WEEK 1

[strangerpeople]

WEEK 1

[Well, it seems that you are all here now. Stuck, with a power, and with two individuals who are...very different from one another, inside an old, decrepit home. There's not much to do now than to stew, look for food, and figure out what the hell you're going to do to pass the time - if not get out of this place entirely.

There has to be a way, right? And what the heck happened to the fifteenth name on the list that was handed out? Is there someone else here? If so, who are they? Do they even exist?

So many questions to answer-and, it seems, more than enough time to try to figure them out, hopefully.


There are 15 (?) strangers in this place.]

Comments

[alwaysgonnatry]

[ This is just in time for Akko to show up, all bright eyed and curious to what was going on. Looking between everyone with a bit of concern on her face. ]

What's going on? I mean... besides the awful smell in here...

CW: graphic and implied body melting

[strangerpeople]

[Well then.

Upon looking into the cauldron, what Franciscus sees could almost be described as soup-like, were it not for the nasty chemical air to it. The foul slurry is light brown, and sunken down into it are a jumble of bones, still mostly sticking together into a cohesive form.

So, yep. That's a skeleton.]

[silvertongueheir]

[Nope. He actually has to back away, even dropping the lid with a clatter.]

What...who did this? [Whose skeleton even is that? He didn't have time to estimate heights or anything.]

[hexposition]

And who is it... we're going to have to find out.

We need to gather everyone. ...Somewhere else. I don't know if we'll have enough time to try to throw together our ink plan or if we can just try to round everyone up in person...

[Being alone isn't good right now, though.]

[silvertongueheir]

The courtyard, perhaps. [That might also get the smell out of their noses.] We might just have to find them on our own, since this feels rather urgent.

[hexposition]

Agreed.

[Well, it looks like they've already failed at keeping people away from the cauldron or the basement in general.]

Well... we already have a good number of people down here. Perhaps we should go see who else we can find and try to corral everyone?

[They can just ask Zelda and someone else who seems responsible to try to round up the group from down here once they're done investigating, right?]

[silvertongueheir]

[People are naturally drawn to disasters.] Yes. I suppose we should...leave this room for now. [It is kind of odd that the Stewards haven't showed up to announce the death...oh Arceus, don't let there be another body.]

[hexposition]

[A nod.]

Wait by the staircase. I'll join up with you in just a moment.

[In the meantime, she's going to tap Zelda on the shoulder and kindly request that Zelda help get everyone from down here out into the courtyard in half an hour or so.]

[inadequacyfeelings]

[The request is sensible and it does feel like the right thing to do. Zelda glanced at the bones, shaking her head]

I will do it.

[And after giving a last cursory look at the room, she left to gather as many people as possible into the courtyard]

[inadequacyfeelings]

[When Franciscus approached the cauldron and Akko arrived, Zelda turned around to address Emma and Akko]

We should all step aside. Let's not crowd near the cauldron--

[She winces when the cauldron is opened. It takes her all her willpower not to glance back]

--or look at it! Go!

[Zelda is willing to stay, but she really needs a moment to prepare and process the fact a living person used to be in that cauldron and is now, well, most likely burnt grostesquely?

It's worse than that, Zelda.

But yeah, she's concerned others may see something they'd really not want to see]

[hexposition]

It's—

[Emma swallows hard. She saw what was in there. And she can't say it sits well with her stomach, but...]

I can handle it. Let me stay down here. Take her [Akko] out of here, and ward off anyone else who might be coming down the stairs!

[alwaysgonnatry]

[ The second the lid is lifted and then consequently dropped to the ground with a clatter, curiosity makes her want to look but her attention's drawn to Zelda when she spoke up. ]

Whoa... is it really that bad? That's... it's not what I think it is, is it?

[ Especially since she hasn't really gotten a good look at it or anything. ]

[icanhearscreams]

[Oh hey what's all this bullshit?]

[There's a bad smell, and Jun has an instant feeling as to what it is. There was no smell of flesh in Zearth, but he's been around some of the wreckage of fights. He takes a deep breath and walks up to the cauldron, past the group, and peeks in.]

[... Yeah that's. That's what he thought. His already pale face goes a little paler and he turns to look at the others.]

Someone get something to fish the bones out. One of the weapons from the training room. We need to figure out a height so we can make an identification.

[relieable]

[it took him a few minutes, but he found a couple really long weapons!

osomatsu returns to the group and holds them out. anyone want to do the honors?]

I got these. The arena looks clear, too.

[icanhearscreams]

[... If no one's volunteering, Jun goes and grabs one of the polearms and lifts it so he can start trying to scoop some of the bones out onto the floor. The goo isn't going anywhere with this kind of item, so he's just going to focus on bones for now.]

[As he does, he's going to glance at the bones to see if anything looks off, other than them being... bones.]

[strangerpeople]

[The bones are just bones. None of them are broken, thankfully! And when assembled, they will indeed seem like they'd make a 5'11 person.]

[belovedsuffocator]

What’s going on?! I saw the blood and-

[*Sees the cauldron has been used*

*Gets a glimpse of the skeleton inside it*

*Slowly walks backwards and closes the door*

Not Today]

[relieable]

[same hat. there is no way he's going in there after listening to everyone clamoring inside]

Yikes.

[belovedsuffocator]

[very fair, Osomatsu, very fair]

That...seems excessive.

[She’s honestly not sure what else she should even say? That’s just...wow]

[relieable]

Just a bit... Also gross.

[he's a bit green around the gills, wondering if they'll have to investigate]

Was someone really that desperate to kill already?

[belovedsuffocator]

Apparently!

[It’s in a surprisingly non-snarky tone, all things considered.]

I’m more wondering why they went and did that when they might’ve already been dead, if the knife and blood are anything to go by.

[Pointing at the nearby items because they’re close and not absolutely horrifying]

[strangerpeople]

[Hey, Felicity.

You might notice something else as you're pointing.]

[belovedsuffocator]

[I swear to god if it’s a finger or something she’s just gonna start screaming

She gets...two steps closer. What else is in that area?]

[relieable]

.........

[oh. hey. she has a very valid point. why would the killer stab the person, then cook them? Osomatsu rubs his cheek]

Maybe they just wanted to make sure they were dead? Or they didn't want us to know who it was right away... [even though they'd still be able to figure it out, thanks to the guest list]

[belovedsuffocator]

Wouldn’t it make more sense to just...stab in more places if it was the first?

[She’s not an expert in your weird biology, but you’ll die eventually after enough stabs, right?]

The best I can think of is to make their death...worse.

[She hates that she’s saying it, but she’s thinking she can’t deny it right now.]