onceuponacomm | TRIAL I

Trial V

The sounds of Hamelin's flute reach you, wherever you are. No matter the melody (light and whimsical today) it always seem to signal the start of something unwelcome. Whether you resist or not, eventually you'll find yourself drawn to the origin of the song.

The lush greenery of the palace courtyard greets you at the end of your journey, atmosphere heavy like the party from last night was simply an illusion. And at the center of it all, Hamelin smiles, his mouth curved, as he gathers everyone to one side of the palace grounds. With a short note from his flute, the quiet is broken with a small tremor that only grows and grows until the ground itself seems to erupt with chaos.

There's practically no time to react as roots and branches pierce through from the dirt in a wide circle around the group, limbs entwining around each other densely to create a thick wall of branches that obscure any sight of the outside world. And in that pitch black cage, the rumbling continues underfoot, bringing with it the strange sensation of moving up. When the shaking finally seems to die down, what awaits when the branches loosen and unwind is--

The hollowed inside of a grand tree, its size large enough to be comparable to the palace's ballroom. As you look around, you'll see several oversized toadstools (thirty-one for those inclined to count) growing about the place, and a small wooden table where ballots and quills are laid out, in addition to a hard-covered book with the profiles of each and every one of you. Directly behind the table is a particularly large knot, wide enough to stick your hand into.

A glance to the 'windows' in the tree trunk only show thick branches with their foliage and the wide blue sky; those who approach these windows and look down will also see that anyone who tries to escape this way is going to be leading themselves to a very, very long drop. No other exits are visible anywhere in the tree, either.

As absurd as this entire place was, as absurd as this entire situation was, the only way to get out was to play the game.

It was time. The trial for Samidare Asahina's death had begun.

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Most likely. Eizer a punch, or wis the use of a tool, she vas hit and left unable to stop anysing from happening to her.

[He would've expected a whack to the head instead, but if you guys want to put more effort in your murders, whatever.]

Such a strike would require proficiency in martial arts, wouldn't it?

[She's connecting the dots.]

[ Yeah........ We should probably at least go down this line of questioning, hopefully to rule it out. ]

And the fact that we never found the actual murder scene would indicate that they were also... good at cleaning. Right?

Yor was with me at the end of the party cleaning up

[He is not liking where this is going...]

When did you get back to your dorm, though? If it was during or after the time of the murder, you'd have both fallen asleep.

Edited 2021-06-05 17:32 (UTC)

Not that long before the time of the murder Unless Yor knows how to teleport I don't think she'd have time

We don't have a location for the girl's death. It could have been on the other end of the villa in the palace, it could have been on the mansion grounds.

It could have been in the lounge itself.

[...he doesn't like that, but he doesn't have an answer to it either.]

For what it's worth, they may have gotten the adze and the chisel from the workshop, but I'm pretty sure it didn't happen there. Nothing was disturbed or damaged as far as I could tell.

Apparently even those that were awake fell asleep? Can you say for sure she didn't...stay awake somehow and go murder someone?

[Zola sighs]

It's just a possibility. She's not accused of anything yet.

We don't know the murder scene But if it was on the roof, I don't think she'd have had time to get there by 11:30

We don't think it happened there though, do we? There was no sign of struggle there.

The palace is also a decent distance away

It is the closest building to the lodgings, though.

...Though carrying a body all the way from there to the house where she was found seems rather risky, unless the killer had some reason to know ahead of time that everyone else would be asleep.

(no subject)

gemuinemanagement - 2021-06-05 17:48 (UTC) - Expand

biqe - 2021-06-05 17:53 (UTC) - Expand

gemuinemanagement - 2021-06-05 17:56 (UTC) - Expand

How does this sleep curse even work? Does everyone fall asleep at a set time no matter what or does it activate the moment it magically senses murderous intent?

In any case, it renders all our patrol ideas obsolete.

It sure does.

If the tale is any indication, Hamelin would be able to pick and choose who gets affected by his music.

[ So in hindsight, yeah, rip patrols. ]

[He's not going to say I told you so, but Jack's definitely shaking his head. Magic is so inconvenient, y'all.]

[Her eyes go wide, sorrow interrupted by disbelief. Like it never really occurred to her that she would be accused.]

...

My brother taught me how to defend myself in case I ran into any trouble living alone, but...

In this case, whoever did it was hurt, weren't they?

For what it is worth, miss Yor, I don't believe a proficiency in the martial arts is required for such a strike... Do you mean that the culprit may have been hurt in a struggle?

It sounded like she might have scratched someone, at least. I know potions are a concern, but I still have a cut from earlier in the week. So if I was injured after that, it should still be there.

... what kind of tool were you thinking? I could tell you if they had one in the workshop.

I believe a hammer woult most likely fit, zough anysing zat has an end about five inches in vidth woult fit as vell.

[Because that's the width of a baseball, apparently.]

They had all kinds of hammers, yeah. I didn't notice any missing, but given that the adze and the chisel weren't missing either, I think it's safe to say that doesn't mean much.