( 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

[splinten]

What if she didn't know or have control? We're rollin' Lovecraft here. Horror gettin' into your head and driving you to unspeakable acts is pretty par for the course.

[frizziest]

That's a good point. Do you think the people ― or things ― running this are going for a full motif?

[ a sigh immediately follows. ]

If so, things are going to get much, much worse before they get better...

[splinten]

One two three not it on the miscegenation metaphors. [YUCK] It'd be cool if there's more than aimless speculation to go by.

[Wait. A second. Dirk's eyes narrow.] Are you the dude who broke into Kaitou and Dave's room?

[frizziest]

[ woah buddy what the hell where aRE THESE ACCUSATIONS COMING FROM― ]

―Yes. I wouldn't call it "break in", per se.

[ just gonna. secure his hoodie tighter around his head with the drawstrings. ]

[splinten]

[Calmly]

Cool.

[AND HE'S GOING FOR A PUNCH with a mean left hook, too]

[frizziest]

[ even though Akira probably should have...

he did not see the punch coming. lol get it.

the fist connects with his cheekbone and he's immediately left flinching, head tilting in the direction Dirk's hand had moved. his glasses have the misfortune of falling to the ground, the lens on the left side cracking in the process. in the midst of his face throbbing, he reaches down to calmly pick the pair up, folding them into his hand for security. ]

That was justified. I think.

[splinten]

I think so too. [Or he wouldn't have done it.] Don't do that shit, man. Like... knock and ask, or somethin'.

We don't need any of this extra crap between ourselves.

[Extra crap like punching, Dirk?]

[g101]

[ well that uh. sucks.

hajime's not going to involve herself in the scolding since quer seems to have that on lock but she does wander over with her other sleeve missing. she's torn it off, it looks like, to make a makeshift ice pack with ice from a drink. ]

Okay?

[blacktailed]

[Dirk...]

Are you done? Leave him be.

[she's all for pointless, hilarious fights, but Akira taught her shogi, so she feels like this is a little repayment for it.]

[splinten]

I'm done.

[He's still mad but he's Done.]

[nowyouseeit]

[DUDE]

Do you have a "chill" button, and can I press it? Now isn't the time for this!

[splinten]

Nah, the chill button's on my other control board. This one here just has has buttons for punching and puns.

[Why is he getting so sarcastic and snappy about this]

[potentite]

It could be like The Thing. Wasn't that part of the Lovecraft trilogy?

[splinten]

You actually cared enough to remember the book source. I'm impressed, English. [Dirk is an Asshole? Although there's a way his body shifts that makes it sound somehow affectionate.] Yeah, and it cycled up all the way to In the Mouth of Madness. At that rate, though, we'd have to pick 'burn 'em at the stake' as our execution method. [which is Brutal]

[potentite]

I didn't read the books! I only saw the movies. But of course I remember trivia. [He sounds. Stubbornly proud of it because he's dumb.] Anyhoo, I just thought maybe the Ghost is like the Thing so there might be a way to flush it out.

[splinten]

Of course you do, bro. [Jake's hilarious.]

It's a possibility. It's menu reads... "A rare, highly slimming parasite. It will enter your system and empty you out until you are a shell of your former self. Guaranteed weight loss in ten minutes or less."

And then the possession lasts fifteen minutes. Maybe the menu description suggests there'd be some kind of trace.

[potentite]

Uhmmm... [He thinks really hard on this and comes to an amazing conclusion.] Maybe that means it's like, uh, Dreamcatcher! With the shitweasels. So it's that kind of alien...

[inventurous]

[ violet makes the mistake of overhearing this. she will now forever associate jake with the concept of a "shitweasel". ]

[splinten]

[He loves how his totally ex-boyfriend is an encyclopedia of all of this.] So what, we have to check if someone crapped?

[splinten]

Might as well. Maybe we'll get a clear 'no' on it.

[Instead of a weird ambiguous Maybe]

[splinten]

At least there's that. [He'd prefer it.]

[splinten]

There's gotta be some kind of trace, but shitweasels does not actually seem conducive.