SECOND TRIAL

[bathymetric]

Time's up, boys and girls. Please gather up your evidence and make your way to the vault door.

[ The process of heading to the elevator and crowding in remains the same as last week - Angel leads you all to the elevator car, then stays behind as you make your slow descent to the dome below. You might not even notice if you aren't paying attention, but... the cart is already less crowded than it was last week. You certainly won't be able to avoid noticing it if your numbers dwindle too much further than this.

When the doors open on the trial room, it's just as bleak a place as last week. ]

Take your places, won't you? And this time, you all know what's at stake. No more... funny business.

[The number of podiums displaying that red light is higher now - Damien, Lif, and Piers are all represented by blank spots now, no tasteful covers or anything normal to mark their passing, just a red glow and a gap in your number.

Cheery!

The screens raise up to the ceiling to give you all room to see, and the Professor's final words before the trial begins ring out: ]

Find the killer, leave alive. And killer? Try a little harder to stop them from doing that than the last one in your shoes. Call out for me if you require anything.

[ Welcome to your second trial. ]

Comments

[drladysounds]

Hmmm... [She thought maybe it was meant to hold Piers in place, but if they let go right away...] Like a warning bite, like dogs and cats do when they're close to getting pissy?

[Sounds like a warning, really]

[emberserker]

I'd say someone getting into a fight with him is more likely than someone spontaneously deciding to pretend they're a dog.

[archboxer]

It seemed to be fatal, I doubt it was a warning.

[ladygeryon]

...does anyone here have some kind of Poison-type biting attack they've been hiding? Or some other way that they could kill with one bite without having to hold on?

[snackooed]

I don't think anyone who has something like a poison bite would just fess up to having an ability like that now...

Besides, it's not that he was poisoned. The signs are clear. He lost blood. A lot of it.

[blackmass]

Blood you apparently can't find.

[bolderfell]

[...You know what? Therion doesn't like this, either.]

[blackmass]

[welcome to the club, kid]

[snackooed]

I know it sounds crazy, but there's no way that you would be able to replicate those signs without severe blood loss. Livor mortis doesn't lie...

[blackmass]

No. It does not sound remotely crazy or unbelievable to me at all.

[ladygeryon]

What, like he was bitten by a Golbat?

[snackooed]

Maybe if the bat was the size of a human and taking steroids. A normal bat will consume about...I dunno, I'm not a biologist, so maybe call it an ounce of blood? This bat would need to have drank about three liters, so a hundred times that.

[ladygeryon]

Golbat can drink up to ten ounces at a time, actually...but it sounds like that's still too little. And they only have four prominent teeth anyways.

[bolderfell]

Most poisons leave some kind of sign. Froth at the mouth, spots and fever, things like that. Was there anything like that on him?

[archboxer]

No. Like Ema said, he looked like he lost blood. A wound to the neck would bleed quite a lot... yet there were no signs of it.

[bolderfell]

...So someone took it.

[Really, y'all just. Not gonna say it?]

[blackmass]

'Took' is certainly a word one could use.

[bolderfell]

...Drained?

[Your blood-harvesting monsters are not his blood-harvesting monsters, and that's okay.]

[blackmass]

A bit closer to the mark, by my estimate.

[bolderfell]

You're hinting at something. If you have something to say, say it. Our lives are on the line, here.

[blackmass]

[A sigh, Kirei looking mostly just somewhat inconvenienced by this whole thing.]

I don't suppose the term 'Dead Apostles' means anything to anyone here?

[bolderfell]

Not me.

[nothingcanstop]

Can't say I've heard of them.

[lovelikeyou]

Aren't they a band?

[to be fair, in steven universe they may as well be]

[snackooed]

What, like the disciples? I didn't go to a Catholic school growing up...