PROLOGUE ; INVESTIGATION

[themodsgrimm]

The Story Continues... PROLOGUE - WEEK 0??? 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 your first investigation post! This time, as it is tutorial week, we will be posting toplevels for searchable locations; moving forward, you will post your own toplevels for locations you wish to searh. Evidence — or lack thereof — will be noted in these threads. We ask that group threads consist of no more than 3-4 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! full navigation. locations taken (statuses) stories (profiles) info & faq wishing well private conversations

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THE FOYER

[themodsgrimm]

[nivation]

[ Kyouka is on high alert. Anytime anything feels wrong, it always means death.

She stands at the top of the stairs because it's better to get a view from above. ]

[themodsgrimm]

[The first thing Kyouka will notice is that one of the suits of armor is missing. Where it once stood, there is merely an empty stone stand.

The second thing Kyouka will notice is that the sword held by the suit of armor next to it is slightly askew.]

[nivation]

[ Kyouka goes to where the missing suit once stood and will look around for any marks on the ground.

Was it dragged anywhere? ]

[themodsgrimm]

[There aren't any drag marks near the missing suit of armor's base, no!]

[nivation]

[ Then she turns to the sword.

If there isn't anything out of the ordinary other than it's slighty askew, she'll try to lift it, if she can. ]

[themodsgrimm]

[The sword is just a sword, but the suit of armor's fingers are clutching it so tightly that she can't get it away from the suit.

...but this close to the armor, she'll notice something else: the armor's visor is slightly ajar, too.]

[nivation]

Hmm.

[ That's a disappointed "hmm." She wanted to see if she could take the sword if there wasn't any blood on it.

But that visor isn't suspicious at all.

It's a good thing she was trained to be an assassin, so she has the agility to jump up and try to knock the visor open. ]

[themodsgrimm]

[The visor gets knocked open just enough to see!

...there's a human face in there.

It's cast in shadow thanks to the rest of the helmet, so Kyouka might want to try and get the suit of armor completely open if she wants to be able to tell who it is.]

[thesettingsun]

[Dazai just wanted a regular morning but: yikes. Yikes. He's mostly been watching Kyouka attack this suit of armor, but when he sees that face in there...]

...Let me do it.

[He's taller than her, so it's simpler for him to try to get the helmet off.]

[nivation]

[ One thought: if she had her phone and there was phone service in fairytale land, she could just call and cut the armor open, but—

Time to let Dazai do it. ]

If you need more help, I can climb up, too.

[ But she'll let him try first. ]

[spondulix]

Come now, don't hurt yourself trying to get that thing off...

[What is going on here?? What are you two kids doing messing around with this....wait.]

[There's...something in there? ]

Is that...a body?

[randori]

[ Whyyyyy is this ]

Are they still alive?! Get 'em out!!

[ Never mind the helmet? The entire armor can be taken apart, right? ]

[themodsgrimm]

[It is indeed a body!

When the helmet comes off, Gi-gan's head droops forward. She would probably collapse at their feet if the armor wasn't keeping her standing upright.

However, before they can get a closer look, they'll hear the sound of clanging metal behind them.

It's a suit of armor, and it's walking their way. It gets in between them and the other suit of armor and... points at them, then busts out a breakdancing move before pointing directly at all four of them.

Your move, guys.]

[thesettingsun]

[Dazai would be more concerned about Gi-gan and the implication of a person whose tapestry was at the front being probably dead, except there's the clank of a suit of armor and what the actual fuck.]

...Okay I did my part it's everyone else's turn!

[He's just going to put everyone else in between him and the breakdancing armor now.]

[spondulix]

[....................Wow Dazai, you coward. Fitzgerald just looks incredibly unimpressed.]

Does anyone have a weapon on them, by chance? Can I just bash this idiotic thing apart?

[randori]

Bash it!!

[ While he grabs Gi-gan's armor to try to haul it away ]

Someone help me with this!

[nivation]

I tried taking the sword off the suit of armor. [ The one Gi-gan is in. ] But it wouldn't move.

[ Since she couldn't move the sword, she has no chance with the full body, so she turns to the breakdancing version. She knows a challenge when she sees it, so she... mirrors the dance it did. Exactly. More gracefully, in fact. ]

[themodsgrimm]

[The suit of armor turns toward Natsuo and nudges him away from Gi-gan's armor. Apparently, they have to go through him before they can investigate the other one in more detail—

But it is distracted when Kyouka accepts its challenge. It nods once, then busts out a slightly more complex set of moves that concludes with an upside-down spin.

...

There is the sound of much metallic creaking.]

[randori]

[ ohhhhh my god the sound of metal on metal is grating and Natsuo wants to finish this as quickly as he can.

If the sword is stuck to the armor's hand, what if Natsuo just tries prying off the entire gauntlet? Sorry Gi-gan, he might break a wrist bone or two driving his elbow into the metal plating to trying to loosen something up, but this is the only way he knows how to fight. ]

[thesettingsun]

Just leave it alone or you're going to be stabbed by a breakdancing suit of armor.

[Helpful.]

[spondulix]

[Are you prepared for Fitzgerald to ruin everything? GOOD]

Oh, enough of this. Out of the way, old sport.

[He'll just step up and try to kick its head off HE AIN'T GOING TO BREAKDANCE FOR NO PEASANT ARMOR]

[nivation]

[ tbf if Kyouka could've gotten the sword, she would've done her best to cut the breakdancing suit of armor to pieces.

Instead, she steps aside to let Fitzgerald do his thing.

If it can be done, she'll accept it easily and Fitzgerald will for once not be a menace to society (in Kyouka's book). ]

[themodsgrimm]

[Its head does not come off, but the suit of armor stumbles. It looks disgruntled, if it's possible for a suit of armor to ... look that way.

Then it wanders off in the direction of the kitchen for another challenge.

This leaves them free to pry the other suit of armor open. It will take some doing, but when they do, Gi-gan collapses at their feet. She isn't moving.]

[thesettingsun]

[...well that was easy.

Moment of cowardice over (for now), Dazai helps with the armor prying. When Gi-gan collapses, he tries to feel for a pulse.

Maybe she's just sleeping really soundly??]