( 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

[dva]

[ The entire trial, Hana avoided looking at the menu. It was an entire slap to the face. She's been less cheerful. Mainly because she knows what's at stake: ]

Yeah. But, it won't help my case. Not after the testimonial from my roommates and my testimonial not aligning.

[ Hana pulls out her own little rulebook. Of course, it's blank to anyone but her. ]

Spy. But when I woke up, my piano wire was gone. And not the invisible kind of gone! Just missing. I saw Jason's body and checked the night stand immediately. My roommates can attest for that at least.

[restlessgods]

Did you tell your role to anyone?

[dva]

No. Not with Craftly being super ominous before about the inevitability of someone killing.

[restlessgods]

Then you are the only one who can see it in the first place.

[dva]

It makes no sense. I put it in the night stand the second I got it — never touched it or told anyone. I wouldn't need it.

[ She scoffs. ]

I'm not a cloak and dagger assassin — that's Talon's whole thing!

[18x0]

According to Craftly, no one else would be able to use the piano wire. If you didn't use it to kill Jason, neither did anyone else.

[nowyouseeit]

[. . . takes a quiet, shaky breath, but continues forward and nods at Akane]

And there are no other weapons in play that could make that specific kind of injury.

[perceptions]

We did mention the whip earlier before, though it's hard for us to speculate how thick it is without seeing what it looks like.

[nowyouseeit]

You're right, but a whip varies in length, doesn't it? I think if our murder weapon was a whip, the marks on Jason's neck would look completely different. Not uniform in size.

[dva]

Then there has to be something similar to it! [ She slams her hands on the table, almost knocking off her oodles and noodles bowl. :( ] I was completely forced asleep by the time anyone could have came into the room. It's too EZ to just drop a dead guy at my bed?!

[18x0]

Hana... I know this is awful. I don't want to accuse you any more than you want to be accused. But...

[dva]

You can do what you like. I've said my truths and said my testimonials.

It was late, I got tired, woke up to my roommates finding a dead body at the foot of my bed with piano wire marks on his neck. Saw mine was missing, proceeded to WTF for a few hours and then — well, answered every request given to me here.

Even if it seemingly incriminated me.

[wristbands]

[as much as she'd hate to dogpile]

You getting angry like this isn't really helping your case.

[dva]

Am I not allowed to get angry when my head is on a chopping block? Why would I agree to check scratch marks with Yuki and Dave...? Why put myself into that position?

[dva]

I don't know — it was missing, that's all I know. I searched and couldn't find it.

[dva]

No. We didn't really discuss anything. Perc is cool, Marty is — well, Marty. I didn't get killer vibes from them.

[parodeity]

More to the point, are we even sure that anyone who doesn't own these invisible items can use them? Because somehow, I don't think that seems likely.

[intolerable]

Wrong-o! Only people who have their weapons can see them. Did you miss Craftly telling us the big news?

I think you should go and apologize to Jason before we vote, don't you?

[dva]

With all these rules and roles in place, don't you think there is a clause? An exception?

[ Angrily: ]

I don't have to apologize for anything because I didn't do it.

[restlessgods]

Lying will only prolong your suffering.

[intolerable]

If there were a clause or exception, they would have mentioned it in the rulebook, not keep it a secret for a killer. That would unbalance the game.

But go on, if we're finding the real killer, tell me what this clause would be.

[nowyouseeit]

. . .

[quietly, voice tight, like he's holding back. everyone has already sort of said what he wanted to say about the missing piano wire, so??]

Hana.