THIRD TRIAL

[bathymetric]

If you have time for a grisly operation like that, I think you've had all the time you need to gather evidence. Please proceed to the door to the trial room elevator as quickly as possible.

[ Once you arrive, it's the same song and dance as the last two weeks. Angel helps you all get through the vault door and into the elevator, and watches as you all make the slow descent to the dome below. Standing in the elevator is more than a comfortable fit now, even for the largest among you. A few more of you lost and there'll be room enough to pace in here.

But maybe you don't want to think about that.

The dome of the trial room is the same as it's been, the only change the dull red glow coming from the two newly-unoccupied podiums. The screens above flick on, and lower down to make an address. ]

You know the score by now. Find Seteth's killer and you can all go free. Fool them all, killer, and you'll have your life and your reward. Other than that, whatever happens here is between all of you. Call for me if you need anything.

[ The screens rise again, leaving you here.

Welcome to your third trial. ]

Comments

[blackmass]

Why carry the shield at all, if his weapon was a lance? He couldn't have anticipated his weapon breaking.

More straightforward, perhaps, is the idea that Seteth was not the one bearing the shield in the first place.

[valentinus]

...Then you believe the one holding the shield was the killer?

[blackmass]

I do think it more likely, at the very least.

[bolderfell]

But... then where'd the scratches on it come from? Seteth's lance still had the padding on it, didn't it?

[blackmass]

Do keep in mind this is mere conjecture. Perhaps the shield was damaged in the battle after the lance was broken. Splintered wood can be a formidable weapon should it strike correctly.

[archboxer]

Not against a divine relic.

[hardnosed]

A what.

[archboxer]

[She sighs.]

Seteth's shield is extremely strong. A splintered piece of wood could not have harmed it in such a way.

[hardnosed]

But the regular swords the machine gives us could?

[archboxer]

It is far more likely, yes. After all even if it could scratch the shield... it broke when it hit something harder.

[snackooed]

The stone in his chest is harder than the shield?

mods?

[archboxer]

[Cough.]

I believe so. After all, that is where we found the fragments, did we not?

[But for the sake of clarification. Let's look at the hunk of rock. Is it scratched?]

[bathymetric]

[ If you look closely, there is in fact a scratch on there! The kind of extra clarification you can get if you have the courage to take the victim's heart into the trial room every week sure is remarkable, isn't it?

(Note: Under normal circumstances, maybe Not That.) ]

[pimpplan]

Could be, or it could be from the energy driven by the forward movement hitting a hard object that caused the tip to crack. There's a bunch of different ways it could've been done.

[bolderfell]

Yeah. Curve of a shield tends to make a blow slide off instead of stopping it in one place.

[bolderfell]

[/cash register noise

Divine fuckin' relic???]

[archboxer]

[You can practically hear the snap as she looks at him.]

You will perish if you try.

[bolderfell]

...

[Sidles a little closer to the gap between him and Rin. You know, away from the gap between him and Rhea.]

[archboxer]

[Dislikes: Bandits. Bandits are just violent thieves, Therion... don't test her.]

[blackmass]

Do we know such magical artifacts to retain their powers here?

[archboxer]

They likely do not, as he would not have perished if that were the case. [Obviously.] However, imagine a sturdy shield that has seen many battles. Do you think it would yield to a piece of splintered wood?

[blackmass]

Equally as likely as a man with a two-handed weapon choosing to carry a shield.

[archboxer]

He often did. I could even show you how.

[archboxer]

May I interject? One can slide their arm through a shield, leaving their hands free. That aside, if Seteth was not the one with the shield how could you explain the damage done to it?

[blackmass]

[shrugs]