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

[archboxer]

[Probably the first thing noticeable about Rhea currently is that the long sleeves of her gown are spattered with blood, though, she did have the foresight to wash her hands. It probably has something to do with the bloody cloth (that remarkably looks like part of that hideous dress) in front of her. The Sword of Seiros is leaning against her podium.]

While I did not fully examine his body, I do understand there were some things that need to be explained about it due to Seteth's nature. I cannot say if the answers will be of any use to the investigation, however, I will answer them forthrightly. Ema likely can answer any questions about the wounds found on his body but I must answer any about this.

[She unfolds the bundle and there is a rock laying in it. It's been cleaned, fortunately, but it looks... fancy? However, unlike the picture there's a different symbol on it. One that those that frequent the chapel might remember seeing.]

This is the Crest Stone of Cichol. You could say this is his heart. [Rhea's been doing alright up to this point but she sounds exhausted now.] Cichol, as the profiles state, is Seteth's true name. There is little need for secrets now so -- yes, the reason I know this is that I have a Crest Stone laying in my chest as well. The Crest Stone of Seiros.

[She doesn't say what that means but it can be definitely inferred.]

[snackooed]

[ Even with two of these under her belt and more than a few experiences testifying in an actual court, there's always something that gives Ema pause when it comes to speaking at the podium like this. She looked uncomfortable last week, but today, the expression on her face is...not quite as confidence inspiring as one would hope. She's trying, but...

Well, let's just say that her investigation didn't go as hot as she'd like, compared to the last two. Which is maybe saying something, compared to last week's game of "Find That Blood". ]

I conducted the investigation of Seteth's body in the water park, with Zerinda supervising. Let's start with what I do know, and get that out of the way: Seteth's body was found relatively high up, near the top of one of the slides in the park, lying on his back. From the placement of his body and the way his blood is moving, I can confirm that his body was not moved from its original position. The spot we found him in is the spot that he died in, and he wasn't dragged up to the top of the slide by the culprit after death.

Now, the cause of death was a...a critical injury to the chest area, scientifically speaking. [ Is that what we're calling it...? ] I was able to find shards of black metal inside that wound, which presumably broke off from the murder weapon. His body was also covered in cuts and scrapes, which Mira has documented for us and can show you upon request. Be sure to thank her for that. The most notable and largest of which would be the cut on his left arm. Additionally, his right hand was covered in splinters, particularly centered around his palm area.

[ That's...well, it wasn't all quite normal, but it is the end of the normal part. ]

Now, onto the unknowns: Seteth, for better or for worse, had a bit of a...unique biology. His body showed no signs of livor mortis, algor mortis, or rigor mortis whatsoever. Even if we found his body as early as fifteen minutes after he was killed, we should have seen early signs, at least some kind of pallor... which leads me to believe that his body doesn't decompose in the same way that a human's does, if it actually decomposes at all. Therefore, unfortunately, it's impossible for me to estimate the time of death. Additionally, as Rhea mentioned, we found a stone in his chest, in the same area where the heart would be located in the human body, and the veins on it seem to indicate that it served a similar function. She's volunteered to answer any questions about that.

I believe that's everything with regard to his body...let's try to consolidate the information that we have, and we'll work from there, but I'm sorry that I couldn't give you much more conclusive than that.

[ladygeryon]

[Nira's grabbed a cloth to wrap up the scabbard she found, which she now sets on her podium.]

I found this under one of the arcade machines. There was also blood splattered on the ground near the entrance. I haven't touched it, so it should be fine to dust for fingerprints.

[hardnosed]

[ It sure can be inferred! And the inference to be made is— ]

Your core is a rock?

[ fuckin nailed it ]

[emberserker]

Oh, you are the last person to talk about that.

[archboxer]

Yes. It is. All Nabateans have one.

[hardnosed]

Because I didn't sit on it for a month?

Mods?

[bolderfell]

Can I see that?

[He doesn't need to touch it, just look. Does it look like the sheath that comes with a Letter Opener: Deluxe?]

[hardnosed]

[ She's in a particularly choice position to glance down at Rhea and be really obvious about it. Still, there's nothing... disapproving about the glare Jasper casts at her. It's just reevaluation. ]

But the rest of you — that's organic.

[archboxer]

I had a perfectly good reason to hide my identity.

[Also, unlike some, she can pass for a human.]

[emberserker]

So shards of whatever the weapon was broke off when he was stabbed. That would indicate that the killer didn't know his heart was a stone, but since only one other person knew, that doesn't solve anything.

[Anna's still in the wetsuit, trailing water into the courtroom, and radiating annoyance -- wait, she's always that last one. She lays a broken training spear on her podium.]

This was stashed floating in the lazy river, but there's no way it's the weapon. This is a training spear, blunted and padded. But it was sliced in half by something sharp -- most likely the murder weapon. Given the splinters you mentioned, Seteth most likely tried to defend himself with this. Unfortunately, I didn't find the other half.

[reallyhatesharks]

Covered in splinters like "punched wood and it exploded" or like "used his hand to shield himself from exploding wood"?

[Feels like maybe there's some difference there.]

[hardnosed]

Then let's hear it.

[ okay, mostly she's just annoyed it took her so long to question the profiles and wants to redirect that ]

[blackmass]

[cool! hate that!]

...Well. This is quite the development.

[bolderfell]

[Ah. Oh. No.]

Seteth made that himself. To keep in practice, he said.

[archboxer]

Yes, in a sense.

[What are Nabateans? No one knows.]

If you cut me, I will bleed.

[nothingcanstop]

[ There is so, so much of HEY THIS SUCKS going on. Della only barely saw the body this week. She's a little glad she left the room now. ]

Splinters... [ She places the stick she found on her podium. It's...like half a quarterstaff, and it's broken. ] Maybe they came from this. I found it outside the park, near a trail of blood drops, leading from the arcade to the water park.

[reallyhatesharks]

And what, exactly, is a Nabatean?

[We all want to know!!!]

[nothingcanstop]

...Oh, hey. Convenient. That's right here.

[hardnosed]

Explains why there's a training spear in the water room. [ She pauses. ] Did he have it on him most of the time?

[ Of course she didn't notice. ]

[bathymetric]

[ It sure does. ]

[archboxer]

Now that Seteth is dead, I am the last of the the first generation. The rest were murdered by humans.

[Pause.]

The reasoning is simple: fear. I was afraid.

[blackmass]

Organic life that functions without a heart is hardly unprecedented. Is this likely to be relevant to the issue at hand, or a mere complication discovered by whoever his killer was?

[snackooed]

More like the latter, I believe. If he punched wood, the splinters would be more concentrated towards his knuckles. Since these are more concentrated towards his palm, it seems more likely that something wooden came apart in his hand, or that he used his hand to protect himself...

[snackooed]

Good work, you two. Let's just quickly confirm that they're both halves of the same weapon, for completeness's sake.