week five: trial

[cyclists]

Week Five: Trial
18 in Competition

It may be difficult to sleep with the light shining so brightly throughout the night, but the participants can rest easy knowing they will not be plagued by unwanted, disturbing dreams. Early the next day, a bell chimes and all will feel compelled to enter the main meeting hall.

The hall looks mostly the same as it always has, the two thrones for Lune and Sol at the head of the room and scrolls hanging from the walls. The metal box sits on a table near the front, along with the glass boxes perfectly centered before the benches in the room. Now that the trial is in session, Shirasu, Lili, Miki and Minato's coffins are open, and their bodies will be available for examination.

Lune and Sol are seated in their thrones, patiently waiting for the last participant to settle. It's only when everyone has gathered that Sol speaks first.

"Nine hours. Don't forget."

They stop, glancing at Lune and gesturing for them to say their piece.

"Face the truth directly, and don't turn away from what you may find."

✩★✩

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the fifth trial!

We'll go over a few notes briefly as we will be playing this trial a bit differently than other games.

As noted, there was no investigation period on Friday. However, today participants will have the chance to investigate areas in the game setting as they see fit! This can be done by providing the name of the location you want to visit to the host header comment. To help with the ease of the trial and for IC mechanics, only one location may be visited at a time. In addition, these locations can be manipulated and adjusted upon request to test theories and solve puzzles, so please feel free to ask if you're searching for clues! Your host will also be accompanying you on these visits.

Most importantly, before the trial is over, please place your character's vote over on the voting page. Voting will close at 9pm EST/6pm PST, and will serve as our activity check for the week, so please be sure you get your vote in before it ends unless you have contacted us previously.

If you have any questions at any time, please let do us know by pinging us on Discord! Dana and Ty will be in the chat and available for all questions. Thank you, and have fun!

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Comments

SHRINE

[cyclists]

[Sol turns and heads out of the meeting hall toward the gateway opening, the sun still high in the sky. Though as they enter the edge of it, they will raise a hand from their robe, two fingers extended. The tips of them glow with a dark fire, and Sol will move their hands in a counter-clockwise circle. It's a bit clumsier than Lune's movements in weeks prior, but it seems to have the desired effect.

As they do this, the area in front of them will seem to rewind. They'll watch the color of the sky change from bright and then return to the darkness that cased over everything on Thursday evening.

A glance back to their exploring party and Sol will incline their head to gesture forward:]

Watch it. [Because on the path leading up to the shrine there's a bunch of broken lanterns. Great.]

Re: SHRINE

[tothemaxwell]

Thank you, Sol.

[Milla outright frowns. Shrine desecration. Literally how dare they.

Nimbly hopping between the shattered lanterns, she moves forward to the Shrine proper. Can she tell how they were broken?]

[foodbin]

[Meanwhile, Emma bends down to inspect one of the broken lanterns - is there anything notable about them besides them being, well, broken?]

[blackcoats]

[ meanwhile, xion's keeping an eye out for anything other than the lanterns that might be on the path. detective modeeeee ]

[cyclists]

[The lanterns look pretty smashed, actually, like they were a casualty in something greater. There's nothing real significant about them, they just happened to be in the way. The river's running behind them alongside the entrance to the shrine and there's also a bunch of broken trees.

Sad :(]

[tothemaxwell]

[why is everything destroyed damn

Milla keeps going to the Shrine, though.]

The trees are destroyed here, too.

[foodbin]

Yeah... Seems like something big must have happened here.

[She goes to inspect those broken trees. Is she able to tell approximately how they might have been broken? Does it look like something crashed into them, were they uprooted somehow, or something else?]

[blackcoats]

Whoever was here must've put up a fight...

[ she's gonna take a quick look to see if there's anything in the river, then she'll follow milla to the shrine. ]

[cyclists]

[Let's start with the easy part. Xion can look at the river, and at the bottom she'll see...something? It's a little hard to see what it is, but it's hidden under the riverbed and some rocks.

Meanwhile, the trees look like the lanterns in that they were crashed into, smashed and slashed and just in the way. How unfortunate...as Milla walks further in the shrine, she'll see that the shrine itself is a mess. The water basin near the front is tipped over, and notably the bell is missing. There's blood on the ground, along with footprints...and also pawprints...?

This may require further investigation.]

[tothemaxwell]

[All this shrine desecration is somehow making her actually kind of mad. It's effective, though—she funnels it into investigating one thing after another—the blood, the footprints, the pawprints—where do they go? Is there any kind of weapon or tool that may have caused the blood?]

Step carefully within the Shrine, you two—there is considerable evidence in here, and we should record it to the best of our abilities.

[foodbin]

[She's taking a quick look to see if there's any blood or items lodged in any of the smashed trees, frowning slightly.

While she's looking - how significant is the damage to the trees? Are any of them broken to the point they've fallen over, or do they just have marks on the bark that looks like something smashed into them? As she looks, she calls over her shoulder.]

What do you see, Milla?

[blackcoats]

[ well. even with uno eye she can see... whatever that is. disrupting her own path toward the shrine, she wades into the water and turns some rocks over... ]

Hold on—I might have found something here...

[cyclists]

[Near one of the trees, much of the bark is stripped off as if it was scratched/pulled off and the bell of the shrine is buried in the rubble. Most of them are broken to the point of falling or being smashed and dented. Poor trees. Among some trees as well, Emma may find some scraps of fabric, as if ripped during combat.

Milla will notice the blood is significantly larger in some areas than others. The footprints are scattered as if the people involved were fighting and running, but amongst them are large paw prints, claw marks, and little tufts of white fur.

As Xion approaches and gets in the river, she can overturn the rocks and everything and find...a boxcutter.

Please be careful.]

[tothemaxwell]

[What in her name happened here goddamn

In what areas is the blood more significant than others? Is there any difference in the blood or blood patterns?

At the lack of a ruler or piece of paper, she measures the footprints as best she can (without touching them) against her own.]

[foodbin]

[How large are the scratches? Is there any way to tell what might have caused them?

Either way, she's taking this fabric with her carefully, though she's checking it for any blood. What color is it, and can she tell anything about the article of clothing it might have come from?]

What'd you find, Xion?

[blackcoats]

Um. A knife.

[ "NO!!!!!!"

but she holds the boxcutter (closed) up as she walks back out of the water, once she ensures nothing else is hiding... she'll give herself a bit to dry off, though. she doesn't want to interrupt the other two's investigations. ]

[cyclists]

[The footprints are the same as the ones Axel had measured, so that's about what they'd measure out! They're the same prints that were found around gay baby jail. There's more blood over by the trees, as if someone probably died there. But otherwise it's like there was a fight for a while before that.

They're pretty large. There's no way to really tell, but they look animalistic. The fabric is black and red, but it's hard to say where it might have come from.

Xion now has a boxcutter. Yikes.]

[tothemaxwell]

[Milla measures out the footprints, and memorizes it for sharing time—then scoops up as much fur, hair, and other evidence as she can feasibly take (but not blood because damn she aint that dumb).

It's about then when Xion shows off the knife—and Milla freezes.]

That is Akane's.

[foodbin]

[She looks at the scratches, and... frowns, thoughtful.

At Milla's words, though—]

Are you sure?

[blackcoats]

... It doesn't seem like it just fell into the water. It was almost like someone hid it there on purpose. We should probably ask her once we get back.

[ assuming she's dry enough to not be dripping everywhere, does it look like there's anything else that needs looking at for either milla or emma's respective areas? ]

[cyclists]

[You're clear friends!]

[tothemaxwell]

I am completely certain. I have seen it many times.

[She's still frowning.]

Let us hurry back.