FIFTH TRIAL

[bathymetric]

Quite the spread of evidence, isn't it? You have all you need, make your way to the vault door at once.

[ Once you're all at the door, Angel lets you through and into the elevator as always. And speaking of that elevator... your space to roam inside has grown again as you head down. Four is a heavy number to lose in one week, isn't it, between Nova and the three bodies you've just found? Though the number of things to discuss might be weighing heavier on your mind, if you're one of the investigators. The elevator might seem bigger or smaller than usual, despite the increase in space.

The trial room is as it is most weeks, apart from the newly-red podiums, so at least that's not a surprise by now. The screens are lowered, the familiar spiral displayed as ever. ]

That's three down this week. Up to three parties can be found responsible, when all is said and done - so go forth and find whoever did this, won't you? And to whoever did this... as always, best of luck to you as well.

[ The screens raise.

Welcome to your fifth trial. ]

Comments

[archboxer]

[Rhea only briefly stays at her own podium. Moving to Lif's old podium, she stands next to Mira as she lays down the evidence she found.]

Honestly, I cannot say that I know what to think of this.

[bolderfell]

[Oh! Therion points to the screwdriver.]

That came from the carpentry shop. It was missing when I looked.

[blackmass]

I wonder if someone required blue-toned light for something, though it is beyond me to imagine what.

[valentinus]

[ Alrighty, he's just going to get this over with. ]

...in the garden, there were spots where exactly several large pieces were missing from most of the poisonous plants.

There was also a shallow hole in the dirt where I found a large pile of pink gem shards.

[ He brought them here with him, so going to just...lift them up into view from his metal claw. ]

Lastly, a carving knife was with the pile, looking beat up to hell and back. It might have been used as a murder weapon. It didn't have any blood on it or anything, but there was some blood dripped here or there around the hole.

[ In his other hand he had said carving knife as well if anyone wanted to scrutinize it and such. ]

[ladygeryon]

Oh, that's where the rest of her shards went. Which is kind of weird-why would the killer bury only part of them?

[bogwife]

Which poisonous plants?

[mouflon]

It did look like a carving knife was missing from the knife block in the kitchen... Though, what interests me about that is that the block was left right next to the teapot, and Cooper obviously wasn't stabbed to death.

[ladygeryon]

[Since Jasper's grabbing the gem shards, Nira's going to bring the sword and set it on the podium, still with a cloth wrapped around the handle. She's also brought the drill bit from the workroom.]

I focused on studying the shards of the gem we found. Though not all of the shards were present-I think maybe about half of her gem left. Also, the break seems quite dissimilar to how quartz shatters-whatever Rose's gem was, it had basically perfect cleavage. I also tested its hardness with this drill bit, [She holds it up] which should be able to scratch quartz, and found that it was definitely on the harder side.

There was also blood splattered on the gem, and bloodstains on this sword as well. It seems the same sword was used to both draw blood and shatter the gem, since there is some damage to the blade.

[bolderfell]

...You're saying those shards are from something harder than quartz?

[hardnosed]

If it was her gem.

[ Shut up, Jasper!! ]

[nothingcanstop]

I...looked around at the room, and there was definitely a fight. Like...an all-over one. Most all the furniture was beaten up or torn, and...like, the couch and other things, they had these kinda deep cuts? It looks pretty safe to say they were from that sword.

What's really... Okay, so there were a lot of small splashes and drops of blood everywhere. Like...on the furniture, on the walls--but not on anything that had a cut in it.

Something happened, and...it looks like whoever fought Rose got incredibly roughed up.

[mouflon]

[ Yeah, so. Rin sets a bowl on her podium. It's filled with tea dregs and some sort of... flower? ]

I examined Cooper's body. There were hardly any notable injuries on it, but... I found a teapot filled with this nearby. It looks like some of what had been brewed came straight from the garden, but I don't know a lot about plants, to be honest. Can someone who knows more take a look?

Mods?

[ladygeryon]

[Nira's been allowing Jewel to nom from the poison garden regularly-does it look like something from said garden?]

[emberserker]

I do hope you didn't use your bare hands for that, Rin.

[Anna frowns and walks over to it.]

Wolfsbane. I'd know it anywhere -- it's my flower, after all.

NOBODY SAW ANYTHING

[hardnosed]

[ Jasper is bad and scary in a completely unique way today, from the moment she goes through the vault door to the second she takes her place next to Rhea. There's something behind her eyes that's hard to put a name to — there's still fire there, but it's as if the lens she refracts her anger and determination through has been cracked. Like all of the emotion that she's relied on lacks an outlet, and now it's trapped inside her, running circles through her.

She opens the big ochre fist her left hand is currently clenched in to reveal a bunch of mildly bloody pink shards. AND SINCE VINCENT HAS ANSWERED THE QUESTION ON THE PREVIOUS ITERATION OF THIS COMMENT: ]

So someone separated her.

[emberserker]

What, did they think she was just going to pull herself back together? With what magic?

[bogwife]

[Zerinda, who has joined Team Isle Surrounded By Death, is looking better from the mess she was last week. She's standing straight and determined as she presents her evidence.]

Someone lured Brian into the fitness room last night. They left him a note. [She pulls it out of her skirt pocket to give to the nearest person to pass around.] There were brackets screwed into the door frame and ceiling and a rope tied to the weight rack and under his leg. It looks like they set up a trap for him.

[mouflon]

A trap, huh... So, between that and the poison in the kitchen, two of the deaths were accomplished with subterfuge. What about Rose Quartz?

handwriting check

[bogwife]

Alright! We have a handwritten note and Della's been kind enough to supply paper and a pen. Let's see how this goes.

[To start Zerinda writes her own name in neat, block printing that is not a match.]

[bolderfell]

[Therion sighs gustily and writes a sentence, since his name is kind of short: A petty vandal was here. Then he writes it again with his other hand.]

Kind of pointless, though. Jasper already knows I can change my handwriting to look like someone else's.

Professor!

[bolderfell]

Professor. If there are multiple killers, but they didn't work together--didn't even know about each other--would they all be able to win? That is, if the majority votes wrong on all counts, do the murderers still face that penalty with the rest, for not finding out the other killers?

[bathymetric]

It would be a sloppy job on their part letting someone else cut in on the reward, but I suppose they would all win, yes.

[emberserker]

Do you think it matters?

[Anna glaring at someone isn't uncommon, of course, but her face is starting to twist into something more than just an angry look. She laughs, first a little, then beginning to grow.]

So much more started to matter in here. Don't you think? Without that push in the back of your head, saying that there's only one thing that's important anymore... You all felt it too, didn't you? It wasn't just me. He lied. He lied, he had to have.

Even if... Even if it was just me! Even if something back home was pushing me, I don't care! None of you matter. The things I used to love don't matter. There's only one thing I should care about. And I'm going to change the way it turns out! I've thrown away far too much not to!

[It's time for you to writhe in a bog of despair!]

[hardnosed]

... you just couldn't keep your mouth shut, could you?

[blackmass]

Enough. I'm tired of listening to Seiros' sanctimonious nonsense and Anna Fugo's tantrum waged against oblivion.

Would you like the truth?

[this is not a machinegun talk battle--this is just a tribute]

I did not kill anyone.

Aconite has no less right to exist than roses, and yet people are disgusted by them for the purpose inherent to their nature. It is not the oleander's fault that life is wounded by its touch, or the climbing ivy to blame that its life is found in choking out others.

Preferring poison flowers to the harmless, thorns to roses, ...That is merely what I find beautiful.

Now if you truly believe I wasted time and effort to poison someone and implicate myself when I could easily have killed someone any other way, by all means link me to such an event in more than worthless conjecture.

[archboxer]

Are you finished? I will admit I might have made a mistake but please do not use that name in vain.

[archboxer]

[The growling in the trial room stops suddenly. Rhea is still near Mira's podium, she's not foolish enough to get close to either Jasper or Kirei.

It's done.]

Congratulations. You have found out the other murderer. I suppose many of you will be relieved to see my death. However, can I present something?

[For those who were paying attention during the trial or the investigation... Rhea has been using her off hand. She lays the Sword of Seiros on Lif's podium.

It sure does look rather beat up, doesn't it?]

The real murder weapon. The knife was a red herring. That was what I hinting to Anna. However, I doubt any of you care now. To think, this happened because another damned rebel tried to stop me...

By killing me, you doom Fodlan. What use is it now, though? [She rolls up her right sleeve. A deep cut along her forearm starts to bleed again.] Thanks to Rose I doubt I could fight any of you off now.

Just finish it.

[blackmass]

I could not care less about Fodlan, or about you.

If you were capable of caring for Mira or anyone at all, I advise you to make a proper farewell while you still can. As far as I am concerned, unless anyone else wishes to surprise us with some involvement, we are done here.

TIME TO VOTE!

[bathymetric]

[ The Professor's voice rings out, regrettably loud and clear. ]

If you insist. Voting is now open for the party or parties responsible for the deaths of your three comrades. Majority rules, et cetera.

[bolderfell]

> Anna Fugo
> Rhea

EXECUTION 1 - die Puppenbühne

[bathymetric]

Correct as usual. Well done.

[ There’s no sign of interference this time as the screens lower and the lights drop - whatever happened last week, it looks like you’re not getting a repeat performance. The show just… starts to go on.

Anna stands in front of… a pretty beautiful backdrop, or it would be if not for the impending brutal murder. She looks confused for a long few moments, but then very suddenly she looks furious.

This could be, perhaps, because of the other girl now standing across from her. The second girl doesn’t return any of the anger Anna’s immediately displaying, if anything she looks… pitying, almost. Cold, if you stretch the definition of how much emotion she’s showing.

Suddenly, there’s an axe in Anna’s hand - where did it come from? Who knows, it happened off-camera. Perhaps your mysterious interfering presence from last week really has returned to arm another of you against execution.

Anna draws a deep, enraged breath, and cries out as she charges: ]

ERNESTAAAAAAAAA--!

[ But suddenly, not even a few steps into the charge, she’s jerked backward by strings, barely visible, that have attached to all the joints of her body. The axe leaves her hand with the force of the resistance they provide, and she scrambles back to reach for it, but… the strings have lifted her up now, not even an inch above the ground, and there’s no traction to be found. No movement. It’s no more than a few inches out of her reach, surely if she tries she can just- ]

Anna.

[ A new problem presents itself. The other girl (Ernesta, one presumes) has walked over, face still calm, standing also just out of Anna’s reach - and try to reach her Anna absolutely does. But the strings pull taut, and her arms are raised to either side of her, locked there.

Ernesta steps forward and holds out a hand. ]

It’s over now, Anna.

[ And with no emotion approaching anger on her face, the outstretched hand lunges forward straight into Anna’s chest, tearing out some kind of blue crystal and just… shattering it.

Anna Fugo is dead before the shards hit the ground. The screens flick off for a long few seconds, before returning to… ]

EXECUTION 2 - BEAUTY CONQUERS THE BEAST

[bathymetric]

[ We return to a shot of Rhea, standing likewise alone in a beautiful cathedral. Well… it clearly was beautiful, once. Right now it’s slightly broken down and on fire, which despite your lack of knowledge of Rhea’s religion probably isn’t the preferred state of affairs for a building like this.

Straight away Rhea doesn’t seem thrilled about being here, head darting to and fro as though searching for something in the chaos.

Or, perhaps, someone. After all, a large group of people seem to be gathering, surrounding her, seemingly unaffected by the smoke or the flames. They walk through them as if it’s no problem, really, a colorful assortment of fantasy characters who all look really upset at Rhea specifically.

It isn’t long before Rhea’s gaze settles on who she seems to have been looking for, or at least the person who’s stepping forward from the crowd towards her. There’s an axe in her hand, and despite Rhea’s hopes, nothing seems to materialize in her own. ]

You...

It’s over, Rhea. Look around you. These are the people of Fodlan. A free Fodlan. A Fodlan without you in it.

[Rhea looks around, head moving about the crowd. It’s almost like she recognizes all of them, as they all move in towards her. ]

Now I just have to make that dream come true.

[It’s quick, efficient, practiced, when the axe strikes Rhea’s neck. ]

…

[ There aren’t any final words to be said. The crowd hides the gore, but the cheers make it clear - Rhea is dead.

The screens return to the spiral, and the lights raise. ]

Your work here is done. You are all free to leave.

[blackmass]

[Kirei watched both unfold in impassive silence, the frown he wore the only sign of whatever myriad things he felt. At the Professor's words-]

Kyrie eleison.

[-he spoke those words under his breath like a curse and sharply turned to leave.]