CHAPTER 5 ; MINGLE

[themodsgrimm]

The Story Continues... CHAPTER 526 Narrators Remain ; Now, what are the odds that this week will be as quiet as the last one? … look, we have to at least humor the idea, don’t we? The rumbling that awakens Narrators on this lovely Monday morning is – larger. It’s louder, it’s more intense, and it lasts longer, like one final shove. Once it concludes, the castle is quiet, almost tired in its stillness. Should anyone wander into the dining hall this week, they will find that none of the tapestries burn up in true testament that no ink had been spilt and no Narrators have left us. Should you choose to explore the grounds and find the new additions to the castle – you’ll likely be surprised to say the very least. In the interest of recreation, the pumpkin patch has been opened – and you’re more than welcome to see if you fare better in a pumpkin carriage better than our Cinderella did. What’s the harm in giving it a try? Or if you’re more interested in paying your respects, the shrines of the Tiger and the Dragon are both open. Shall you see what happens if you try to leave an offering? You know what they say – nothing ventured, nothing gained. Or maybe you’ll find your friends. Your dearly departed, delightfully preserved friends in the morgue. Reunions always bring a tear to the eye, don’t they? As if the sky mourns with you, Narrators will find that on Tuesday afternoon, it will begin to rain. It pours and it pours and it pours… and it will show no sign of stopping until Friday evening. Plan accordingly. Stay dry. Finally, partners had best get comfortable with the idea of touching into the spirit of generosity. They'll feel compelled to be kind to their partner, including possibly making or giving them a present. Isn't that just the sweetest? This feeling will dwell until the beginning of Thursday night's curfew. Welcome to Week 5, everyone! Hopefully you all enjoyed your break week and are ready for your regularly scheduled murder! We would also like to remind players to submit all of their Chapter 4 PCs and new PCs at the Private Conversations page and review the weekly ooc notes for important details in the castle. Something exciting will be arriving on Wednesday, July 11th so keep your eyes peeled for that as well. full navigation. locations taken (statuses) stories (profiles) info & faq wishing well private conversations

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WEEKLY MOD NOTES ;

[themodsgrimm]

weekly mod notes ;

♢ Should your character have a wish to make or complete their objective, remember to report it to the Wishing Well. If you have any questions about your character's skills or objective, please contact us!
♢ If your character is taking an item this week before Investigation please notify the mods by Wednesday at 9 PM PST so we can account for it. In general all IC action that would impact the game must be cleared by the mods within 24 hours notice.
♢ The following actions require mods to be notified: leaving items at the Tiger or Dragon shrines, using items in the laboratory, items being taken from public spaces, consuming medicine from the infirmary, or damage being done to puppets.
♢ Since it was mentioned on the Private Conversations but not common knowledge - if you would like to PC with Tiger or Dragon, please PP the mods.

(frozen comment) IN THE LIBRARY - A LEATHER-BOUND BOOK ;

[themodsgrimm]

once upon a time, there was a castle... In this Castle lived thirty-eight Narrators, whose purpose was to fight and die for the Crafters in the guise of taking part in their war; among them was a Beauty and a Beast, who were tasked with a duty that they both found most detestable. Striving to dismantle this war from the inside out, the Beauty attempted to kill one of the Crafters without the Beast's knowledge, and both of them were banished to the Other Side, left to rot even as the other Narrators were returned to their own stories. Now, the last and final battle of this war is about to begin; the fates of the Beauty, the Beast, and all the Narrators lost in the last two weeks lie in the hands of those who remain. The narrators must bear in mind that what is beautiful is often cruel. Be that as it may, the Narrators who replenish the inkwell through achievement shall be rewarded with beautiful wishes, and a desirable ending need not be writ by the ink of life. Nor should Narrators strive to spill entirely gold or purple ink; the results could be disastrous.

[toughchoices]

monday morning, tapestries;
[Time to go see who the Classics are this week!

...hm. Well then. Reyna raises a brow at her own tapestry and crosses her arms. Honestly, she was wondering how long it would take for this to wind up here.]

Well, I can't say I'm all that surprised.

[eh. at least she doesn't seem all that concerned??]

monday afternoon, morgue;
[On the other hand, she's a lot more subdued as she walks through here. Particularly when she comes across Rapunzel and Yasusada's bodies - they're a stark reminder of everything that went down at the last trial, even though having a break has dulled the memory somewhat.

She murmurs to herself, unaware of anyone else who might be nearby:]

We'll find a way to make this right. That's a promise.

tuesday, pumpkins;
[Well. Okay, then.

This is... odd, but the only way to figure out how exactly it works is to give it a try, isn't it? So when Reyna sees someone else out among the grounds, she waves them over.]

Shall we have a race?

[sanguinairy]

monday, garden + with cat!
[Souji's health is still on a downward slope, albeit not a sharp nosedive like it had been the weekend before break... Small blessings!! Still, he's definitely conserving his energy and not bouncing all over the place. Monday he's mostly contained his wanderings to the gardens and surrounding outdoorsy areas, and can be found with one potentially familiar cat...]

a) Carrying the cat in his arms! Said cat seems pretty content with being toted around by this punk. Souji himself is busy peering at different types of flowers while he walks, especially ones in shades of oranges or yellows.

b) Settled on the ground with a reed he's picked up from somewhere, playing with the cat. Depending on its mood, it's either batting around the piece of grass or just straight up ignoring him as he whines about how UNFAIR THIS CAT IS BEING while gently whacking it with the reed.

c) BEING DEAD. No just kidding, he's only taking a nap next to the water fountain. Perhaps said cat is curled nearby and having a snooze, too! Maybe it's just pretending to sleep since cats are assholes! In any case, there are some light sleepers here despite the fact that one of them may look vaguely deceased, so perhaps approach with caution.]

tuesday, shrines
[HE CAN'T GO OUTSIDE WHEN IT'S RAINING so Souji is now castle-bound... and taking a closer look at some of their newest additions. He can be found at either shrine door, just kind of poking his head in and not venturing much further than that.]

Hm... [HM.] ...I can't decide if this feels restful or not.

[The lighting is perfect for napping but also, this shit's kinda creepy??]

tuesday, morgue
[More of a note than anything, but it seems like someone's left flowers at all of the filled cases. Considering Yasusada's and Hijikata's also have folded cranes where incense sticks would normally be placed, it's probably easy to guess who's responsible... He can be found laying out his trinkets sometime after breakfast; otherwise, feel free to enjoy one nerd's attempt at honoring their dead.]

wildcard
[Hit me up for all of your Sooj needs! Also open for any and all PCs!]

cat, b

[toughchoices]

[Whether the cat is actually playing with the reed or ignoring it, Reyna's response is basically the same as she comes across Souji and his feline friend. Sup, Sooj.]

You seem to be having fun.

[sanguinairy]

[HEY REYNA. Souji is having a great time regardless of whether or not the cat is having a great time... He also pats the spot next to him, inviting her to cat town.]

I am. Cats are lovely, aren't they?

monday.a

[randori]

[ It's sure been a while since he last saw this cat. Is it the same cat? He wouldn't know. A part of him had hoped it'd escaped, way back in week 0 when he'd assumed there was no way out of the confines of the castle; but while they're not entirely free, there's freedom in being able to be outdoors, having gardens like these that calm even Natsuo down, remember who he used to spend so much time in them with. ]

Is this your cat? Or did it come from the zoo?

[ menagerie ]

tuesday

[randori]

Uh.

[ He looks down at the pumpkins, but how to race them isn't very intuitive at all. Do they see which one grows the fastest? Roll them on their sides like wheels as they run along side them? Carry them in their arms while racing each other? ]

Okay. [ He points to the heftiest one in the patch, as if that'd make any of the options in his favor. ] I'll use this one.

[sanguinairy]

[This tiny miracle of Natsuo being calm for once... Souji's sickly ass will treasure it.

In any case, he laughs and shakes his head at the questions, glancing down at his armful of cat.]

No, this little one has just decided to keep me company. [He's been blessed to become the designated nap cushion and cat carrier!! An honor.]

I don't believe those animals can leave, anyway... Ah, outside of the dragons and tigers, of course.

[pathcrossed]

[The cat is very lovely, thank you!! But this is one of the times it's in a less playful mood, tail twitching as it rebuffs Souji's effort with the reed; the addition of another voice gets its attention, though, and it turns its head slightly to glance at Reyna, meowing.

Welcome to cat town, you're chill, you can stay.]

[pathcrossed]

[Another person! The cat wriggles in his arms to turn and meow at Natsuo, as if agreeing with Souji. Yes, it's just decided it likes being carried around.

Maybe that makes it Souji's cat anyway, but telling it that is not highly recommended.]

[randori]

[ Natsuo meows back at the cat, but it's a very poor imitation of one; he's much better at barking like a dog.

Out of the two of them, Souji's the better choice to be handling a cat, seeing as one of the first things Natsuo did with his tiger cub was throw it in the air. Not like a baseball!! but a little gentle toss that was nevertheless unappreciated. ]

It's a shame they can't all leave and see the gardens like this, though. It's nice out here when we don't have to be here.

[sanguinairy]

[Souji won't be doing any cat tossing, gentle or otherwise, any time soon that's true... Maybe he really should start saying it's his just so other people don't start lobbing it around??

Though he does laugh at Natsuo's attempt at communicating. GOOD TRY.]

That's true... But it would get a little crowded out here too, I think. These gardens weren't meant to hold so many animals.

[Or any at all...]

monday morning

[vigilantics]

[ she is... mostly trying to get over there without slipping in all of this goddamn ink, give her a second. ]

Hmmm. You're making a mess up there.

cat, a

[doublecrows]

[cat!! Akechi stops when he sees Souji meandering about with the creature in his arms, his expression curious]

Oh? I was wondering where that creature ran off to.

[sanguinairy]

[Hello murdercastle's own murder mascot!! Souji smiles, and it's only by the grandest mercy in his soul that he doesn't grab the cat's paw to make it wave at Akechi.]

Ah, me too. I didn't see it around for a little while...

[And now that it's returned, he's just apparently been appointed The Royal Throne Of Cat, but he seems pretty content.]

It's a very cute cat, isn't it?

[selfinserting]

outside the morgue, monday morning

[Once he wakes up on Monday morning, Evan leaves his room to go explore the new areas that have opened up in the castle. The plaque that he sees near this particular room makes him nervous but curious all the same, and he enters inside after a moment or two of pause.

...And then, once he realizes exactly what's inside, he immediately rushes out only a few seconds later, visibly disturbed as he glances at whoever happens to be closest to the door.]

—Don't go in there. S-Seriously, it's - messed up.

pumpkin racing, tuesday morning

[As far as the castle goes, he normally prefers the outdoors to the interior. On Tuesday, he comes across the pumpkin patch and the nearby track. After he notices the sign, he pauses, picking up one of the pumpkins as he notices someone else nearby. There's a pause as he glances over, before he speaks.]

You, you wouldn't want to... [A pause, as he rephrases.] Do you, um, want to try it? The - pumpkin thing.

[An effort was made.]

stables, tuesday afternoon

[The sudden downpour takes him entirely by surprise, and as he happens to be outside when it begins, he hurries to the nearest cover; it's not the castle, but the stable next to the jousting grounds instead. He doesn't imagine it'll last too long, so he stands for a while to watch the rain fall down as it comes.]

Hopefully it won't last too long...

wildcard

[If you want to play out anything else, feel free to come with your own prompt or hit me up at becoming!]

[toughchoices]

[The heftiest one in the patch, huh? Reyna eyes his choice for a moment or two, then nods before heading over to it. Hefty it might be, but she's pretty sure she can pick it...

Unless he wants to?]

Want me to grab it for you?

[toughchoices]

[honestly, good luck, steph]

Looks like all three of us are. [her gaze flicks from her own tapestry, to jae-ha's, to hikage's.] I didn't realize we had so much in common.

[...right.]

[toughchoices]

I'm more of a dog person, myself. [see: aurum, who is within earshot should she whistle for him but probably preoccupied chasing a squirrel or something. still, she crouches down at the spot souji indicates and holds out her hand to the cat to give it time to get used to the idea of her hand being close before she actually tries to pet it.] But this one is pretty cute.

[hear that, cat? you're cute!!]

stables!

[toughchoices]

[Evan has the right idea - take shelter from the rain. Reyna enters the stables maybe half a minute after him, soaked from head to toe. That's the risk you take when you go outside, apparently...!

She's already undoing her braid so she can start to wring out her hear when she hears him speak.]

...if it's anything like the snow a few weeks back, we should probably expect it to keep raining for a while.

[selfinserting]

[He glances towards her as she speaks, then back out towards the rain, frowning.]

Well, um, maybe it won't be, be like the snow.

[But she raises a good point, and it's clear in his expression that he realizes that.]

...At least rain won't be as bad to walk back to the castle in if it doesn't stop.

[sanguinairy]

[Why won't you love him and his reed, cat!!! He'll relent for now though, so Reyna can have some cat time too.]

Ah, I guess I'm ultimately more of a piglet person than anything else. [Saizo is also snuffling around somewhere, doing pig things.] But cats are nice and soft. This one, especially -- it likes to keep me company when I nap, sometimes.

[A GOOD CAT.]

Monday

[disclosures]

[While Rebecca vastly prefers the kitchen and the library to most of the other locations of the castle. She does try to go out and look around. See what's new and if it might possibly be a location somebody would use for murder.

Might as well get acquainted to whatever's there before Friday.]

Why, what's in it?

[selfinserting]

[A pause, during which he tries to phrase this delicately...]

Um. The dead bodies of, of our friends...?

[And immediately fails.]