A Game of Skill

[Celestial]

((I'm surprised there has not been a Discworld reference before that. xD))

Celestial bows to the Queen and the Princess, She listens as the first round of questions is fired off, chewing on her pipe and thinking.

"Yes, Princess, we did. We cannot deny that we snuck out. But you are not a stupid girl and you were without denial the one who broke the mirror. If you think it is us who killed your father, why come to us for help in the first place? If we had committed such a crime and were hiding the mirror pieces in our cabin, we'd probably be more careful about leaving the cabin and we'd certainly not be so casual in snooping around the castle lest somebody recognise us. Besides, what motive do we have? Now, you, on the other hand, have a motive, an opportunity and the ability to place the shards in our cabin when we went away. At this point, your defense is pretty shaky," she retorted, trying to be as polite and at the same time accusing as possible.

She turned back to the Queen. "Your majesty, if I may ask you a personal question, how much did the king's infidelity really annoy you?"

"And finally, Princess, for you; why did you break the mirror?"

[♥ Azzie]

Azalea thought for a while. "Your Majesty, can the mirror know things it cannot see? I ask this because the mirror was near the dungeons, even though people weren't down there very much." She turned to the mirror, hazarding a guess. "Mirror, who was it that broke you?

[Pixie]

"Your highness, may you please ask the mirror who killed the king? It only answers to you, but I think everyone here wants to know" Ellen implores.

[Fraze]

"Your highness, may you please ask the mirror who killed the king? It only answers to you, but I think everyone here wants to know"
"It cannot answer this question, because it was broken at the time. Observe." She lays a hand on the mirror's frame.
"Who killed the King of this land?" she asks. The mirror's surface seems to shake and sputter, and finally displays the message: "OUT OF RANGE."


"Your Majesty, can the mirror know things it cannot see? I ask this because the mirror was near the dungeons, even though people weren't down there very much."
"Yes, it can see anything that happens in the bounds of this kingdom."

"Mirror, who was it that broke you?"
The Queen relays the question verbatim. A response comes much more quickly now, as the Princess shows up clearly on the surface. After a moment, you realize that it is showing her sitting next to the Queen, as if through a live video feed.

"If you think it is us who killed your father, why come to us for help in the first place?"
"I--I didn't realize it at the time," the Princess stammers. "If I thought you did it, then of course I would have had you captured. But it's rather convenient, by coming here under the guise of helping us, you throw suspicion off of yourselves..."
She seems to want to continue, but her argument is drowned out by the players' objections to her claim.

"Your majesty, if I may ask you a personal question, how much did the king's infidelity really annoy you?"
The Queen shifts on her throne. "There was no deep love in our marriage. His actions were none of my concern, as long as they didn't endanger the kingdom."

"And finally, Princess, for you; why did you break the mirror?"
The Princess turns pale. "The Queen uses it to--to spy on people." she blurts out. "She wanted to take over for herself, I'm sure she was using it to find a way to kill the King. I broke it because I wanted to protect the King!"

[♥ Azzie]

Azalea nodded. "I've just one more question. On whose orders did the guards search our home?"

[Gelquie]

Gelquie stared at the mirror after the questions were answered. She kept wondering about what it said. Sure, she could see the mirror being broken, but... That message just seemed odd. She was trying to stay back and mostly listen without getting herself in trouble, but... It just reminded her that there were too many things bugging her. She had too many questions. Finally, she couldn't resist, and she spoke up again.

"Your Majesty," she said to the Queen. "You say it doesn't answer because it was broken. But why does it display the message 'OUT OF RANGE'? Is there a range to what the mirror can see? And if so, what is it? And I thought the mirror was covered up before it was broken. It may have been broken directly afterwards, but can the mirror make associations like that? Or can it only tell what it sees? ...While I'm asking can it see things that don't necessarily have to do with people, like the location of a room, hallway, or passageway?"

Gelquie paced for a short while before speaking up again. "One of the servants told us that the poison used was kept in the dungeons, and that it was supposed to be used for killing wasps. Are the dungeons storing the poison free to access? If not, who can access them?"

She paused for another moment as she gets an idea, and she turns to the Princess and looks her in the eyes. "Princess, I have a question for you. How did you feel about the King?"

[Fraze]

"Your Majesty, you say it doesn't answer because it was broken. But why does it display the message 'OUT OF RANGE'? Is there a range to what the mirror can see? And if so, what is it? And I thought the mirror was covered up before it was broken. It may have been broken directly afterwards, but can the mirror make associations like that? Or can it only tell what it sees? ...While I'm asking can it see things that don't necessarily have to do with people, like the location of a room, hallway, or passageway?"
"As I have said several times already, the mirror can see anything that happens in this kingdom. This includes places where people are not present. Since the murder clearly happened here, the message means that the event occurred in a range of time that it cannot access--namely, the time during which it was broken. The face of the mirror does not need to be uncovered for it to function, but it does need to be intact. So, even though the mirror was physically covered, it would still have been able to observe other things, including what was happening to it at the time. Of course, the Princess just admitted to breaking it herself."

"Princess, I have a question for you. How did you feel about the King?"
"He was my father, of course I loved him! He always got what he wanted, and he taught me to do the same."

"I've just one more question. On whose orders did the guards search our home?"
"Those were my orders," the Princess says. "You started to snoop too much, and--" she pauses and looks around. "...I got suspicious."

[Pixie]

"My fair Princess, you ordered us to snoop around! We merely did as we were old!" Ellen exclaims. "Anyhow, do we know just who threw us in the dungeon? And, Your Highness... why where you spying on people with your mirror?"And who? " She says carefully, trying not to send the Queen into a fit of rage with accusations, but nonetheless very curious.

[Tiger]

Tiger asked, "Can the mirror tell us who bought the poison? Or at least who brought it into the castle's wine cellar?"

[Fraze]

"One of the servants told us that the poison used was kept in the dungeons, and that it was supposed to be used for killing wasps. Are the dungeons storing the poison free to access? If not, who can access them?"
((I missed this question the first time, sorry 'bout that.))
"Anyone may access the dungeons," the Queen answers, "but the poisons are kept tightly secured, under lock and key. There were no unusual requests to take out poisons, so it must have been done secretly."

"My fair Princess, you ordered us to snoop around! We merely did as we were old!"
"I--I--" the Princess stammers. "When I asked you to search, I didn't think you would actually find anything! And then you started finding things, but they were all the wrong things, not what you were supposed to find..."

"Anyhow, do we know just who threw us in the dungeon? And, Your Highness... why where you spying on people with your mirror?"And who?"
The Queen glances at the Princess's display before answering. "Physically, several of the castle guards apprehended you. It was the Princess who gave the order. Furthermore, I do not 'spy' on people; at least, not without good reason. Doing so would be a petty misuse of the power entrusted to me. I only use the mirror in extreme circumstances, such as investigation into serious crimes like theft or murder."

"Can the mirror tell us who bought the poison? Or at least who brought it into the castle's wine cellar?"
"The poison was not bought; I created it," the Queen says. "The mirror was broken when the brandy was poisoned, so it cannot answer that." To demonstrate, the Queen asks Tiger's question to the mirror, which again displays "OUT OF RANGE."

[♥ Azzie]

Azalea turned to the Princess. "Your Highness, what were we supposed to find?"

[Fraze]

"You were supposed to find the apples," the Princess says. Her voice cracks, and she shifts uncomfortably. "And you were supposed to find out that the Queen brews poison in her spare time, and you were supposed to put them together and blame her. Then she would have been put away and only one person would have needed to die! Don't you see? It was supposed to be so bloodless. I was going to ascend to the throne as the rightful heir. But then you found the bottle and the Queen talked to you and it all started falling apart, and I couldn't do anything about it!"

The Princess nearly shrieks this last part. She pauses and takes a few breaths. Her voice shakes. "I thought this was what I wanted. I thought it would work. But now you're here, and you keep asking more questions when you already know the truth. Do you just want to torment me, or are you trying to get a confession? If you want a confession, then fine, I did it! I killed the King!"

The throne room erupts in gasps and cries of outrage. The Queen looks down and rubs her temples. She rises from her throne and walks over to the Princess, who is sobbing in a crumpled heap. She removes the Princess's circlet, and then hails the guards. "Take her to the dungeons. Put her in a cell--one that doesn't have a convenient escape route. Keep a guard there to watch her."

The guards converge on the Princess, who nearly can't stand up. She does not resist as she is led away.

The Queen turns to the players. "Your methods were...unorthodox, to say the least. But thank you for all of your help. The kingdom owes you a great debt, and I personally owe you an even greater one." She steps forward to the players, and hands them the Princess's circlet. "Take this as my thanks. The...pestilential Princess won't be needing it anymore."

The Queen returns to the throne, and raises her hand. Silence falls. She looks across the room, her eyes seeming to rest on each servant individually. "The past several days have been difficult. You have all done your jobs admirably in the face of this great trauma. I will call together the court to discuss what will happen to the kingdom next. I urge you to continue performing your duties to the best of your abilities. For now, it grows late, and I think we have all earned a night's rest."
As she says this, the perspective begins to shift, and the players transition from participating members of the scene to watchers. The Queen dismisses the servants, and Maxwell immediately springs into action, assigning tasks for the upcoming day.

"ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: CLOSED CIRCLE OPENED."

Miss Jensen appears in the scene. She takes the Princess's circlet, and once again leads the players away from the castle.

((Don't leave just yet, there's still more to come! Achievement image will be up...sometimeish. We're away from Hunty's computer, but should be able to work something out.))

[Kristykimmy]

((Sorry for not contributing more at the end, but I kept coming late and by then everything I could think of to say had been said.))

Kristy follows Miss Jensen away, wondering what will happen now that the game should be over.

[Gelquie]

Gelquie looks at the scene with no visible emotion on her face. She thought she had been losing her composure before. But after seeing how the Princess' story broke... Not like she had been doing a very good job of keeping it. She didn't even have to do much to get her to confess. Gelquie couldn't help but feel a little bit satisfied that the murderer was finally found. No more deaths... At least, not from that illusion.

She let out a small sigh as she followed Miss Jensen. That was the last one, right? After all that's happened, she could really use a break. Just too much happening. Much more than she bargained for. Never mind. It was over and she won and she could go home now. ...Right?

[Fraze]

The scene fades away once again. The sky turns from blue with white splotches to red and white stripes. You hear a roaring noise gradually build up, and eventually realize that the entire audience of the enormous circus tent is cheering.
"What an amazing show!" Somehow, Euripides' voice somehow manages to be heard clearly over the din. "Give our players a hand!" The message is quite unnecessary, but the crowd happily raises the volume.
After a while, Euripides raises his hands, and the audience quiets down once more. "Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes our show. We hope you enjoyed it, because we certainly have. Many thanks to our players, for giving a better performance than anyone could have expected. Please make your way to the exit in an orderly fashion." As the crowd gets up and starts to leave, his voice quiets down once more and he turns to the players. "As for you, half of the profits from the game will be divided equally between the players. Miss Jensen and I will keep the other half."

You each receive 2037 shinies. Congratulations!
((Gold and Destruction callback, or unnecessary distribution of points? You decide.))

You file out of the tent, and Euripides and Miss Jensen wave goodbye to you and the final audience members.

THE END?











((Hunty wants me to inform you that that's a real-life smithy, not just something from fantasy.))