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

[yonosoymaria]

[Eric's hanging back as well, trying to observe the rest of the group.

That's not normal fear from Jun, not with the staring-and-refocusing. Not even if he was the one to find the body - though it's interesting that his name wasn't listed with the others' just now. That's not normal fear, that's the way Eric's seen men act in train stations across Europe over the past few years, tense and held apart. That is not a way a boy barely past childhood should act.

Of course, it could be the lack of food coupled with seeing a corpse up close. His own mind is wandering, and he wasn't there. At least his voice isn't weak.]

There's no easy way to check if someone has been fed recently, but "something at full power" ought to be easy enough to identify, shouldn't it?

[inadequacyfeelings]

It's likely someone would notice somebody here feels better than the rest. You can't pretend you're less healthy than you actually are, especially when there's several people you can compare with.

[And also there's the full power part, indeed]

[whiterosefoes]

[Harriet is wrinkling her nose at the implications of a body being left in a torture implement. Nope. Whatever happened to that body, she doesn't want to think about it. She's already feeling queasy enough, thinking about how the murders have started and no one is even possessed, this time.

She's doubtful about this logic, though. After all, the Steward didn't really release the food motive at a time when everyone was fully desperate. They hadn't even exhausted their sunflower seeds in the garden.]

I'm not so sure about that.... everyone still looks quite strong to me. And none less thinner, either.

[Though that would be hard to tell with Harriet since her cheeks are pretty round. Maybe she's not the best to say so... really though, this is freaking her out. Her pessimism is getting worse than it started.]

...are we certain one of us killed him? There was an option to turn him in alive, but it was obvious the Stewards were planning to execute him regardless.

[She hasn't heard about the blood stains.]

[hexposition]

I don't know if we can be sure one of us actually killed him as opposed to the Stewards, but if one of us turned him in, even alive, then whoever did it did so under the knowledge something like this would happen.

Perhaps not this gruesomely, but leaving someone to die is still just as bad as killing them yourself, in my opinion.

[whiterosefoes]

I know. [Harriet is serious.] But, he only offered food if the person killed him. That's the distinction.

[hexposition]

That is true enough. They'd still get the reward otherwise, though, wouldn't they?

So no matter what, if one of us was in any way involved, they were at least complacent in his death for their own gain. And that's not an idea I imagine any of us are wholly comfortable with.

[inadequacyfeelings]

I don't want to think anyone here would cooperate with them or take his life with their own hands, but we can't dismiss the possibility. We will have to deal with this uncomfortable suspicion we all now have over our heads.

[Emma is right. But damn it, without a way to even narrow it down, all remaining fourteen people here are suspects. Not wholly comfortable, that's for sure]

[whiterosefoes]

[Harriet nods to both of these. Even if she's... relatively composed, it's mostly because of the sheer amount of unjust deaths she's already seen. It still sits heavily on her, growing rot.]

As well as the question of how to proceed if we do find them out. There won't be a convenient monster waiting to eat them, I presume.

[She's past the phase of being actually shocked at what people will selfishly do, sorry Emma.]

[hexposition]

[Emma nods, expression solemn.]

Assuming they worked alone... there are thirteen of us remaining. We could ostensibly set up a system to keep them in their room, but...

[Ha ha ha, Emma playing jailer. What a funny joke.]

[whiterosefoes]

... "Ostensibly" does seem to be the keyword.

[She finishes the sentence, doubtful that they would ever really know who to trust when this already happened.]

[icanhearscreams]

[He looks over at the man, blinking slowly and trying to put together what he's suggesting. ... It's not working. There's pieces that aren't connecting. Dammit, that means he has to ask.]

What do you mean?

[joinhands]

The prize the steward offered.

[Krone came at Zelda's command as soon as she could, footsteps determined. While she's not aligned with Eric in terms of where she stands in the room, it's obvious she's taking his side and not Jun's.]

There are only so many places one could hide such a thing. We might need to conduct a search.

[icanhearscreams]

Well yeah, but he said 'something at full power'.

[yonosoymaria]

It was the phrase which stuck in my mind. [Bad impression of Teenage Dirtbag Steward incoming!!] "Exactly as you left it, full power or whatever!" Unusually specific, isn't it?

[icanhearscreams]

... Ah.

[Right. Bullshit magic or whatever. It didn't even occur to him because magic isn't a real thing.]

I thought you meant a person who's fully fed.

[yonosoymaria]

Not quite. As Miss Vaughn put it, everyone looks basically the same, and it wouldn't be apparent if someone had been provided with food. We haven't been starved quite long enough yet that it'd make anyone worse off to eat, either.

[icanhearscreams]

[He mutters something quietly. It's hard to hear, but -]

Lucky you, then.

[He looks up as if he hadn't said anything.]

I guess. I don't know what kind of 'full power' thing you'd be talking about, then.

[yonosoymaria]

I'm not certain our jailer did either. Unless someone's lying about their name and Tom Swift's been here waiting on his electric rifle, or someone else is waiting on a holy relic to scare off the bats....

[He says that almost archly, almost casually, and walks a bit closer to Jun. It's easier to speak in a tone matching that which probably wasn't meant to be heard, that way, and it's easy enough to make it seem like he's just trying to get a better look at everyone gathered around. Merciful God, he's hoping he didn't hear that first bit right.]

Were you - before here, when did you last eat?

[Even as he maintains a carefully neutral expression, Eric's voice is a low, urgent whisper. He's concerned, but hopefully not presumptuous levels of paternal, or worse paternalistic. It'd explain the way the boy seemed next door to dead on his feet almost too easily. Battle fatigue and the fog of days without food could look the same, couldn't they?]

cw: body fluids mention

[icanhearscreams]

'Holy' relics aren't anything but cheap junk that's fooled people, anyway.

[His body tightens a little and he glares at the guy, but it's tired. There's not enough heat in it to really be anything even slightly approaching menacing.]

[... At least the guy's not trying to push him around yet. His lips press into a thin line, and at this distance his slightly matted hair is a bit more visible. He also doesn't... smell the best. He's tried, but there's not much in the way of cleaning. He smells slightly of sweat and other... bodily fluids, some of which are supposed to be out of the body and some that aren't.]

... About forty eight hours. Came in right near the deadline, I think.

[And then he wheezes out an amused huff.]

Huh. 'Dead'line.

[joinhands]

Like Miss Vaughn said, that would be easy to hide or misunderstand.

[What about all these dumb powers they have now then!!!]

[icanhearscreams]

What kind of thing are you looking for?

[Quantum physics, okay. Also the only one he's seen is Emma's and that one is explainable.]

[joinhands]

If I knew, I would tell you! It could be anything... Poison, a loaded gun... Perhaps even a spellbook or wand? That said, prioritizing something too small to fit in one hand seems rather unlikely. Doesn't it? A tracking device could work that way, but it wouldn't be very useful without other tools.

[icanhearscreams]

...

[He just gives her a flat look at the mention of a spellbook or wand. Gun... he's less comfortable with.]

A lot of things wouldn't be useful without tools. It's not like there's any electricity in this place.

[whiterosefoes]

[She's a bit startled that two people in unison are saying she's right, but slightly flattered.]

Ah, yeah. And there's another thought. If we did a search we would need to be rather careful about our assumptions. Didn't that pillock tell Erkens "big sis" will reward people just because she favors them? He said that even before he went on about this mercenary tripe.

[yonosoymaria]

[And that can yank his attention away from the kid who may or may not have been somehow pulled out of a war zone, momentarily.]

So in other words, we were deliberately told something that would make a search of belongings pointless. She's capricious in her favor, so it could be that people will receive gifts at random... convenient for them, isn't it?