It's Curtains Mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
stagemanagers) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
itscurtains2021-06-12 12:00 pm
stagemanagers) wrote in itscurtains2021-06-12 12:00 pm
First Trial
[As the investigation ends, you'll hear Hester's voice inviting you to the auditorium. As this happens, the twin doors on either side of the concession stand, across from the gym, will click open. You can enter on either side; both go to the same place.
When you enter the auditorium, it's dark. There's only the small lights along the walkway behind all the seats, just enough to illuminate where you're going. There's a central path between the seats, down towards where you know the stage must be. That's where you must be going, right? As you pass each row of seats, the lights at their ends flick on, marking your procession and slowly making more and more of the room visible. Shortly, you can see your destination: a circle of podiums stationed in the orchestra pit, below the lip of the darkened, curtained stage. They're all identical, labeled with a cast member's name, save for Mumble's, which is draped in black crepe and has a framed monochrome photo of him - Elijah Wood him - on top.
When you reach the podiums, the lights above the stage finally come on. It's time to meet the Wizard.
The mechanical head, with glowing green eyes, is installed above the stage and the still-closed curtain. Even if you were standing on the stage, it'd be well out of reach. It peers down at all of you, its motions fluid, and speaks with a booming, artificial-sounding voice:]
Welcome to your first trial, everyone. I am the Wizard. It's time to determine who was responsible for the murder of Mumble. Feel free to talk amongst yourselves and work together - you'll have to show teamwork if you want to leave this room alive.
When you enter the auditorium, it's dark. There's only the small lights along the walkway behind all the seats, just enough to illuminate where you're going. There's a central path between the seats, down towards where you know the stage must be. That's where you must be going, right? As you pass each row of seats, the lights at their ends flick on, marking your procession and slowly making more and more of the room visible. Shortly, you can see your destination: a circle of podiums stationed in the orchestra pit, below the lip of the darkened, curtained stage. They're all identical, labeled with a cast member's name, save for Mumble's, which is draped in black crepe and has a framed monochrome photo of him - Elijah Wood him - on top.
When you reach the podiums, the lights above the stage finally come on. It's time to meet the Wizard.
The mechanical head, with glowing green eyes, is installed above the stage and the still-closed curtain. Even if you were standing on the stage, it'd be well out of reach. It peers down at all of you, its motions fluid, and speaks with a booming, artificial-sounding voice:]
Welcome to your first trial, everyone. I am the Wizard. It's time to determine who was responsible for the murder of Mumble. Feel free to talk amongst yourselves and work together - you'll have to show teamwork if you want to leave this room alive.
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ROBOTS CAN'T BE WIZARDS, YOU DORK!
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[She is right, robots normally aren't sentient enough to consider magic as a career.]
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Th-that--is a robot-!?
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Wait. What do you mean 'if we want to leave this room alive'?
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cw: suicidal ideation
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The circle of podiums, the fact they're being made to stand together for a trial is already stressful enough. He can't say that he was investigating the crime scene with the thought in mind that he personally might have to suss out who actually did this. Like, Varian is smart, but that doesn't mean he wants to do this at all.
But beyond that...the visage of the Wizard is enough to leave him more than briefly stunned. Here he'd just resigned himself to the fact he'd be a hidden presence forever, or maybe even a fabricated one. Turns out that's not the case.]
...an automaton??
[Also he'll get to the leaving the room alive part THIS IS MORE IMPORTANT]
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A--a what? You know what that thing is?!
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It... it could also be an animatronic.
[ That's what her first thought is anyway ]
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Did you really think Hester made me up? No, no.
[The head turns to the side, slightly - oh, here comes Hester! She's perched in a mechanical bubble-looking thing that's lowering itself down from above to hover off to one side of the stage, a bit lower than the level of the Wizard's head. Hester does not seem entirely comfortable with this state of affairs, but she's managing!]
Hester can handle the day-to-day stuff, but she doesn't need to deal with this sort of thing. Trials can get ugly. [...] I'll take care of this myself.
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This is... I've heard some people passing through Arendelle talk about automatons. But I didn't think they were this... big.
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[Cassandra's squinting, hard at this wizard, the way it shifts and moves. The grip on her prop sword tightens. She can't be less stressed right now, not with their lives apparently on the line?
But she can put herself to good use - namely, eyeing this Wizard "automaton". Watching it shift and react to them, gauging it's reactions.]
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He hugs his sides, barely even reacting to The Wizard’s appearance. He does, however, look up at him to meekly ask a question.]
Mr. Wizard, please tell me this is nothing but a cruel nightmare.
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I'm sorry, Spongebob. But it's not.
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You will not lay a hand on any of us.
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Okay, H, babes, not what I was thinking when I asked to meet him.
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Gotta say, not really what I was expecting?
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[Deep breathes, Angus. We can't fight The Wizard just yet. There's other things they can do.
He stands up straight and puts on his Princely Leader voice.]
It's either our lives or the life of Mumble's killer. We can't let our friend die in vain, or else what kind of people would we be? We must find the culprit or find another way out.
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Mods
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Catherd for easy finding
He'll wait for the talking to die down into a bit more of a lull before he pushes himself up a bit taller against his podium. He's...he's a short boy, but he doesn't have trouble projecting his voice at least.]
Hey, everyone? There's something I've been thinking about with what was found that I wanted to bring up. It feels like it might have been important, but I'm not entirely sure...
[So he's hoping someone with a more discerning eye could help him piece it together.]
In the kitchen, there was found a broken mug that someone had tea in, ash smudged in the kitchen sink along with a burnt match, as well as blood droplets around the shattered glass. It could be that somebody just had an accident, but since there were signs that tracks were left through the blood like something was rolled through it, it gives me reason to believe it wasn't. There was a pushcart missing from the costume room that was found where Mumble was. So...I'm actually wondering if that pushcart wasn't used to move his body after he died.
There was also a bowl of ice cream in the sink that somebody neglected to wash out completely. Again, it could have been from the night before, or it could have been someone tossing things in there in a hurry. A lot of us go in and out of the kitchen though, so it feels weird that dishes would just get left like that...doesn't it?
[Varian starts to try to pace, only to realize he just bumped into Salieri in his attempt. Sorry-
He'll go back to his podium before he continues.]
Anyway, I wanted to pose a few questions. Theories, I guess you could call them.
The first is that someone could have invited Mumble to the kitchen later at night, maybe to get something to eat while they talked. It would explain the half-eaten f-...the uh. Food, that was in the freezer. But there were boxes thrown around, scattered all over the place, which sounds more like somebody in a rush than somebody just looking for something. Either way, if somebody wanted to hurt Mumble, that would have been an easy way to get him in one place that didn't seem suspicious.
[He pauses, looking. Considerably stressed to have to bring this up.]
I'm also wondering about the possibility that Mumble could have been poisoned, either through food, or the tea. Poisons are common in chemistry, but it doesn't even have to be actual poison. Something as simple as a really dangerous dose of alcohol...
[And yall, there is Absinthe floating around right now.]
I know that doesn't explain why he ended up the way he was, cold and freezing to death...but people have speculated that the culprit could have dressed Mumble warmly themselves in a hurry to make it seem more believable that he was actually freezing. Please understand that I'm not trying to say that isn't what happened, I'm just trying to figure out how all of these other pieces fit in with what we know. Why else would they need to transport his body to a completely different place? To make it seem like he'd wandered there on his own...? I thought maybe Mumble could have tried to bundle up himself, but that doesn't explain the dark hair caught in the scarf he was wearing that seemed too long to be his.
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Someone's been poisoning our ice cream?
[... You know that might not be the most important piece of info but
Look, he's been eating a lot of ice cream this week to cope.]
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...Paved With Good Intentions cw: reference to historical suicide
Finally, she gathers her strength, standing up in Salieri's arms while she stands at her podium as tall and as straight as she can. Even as her eyes still yet look distant and terrified.
Her voice doesn't do much to inspire courage, either, for it trembles, even as she sings.]
Take off this uniform and leave the show
And I'm standing here right now because I have to know
Have I been guilty all this time...? ♪
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I couldn't sleep last night.
[She looks down at her podium.]
I brought the photo with me, and...I decided to finally look at it. Everyone else had, by that point. What I saw was...three. Three coffins, inside a crypt, with these...cards...beneath each one. One, my husband's. "Kaiser Franz Joseph, 1830-1916. Died of pneumonia". There was mine-"Empress Elisabeth, 1837-1898. Assassinated by anarchist Luigi Lucheni in Geneva, Switzerland.". And then--and...then.
[Her hands come together, as if holding the photo at that moment. She's not, of course.]
"Kronprinz Rudolf. 1858-1889. Killed his mistress, and then...himself. At Mayerling Hunting Lodge, after an argument with his parents."
[Her hands shake.]
"This death, and the resulting political changes in succession, are believed to be among the causes...that helped to lead Europe to a half-century of war and political upheaval."
An argument...with my son...a man I...I've never met...and yet...could it be? Am I really what he said? Was I really what began the doom of the Hapsburgs? And...even of Europe?
[Her hands fell.]
I didn't sleep. I was...tempted. To kill. But I couldn't. In the end...what would the use be? Someone here would lose their lives...and I...and I see people from the future here. That they're here, and telling me such things about what happened...but...they're not angry or sad, it's just...their lives! How could I be selfish to think saving my son from mortal sin would...make things right?
That's not what an empress...no. That's not what I would do. No matter how painful it would be to know how my son died, it's not worth taking another life to change what Death has wrought.
And...when I realized that, I felt...better. Like a weight was off my shoulders. I went to burn the photo with a song in my heart, and...I danced, like I never danced before! I went everywhere...but...
[She falters a bit.]
As I was setting the photo alight... I saw that the freezer door was open. I thought I'd...closed it after I'd gotten my ice cream!...so...I went over, and...made sure it was closed, properly......before I left...with what was left of the burning photo in my hand...
[She stops, for now, closing her eyes as she wipes them.]
I didn't know anyone might have been in there...
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It was an accident. It's all a mistake. There is dread in his stomach, tying into terrible knots as he moves to offer her a handkerchief, unthinkingly, as she wipes her eyes]
It was an accident. Purely. Nothing more. How were you to know? [he's shaky, though, resting a hand on the railing to steady himself as well, and ask--]
Then...what happened after you left?
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VOTING
Look at you! That was fantastic! You're all doing so well - you're going to be a great team. But we're getting ahead of ourselves. This week, you still need to vote for the person responsible for Mumble's death.
[As he says so, the tops of your podiums slide back, revealing the voting mechanisms. It's just buttons labelled with each cast member's name; no write-ins, sadly.]
Re: VOTING
He looks up at him with an ice cold glare that's completely uncharacteristic of him.]
... Fuck you.
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I have no better icon for happy surprise, sorry about that
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EXECUTION: CAME THE LAST NIGHT OF SADDNESS
In the middle of it all stands Empress Elisabeth of Austria, looking perplexed but resigned to her fate. Tucked behind her ear the ice rose Elsa made for her sparkles in the stage lights and Hester, steeling herself in her box, begins to sing:]
All our times have come
Here, but now they're gone
[A tall and imposing masked figure steps out from behind Sissi and takes both her hands in theirs, sweeping her into the small crowd of circling dancers.]
Seasons don't fear the reaper
Nor do the wind, the sun, or the rain
You can be like they are
Come on, Sissi
Don't fear the reaper
Sissi, take his hand
[In the distracting swirl of full skirts and coat tails it might be easy to to lose track of Sissi if not for the fact her face is the only one visible. She looks over her shoulder at the person gripping her hands, terror gripping her expression but somehow she doesn’t seem surprised. After all, he’d said she’d married her husband to escape him. With Franz dead and death being her destined fate, how could she get away now? ]
Don't fear the reaper
We'll be able to fly
Don't fear the reaper
Sissi, he’s your man
[The other dancers pay her and her partner no mind, tirelessly twirling with no pauses in their dance but their movements are oddly stiff, almost like their joints won’t bend the way the dance needs them to. Sissi’s partner spins her to face him, gazing down at her through his mask. She lifts her gaze to look up at him- and blanches, all resignation gone from her body language. She starts to shout, to make any kind of sound, but Hester’s voice drowns her out.]
La, la la, la la
La, la la, la la
Love of two is one
Here, but now they're gone
Came that last night of sadness
And it was clear she couldn't go on
[Around Sissi and Death the dancers part and still, encircling them but leaving a wide enough gap for their audience to watch what unfurls. Death grips her hands and begins to waltz while she struggles, trying to pry herself away from him but his grip doesn’t budge.]
Then the door was open, and the wind appeared
The candles blew, and then disappeared
The curtains flew, and then he appeared
Saying, "Don't be afraid"
[He drags her through the waltz, all the while she tries to pull away and run off-stage. Abruptly it all stops and he turns her back to face the audience, finally letting go of her hands and delicately cups her chin and the top of her head-]
Come on, Sissi
She had taken his hand
[-and snaps her neck. Hester chokes on a note as Sissi’s body goes limp in Death’s arms, her eyes going wide with horror. Her hand flies to her necklace, gripping the tiny golden ‘H’ like it’s her own lifeline. Her eyes dart to the Wizard, staring up at him before she finishes the song.]
Sh-she had become like they are
Come on, Sissi
Don't fear the reaper
[On the stage Death dips Sissi’s slack body and leans in to press what might be a kiss through a solid black mask as the curtain closes. The music trails off and Hester clasps her hands over her mouth as soon as the last note leaves her lips, turning and racing out of the balcony box before the spotlight goes out. The glowing green lights of the Wizard’s mechanical head go dim just after and, in the back of the house, the locks on the doors audibly click unlocked.
You are now free to go.]
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In many ways, Sissi's death is a relief. At least it comes to an end. At least the music dies down, the mechanical head stops moving, and they can escape.
Not that Maya does. She waits until the last person has left, sword still in hand, before finally following after.]
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