week 0 - day 1

[productions]

murder manor week zero



saturday

[Saturday begins much like Friday, with no further answers provided, and no means of escape. However, at 3 PM on Saturday, the old grandfather clock in the foyer begins to chime. From the foyer, the ballroom doors stand open, and the room is bright with sunshine. Soft, dreamy music plays from a radio inside.

Inside the ballroom, what seems to be a magnificent party is laid out. There is a buffet table laden with finger foods - vegetables and dips, finger sandwiches, pastries, fruit, and cheeses. Next to the table are glasses filled with wine, champagne, or juice. Most of the room is empty, with room to stand and talk, although towards the windows looking out on the courtyard are six tables with five place settings each, set for a larger meal.

And then there's a seventh table, at the back of the room, on which are thirty small notebooks. Inside, the notebooks appear to be some sort of album, with each page containing a picture of and information about your fellow guests.

After everyone has filed in, the doors shut and lock behind the final guest; the doors to the courtyard close as well. You'll have some time to talk amongst yourself, for it will be another hour of dining before anyone else appears]

This is an open mingle log for the welcome feast. Please tag one another. There will be NPC interaction in the post later in the day.

Setting
Information Cards

Comments

[inthebones]

Unfortunately, I know exactly what you mean right this very moment.

[And this is as much about penises Susan will ever say.]

Shall we discuss the other fascinating tidbits in this book, then? I can't say I know what 'Ritalin' is -- And how charming, we have the same blood type.

[Not that Susan knows what blood types are.]

[humanic]

Oh good, that means that if one of us gets horribly mangled and loses too much blood, the other one can donate theirs without having to worry about killing them even more painfully. And Ritain's the pills I take - helps me keep focused without being distracted by every little thing I see. Trust me, you do not want to see me get even worse than this.

What about you? [He flips to Susan's page in the book, then whistles when he reads that list of skills.]

...you know, I really should be getting used to that feeling of being incredibly outmatched on the skillset front.

[inthebones]

Keeping a positive face about these things, I see.

And it's really quite incredible what a bit of schooling can manage nowadays. Try not to concern yourself with it overly much; I have the strangest feeling your skill sets will see just as much use, if not more so.

[So much for keeping positive.]

...I don't mean the last bit.

[humanic]

Some people call it cynicism, I call it being as realistic as possible.

[He snorts.] Yeah, in my experience, having awesome supernatural powers isn't worth anything if you're too stupid to know how to use them to your advantage. Makes life more difficult, even. You don't strike me as that kind of person though. Any chance you can teach me the trick to finding someone just by their name? Because that would be so useful to my life, I'm tearing up just thinking about it.

[inthebones]

Your assessment of my stupidity or lack thereof is noted.

But I'm afraid that one's a family secret. It wouldn't do to allow the general populace in on the trick; I can see the crime rate skyrocketing even as we speak. I'll have to test whether or not 'Stiles' will suffice with you, though; you may very well slip through my radar as I trip over that last 'w'.

[That was probably a joke.]

[humanic]

You sure? I'm really good at keeping secrets, if that helps. [He sighs.] Guess I'm stuck with cellphones and people never answering them even when they know there's a serial killer psychopath on the loose then.

[He's not too sure if that was sarcastic or not, but he'll laugh anyway.] Good luck with that. It'll probably work - I haven't been called my given name in years. Pretty sure not even my dad knows how to pronounce it.

[inthebones]

...Should I ask why this sounds to be a recurring event? I've only had one serial killer psychopath cross my life so far, and I feel I've already filled my quota for the remainder of my days.

[Granted Teatime was a special kind of serial killer psychopath.]

In any case, it's the essence of who you are that's important here.

[humanic]

[He makes a face.] In my town? I'm pretty sure it's easier finding someone who i>doesn't</ want to kill you or your friends for whatever dumb reason of the week. You'd be amazed at what motives people can come up with to murder someone. Oh goodie. Because the essence of who I am is someone who doesn't want to be here and will run screaming at the first sign of whatever inevitably terrible thing starts happening.

[inthebones]

[Susan would ask if 'talking too fast' is one of the motives but that seems unnecessarily rude.]

I suppose your vast experience with people who want to murder you explains the 'crime' bit, then.

And how very peculiar.

You see, the essence of who Iam is someone who doesn't want to be here and would rather be having teeth pulled. Perhaps their criteria for choosing revolves around that common thread.

OH NO MASSIVE HTML FAILURE...

[humanic]

[No, but being a virgin sure is.]

Shockingly, no. My dad's a sheriff, hence the whole case solving thing.

I wouldn't be surprised. Where's the fun in torturing a group of people who want to be kidnapped without any warning and have their whole private lives on display?

Haha no worries!

[inthebones]

[And here Susan thought his knowledge of genitalia came from personal experience.]

Now there's a thought. Perhaps if we start gushing over how lovely it is to be here, they'll get bored of us more quickly. Or perhaps we can pretend to go mad - or perhaps we won't even have to pretend.

Having this information is troubling, though. I teach grade school for a living, and I'd prefer to keep my private business private.

[humanic]

[Yeah personal experience with his own, that he has plenty of.]

I don't know if I'm that good an actor. Going mad though, that I can totally pull off. Hopefully the powers on high like panic attacks, because I get the feeling they're gonna be seeing a lot of them.

A schoolteacher who can unlock any door and locate anyone by name? That's gotta come in handy.

[inthebones]

You haven't the least idea.

[She feels no need to mention at the moment that these were hardly the most interesting of her abilities, the rest sadly, being stripped upon her arrival here.]

I'm sure my pupils find me very disagreeable, but then, no one ever went into teaching because they desired universal affection.