THE MOCK INQUISITION

[strangerpeople]

[Soon after the final clue is found, there are three more loud, unsettling tonal clangs. Those in the first floor vestibule will hear another, loud creak afterwards, coming from the set of doors.

The set of doors on the left are slowly opening, revealing a long, long corridor, with a very long flight of stairs going upwards just barely visible at the end of it.

The Intercessor's voice booms through the air and shakes the ground, sounding loud and clear no matter where the Titled might be standing at that moment.]

ENTER!

[The voice brooks no argument. As soon as everyone goes through the set of double doors, they close behind them. There is no choice. The Titled must go up the stairs at the end of the hall. They feel like they take forever, but when the stars are finally traversed, there is a single door at the top, already open to them.

Welcome to the Debate Hall, Titled. Its perhaps the best-lit place you've seen, with gas lamps on the wall bright as possible. Its also the emptiest place they've ever seen so far - its massive and yet the Titled and the Intercessor are the only individuals to be seen in the entire area.

So, Titled, don't mind the faint chanting coming from the darkness behind that stage at the other end. There's no real way to hear what's being said, no matter how close you try to get, or if there's even anyone on or behind the stage to make such chanting possible. The only person remotely close to the stage, standing on the stone steps, is the Intercessor. Maybe its in your mind. You've been paranoid the past week, after all.

Maybe this is just all insane to begin with.

So. Take your seats at your stone desks to face one another as you debate. And yes, they are stone. Yes, they have stone chairs with which to sit in. And yes, your Title is on your assigned chair, etched in with chisel and hammer. Every desk also has a copy of the Writs with Orders 7 and 8 circled, and a copy of the autopsy file of the deceased on top of it; that is all the aid you will get from whoever brought you here. The rest, it seems, is up to the Titled, with what they have found.

Once everyone has taken their seats, the strange, ominous chanting stops. Its time. Bound in blood, the death warrant has already been signed. The contract is complete. Its now just a question of finding the guilty party to fulfill the call for justice.


The Inquisition of Kanna Hijiri has begun.]

Comments

[intercessing]

[The Intercessor looks at everyone, pinprick eyes betraying nothing. After a long silence, they speak.]

If you have questions, I am allowed to answer them, save anything that would be construed as giving you the truth of the matter before us.

[...That sounded a bit like annoyance in its tone. Was it annoyance? Could have been.]

In any case, take your time. Consider everything before you. I will not call the vote until you are ready to vote.

[They then sit down on the steps, folding their arms.]

You may begin, Titled.

[crywiththesaints]

[Sakura walks carefully to her podium, sets two knives on top, and folds her hands. She scans the room and clears her throat.]

I'm sure we're all surprised that the victim in this case was a stranger, but I, at least, am inclined to believe that the culprit was not. This girl was found dismembered on the table, and whoever was responsible for the death has apparently completely misinterpreted the idea of sanitizing with alcohol, given that they seem to have decided to clean up the blood with alcoholic beverages.

I should also note that, despite the obvious lack of limbs, her cause of death was stabbing. This initially seemed to indicate that the girl was stabbed in a vital leg artery and died of exsanguination only for her limbs to be removed later. However, a boy investigating with us discovered that the victim's ability was some sort of healing factor, which means that she would have continuously regenerated until something clearly put a stop to it.

I give the floor to you.

WOUND CHECK

[crywiththesaints]

I believe that we now know basically what happened, but we are still missing the most important part. The hidden stranger, with her hostage as a motive, attacked someone, who managed to dismember her and then shatter the gem keeping her alive. The question is who, aside from "somebody human or close enough to appear human," which covers nearly everyone in this room; "somebody who thinks that dumping alcoholic beverages around is a good way to clean up blood," unless we have a better explanation; and "somebody who could disarm her," both figuratively, with the knives, and literally, which needs no explanation at all.

I have a proposition. Jefferson noticed that the girl had blood in her mouth, but no wounds there. Unless she has a compulsion to eat the dead animals in the kitchen whole, [looking at you, waluigi] then given the girl's apparent ferocity and... lack of arms, I would like to theorize that she bit her assailant hard enough to draw blood before she died.

The bite mark would most likely be on the arms, so we won't need to resort to a full strip search should this go well. I'll proceed.

[Sakura rolls up the sleeves of the dress she's wearing, one of the nicer ones from the clothier. Her arms are clean.]

[warmdolls]

[ Behemo rolls up the sleeves of his dress. His arms are clean. ]

[deviloftekkadan]

[He's still pretty much wearing the same outfit he came in so to be honest he probably smells kind of bad he'll take off his outer jacket and roll up the sleeves of that body suit thing he wears. Aside from his arms actually being pretty stacked, there's really nothing else to note.]

[daughterofthemark]

[Arianna is clear.]

Do we have any idea what sort of person the victim would have targeted?

[coldsouls]

[ Levia, who hasn't really had much input this entire time, will go ahead and do the same. Her arms are clean. ]

[jinglebros]

[ Santa rolls up his sleeves to show he has no wounds either, glaring at Sakura all the way. ]

[mogarisready]

[...Ya'll can always see Mogar's arms. He never wears sleeves.

That said, his arms are clean.]

[lesbointhesky]

[K's arms are already bare- but she presents them for further examination. Clean.]

[reverseit]

[ Akane rolls up the sleeves of her shirt, showing her clean skin without wounds. ]

[astrangefigment]

[Kevin will go ahead and roll up his sleeves as well. No wounds.]

Re: WOUND CHECK

[mac4life]

[Welp, Nickel Man's gonna take off his pimp coat and roll up his sleeves. No wounds.]

mod check

[lesbointhesky]

[They're almost there. But Karolina can't help but feel like there's something... more. Something she is missing. Maybe if she looks inside herself, she might be able to find something else out?]

Doritos

[strangerpeople]

[One moment, it was just people getting checked for wounds. The next, all of a sudden.]

Boooooooooring!

[There is a man sitting in one of the stepped seats behind the Titled's debate areas, who could be best described as a well-dressed hobo. His clothing - a purple (or maybe mauve?) waistcoat with white shirt and dark britches beneath - is quite exquisite, while his silver hair looks barely-kept. His eyes are bright, and it feels like they would remain so even in the darkness.

He wags his cane, disapprovingly.]

I thought I was getting a show, not an actual court case! Come on, where's the passion? The drama? The food fights! You didn't even bring any food! I would see the owner of these premises if I could!...

[No one responds to his complaints.

Its as if no one else can even see him.]

STRIP SEARCH

[crywiththesaints]

Checking the arms clearly hasn't worked, but we know she bit something, and we may be running out of time. Everybody, split into divided groups to check. If she fell on the floor and bit somebody's ankle or something ridiculous like that, we ought to know now rather than never.

[Nobody really wants to see naked grandmas, but this one's clean, even if her hair does match the length.]

[coldsouls]

[ ... WOW NO? ]

I am not stripping. Do you not have any respect for a lady's privacy?!

[warmdolls]

I refuse.

[ ...Behemo does not like this idea. He's also a fair bit calm about this. ]

[mogarisready]

[Mogar starts shrugging off his clothes without a second thought

In public. Um.]

cw: body horror

[deviloftekkadan]

[Well, Mikazuki really don't have much when it comes to a sense of shame, so he'll comply just fine with the strip search. There aren't any recent wounds on him, although... people who see his back will probably notice three... things sticking out of his spine from his upper back. They're about maybe 1-2 inches long, and it looks like they have a metallic component there, if you bother to look closely.]

[jinglebros]

[ Santa strips down as briskly as someone who's been stabbed in the stomach by their sister can. Funny, he looks almost gleeful to be out of his clothes. Other than the shortsword wound, his body is clear of all wounds.

Is that a wink he shoots in the Intercessor's direction? How dare. ]

[daughterofthemark]

[Arianna was totally going to pair off with naked grandma, but nobody gets to see that she's clean because All That Shit starts happening.]

AND HERE WE GO

[warmdolls]

[ And the bandage comes off... ...Revealing a very obvious bite wound. Behemo will seethe and kick Mikazuki--the closer to the face, the better. And then he'll unsteadily stand, now no longer even hiding that he has a bad ankle. His weight stays off of that foot, and he practically is radiating murderous intent. Might want to get out of there, kid. ]

You think I did this!? Why would I have killed that little brat!? You have your confession! I didn't do this!

[ Game Start. ]

[crywiththesaints]

We don't just have a confession, we have a motive for your sister to lie. The same motive everyone else in here received, actually.

VOTING

[intercessing]

[After putting Grumpy back into his place, The Intercessor goes back towards the stairs. But not too far. They keep an eye on Behemo, just in case.]

It is now time to come to a consensus. Voting is a simple action. Call out the name or Title of who you believe the culprit is. A majority vote will suffice. When everyone has voted...the punishment will commence.

[They fold their arms and wait.]

[coldsouls]

[ ... No matter what she says, her life is going to be horrible. God, she hates exisiting right now. ]

... Dealmaker....

EXECUTION: When Good Men Do Nothing

[intercessing]

...Is that everyone?

[The Intercessor looks around at the group, eyes betraying nothing. The voice, however, seems quieter than normal.]

Half of the participants have abstained from voting. I must tell you, if you abstain from voting, it automatically counts as a vote for yourself.

I urge you all who have not yet voted, to-

[A bell sounds. That same strange bell tone, three times.

The Intercessor's pinprick eyes widen with some surprise.]

Wait...what is--

[Everyone but Behemo will suddenly feel themselves restrained. And The Intercessor.]

.......

I see.

The vote was 10-5 for yourselves.

[No matter how they struggle, the Titled cannot break free. The invisible force which holds them has them fast.

And whatever force it is, will start with Levia. Throat slitting.

A nod to the true culprit by starting with her, perhaps?]

...I'm sorry, everyone.

[The Intercessor can only watch.

You can only watch, as, one by one, the throats of everyone else abruptly burst open, fluid running from your jugular, and their heads hang limp before being dropped to the floor.

The rest of the Titled only have a few second to react, before they too are dead.

But only a few.

Goodbye.]

[crywiththesaints]

[well

at least someone got what they wanted]