CHAPTER 1 ; INVESTIGATION

[themodsgrimm]

The Story Continues... CHAPTER 1 - WEEK 1??? Narrators Remain ; The clock begins to chime, and on the first note, curfew lifts. Your doors swing open, whether you are ready or not. Leaving your room is a blur. The person you fell asleep beside — are they still there? Have they vanished? Were they ever there at all? You can't seem to recall clearly. What you are most aware of is the pervading sense of wrongness in the air, and how you can't hear anything but the chime of the clock. Even the sounds of your own voice and your own footsteps do not reach your ears. By the time the time the clock strikes nine, you know one thing to be true: blood has been spilt. Search the castle carefully — you wouldn't want to miss a single important detail, would you...? Welcome to this week's investigation post! This time, you all will be posting your own locations that you wish to search. Please note the Locations page for your reference. Evidence — or lack thereof — will be noted in these threads. We ask that group threads consist of no more than 2-3 characters. After the discovery of the body (or bodies) and any pertinent evidence, an IC announcement concluding the investigation will go up. You are then free to make your own toplevels on this post for any threads you would like to have between the end of the investigation and the start of the trial. If you have any questions, please ask on our Discord server or ping us on plurk. Please direct pings to Danielle (entrappings) and Britt (bloodthirstiest), as we will be taking point on this investigation! Instructions on this week's investigation can be found in a pin in the General chat! full navigation. locations taken (statuses) stories (profiles) info & faq wishing well private conversations

Comments

WISHING WELL

[axilium]

[did we throw a corpse in here.]

[sanguinairy]

[if not can we throw a live body in here instead

BUT NO OKAY Souji will be examining the path leading to the well too, just in case there's any suspicious murder-shaped things afoot like blood trails or severed limbs.]

[themodsgrimm]

[Those are some questionable priorities, but if ya'll feel like jumping into a well I'm not gonna stop you. In any case, there are disturbances that can be seen along the path to the well, or even visibly to the well itself. However, there is something odd about one of the bushes. Maybe they should take a closer look!]

FOYER

[alchemenace]

[ he isn't boiling ink in public places this time, but he is walking around with a shoulder raccoon, so which is worse, rly? ]

[vigilantics]

[ what's up varian, remember the last time you saw steph hobbling along when she had absolutely no business to?

you're seeing it again. why is she here. ]

[hairbrain]

[ rapunzel's a little frazzle this morning as she approaches both steph and varian in the foyer. ]

Steph, you really shouldn't be out here on your own like this -- it's dangerous! I don't even know where Varian is!

[ he's standing right next to you rapunzel. ]

GARDENS

[function]

[ hey hopefully we die in the maze ]

[resumed]

[Hey why are you like this?

Either way, the castle's crowded and he doesn't mind the cold so he's heading outside as soon as he notices everyone's moving around. Not again. Why do you people keep murdering people? =\ Irregardless, he has his sword at his side and he's heading off, spotting 2B ahead of him.]

Hey. You think someone really went this far? [It's worth checking at least.]

[doublecrows]

[the cold must be really getting to Akechi because he looks miserable this morning as he trudges sluggishly outside, arms wrapped around himself]

Not the most pleasant of early morning strolls. . .

KITCHEN

[concasse]

[Because Sanji is a one-trick pony, to the kitchen he heads, a little groggy but otherwise alert. He's going to glance about the kitchen as he enters.

God he wants coffee. There better not be a dead body near the coffee pot.]

[psychedelica]

[ hikage is... DEAD!! wait, that's normal. he is also here, though, and for similar reasons - he's hoping to get some tea to help wake himself up. ]

Oh... you. Find anything?

[themodsgrimm]

[There's a body next to the coffee pot. Sorry about it, Sanji.

Okay, no. But as Sanji begins his quest for coffee, he'll note that some of the cups for hot drinks seem to have been moved. Since he spends a good chunk of time with him... he'll be able to tell that one teacup is missing!]

DINING HALL

[wearys]

[ honestly just wanders here without thinking, hoping for breakfast? even though it's an hour late for breakfast, let him dream. ]

[varas]

[ Ann, rubbing her eyes, stumbles after her roommate. It's so early. :( ]

[themodsgrimm]

[Good morning friends. It's time for breakfast, under the watchful eye of the Classics tapestries! They're all dripping ink, and two of them are burnt.

...

Wait, those weren't like that earlier in the week. Surprise! Kyouka and Nico's tapestries are singed!]

TAILOR

[discardia]

[ She has good experiences with the tailor's! So hopefully there will be nothing terrible. A girl can dream. ]

[disclosures]

[She'll follow her partner in, glancing around, checking if anything else has gone missing.]

[nivation]

[ Three can dream.

Kyouka also looks out for anything new missing. ]

ARMORY

[spondulix]

[who will be buried under a pile of swords THIS time]

[But honestly, Fitzgerald is here to look around because hey, a room full of weapons? It's best to just check to make sure nothing is amiss here.]

[themodsgrimm]

[Who, indeed! At least this time, there are not particularly messy piles, though some things have evidently been tampered with. He does get a weird feeling, though, like all the armor head plates are staring at him, judging.]

DORMS

[disilluded]

[Everyone is flinging themselves out to explore the castle at large which is #relatable but I guess we should be methodical about this and check the dorms first...??]

[londonstar]

[ tbh....these Fools...

waver catches sousei and he raises a hand in greeting. he looks exhausted because What Is Sleeping. ]

Morning.

BALLROOM... DOOR

[thesettingsun]

[Is the door still locked? Is someone passed out in front of it again? Is Dazai going to be made to do actual work?

These are the questions Dazai asks himself as he makes his way to the door.]

[themodsgrimm]

[The ballroom door is still locked and there are no bodies!

...

In the distance, there is the sound of metallic footsteps and the creaking of metal joints. Hmmm. It sounds like it's getting closer.]

(frozen comment) CONCLUSION ;

[themodsgrimm]

Gather 'round, dear Narrators, for this little rhyme
so to hear the next chapter of who has run out of time
With each new part of the Great Beasts' tale
Take caution and tread lightly lest you should fail
You've entered the castle to play along
but listen closely, Narrators, for one of yours is gone…


Once upon a time, there were 38 Narrators. Together, they began to mingle and get to know one another, forming bonds and alliances. However, one day, the Tiger and the Dragon appeared and told them the tale of their great war.

"Every week, at least one murder will occur. An investigation will follow the killing on Fridays and a trial thereafter.

This is a game to determine the winner between the forces of good and evil, a battle royale that requires blood. This is our story, and this is the way that things are."

On Thursday night, 36 Narrators were confined to their bedrooms until the clock struck nine in the morning on Friday. It was then the story began:

As several Narrators fled their dormitories (and discovered that the smell of sulfur had disappeared, as if it was merely a particularly nasty memory), Abe no Sousei and Lord El-Melloi II did not have to venture very far. As they examined the chambers, they came to notice that the lock of the earth dormitory door appeared to have been picked. They concluded their investigation with nary a word spoken between them.

The armory and the tailor turned up little evidence this week, though notably there were four dresses missing from the tailor as realized by Cardia Beckford, Rebecca Bunch, and Kyouka Izumi, along with a lot of missing yarn. Large swaths of fabric were missing, and there were also stray strips of fabric seemingly cut up and left behind. There was one fatality in this room - a spinning wheel, taken out by Cardia's roundhouse kick. In the armory, Francis Scott Fitzgerald and Shirasu Kinjou counted five spears had been removed, though it was noted that perhaps those who were sparring earlier in the week may not have returned them. A dancing suit of armor came to join the fun, but was cruelly rebuffed by Fitz, and went to teach Osamu Dazai to dance in front of the ballroom instead.

Downstairs in the foyer, the armor was well behaved this week. However, Varian, Stephanie Brown, and Rapunzel found one solitary leaf that was tracked in from outside. Though hard to recognize at first, it was determined to be a leaf from the hedge maze in the garden.

The kitchen and the dining hall were also fairly untouched, though Sanji and Hikage noticed that a butter knife and a tea cup had gone missing from the kitchen, while Magnus Chase and Ann Takamaki took note of two Classic tapestries which had been burned and singed -- Kyouka's and Nico's. Sanji and Hikage were trapped in the kitchen, but escaped; Magnus and Ann took a small break for a bite to eat.

Meanwhile, several Narrators retreated outside. There were only a few places to go, but they split off to investigate.

2B, Nico di Angelo, and Goro Akechi began to walk toward the gardens and found footprints half-covered in the falling snow. Try as they might, they were unable to pinpoint a size or person they could belong to. Moving ahead, they approached the hedge maze, as the footsteps appeared to be coming from that direction.

But as we reach the climax of our story, dear Narrators, we come upon the place where, for two Narrators, it all came to an end.

In the hedge maze the garden group ran ahead to follow the path. They came across several things as they headed inward including strands of long dark hair and a small amount of blond hair. Near the dark hair lay a bloodied knife, dropped in haste. After defeating/running away from the minotaur who lives in the maze, however, they came across the body of Soo-won. Lying buried in the snow deep in the maze, Soo-won's throat had been cleanly slit. The minotaur proceeded to chase them out.

...just as well, as the story isn't over yet. For you see, over by the wishing well, Belph and Souji Okita investigated the area and came across another frightful sight. Hidden in a bush by the well lay the body of Dave Strider, neck broken and body long cold.

With all of the evidence discovered and the story unfolded, the Dragon and the Tiger gathered the evidence and locked it all away behind several glass cases. Standing before the group, they gazed upon them and spoke in unison, although they vanished after they spoke. The glass cases remained in their wake for viewing by the Narrators.



"Soo-won and Dave Strider have been slain.
The trial will begin tomorrow at noon in the gardens."