week 1 - day 0

[productions]

murder manor week one



sunday

[As promised, on Sunday morning at 9 AM, the grandfather clock in the foyer begins to chime. The doors to the drawing room are left open, although the doors to the smoking room adjacent are locked. Set out in the drawing room is a fine selection of coffee, tea, fruit, and pastries. There are also enough chairs, lounges, and sofas for everyone to have a seat.

Once everyone has filed in, the doors to the drawing room will close and lock]

This is an NPC post as well as an open mingle. Players may reply to the NPC, or may discuss the game amongst themselves. Players will be locked in the room until 10 AM. Please see the plot and in character rule pages below. Anyone wishing to submit a murder for the week must do so by Monday at 9 PM EST.

Plots
Rules

Comments

[inthebones]

...Nonsense.

[She announces brusquely after examining the card.]

How would we know we've forgotten something if we've forgotten it? This isn't remotely satisfactory. Even if true, perhaps they've stripped the memory of that time in grade school you received perfect marks on an examination, and it would hardly be of any consequence whatsoever.

[Still, even as she speaks, there is a certain nagging feeling flickering in the back of her mind...]

[godwhisperer]

[He's been staying quiet through most of this, but her comment bothers him. He regards her for a quiet moment before speaking seriously.]

There are ways to know when the truth has been tampered with. But whether or not the memory is one of consequence is not a question any of us must ask.

[inthebones]

[From this, Susan will take away the obvious message that Gundam knows exactly what it is he's lost. She arches an eyebrow.]

I don't doubt they're capable of much, but it strikes me that they would find it amusing to watch us blundering about for a reward that amounts to no more than a pittance.

Still, if you're convinced of it, I suppose you know exactly what it is you'll be playing for.

[godwhisperer]

They are capable of it, and it is not a pittance.

[There's something final about the way he says it, though. He isn't going to talk about it any more. What he's lost is something he would rarely choose to speak about even with his memory whole.]

It is as I said. Consequential, pittance...but all the past. My future will not be beholden to the preservation of something already gone. But there are those who dwell on such things, and to those who cannot resolve only to face forward, consequential nor pittance lost will not matter to them either.

To dismiss the draw of the reward...is to dismiss the hold what is gone has on minds weak and strong alike.

[inthebones]

Certainly.

[At least, if she had parsed his syntax correctly.]

Regardless of what sort of memory has been lost, the cost of a future lifetime's worth of memories is too much. Compared in that matter, even the most selfish person would have to admit that a memory has no practical value in comparison to a life.

[Susan, of course, speaks from the perspective of one who can peruse all lives' memories at her whims.]

Still, I should expect that the shock is too much. This incentive probably won't change anyone's minds - not until the game is underway, and we've had a few weeks to appreciate that this is our new reality. Those who would kill already decided as much last night.

[godwhisperer]

A fine point. Those who would kill for the ghost of the past have already lost this game. Their deaths as culprits are a pre-written inevitability.

But I believe among our number are those who have already lost. Remain on your guard, obstinate one. And do not look to me for assistance, for the game I consent to is different still.

[inthebones]

['Obstinate one' is still better than darling, she supposes.]

Rest assured, I have no intention of relying on anyone else for assistance but myself. There's no reason to start now when I've gotten along just fine without for twenty one years.

You're right, though.

[Her eyes flicker momentarily to the rest of the crowd.]

As loath as I am to think it, I don't think I really entertain any doubt that one of us will be dead before the end of the week. Perhaps we should all spend some quality time together today. It would be a shame to die with no one to mourn you.

[terriblesister]

...It's not a joke. They took the memories of my mother.

[inthebones]

...As I recall, my mother was rather round, terribly fluttery, and always meant well despite what her actions seemed to demonstrate.

I think she's safe.

[Still, her tone is less acerbic than it usually is.]

So you remember that your mother was important to you, but no details? Is that it?

[terriblesister]

Y-Yeah; I can't even remember what she looks like...

[inthebones]

...That is troublesome, isn't it?

[Susan, now, is running through a mental checklist of people important to her. ...The list is depressingly short. Mort and Ysabell, perfectly safe. Death, of course, there was no forgetting him. There were her school friends, she supposed, whom she rarely spoke to nowadays, the other nobility of the Sto Plains whom she barely knew at all, her class, every single round-nosed, bright-eyed one of them....

It would be too much of a mercy to forget Imp, of course. Or better yet, Teatime.

Botheration. Wasn't that it exactly? If she had forgotten someone, she had forgotten them. For all she knew, she had an identical twin sister somewhere.]

Still. Without dismissing your loss, no memories are worth killing for. The past may be valuable, but it pales in comparison to the future. There's no comparison.

[terriblesister]

You don't have to tell me that...

[killing someone? That's like.... that's just something on TV. Not even the type of TV she watches. It's just not something she can even comprehend.]

[inthebones]

I'm afraid some of us will have to be told. And even then, I doubt they'll listen.

While memories are one thing, it doesn't take much narcissism to believe your own life more important than a stranger's... And while the prize for this week might be poor incentive, I believe the actual prize would be leaving this place with your life intact.

[throe]

No, I think the card is right. Just the other day, I was trying to remember something. Harry Houdini's spirit possessed me and Astral was trying to prove me wrong, but... I can't remember how it all turned out during the final illusion. The next thing I remember is an entirely different day... as if it's completely been wiped out of memories. It isn't like me to forget something like that.

Maybe that's the point. We only realize we've forgotten little things, before it leads up to one grand thing.

[inthebones]

[...This explanation, for she supposes it is meant to be an explanation, will receive a slight raise of an eyebrow.]

Well.

It seems I'm proven wrong in my assessments. I don't know whether I should feel lucky or not that I haven't yet stumbled across my own loss, but I apologize if anyone felt slighted.

[Paradoxically, it was the most important thing to her - and exactly because it was, something she tried to never think about if she could help it.]

[throe]

[ She lets it roll of her shoulders, not seemingly bothered by Susan's assumptions. Though, Rapture's situation is the same... it's just that she's not fully aware of it yet either. ]

It's practically just started, not everything is going to be handed to us. Raising the stakes makes it more fun anyway. Otherwise, there's nothing else to compete for.

[inthebones]

I doubt most of us are planning to compete. ...Not yet.

[There is no doubt in her mind as to her conversation partner's attitude on the matter. It takes a special sort of person to have 'sadism' listed as a skill.]

But I suspect things will change after a week or two of this. Self-preservation is stronger incentive than any lost memory, and humans can be do astonishing things when cornered.

[This is said as if she doesn't count herself among them.]

[throe]

You'd really be willing to sit inside a big mansion for two weeks doing nothing? They've obviously made it possible we can't escape without playing. We're here for good so we may as well have some fun with it while we are.

There's more to this place than meets the eye. [ Her lips curl into a smirk. ] Spirits from beyond the grave seeking revenge, past lives to be discovered, important royalty... I'd like to think there's more to this game than "self-preservation."

[souredsweet]

Regardless of whether or not it's nonsense, the problem will arise if someone here does believe it... [which Kaoru sounds significantly troubled by. it seems the weary edge from the previous night hasn't worn off, either.]

[inthebones]

[She has heard the protests of the others by now, but she turns to Kaoru with a nod.]

There are thirty of us here. Exact probabilities aside, I think it quite likely that at least one will find all of this - memories, the chance to leave, the thrill of crime... incentive enough.

[souredsweet]

What should we do...? [that sounded a little more desperate than Kaoru had intended, which is why it's followed by a wince. no point in adding undue panic by being overly-pessimistic.]

We have no idea who may stoop to such levels or who they may target. Without knowing even that, how will we be able to protect anyone?

[inthebones]

[What should we do? A very valid question and one that Susan had never been able to fail in providing an answer to. There is a pause now.]

It does no good to go about casting fingers now. We must simply be vigilant.

And we shall have to ensure that everyone can protect themselves first and foremost.

[Her eyes slide purposefully now to some of the younger members of their group. She had already spoken to a few yesterday... Her words now, in consequence, were slightly facetious.]

[souredsweet]

...I suppose that is the best and only way to confront a situation such as this. [though there is some reluctance, since vigilance alone won't be able to prevent a murder if the culprit is particularly skilled or determined.

Kaoru notices where Susan's gaze drifts, though, and that brings another thing to mind. with a lowered voice:] I worry for Miss May... Have you spoken to her?

[pandacea]

I think I know what they took from me....I did not realize it until just now, but my memories of my clan are vaguer than they should be. And there are a few things about my stay in Amestris that make little sense unless I really have forgotten something.

[She frowns and clenches a fist.] Still, it is not worth killing over. As long as you're alive, you can always make new memories. There is nothing to be gained by clinging onto a past that may not even exist.

[inthebones]

...You can be astonishingly astute sometimes, May.

[She had managed to echo the sentiments of those decades older than her without missing a beat. Susan was impressed.]

It does raise the question of how much of our memories have been tampered with. If they can do it so skillfully, it seems we're entirely at their mercy.