WEEK 4

[strangerpeople]

WEEK 4


[It is late in the afternoon when the Titled finally wake up from their long, vivid sleep. What day is it? Maybe it doesn't matter.

They weren't awake when it happened, but the final set of doors have opened. The Intercessor hasn't emerged from their room. There is no sign of the grumpy old man. And, the Titled may notice that nothing has been cleaned up - including the remains of those who prompted the Investigation - since they went into the Debate Hall. No new food has been supplied in the Kitchen, either.

The only replenishing food supply is in the Conservatex - who knows when those'll get ripped out from the ground out of spite, though. Their captors certainly showed themselves to not be above petty revenge, unfortunately.

So many questions now swirl. Is the old man hiding? Is the Intercessor ok? What the hell happened with the dragon? What about that other group which the Titled have come to realize exist? What did their captors have planned? And...really, what the hell else is going to happen now?

Whatever it is, it's not going to be good.

So get ready, Titled.

There are nine (but perhaps only eight?...) strangers in this place.]

Comments

WEDNESDAY

[strangerpeople]

Kitchen

[zephyranthe]

[Eeeeey looks like Fie's in the kitchen again, albeit with a lot less alcohol being involved. There's actually a mess of plants, most of which seem to be inedible to begin with, and she appears to be drying the material as best she can by keeping it near the fire pit.

Later on, it looks like she's trying to grind the stuff up to be as fine as possible. Help her? Question her? It's all good.

(Maglor might have a pretty good idea of what's going on, though.)]

[bythewaves]

[ This is not his fault don't you go blaming him for this.

But he's totally helping her. ]

[zephyranthe]

[It's not blame, it's credit! There's a difference!! But she's glad to have help with doing this.]

You use a bow?

[bythewaves]

Not any more. [ He shrugs ]

My hands can no longer manage the grip required. Even use of a blade is... possible, but not for as long as it once was.

[socialhacktivist]

[Futaba has no clue what this is going to turn out to be, but she sure is interested in watching.]

...what are you making? Some kind of herbal remedy?

[zephyranthe]

Nope. Dust bombs. I wanna see if we can make an explosion.

[socialhacktivist]

Dust bombs... like a smoke screen kind of thing?

[That sounds like it could be really useful--]

Oooh oooh let me help!

[You had her at explosion.]

let's do a ton of shit to keep distracted + investigations

[poorlovefool]

Lettered Doors

[The giant robot and the wall are the most distracting thing on the new floor so it took him a while to even notice these were here.]

Think anyone left behind a snack stash, Gab? [Let's find out! He's poking his head in there to search the rooms more thoroughly to loot their stuff. Dog is old and tired so he puts him on the bed to start before glancing around.]

Workshop

[He doesn't go in, but... as this room comes into view, he stops, spins on his heel so he doesn't have to look at it. Once he's rounded a corner so it's out of view, he presses his back to the wall and slides into a seated position, hugging himself tight.

Is. Is he crying.]

Conservatex

[Okay, obviously the hunger is getting to him, so he's here after that in an attempt to lift his spirits, munching grapes and eyeing the moths suspiciously.]

Clothier

[Now to take out frustration on some hapless garments! Sewing an entire outfit requires more focus than his still-hungry body can muster, but these medieval clothes are right here. He pulls one out that catches his interest, and sits down to modify it. Maybe he can make this look more modern somehow.]

investigating

[strangerpeople]

[The first room Eric investigates is room E.

There is an abundance of invisibility potions in the room, and a set of armor neatly placed on the bed. On the alcove is a slightly crumpled letter.]

[poorlovefool]

[E is for Eric after all!

...How big is this armor though, is there still room for the dog. He squint.

Though whether there was or he had to put a pillow on the floor, he'll go ahead and check out that letter.]

Lettered doors

[kiddefender]

[Aww, she wanted to look at the doors. Oh well Eric, you're spending some time with Raph.]

Is there anything in there?

[poorlovefool]

[Poking his head out. He doesn't mind Raph at least.]

There's some armor in here, and a note telling someone to go to the "Hall of the Calling." That's basically the only things out of the ordinary... in this one.

[But the others are fair game, still.]

Do you want to split 'em?

Workshop - investigation

[kiddefender]

[If they're going to be spending more time here. Raphtalia is going to learn something useful. So she's sitting in the workshop reading a book on forging.

Occasionally she puts some materials together in a pile. Then nearly starts something before running back to the book and reading some more. There might be a learning curve, but she was going to be prepared.

Are the ingots still being replaced?]

Re: Workshop - investigation

[strangerpeople]

[They are not.]

[kiddefender]

[Definitely not making things and ruining what they have then.]

[carries_war]

[Barracks]

[When people first leave their rooms this morning, they'll find five identical potions sitting on top of a letter. The handwriting is a bit messier than they'll remember, but still reminiscent of Rubedo's handwriting:

'After what happened in the debate hall, I thought it might not be a bad idea for everyone to keep healing potions on hand, especially if we're going to be planning an escape. There's more in the laboratory, but hopefully we won't need them.

-Jr.'

Alexia's are sitting right outside the door to their loft. Eric will also find that opening his door pulls a string that upends a bucket of goop exponentially grosser than what McBurn threw at him...albeit still nonstick and harmless.]

[Hallway]

[During the morning, people will be able to see Jr. at Yusuke's mural, paintbrush in hand. His strokes are slow and careful, and even so he can't come close to matching Yusuke's skill, but eventually he manages to make a reasonable reproduction of a hyssop among the other flowers, with brown, dead looking leaves contrasting the vibrant petals. The petals themselves are a deep, midnight blue edged with red, almost like they're traced with blood. He won't pay much attention to anyone passing during this process, but he won't ignore them if someone tries to approach him. A keen eye may also notice that the dagger he gave to Babette has been replaced by a distinctive knife]

[Kitchen]

[Since Diet Darth Maul was nice enough to give him a tea set, Jr.'s decided to go ahead and make himself up some tea. Unfortunately, he couldn't find much in the way of caffeinated leaves, but what he has put together does smell good, so long as one likes mint. He's parked himself at a table with a cup in hand, but there's several others sitting out for anyone who happens by.

Under the table, Sisi is gnawing contentedly on a bone...one of several sitting in a box next to Jr.]

hallway

[bythewaves]

[ Maglor's breath catches at the sight of the knife ]

Might I... see that?

[carries_war]

[He lowers his paintbrush and turns around with a look of confusion, before realizing Maglor is looking at the holsters he's still using to carry knives. He draws the hunting knife and flips it upright with skilled fingers.]

You recognize it?

Barracks

[poorlovefool]

Aah- Uuughhhhh!!

[He shouts in surprise and disgust as more foul sludge seeps down his hair and shirt - nonstick or no, that's going to take some cleanup when they don't have any showers and the smell is horrible. Eric claws his hands through his hair to immediately get as much out as he can, but they stop and fall at his sides after a moment as he suddenly stares into blank space. He had thought angrily about who the culprit behind this was, and of course his thoughts went to McBurn, who had thrown some at him in the trial. McBurn, who was dead.

To Eric, that makes this prank extremely fucked up, so he's just going to look broken for a half second before he just starts to laugh. It lasts a long time. Long enough to think about who would actually do this to him, and he can only conclude it's that same stuck up little shit that he got in a tiff with earlier. Why else would someone do this? He may be rough around the edges but he really doesn't think he's pissed anyone off that much. And well, he doesn't really believe that Rubedo had grown up at all. This just proves it. That's fine, you little brat. He won't take this personally.

But, it is the morning and he just got a dog, which means there's important business to be taken care of as soon as the owner wakes up. So, since everything is fine and dandy, he's just going to happily let him go about that business. Right here! Just good ol' Midwestern neighborly hospitality! He hopes you love the smell of dog pee on your door when you get back. He just wanders off giggling about that because this is so much fun.]

[carries_war]

[When he first gets back to the smell of urine, his first thought is that Sisi did it when he wasn't looking. But no, he walked the dog before delivering the potions, and this is on the outside anyway. That just leaves one possibility...and he really hopes Eric got a dog too.

His first impulse is to turn this into a prank war, but no. One prank and retaliation is one thing, but a back and forth would be too distracting. So fine, Sparkles, you win this round. And might come back to find Jr. with cleaning supplies from the lettered rooms, scrubbing the floor in front of his room.]

Kitchen/Dining Room

[defriendestration]

[There is a NYEEEH??!! coming from the doorway, at the sight of the box.]

MY BOX OF BONES!!

[carries_war]

[Blink blink.]

What's a skeleton need with a box of bones?

[Replacement...parts?]

[socialhacktivist]

Daytime

[Learning how to fight, waiting to see what is going to happen next and trying to keep her courage up... there's one place she's drawn to.

It's still there... Yusuke's mural. At first she'd both loved and hated it. Seeing it brought conflicting emotions. But the longer she's been here without him, the more important that small piece of him became. Today she sits by it for a long time; staring at the vibrant colors, all so different and yet somehow still coming together in a very beautiful, compelling way. Her fingers trace coppery, golden flowers with neon green stems and leaves. Those... those are hers. She can tell, somehow, even though he never told her that much.

From there her fingers find their way to the white, pale blue, and indigo foxglove. She still feels the sting of tears welling up. But she closes them and pushes them down.]

I don't have any way to take a picture... or take you with me... but the feeling I'm getting right now-- I won't ever forget that.

Evening

[Later she can be found in the Workshop, putting together a basic quiver to hold arrows with wood from the Conservetex and metals. It's not pretty but it looks like she's managing for the most part.

...she could probably use a little more strength though, honestly.]

Evening

[bythewaves]

Here, let me help.

[ Maglor's voice, as it always does, curling quietly through the air ]

You have done this sort of work before, it seems