week 3 - day 1 & 2

[productions]

murder manor week three



monday, tuesday

24 players remaining.

This is a general mingle post. Please put your character's name, the time, and location in the subject heading of their comment. Players may also thread in logs, either posted to murdermanor or in a private locked journal post filtered to include productions. Plots for this week's crime are due Monday by 9 PM EST.

Setting & Rules
Private Conversations
Plotting

Comments

Music Room

[balzams]

[If you follow a trail of song in this house it normally leads to Rapture. Latvia had wanted to talk to her earlier about things but he hadn't managed to catch her. Now that he was here though, he couldn't help but feel a little sympathetic. This was probably the first time he'd seen an attitude from her that wasn't flippantly self-serving]

Was Riot one of your band mates?

... You were in a band, weren't you?

[throe]

[ She sighs, her voice distant as she raises her head, but doesn't look at him. It's as if she's in some far off world. ]

He is my bandmate and I am in a band.

[balzams]

S-sorry, I didn't meant to imply it like that.

Um... But is something wrong? You don't seem quite yourself.

[throe]

Because Riot isn't here! I'm nothing without him. We just... belong together. Nothing is right when he isn't around.

[balzams]

... Is he your lover?

[That's sure what it sounds like to him]

[throe]

No.

[ She doesn't sound annoyed when she says it like she's done before to two other people. ]

Riot and I aren't bonded by love, we're bonded by creativity. He's everything that I look for when I need inspiration, he's not mundane like all the others. The Stingers are a perfect match for a reason.

[balzams]

Sorry, maybe that was a little presumptuous...

I guess it must be hard though, when music is so important in your life. But I think you can find inspiration in yourself too, it's wherever you find it.

There are lots of people that find inspiration even out of terrible things like this.

[throe]

You don't understand. Riot isn't just an inspiration, he's the inspiration! He's why I got into music in the first place.

Three months being in the Misfits didn't change that and neither will being here. [ She pauses with a sigh, then crosses her arms. ] But don't get me wrong, being here is also the most fun I've had in awhile. More than when we arrived to America even. I just wish Riot and Minx were here to enjoy it with me.

[balzams]

I'm not sure that wishing people were here is the best idea...

And I don't understand how you can find it fun...

[throe]

It's a game, it's supposed to be fun, like performing on stage with the audience watching you.

[balzams]

Those are both terrifying though!

B-But you're a performer, not just a musician. It must come naturally to you... I guess that's why you break into song all the time. To please the audience, right?

[throe]

Right, but it'd be even better if all three of us were here.

It's better than being forced to take care of foster children like the last time Riot was gone, but everyone here is always so serious. It's still just as boring.

[balzams]

It's not like people can help but be serious. Being at such a risk of murder isn't something to be taken lightly.

Not to mention... even if you don't intend to you an still end up killing an innocent bystander.

[throe]

You still really don't think this is just a role we're all playing? Genre fiction LARP isn't all that uncommon and why would someone create a house for the sole reason of us taking it apart in the process of investigating in the first place? It's a game.

Unless this is your role, then you're doing a pretty good job of it.

[balzams]

... What?

You don't understand! You can call it a game all you want but these are real people we're talking about. If there were special effects don't you think we'd be told about it?

[He takes knife from his trouser pocket and holds it up]

Even... even in the beginning we were given real knives, not fake ones. I could cut you with this right now and the resulting injury would be very real as well.

[throe]

[ Rapture doesn't seem the least bit frightened. She can most definitely call a bluff when she sees it. ]

You don't think they're going to leave out details to heighten the games advancement? Of course they're not going to tell you they're special effects, that would make everything boring. It's not like they can't use pigs blood or something with similar consistency on "dead bodies" to make it seem real.

Illusions are supposed to look real, that's why they're called illusions.

But if you're so inclined to prove me wrong, then do it.

[balzams]

[The fact that it sounded like a threat was really off putting. Latvia didn't want to injure anyone and he certainly didn't want to kill anyone. However, to act so flippantly about it would only cause harm for all of them later]

Then hold out your palm...

[throe]

If you're just going to give me a cut, then that isn't any real way to prove your theory. [ Regardless, she extends her palm; she's certainly been giving a lot of blood these past two days... ] The rules even state that culprits tell the Hostess who they're going to make their victim which gives them time to set up the scene within a certain timeframe to create the "murder."

If you still feel like you have to though... [ She just curls her lips into a thin smile. ]

[balzams]

[Those words make him falter. Even though he tries to push through as the blade hovers above her palm, Latvia can't bring himself to make the cut. Lowering the knife he tries to keep his voice steady as he speaks again]

There are enough dangerous things here... If that were true what if someone murdered another player without telling the Hostess?

I know when Bernkastel was executed she disappeared through the floor and we were shown a video but with Miss Ukraine... She was killed right in front of us.

When we took down to body... It was already growing cold.

[throe]

None of us are missing, right? Sharon didn't vote and she paid for it being eliminated from the game. Why do you think the murders have been on the same day and a trial following two days after? It's all planned — the culprit reveals how they are going to do the murder, set design creates that for us to find, and leaves us clues to look for. We solve it, vote someone off, and do it all over again.

Hanging illusion. Mirrors, scaffolds, and a timed release button that only makes it look like the body is being hanged. For all you know, you could have been handling a stunt dummy. Your only proof of it being an actual body would be an autopsy.

[balzams]

Huh...

[He really wished he could believe that, to know that everyone who died was alive and well would be wonderful news but the thought leave him hollow inside, having emotionally exhausted himself for nothing]

W-well we've already buried the body so it's a bit late for that...

I don't really know what to say. I wish it really were an illusion but... Just as you're saying there's little proof that they're real, there's no proof that they're fake either.

[throe]

The proof is in the logic itself. Why create a mansion just to have it destroyed? Why give us cards with plenty of misinformation? Have we actually seen someone killing another person? Taking everything at face value is the opposite of what this game is intended for.

If you don't bother to seek the question— [ Seemingly from nowhere, she pulls out her crystal ball. It lies in the palm of the hand faced out to him. ] —How will you find the answers you're looking for?

[balzams]

This mansion is really old. It was probably empty and then they bought it for the program.

A-And just because we haven't seen something with our own eyes doesn't mean it's not real. Considering that you believe in things like magic and spirits I thought you would advocate that more than anyone else here.

[The crystal ball catches him off guard and he has to avert his eyes from his own reflection]

I-In that case what kinds of questions should I be seeking?

[throe]

Spirits and magic are ethereal, not unreal.

Simple... [ She smiles, lifting the crystal ball toward the light. ] Is this all real? Are we real...? Who defines what is truth and what isn't? For all we know, we could be existing inside a simulation.

[balzams]

I really don't think I'm in the right mind frame to be asking those kinds of questions...

But... I suppose how do we differentiate what's real and what's not? If we can use clues to find out who committed a crime surely we can use clues to determine if something is an illusion or not. They're never quite the same as the real thing after all.