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Post by Terra on Aug 2, 2013 20:15:31 GMT -5
Geoffrey could just tell that the narration was going nowhere good when it started talking about the strange absence of Mr. Woo.
But he hadn’t quite expected that he would turn up murdered.
Despite what the narrator was saying, Geoffrey couldn’t quite believe it at first. The sight was just so absurd - there was a dead body frozen in an ice sculpture, for crying out loud! It was like something out of a novel or a TV show, not something that would happen in real life...
Immediately, the narrator began to describe everyone’s reactions. Predictably, most people seemed fairly shocked, though others’ reactions were shockingly callous - Prince Stal made a tasteless pun, the avocado was taking notes for a novel - the doctor started making guesses about the cause of death...
Oddly, the one thing that the narrator wasn’t addressing was the thoughts of the murderer.
Geoffrey looked up at the ceiling - he wasn’t sure where to direct his eyes, since the narrator didn’t seem to have a physical location, but the ceiling seemed as good a place as any.
Hey, narrator, he thought. I know you can hear me, because you narrate my thoughts frequently. You think you could talk a bit about the murder or something? Specifically, in a way that illuminates the identity of the murderer?
The narrator gave no relevant or helpful response.
Geoffrey gritted his teeth.
Seriously, he thought. You could help bring justice to whoever did this. You could help prevent the rest of us from being murdered! You think that’s maybe worth shedding some light on the situation for me? I mean, assuming I’m the only one who can hear you?
Again, the narrator gave no response. (What good would it be to ruin the suspense at this point, honestly? There’s a reason the culprit isn’t revealed at the beginning of any murder mystery!)
“Suspense?!” said Geoffrey loudly. “Seriously, that’s your excuse?”
Then Geoffrey’s eyes widened. Did he actually say that out loud...?
He whimpered softly and hurried away, in the direction of the study. It seemed like that was where everyone else was headed, at the Prince’s prompting - maybe he could blend in and everyone would forget what he’d said.
And, you know, he could figure out something about this murder.
Hopefully.
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Post by Gelquie on Aug 2, 2013 20:43:00 GMT -5
Rochelle hadn't even intended to be that loud, but her shriek had brought in a number of people rushing in to the study with her. She felt the bottle being pried out of her hands, and she looked up to see who had taken it from her to find herself facing three people; Alexa, the doctor, and the military man.
"There, there, dear. It will all be all right. We will find out who did this. The only thing to do now is to keep our calm. It will all be all right. Just stay with us."
"Is everything all right? Terrible business this. He shouldn't have gone like this. Not murdered. Not in the prime of his life."
Rochelle blinked at first. Keep her calm? After all that had happened? She understood the importance of being professional, but someone had died. And the fact that it was someone as dashing and sharply dressed as Mr. Woo, indeed cut down in the prime of life, and he really shouldn't have... She let out another sob. Oh Woo, of all the people... Why?
As hands pulled her to her feet, she found herself facing the military man. This one was different. This time, he had opened the bottle of wine pried out of her hands and poured a glass for himself before offering Rochelle the rest.
"Don't cry. Instead, come with me, we'll sort this out. Now, would all you damy care to join me in the ballroom? And not just for dancing but to find out who killed our dear tovarish."
She didn't understand all of his words, but he seemed helpful enough. He gave her the bottle of wine anyway, which Rochelle happily accepted before taking a big gulp right out of the bottle. It provided some immediate gratification, but it wasn't working fast enough. Then again, she knew that was just because of how fast alcohol worked.
Still, the man was right. They had to find out who was responsible for all of this. The murderer was still among them. She took another swig of wine before looking up and nodding. "I'm sorry. I'm causing such a scene, aren't I? It's just... Mr. Woo was so... Right. ...You're right. We n-need to f-find his... k-killer..."
She shook her head before trying to wipe some of her tears away with the back of her hand, her hands still tightly clutching the bottle. "The ballroom... Right, good..."
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Post by ♥ Azzie on Aug 2, 2013 21:10:31 GMT -5
Minerva hadn't said much since dinner.
It wasn't from nerves, or anything; she just wasn't naturally a very talkative person unless she had something in particular to say. She watched the partygoers with interest, occasionally commenting when she had something to add. It was an interesting party, she thought, and the host had a very beautiful study. She went in, figuring that as most of the guests were milling about they were allowed to go where they liked, and had a wonderful time examining the old books.
"What fine quality," she murmured.
When finally it came time to return to the hall, Minerva was in quite a good mood indeed. She watched the unveiling of the ice sculpture with interest... then horror. When her terror died down, however, the stress built up and she found herself angry.
Always something strange. ALWAYS. Argentus, do you plan these things? The only reason you aren't in the middle of it this time is because you're doubtless in the middle of something else!
She fumed silently at her extremely irresponsible coworker, who had been invited but was presently gallivanting somewhere he likely had no business being, and was so caught up in her thoughts that when a young woman started speaking frantically to her, she was quite surprised.
"The garden... yes... of course," she said, following her outside.
The irritation was quickly replaced with fear again and she dearly hoped they could get to the bottom of the situation.
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Post by icon on Aug 2, 2013 21:20:56 GMT -5
It seemed like this evening miiight not be going as well as Mr. Woo had originally intended, Monty thought to himself.
From his position inside (as?) the grand piano, he was able to hear the fracas of voices around the hall, confirming the host's murder. But the voices were dwindling, now, fading off as people began to traverse the mansion (to search for clues? Or perhaps to escape suspicion from the other guests? After all, wouldn't one of them have to have been the one who did the man in?)
It was a bit of an inconvenience, though; with Mr. Woo dead, Monty would have assumed it easier for him to find a partygoer who could help him undo his problem. Now that the guests were all scattered, however, his chances were severely diminished-
"It looks to me like Old Woo has gone onto a better place now."
"A better place than this? That's not hard to find- this party stinks! Dohohohoho!"
Two raucous laughs distracted him from his train of thought- oh right, those two marble busts were still on top of him. Why had Woo insisted on sticking them there? He'd never be able to get anything done with their heckling. Some grand night this was turning out to be.
There weren't all that many voices around right now; maybe he could try moving around the mansion himself to meet the guests himself! He had wheels, and W.E. Woo had at least had sense enough to construct doorways between rooms that were large enough to let a piano through.
Monty began rolling his way toward the lounge; he'd heard some voices heading in that direction. All he had to do was find someone who knew about curses. What could possibly go wrong?
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Post by Coaster on Aug 2, 2013 21:32:56 GMT -5
"Rob?"
"Not now, Obi."
The young automaton had since rebooted, now on a clean slate from his caffeine crash.
"But there's a piano following us."
"Not now, Obi."
Rob tried to ignore the noise of creaky wheels that was steadily increasing behind them as they headed through the lounge. He, at least, was rational enough to know that this mansion wasn't trying to kill anyone, or even haunted to begin with. Although... he did have a mind to take some of that leftover shrimp, now that the gluttons and kitchen staff had left the dining room. Paralytic shellfish poisoning only affected characters with organic digestive processes.
Meanwhile, Obi ran up to the piano and started to plunk on random keys as most any child with access to a grand piano is wont to do.
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Post by Lizica on Aug 3, 2013 0:13:35 GMT -5
"Hm, I just can't figure it out."
"You mean who the killer is?"
"No, I can't figure out who in their right mind would lock themselves in with a shady, ragtag bunch of egotists at a dinner party in the first place!"
"Easy, use process of elimination--it must have been someone more empty-headed than us."
"Waller, you old fool, we're solid rock! That makes everyone else here obscenely stupid!"
"I'm sorry, I thought you knew that already!"
"DOHOHOHOHOHOHO!"
"Hey, Standorf, stop laughing for a second and take a look at this. It seems to me that this hunk of metal is bashing the piano keys and trying to play music."
"Oh, is that what that awful racket was? Well, that's a real shame."
"Why's that?"
"I was hoping it was someone trying to bash some sense into this game!"
"DOHOHOHOHOHOHO!"
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Post by Coaster on Aug 3, 2013 0:19:53 GMT -5
"Waller, you old fool, we're solid rock! That makes everyone else here obscenely stupid!"
Obi's visual sensors widened further, along with his mouth.
"ROB!!" he shouted, returning to a more frenetic tone and attempting to convey a shocked expression to Rob.
"Not now, Obi," Rob repeated, apparently having transitioned back to automatic responses while fumbling with the lock.
"But... it talked!" Obi returned his gaze to the piano; this time, he wore a freakish grin. "...and it said it's made of rock!"
He retrieved his pickaxe from hammerspace, beginning to twitch and chuckle.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2013 12:36:14 GMT -5
Erika sighed. Apparently this prince was never going to get it right.
She went into the study, nervous because she'd never planned to investigate a murder in her lifetime, let alone done it.
I shouldn't be doing this, she thought to herself. I'm a singer, not a private eye.
"So...uh...Your Highness?" she said, still with a note of coolness as she didn't care for his pompousness, "Are we looking for weapons or something?"
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Post by Stal on Aug 3, 2013 18:20:13 GMT -5
"Are we going to look for weapons or something?"
"That is exactly what we are going to do." Prince Stal surveyed the anxious crowd and tried to command their attention. "Look here everyone! There is a murderer in our midsts! I would tell you all to pair up with someone, but you might be pairing with a murderer. So, get in groups of three, everyone should take a different room. Start looking for evidence. Things that may have been the murder weapon! Or clues as to why Woo was encased in his sculpture..."
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Post by Kristykimmy on Aug 3, 2013 18:27:55 GMT -5
"Now, would all you damy care to join me in the ballroom? And not just for dancing but to find out who killed our dear tovarish," Major Sergei Belkov said to Alexa and the woman, who was calming down enough to no longer be hysterical.
Before she could respond, Prince Stal announced, "Look here everyone! There is a murderer in our midsts! I would tell you all to pair up with someone, but you might be pairing with a murderer. So, get in groups of three, everyone should take a different room. Start looking for evidence. Things that may have been the murder weapon! Or clues as to why Woo was encased in his sculpture..."
"Well, I guess we have that part already worked out," Alexa said to Major Sergei Belkov. Then turning to Rochelle, "That is, if you feel well enough to accompany us? I'm afraid we haven't met yet. I am Alexa Marie Oswald."
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Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2013 19:44:45 GMT -5
"Look here everyone!" the Prince announced. "There is a murderer in our midsts! I would tell you all to pair up with someone, but you might be pairing with a murderer. So, get in groups of three, everyone should take a different room. Start looking for evidence. Things that may have been the murder weapon! Or clues as to why Woo was encased in his sculpture..."
Erika quickly got away from him. She didn't want to get in his group. Instead, she went towards the blonde girl who was scared of the mansion. She was next to a boy with curly brown hair.
"Hello, I'm Erika," she said. "Can I go with you? I just really don't want to go with him."
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Post by Avery on Aug 3, 2013 20:26:49 GMT -5
Out in the garden, Hanna urgently led the elderly woman to a bench next to the stone wall surrounded the flowery space. Yes, the wall, because that was as close to out as Hanna could reasonably get at the moment. She briefly considered scaling the said wall, but then realized that this was what the mansion wanted her to do! Because if she did, then it could knock her off, SPLAT, and everyone would just think she'd fallen. Oh, no, Hanna would not be fooled by such a nefarious trick. Not Hanna Robert LeeAnn Delaney, no-sir, she was a smart one!
"Here, sit next to me," Hanna said to the kind elderly woman. "We are safest out here, you know. Except...we... are defenseless... we... have no way to fight back." She promptly leapt back to her feet. "Oh!" she cried. "We must arm ourselves, ma'am! As soon as possible! Why didn't I think of it before!?"
Hanna scanned the area, looking for weapons... but came up empty. Except... up ahead. Was that a tool shed? Yes, it was! Oh, Hanna did not want to go inside it, because she was afraid of getting trapped-- but surely a tool shed would contain makeshift weapons, for she and this kind woman. But how was she to obtain them without first putting herself at risk of the mansion trapping her inside the dusty shed and murdering her as it had done to Woo?
Ultimately, however, Hanna decided that it was a risk well worth taking. And at least if the mansion tried to kill her inside the shed, she could easily grab a shovel or pick-axe and fight back!
"Ma'am," she said to the elderly woman. "That shed looks like it might have tools with which we can defend ourselves. Come with me and get some?"
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Post by Pixie on Aug 3, 2013 20:46:48 GMT -5
Brenda was in a daze until a tap on the shoulder brought her back. She was invited to go investigate Mr.Woo's death with the drunken Russian man and a women in a purple dress. The request was somewhat hard to make out as the man peppered his speech with foreign words. "Damy" could be made out as "Dames", so she got the meaning of it. Brenda was confused on who she should follow. She stayed silent until the prince made his speech. Prince Stal called for trios to reduce the chances of something bad happening.
A drunk man becoming too drunk and being too aggressive of the other young women qualified as a bad thing, and she very much feared that could happen. The lack of tragedy in the man's eyes made her leery. Brenda was actually decent at kickboxing when she wasn't trying to walk in high heeled shoes. That was her second passion, behind baking. It would be good to protect the other shrieking women. On of the women the Russian was inviting greeted the other.
One of the women, the lady in the purple dress, introduced herself as Alexa. Brenda followed suit. "Hello, I'm Brenda Hearte. I am- was... oh dear... I used to work for Mr. Woo, before... you know. I'm a maid." She s squeaked, smiling weakly.
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Post by Gelquie on Aug 3, 2013 20:46:59 GMT -5
Rochelle was about to take another sip of wine when she heard the well-dressed blonde man speak. "Look here everyone! There is a murderer in our midsts! I would tell you all to pair up with someone, but you might be pairing with a murderer. So, get in groups of three, everyone should take a different room. Start looking for evidence. Things that may have been the murder weapon! Or clues as to why Woo was encased in his sculpture..."
Before Rochelle could speak, she hard the red-haired woman speak to her. "Well, I guess we have that part already worked out. That is, if you feel well enough to accompany us? I'm afraid we haven't met yet. I am Alexa Marie Oswald."
Rochelle paused, taking a moment to look around her and take a deep breath before nodding, trying to hold back her sobs. "Yes, I... I'll accompany you. Mr. Woo, he would want us to... I'm sorry, I've been terribly impolite, haven't I?" She took a glance to the bottle in her hand before trying to get herself to stand up straight. "Professional, Rochelle, professional..." she thought to herself before offering her hand to both Alexa and Sergei. "My name is Rochelle. Rochelle LeMarque. Who are you two?"
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Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2013 21:39:41 GMT -5
((OOC: Carrie, I might not have been very clear but my character did interact with yours))
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