( MINGLE - WEEK 3 )

[abhoth]

SURVIVORS: 36 The sun is shining, the air conditioner units hum as they always do, and a gentle morning breeze blows against the windows. The scent of pine cones and evergreen follow you wherever you go in the motel, save for the parking lot and outdoor pool. It seems like someone was very generous with the detergent while moping the floors. The two grandfather clocks (one on each floor) will ring with each passing hour, indicating the time of day without fail. With this knowledge — they'll note the motel will continue to be surrounded by fog until 8:00 AM on the dot. It is at that hour that the fog will begin to recede. Not enough to reveal the whole city, but enough to allow residents to explore some of the buildings surrounding the motel. And speaking of the motel, it doesn't seem like there's anything out of the ordinary on this lovely Monday morning. How quaint. As a reminder, we are now accepting murder proposals for Week 3! If you're interested in having your character commit a murder this week, be sure to send in your proposal before Tuesday, 9:00 PM EST. Without any murders we can't have a murdergame, so go forth and let the bodies hit the floor! As always, feel free to PM us or send us a PP over plurk if you have any questions! ( quick navigation ) ic rulebook | locations | statuses | room assignments private conversations | ic profiles | graveyard | full navigation

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FRONT DESK

[abhoth]

[Come Monday morning, anyone who happens to stop by the front desk will notice something on the bulletin board has... changed. And not for the better.

Hibiki Kohaku and Omega's 2x2 photographs now depict them with injuries across their throats, identical to the ones found on their corpses — as well as several bruises in Hibiki's case. Vincent Machen's photo now features him with a gouged out eye, a bloody nose and missing tooth, and injuries across what little is visible of his body. Last but not least, Kamui's photograph is now nearly unrecognizable. He is less of a man and more of a bloodied, grotesque pulp. How nice.

And speaking of things that are nice, a candy bowl has been set down on top of the front desk. Take a look inside to find three incisors caked in dried blood.]

NIGHT TERRORS

[abhoth]

[ Promptly at 7AM on Monday morning, each resident will awaken as if their consciousness was not under their own control. No matter how well you slept or how snug you are in your bed, your eyes snap awake and your body feels full of energy. If you and your roommate glance to the front door of your room, you'll find a silver platter. Upon further inspection, there seems to be a folded envelope.

The contents read: ]

Dear residents,

Another week has begun and because of that, I must inform you of another challenge. This week, your loyalties and alliances will be tested. All it takes is one thought of paranoia to bring doubt. You will face the challenge of trusting others, even if it is a rather odd thing to do in a game of murder, after all. If you're able to ignore the eyes always watching you... perhaps you're not entirely hopeless.

Wash up. Breakfast will be served shortly.

[ And like clockwork, characters will begin to gradually feel more paranoid. Be if a constant fear of others plotting against them or truly feeling as if there are always eyes watching them... characters are forced to deal with heightened paranoia. As the week goes on, their paranoia twists to violent outbursts and defensive snark. They will only stop after someone has been murdered on Friday. ]

CRAFTLY

[abhoth]

[As with last week, Craftly can be found manning the Lobby's front desk.]

NEWSPAPER STAND

[abhoth]

[This week, the newspaper stand reports:]

MISSING ITEMS:
- Motel: Assorted cleaning supplies, mops and brooms.
- Grocery Store: Two meat cleavers.
- Emergency Clinic: Hydrogen peroxide, all the scalpels have been taken.

DAMAGED ITEMS:
- Gas Station: Backroom's door has been broken by a set of above average feet. How shameful.

[shoelickingshit]

[ Can the teeth still be picked up. Is that a thing. Tsurugi wants to inspect it closer??? And look at Craftly in a disappointed manner??? ]

Heeey, Craftly-chan. You couldn't have given us real candy?

[ this is so sad! ]

[abhoth]

No.

[THE ONE AND ONLY RESPONSE ANYONE WILL GET OUT OF HIM




in this top level.

But anyway, yeah. The teeth are there and nothing's keeping Tsurugi from running off with them. They're just gross and bloody.]

[thawedheart]

[Ooh, candy! Exciting! The ice cream turned out okay yesterday, so Yukina's just going to peer into the bowl and...

Nope. NOPE. She's just gonna. Back away slowly.

N o p e.]

[thawedheart]

botanical garden - monday morning;
[She met Omega here, once. She recalls that the other girl was carrying a bouquet of rather distinct blossoms - and now she's on the hunt for them again, and a few others. It's easier said than done, so... when she hears footsteps, she squashes down her unease and turns to whoever's approaching.]

Excuse me - do you have a few minutes to spare...?

lounge - monday afternoon;
[Later that afternoon finds her in the lounge, carrying an armful of flowers that look as though they've been freshly picked. She asks the faceless bartender for a tall cup filled with water, and once she has it, she sets to arranging the flowers in what she hopes is an aesthetically pleasing way.

Getting kidnapped doesn't leave much time for practicing the art of flower arrangements, okay?

Once she's finished, she clasps her hands together in front of it and closes her eyes.]

...rest in peace, Omega-san.

pool & outdoor dining area - tuesday morning;
[Yukina is taking the cards describing the night terrors as a challenge.

They want her to be paranoid? They want her not to trust people? It would be so easy to just lock herself away in her room until these strange feelings ended, but... that would just be giving in. She wants to believe in people, so she's making sure to spend as much time in public as she can.

Today, she's at one of the tables, with a deck of cards and a few books spread out in front of her. She has a fourth cracked open, and her expression is more than a little perplexed.]

Is this really meant to be read to a child...?

wildcard;
[If you want something different, hit me up over at hungriest or pm me and I'll be glad to write a tailored starter! Either that, or just plop something in here if you have an idea. I'd like to stick to just Monday and Tuesday morning for now though because I haven't quite settled on what direction I want to take the night terror effects once they get more intense.]

monday morning, closed

[g101]

[ sunday comes and passes, and hajime watches someone get crushed to death by spikes. okay. okay. that was something she was complicit in by not doing anything. okay. sure. she can agree with that - silence is sometimes the best enabler. to that end, actions speak louder than words, so monday morning --

hajime ichinose approaches a building. it's burned, but it looms overhead like a challenge. it's burned, but it's still standing. surely, without a doubt... there's something in there. a building still holding together despite it's wounds still has a story to tell, and hajime would wager that there might something to be learned even from it's remains. still, as it stands, this is where she has to be. as a hero, you have to be ready to move. heroes overthink and decide they need to do something about this situation, so they end up in dodgy places in the middle of town.

she's got a team with her, so hajime addresses them both easily. the picture before them is ominous but her tone is relaxed, it's easy and clear. this is what she's got to do. ]

My twooooooo birdies! Are we ready? We had the same idea, so I guess we can't get anymore ready than this, right, right?

botanical garden, monday;

[rextenebrae]

[ It isn't too strange for him to end up heading here, sometime in the morning. After what happened, that is, he had his reasons... and even though he spots someone else he gives a small nod. ]

Do you need help with something...?

[disinterested]

MONDAY - hunting lodge

[Looks like Girge's begun dismantling one of the unloaded firearms—primarily to examine it. Seated in the grand room, he looks over the gun with the caution of someone not entirely used to one quite like this, as he mutters:]

"Magic" really doesn't seem to exist here, huh...?

TUESDAY - botanical garden

[Somewhere amidst the (non-poisonous) plants, away from any discernible paths, the fountain, or landmarks, one can find Girge lying on the ground, eyes closed. Maybe he's dead???? Or maybe he's sleeping. (Or maybe neither.)

Also, try not to trip over him.]

WEDNESDAY - grocery store

[If you're walking around here, minding your own business—well, you might regret that decision, as from a distance behind you comes a voice:]

Catch.

[... is the only warning before Girge promptly throws a (rotten) fruit in your direction. You probably don't want to actually catch it??]

WILDCARD:

[If there's anything else you want to do, hit me up at snowesque/pm me/etc.!]

DPS comin through

[lohengrins]

Ready when you are.

[ he draws near hajime, taking a small step forward to position himself in front of her. these two don't seem like the sort who'd allow themselves to be protected, but still--... ]

Stand behind me, should anything ambush us.

[ haha yeah. why would that ever happen! anyhow, his shoulders are squared as his eyes rove over the burned building. he stands tall to match it.

not the best of feelings, but some things are simply necessary. ]

[blacktailed]

[people have gone exploring, and came back missing limbs. that would be enough to frighten off some people, but not this team. rather, it's like they owe it to the rest to go and do this - they're smart people, right? they can handle this.

Quer actually doesn't mind Percival stepping in front of them, and falls in line. it's good to have a shield in case anything happens.]

Let's start breaking down that door.

[abhoth]

[ The trio of unlikely party members won't find anything abnormal. The tall walls were a mix of burnt wood and scorched steel framing. Concrete blocks lift the building off the ground and bits of broken multi-colored glass fall in front of the tall windows space that now boarded by plywood.

The group will find the front of the building is easy: steps leading up to two large wood double doors. Only 1 thin wood beam remains barricading the door. The hinges look rusted and worn too...

However, there's also a less savory way inside - one of the old basement door on the side of the building. The wind rattles its chains, but it seems there is no lock...

What will you do, guys? ]

[g101]

[ sometimes the roads less savory are the safest. it looks removed, which means it's probably less likely to have something waiting to kill them in it? probably.

hajime's gonna go for the basement door. ]

[lohengrins]

[ he'll follow suit -- follow isn't quite the word, considering he's ensuring that he's at least two steps ahead of her. ]

If anything is there, it's likely to expect us from the front.

Stand back.

[ he takes a few steps backwards, and then charges at the door, battering it 3/4ths the way open -- suddenly, he stops himself. ]

Let's see if something's present.

[blacktailed]

You need light for that.

[darting around him, she takes hold of the door and pushes it open the rest of the way, letting the twilight in to a degree. why so nervous? it's not like they need to be instantly cautious - they can always run if something bursts out.

one small step inside, and then another. if nothing jumps out, she's walking in further.]

[abhoth]

[ It seems the less savory road didn't have an impending death just yet. Quer is able to shimmy inside due to her frame size, Percival — since he's in front of Hajime — would need to break through further. Flex those DPS muscles.

Luckily, Quer isn't quite attacked just yet.

She can see through the twilit burst of the mostly open door no basement...

But a room filled with bright old posters of ABCs & 123s, childish murals on the wall of little octopuses holding hands, and a lot of bones on the ground. The room was scorched, though. Half the fingerpainting drawings burned to a crisp and old wood toys now a pile of ash with distorted googly eyes. The bones all tiny, grouped in a circle on a rainbow rug with one larger skeleton in the middle, half lumped forward in its chair.

What y'all gonna do? ]

[g101]

...That's kinda hella sad.

[ hajime's small enough that getting past her is easy enough, and she makes sure to linger behind. the bones are... upsetting, for sure, but she's not willing to disturb them. the posters, however - maybe she can get an idea of how many students were here or anything of note? ]

[lohengrins]

[ he finds that the bones are more disconcerting, so he'll be approaching them. he does, however, note the posters as he makes his trek.

percival's eyes rove over the drawings, and then the toys. he crouches down, fingers grazing across one of the charred paintings. is anything in particular on them? ]

Whatever this place was, it once housed children. It doesn't appear to be a residence, however.

Monday Morning

[vitamin_a]

There's not really much to do in this town. What do you need?

[Yeah, he has lots of free time]

[blacktailed]

[it's the bones that she approaches, stepping carefully so as not to disturb them. hopping over some of the smaller ones, she ends up in the center of the circle, next to the larger one, and she crouches down to examine it for any sign beyond the burning.

the bones are so small. they didn't have a chance.]

A school, maybe?

[what were they even doing in here?]

Hunting Lodge

[vitamin_a]

I don't know, there are a few things like the teletransportation and other stuff that seems magic to me.

[But that's because he knows nothing of magic]

Did you use to have magic powers?

[abhoth]

[ From the mural: Hajime can see around 20 children in a cartoonish fashion standing on bright green hills with the sun glaring down. They're holding onto a definite tentacled beast, cheerfully showing harmony.

For Percival: If he looks over the paintings, they all look like red fingerpaint!!!!! How cute! They're making little suns.

Here's to hoping Quer doesn't lift a skull and recites Shakespeare. There's no impact in the bones or anything. If Quer definitely touches any of them, she'll feel tears beginning to swell in her eyes, trickling down her cheeks for a solid 5 minutes. Her heart feels tight and she hears the faint sobbing of children for the next few minutes! No one else can hear it.

Also, there's a door in the shadows that is open, leading to a flight of stairs going upwards... ]

[g101]

[ well. ]

...There were 20 kids here. I guess Quecchi's right, it was a school. So that's--

[ corpses of children. a mass grave for school children. why, though? that's something they'll have to discuss. she's not preoccupied with the bones like perci and quer are, so hajime drifts toward the open door. she really only finds it when she starts looking for it, though, by gliding her hands along the walls. ]

There's stairs going up! Should we go?