( 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

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BODIES

[abhoth]

[As the trial officially begins at 12:00 PM, the double doors leading to the kitchen will be opened wide to allow all both corpses to be wheeled in on separate gurneys. A faceless man carrying a bowl full of entrails follows after the gurneys, nearly setting the bowl down at the dinner tables before getting pulled in the right direction by one of the other staff members. Craftly will stand next to the toy dispenser machine, clearing his throat before solemnly uttering:]

A moment of silence, children.

[And then he begins to play the fucking kazoo.

This horrible musical experience will last as long as it takes for the staff members to wheel the corpse to the sectioned off area. Once that's done, however, Craftly will retreat to his own table and residents will be free to inspect the body as much as they want.

Please use this toplevel for reexamining the bodies.]

EVIDENCE

[abhoth]

[All evidence found during the investigation will be displayed on two tables in the back of the Dining Hall. Residents are encouraged to examine evidence or combine it in any way they wish. For today's trial, the evidence table contains the following items:

SECOND FLOOR OUTDOOR HALLWAYS: Room 116's doorknob, ripped right off the door.
LOUNGE: Bucket, pair of one-size fits all plastic gloves.
GROCERY STORE: Strand of red hair (Percival might have gotten mugged, sorry)
FIRST FLOOR INDOOR HALLWAY: Knife

... In addition to all the evidence found by the residents, however, a handwritten note has been left on the evidence table.

Please use this top level for reexamining evidence.]

CRAFTLY

[abhoth]

[Craftly will be overseeing the trial from his own table.]

ANNOUNCEMENT

[abhoth]

[As everyone settles into the Dining Hall, ready to begin today's trial, Craftly stands up from his usual seat and taps a spoon against his wine glass. He repeats this several times until gaining everyone's attention.]

Before we begin, children, I have been tasked with delivering correspondence to you on this fine afternoon. As the Innsmouth Motel and its staff prides itself on providing excellent services to all our residents, I have agreed to comply with this request.

[One of the faceless men hands Craftly a sheet of paper. Taking a pair of tiny reading glasses out of his sleeve and holding them up to his face, he begins to read the letter:]

Hello, everyone. Are you enjoying your stay at Yuggoth? It’s been three weeks now, and I think it’s time for a real test of your will.

This message has been given to Craftly on Thursday evening. I have committed a crime, and I freely confess. Where does this leave you? You must now seek me out and condemn me. Yet you are afraid to vote incorrectly, fearful of the guilt on your conscious that may arise. I will give you a chance: accuse me in front of the crowd, and provide evidence of your claim. If I am satisfied with your reasoning, I will confess. If you fail, I will remain silent and you will lack the assurance that you voted correctly.

I want to see what you have learned in your weeks here. I am a facilitator, one of many who keeps this ritual continuing. If you fail to find me, I will only kill again. It is inevitable. I need no motive when I have already been guaranteed payment. In fact, I have already collected six of you for my pleasure.

Last time we engaged, the odds were against you. This time I chose to level the playing field. Three people are going to die. You must decide if you want justice or vengeance. Justice would be to find me and eliminate me as a group. If you find who I am, I will tell you how to exact vengeance instead. What decision will you make? I look forward to the trial.

- The Ghost

[And then he slips the letter into — somewhere. It just kind of disappears.]

The Ghost has been kind enough to provide an abridged version of their rulebook for your convenience, which you will find at the evidence tables. That would be all.

[lohengrins]

[ if you're attempting to look at rachel, you're going to have to deal with percival first because the man is making a beeline for that body. first thing's first, he's going to take off her veil and check to see if she's hiding anything in her clothing. ]

[rextenebrae]

[ He's going to be taking a quick look at Marty. Just to make sure of something--how are his hands looking? Nothing unusual up with that? ]

[crushcard]

[ Guess who's joining you!

After Percival makes a beeline for the body he's going to kind of hover behind before he's going to be checking the body for how the blood loss might have occurred and whether it was fatal. ]

[abhoth]

[There is, in fact, something hidden in Rachel's clothing. A folded up piece of paper, coated in dried blood in certain spots.]

[lohengrins]

[ he's going for that paper asap. ]

[abhoth]

[Well.

It's more likely Rachel died from getting stabbed in the gut several times, as opposed to exsanguination. Getting your intestines turned into minced meat tends to do that.]

[abhoth]

[There is blood on the fingers of one of Marty's hands.]

[18x0]

...How arrogant.

[18x0]

Hello, Craftly. I would like to know the roles of the deceased, please.

[ungodly]

What a little shit, acting like this is fair. We still have to figure out two of the ghost's rules and we have no direction towards that now.

[ STOMPING AROUND A LITTLE ]

What's he mean by 'collecting six of us', anyway? Is he talking about the victims..?

[crushcard]

[ That helps, thank you meta text.

Were the stab wounds made with a knife, like the one on the evidence table, or any other weapon? ]

[abhoth]

[With some care, Percival will manage to unfold the note without tearing it up too much. The parts coated in blood will stick together, for obvious reasons, but he will still be able to make out part of the text:]

My dears,

If you are reading this, it would mean that I am dead. To assist in the trial and investigation, I have written down some things in advance.

When I am close to dying, the restless gods will [Bloodstains cover a large string of text here, unfortunately.] fight, but only once.

I am unable to use my weapon properly, so I have not touched it.

I fear that I may be killed quickly, but in the contrary case, I will endeavor to leave other messages in assistance.

Copies of my personal notes are with Andersen. He will have a match for my handwriting with him.

[There is a large chunk of text that has been completely obliterated by the blood and paper sticking together.]

May you best the corruption that lurks within this world.

[perceptions]

[Mira just makes a loud and pronounced groan.

She did not nearly die for this shit.]

[abhoth]

[A knife like the one on the evidence table could be a possible match, yes. Does Kaiba want to stab the corpse some more to confirm it?]

[rextenebrae]

[ If he should check, would there be anything in his pockets? ]

[abhoth]

Of course, Akane.

Rachel was The Athlete. Marty was The Bootlegger.

[thawedheart]

"Collected"...?

[It can't mean that the Ghost killed six people, can it? They know whoever it was killed Jason while controlling Hana - but Omega killed herself, and Kamui killed Vincent. Even assuming the Ghost killed Hibiki and both Rachel and Marty, it wouldn't add up, would it...?]

Does that mean the Ghost has possessed six of us already...?

[nowyouseeit]

[GOD DAMN, SON. THAT'S A GAUNTLET]

. . . tch.

[crushcard]

[ ... Yeah, why the hell not. He'll make one stab just above one of the existing wounds to confirm if it matches. ]

[gamerscore]

...So this is like some mini-game within a game?

[ She makes an annoyed huff. ]

At least it's not some underwater soccer match like in —

[lohengrins]

[ he puts the paper down, sighing. ]

Tch. We'll have to speak with Andersen later.

[ he doesn't want to do this, but he's going to inspect her body further. he'll roll up her sleeves and bottoms, not quite taking them off but looking to see if there's anything else in sight. ]