week 2 - trial

[productions]

week two trial



[At 9 AM precisely, the old grandfather clock chimes once again, and the doors to the drawing room are opened. They will remain open until everyone has come inside, after which they will shut behind them. It is not possible to leave on your own, although perhaps if you have a specific purpose the hostess will allow you to go, as long as you are accompanied by a partner.

The room is set up comfortably, with several tables by the fireplace set out to assist with the trial. The Hostess will also remain in a seat near the fireplace, next to the scales on the mantle. At lunch, the doors will open to bring in a large meal on an automatically rolling buffet, and at 3 PM, tea and finger sandwiches will be served. You'll be able to enjoy the trial in comfort, of course, but the information cards set out on tables will not allow you to forget your true purpose here.

At 7 PM, the trial will adjourn for the day. Players will be escorted by the Hostess to the ballroom, where dinner and wine will be served until 10 PM, at which point players will be required to return to their wings in groups with their wingmates and will be locked in their bedrooms until 8:30 AM the following morning.]

victim



suspects



Character Statuses
Setting
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Cheat Sheet
Voting

Comments

[inthebones]

But --

[Complete bewilderment is not an expression often found on Susan's face.]

How? Is that even possible? ...She is dead; all three of us checked.

I'm sure there's something you could put in blood to keep it from drying, but... keeping the body warm as well?

[vytis]

The clock wouldn't have gone off if she was still alive, right? [Lithuania is a mix of frazzled and baffled.] Is there some sort of poison that could manage it, maybe?

[inthebones]

...Or some sort of substance piped into her body? I admit I haven't the least idea.

[Her eyes slowly drift towards May.]

[pandacea]

It's true that there are a few substances and disorders that would prevent blood from coagulating...but I have never heard of any that would be able to keep a body warm so long after death. The only way someone would be able to do such a thing in my world is if they had access to a philosopher's stone, or perhaps if they specialized in a field of alchemy concerning blood.

[inthebones]

...

We do have some magicians here, but none of them are on the stand. Let us investigate more mundane means, then.

[A pause.]

Perhaps she's been set on fire from the inside out.

[susan's brain has broken apparently.]

[motheringnation]

[Ukraine has been thinking.]

Could it be something to do with her powers? They involve blood, maybe it affects her even after death?

[Or trying to guess.]

[inthebones]

That's... That's as likely a theory as anything. But nothing on her information indicated anything along those lines.

[Still, they weren't comprehensive, either.]

[motheringnation]

Do you think if we asked the woman she'd tell us?

[inthebones]

I doubt it.

The bit about 'extreme blood loss' could use some clarification as well. Do cuts like this simply appear on her body if she overexerts her powers?

[pandacea]

But the cards have lied about Mr. Gundam's magic and arcane abilities as well! Besides, it is not exactly a skill to remain warm and bleeding after death, is it?

[inthebones]

[siiiiiiiiiiigh]

I suppose not.

Then we could be being distracted by something completely irrelevant.

[aozaki]

The most likely, frankly. Felicia mentioned how she witnessed the victim use her blood as a weapon, correct? If she could manipulate her blood that way at will, then it's either a psychic ability like some form of telekinesis, or her blood composition is different from a normal human's.

[inthebones]

The victim is dead.

Unless her ghost is using telekinetic abilities to keep her blood fresh, I highly doubt psychic powers have anything to do with it.

Additionally, blood composition doesn't explain the lack of rigor mortis, which should persist until at least 48 hours after her death. She wasn't stiff yesterday, either.

[aozaki]

[She doesn't bat an eyelash looking back.]

If the blood is cursed somehow, it's still a possibility. Well, I'll admit that one may be stretching, but unless we determine a way to analyze or test her blood's potentially unique properties, it doesn't invalidate the hypothesis.

[inthebones]

...So our theory now is that her blood is cursed to keep her in a state of perpetual life-like animation for no discernible reason apart from making this trial more interesting.

While I've enjoyed our trip through Wild Conjecturing and Baseless Theorizing very much, I'm going to return to Logic now if it's all the same to you.

[aozaki]

[She gives a faint snort at that.]

That's fine. As Felicia noted, the biggest issue this brings up is her actual time of death. Figuring out how her powers affect her physiology wouldn't be conductive to that, either way.

[vytis]

Maybe there's more than one cause for the symptoms?

[inthebones]

You mean to examine all three aspects separately: the warmth, the fresh blood, and the lack of muscle stiffening.

The warmth is what troubles me most, to be frank. A body is warm because of blood flow - there shouldn't be any other means of keeping her warm.

...Not unless there's something... else inside of her.

[vytis]

I cleaned off one of her wounds to check for bleeding and she's not bleeding, so I don't think blood is flowing. As for something inside her-- [Lithuania winces.] While I suppose checking is an option, I wouldn't want to do it in here. [Lithuania has spent enough time on battlefields to know how that would turn out.]

[inthebones]

...

There are a large number of gashes - perhaps some pierced through the thicker layers of skin and fat and muscle and allowed for... access.

[Susan glances at the body.]

Even so, I can imagine warming the torso with an inserted... heat pack, but the hands and the feet as well?

No one tampered with the corpse after we left it yesterday?

[vytis]

Not that I'm aware of. She looks just the same as yesterday. [Admittedly that's part of the problem, though.] We could clean the blood off and examine the wounds more closely?

[inthebones]

...[Susan sighs slightly, nods and removes her cloak.]

I've already sacrificed one for the sake of this investigation.

[She rolls up her sleeves and will approach the body.]

((Want to jump up to the body thread?))