( TRIAL - WEEK 1 )

[abhoth]

At exactly 11:30 am, all residents who are still asleep will be jolted awake by a sharp, burning pain that spreads across their whole body. A simple look will reveal no visible injuries, oddly enough, and the pain will fade away as soon as they're properly awake. Those early birds who are already up and about will feel nothing — except maybe a strange, mysterious sense of relief as they go on about their business. Lucky them. Moments later, an announcement will come through the static-filled PA system: "This is Craftly speaking. My apologies for the rude awakening [not really], but your presence is required in the Dining Hall. Our first trial is about to begin. Please do try to be there before noon. My staff members have simply too many duties to tend to, to be escorting each and every one of you out of your quarters. Good day." And true to his words, anyone who doesn't make their way to the Dining Hall before noon will be dragged kicking and screaming regardless of where they've sequestered themselves. Sucks to be you, huh? Upon arriving there, however, residents will be given the menu, one copy of the rulebook, one pencil, one notepad, and a cheque folder. Lunch and dinner will be served at the appropriate times, and appetizers, desserts and beverages (of the non-alcoholic variety) will be available throughout the trial. All you have to do is ask one of the faceless men, and your food will be delivered to you in ten minutes or less depending on what it is. The Dining Room itself looks about the same as it does any other day — save for the fact that the lights have been dimmed. Why this, you ask? Because the projector is now in use. Transparencies containing each resident's profile will be displayed on the pull-down screen, with one of the staff members rotating through the images every minute. The profiles of the deceased are included, and if current discussion deems it necessary to focus on one particular resident, anyone is free to ask the faceless man to pause on the appropriate profile for a while. A small area has been sectioned off with a transparent, plastic curtain right next to the pull-down screen. Its use will become rapidly apparent once the victim's corpse has been wheeled in. Anyone who wishes to step into this area will be asked to wash their hands in the kitchen, and they will be given a pair of latex-free gloves and a hairnet by a staff member who is stationed nearby. Residents are required to dispose of both items before returning to the dinner table; a trash bin is available outside of the curtains for this purpose. Evidence found during the investigation, on the other hand, will be displayed in the back of the room. Two, long tables have been taken out of storage for this occasion, and any items found by the residents on Friday will be displayed here for further examination. Finally — a clock above the pull-down screen displays the current hour. Please do remember you have until 9:00 PM to figure out whodunit and cast your vote. ( victim ) Welcome to our first trial! Characters will be given nine (9) hours to discuss everything related to the investigation to hopefully solve the mystery behind this week's murder. No one will be allowed to leave the Dining Hall without explicit permission from the Innkeeper (and only then to take a tinkle), and all characters must cast their vote before 9PM EST. You may do so on this week's voting page. If you have any questions or doubts, shoot us a PM or a PP over at yuggoth. ( quick navigation ) voting | profiles | menu | locations | ic rulebook

Comments

[nowyouseeit]

[he nods]

That's true, too. Which is why I said it's hard to tell if the door actually opened or not.

The scratches make me think they weren't very good at it, but just 'cause they aren't good doesn't mean they didn't manage to get it open at some point.

[ninjay]

Right. If they were persistent enough they could manage it eventually, especially since you and Dave were unable to investigate the sound.

[nowyouseeit]

. . . if there's blood underneath Jason's fingertips, then he must've been awake when he was killed. And since our room wasn't a complete and utter mess, I'm assuming he left willingly.

[tilts his head back, staring at the ceiling]

So I don't think whoever tried to break in actually managed to succeed. I kinda think Jason left on his own accord, to go to Room 111. For whatever reason.

[ninjay]

Maybe they wanted to return Jason's body to your room, but wasted too much time trying to get in so they weren't able deposit it elsewhere before the sun came up.

It's a rookie mistake, if that's the case. Even dumping the body outside in the hallway would divert suspicion away. Unless they were worried about waking their roommates?

[nowyouseeit]

I dunno. It'd be a lot easier to speculate if that were true or not if we knew whether Jason had left the room before or after the culprit messed with our doorknob.

[ninjay]

Unless the culprit decides to confess or we suddenly come across evidence we haven't found yet, all we can do is speculate about the timing.

[nowyouseeit]

Yeah.

But the timing may not be the most important thing here, anyway.

[ninjay]

Probably not. If anything, it just might help solve the mystery of why the body was found in that particular location. If the murderer willingly left Jason there, then they're practically begging to be caught since the suspicious will automatically shift to everyone in that room. It's such a careless error that it's almost laughable.