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Post by Pixie on Aug 1, 2013 0:07:11 GMT -5
Brenda had been very excited to see the ice sculpture. She had also been very excited to speak to Mr. Woo later. So when she saw her employer's corpse encased in the admittedly lovely work of art, she did not react very well at all. She didn't hear Prince Stal's clever but inappropriate pun, or Vincent's whispering. She didn't hear the hostess demand the bird not be thawed. Thoughts screamed through her head, overtaking all other functions.
My boss! He's left us! He's passed on! He perished! He ascended! He's dead. He's dead, someone killed him. He was killed to death by a murderer!!! A murderer is in this hall. Is one of us next? Will they kill me? They always blame the maid! Oh, I wish I could have talked to him one last time before...
Brenda whimpered, as the room began to spin. The maid, overcome with the shock of the whole thing, collapsed onto the floor of the hall.
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Post by Stal on Aug 1, 2013 0:18:26 GMT -5
Prince Stal noticed Brenda the Maid faint and practically let out a giddy squeal. He had been training for a moment like that for years. A murder, another damsel in distress? It's almost too much! It's like a dream come true!
With the inhuman speed that only a well-trained prince could muster, Prince Stal rushed to catch the maid before she actually hit the floor. Catching fainting maidens is part of Princely Charm 101, after all.
"You, there, sir!" he pointed at the older gentleman, the one that had let out the half-laugh thing at his pun. "Could you fetch some water for the young miss?" He cradled the maid against his body and started trying to ease her awake.
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Post by downrightdude on Aug 1, 2013 0:23:50 GMT -5
Snaw Van Peacock gasped when he saw the corpse of Woo; the one who had invited him into his house and semi-allowed him to steal half of his belongings.
Oh my gosh, somebody killed Woo! Snaw thought with alarm. He felt ashamed that Woo never got his latest autograph or was never able to finish his latest bestselling novel entitled "The Snaw Games". Woo had also voted for Snaw to win the People's Choice Award at the annual Snaw Choice Awards held in Miami. Just the idea that this 'guy' dying made the beautiful beauty tear up for half a second before he went to the bathroom to steal toilet paper, soap and fix his eye make-up.
When he left the bathroom, Snaw walked over to Prince Stal, who was talking to Brenda. He smiled and asked the prince, "You know I once knew a Prince from Switzerland! His name was Stewart and he was killed by accidentally being trampled by my Pegasuses. He also smelled nice."
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Post by Mostly Harmless (flufflepuff) on Aug 1, 2013 12:01:46 GMT -5
"You, there, sir!" Vincent jumped, incredibly ruffled as he was interrupted by penning his wondrous and precious thoughts. How dare that prince! He stuffed his notebook haphazardly into his suit. "What?!" he screamed, his startled shout garnering the slightest bit of attention.
"Could you fetch some water for the young miss?"
His wrinkled features softened. This gentleman was chivalrous, eh? Oh, well. Couldn't have them all, Vincent supposed. All the traits that would lead to being a wonderful sage like himself weren't wasted. After all, people still had their individuality to maintain, and Prince Stal was definitely maintaining his. "Certainly, your Highness," Vincent replied, bowing and once again humoring those beneath him by pretending to be inferior like many people thought he was. Vincent fetched a pitcher and a glass, his entrails freezing at the sight of the floating ice cubes. For optimum coolness, there had to be no less than five ice cubes floating in the water, and there were only four!
But, Vincent thought with a sly grin, He didn't say "go get her PERFECT water," now did he? Brenda deserved the help, of course, woman or not, and Vincent ambled over as fast as his weathered legs could take him--without the water spilling in his trembling hands, of course.
"Isn't it remarkable?" Vincent poured the glass. "Water brought death to one in this mansion, but is about to bring life to another. A fickle thing, it is. Probably because it sloshes and moves around so much, and never keeps still. For example..."
Vincent hurled the glass toward Brenda, clutching onto the glass long enough so that only the "fickle, ever-moving water" splashed directly onto the maid's face.
"Good morning!" He beamed cheerfully, then paused to reflect on that statement. He glanced back at the hall, where the ice sculpture had been briefly displayed. Vincent sure hoped Mr. Woo's last morning was a good one to him.
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Post by Avery on Aug 1, 2013 12:47:45 GMT -5
((Narrator Note: People, be sure to read all the rules before submitting your guesses! I've received several today where it was clear the submitter had not fully read them. Since it's day one I'm forgiving any errors-- e.g., guessing a room you're not in; guessing your own cards-- but in the future these sort of moves will alas lead to forfeiture of your turn. So save yourself the sadness and read those rules! ))
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Post by Kristykimmy on Aug 1, 2013 13:12:52 GMT -5
Alexa had been mildly annoyed to leave the garden to come in for the unveiling. But, she got over her annoyance quickly. The ice sculpture could be an impressive work of art. The unveiling went more dramatically than she had anticipated.
Mr. Woo, dead, frozen inside the statute. Her first instinct was to let out a small cry of horror. She promptly put her hand to her mouth choking back any further sounds. To panic would be undignified; she must remain dignified in the face of the crisis.
People were reacting in various ways. Some were panicking, some were arguing, some were crying. The idiot model seemed to think this was a joke. Near her, the maid fainted and was rushed to by the Prince. She decided that she ought to try to help.
Alexa hurried over to the fainted maid, pulling a bottle of paint remover from her bag. But, before she made it, some old man splashed water all over the girl.
“You uncouth moron!” Alexa shouted at the old man. “What is wrong with you? That’s not how you help someone who has fainted.”
She replaced the paint remover and pulled a cloth off a nearby table and started patting the girl’s face and neck dry. Alexa was in a proper mood to feel sorry for the girl. First her master was murdered, and then she was splashed with freezing water by some old bat. She deserved a raise.
She glanced over at the Delaney girl. She was having fits, claiming the murders had only begun. She decided that it was just the obvious insanity the girl had been displaying earlier and that for as crazy as she was, she didn’t seem like the fainting type.
Alexa looked around at the people gathered there. One of them might be the killer.
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Post by Kozma on Aug 1, 2013 15:51:06 GMT -5
Richard could not believe this recent turn of events; Mr. Woo was murdered and his body entombed within his beloved swan ice sculpture.
"How did the murderer get the body into the ice?" wondered a puzzled Dr. Maize. "Wasn't the sculpture finished before the party?"
Unfortunately for Richard, this meant that he would not be getting to look at those rare books in the library. A murder was just committed and the killer was still inside the mansion, unable to leave because Miss Macy would not allow it. Right now the most important thing was to find how who did this ghastly act and why; those books would just have to wait.
Richard hoped that Miss Macy had the sense to call the police; that would be the most proper thing to do when a murder has been committed. Having nothing else to do, he decided to poke around the mansion and see if he could gather any information that would be useful to the investigation.
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Post by Celestial on Aug 1, 2013 15:54:32 GMT -5
As he was instructed, Sergei arrived at the hall at 9:35. Yes, 9:30 was the unveiling but he had gotten used to making his own time, a perk of being an officer. So he arrived at the hall, glass in hand, only to find everyone panicking. However, the old major remained calm. There was nothing worth panicking here over, not as long as there was still booze.
Now that he ad found Mr. Woo's stash of whiskey, Sergei approached the ice sculpture as it was being wheeled away through the terrified and took out his sabre to chip a bit off, ignoring Miss Macy's request. He took a bit off the swan's wing (not too much to be noticeable) but as the ice fell into his glass, Sergei saw Mr. Woo's face in the swan, gripped in the throes of his icy death. He poured himself some of the whiskey and took a sip before turning to address the crowds, some of whom were panicking and some of whom were just having good old freak-outs.
"QUIET," he yelled in his best parade-ground voice. "He's not dead. I seen recruits like this in winter, give him drink and warm shuba1, he recover" he turned to Miss Macy, picked up her hand and kissed it. "He'll want to be defrosted, madam. But rest assured, we will find whoever put him into such uncomfortable situation."
But before he could go off and investigate, he saw Brenda the maid faint. Now, she was a pretty one, he could not deny that. There was a call for water and a rude old man poured it over her but that was no way to treat somebody so beautiful! Sergei stepped over, his whiskey glass in hand and turned to Vincent.
"You do not treat pretty girls that way," he barked at him and then smiled at Alexa, who was helping the maid out. He cradled Brenda's head in his hands and gave her the glass of whiskey to drink, careful to make sure she would not choke on it. "Here, wake you up good. We will help find Mr. Woo's killer, no worries."
He lifted Brenda up and made sure that she could stand on her own two feet before turning to Alexa. "Thank you, you are very kind. Shall we look around?" he asked and then turned back to Sir Manuel Adventure, who he had been chatting to before everything went, how shall we say...crazy? "Want to join us, tovarish Adventure?"
1 Heavy winter coat
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Post by Coaster on Aug 1, 2013 17:23:09 GMT -5
Okay, admittedly, Woo was obsessed, but this went too far. Carved into his own statue... Ironic enough to cross the line twice, at least.
Rob had succeeded in prying Obi out from under the table long after the bulk of the guests (including several fellow table-dwellers and one nosy individual) made their departure; attempting to leave with his charge, Rob was stopped once again by the doorman, who relayed the news and asked him to investigate as an "expert in the field".
Not that the hired hand's testimony was worth much, but being delayed from even entering the building until after the deed was committed (Obi was watched too closely to count), the two were safe from suspicion, as much as Rob almost wished he could have been the one to deal with Mr. Woo once and for all... or at least commission someone to do it. Some of his mining tools hadn't been seen since the event began, so perhaps he had an unintentional hand in it, which mildly assuaged his regret.
Nonetheless, further antics featuring spilled electrolytes and stomach contents were beginning to take place, so Rob turned on his head lamp and Obi's, eyed everyone in the room--especially those who had migrated into other sub-rooms, nooks and crannies--to verify that he had seen the killer, and sought a route out of the crowded hall: ideally, the farthest route from the self-proclaimed royals.
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Post by Ted (the zombie Dalek) on Aug 1, 2013 17:40:14 GMT -5
Dr. Marvin Medlis could not believe what he was hearing, even after seeing the evidence with his own eyes. Woo! Little Woo, dead! Murdered even! Who could have done such a thing? He scanned the room uneasily. It must have been someone, but whom? One of the staff? No, Woo was a gentleman. None could have possibly benefited from the death of their employer.
That meant it must have been one of the guests. But why? Jealousy? Or perhaps someone stood to make a profit from Mr. Woo's downfall? Many of the guests did not seem particularly... stable, and that was putting it lightly. It could have been any one of them.
The retired lecturer sank into a nearby seat, cradling his glass of gin. Woo's glass. Woo's gin. He barely noticed the commotion as one of the cleaning staff fainted. Under other circumstances he would have been one of the multitude who rushed to her side. But not this time. One of these people was a killer, and he was determined to work out who.
...After he finished his drink.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2013 18:12:46 GMT -5
Erika had been enjoying talking to the maid. During the unveiling, she had, of course, returned to her table.
And - oh how beautiful! A graceful swan! Why, an idea for a new song was just coming to her -
Then she saw the body and her inspiration was murdered along with poor Mr. Woo.
"I...I think I'm going to be sick," she told the people at her table. "Excuse me."
A little bit later, she returned. That horrible sight was gone, which was a relief.
The conceited prince wanted to investigate. He didn't seem too shocked, which was suspicious. A man beside him was trying to find some deeper meaning. Was there really any time for that? One woman didn't seem to believe it, and another guest ran away. A girl was screaming about how everyone was going to die, and another man was taking notes.
Erika, still overly shocked, cried out.
"I'm so sorry, I can't help it," she sobbed. "This is just...so horrible! I want to leave, I want to go home..."
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Post by Tiger on Aug 1, 2013 19:09:59 GMT -5
((Let me know if I've dragged Grunkle too far out of character))
Cross started to race out of the room after the siblings, but whirled quickly on Grunkle. "The shrimp - did you eat the shrimp!?"
"No! And neither did they!" the woman snapped, and pushed past Cross to get to her changes. Cross sneered at her back - well, she could have just said something! Maybe she'd had some shrimp after all, and these were just the toxins kicking in.
Cross scowled and tucked the tablet under her arm before striding back to the table. With determined stabs of a fork, she loaded her plate full of the remaining shrimp, and wandered out of the room in search of a trash can. It might be too late for some of the guests, but at least the rest of the guests wouldn't have the option of bumbling into crustacean-themed danger.
She was surprised to find everyone still alive and not looking on the verge of death just yet when they were herded back into the room. Cross had indeed found a place to dispose of the shrimp; she wondered if anyone noticed the missing food - and then was distracted from those musings by the sight of their host encased in ice.
Doctor Scarlett Cross's jaw dropped - a murder? She looked around at the other guests - not a mortician or coroner in sight. The other doctors here were of the academic variety, except Grunkle, who was apparently a psychiatrist. It looked like it was up to her to determine how Mr. Woo had perished, then!
She marched up to the statue, peeping over Miss Macy's shoulder as the sculpture was wheeled away and typing into her tablet . "All right!" she declared. "I have three possibilities! One - hypothermia! Two - drowning! Three - phobia of swans, ice, or swans made of ice!" She flicked over a screen on her tablet. "Oh - or he may have been killed and then thrown into the unfrozen swan. I suppose." She shrugged, rolling her eyes. Clearly it was one of the first three options, but as a doctor, she was obliged to be thorough.
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Post by Avery on Aug 1, 2013 20:26:46 GMT -5
((Narrator Note: I just want to remind people that the first guessing period began last night at 9pm NST and will therefore end tonight at 9pm NST-- I've only gotten guesses from about half of the players, so make sure you get your guess in within the next 2 1/2 hours, unless you want to already eat up one of your grace days!))
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Post by Kristykimmy on Aug 1, 2013 23:40:07 GMT -5
Alexa smiled at the old man in the army uniform, glad to see that not all the older guests were incompetent in the face of this disaster. She noticed that the shrink who had accompanied the Delaneys was helping herself liberally to the brandy in the corner. She frowned disapprovingly. The woman should be keeping the screaming Delaney girl in check. Whatever mental damage she had was only going to be made worse by this incident and the doctor should be trying to minimize that damage. What did they pay her for?
“I hope you’ll feel better quickly, dear,” Alexa said, patting the maid on the arm.
"Are you going to stay with her?" she asked Prince Stal.
"Thank you, you are very kind. Shall we look around?" the gentleman said to her.
Alexa turned to him. Given the situation currently, she decided it wouldn’t hurt to stay with someone who looked like they could handle themselves in a stick situation. She didn’t know why Woo was dead, or by whom, but there were no guarantees the murderer was done killing.
“Of course, sir. I don’t believe we’ve met. I am Alexa Marie Oswald, daughter of Barton Oswald,” Alexa introduced herself.
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Post by Draco on Aug 2, 2013 0:13:22 GMT -5
Mori decided he needed to move. Lurking in one place for to long might not be a good idea. So he crawled along the ground to the door that led to the garden. It was late, so he didn't have to worry about the sun... However... That moon was pretty bright... Few knew this, but the moon was just as bad as the sun, if not worse. Sure it looked pretty, but it was evil. It's evil rays, stolen from the sun, raining down on the world.
He's about to open the door, when he hears a ticking... A soft ticking... A ticking and a tocking... What WAS THAT? Standing up he quickly looks around the room for this annoying sound. Then he spots it. A small simple alarm clock on the side table. Upon closer inspection he notices it looks like a small white bird. He picks it up and stares at it closer, listening to the noise that came from it. His eye twitches. He throws it to the ground and steps on it. Satisfied he walks to the door. Taking a deep breath, he opens the door and runs out screaming.
It only takes a minute, but he runs out into the moonlight, across the garden, and back into the hall, where he dashes into the study, where he hides under the desk.
"Of course I'm safe now."
Silence.
"You know I hate those old style clocks..."
Silence.
"You know I'm not insane. I've been tested."
Silence.
"Yes. The test said hating clocks wasn't part of being insane."
Silence.
"Or being afraid of the moon light... Or sun light... Or outside in general... Or people... Or...."
Silence.
"Ok, I get it, I'm crazy and they didn't want to tell me! Fine! But that's why you're here. You're my one true friend."
Silence...
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