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

[disharmonizes]

...Please say you're not suggesting a show-and-tell.

[alchemistake]

Yeah, I-

[He should keep his mouth shut, but.]

I still have my photo, but I really would rather not show anyone.

[violentenvies]

[eyebrow arch at Discord because he sure bets you wouldn't buddy but to Varian, his expression turns kinder]

I'm not saying that we should show what it is necessarily, only that we have it.

[tellthestory]

I don't have mine anymore.

[.....]

But, um...some other people saw it, before I threw it away.

[whatyouwant]

I did.

[employeeoftheyear]

I-it's okay if I show you guys my picture.

[He grabs it from his pocket, unfolds it, and places it on his podium.

It is a picture of a town, or, what used to be a town. It is drowning in lava and there is no sign of life anywhere.]

[alchemistake]

[Well, in that case...

Varian reaches into a front pocket of the overalls he'd taken to wearing, pulling out a folded up photo.]

I'll say this- I don't blame anyone who might have thrown theirs away or destroyed it before now, so that doesn't necessarily mean anything if you did.

[feudalladyshandmaid]

[There's a crack in Cassandra's mask as she looks at Varian, and the photo in his hands. Somehow, his reassurance makes her feel worse.]

Varian...

[mayavericks]

I... no longer have my photo.

[Assuming Salieri didn't give it back to her.]

I can also vouch that this does not look like anything that would have been in Angus's photo, either.

[violentenvies]

I have mine. [Salieri will hold his up, showing everyone the headlines of famous composers with his name missing]

Additionally, I have Mademoiselle Farrah's and Maya's. [Those he also pulls out of his jacket, though he doesn't show their subject matter]

[mayavericks]

Salieri-Sensei.

[Maya actually looks a little pale.]

[brokeforgood]

[Well. That's weird. Farrah pulls something from her pocket. It's a photo. But she had definitely given Salieri hers and he's still holding it.]

[violentenvies]

[what??? Salieri's head jerks over to look at her]

Farrah? What is that?

[mcfife]

[Looks at Salieri. Looks at Farrah.]

[disharmonizes]

Fine, here.

[He'll hold up his picture, backwards, so people can at least see it's whole.]

Good enough?

[sugarlumps]

I got rid of mine, it was lumping gross.

[voicerights]

[Wordlessly, the SQUIP procures a folded-up photo. It does not open such.]

[feudalladyshandmaid]

[Groans in annoyance.]

I burned mine. I didn't want to look at it anymore.

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Orpheus glances at Eurydice before pulling his photo out of his pocket. He only shows off the back of it, but it's intact. ]

[comeandfindme]

[ Peregrine seems...not any better? But she's able to like, talk. ]

No way. ...I don't carry that thing on me.

[howtheworldwas]

[ Like Orpheus, Eurydice displays the back of her photograph. ]

[wanderlusttitania]

[It takes her a bit to recover, what between Peregrine's description of hypothermia, of Spongebob, and her just...still very clearly being dazed about everything that is happening. Still, she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.]

I apologize, monsieur Salieri. I don't have mine. Mine is in my chest in Longacre room.

[samefacesyndrome]

[ Rina digs through her hoodie pocket and finds she still has hers. It's... just a girl? ]

I have mine.

[ ...... ]

...I don't know who this is though.

tw: sexual assult

[whatyouwant]

[Elle produces her picture out of her skirt pocket. It's a little crumpled, but it clearly shows an older man kissing Elle. She does not seem to be enjoying it.]

Not sure who this guy is, but here's my picture.

[barberic]

[Benjamin pats down his pockets, and then frowns.]

Mine is... In my trunk, I believe. I wasn't keen on carrying it with me.