WEEK SIX TRIAL

[grigori]

week six: trial life's a squeeze

19 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 a courthouse, north of the library, 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 one of the courtrooms for your arrival are Shamsiel, Suriel, and Baraqiel. Some evidence tables have been brought in and arranged, 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 already have hot tea, takeout containers from various places around the city set out and perpetually warm (or cool, as needed), and some first aid kits for the more unfortunate to come in feeling a little under the weather. Come noon, once everyone is within the room, they'll find that the doors close and lock behind them.

Suriel stands to one side, hands clasped as if ready to say a prayer, wings tucked close. They have no smiles to offer today. "This should be the last time. Let's do what we can, so they won't have to wait for long to see you again."

"Right, as tired as all of you have become, there's an end in sight from all of this." Words that Shamsiel offers as a means to improve the mood some. They stand with a hand pressed to their chest while the other clenches at their side.

Baraqiel is quiet for a moment, seated on the judge's bench - not at it, on the edge of it, with wings and cloak spilling back on the other side as they survey the group gathered. The juror's stand is empty, and so is the audience seating. Everyone can fill in where they need to, or want to, for the next nine hours. "A-Qing and Scheherazade were Temporals. Kim Dokja was a Celestial. This is the final stretch - but that doesn't mean you can halfass it. Let's go."

Every hour that passes, they'll be able to hear a grand clock chiming from somewhere within the courthouse. The pressure's on—good luck.

Trial start

Court is now in session. Welcome, everyone, to our seventh 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 PM EST/6 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!

full navigation ✨ locations ✨ statuses ✨ profiles ✨ audiences ✨
private conversations ✨ murder proposals ✨ curfew ✨ daemons ✨

Comments

Questions

[grigori]

[ a fennec fox is curled up in suriel's lap where they've pulled up a seat. ] Let's make today count.

[ shamsiel will be having a hard time keeping still, they fidget in their seat; their daemon, taking the form of a falconet, sitting on their shoulder equally restless as it grooms its feathers. nevertheless they will offer a small smile to those who stop by. ] No matter what happens, I know you will have done your best.

[ baraqiel has no platitudes or encouragement to offer, and remains seated atop the judge's bench, one heel hooked on the edge and knee raised for them to prop their arm on. their daemon is eagle-formed next to them, watching everyone. ]


(( please be kind to your mods and let us know which one you're addressing ))

[voltadomar]

Good morning.

[Kim's here, wearing a black bomber jacket. The left sleeve hangs limp past the elbow. He greets the Celestials with a nod, then looks to Suriel.]

This is the last time...?

Location Requests

[grigori]

[ comment here if you're looking to leave the trial area to investigate another location. ]

[perfectdistance]

Can me and Kotetsu head to the park?

Body

[grigori]

A-Qing

[grigori]

[ once her body has been retrieved, a-qing is laid carefully on one of the tables that has been brought out for trial. for privacy's sake, it's moved behind the to the furthest parts of the courtroom, and she's been covered with a sheet.

comment here if your character wants to exam the body for evidence. ]

Investigations

[grigori]

[ once a request has been made, one of the watchers will take you (and whoever else is coming with you) to the location in question. ]

STAR CIRCLE (AND...?)

[grigori]

[ suriel escorts them out to star circle, where it looks like a tornado blew through. chairs and tables have been upended, loose items and trash have gone flying and been tossed every which way, windows are broken, billboards destroyed. ]

Watch your step, okay?

Evidence Report

[grigori]

[ once you're back from the investigation, please report all evidence acquired here. if you're turning it in willingly, that is, and not keeping it. ]

[perfectdistance]

- Scheherazade's body
- both halves of her staff

Examine Evidence

[grigori]

[ to examine any evidence brought back from investigations or given during trial, please comment here and not to the report. ]

[rerouter]

[Clothes check... Monika will carefully examine the curfew outfits offered here for any mystery stains, off-color patches or signs of scrubbing. Shoes and accessories provided included.

Any hits?]

Walkie Talkies

[grigori]

[ you have two permanent pairs to utilize for reporting back on investigation, contributed again to the group at large. a temporary third set can be acquired if needed.

reply here to update one another via walkie talkie when a group (or two or three) is out on investigation.

as a reminder, the two permanent sets are now on the same frequency! you may tune the temporary third set, as well, but this will allow investigation teams to communicate with one another as well as with the trial base. ]

[sponsoredby]

[ His voice is somber when it comes over the radio. ]

The park has fire damage... and I found A-Qing here.

[ Little does he know that there will probably be... another body with Nero. ]

cryo open i mean cold open

[yueshen]

[ as soon as everyone is into the courthouse, xie lian’s qilin roars - the noise short and sharp. he’s back into his breadsleeves robes today, hands tucked together in his sleeves, expression as serious and calm as ever. ]

Good morning, everyone.

[ at his side is kaeya, who is holding a notebook close to his chest, and has a pen tucked into his hair in an updo twist as well as one behind his ear. you never know when you need a spare pen.

once xie lian has called the attention of everyone in the courtroom, kaeya will speak up, polaris at his side in wolf form and standing, unusually, in front of him, all work and no play. ] Today we have been tasked with solving the murders of Kim Dokja, A-Qing and Scheherazade. As there have been three deaths, we must make sure to work quickly and cooperatively in order to find the culprit before our time runs out.

[ he then taps his notebook ] While investigations are running, I’d like us to begin our usual checks--weapons and items, clothing, as well as coins. Anyone who is not forthcoming, will be marked as non-compliant and may be subject to closer scrutiny later for the sake of crossing t’s and dotting i’s. I would think that it’s been long enough that we all understand that cooperation is key. If you awoke today with anything out of sorts on your person, please come forward now so we can put it on record. These sorts of things tend to help us quite a bit.

[ kaeya, very much done with his bit, will proceed to pin the headcount onto the bulletin board behind them, along with a tourism map of the city while xie lian continues. ]

Finally, through studying the lyrics of the song with others, we thought it might be best to head to the park first, today, as at least one of our victims had slept there over the week. [ something crosses xie lian’s face there - a brief touch of sadness, brows knitting together, mouth pulling into a frown, but he shakes his head. ] … We also ought to move in groups of two, to better deal with our numbers or lack thereof. Please do not forget to take a talk box with you if you go.

[ with that, he bows his head. ] Let’s get to work.

[senjinrouha]

I'd second the park, based on that.

Also, I used an item on Thursday night -- Xie Lian, Kaeya, you know the one -- and there's evidence of fighting in the Star Circle. So I'd recommend that as another location.

Trial Items

[perfectdistance]

Once again, for the sake of time, list whatever trial tools you've got for this.

I renewed my glasses. So we can check if one piece of evidence is planted or not.

[voltadomar]

[Kim presents his ticker tape scan thingy.]

I'd like to give this another try.

WEAPON & ITEM CHECK

[callalilies]

Hello, everyone. Please make your way to me and form a neat and tidy line. I'd like to take stock of our weapons as well as any items you may have brought to trial with you on your immediate person. These will be accompanied by a short, quick pat down. If you have weapons in your room, please let me know during the weapons check. Should we need to evaluate those, we will have you retrieve them. If you have no weapons, I still would like you to check in with me.

If you are uncomfortable with me performing your pat down, ladies, you may check one another so long as you please report back to me.

Thank you very much. [ hand clap! ] Here we go, then.

[ polaris is at his side, seated rather firmly, tail curled around his paws as he looks out at everyone. he will greet daemons, however! he's not unfriendly, merely working.

please wait for sublevels before commenting. ]

WEAPONS.

[callalilies]

[ please respond with your weapons on your person, and tell kaeya if you have weapons in your room as well. please respond to this even if you do not have a weapon. ]

curfew clothes 👗👞

[rerouter]

[Monika takes a couple of sips from her tea, before she sets it down and claps to get everyone's attention. She beckons them to come a little closer so she doesn't have to raise her voice too much, given how rough it still sounds.]

Did anyone happen to notice anything strange on the clothes they wore the other night...? If you're not wearing them right now, please bring them over so we can confirm.

[Please note if your character will let their curfew clothes be inspected or not in your reply! This includes shoes and accessories.]

[senjinrouha]

[ inspect away. nothing is out of the ordinary. ]

give coins, we've got a warrant

[voltadomar]

It looks like there may be evidence in the apartments. While we're there, we'd like to check some of the victims' rooms.

If anyone has found their coins, or is a roommate of the deceased and can volunteer your own, it would be appreciated.

[perfectdistance]

This'll go to mine and A-qing's room.

[A coin for your troubles.]

PARK INVESTIGATION

[sponsoredby]

[ After having returned with the body of A-Qing in his arms, covered by his coat, he comes back with said coat draped over his arm. His voice is void of emotion as he reports all of this. ]

When Nero and I arrived on the scene, it smelled like something had been burning... The fire was out, but there was a lot of damage around the area where he found Scheherazade's body. Her staff had been broken in half and we found it impaled in her chest. There appears to have been minor signs of struggle in the area, but no proper footprints. There was a tree nearby that had gold dust trickling down.

As far as A-Qing's body, there were birds and squirrels on her. It appears she had snacks in her pockets that drew their attention. Aside from the wound on her chest, there was a knife on her. There was also golden dust by her body that was probably from her daemon when she died. Like it had been close to her at the end.

[greatdeduction]

[After the report, he just draws close, grasping his shoulder, reassuring.]

You found a lot. [...] Good work, my dear fellow.

A-QING BODY REPORT

[sponsoredby]

[ Well, looks like he's back for round two of reporting. He's about in the same state as round one. Let's gooooooooo. ]

There doesn't seem to be any signs of struggle from A-Qing. There's a single, somewhat thin wound to her chest, over her heart. That's likely what killed her. Nothing else is out of place. No bruises or anything. The only other thing she had on her were snacks.

[ He gives a bit of a shrug at that, might as well mention it. ]

[greatdeduction]

[Hey there, Kotetsu.]

[Sholmes is coming up just to hug him. That's more important than his questions, for now.]

COIN CHECK

[shinetrue]

[ diluc is standing again, canopus seated in the chair instead and meowing to get everyone's attention. ]

As we must always do, please bring your coin over for inspection. Please show me the amount of feathers you possess and do mention if any have been used.

And if any are missing, please, say when and if anyone can back it up. Thank you.

[perfectdistance]

[Six feathers on Nero's coin.]

I used one yesterday. The... mistletoe one...

[Everybody saw that right?]

SCHE BODY

[yueshen]

[ here is a solemn xie lian, with his hands folded in front of him once he's removed his rubber gloves. ]

... Miss Scheherazade was killed, as we know, by a stab injury with her own staff, positioned at her heart. The stab did not go all the way through her body, and she didn't have any other injuries, save for her healing arm injury that we saw from her adventure last week. Her clothing smelled faintly of smoke, but there was no smoke damage to her clothing or body.

Beyond that, her hair was in disarray and there was dirt in it as well - it seemed as if she'd been running. She had frays at the bottom of her pants, but otherwise, the point of most interest was that she had a purple stain on the soles of her feet.

I retrieved her coin, as well. We ought to check how many feathers were on it. That is all; may she rest well.

[ with that, he bows his head. ]

??? CHECK

[voltadomar]

[Bending time, let's say this is before Kim leaves for investigation!

He's got his funky lil device again. It looks like a cross between a ticker tape machine and a thermometer gun.]

I'd like to ask everyone's cooperation in allowing me to scan you with this.

[Comment to let me know if you allow this scan!]

[perfectdistance]

[Okay.]

STAR CIRCLE AND HOSPITAL

[greatdeduction]

[He will carry Kim Dokja's body to the tables for further investigation, laying him down carefully.]

[He'll then turn to the others and say, in a business-like tone:]

Miss Reze and I have just returned from our investigations into the Star Circle and the hospital. We noticed that the Star Circle was in a state of disarray, as if a whirlwind has passed through. Windows were broken, the billboards destroyed, trash everywhere. Among the mess we found spots of blood that came from the direction of the library. We also found black feathers scattered everywhere, and as Miss Reze and Suriel can confirm, the black feathers belong to Mr. Dokja. The feathers seemed to lead to the hospital, so we went there. The blood splatters we found along the way certainly belonged to Mr. Dokja as well, as they formed random words.

Upon entering the hospital, we found something odd. Something purple dripping from around the door's side railing. It was dripping slowly, as if starting to dry, but I could not find any other location of the substance. We followed the blood to a closed room that was marked unoccupied...

[And....a pause.]

When I kicked open the door...some kind of mechanism activated. Miss Reze and I heard a taut rope loosening, a whistling noise of something flying through the air, and the impact of a blade hitting a body. When we entered, we found Mr. Dokja tied to a chair in the middle of the room with his own sword ticking out of his body. The sword was attached to a mechanism made of ropes. I checked, but it seems Mr. Dokja was already dead before the mechanism was activated.

...The blood splatter next to him revealed the following words.

"It's getting harder to breathe, and maybe Kim Dokja in this moment should be afraid, but he isn't. It's just another death, and that he should be used to. However, there's a fear that just barely clings to the idea of dying alone, so he can only feel relief in his last moments."

[He is silent, for a moment.]

There was nothing else we found. I have drawn the mechanism, if you would like to look over it. That is all.

[lefthandpath]

... so you didn't have a chance to examine him before the mechanism sprang, is that right?

STRIP CHECK

[yueshen]

[ once mod break is over an acceptable amount of time has passed, here is xie lian! he lets san lang roar for the group's attention, and calls in his usual, clear voice. ]

Everyone, by now we know it is necessary to check each other for injuries that may have been incurred on Thursday evening. If you have an injury, please have someone else account for how you received it.

I am happy to check for injuries on men, but I would ask for at least one other person to do the same, as well as someone to check me, and if someone would volunteer to check for injuries on women along the same lines, that would be very helpful as well.

Please refrain from being immature and reacting as such, as well as refrain from any behavior that would be considered indecent or inappropriate - such actions will be dealt with accordingly. [ he smiles! he is smiling. its week 6! hoe don't do it. ]

Time is of the essence. Be cooperative in your participation, and thorough in your checks.

Thank you all very much.

[ with that, he bows his head! pls hold for sub tls ]

CHATTER & REACTIONS

[yueshen]

[ be weird in here ig ]

PURPLE SUBSTANCE CHECK

[greatdeduction]

[Hi. He's back. Your resident evidence licker. Feel free to throw tomatoes. He's just a bit sullen. Taste nasty. :/]

I had an ability that allows me to find out more information regarding an object. Unfortunately, it involves licking the very thing. The purple substance on the doorway of the hospital and Miss Scheherazade's feet is a mixture of oil paints and gentian violet. I believe that is an antiseptic and antifungal dye.

But most importantly....I learned that this substance was involved with a trap. We need to keep this in mind going forward - and I wonder why the same substance was seen in both locations as it was. It is worth noting.

[sponsoredby]

[ Someone's over here listening to this, but he doesn't actually say anything. Holding rabbit Finley in his lap. ]

DOKJA BODY REPORT

[malewife]

[ I AM SORRY I TOOK SO LONG. HERE IS A SPARKNOTES, since this is Joonghyuk, he will also list it as such aloud:

GENERAL GLANCE
- Dokja is still in his demon king form, wings and horns included
- most of the blood is around his arms and around the stab wound to his heart
- daemon dust was found on the front of his shirt
- the most obvious wound is the stab from his own sword, dealt by the mechanism found in the hospital room (a clean cut straight to and through the heart)

FRONT
- left hand is bloody, there's a stab would through the palm
- some bruising around the neck (smaller hands than Joonghyuk)
- on the right side of his neck, there's also a red spot; it is almost a perfect circle, centered around what appears to be an injection spot. There is a dry blood bead to indicate it is indeed an injection or a needle
- left horn slightly chipped
- partial stab to the right shoulder
- nicks and cuts all over the arms and hands

BACK
- right wing is broken
- wings are covered in cuts similar to his arms ]

I have cross-referenced Kim Dokja's old wounds and these are the ones that are new. Due to the mechanism spoken of in the hospital, I cannot say if the fatal wound is the sword to the chest—however it's possible that a different weapon was used, then covered up. [ BUT IMAGINE HAVING THAT PERCISION TO LAUNCH IT IN THE SAME SPOT. Anyway. ] It can be that he was injected with poison of some kind, but I didn't notice any symptoms showing on the body.

For his coin, he used the tornado in a bottle.

[ This umbrella is his now. ]

In his pocket was his cellphone and a bloody fingerprint on a photo. I've collected his fingerprint as well on a piece of paper.

[greatdeduction]

That explains the state of the Star Circle, at least. And...the "breathing getting harder" part of the story we saw in his blood...that may be a reference to whatever he was poisoned with.

INVESTIGATION REPORT: APARTMENTS

[voltadomar]

We've looked through some of the rooms in the apartment building. We found nothing in A-Qing's or Kim Dokja's rooms. [Nothing.]

In the room Kim Dokja was staying in as a guest, Room 4, a bag of his belongings was found. It's been brought into evidence.

Meanwhile, in Room 8... the door to Miss Scheherazade's room was ripped from its hinges. A hand smeared blood on the doorframe -- not enough to get a print, unfortunately. Inside, some furniture was disturbed.

A broken syringe with a sweet and bitter smell was found in the storage space by the bed. That's about it.

[greatdeduction]

How large was the smear? Did it look at anywhere near a handprint?

HANDS CHECK

[malewife]

Hands. Now.

[ you think he uses a lot of words ]

[perfectdistance]

[Hands immediately.]

Bloodmetry

[bloodread]

From the wound on Sche's torso—she was running, and using fire. That's why her body didn't have any signs of being burnt, but whoever killed her—

[ He cuts himself off and shakes his head, fists clenching. ]

And Dokja's, from the photo—he was in a fight and used the tornado in the bottle like Joonghuk said.

[voltadomar]

[Making some notes.] That solves the mystery of where the fire came from. Thank you.

Do we know where the tornado could have been used?

FEET CHECK.......

[greatdeduction]

Given that Miss Scheherazade had the purple substance on the bottom of her feet...I would task everyone to show their feet as well, specifically the bottom of their fee. One never knows! So, please do so. Time is of the essence.

[powerplay]

[ You're gonna have to come get her feets but it's feets. ]