fourth 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. Varian and Salieri, side by side, now have theirs draped in black crepe and with a framed monochrome photo of them on top.

When you reach the podiums, the lights above the stage finally come on. The Wizard is once again waiting for you. Beside it Hester is slowly lowers in on her bubble. There's no flashy costume this time, just a plain black dress belted with green satin around her waist. She sits in her seat with her head down and her hands in her lap like she's trying to make herself as small as possible. As if, if she tried hard enough, she could just disappear despite the lights on her.

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 fourth trial, everyone. It's time to determine who was responsible for the murder of Salieri. Feel free to talk amongst yourselves and work together - you'll have to show teamwork if you want to leave this room alive.

Comments

[howtheworldwas]

Then...did somebody else take them?

[feudalladyshandmaid]

Is there a way to tell?

[fourbutts]

If the person who did this took them, then... they might be hurt.

[howtheworldwas]

....Yeah. Okay.

[ a deep sigh. finally, eurydice looks up. ]

Then we should probably see who's hurt.

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Orpheus nods and pushes up his sleeves. No injuries here. ]

[sugarlumps]

[LSP will take off her uniform jacket, there's no apparent wounds on her hands or arms.]

[mayavericks]

[Maya holds up her hands. Her right hand pretty rough looking, but only from using her sword so much. The other has an injury, but it looks to be about a week old?]

[howtheworldwas]

[ ....

it looks, old, but...better safe than sorry. ]

Where did you get that?

[mayavericks]

[Maya glances at her hand and then down to the floor.]

I... was helping dig last week. For the -- For our friends.

Benjamin can attest to that much.

[howtheworldwas]

[ oh... oh no...

Eurydice nods, grimly. ]

First time, yeah? I'm -- sorry. [ smaller: ] And thank you.

[barberic]

[He nods.]

[feudalladyshandmaid]

[Cassandra shrugs her flannel off, leaving the undershirt as she rolls up her sleeves. No injuries here.]

...Do you think we might have to look more... thoroughly?

[fourbutts]

Maybe at some point, but... let's see what happens here first?

[feudalladyshandmaid]

[Looks at this group, where literally anything could conceivably happen.]

Probably safe to just check arms first then.

[mayavericks]

Possibly. We could be looking at a blow to any part of the body. The ribs, the abdomen, the legs.

Maybe we should... split into groups based off of gender and... Check one another?

[This is the weirdest and most serious way she's ever asked someone to undress for her.]

[comeandfindme]

[ Deadpan: ]

Literally everyone here has seen me without a shirt, I don't care.

[comeandfindme]

[ nah i ain't doin' that to y'all again— Peregrine pulls back her cloak to show her arms. No injuries here. ]

[barberic]

[Benjamin readily rolls up his bloody shirtsleeves to show his forearms, which are completely clean.

He has thin scabs, like blisters, on his knuckles. Oh, and a deep, fresh cut on the palm of his hand.]

[howtheworldwas]

[ the blisters don't look nearly as suspicious as that cut. ]

Where...where did you get that?

[barberic]

From Antonio's dagger.

[WOW, BENJI, THAT'S NOT SUS AT ALL.]

I did it to myself. To test a theory.

[disharmonizes]

You--

[oh

my god

benji???

YOU KNOW WHAT ONE THING AT A TIME]

...Well, did you get anything from it?

[fourbutts]

Yeah, probably.

[ She can help check too, but for right now she's going to just take off her jacket and roll up her sleeves. A few specks of paint here and there, but no injuries. ]

[brokeforgood]

[Farrah undoes the jacket she’s wearing, and OH GOD SHES COVERED IN SO MUCH BLOOD—-

Oh. Wait. They knew about that. She’s clear, otherwise. But—-

She does fumble for a moment, with whatever she had tucked into the jacket.]

[disharmonizes]

[Discord has a cut on one of his hands, but it looks old and mostly healed up. He'll roll up his sleeves, too, just. Showing off the lack of injuries there.]

[defyingfrigidity]

[Elsa rolls her sleeves up as far as she can; little fading Bruni pawprints are there, as usual, but no other marks.]