professionals handle it.
Louie Sulphur: We are the professionals. Sure, we're no Kim-Lee, but we aren't rookies either.
Clint Tortoise: No. I'd rather do all the boring paperwork than get eaten alive by a squid monster who washes it down with tea and high-brow chuckling.
Louie Sulphur: Alright, fine then. The event is in a week. I'll sneak into it and check it out, then, I can get the scoop on whatever goes down.
Clint Tortoise: Fine then; your funeral.
<BEGIN LOG>
Time: September 13, 2023. 14:54.
Recorder: M.E.G. Junior Field Researcher Louie Sulphur
Location: Level 5
Other parties involved: Entity 18, Entity 135, Entity 164, Entity 185
AUDIO TRANSCRIPT:
Louie Sulphur: Alright, I think I have this thing all set up now. I'm currently hiding in one of the hotel's bathrooms while the beast sets the event up. A whole lot of creatures showed up for this. I think I saw a few naïve humans show up, but there were too many people for me to be 100% sure.
The Comedian is out there stalling with xir crappy jokes, so I took advantage of the opportunity and slipped out of my uniform so that I wouldn't get on their radar. I found these clothes in the lost and found bin back at base, which should hopefully help me blend in with this wacky crowd. Anyways, I'm going to clip this mic under my collar and hide the wire under my shirt. Hopefully, their sound system is loud enough for this thing to pick it up.
(Louie takes a deep breath) Well then, here goes nothing.
(Louie can be heard exiting the bathroom, only to be greeted by the sound of loud boos and jeers from the audience.)
Entity 185: Yeesh, you guys are a rough crowd! Well, it seems it's time to bring out the big guns. So I was taking a drink out of one of the bubblers1 in the hotel, when all of a sudden, this wicked brown water starts spewing out of it, right?
Audience member:2 Oh come on, not this joker again. Get off the stage dude!
Entity 185: Ay, c'mon! I didn't even start the joke yet!
Entity 18: Alright Comedian, I think that's enough jokes for today.
Entity 185: You guys have no sense of humor! (The Comedian is seemingly pushed off-stage, unable to be heard anymore on the recording. Later interviews revealed that xe was seemingly dragged off the stage by an invisibile force, resisting until being pulled behind the curtain.)
Entity 18: Okay then, everyone, it's time we get started, don't you think? Thank you all very much for coming. I cannot stress how much I appreciate all of your interest in our humble hotel. The staff and I have been working tirelessly to make this dream a reality. Now, my dearest Bellhopper and I finally have a way to give back to our wonderful guests for all of the support they have hitherto shown for our enterprise.
Entity 135: (The Bellhopper seems to make ringing bell noises that convey excitement. The beast laughs in reply to this.)
Entity 18: I cannot express in words the gratitude I feel at this moment. Without further ado, we would like to begin the grand opening of the NEW, OFFICIAL TERROR HOTEL CASINO!
Louie Sulphur: Oh… So that's his game. (Applause and cheering can be heard from the rest of the audience.)
Entity 18: The casino is now open! Drinks, food, games, cards, slots; we have it all! In honor of the grand opening, everyone gets a free drink from The Barkeeper! (More applause can be heard) Enjoy your stay, everyone!
Louie Sulphur: Right, I don't know how much of that was picked up, but the announcement seems to be about some grand opening of a casino within Level 5. I'm heading inside, maybe I'll learn some more information about this place. The coin trade table seems to be little busy at the moment, so I'm gonna go check out the bar first.
(Louie begins walking through the casino) This place is crazy cool. I can't believe they concealed it this well up until now.
Entity 164: What can I… get for you?
Louie Sulphur: Are you Entity one-six- I mean, the Barkeeper?
Entity 164: Yes. We have… the finest drinks… in the Backrooms… does anything interest you?
Louie Sulphur: I've never heard of half of these brands. King whiskey? Cupshine? I can't tell if these are off-brands or fancy brands.
Entity 164: I can assure you… they are of a quality… that is above any other… you have seen before…
Louie Sulphur: Can you just make me a Shirley Temple? I'll pass on the alcohol for today.
Entity 164: Your loss.
(The Barkeeper can be heard pouring liquid into a cup and stirring it.)
Here you go… Enjoy…
Louie Sulphur: Thanks, man. [Louie takes a sip of the beverage] Hey, before I go, what kinda money do they use here?
Entity 164: We're just… bartering… for chips. Certain items… will get you more… or less… depending on their rarity… and demand.
Louie Sulphur: Oh, okay. Thanks.
Entity 164: Have a… nice day.
Louie Sulphur: Okay, the line's died down a bit. It seems that everyone's testing out the machines now. I'll trade a few thermoses of Almond Water for some chips to see what's happening.
(Louie can be heard approaching the table.)
Entity 185: You here for some chips, my man?
Louie Sulphur: Oh hey, you're that comedian person.
Entity 185: Yeah, can you believe the boss put me on chip duty? One minute, you're having the time of your life, cracking jokes for a nice, big audience, and the next, you're getting dragged off-stage as the audience boos and jeers. It's real messed up. Anyways, show me the goods. What'cha got?
Louie Sulphur: Oh, I'm not much of a gambler. I just have a few bottles of Almond Water to test the waters of this place. (They both snicker at the pun.)
Entity 185: That's it? You know you could make a fortune here, right? The highest possible jackpot on the slot machine is enough to get you a whole bottle of Liquid Silence! You know how rare that crap is?
Louie Sulphur: Wait, you guys have access to bottles' worth of Liquid Silence?!
Entity 185: Anything and everything you could ever want, it's all here. C'mon, hand over the goods, and go have some fun!
Louie Sulphur: I-I don't know.
Entity 185: C'mon man! Live a little!
Louie Sulphur: Fine then, take this bag of Firesalt.
Entity 185: That's the spirit! Alright, 5 bottles of Almond Water and a half-pound of Firesalt should get ya a nice amount of chips. (The Comedian can be heard placing a bag of casino chips on the table.) Go have some fun! When you're done, head on over to the boss's table over there to cash out.
Louie Sulphur: Thanks. (Louie can be heard walking away.) Well, xe was a pretty interesting character. I'm gonna go test out these slot machines and see if there's anything fishy about them.
Louie Sulphur: Oh my- I got the jackpot. I got the jackpot! Haha! I'm rich!
Entity 18: Well then, it seems we have the house's first jackpot. Sincerest congratulations!
Louie Sulphur: Holy- You're the Beast… right in front of me.
Entity 18: My, I wish that wasn't what people called me. Mr. Gentleman suffices fine. I have a proposal for you: you seem quite lucky, so why not indulge in a little bit of riskiness? Here's my deal: Why don't we play a fun game of 2-person blackjack? Just you and me. If you win, your winnings will be tripled. Doesn't that sound nice?
Louie Sulphur: And if I lose?
Entity 18: You have to work for me as casino staff. Doesn't sound like that bad of a consequence, now does it? Imagine what you could get with triple your winnings: you could get a whole pound of Royal Rations with that much wealth! What do you say?
Louie Sulphur: Y'know what, sure. Me and my friends play blackjack all the time, so this should be a breeze!
Entity 18: Well then, it seems someone knows how to have fun here, aye? Yes, I do like that indeed, we don't see much of your kind anymore… Follow me now, right this way!
(A crowd can be heard gathering at this point as The Beast and Louie seemingly sit down at a card table)
Entity 18: I would deal, but unfortunately I have no thumbs. Would you mind doing so?
Louie Sulphur: Sure. Place your bets while I do that. Minimum is 5… Each player has 50 chips. Alright… here’s your cards. Hit or stay?
Entity 18: Stay.
Louie Sulphur: Ha! I got 20!
Entity 18: 17. Good job.
Louie Sulphur: Shouldn’t have bet so high! Okay, bet again.
Entity 18: I doubt you’ll be so lucky this time.
Louie Sulphur: Hit or stay?
Entity 18: Hmm… hit. Oh, a king and an ace. That’s blackjack.
Louie Sulphur: Argh!
(Louie and The Beast can be heard going back and forth for a few rounds, with Louie losing each time.)
Louie Sulphur: I only have 5 chips left.
Entity 18: You'd better be careful, then. Hit.
Louie Sulphur: C’mon… C’mon… Ha! I got 21! Oh, and Blackjack!
Entity 18: I got blackjack as well. I have a king of spades and an ace of spades. That's 3 pips.
Louie Sulphur: I have a queen of clubs and an ace of clubs. That’s…
Entity 18: 9 pips. Well then, it looks like we have a clear winner.
Louie Sulphur: What… no! You cheated! You lost on purpose the first round, and then rigged the cards the second time!
Entity 18: You shuffled didn’t you? I did let you win the first round to get you all cocky, but the rest was fair game. You simply forgot the one golden rule of gambling: “The house always wins.”
Louie Sulphur: N- Hey! Let go of me! What are you doing?!
Entity 18: Making sure you uphold your end of the deal. I’m looking forward to a beautiful business relationship with you, Louie.
Louie Sulphur: Wh- How did y-
Entity 18: When it comes to you lot, your skulls can be just as thick as your skin. Did you really think I wasn’t aware of what you were up to? Of the uniform you left in the bathroom? Of the wire under your… frankly, distasteful outfit? My, my, the audacity!
(The Beast tuts and shakes his head with an amused distaste.)
Entity 18: Well, I certainly hope your superiors enjoy this little recording. Goodbye, now.
Louie Sulphur: Wait! Sto-
(The microphone is seemingly crushed, and the signal is lost)
<END LOG>
Following this encounter, Louie's uniform was found neatly folded at the doorstep of the M.E.G. outpost "House Keeping". The audio was turned over to the M.E.G. for archival purposes. Louie Sulphur is currently working as staff for the casino, but seems to have no recollection of any event prior to when he was hired.
EMAIL INBOX
YOU HAVE ONE NEW EMAIL
| From: gro.liamkcab|gemesiotrottnilc#gro.liamkcab|gemesiotrottnilc |
| To: gro.liamkcab|yuGnimdAehTnehpetS#gro.liamkcab|yuGnimdAehTnehpetS |
| Subject: Submitting draft for greenlight |
Attached files: Level5.1EntryRev46.doc
Hey, Stephen, it’s Clint. I’m sure you’re aware of the Beast’s capture of Louie Sulphur and the discovery of a sub-level within Level 5. Louie was a good friend of mine, and I’ve tried my hardest to save him, but whatever the Beast did to him seems to be irreversible. One of his eyes was replaced with a billiard ball, his limbs with pool sticks, and he claims to be a casino supervisor now. It was definitely pretty shocking, and I refuse to let whatever that monster is doing to Louie be for nothing. In his honor, a few other agents and I have attempted to document the level, and have finally completed a draft for it. I think I managed to snipe all of the SPaG errors. Tell me what you think.
Thanks,
Clint Tortoise
«LEVEL 5.1 DRAFT REVISION 46»
SURVIVAL DIFFICULTY:
Class Casino
- Safe
- Secure
- Good clean fun
Level 5.1 is a large casino within Level 5 that is owned by Entity 18.
Feeling lucky? Come on in…
Looks fun, doesn’t it? Anything you could ever want…
C’mon, let me deal you in…
Description:
Level 5.1, better known and referred to by staff as the Terror Hotel Casino, is found within The Beverly Room of Level 5. The entrance takes the appearance of a door into a large, Vegas-style casino, having an estimated maximum occupancy of around 5000 people. On the front, the initials “TH” (presumably standing for Terror Hotel) are displayed in large red letters. The casino is open for a period of 16 hours, and closed for a period of 8 before repeating the cycle.
Upon entering the casino, wanderers will be greeted by a vast number of roulettes, cards, dice, slots, and games found within a typical casino. Due to the lack of any sort of standard currency across the Backrooms, the games have been documented to run off of coin-like objects that heavily resemble poker chips. These chips can be acquired by bartering with the current on-duty staff member at the front desk.
The chips have multiple values depending on their color. Similar to casinos in the Frontrooms, each of the chips appear to be worth a certain amount of “money” depending on their color. So far, 4 chip colors and their value have been confirmed: red chips, worth $1’s worth of gameplay, blue chips worth $5, yellow chips worth $10, and green chips worth $20. Each game functions on a certain amount of money. For example, regular slot machines will usually require only $1, or 1 red chip, while advanced roulettes will cost a few more. Other games are only playable through higher value chips, which are also mainly used for card games.
It has been rumored that chips worth $50 exist, but no concrete proof has been brought up to suggest their existence as of the writing of this document. The only evidence towards its existence is a story told about a man who received a purple chip upon bartering, and noticed it was different than the rest. The story talks about the chip having a number in the middle which went up or down depending on if he won or lost a game. The story then describes the man going on a losing streak, which caused the chip to eventually hit zero. What happened next varies with each storyteller, but in all tellings of it, the man never came back.
The chips also act as the reward for winning the games. For example, if you play a game that costs 1 blue chip, and win $6, 6 red chips will be dispensed from the machine, giving you a net gain of 1 red chip. When a person wishes to leave the casino, they can trade their chips in for various objects, both native and foreign to the Backrooms. Wanderers have described being able to win anything from Almond Water, to what the staff refer to as a “mystery egg” which looks like an egg that’s ready to hatch some horrifying, demonic creature. The B.N.T.G. plans to make use of the system in the future to gain rare resources, which the casino seems to have an abundance of.
Listed below is the chip value of a few objects:
| Object name: | Chip value: |
|---|---|
| Almond Water | 2 red chips per bottle |
| Deuclidators | 1 blue chip per box |
| Memory Jars | 4 red chips per jar, though jars of prominent individuals have been documented to garner more than that. |
| Activated Charcoal | 3 yellow chips per gram |
| Scarabacks | 6 red chips |
| Royal Rations | 1 green chip per 1/4 pound |
| Babel Balm | 4 yellow chips per capsule |
| Maiden's Ink | 4 green chips per bottle |
Place your bets…
The casino itself appears to look relatively average: the lights are dim and flash periodically, the games constantly emit obnoxious sounds, and blaring music constantly plays in the background.3 While playing the games, the inescapable cacophony of cheering and jeering as guests win and lose surrounds you, further adding to the temptation a wanderer experiences inside of the casino. Plastic chips can be heard clinking as they’re inserted into the machines, slot machines whir and buzz as they dispense jackpots for the lucky winners, the cool breeze of the air conditioner surrounds your body as you walk across the classy new carpet, and the aroma of fine alcohol is always present.
What really makes the casino stand out, however, is the strange nature of the games themselves. Wanderers who have visited the casino have alleged that the games are rigged to choose when you win or lose, perfectly engineered to maintain the precise balance of letting gamblers win just enough to keep them hooked, while making them lose enough to turn a handsome profit.
Many patrons have noticed that the machines will malfunction in apparently deliberate ways to make you win or lose. One wanderer reports watching a roulette suddenly spin faster for a second before winning the jackpot. Another reported the opposite happening, with the roulette randomly moving itself away from the jackpot as if someone invisible was intervening. Some even go as far as to say that the cards are alive, and can choose whether to give someone a royal flush or a junk hand. These claims cannot yet be proven, and have been dismissed at present as pure speculation. Further study into these machines is ongoing, in order to determine whether these rumors might actually turn out to be true.
Regardless of whether or not these curious rumors are true, wanderers who have visited the casino almost always agree that the games it offers feel extraordinarily addictive. The M.E.G. urges people to avoid the casino and its games if possible. If wanderers must enter, they are advised to be cautious when playing the games, to avoid succumbing to the temptation to squander away all their valuable resources.
Take a seat, grab a menu, and relax. Tell me what I can get for you…
Aside from the games, the casino also features a bar with a large menu of food and drinks. The bar appears to be primarily run by The Barkeep. The brands of the drinks are also not any known brands from the Frontrooms. Despite this, the drinks have been described as very strong and pleasant. The food menu is also immense, ranging from simple macaroni and cheese, all the way to filet mignon. The food and drinks can be bought through more bartering or by spending chips.
Entities:
A sketch of the former Junior Field Researcher The Casino Manager, Louie.
Ah, that’s a sketch of Peg-Leg. He’s real good at getting the customers inside.
And there’s Sir Billiard, but we call him Billy. He’s happy to play a game of Blackjack, Poker, or any other card game you could think of.
The Terror Hotel Casino Staff:
The Staff of the casino are also not what you would typically expect from an average casino. They appear to be partly human, or at least vaguely humanoid. Sketches of a few staff members have been provided to the right for reference.
The staff member of utmost interest to The M.E.G. is the manager of the casino. The manager claims to be the former Junior Field Researcher Louie Sulphur, who witnessed the opening of the casino itself. The entity in question heavily resembles Louie, despite his clearly inhuman features. His arms appear to have been replaced with pool sticks, and one of his eyes with a billiard ball. It is currently unknown, apparently even to Louie himself, how this change occurred. Louie seems to have absolutely no recollection of any memory before his first day on the job, apart from his name.
There have been several attempts to interview Louie, but all have ended in either Louie becoming extremely confused, and/or the agent becoming sucked into the games. Louie is most often seen roaming the floors to offer food and drink to wanderers, as well as making sure the guests are all having a good time.
The other staff are styled in a similar fashion, being vaguely human, but with body parts changed to thematically match various parts of the casino. They all hold various jobs, including but not limited to food servicing, game maintenance, guest welcomers, barterers, upkeeping security, and other jobs you would expect from a casino. The staff are generally passive, but a sense of caution should always be upheld around them, and provoking them should be avoided at all costs. These entities are still incredibly undocumented, and no risky behavior should occur around them, as possibility of violent retaliation is unpredictable.
The Beast of Level 5:
Occasionally, The Beast of Level 5 — who obviously owns the casino — can be spotted roaming around the grounds. The Beast has been known to challenge some of the more lucky winners to a one-on-one gambling game, which is more often than not a game of cards. The Beast usually offers the person a wager of immense riches if they win, and a spot as casino staff if they lose. Once this deal is made, there is no going back, as the other staff will make sure you uphold it. It is not known if he does this for pleasure, or as a twisted scheme to obtain more victims, but he should not be trusted no matter how alluring his offer may seem. Thus far, the Beast has never lost a single game.
Communities, Bases, and Outposts:
Due to the state of the sub-level, no Communities, Bases, or Outposts have been formed.
Entrances and Exits:
The only way to enter and exit is through the front doors of the casino in Level 5 (see attached image).
This article was written in honor of Louie Sulphur, and is dedicated to him. You will be missed.
EMAIL INBOX
YOU HAVE ONE NEW EMAIL
| From: gro.liamkcab|yuGnimdAehTnehpetS#gro.liamkcab|yuGnimdAehTnehpetS |
| To: gro.liamkcab|gemesiotrottnilc#gro.liamkcab|gemesiotrottnilc |
| Subject: Re: Submitting draft for greenlight |
Hey Clint. The article looks pretty solid to me. Feel free to post it. Just make sure to add the visual agent that reverses the Beast's vandalism before you do, since it looks like he found this one too. I'd like if we could get this out as quickly as possible, mainly so that we can avoid the loss of any more of our crew. It's a real tragedy what happened to Louie, but his death was not in vain. He got us extremely valuable information about the casino and the Beast himself. Don't be too hard on yourself, alright? I just hope he isn't suffering right now. Thank you for writing this.
~ Senior Administrative Officer Stephen Owling