( 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

[thawedheart]

The faceless men took the doorknob so we could examine it, but...

[She definitely agrees about the "obvious" bit.]

I don't know. It almost seems too easy a solution, as it is. But if someone did try to frame her, they managed to do so without leaving any clues as to their own identity, and... nobody's perfect. I don't think it's possible, to do something like that and leave no evidence.

[g101]

It's toooooo easy. If you're gonna be in the hot seat, why not swap with someone else? Spicy isn't their style, so we gotta sniff out the sweet stuff, maybe?

Anyway, I think there's evidence, we're just looking at it wrong. People already decided it's her, so they aren't looking at it the other way, you knowwww? But sometimes it's good to look at the back of a book before you buy it.

[thawedheart]

[A lot of the specifics of what Hajime's saying are confusing the you-know-what out of her, but she thinks she gets the gist of it, so...]

Yes, I agree. Before we cast our votes, we have to rule out as many other possibilities as we can. And that means we need to think seriously about them, instead of making up our minds too soon.

[g101]

I won't stop until I'm definitely sure. And I'm not sure at all, so I'm going to keep going!

[ a beat, and then: ] I wonder who would put the spotlight on Hanacchi... Or how? I'm really confused about why she would get up and scratch the door... Do we even know it was really her?

[thawedheart]

We do know that Percival-san and Marty-san saw someone who looked like a girl head toward their closet. We also know that the marks on room 112's door came from a hangar, that a hangar was used to try and pick the lock, and that a hangar that had been unfolded and then put back into that shape was found in room 111's closet.

[And considering Hana is the only girl in that room...]

Nobody saw her face clearly, but under the circumstances... unless there was another girl in that room, we can't say for sure. But nobody mentioned anything about having someone stay over.

[g101]

I think maybe... the hanger... might have been a distraction? To point to the room more, maybe. [ just a Thought. ] Umm, it's hard to explain, but that piece of evidence is only someone's word, which is hard to prove.

A role like, um. The Beautician. We don't know what it does, but roles have a meaning, right? So maybe something like that can take Hana's place.

Or... maybe Dippy was right, and Jason took someone else's place.

[ the menu seems relevant, so she's pouring over it. ]

[thawedheart]

A distraction...?

[She doesn't have any real reason to disbelieve Kaito and Dave when they say they heard someone working at the doorknob, though. Nor does she have any reason to doubt that the hangar was used on the doorknob in some way - the marks line up, at least.]

Well, it says... scissors. Like Hana-san's piano wire. I'm not sure it would do more than that. [She hesitates.] If it says "weapon," I think... that may be all it is, because having a weapon is an advantage. Having an ability would also be an advantage.

But the ones that say "item," like Jason-san's did... that's where there may be room for doubt. Because... we may not know exactly what those items do.

[g101]

Gatcha!!! Yukichi, you get it! Maybe someone's item let them be Hanachi for a bit. What do you think?

[ literally switching places with her while she's asleep, that is. ]

[thawedheart]

...that sounds more like the Ghost's ability, don't you think...?

[maybe yukina does not actually get it after all. she's confused.]

[g101]

Yep! [ she pops the p and all. ] So we know that someone can hide as someone else. So... do they know it was Hanacchi?

[thawedheart]

...even if someone was possessing her, how would they know where to find her weapon? Nobody but her would be able to see it, and the possession would only last for a short time.

Would the Ghost have had time to find her weapon, lure Jason-san out, kill him, and get her back into bed before she woke up and noticed something was wrong...?

[g101]

Time, again, huuuuh. Maybe we should really figure that one out.

[ idly, she motions like she's folding origami even tho she's not. holding paper. hajime. ] I don't think it takes long to die from strangulation. Maybe they chose that room because it was next door, though.

[godly]

[Hi Yukina.]

Do you have any suggestions, Yukina-chan? All that we have available to us is to re-examine the evidence or the body. I agree that much of this seems... sloppy, but unfortunately we've either not dug deep enough to unearth another clue, or it simply doesn't exist.

[That, or it's beyond their means to deduct with what they've been given. But that hardly seems fair, and despite the cruelty of this game, Light wonders if it would really be skewed to their disadvantage.]

[thawedheart]

[sup light]

...none that make much sense, I'm afraid.

[She heaves a sigh.]

It's possible that Percival-san and Marty-san are not telling the truth about having seen a girl going toward their closet. But, why would they try to frame her? And for that matter, how could they possibly have killed Jason-san with a piano wire? Hana-san has already confirmed that it belonged to her, and we know that no one but her could see or use it.

It's more likely that one person is lying, than it is that two people teamed up specifically to take her down, and just so happened to do it in such a way that matched up with the weapon she had been given, that nobody else knew about.

...I'm just worried that because it all fits together so well, we're making a decision too easily. I... I don't know. The weight of someone's life is a heavy burden to bear.

[godly]

[He gives this a moment of consideration before responding. It bothers him, too, how convenient it all is. And Hana, from what little he's spoken with her, doesn't seem disingenuous.

But that means little in the face of everything, doesn't it? Light, of all people, would know.]

If they're not telling the truth, they would have be at the very least be accomplices. This muddies the figurative waters even more, and there's just no evidence available to us to tell us this is the case. Also, who else would be able to use the piano wire? There's the Copycat role, which I thought would be the most likely alternative... if not for the fact that she said she hadn't told anyone of being a Spy. I doubt she's lying about that; why would she pass up an attempt to clear her name?

[Which you know, might have been something she should've considered if she was going to pick something to lie about. But. That's just his opinion.]

[thawedheart]

...it's possible... that the Copycat doesn't need to know what they're copying, just who. They could have picked Hana-san, and found out that she had piano wire after they received their copy. But... why use such an ability so early? If I had a power like that, I'd... save it until I knew I was going to get something good out of it.

[She fiddles with her sleeve, uncertain.]

But then... why Hana-san? And if they went into this thinking, "I'll frame her," why was Jason-san the victim? Wouldn't it have been simpler to target one of her roommates, if they wanted her to take the fall?

...and if Jason-san was always the intended victim, why wouldn't they have copied one of his roommates' abilities? Why Hana-san's, when they had no idea what it was going to be?

There are too many leaps in logic for it to be the Copycat... at least, that's what I think.

[parodeity]

I agree, actually. Like...besides that point, unless the Copycat were one of her roommates, how would they get back into the room, you know? To plant the evidence.

[thawedheart]

...right. They would have needed their own key or to be let in.

[Skeleton key isn't an option, if they're the Copycat. Yukina's shoulders slump.]

I'm trying hard to think through as many possibilities as I can, but... I keep coming back to the same point, that it doesn't make sense unless Hana-san was the one to do it from start to finish.

...and even that doesn't make much sense, but then, all of us having to kill each other doesn't make sense either.

[parodeity]

Right. Like...every time I think about it, even if there were another role in play, it makes no sense if it wasn't her, you know? Like...if we're missin' somethin', it ain't anything I can see just yet.

[thawedheart]

...Craftly-san has said before, too, that he and his staff don't interfere with the evidence. If there is something missing, either... we just overlooked it, or... it was never there to start with.

[parodeity]

Unless there's some way to prove she was Ghost'd, there is literally no other explanation for this shit. And even if she were taken by the Ghost, why would she bother to kill Jason? Why not just kill one of her roommates, you know?

[godly]

[He runs a hand through his hair, brow furrowing.]

These questions fall into the category of "motive", which unfortunately, will be the most difficult facet to deduce. There's too much potential for incentives, and we don't truly know the personality of everyone here.

[There's always the idea of someone sewing chaos just for the sake of playing the game. He has no doubt someone with that kind of mentality would want to use their abilities early.

But it is still a stretch, and one of the reasons why he didn't adhere to the idea in the first place.]

But I agree with you. The other option was the Ghost, but there's doubt whether or not they would have known where she kept her weapon, or if they would have been able to see it at all. Also, the same reasons that you just spoke of could be applied to that role as well.

Why not just take out a roommate, if you're going to possess someone? Especially if you know you have a time limit.

[thawedheart]

...exactly. That's why I have trouble with the idea that the Ghost possessed her, too.

If Jason-san was always the one they wanted dead, it would have been easier for them to possess one of his roommates, knowing there was a time limit. And if Hana-san was the one they wanted framed, it would have similarly been more easy to force her to kill one of her roommates.

Having her go out of her way to kill someone from another room... makes no sense, when it's someone other than her pulling the strings.

[godly]

[He gives a little "hm" noise, still frowning.]

Yes. I completely agree.

Needless to say, this doesn't look very good for Hana. Even when you try to reach for another conclusion, they don't make as much sense in context.

But I hate having to make a decision in such a limited time. What if we're wrong, Yukina-chan?

[Moreover, he hates being wrong.]

[thawedheart]

...if we're wrong, then...

[She looks down at her hands. If they're wrong, and they vote for her...]

...then the weight of Hana-san's life will be our burden to bear.