whimsicalism: (Default)
Castle W Mods ([personal profile] whimsicalism) wrote in [community profile] castle_whims2022-08-26 10:07 pm
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FIRST TRIAL

FIRST TRIAL



THE CONTAINMENT CENTER


After all the evidence is collected, the students themselves are as well. The Little Brother units gather them up in orderly fashion, encouraging the line to proceed two-by-two up the hallway beyond the music room and into the newly opened area. When grouped up together, the class just barely fits into the glass-paneled section of the decontamination chamber. It's hard not to wonder if the entire student body was never meant to make it this far in the first place. A short burst of pressurized air later and the panels lift - and, for the first time, the door to the containment facility opens before you. Behind it, an elevator beckons the class in. A Little Brother unit reaches inside, pushes a button, and the lift's real, see-through door closes before the lift begins to lower.

As the elevator descends, the car passes floor after floor of cellblocks. Start florescent lighting casts stark highlights onto each of them, and in those closest to the elevator car, shape after shape is visible. A wolf the size of an elephant with blood-tinged saliva dripping from it's massive fangs. A clown holding 20 multicolored balloons in one hand, a popped and shredded 21st hanging from the other out to you with a gap-toothed grin. A pit of writhing snakes with no beginning and no end. The feeling is comparable to the hungry, lingering gaze from outside the academy's fence. Looking out at the many cells, it's as if there's no barrier between them and the assembled students at all.

The car's moving too fast to see all of them clearly, but careful attention reveals one final detail: Some of them are completely empty. The other noticeable thing is the noise. Snarls, roars, sly chuckles, hissing, and even someone humming a haunting lullaby... they all mix together into a cacophony as you near the final destination.

When the elevator comes to a complete stop, the group is let out into a black-floored room illuminated by the same stark florescent lighting. Luckily, as soon as you go through the doorway the noise suddenly stops. The steep walls extend some two or three stories above without interruption, throwing stern, exaggerating angles reminiscent of brutalism. 21 stone podiums stand in a densely illuminated circle in the center of the room. Each one bears a name of one of the students in the class.

The Prefect is already waiting for everyone, sitting at a long desk backed by a projector screen bearing the same ram insignia from the post-spelling bee dance. Her hands are folded in front of her, and she barely moves.

"Looks like somebody attempted the alternative capstone. A week ago, I never would have believed it... but I know better now. Those who fall behind... just weaken the herd.

Luz, The Owlette, is dead. What a stupid title... I really hated it." The Prefect's expression staggers for a moment, then settles again. "Her murderer's still here, and the only way to prove that you deserve another chance in this school is to find them. Get the exam started."

There's a flicker on the screen behind her as the Principal speaks. "You heard Miss Kiryuu. We're beginning the exam, don't just stand around staring at each other!"

Investigation | Podium Layout | Locations | IC Profiles | IC Rules | Evidence | NPC Questions


OOC NOTES


While played out OOCly on Saturdays, trials ICLY take place the afternoon after investigations are concluded. This means that characters will have only a brief period of rest to gather their thoughts before being brought down. While the podium layout graphic shows room numbers, the real stone does bear characters' names.

The victim's body will not be available for reexamination during the trial but other pieces of evidence small enough to carry/move with you can be brought down into the trial. If you need mod input or NPC input in the middle of a thread please put 'MODS' in the header so we can see. Trials play out until the killer is caught or until around 8pm Eastern, at which point we'll try to wrap up. Good luck!

keyringwitness: (Pondering)

THE MURDER WEAPON

[personal profile] keyringwitness 2022-08-27 04:04 pm (UTC)(link)
I, um... think we should talk about the murder weapon first. [Although Yasu prefers to fade into the background and let everyone do the talking, that's not really an option in this instance, is it? Swallowing down her fear, she forces herself to keep talking.]

When Sonic and I investigated the kitchen, there was a chef's knife missing from the knife block, and Sonic found a bloody chef's knife buried in a pot of dirt, along with a, er, dirty washcloth.

It's easy to make the guess that this is the m- murder weapon, but somebody w- who saw her up close should probably match the knife to the wound anyways. [Yasu gulps.] We need to know for sure. If we move forward with a faulty assumption, t- t- then we might, uh, get... [Killed. If nothing else, the consequences for failure were good encouragement to check her work.]

Aside from that, there are two things that are bothering me. The first is where the knife was found. It'd be understandable if it was in, um, the kitchen sink, or hidden somewhere else, but... why bury it somewhere we can find it if the culprit was just trying to conceal the weapon? The washcloth wasn't used to clean the knife either, o- or the blade would've been covered in less, um. Blood. It doesn't m- make sense as a step to the murder, it has to be an act particular to the culprit.

And... [Yasu hesitates before this next part. It feels almost like a betrayal to bring up.] Even if she had other wounds... Luz getting killed with, um, a stab to the heart, or at least that's what it looked like from the distance I saw her... corpse... Murdering her with a single thrust to the ribs would take precision. I think the culprit has experience with fighting.

That's all. [Shrinking back, she bows her head.]
romancing: (i would give all of this and heaven too)

[personal profile] romancing 2022-08-27 04:05 pm (UTC)(link)
[ skipping over to her podium and pulling a turtle out of her sleeve. ]

Scary, scary~! I want to pet the big doggy.
Edited 2022-08-27 16:10 (UTC)
spychic: (C'mon girls it's almost time to)

[personal profile] spychic 2022-08-27 04:07 pm (UTC)(link)
[Anya raises her hand.]

Maybe the culprit wanted you to pick it up? Then there's a mix of fingerprints. Or maybe they were panicked....

They coulda just freaked out and buried it, right?
noblesnow: Reika telling someone what to do ((R) make it so)

[personal profile] noblesnow 2022-08-27 04:07 pm (UTC)(link)
[Reika takes a moment to make sure all the younger kids have made it out of the elevator, walks to her podium, and immediately addresses the Prefect.]

Do you know who it was?
keyringwitness: (Thinking Fast)

[personal profile] keyringwitness 2022-08-27 04:09 pm (UTC)(link)
We don't have anything that could let us fingerprint the knife... or at least I, um, don't think so. That'd make things too easy for the Principal's t- taste...

But why bury it? And why in the kitchen? That takes a lot more effort than just... I, um, don't know, tossing it in the garbage or something? There has to be a reason.
hashtagwoof: (How should I get people to love me?)

[personal profile] hashtagwoof 2022-08-27 04:10 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Okay, scariest elevator ride ever.

He walks into the room, glancing around as he finds his way to his podium... ]


Ugh... Whoever your interior designer is, they ought to be sacked.
britbrat: (excuse me?)

[personal profile] britbrat 2022-08-27 04:12 pm (UTC)(link)
[ ...okay he kind of forgot anything about who stole his turtle a few days ago BUT. YOU. ]

Thief!

[ Valmont brandishes a tiny yet authoritative finger across the room at Koishi. ]

This girl is a purloiner of other people's hard-earned turtles! Headmaster, I demand you lock her up at once!
spychic: (We can fly a flash in the sky)

[personal profile] spychic 2022-08-27 04:12 pm (UTC)(link)
...Knife tree.

[Anya looks serious for a moment, before she shakes her head.]

They could've done it just to be confusing on purpose, maybe? Maybe it's to throw us all off. Do things that don't make sense to make the things that do stand out more.
romancing: (listening)

[personal profile] romancing 2022-08-27 04:12 pm (UTC)(link)
A knife in the dirt? Maybe they just wanted to be rid of it quickly?
lets_dewey_it: (worrying talking)

Playground Evidence stuffs

[personal profile] lets_dewey_it 2022-08-27 04:13 pm (UTC)(link)
There was a some potted plants out in the playground. Most of the dirt was emptied and the plants were put back in hastily with only the thinnest layer of dirt to cover the roots. The dirt was used to draw a giant glyph, and there were a lot of other papers with glyphs drawn on them to go with it.

These runes have to have been Lux's doing. Some sort of ritual, maybe?
Edited 2022-08-27 16:13 (UTC)
hashtagwoof: (Look down at me)

[personal profile] hashtagwoof 2022-08-27 04:13 pm (UTC)(link)
DUDE! WHO CARES ABOUT THE TURTLE?! We have a blinking murderer to catch!
Edited 2022-08-27 16:13 (UTC)
copycut: (05)

[personal profile] copycut 2022-08-27 04:13 pm (UTC)(link)
Hm, I don't know about that. We can't exactly fingerprint it, and it's a weapon that any of us could access. Maybe our culprit just thought it would be safer to leave it there than to bring it back to their own room.
spychic: (Better watch out 'cuz count of three)

[personal profile] spychic 2022-08-27 04:14 pm (UTC)(link)
[Anya stands at her podium. Despite her seemingly brave face, her knees are shaky. She's scared. One of these people - her friends - killed someone. And she can't so easily as read their minds to find out which.

She can't die yet. She can't let innocent people die. Papa wouldn't let that happen.

Remember what Papa would do, Anya.]
keyringwitness: (Default)

[personal profile] keyringwitness 2022-08-27 04:14 pm (UTC)(link)
Noise, hm...? [Yasu contemplates that, then shakes her head.] I- If we assume that anything that doesn't fit a pattern is a double-bluff, then we're going to, um, blind ourselves to solutions. If we can't figure it out after a while, then we'll, um, table it, but... I'm not willing to accept that it's just nothing yet.
romancing: (i would give it all if only for a moment)

[personal profile] romancing 2022-08-27 04:14 pm (UTC)(link)
[ The budgie on Koishi's shoulder tweets at him. ]

"Lock her up! Lock her up!"

Ah...you're teaching Toritorika some bad words. I just saved a turtle from getting cooked, that's all~.
curdle: (pic#11154283)

[personal profile] curdle 2022-08-27 04:14 pm (UTC)(link)
He hath not even jailed the one who did this murder.
britbrat: (indignant)

[personal profile] britbrat 2022-08-27 04:14 pm (UTC)(link)
I know that!

[ But only one of those things affects him personally! ]

But as we're already in... what passes for a court of law, I see no harm in killing two birds with the same stone.
temmapathy: (upset)

[personal profile] temmapathy 2022-08-27 04:15 pm (UTC)(link)
[Emma stares at the creatures and beasts that surround them as they descend, squeezing her eyes shut as the sights get too much. She waits until they're settled to open her eyes, slowly exiting the elevator to stare at the podiums. She takes her place, turning her head in an attempt to get everyone's faces in view, before reaching out to take both Yasu and Reika's hands, squeezing slightly.]
keyringwitness: all icons from <user name=dressspheres site=tumblr> (Clever)

[personal profile] keyringwitness 2022-08-27 04:15 pm (UTC)(link)
But why would there be a pot in the kitchen anyways? And it was buried in there, Sonic had to dig to find it and get it out. That's way less quick than just tossing it out...
spychic: (flower superpower)

[personal profile] spychic 2022-08-27 04:15 pm (UTC)(link)
Anya sees a theme already.

There are plants on the playground. There are plants in the kitchen.

Does anyone really like gardening???
temmapathy: (upset)

[personal profile] temmapathy 2022-08-27 04:16 pm (UTC)(link)
You shut up! [Emma signs at him from across the room.] You were going to kill the poor little thing!
keyringwitness: (Nervous)

[personal profile] keyringwitness 2022-08-27 04:16 pm (UTC)(link)
But why bury it? That takes more effort than just leaving it somewhere if that was their goal. It doesn't explain why the washcloth was in there either...

I- I don't know. Maybe I'm too focused on this after all. But it's just so strange that I can't help wonder about it.
keyringwitness: (Talking)

[personal profile] keyringwitness 2022-08-27 04:17 pm (UTC)(link)
[That immediately gets Yasu's attention.]

Plants... hold on.

Mister Dewey, can you, um, show me the glyph? Luz taught me what each of them meant. I might be able to identify what she was trying to do...

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