( TRIAL - WEEK 3 )

[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 second 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, and will be given a pair of latex-free gloves and a hairnet by a staff members 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. ( victims ) 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, 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

[18x0]

The only sensical phrase I can think of with those letters would be "data stick", but that doesn't seem relevant to our situation.

[lohengrins]

You're right. I'll attempt to rearrange the entirety of the message, then.

It's undoubtedly a code -- just as Heather said.

[crushcard]

It could also be related to the message from last week...

[ don't mind him he's kind of thinking out loud. ]

They're all descriptives, except for the mention of ectoparasite, which is a parasite that lives outside its host. An overt reference to the Ghost...

[lohengrins]

Weak hearted and refenced. The Ghost has been enclosed by something new...weak hearted. They've failed someone, somehow.

Hm.

[nowyouseeit]

[ah! he's been quiet up until now, just observing from his spot in the corner, until the talk of ciphers comes up]

If it's a cipher, then maybe the words written on the wall are the key. That would make it a keyword cipher, like Playfair.

[thawedheart]

..."Playfair"?

[She doesn't know what that means, please explain]

[nowyouseeit]

[shifts in his seat, leaning the elbow of his good arm on the table]

The Playfair Cipher. It's one of several keyword ciphers used to encrypt messages. If I had a pen and paper, I could. . .

[trails off, mumbling to himself]

[splinten]

[He shoves a pen and paper at Kaito. he brings them to trials now.]

[nowyouseeit]

[grins and takes it with one hand, spreading the paper on the table and getting to work]

[. . . it's hard to write with one arm in a sling BUT HE IS TRYING. he'll be preoccupied with this for a while, probably]

[crushcard]

The odd capitalisations...?

[nowyouseeit]

Right. If the capital letters are the encrypted message and the words on the walls are the keys needed to solve it, then if we know the proper keyword cipher it should be a cinch to figure out.