week six: trial

[cyclists]

Week Six: Trial
14 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, Julius and Cinnabar'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. They hesitate, looking back at Lune for a moment before they square their shoulders and face the participants again.

"Lune's going to be here to supervise, but I'll be the one taking care of things today. I know things have been kinda tough, but…trust your instincts and ask for whatever you need. I'll do my best."

✩★✩

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the sixth trial!

Things will proceed as normal, but for this trial and the next all NPC interactions will be via Sol while Dana is out of town! This means questions and locations will be handled by them.

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

AIR ZONE, LATER:

[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:]

Good luck. [Because immediately they'll find trails of blood and three sets of footsteps on the ground, running into the forest area of the air zone.]

[televised]

[why is sol sassier than usual.

Anyway, she takes note of the general size and shape of the footsteps on the ground before moving along. Time to follow the murder brick road.]

I can't believe we have to check this place twice.

[foodbin]

Looks like it was popular.

[She hates it, thanks!

But she's also going to look at that blood trail. How large is it, and does it look more concentrated or spread out?]

[omegathree]

[He kneels down and takes a trace of the three footsteps with some paper he's been keeping in his jacket.

Do the footsteps look like they were running or walking?]

Perhaps they wanted to keep it contained after last week.

[The Minato body hunt.]

[cyclists]

[The footprints are harder to tell, given that it looks like they're going in a few different places but maybe later North and Val can get a foot comparison. They look to be running around. The blood trail doesn't seem too large, like someone was bleeding and on the move.

As they head further into the forest, uh, they'll find there's a tree that's gently burning and scorched, partially split as though it was hit with something. Other trees look almost...fossilized? Like encased in a rocky-ish texture. There's a lot going on here, the place is a mess. There's also a nearby tree that looks impaled, but not in the same way that the burning tree is.

There's also a powder-y substance spread on the ground. And some water? What the fuck happened here.]

[televised]

[Uh.

This sure is A Lot.]

... Not contained enough, apparently.

[WELL. She'll give the area a cursory glance, before focusing on the tree that looks like it was impaled. How different is it from the other one?]

[foodbin]

Yikes. What the hell happened here...?

[She's bending down to inspect that powder carefully, whatever it might be.]

[omegathree]

[He's going to look at the burning tree. What does it smell like? Ozone? Or just normal burning tree things?]

It looks like a messy fight.

[cyclists]

[The tree looks as though it was impaled by a blade of some kind? Like something cut it and has since been removed. As Val looks at the burning tree and does nothing to put it out, he'll notice that it smells somewhat electrical and ozone-ish.

Emma inspecting the powder will reveal that it's grainy and dark. It's mixed with something else, a foliage of some kind, maybe but it's hard to tell given it looks like something exploded on contact. Other areas around them are hit with scorch marks and water drips from other branches.

Further away, however, there's another larger puddle of blood. The footprints behind them appear to be leading from another direction, and from the puddle, drips of blood begin forming a path elsewhere.]

[televised]

[Is it possible to get an approximate idea of how big the blade was? Like... How wide is the mark, and how deep does it go? Also: If she glances around the surroundings of the tree, including the ground, would she find anything?]

No kidding... What did you guys find?

[What direction do the other footprints go, tho.]

[foodbin]

There's some kind of... plant, I think? It's mixed in with something kind of grainy and dark.

[If she reaches down to carefully grab whatever that foliage is and inspect it, will she be able to tell what it is?]

[omegathree]

The burning tree was hit by lightning. That was Julius's element, if he never changed it.

[He'll go look at the fossilized trees and try touching them. Do they just feel like rock? What's up?]

[cyclists]

[It's not that wide and deep, just about the width of a throwing knife and impaled enough to stick but not break the tree trunk. There's a lot of the powder-y foliage-y stuff around, plus the blood but otherwise nah. There's scorch marks and water as mentioned. The footprints seem to come from the houses and into the air area, and the blood, if North looks, leads out toward the fire region...?

Emma will be able to see that it was green and leafy...how much of it is she grabbing though, and how is she grabbing it?

And Val's right, it's just what happens when something's fossilized by lightning.]

[televised]

[WELL, THEN. Is there anything off about the water if she swipes her fingers over it and smells it? Also, is there anything they missed if she glances around the area again?]

Julius must have fought with his killer here. [A beat.] ... Or killers. It looked like there were three sets of footprints when we came in, right?

[foodbin]

[This question terrifies me, but she’s grabbing a decent sized piece, since she’s aiming for something large enough that she’ll be able to tell what it is. She’s grabbing it with her fingers.]

I think so, yeah. Val, you sketched them so we can compare later, right?

[omegathree]

Yes. We can compare them once we're with the group.

What've you found?

[cyclists]

[It's just water, but it may be a little chilly! Otherwise no, that should be it! Footprints heading to the village, blood heading to the fire region, scorch marks and water and blood on the ground, and powder and plant mixed together.

I'm really glad Emma is like this because as she picks up the plant, she'll find that if she holds it long enough a rash begins to spread on her fingers. Congrats on your poison ivy.]

[televised]

[CHILLY WATER...

She wipes her hand dry on the leg of her pants, frowning.]

Looks like one of the trees got stabbed, but I don't see any kind of blade around it. There's a trail of blood leading to the fire area, too... and footsteps heading to the village.

[So. That's something to consider later.]

[foodbin]

[As soon as she gets a closer look, she's dropping it almost immediately because she recognizes it easily, but I'm making the executive decision that it's long enough to give her a rash because that's funnier.

She makes a distressed noise as she looks at her hand, sighing immediately.]

Jesus - really?! It's poison ivy, and... gunpowder, I think.

[Why.]

[omegathree]

Gunpowder...? There was some in the gateway this week.