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Entry tags:
WEEK FIVE TRIAL
week five: trial
i want to speak to a manager
i want to speak to a manager
23 Remain
Good morning, everyone! Hopefully you're well-rested, because there's a long day ahead of you.
The start of the day is yours to do with what you want, but come 11:45 AM, your daemons will feel a compulsion to lead you to chapel and will ensure that you're up and moving to head there. You can certainly resist it, but by the time 11:55 AM rolls around... you'll find your feet taking you there, regardless, if you aren't there already. There's no exceptions—it seems that this gathering is mandatory, as you'll find that your fellow travelers are all heading to the same destination as you.
Waiting in the chapel for your arrival are Satariel, Rameel, and Yomiel. Tables for offerings sit at the front end of the room. They've been left empty for the day ahead - save for one, where plates, bowls, cups, and cutlery have been stacked neatly for later in the day. Some snacks and drinks have been provided for the early portion of the day, and proper food for later. Come noon, once everyone is within the chapel, they'll find that the doors close and lock behind them.
Sporting a bit of a different look with their long blonde locks gone, Rameel will be leaning against the podium upfront with a lazy smile on their face. Their wounds and injuries from yesterday seemingly healed up completely sans one more permanent injury. And even though it looks as if they were going to say something, they ultimately don't and pass their turn.
Yomiel looks much better than yesterday, wounds healed, broken wings set, and clothing repaired. Speaking too much seems to be a bit of a strain, though, as their voice is still scratchy and rough. "You've don't have much time to find Mikotoba. Don't waste it."
Satariel is curled up in one of the pews, wrapped in their cloak and a blanket and looking tired. But they are paying attention, and their daemon paces slowly nearby as a bear, snuffling at anyone that comes close enough as though checking them over as well. It still does not touch. The Watcher sounds - quiet, for once. "Let's get started. And, while it won't matter to the trial... for your numbers, Miss Rika was a Celestial."
Every hour that passes, the chapel bell will ring out with the time. The pressure's on, good luck.
Trial start
Business stops for no one! Welcome, everyone, to our sixth trial. For the next nine hours, characters are expected to investigate the setting, compile and examine evidence, locate any unalive and unaccounted for members of their group, and theorize about the going ons of Thursday night/Friday morning that lead up to this point.
Mod breaks will run a little differently than they have in past games. There will be a three hour block starting at 4 PM EST/1 PM PST and ending at 7 PM EST/4 PM PST, where we'll be cycling one mod out at a time to take an hour long break while the other two remain to keep tags going and answer any questions players might have. We encourage players to take a break at any point during this timeframe, but the player-designated break will be at the traditional 5 - 6 PM EST time! Reference our timezones if need be.
Voting is mandatory in Chasma, acting as our activity check for the week. Please ensure that you've submitted your vote before 9:05 PM EST/6:05 PM PST, unless you've spoken with the mods previously, as we'll begin tallying votes on the dot.
If there's anything that you need from us, IC or OOC, please let us know how we can help!
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private conversations ✨ murder proposals ✨ curfew ✨ daemons ✨
no subject
what would susato do?
easy. he bends down carefully and has a look at them, pulling out a notebook. he'll sketch out the size/shape of this one and will check to see if there are multiple sizes of footprints that might indicate more than one person has been here. he'll compare the sketch in size/width/shape. ]
no subject
is there a stable close by in relation to the storage? in the locations it just says "for the sleds, an animal can be provided for the guests who are interested in such". ]
...The animals to pull these typically need to be provided, don't they? Would they have been given to someone overnight even in... this sort of situation? [ glancing to yomiel for an answer to that
but otherwise!! xie lian will carefully peek into the storage shed, first. is there anything around where the missing sleigh was? blood inside of the shed as well? anything missing besides the assorted sleigh stuff...?
san lang in his qilin form also has hooves! they're deer sized so if he walks next to the hoofprints are these bigger/do they belong to a horse. otherwise he's going to start sniffing down the trail of the tracks, and if there isn't anything else to be noted in the shed, xie lian will turn right after and follow him. to ...? ]
no subject
there is a stable, because we're not going to shove all these poor animals into a storage shed. ]
It's possible someone could have gotten in while the staff sleeps.
[ there are some drops of blood in the shed leading toward where the sleigh should have been, but not much else of note. san lang will sneef the faint smell of blood around the sleigh tracks, in addition to another trail as he follows them: a couple of keychains, slowly being covered by the snow. ]
no subject
[ in terms of size, even though they're partial--is it possible to see if one is bigger than the other? he'll evaluate that and then have a look at the sled's tracks/hoof prints. do they just go out past the area we're allowed to check out there? if so, weird. at xie lian. ]
Do you think they sent the sled out as some sort of cover up?
no subject
...Alright. Let's report to the others. [ that's something. he glances to yomiel. ] Are we allowed to continue this direction?
[ san lang is walking with the scent of the blood, too, nose still to the ground. much sniff. if we can follow the tracks he will do so! ]
no subject
You should.
[ ...which isn't ominous at all!
anyway. the hooves appear to be smaller than your average horse. as they follow the trail, they'll find a couple more keychains in the snow, and after a minute or so, they'll see something moving up ahead. ]
no subject
[ hm noted, he'll take down both partials and will have polaris help with the sniffing to follow the trail. upon seeing the keychains he frowns, adding them to our keychain collection? interesting...
upon seeing something moving up ahead, he frowns. is it moving towards or away from them? kaeya will glance back at xie lian and then jerk his head towards the object. he's going to sprint to try and catch up with it (finally his sprint passive comes in handy), polaris close behind. ]
no subject
xie lian locks eyes with kaeya('s eye singular? why is everyone important to me wearing an eyepatch? news at eleven) and then at the trail, and the minute kaeya takes off, xie lian's going with him, san lang at his side. shonen sprint time!!!
WHAT'S THERE i guess also while we're running are they keychains bloody at all? is there more blood smell for san lang to pick up? ]
no subject
it's just kind of going wherever? no particular direction, because as you guys will notice, the sleigh trail kind of winds here and there instead of going in a straight line. there's more keychains in snow here, but kaeya might miss it as he sprints to catch up, he'll find... the sleigh, being pulled along by a frantic reindeer.
congrats on kaeya's passive finally being useful! jingle, jingle!
xie lian can run too, but something seems to catch san lang's attention. he swerves away from the sleigh's trail to follow a different direction, closer to the storage shed but still a ways out, and it's over that way that they'll find yet another keychain in the snow. this littering smh. ]
no subject
kaeya's going to sigh just a bit as he catches up, trying to snatch at the reins and bring the reindeer to a stop. he can see san lang sprinting in the other direction and... well. ding goes the lightbulb.
you know what? this is our sled now. kaeya's gonna commandeer this reindeer and sled and bring it with them, careful to avoid anything else on the ground that might be evidence. he's a cavalry captain! now he has a steed! a reindeer steed and a sled? woohoo! polaris will keep the reindeer on task so it doesn't just bolt this way or that. like a herding dog. ]
Xie Lian, what is it!?
no subject
his head snaps up to kaeya and san lang scoops up the keychain he finds first in his mouth. ] Grab the - we have to go!
[ and then he is running again, shoving the walkie talkie back onto his belt, starting to dash in the direction beyond the shed, almost stumbling in his haste. heart thudding wildly in his chest, xie lian bolts for the area beyond the shed with san lang, his nose to the ground and sniffing hard for the increasing scent of blood, and as xie lian grasps onto the tiny, fluttering sensation of hope in his chest and rounds a corner
("I can count on you, Xie Lian.")
-- he shouts, voice just utterly raw in desperation - ] Susato!
[ please, please, please, please please -- ]
no subject
xie lian's voice echoes through the tundra, and there is no answer. but he will see something in the snow, not far from where the sleigh's tracks swerve. it's partially covered over from the snowfall, so it's difficult to make out anything at this distance. run, xie lian, run. ]
no subject
bruh is it just blankets, or does it look like they're wrapped around something? he's gonna glance down at it and FROWN DEEPLY. eugh.
if he looks like he's going faster than xl (doubtful, but who knows, i may as well ask since xl is no longer god mode rn, sisi), he'll just reach out a hand. let's go turbo, buddy. ]
no subject
it just repeats, over and over in his head. i believe i can count on you as he runs to the something in the snow. ]
no subject
onward. the something doesn't move, so they'll be able to reach it in no time, and if they brush the snow aside, they'll find... a young girl, freezing cold to the touch and curled up as if holding something dear to her chest, but there is only shimmering gold dust and blood in the snow around her. whatever they do, she does not respond.
susato mikotoba is dead. ]
no subject
and... there is susato.
there she is. he's ungainly and fumbling as he and xie lian arrive, wiping snow from his face and gasping. ]
Susato—
no subject
he drops to his knees beside susato, uncaring of the cold and the snow and the dust, and moves his hands to her neck to check her pulse, and then to her face, moving snowy, cold hair away from her cheek to just look.
... growing up, it was rare that he ever really got to have friends. the beloved crown prince, sure. feng xin and mu qing - they were his friends, the only two he ever had, and two that were in some ways beholden to him. but to meet someone like susato had been new. from giddy, excited conversations about martial arts to shared meals, to teatime and training, to solving murders and failing at solving murders, from the best and the worst of days, he'd stuck with susato from their very first day here. he'd promised, that they could walk together, side by side - not as a prince and a detectives assistant, not as miss susato and mr. xie lian, but... as sparring partners. as confidants, as equals, as loyal, true, friends.
he just stays there, for a moment, hand trembling where it rests on susato's cheek, just slightly hunched over, and his expression is unreadable, dark hair falling in front of his face like a curtain. san lang transforms abruptly beside him - from qilin to rabbit, and he hops forward, forward, pushing under susato's curled arms like he could fit himself in the place where ryutaro was, pressing against her as if he could bring her back to life.
...
he takes a deep breath. ]
.....She's gone.
[ and xie lian's voice does not falter, it does not shake, but he pulls the walkie from his belt and wordlessly hands it over to kaeya, as san lang makes a desperate, miserable noise, and xie lian does his best to separate an unwillingly daemon from susato, then moves, slowly, mechanically, to start to lift her off the ground.
(too late.
you'll never save anyone, xian le. you're already doomed.) ]
no subject
yomiel will hang back a respectful distance, letting them both have their moment with her and making sure they don't all freeze out here. once they look ready to continue... ]
...You've found everything out here. We should take her back.
no subject
he pushes his head under xie lian's arm, a soft whine. ]
Xie Lian... let's bring her back... in from the cold.
[ his own voice is hoarse, quiet. she looks so unbearably small in the snow. ]
no subject
bitter cold, icy snow - it doesn't seem to matter. he removes the cloak and uses it to gently wrap around susato, before he lifts her up into his arms, cradling her as carefully and tenderly as he can to his chest and stands up, looking at kaeya.
his eyes are wet - for the first time truly, since his arrival here, xie lian is crying.
he holds his head up high, though, chin lifted, lower lip wobbling once as he sucks in a breath. ]
...quickly. [ as quickly as they can. ] Thank you, Yomiel. Let's... take the sleigh back, too.