bellelurette | WEEK ONE

WEEK ONE

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Maybe being swept away to a fancy castle isn't what you wanted (Hickey aside), but the fact of the matter is that you're stuck here, at least for now. Thankfully there's enough food even if hot chocolate for breakfast might be a bit rich for some palates. There's at least a stock of raw food in the kitchens, but your hapless kidnapper is a Witch, not a chef, so you'll have to perform your own, manual kitchen magic if the provided meals aren't to your liking.

Just try not to burn the place down before you get the chance to take your host at his word (that you'll be leaving in a week's time, certainly, trust).

If you do get the cabin fever immediately, the grounds are a beautiful reprieve from the great indoors -- and if nothing else, perhaps you can find time to get to know your fellow guests. The weather is gorgeous all week, cheerfully sunny, which lends something to the mood.

WEEKLY EFFECT

This week, characters will feel heightened emotions periodically. If they're very happy about something, it'll feel like the best thing in the world! If they'd usually brush off something mildly annoying, suddenly it'll grate on their nerves. This effect will last throughout the week until investigation and is completely optional.

[OOC: Welcome to Week 1! Despite the lack of any threatened murder (except in Witch's direction), there will be a case this week. We'll have a small optional event on Wednesday at 1PM EDT/10AM PDT, but it won't require real time threading and can be done over the course of the week. ]

MONDAY • TUESDAY • WEDNESDAY • THURSDAY

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SCALES OF JUSTICE

Come Wednesday morning, the Witch has a message for everyone over their crystals.

『 Helloooo, hellooo! Sorry for calling everyone, but I'm not asking for love advice or asking you how you would rescue a tiger. I have good news! I've made pretty good progress in the past few days in crafting a new spell to send you all back. But I'm going to need a little something from you in return.

See to return you to your worlds, I need to make sure I take all of you. And yeah, I have your physical weights, but I don't know the weight of your soul. Or essence, if you're touchy about that sort of thing.

Luckily I have something that can measure just that! You'll find it in the throne room, along with instructions. Freeing yourself from past sins will make you lighter in various ways. You're welcome! 』

⚖️

Welcome to your week 1 event! For this event, characters are asked to confess something they think they'll be judged for, that everyone can bear witness to (read: judge them for). This can range from small potato things (I'm really bad at returning library books) to larger transgressions (I'm responsible for the death of all the dinosaurs).

ICly, characters will do this by picking up one of the many rubies that have recently appeared in the throne room, speaking their confession aloud, and then placing it in the scale. Characters are free to come and go as they wish, as their confession will hang around in a visual word cloud until the next day ICly. They'll also feel more compelled to speak up and comment on others, even if they normally wouldn't be judgemental.

Participation will net you a reward in the form of an item. To be eligible for a reward, please link to a thread of your character participating here by 12PM EDT/9AM PDT on Friday, March 14th. We won't be counting comments, just that you did participate in the event!

Characters can participate more than once, and comment on as many confessions as they like, but will only receive one reward.

The world is your oyster, so play this event however you like!

CODE

Edited 2025-03-12 17:01 (UTC)

[ Angelo does show up for breakfast. He doesn't look quite as morose as he did on the day of arrival - he's dressed nicely, his hair is styled meticulously, and he smells of rose perfume. It's just that there is still something distant in his eyes. He doesn't eat much, though he drinks his hot chocolate in silence... at least until he picks up his spoon and instantly drops it. Anybody nearby can easily see that his hands are trembling intensely. Angelo gets up wordlessly and turns to leave without picking the silverware up from the floor.

Later, he can be found in the observatory, flipping through star charts with a frown. He doesn't understand a lot of how these are written, but they're all the same amount of familiar and unfamiliar at once...

In the afternoon, he can be spotted beholding the profile plaques in the Promenade of Reflexion. He's pausing especially long in front of any profiles that mention magic or an improbably lifespan.

Muttering under his breath: ] Just what kind of freakshow...

[ And finally, the most reliably spot you can find Angelo is in the garden by the roses. He's there more than he is indoors, looking at the splendid red with a vacant look in his eyes. ]

i. the beginning;

[ Blade has been mostly keeping to himself as he is wont to do - hard to find, hard to interact with, or simply hard to deal with.

He be found with ease today, at the start of the week. He's inspecting the craftsmanship of the ornamental weapons in the mars room. He seems excited; enthused in the way he runs his fingers over the items. Yet, his expression doesn't change. ]

...There should be more.

[ Though surprisingly, that is his only comment. Excitement does not enhance absence of wordiness, apparently. ]

ii. stars;

[ Blade is in the observatory, for the rest of the afternoon until early evening. He's actually putting the place to use, it seems, peering through the telescope. ]

...It's beautiful.

[ Though emotion rarely comes from him at times beyond particular situations, it's heard from him now. He doesn't mean to say it, but he is a little more compelled to; maybe because the sky looks so different. Yet, he doesn't usually hold much interest in things. ]

iii. garden of lies;

[ Maybe you think you're alone in the garden late at night. It's silent, calm. But, something else is there.

Or perhaps someone. Yet, nothing is being said. Try to find out who it is? ]

iv. wildcard;

[ The world is your oyster. ]

banquet hall

[Junior's never been one to turn his nose up at a meal, no matter what it looks like. Now that he's at least relatively convinced they won't be poisoned, he accepts his breakfast and takes a seat by himself. There's an odd look on his face as he considers the steaming mug topped off with whipped cream...but tentatively takes a sip. The second the hot chocolate hits his tongue his whole face lights up.]

This is hot chocolate...?

[He looks at once like he wants to down the entire drink and like he's guilty that he took that single taste in the first place.]

library

[After breakfast, it's time to get back to business. If his goal upon arrival was to secure means of protection, his goal today was to find more information on the place they'd found themselves in. He spends a decent amount of time in the library, scanning the bookshelves with the single-minded determination of someone who is looking for something specific. Occasionally, he pulls a volume free, but after quickly skimming the contents returns it to its space and moves on. Overall, he doesn't seem put off by anyone sharing the space with him, but anyone who gets too close will get a somewhat wary look.]

solarium

[Once he's determined that he's not going to find anything particularly helpful, Junior finds himself pausing in the solarium to admire the plants inside of it. Gravitating ultimately toward the chessboard, he picks up one of the pieces and turns it over in his hand with an idle sort of curiosity, but doesn't outright commit to sitting down or seeking out a partner to play a game with.]

[Angelo ends up with company at some point, in the form of the enormous elf clad in fantasy robes.]

Art thou familiar with celestial bodies?

[It's hard to say if the frown Angelo is giving to the charts is one of complete lack of knowledge or just general confusion over the contents.]

[Urianger's pleased to have so much company in the observatory, even if not everyone who's come to visit is well-versed in astronomy. An interest alone is heartening.]

'Tis indeed. [He replies to Blade's remark.] Though its celestial bodies differ from that of my home, 'tis heartening to find the familiar comfort of a beautiful night sky filled with stars.

[She is out here alone in the garden in the middle of the night, having walked the length of the herb patch in the kitchen garden before reaching the archways and the fountains, sitting beside the water and gazing into her darkened reflection.

During the day, the place is lively with the sounds of all manner of little creatures - though no humans save the rest of them. At night, it's... a bit too quiet, even for the evening bugs. Andrew lifts her head.]

... Even mice should be sleeping at this hour. Is someone there?

Do you play?

[The Norton boys are fond of idle games of wit and pretend war like this. Andrew can think of at least one person who could outplay them all.

He's a little young, she thinks, to be some boys' school freshman.]

I'm sure you could find someone who would entertain you.

[She listens to his condemnation of the information on the plaques in silence. Though Angelo's words might not be clear to her, she can't help but hear that he is muttering, and she can't escape the slightly disdainful tone of his whispers.]

It's difficult to wrap my head around it all. I don't get half of it.

[Then, thinking he might be sensitive to feeling his intelligence has been slighted:]

I'm sure you have a greater understanding of the words than I do.

[ Clover's walking around the hall, humming as she carefully holds her own cup while taking sips from it. But when she hears Junior say that close by, she automatically stops to pipe up at that. ]

Yup! I'm a fan of these fancier types of hot chocolate. Don't let it get cold now!

[ A certain pink girl walks in to take another look at the Mars Room. Just in case). But obviously she gets distracted by that comment. Should be more what? Should she feel concerned? (Not that it'll stop her from opening her mouth.) ]

More...stabbiness? Explodiness? Weightiness? ...I'd vote for detailedness.

[ During her re-tour of the castle, Clover pokes her head into the observatory. She's curious about the star charts, but her attempt to read them yesterday didn't work out. And now it looks like there's an opportunity to talk about them.

She walks in with a little more care than usual, trying not to make loud clacking noises with her heels. ]

Hey, I was wondering. Do you know how much of the stars are the same?

[Early in the day, Shiv can be found in the Mars Room observing some of the displays.]

Guess this is more like a museum than a fucking gun range. Thank God. [She folds her arms at a display of various smaller weapons. The empty space between two of the daggers could mean nothing.] No medals, though. Isn’t that the crowning jewel in the wannabe warlord crown of having a personal military collection?

[Later in the day, people may have a harder time finding Shiv, and that’s how she’d like to keep it at the moment, because her usual iron grip on her emotions is starting to falter. It is getting to be around the time that she’s managed to get an assistant to find her a free room for twenty minutes over the past two days, but usually she can keep it together until she’s absolutely certain she’s alone. The stress may just be making it harder.

She assumed the bathroom was completely empty when she sat herself down on the stairs of the empty whirlpool and let herself fully start crying, but then she hears a door open and she startles.]

For fuck’s sake– [She curses under her breath and starts wiping at her eyes, hoping to not look like she was crying just a few seconds ago.]

[ Strange how it is so, and yet... ]

No similarities here, either.

[ Blade doesn't think he oft watched celestial bodies even in the past, which is good that he hasn't, in retrospect. Instead, he can be kind of distracted by these stars and the constellations, in a strangely good mood to find joy in the small things. ]

...I never looked at it much. Not before. I was too busy traversing through the stars.

Edited 2025-03-11 02:10 (UTC)

[There is a good chance that he's the freakshow Angelo is looking at, so.]

What'd you find?

[Oho!]

Verily? Art thou a regular traveler of the cosmos?

[Monday evening, Brad can be found looking around the various rooms, looking more and more annoyed as he searches. Whatever he is looking for he just can't find it, and the frustration is building in him. Eventually it boils over, and in the middle of the billiards room Brad suddenly yells out.]

Where can a guy find any booze in this place huh?!

[Priorities, he has them.]

[Looking from the chess piece up to the woman who had spoken to him, Junior shakes his head.]

No...I don't play any games, really.

[Though he was sure he could imagine Mr. Carpenter and Ms. Wendy playing a match.]

I know it's a strategy game, but I don't know the rules.

i. breakfast?

[It's early Monday morning and Sousuke is hard at work(?). That is to say, he seems to be diligently inspecting every single chair at the table, which includes crouching right next to them so he can see the bottom of the seat. He occasionally shifts the chair to observe it from a different angle, although he doesn't go so far as lifting it. Once he's finished, he moves on to another; rinse and repeat until he's looked at them all.

Incidentally, all of this still applies even if there is a person sitting in the chair, though he acts like they're not even there the whole time. If the current occupant of the seat notices but doesn't stop him, Sousuke tilts his head up to them and speaks tonelessly:]

You're very fortunate.

[And then he silently continues with the seat next to them.]

ii. literature search?

[The library is only a quick pit stop for him today, but he seems to be coming in and out, carrying out hardcover books on the thicker side. If anyone is able to recognize the titles, many seem to be coming from the section with the less-than-wholesome novels. It'll be even more obvious if you see him in the library, since he's obviously pulling books off that section of the shelves.]

iii. bullseye?

[Anyone who's out in the garden will clearly hear periodic gunshots, although the the interval between them seems fairly irregular. Seeking out the source of the sound will require walking over to the path leading to the Grotto. Once there, it's obviously Sousuke who's holding a musket and firing towards the southern wall of the cottage, which seems to have been lined with books. There are also a few guns laid on a nearby rectangle of fabric, along with other necessary supplies for the loading process. The gun themselves all appear different, but there's about half-and-half long guns to pistols.

To anyone approaching, he glances ever so slightly in their direction, but ultimately says this:]

Don't mind me. Continue on your way.

Edited (accursed typos) 2025-03-11 03:33 (UTC)

There are different types?

[Well, if Clover is telling him to drink more, he won't let it go to waste! Junior brings up the mug for another sip, his face flushing as he realizes that whipped cream gets stuck to his upper lip. He quickly brings up a napkin to clean himself up, ducking his head.]

It's...really tasty.

Right? You should grab as much as you want.

[ She grins, pointing to the top of her cup with her free hand as she talks. ]

And there's too many types to count. Basically anything you can mix in with chocolate? Like peppermint, salted caramel, or marshmallows. It's probably harder to find something that wouldn't work.

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WEEK ONE

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

EVENT I: SCALES OF JUSTICE

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observatory

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solarium

plaques for morning luna

banquet hall

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observatory

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profiles

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