( 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

[curedham]

...I do think there is a method to this madness, as they say. I shall be voting for Craftly as well.

[hey guess what guys i'm finally home, an hour before the trial ends, it's time for l'arachel to do the thing she does best that isn't scream at strippers: ramble about DARKNESS]

Make no mistake, I do not for a moment think this will be the end of it. The dark forces at work here are too powerful for Craftly to be their sole source. But there is no way to see what will come of this without making this choice [literally her reasoning here is "yolo"] while Mira's fate has been sealed.

[y'all so bloodthirsty]

And I shall be frank: the way she speaks of the executioner's list she has chosen herself instills naught but trepidation in me. [She pauses, glancing towards Mabel, then Emily, then Dipper.] I have no desire to see the duty forced upon those unprepared to bear it.

[rextenebrae]

L-L'arachel--

[ ... ]

Are you sure?

[curedham]

[HUFF HUFF HARUMPH]

Have I ever made a decision worth doubting, Knoll? If it is useless, it is useless, and I do not entirely expect that it will be in vain—all but in preventing her choices from coming to fruition.

[rextenebrae]

[ um you have made plenty!!! ]

If that is what you wish to do, then I suppose I can't stop you.

[potentite]

They'll still have to kill Craftly.

[curedham]

...

Do not think that I trust her, but to my understanding, she speaks as though her list of executioners applies only for her own execution. And if this is false—if it comes down to being responsible for a fellow human's beating heart or the demon in the shape of a man before us, I know well which act will weigh lighter.

[potentite]

I'm not fond of him but Craftly isn't in charge. He's just another puppet for his masters, just like Mira, who willingly joined this game with the intention to murder. I don't see a lighter burden here, nor do I see any benefit.

[curedham]

I understand this. In all honesty, I fully expect another puppet to take his place. But he leads a wretched existence, not even a full life—if there was ever a man in that shell, he is long lost. These are battles I have fought before, a hundredfold.

That woman will not leave this room. [She glances about at their fellow trial-goers.] Of that, I am certain. [YOU ARE ALL SO BLOODTHIRSTY] I find this factor inconsequential.

[potentite]

I do understand your reasoning. And... it's true Mira will die no matter what. Maybe the vote comes down to personal preference this week. I don't know.

[thawedheart]

...I'm not sure I can make you change your mind... but please, I beg of you to reconsider.

[Yukina has a really bad feeling about this plan. Mostly it's because it originated from Mira - she was the first person to kill, the person to get them started down this path. The person responsible for their executing Hana.]

The only thing her plan allows us to do is have someone she didn't choose kill her, if we're even able to do so at all. It doesn't guarantee an end to this madness. It doesn't even guarantee that the people she picked won't still be the suggestions for Craftly-san's executioner.

Would you really vote for someone that you know was not the killer, just because someone who has already tricked us into executing someone innocent told you to?

[curedham]

I understand that this act will not guarantee an end to this. In all honesty, I do not expect that it will. I have brought an end to demons that would make the present powers seem like trifles comparatively, and so I know these ways well.

I am willing to see this plan brought to fruition simply to keep the children from having to end the life of a fellow human. If her list does not solely apply to her own execution, if the executioners chosen are forced to bring a life to its end, I would rather it be the putrid half-existence of some devil than a fellow human being.

Truly, do you expect Mira to be permitted to leave this room alive? [She waves a hand, surprisingly dismissive.] I have made my choice. If anything, I beg of you to reconsider your own.

[thawedheart]

...so you think that Craftly-san's life is a more acceptable sacrifice than Mira-san's, simply because she is human. The actions she has taken are more demonic than anything he's done - and yet, you would sooner see his life taken than hers...?

[Yukina's hands are trembling.]

There are some truly awful human beings in the world. Not everything is as simple as "human" against "demon," or "good" against "evil". I hope you're able to learn that before you come to regret it, Princess.

[And speaking of, Yukina's leaving this conversation before she says anything else she might regret. She's pretty sure she's already said too much.]

[curedham]

[UM YUKINA IS NOT GETTING THE LAST WORD, L'ARACHEL IS TOO PETTY, HERE SHE COMES]

I will not have you speak to me as though I am some child, capable of dealing solely in absolutes. Do you think I cannot recognize a human wretch when they stand before me? Do you think this is the first time I have met a human who has sacrificed their soul to the darkness?

I would see them both felled, if I had my way—a demon held upright by the very forces trapping us here, and a human who has offered them her very being and taken the lives of innocents to do so. I have helped lead the charge against the Demon King and his scourges, and I have brought his vile servants, monsters and humans alike, to the ground. I have slain soldiers and bandits. I know well that there are awful beings in this world.

Just as well, our army brought on someone as much monster as she was girl, and she lived to banish that same darkness. I have seen a man offer all he had to the darkness in an attempt to bring the world light. I have fought against an army where a general who wished for nothing but to see her country and continent restored and was willing to offer everything for it fought alongside a man who enacted suffering for its very sake.

[She stands up straight, placing her hands on her hips.]

You will not speak to me of regrets. You will not speak to me of good and evil. I am L'Arachel, legendary demon-slayer, Rausten's divine light, and defender of her very world! This light is what I have sworn my life to! Here is the decision I have made: if a child is forced to take a life, I would rather it be one that is not a life at all, a cursed existence belonging to a wretched marionette, than that of a human who knows exactly the burden they are forcing upon their hearts.

If you cannot see that, if you will not accept it, perhaps the light and darkness in your own heart is worth reexamining, Yukina.

[thawedheart]

[OH BOY

Yukina is, at least, polite enough to keep from interrupting her - though her expression becomes more and more disturbed the longer L'Arachel talks. By the time she's finished, the trembling in her hands has become full-blown shaking, and she laces her fingers together - ignoring the pain of the burns on her palm - to try and stop it.]

If you don't wish to be treated as a child dealing in absolutes, then perhaps you should not act like one.

[She raises her gaze to meet L'Arachel's eyes, then shakes her head.]

I know where the light and darkness in my own heart stands. And I know that you believe your intentions are good. But I think perhaps you have been blinded by the light you defend so fiercely.

I speak to you of regrets because I am certain that if you continue on the path you have chosen, you will have them. You've said that you have fought alongside others who have been born monsters, who embraced the darkness for the sake of defeating it - why, then, are you so quick to condemn Craftly-san before you've truly gotten to know him, on the say-so of a murderer?

...I don't want an answer from you. Just... think about it.

[She turns to go again. L'Arachel is welcome to continue the dialogue, if she wants to get the last word - but Yukina will not respond.]

[bownthisway]

[nodding!]

I agree. We don't know what'll happen if we execute Craftly - I don't think it'll free us either, and maybe it'll even make things worse. But we know exactly what's going to happen if we execute Mira - nothing will change. It's a massive risk, but it's not exactly like we're all going to live happily ever after if we stay our hands either.

[basically aloy too is firmly on the yolo train]

[curedham]

[AH YES SHE LIKES ALOY yolo the shit out of this, thank you]

We may allow our own bold light to guide us through the unknown, then. Let us keep confidence in our own strength and we can make this choice without fear of the risk necessary.

[blacktailed]

Okay, but what use is it going to be if killing him means we all die? Sometimes it's better to work with a demon you know rather than the unknown.

[she's so close to pulling a Chie, though.]

[curedham]

Do you truly think that outcome so likely? I have conquered demons whose powers would make the ones at work here seem like...at the risk of seeming crass, child's play. I will far sooner face the unknown.

[blacktailed]

I know how demons work as well - better and more intimately than you ever could. Do you think the years I have lived are a lie?

[so much for keeping that hardcore under wraps. but she's stressed, and scared, and she'd rather show her fangs than shrink away. she barely keeps the words I am one from slipping out.]

And I know that this would only make them laugh, and make our deaths that much more painful if any of this could be perceived as a slight. Walk into the unknown, but don't be surprised if you come back missing part of yourself if you come back at all.

[curedham]

[L'Arachel tilts her head just so, perhaps catching an implication without being willing to insist on it—but there's a look of fierce certainty on her face.]

You underestimate my experience and skills. [A slight, condescending sort of harrumph as she lifts her chin.] I shall not walk into the unknown. I shall march there once more, boldly as ever. This will not be the first time I have done so, nor the last. All this time, my own light has been enough to keep me whole, and I have no doubt this will persist as well.

[blacktailed]

This is bigger than whatever you've dealt with. And here, we have nothing to combat it save our wits.

[no claws, no wings. no magic that hums beneath her borrowed skin and is fed with blood.]

If you've fought off demons while being nothing but human, then my sincere apologies, but it's not something a pure human is capable of. The risk is too high.

[curedham]

I see. Then you truly do not understand.

[She turns her face away, just so.]

Your apology is acknowledged and met with appreciation, but not acceptance. Humans have the very light necessary to see these beings brought to their ends. It is told in the stories of the Demon King's birth, and I have not only witnessed it but brought it to fruition with my own hands come his revival and second, eternal vanquishing.

In this world, I've no proof to offer of the power this took and the strength of the forces slain by my hands and my army's. I can only offer assurance of my utmost certainty in my skill, and in my understanding of the darkness. I know well what I have seen and what I have done.