First Trial

[stagemanagers]

[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.

Comments

[mcfife]

Okay, okay.

[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.

[sugarlumps]

Ugh. Okay, and- I know this PROBABLY isn't, like, quite as much of a priority? But if you're gonna be gross and eat an entire frozen fish, don't quit halfway through and just leave the fish lying on the floor, that's lumping gross.

[alchemistake]

[He has to agree, ew, but also-]

An entire frozen fish...do you think mumble was trying to eat something?

[...]

Princess, where did you find that?

[sugarlumps]

In the freezer? I dunno who was eating it, but they just left, like, half a fish lying there.

[She had to touch it with her shoe, it was gross.]

The place was pretty messed up, too.

[alchemistake]

[Angus is right. Varian's letting all of this talk of automatons and getting back at the Wizard get to his head.

It's just difficult to think about what happened.]

I...was in the scene shop when I heard what was going on, so the only place I really went after was the costume room. Discord and I searched the place top to bottom but only really found one thing out of the ordinary...

[He'll let Discord explain, since he has a better mental layout of the room than he does.]

[disharmonizes]

[Fine, fine, he'll contribute, as much as he's been enjoying just glaring at this Wizard.]

Yes, the whole place was a mess, like a tornado went through. But less fun.

[how is that--]

Someone was in a hurry there. And took a push-cart out.

[mcfife]

[The costume room...]

Where things taken out from there? I found Mumble wearing a lot of heavy clothing that didn't go together, in a fashion sense.

[feudalladyshandmaid]

I found a push cart in the locker rooms, where... Mumble was.

[It feels wrong to say "the body" just yet.]

It looks like it was just abandoned there.

[mayavericks]

[Maya's going to spend most of the trial on edge and defensive of her companions, I can already tell.

But like. She has evidence, so.]

There was a pile of ashes in the dance studio. Amidst it all was a piece they failed to burn. I could not make out what it was meant to be

[alchemistake]

That sounds like somebody was trying to burn something they thought would be incriminating.

Did you keep the piece, Maya?

[mayavericks]

I did.

[She sets it on the edge of his podium, before stepping away to... glare daggers up at the Wizard more?]

Mods

[violentenvies]

[this is so not what he wants to be doing right now, and that monstrosity is still terrifying, but it's time to try and focus.

Salieri frowns at the picture, turning his head to try and see it]

Perhaps I am mistaken...but does that look something like the inside of a piano? Where the hammer hits the string?

[stagemanagers]

[On closer inspection, while the shapes might be similar, it doesn't really look like that.]

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Orpheus shakes his head, trying to snap himself out of his fearful fugue state, and squints at what Maya has to present. ]

The inside of a piano, maybe? Or some kind of similar instrument. I'm not sure about that, though.

[violentenvies]

...there is a strong possibility that this was someone's picture, is there not?

[mcfife]

Do you think it was a picture The Wizard gave us?

[employeeoftheyear]

Why would a weird piano be something bad that happens in the future, though?

[There is a small voice in his head that says "-that would make it more worth to kill an innocent person than losing everything you know and love?"]

[barberic]

I found ash smudged in the kitchen sink. As well as a burnt-up match.

But why in two disparate places?

[mcfife]

They realized it was not fully burned and sought to dispose it it somewhere else. They may have run out of time.

[mayavericks]

Perhaps they did not want to burn the place down? Or, better yet, set off the fire alarms and draw attention to their crime. It would be best to extinguish any residual flames in the sink, wouldn't you think?

[brokeforgood]

Fine. Let's look at the facts.

♫Well, I think it's safe to say
And we can probably all agree
That anybody who met Mumble
fully loved him
Instantly.

[violentenvies]

[Salieri glances over at her, then]

True enough. I'm not aware of anyone he didn't get along with.

[brokeforgood]

So.... Why? Was it a terrible mistake? If they tried to put him in warm clothes, was it because they were trying to warm him up? And... the ashes? What if they tried to burn something to warm him up?

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Orpheus puts a hand over his heart and looks at the floor, respectfully silent for Farrah's tribute to Mumble. ]

[yourattention]

So then who was in the freezer that killed Mumble?

[You're welcome, Sam.]