Week Two

[stagemanagers]

[Last week, no murder happened! Instead, a lot of students started work on Salieri's school play, which sounds pretty cool even though it's gonna be short, several people destroyed Bigfoot and got a few mysterious clues, and Orpheus started a fire in the kitchen! All in all, not a bad first week!

Though some people might have gone to talk to Hester, she hasn't made any more public announcements. There's some new papers posted up around the cafeteria, but it looks like it's just your upcoming lunch schedule. Seems like nothing's driving you towards Rule Five except, perhaps, all of the kidnapping and how criminally boring some of you are finding the school. Maybe the Balladeer is right, and you really can just wait this out? Only time will tell!]


Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday

(( No new locations this week, since y'all haven't paid in blood! Hester's office hours are still open, as are regains! Make sure to complete your first activity check by Tuesday! ))

Comments

Weight Room

[mayavericks]

[Most of Maya's workouts have typically consisted of cardio and dancing. But desperate times call for desperate measures. She's never used this sort of equipment before, but... She starts by picking up a couple of freeweights and doing what feels familiar.

She intends to be silent the whole time but... The presence of Angus's envelope is a curious one. And hell, maybe she just wants listen to something else, other than her thoughts.]

They certainly know how to get under our skin, don't they?

[mcfife]

[Angus lifts the barbells one final time and sets them to rest. He's learned from his previous workouts to be more careful of his limits, even if Maya could spot him if needed.]

They want to scare us. We don't know if the visions he's given are certain to come to pass.

[mayavericks]

We don't. But the images they provided certainly looked real enough.

[She'd left hers behind in the cafeteria, but she still feels the weight of the vision on her shoulders.]

They've already proven themselves powerful enough to rend us powerless and lost. Should it be surprising that they could do more?

[mcfife]

Do you think that The Wizard can ensure that those futures do occur? [Probability magic...such deviousness.] That would make these photos more of a threat than a reward.

[mayavericks]

The fact that they were photos would imply that he's already made them come to pass once, wouldn't you think?

[mcfife]

He set our futures when we arrived. That evil...!

[He slams his fist on the rack.]

Manipulating the timeline until he found one where I died! Is this how he ensures that I obey him until my release?

[mayavericks]

Died?

[Maya... probably shouldn't be so surprised by that, considering everything.]

What did he show you?

[mcfife]

[Grunt.]

This. [He unfolds the envelope and pulls out a crumpled photo. The photo itself shows very little: Angus is on a wood floor, very likely a stage. He is also bisected at his waist.

Above him, a pink figure with long, flowing pigtails wields a giant bloody scythe in one hand, and the other, facing away from the camera, has a rapier.]

I don't know who that killer is.

[mayavericks]

[Maya takes the photo into her hands. She gives it a once over, assuming that like with everything else Angus seems to mention, she won't recognize it. Yet... There's something about the outfit that strikes her as eerily familiar. The jacket on one shoulder, though slightly different, certainly looks like the one Maya had only just found.

The coattails, of course, are an identical match to the uniform in her own photo.

Her mouth feels abruptly dry.]

You have no idea at all?

[For the first time since her arrival, Maya sounds shaken.]

[mcfife]

[He shakes his head.]

I would think it's an alien I haven't met before. It's likely that the would take a moment of weakness to attack. The stage, however, could be where they launch a surprise assault.

[Was he visiting The Hootsman? Where were he and Ralathor? Was it meant to be a duel? Was it an assassin?]

Maya? [He pulls the photo away. She must be upset at the amount of gore.] I'm sorry, I should have warned you before I showed you it.

[mayavericks]

That's not it, McFife-san.

[Abruptly, she wishes she'd kept her own photo. At least then she could explain the conclusion she was jumping to. She would love to be wrong about this, would love to show Angus and have him laugh in her face.]

That uniform. It is -- similar to one I would have worn at a performance.

[mcfife]

What? [He crushes the photo again in his hand, then quickly smooths it out.]

How similar? Would it just be a coincidence?

[mayavericks]

These performances are... Very unique, from what I understand. Exclusive.

[She looks to the photo again.]

I have not met my fellow competitors yet. I would not be able to tell you who that was. But I am certain that I am meant to fight her at some point.

[mcfife]

[Angus has two questions. The problem is which to ask first, leading to a moment of sputtering between different series of words.]

Who - which - if - but -

Are you battling other actors outside of work? [She's in a tournament??]

You fight aliens?

[mayavericks]

No! At least, I didn't think so, but...

[She pinches the bridge of her nose. If the Wizard had photos of not just herself, but another competitor, then clearly she was allowed to talk about it, right?]

The tournament was organized by a giraffe, so... Perhaps fighting aliens is equally as possible?

[mcfife]

A...giraffe? [Of course. Giraffes are highly magical creatures in some parts of the world.] One of great power, if it can organize a tournament.

Perhaps it can call upon beings from other dimensions, if that is one of its powers.

[mayavericks]

Perhaps so.

[Her stomach twists faintly.]

Perhaps this is all an extension of his game?

[mcfife]

This doesn't feel much of a tournament, Maya. What magic creature would willingly form a pact with an evil wizard and bring in unwilling competitors?

...Unless the being itself has been corrupted into evil.

[mayavericks]

I know only what he has told me. We competitors were assembled in order to fight to see who had the most shine as a stage girl.

[mcfife]

What is shine? Is that an actor's glory?

[mayavericks]

That's what I've understood it to mean. Whatever it is, it powers our stage and makes our performances all the stronger.

[mcfife]

I think that's how it works. [Cooler actors mean the performance is better, right?] In this case, The Wizard does not wish to see us shine. There is no glory in threats and fear.

Whatever your giraffe is, he is not in cahoots with these people. Thank the gods.

[mayavericks]

That is a relief, but... [Maya looks to Angus once more.]

If not, then it does not explain how you meet your end at the hand of one of our competitors.

[mcfife]

Could she be an assassin sent to the tournament for other reasons?

[mayavericks]

I don't see why an assassin would be necessary in our duels. I can imagine it would limit the amount of shine the giraffe would be able to witness?

[But... who knows.]