bellelurette | TRIAL II

Trial

At least this time you were given ample time to wreck your sleep schedule before the clocks gong at midnight (no apologies for such little sleep in the first place withstanding). The carnival looks just as you remember it, with the banquet and drinks refreshed. The spread is the same as before with two new additions: a platter of cute cupcakes that might remind you of someone, along with baozi of all types.

Like before, mind the pit in the middle and settle in to vote out the guilty party for the death of Siobhan "Shiv" Roy. With the benefit of experience, maybe this will be a little bit easier? With the mood weather lifted, there won't be any floods at trial at least.

(( OOC: Welcome to your first trial! You'll have 7 hours (until 8 PM EDT/5 PM PDT) to vote one (1) person guilty of murder. As this is scapegoat style, a correct vote is not necessary. Please remember to vote unless otherwise discussed with the mods, as that is our AC for this game ))

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[ ...... ]

Could that have been what set fire to the library? A lightning strike?

[ GIVEN THE WEATHER STUFF.... ]

That seems a bit more deliberate. Someone blocked all the doors, and plus nobody can use magic here anyway.

But we had those strange weather effects around us, didn't we? Those were tangible and didn't require magic. Someone – the killer, maybe Shiv, who knows – could have had a lightning bolt trigger around them without realizing.

...huh. As an accident instead of on purpose...

[He's considering it at least.]

why block the doors then?

To keep those of us inside from escaping, for one reason or another.

But when? Did he start the fire, go off and kill, then come back and block the doors?

I believe the fire was started after the murder took place. The amount of time it could've taken between the fire and Siobhan's death, if the fire took place first - it would have spread quickly. We might have all died by then.

(no subject)

perfectpower - 2025-03-22 19:04 (UTC) - Expand

So you're suggesting it was someone staying in the library?

No, I don't know if it was or wasn't. The culprit could have done it from outside, too, where the doors were, since there were scorch marks. There were objects stacked right outside of it, after all.

[ So in the process of doing that, lightning could've struck. ]

Then how do you explain the scorching on the washroom side?

[ wish I had an appropriate thinking icon like sousuke rn.... ]

That's right. The scorching indicated that the doors were more burnt from the library side, right? [ HMMMM. ]

Edited 2025-03-22 19:24 (UTC)

[it's okay, you make up for it by having more expressions besides :| or >:| all the time]

That is what was reported. It seems likely that the perpetrator was inside when the fire was set, although they could have escaped after.

[Although they really do need to figure out a timeline for this, huh...]

[ poor sousuke......... ]

I guess that debunks my theory, then...and continues to pose the question of what the order of events really was.

Were they from the library side or the banquet hall side? How possible is it for the marks to come from someone really distressed about getting through it?

Do you mean if they ran out the doors from the library?

Yeah, the ones connecting the library to the bathroom, that's what I meant.

[ what is the timeline here........ ]

arbalestrier - 2025-03-22 20:39 (UTC) - Expand

fourtuity - 2025-03-22 20:52 (UTC) - Expand

baebladie - 2025-03-22 20:59 (UTC) - Expand

fourtuity - 2025-03-22 21:12 (UTC) - Expand

baebladie - 2025-03-22 21:24 (UTC) - Expand

antline - 2025-03-22 21:27 (UTC) - Expand

obtect - 2025-03-22 21:29 (UTC) - Expand

antline - 2025-03-22 21:32 (UTC) - Expand

obtect - 2025-03-22 21:36 (UTC) - Expand

ocenon - 2025-03-22 21:33 (UTC) - Expand

antemeridian - 2025-03-22 21:39 (UTC) - Expand

[Hmmm.]

The materials to create this rock would need to be present. The castle grounds are more optimal.

Present at the library, you mean?

[ Hang on. ]

Scarlet mentioned there were scorch marks that were identical in nature, from the banquet hall to the solarium, right? What if those were caused by lightning strikes?

Ah, I now understand what thou meant.

[With a nod,]

The storm may have very well persisted throughout the altercation.

It certainly may have.

[ Since this seems to be a consistent pattern.. ]

[ ... ]

Yeah. Someone was definitely angry.

...that'd make sense. It'd be likelier than someone dragging something and getting a perfectly identical mark every time.

[Scarlet can't believe he's taking a magical thunderstorm as a likelier scenario than the grounded, logical explanation]

Right. I thought maybe the lantern could have set fire to the library, but there wasn't any glass reported to have been found there...so now, I'm more inclined to believe that the fire was caused by lightning.

And that very well could have been accidental.

But if it was an accident...why barricade us in?

safetycheck - 2025-03-22 19:03 (UTC) - Expand

But what does that do to the timeline of events suggested earlier?

[ that a fire set closer to the beginning of an altercation would have been a lot worse for them in the library? ]

safetycheck - 2025-03-22 19:05 (UTC) - Expand