subdivided | week seven: trial

week seven: trial

Week Seven: Trial
9 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, Squall, Kaoru, Grim Eyes and Milla'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 less this week, looking back at Lune for a moment before they square their shoulders and face the participants again.

"It's going to be harder this week than last, especially with so few of you. But I'll be handling things today, so...please ask for whatever you need. I'll do my best."

✩★✩

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the seventh 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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Threaded | Flat

[Sol will be available for general questions today, sitting upright in their chair and patiently waiting.]

[Sol will also be available for evidence and locations today! Ganba, everybody.]

[The bodies of Squall, Kaoru, Grim Eyes and Milla rest in glass coffins, the lids now removed. Please be specific about what your character is doing when they examine the body! "Taking a look," for example, will only yield what can be seen at first glance.]

[For sake of organization, all areas being examined will be provided beneath this toplevel. A mod reply with the location in the header will be supplied to individual groups as the trial proceeds]

[ Anyways, so he's rubbing his nose before putting down a drawing of the body outline with all the wounds and chunks missing noted. ]

Burnt.
Stab wounds might be cause of death.
Shorter thin blade and a longer, wide blade.
Something landed on head??? Bruising under burnt.

Grim Eyes was stabbed with a large-ish blade right in the abdomen. That's pretty much the only wound she's got. She's also missing a patch of fur on her back that's... oddly symmetrical, an' she was clutching this.

[ he takes out the Very Normal Leaf and holds it up for what seems like a weird amount of time.

then it glitches. ]

That's all I got.

Edited 2019-07-27 17:06 (UTC)

[It takes Val a while to speak after he's walked away from the body. He's much quieter than he usually is when he addresses the gathering.]

Milla... Milla's body is burnt. So much there's hardly a body left. Most of the flesh is... gone, along with her hair. I don't... know what killed her.

Her mouth was melted shut, there was something in it. I had to cut it open to see what it was. [He sounds so uncomfortable.] Whatever it was had bones and flesh. It seemed cooked.

[He'll gesture over to Milla's body, with the flesh and bone something or other lying next to it. Look at it yourself, he doesn't want to touch it anymore.]

It's likely she was in a fire area, judging from the state of the body.

[After looking over a teen:]

Kaoru's throat was slit with some kind of blade. It was enough to make him bleed out, I think. He had a few slash marks in his clothing, too, along with burns. He had a few other stab wounds and cuts, but nothing as serious as the injury on his neck. They kind of look like he was attacked from a wider range during a struggle.

His hands and mouth were a little bit burned, but not too badly. He had a small cut on his cheek. The word on his arm was calculative, so... There's that.

[She looks 50% more irritated when she gets back! I wonder what that's about. Anyways:]

Shess and I checked out the forest area in the gateway. It was... pretty trashed. There were gouges and indents in the ground, and a lot of trees were completely knocked over. It looked like something heavy moved through the trees, and there was a spear stuck in one of the trees... It was Grim Eyes'. I think she must have thrown it at a target, but it was pretty high up. I found what looks like a wheel from a toy vehicle, too.

[She holds up both the spear and the wheel for anyone to see.]

It looks like there was something dragged through the ground. Whatever it was, it was heavy and pretty wide. Along with the gouges there, there was blood in the path they made. The blood trail stopped right outside one of the trees, and it looked like someone bled to death inside of it.

I think the only other thing is... There were some prints around the trees, but I couldn't really tell what they were. It looks like the dirt was moved around, so they might have been hidden or obscured.

The city in the gateway's fucking wrecked.

[WELL. That's a starter. Anyway--]

The buildings were on fire when Ookurikara and I got there, and there was debris everywhere. Lots of the storefronts looked like someone crashed through them. If Milla was there, she fought to the death with someone. We found blood, and a big pool of it that looked... burnt. [So, um.] Milla probably died on that spot. We found blade marks around the place, too. Two different blades, I think. But Milla's sword wasn't around. If anyone has a weapon on them, you should give them up now for comparison before we ask for an inventory check.

[She pulls out a piece of paper, unfolding it to reveal footprints on one side.]

We found two sets of footprints. Sol said they could be a match for Milla, which tracks. But he said they could also be a match for Feral, Valvatorez and I. We... didn't find signs of any sort of elemental manipulation beside fire. [...] But it looked like someone arrived alone from the village, and then someone left for the fire region outside of the gateway once it was all over.

So! We've got four killers, three of which are alive. We also had four corrupted, because apparently it was overworking itself this week. Two of them are still alive. As far as powers go, we had two earth manipulations, three fire manipulations, an earth power, and two fire powers. Since for victims we got two fires and two earths still, that's not much to go on. We got an extra fire accounted for, but there's no telling if that's one of our corrupted or not.

[ yay, math. ]

Speaking of... here's where it might get iffy, 'cause I got a fun personal request. Could whoever our third killer is that isn't corrupted do us all a favor and step forward so we can concentrate on actually finding the other two?

[ HE'S TIRED!!! ]

So... There's a chance the two fire powers used were Milla and Kaoru's, but since three people used that element, we should at least test it out. I know Ookurikara is going to need to leave to use his, but if the rest of you could give a demonstration...

[just. looks at val.]

For, um, whoever's willing to be demonstrated on. Unless we want to wait on that one...?

[ well. he's got a letter in his hand ]

When she found herself awake, Milla wrote this letter and proceeded to try and meet her potential killer before they could reach her. She had ingested a luck potion and a used a cursed scroll of great strength that... well, I am afraid it gave her a taste for human flesh.

[ he doesn't have to explain that's what happened to val's pinky, right. ]

That is about all there is to say on that particular murder, I believe. [ he pauses ] Also, I may stop addressing everyone, because this is causing me some distress.

Emma and I found rocks underneath Squall's window, though the window itself was fine. Elsewhere, there was... money lying around? And what I suppose was a broken bank.

There were also scorch marks on the ground.

... The struggle itself, however, seems to have taken place in the boutique. There was blood, everything was in disarray, there was smoke and ashes, etc. Kaoru also seemed to have written a list of instructions for himself for if he was ever attacked.

[ they have returned, and in addition to the wheel, kara has a full toy ferrari in his hands. ]

We found a manor in the direction the indents from earlier went. There were a lot of broken toys there, but this is the one the wheel Emma found came from.

Namine. It's yours, isn't it? The one that could summon Michael.

[ why does kara keep finding the murderer when it's a little girl this sucks ]

Edited 2019-07-27 23:01 (UTC)

[... well. today is an awful day!]

We've confirmed Valvatorez is one of our corrupted killers. Naminé is likely the second one. If the person who killed without the corruption wants to speak up, now is the time. The corrupted are our priority. If we find out about it later and you don't have a fucking good reason to stay quiet about it, we're going to be pissed.

[a beat.

and she sighs.]

We have a little under two hours left. Let's use that time figure out what we're going to do now.

[He's pulling the vuvuzela out and giving the most half-hearted 10 second blow.]

You have an hour left. Your options are myself and Namine.

Namine and I will be voting for each other.

Consult with each other if you wish to tie the vote.

If you wish to kill one of us now, I've volunteered.

In either case, make certain to cast your ballots.

[For the majority of trial, Lune has allowed Sol to take the reins and manage all the questions. He sits in his throne, drinking his tea with an air of someone best not disturbed.

Until about 15 minutes until trial end.

When you next glance at his seat, it appears that he’s -

Gone.]

week seven results

Another chime of the bell resounds at the end of trial.

Without Lune, Sol pauses for a moment before there's a heavy sigh and they turn to the rest of the people gathered. Suddenly, their body language shifts as they're brought to attention and face the scroll that was unfurled over the four coffins. The words announcing their deaths are overtaken with black, as if ink has suddenly dripped over the entire surface of the scroll.

The blackness suddenly recedes, revealing the following words.

You have voted correctly.
Naminé was corrupted.

The Corrupted will be taken to be purified. Deliver her spirit by tomorrow, when the sun is highest in the sky, by separating it from her body on this plane.

The Corrupted must be removed from this place to be saved, else the Core grow more restless and more will be overtaken by darkness.

In addition, votes were cast for North and Feral.

You are moving forward.

The message will remain even as Naminé is brought forward.

Following her chance to speak, she will be led to a new house that is created for her containment, identical to the houses that the rest of the participants reside in, encased in a faint light that will intervene in the chance they try to harm anyone else.

week seven execution

As the morning rolls in, a quiet unsteady feeling fills the air of the village. The light around Naminé's confinements remains faint, keeping its power in tact for a bit longer.

The moment the sun reaches the highest point in the sky, a faint bell chimes and all will feel compelled to return to the main meeting hall.

When all are gathered, Lune and Sol will enter the room escorting Naminé. The corruption slowly seeps from her as the Signs bring her to the front of the crowd.

Stepping aside, Lune leaves Sol to speak.

"Today, we must deliver Naminé to a realm where the darkness will be cleansed. One of you has volunteered to complete this task.

...Naminé, it's time."

Even if it's phrased as a gentle note, Naminé will find herself without much choice as the light that encased her home will encourage her limbs forward if she does not comply. In addition, they will wait for Lea to approach as well. When he reaches the front of the crowd, Sol pauses before manifesting a sword in their hands, presenting the hilt to Lea and stepping back.

Threaded | Flat

TALK TO SOL...about general stuff

TALK TO SOLEIL...who is just Sol...about locations and evidence

BODY INVESTIGATION