WEEK 4 TRIAL

[probe]

POPULATION: 23

Rise and shine, little sinners. Did you rest well? Hope you weren't too perturbed by the events of the day before. Things seem to be perfectly normal throughout your morning, but at 12pm, everyone will receive a mass text message to their phone.

trial. noon.

Whether you agree or disagree, soon you will find yourself physically moving toward the conference room on the bottom floor, filing into the room and taking a seat in one of the vacant chairs. Two metal boxes sit at the end of each table along with a collection of pens and colored notecards. At the head of the room, Wrath, Greed, Despair and Sloth patiently wait as the TV above them displays a message.

Victim: Eleanor Shellstrop

Once the last participant enters the room, the door will swing closed behind them and lock them inside.

Wrath is sitting on the table, organizing notes and gently sliding them to Greed. Sloth is here with what looks like a dog-shaped neck pillow sticking out of the edges of their hood. The spiraled horn on the top of their head is longer and sharper. Greed is leaning against the table in an attempt to be present, hands tentatively reaching forward to take the papers from Wrath. Despair has taken their usual seat, just vibing here as they quietly observe. Oddly, Sloth, Greed and Wrath are not in their cloaks today. Instead, they are in sweatpants (shorts in Wrath's case) and cozy hoodies in their color with their symbol printed on the front. The hoods are pulled over their heads however. Once everyone has settled, Sloth chimes in.

Everyone has nine hours again! You can do it! Last time, you even did it a little early! Wow!

🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

Hello, and welcome to your fifth trial! Over the course of the next nine hours, characters will have the opportunity to discuss, investigate and theorize about the events of the day before! While mini-investigations were held yesterday, today is the day characters will have time to examine the body of the victim and explore relevant locations.

There will be a mod-tag break between 4pm EST/1pm PST to 5pm EST/2pm PST. While the trial may continue and players can tag each other, mod-led threads such as questions and investigations will be on hold.

Finally, while voting is not mandatory, we do have a voting page should characters wish to vote! Please be sure that your vote is in by the time trial finishes (9pm EST/6pm PST) if you wish to vote.

Good luck, and have fun!

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Comments

[probe]

[it's more like someone was moving quickly and left drops of blood behind. harrow heads in the same direction as grace, actually, until the blood trail abruptly ends around a puddle of blood. there's a lot of puddles of blood around here, as well as random people who have holes in their heads or are missing limbs, like usual.

grace calls for the dog, and sheila heads towards that cluster of restaurants and buildings, and they find... dog! there is a fluffy pom outside of one of the restaurants, eating something small on the ground.

the alleyways and backs seem clear. it's hard to tell what direction the blood smears off in, but it's like that rusty sort of color, like old stains.

just for clarity - sheila and grace are now right outside a restaurant, and harrow is a few feet back, looking at the ended blood trail.]

[bonetiddies]

[Cool. Well, Sheila and Grace probably have that covered. I hope the pom is eating a bloody human wrist because that would be the funniest outcome. Harrow will continue looking at the blood trail.

Is it possible to distinguish this trail from the ones that usually show up around here? Is it fresher or less fresh? If so, then can she tell if there's anything up with any of the other puddles of blood? If not, she'll check them anyway just in case - both the one the blood trail ends at and also the random ones around. Anything else in any of the blood puddles - bits of flesh or bone or brain?]

[alteracion]

Oh no what's in its mouth. Hey puppyyyyy!

[ oh no. anyway, grace will crouch near the dog and hold out the bone? harrow gave her? she regrets not carrying meat snacks now. pspspspspsps noises are happening ]

C'mere little guy. Don't you want a nice juicy bone?

[ if nothing else she hopes she can distract it long enough for sheila to sneak grab it. ]

[toesies]

[This is probably fine.

She starts cooing at the dog while trying to get a better look at the thing it's eating.]

Aw... Hi, buddy! Do you remember me? Look at this super tasty treat Grace brought you!

[Is the thing even something that can be grabbed? She mostly wants to get a good look at it in case it's too soft or flimsy but, yeah. Please stop eating precious baby pom so she can grab it.]

[probe]

[it's really, really difficult to distinguish the trail - there are a lot of random puddles of gore that show up in this area in particular. as harrow is checking one of them, one of the random people just steps in a blood puddle and doesn't seem to notice. this person looks up, and then immediately gets squished by a very large invisible object. this is why it's difficult to tell where the blood trail goes.

the pom freezes, and growls at grace for a second. there's red all over it's sweet little maw. now that she's close enough, grace can see that the dog is chewing on something small and pink. there's a pile of these small pink things next to the dog.

when sheila starts cooing, a puff of fire comes out of the dog's mouth. and then it turns back to its feast and opens it's mouth entirely and just blasts the shit out of what it was eating with fire.]

[bonetiddies]

[Well. Blood trail check defeated for now, she'll just run over and try to throw her robe over the pile of pink things? (The one she wears around her shoulders she didn't just strip). Hopefully maybe she can stop all the evidence from being completely incinerated?]

[alteracion]

[ well! shit! harrow's got the fire contained and. well. she expects the dog hates that, so while she flinches and looks like she wants to die (THEIR EVIDENCE) she does not move closer or further from the dog ]

It's okay! It's okay, see, I'm not touching anything. [ she is ready to catch it if it bolts but acting supremely calm in the hopes that the dog doesn't set MORE THINGS on fire, god, eleanor, your CHOICES ] Shhh, it's okay.

[toesies]

[...

STARES AT THE SUN

AND SWEETLY:]

Well, someone's getting enrolled in obedience school!

[She will assist Grace in chasing the dog down if necessary but, like. Does it smell like burnt shrimp or burnt pork? And what restaurant are they all standing in front of, anyway?]

[probe]

[the dog yelps in surprise at harrow running at it and takes off into the distance at top speeds... goodbye dog. it's gone i'm not rping a dog.

but the good news is that harrow saves the pile of things from being set completely on fire. it smells strongly of cooked shrimp. it also looks strongly like cooked shrimp, because that's what it is! hooray, it wasn't fingers.

also there's a red trail that is leading into the restaurant.]

[bonetiddies]

[She lifts up her robe, which now smells like cooked shrimp, and makes a face. Also, there was red on its mouth - is there more blood around here. Or. Or any cocktail sauce.

Anyway, she'll just pick up the shrimpies in her nasty robe, I guess. What's the name of the restaurant! It should have a good pun name in Eleanor's honor like Scampi On In. She'll follow the blood trail too I guess I just felt rude because it was Sheila's trail.]

[alteracion]

[ grace sighs and sends out some texts, but. is the red trail blood or shrimp cocktail sauce. can grace tell by putting her finger on it. she wears gloves. ]

Okay, well, I'm not bringing the fire puppy back to trial. If someone wants to argue it can help us, they can go get it themselves! [ but yeah fine let's go in the stupid restaurant ]

[toesies]

[...

She smells the shrimp and shudders.]

Oh, god. I think I have Post Traumatic Shrimp Disorder.

[AT LEAST... IT WAS NOT RAINING SHRIMP... Anyway, she glances at Wrath as she follows after Grace and Harrow.]

Do we need the dog?

[probe]

[there's red on the ground - how are you going to tell if it's blood or cocktail sauce if you don't taste it? wow? it's not the same texture as blood though, i'll give you that so you can probably assume it's cocktail sauce judging by the smell and consistency.

A Salt and Battery is the name of the restaurant. let's say they use this turn to walk into the restaurant. there's something hanging from the front door, and the red trail continues on into the restaurant.

wrath wanders after them in their short shorts and hoodie, eyes on their phone. they glance up at sheila, and shrug.]

If you do, it'll probably end up back at trial.

[bonetiddies]

[You can absolutely tell the difference between blood and cocktail sauce without tasting it, but only if you went to necromancy school for nerds. So the whole trail leading into the restaurant is cocktail sauce? I'm going to be straight up honest with you that the only reason Harrow wouldn't taste it is that the dog might have put its tongue there.

Also lol. What's hanging from the door.]

[alteracion]

Takeru says we haven't gotten the body yet... Makes sense, since we're following cocktail sauce. [ she says this right as they step in, so I will give us a round before she gets the update text. sheila can have the trail of cocktail sauce and harrow the hanging thing, grace is going to go into. uh. either the dining area or the kitchen depending on which way the trail DOESN'T lead, to see if she can find something outside that ]

[toesies]

Well, that sucks. Where could she have gone?

[What happened to sniffing the evidence, y'all. Sheila will absolutely swipe a finger through the sauce(?) and sniff it to confirm.

Anyway, she will glance at the walls, floor and ceiling to make sure there's nothing else visibly off before she follows carefully the red trail. What's up?]

[probe]

[the trail into the restaurant seems to be mostly cocktail sauce. it smells like it too! there's no way you wouldn't be able to tell, i haven't had shrimp cocktail in a while and i can clearly remember the smell of it. there's a slightly coppery smell that sheila will notice also, however.

there is a rope hanging from the door, with a broken stockpot tied to it. it's covered in the same red stuff as the trail. there's a splatter of red on the doorframe, as well, on either side.

the cocktrail (cocktail trail) that grace and sheila are following gets faint in places, but if grace is looking closely she can see it goes through the dining area, towards the kitchen. does they want to go into the kitchen?

nothing on the walls, floor or ceiling.]

[bonetiddies]

[Haha. I was so afraid when something was tied to the door and we got a body update. Picture Harrow looking unusually wigged out for a second as she looks up until she realizes it's just a stockpot.

Is the splatter on the doorframe blood or cocktail sauce? She will sniff it. And then she will examine the rope tied to the stockpot. What is it tied to? What kind of rope is it? Would she be able to untie it and get it down?

Someone should probably go check if there's a walk-in freezer in here.]

[alteracion]

Uh. Eleanor died here, apparently? They got the body when we walked in. [ wild? Grace is a little distracted so I'll let Kyuu go to the kitchen, and grace is going to check out the dining area to try and figure out how the trail went. did it go over or under or around tables etc? ]

[toesies]

[Hm.]

The sauce smells... slightly coppery, too. So, that's fun.

[Potential bloody cocktrail... Sheila will go into the kitchen, sure. What's up? I hope there's a trap there that kills her.]

[probe]

[it is cocktail sauce, on the door. the normal kind of rope is tied to the door at the top, and the stockpot is hanging right down the center of the doorway, swinging back and forth gently, in and out of the restaurant.

of note: the door was open when they entered the restaurant. harrow can untie it if she wants.

the trail went around tables, in a sort of zig-zaggy pattern, like whoever was going through was unsteady.

sheila walks into the kitchen - and that doesn't happen. wouldn't that be wild though? the kitchen is a bit of a mess - things are knocked off the counter on the floor. there are still things on the counter, however, like cooking utensils and such. across the room there is a big door that has a dish rack in front of it.]]

[bonetiddies]

[She will untie it to take it with her but not before snapping a pic of what it looked like with her phone, I guess. Was it holding the door open, or was the door just opened all the way?

Harrow will follow Sheila towards the kitchen? Is the dish rack like. Upright outside that door or knocked over in some way? Does it look like it usually belongs there? Are there any scrape or dust marks on the floor that would suggest it was recently moved?

Also, would it be possible for Harrow, being careful to move it a little out of the way of the door on her own, or is it a two man job?]

[alteracion]

Whoever walked around to leave that trail might've been... injured? It looks unsteady anyway.

[ well. i guess we're just going to be three assholes in the kitchen since following the dining room trail only leads here, and sheila and harrow can take care of the dish rack because grace is going to look around the counters to see if there's anything obviously missing or off? and maybe find a fridge to see where all these shrimps came from ]

[toesies]

[She will take a look at the things on the floor, to see if there's anything broken or like — something you would not normally find in a restaurant kitchen.

The dish rack will also get a closer look. Is it only dishes and miscellaneous kitchen things, or is there anything there that's out of place? Any blood, smudges, suspicious smells...?

Anyway, assume Sheila will help Harrow move it if necessary.]

[probe]

[the door was open all the way!

the dish rack is upright outside the door. there's some scuff marks leading up to it that suggest yes, it might have been moved. it does not budge when harrow tries to move it out of the way on her own. it barely moves when sheila helps. you two are tiny and weak.

there's a knife block on one of the counters missing one knife, she'll notice. there's a stove with a frying pan and some pots on it, though there is a space where perhaps there once was a pot where there is now not. a garbage can is on the other side of the counter. both sheila and grace would notice a couple of things on the floor like a ladle, a broken food processor, and some blood droplets.

no fridges though. just that one door that harrow and sheila are struggling with. if they keep trying to push the dish rack they'll manage it after a minute.]