[ week one: investigation ]

[murderhost]

INVESTIGATION

On Friday morning, you wake up — groggy and uncertain over when you went to sleep, how you went to sleep, and how you got in your bed. Yet, you are in your bed (unless...?) and there is a sense of foreboding in the air. Some people might notice their roommates are not in their beds. Some people might notice their roommates are still sleeping. Let's hope the ones who aren't there just got up a bit earlier than everyone else and aren't, you know, the victim. Or victims.

But the doors are unlocked now and the house is accessible again. Time to go investigating.

HOW THIS WORKS: Below are top levels for every location in the house. Please reply with your character entering or interacting with the location and the mod journal will reply, sharing details over what your character will find in the location. We'll let everyone in the discord know when all points of interest have been found.

♥

Comments

rip yves cleaning and burial party !!!!!!!

[fixtures]

[ Once everyone's had a chance to poke around the crime scenes, Giselle gets to work cleaning... starting with the part she thinks no one will want to do, which is moving and collecting the body. There's a resignation to the way she does it, even if she does it without hesitating or an ounce of disgust on her features.

Anyway. She is in the kitchen collecting the various chopped up bits and fishing stuff out of the pot if it hasn't been already, using spare bed sheets to wrap each piece up neatly. She won't seek out anyone's help with this chore, but neither will she tell anyone coming in to stay away.

It's going to be a long night of scrubbing the floor and every surface in here and the dining room for her... ]

[combathatchet]

[Second verse, same as the first... Well, almost the same. There she is cleaning in the kitchen, and here Leon is—with a grim look on his face—walking in to say, to some degree, it isn't necessary for her to do it alone.

He draws close when she's in the middle of wrapping up a torso.]

Why are you doing this by yourself? Let me take care of this part.

[fixtures]

[ Why, indeed? Maybe because this is where she feels she deserves to be. None of them should lower themselves to a horrible task like this... ]

If you are certain... [ She comments, laying Yves' torso down with a quiet thud. She'd been maneuvering it to the perfect place in the center of this cloth, but it's a bit heavy for her. ] As for your question... I would not be surprised, if no one felt willing to do this task, is all. Nor would I blame them...

[ It's disgusting, for one. And tragic, obviously. ]

[combathatchet]

[It is. But there are those here who can handle it — Leon included.

He lifts the torso slightly, moving it more to the center, trying not to think of how this had been Yves not all that long ago. His movements are mechanics until he properly wraps it up, and only then does he let out a long sigh.]

No, but you should still ask. This isn’t a job that any one person should have to do on their own.

[stds]

[ fumiko will be around to help out with the body collection bits. though the least fun part is grabbing the freezer parts, having to wear a pair of rubber kitchen gloves just to endure the frost bite of it all. ]

If we had any sort of forensics, I'd saying all this cleaning is a bad idea. Doesn't really matter the way things are...

[fixtures]

Forensics?

[ <-- woman who is from the [REDACTED]s ]

If you'd like to observe more... I can wait a bit longer.

[daseine]

Do you need help moving him?

[ he is not going to help clean.

but he will help with this at least, if she'd like his help. ]

[fixtures]

...If you are willing.

[ She's not that strong... she could move him, but it'd take several trips. And her time's probably better spent scrubbing. Anyway, all this is said as Yves soup is being fished for more Yves parts. ]

I believe some of the others mean to take his body outside. That would be for the best...

[daseine]

I am.

There are a myriad of ways to kill a man, but a method like this is...distasteful.

[ yves deserved better.

and even if he's not a hunk, at least his above average fitness can be put to good use. ]

[costars]

[ it takes him awhile to exit his self-imposed bathroom exile (sorry that everyone was down to a single bathroom while he was having a breakdown over yvestew), and when he does emerge he looks even more like shit than he usually does: red puffy eyes, messy hair, half hidden in a blanket he stole from some bed and has wrapped around himself to try and curb his trembling.

he will not be touching the various limbs and eyeballs and honestly the blood makes him queasy but he can at least help tidy the rest of the place. ]

Do you....need any help....?

[fixtures]

[ Now, she has been avoiding him, because she scared him earlier... it probably doesn't help that her apron and her arms up to her elbows are now splattered with blood and Yves soup. Giselle lifts her head when he comes in, but quickly directs her gaze back to the gore. ]

Do not push yourself, my dear.

[ It's fine! It's fine. Sorry that there's a suspiciously Yves' head shaped package sitting on the counter. ]

Perhaps it would be better... if you were to simply avert your eyes.

1/2

[costars]

[ NOT THE YVES' HEAD SHAPED PACKAGE ]

2/2

[costars]

[ honestly he thinks about turning tail and running away again, but steels himself and shuffles a step closer. ]

I...I don't want you to have to work all by yourself. Especially after everything that happened today.

[ like, okay, yeah, she's been pretty chill about everything so far, but maybe she's just really really good at keeping her cool!!! ]

[dresscode]

[ Haruaki is simply too much of a cowardly, squeamish crybaby to help with the actual cleanup of the body. But once it's all said and done, the bits of Yves wrapped up in clean sheets–

He hesitates near the back door, glancing out to Tamon's hole and back toward anyone nearby. ]

We should... we should bury him, right?

[ His mouth twists unhappily. What did Yves believe in? He never got to know. He barely even knows his own customs, useless as he was for anything more than selling talismans at the shrine he grew up in. ]

If anyone wants to come say some nice words, or just... be there quietly, I don't know...

[incurse]

[ Here he is once again to help her clean, although this time, his motivation isn't just to keep busy and offer her assistance. A body that's been desecrated like this...it's a ripe scenario for the birth of a vengeful cursed spirit, and even if Yuta can't sense any cursed energy right now, he'd still like to exorcise precautions. Ensure Yves has as much of a proper burial as he can.

And...well. He doesn't know about the others, but he's been around enough bodies and corpses that it doesn't really get to him anymore. He wouldn't be able to foot it as a sorcerer if it did. ]

Giselle-san, I can help with the body. We need to ensure he's properly laid to rest.

[ And...this is too much for one person to do alone. Mentally or physically. ]

[fixtures]

[ This isn't her first rodeo with a body like this either... so likewise, she is handling it with a degree of calmness. ]

Yes... his body needs to be moved outside.

[ She was honestly just planning on putting him out there in nature, so a proper burial is probably a better idea.... ]

Are you learned in such ceremonies?

[incurse]

I am.

[ At least, insofar as what to do to ease the passing of his spirit. Whether Yves was a man of any faith and would want specific funeral rites performed, however, Yuta can only guess.

They had so little time with him... ]

There should be space in the garden. [ next to tamon's hole ] Burying his remains wrapped in white cloth, hands across his stomach, facing west if possible...some incense to burn couldn't hurt, but that should be enough.

[ Although... ]

If he had any other possessions with him, we can bury those alongside him, too.

[factoring]

[She watches her clean for a moment and when she starts wrapping up limbs she'll approach.]

I can help you carry a bit.

[fixtures]

...If you're certain.

[ She tucks and rolls one of the smaller pieces up tight, setting it aside the larger ones like his head and torso. ]

Moving some of these may take both our efforts...

[factoring]

I'm sure.

[Thinking about how many trips she might have to take on her own.]

Better to have help than to do it alone.

sorry for slightly bulldozing your inbox

[pharmahoudini]

[Since she's in the kitchen and/or the dining room and can likely see out of the windows, she's probably able to spot the State of Things outside. By which we mean she'll see a shadow zoom by once, twice, three times, four times....... if she pays attention she'll realize it's just a person booking it across the grounds for a truly unnecessary amount of laps today.

Occasionally said person yeets into a tree or springboards off the side of the manor with some mayhem and clattering before resuming their ridiculous marathon.

On maybe the tenth or twelfth time around there's a creak as one of the kitchen windows goes up and then there's this dude squinting in at the mess. Yikes.]

... Yikes. You've been here doing this the whole time?

NW now im the one whos sorry bc i got cooked by keeping up w trial

[fixtures]

[ Well. Thankfully, him poking in his head in through the window isn't really a jumpscare, as any bandwidth she had for being jumpscared died out long ago. Her stare is quite blank as she makes eye contact with him, pausing in her current task of scrubbing the counter — there's a red foam of soap all over the place. ]

...Yes. [ She answers, simple and honest. ] I imagine I will be here for the remainder of the night, until morning, in fact. There is much work to be done...

[ Which she doesn't intend to hide from any of them... it doesn't even cross her mind that it might be strange to do that. ]

this trial cooked all of us so bad you're in good company

[pharmahoudini]

[He doesn't always mess with windows but sometimes. Sometimes you might as well throw all decorum and norms out the window and today is one of those days because what even was today.

Taking in her expression... Hmmm.

He's here after a delay so it's probably after all the body parts have been carried off -- there's just all the inglorious leftover stuff.]

Uh. You sure you wanna go all night? It's been here a while, anyway.

[Not a pleasant thought but at the same time it is the kitchen so like. There's a certain logic to not completely leaving it.]

[lowprofiles]

[Sha-Ming was very much not in attendance during the impromptu info sharing session, but he does peek downstairs once the metaphorical dust has settled. It's easy enough to avoid the dining room, but the kitchen is where all the food is stored--not that he has much of an appetite at this point.

He leans against the doorframe with his arms crossed, watching Giselle work for a little bit before speaking up.]

Hey... You takin' care of this by yourself?

[fixtures]

[ Her head lifts and swivels towards where he is in the door frame — by this point, her sleeves and apron of her uniform are damp with soap, blood, and bleach. But she'll take the time to address him formally and respectfully. ]

Yes, though several others have offered their aid.

[ She confirms for him, turning more fully to face him. ]

Though I imagine I will be here for the rest of the night... when the others tire. Did you need something, my dear?