Places to Chat
post two
Chatterbox: Inkwell
post two
post two
~~~~~~~~~~~
The guests mill around the room, eating, chatting, and bouncing apparent grapefruits on various objects. Baroness Teal, who was rather new to the group, went around introducing herself.
Nobody seemed particularly out of place- except for two. One was Prof. Gamboge, who seemed to hesitate a bit before giving his name. The second was the Knight of the Royals, who hastily introduced themself with a "Salutations, m'lady" before dashing off to inspect the bowl of grapefruits.
Royals plucked a grapefruity object from the bowl, bounced it a few times to ensure it was real, and then sliced it in midair- spraying juice on the disapproving Dr. Mauve.
"You're lucky I'm wearing such a dark color," she snapped, brushing herself off and moving to a different seat.
Mint, Malachite, Crimson, Ebony, and Alizarin were drifting in and out of conversation with each other- mostly about the weather, how delicious is this cake!- thank you for inviting us, your mask is lovely, what in heaven's name is Royals doing with that grapefruit, whyever did you bring so much yarn? As you'd guess! Just your basic typical ordinary conversation.
Maroon, Lilac, Violet, and Gamboge had known each other since their years in university and were sitting comfortably in a group of chairs in the corner, catching up with each other's lives. Outside it began to sleet.
Baroness Teal, meanwhile, was looking through the grapefruit bowl. Most of them were clearly wooden as soon as you touched them, but one as the bottom of the bowl was a bit softer. Glancing around to make sure no one was watching, she took out the softer grapefruit. It was real, and leaking quite a bit from a rough hole in the side that had been lying against the bowl.
Teal looked at the hole. There was a dark grey chunk of metal inside, as if someone has quickly jammed the thing into the grapefruit to hide it. She stuck her finger in to try to pull it out...
"Hi!" said Cerulean, carrying her cheese tray and a raspberry tart. "Would you like some ch- Wait, is there a hole in that grapefruit?"
*What would you like to do next?*
submitted by [Madam] Alizarin(e)
(January 17, 2020 - 5:30 pm)
(January 17, 2020 - 5:30 pm)
I'm very hungry and still a little jumpy from the lightning, so I head into the dining room and converse with the other guests.
(January 26, 2020 - 4:58 pm)
Ahhhh, dudes, I'm so sorry! I forgot about this for a few days, and I got stuck with writer's block, and it's been waaaay too long.
I'm back at it, and the next update will be up tomorrow.
Thank you all so much for sticking around! ^-^
(February 1, 2020 - 5:04 pm)
POST FOUR
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Probably a squirrel, to be honest,” Lilac said hastily. “Let’s all go to the Dining Room!”
Mademoiselle Maroon paused as Royals, Lilac, Gamboge, and Ebony filed out of the room. Surely it was more than a squirrel- it was the middle of winter, after all.
The people leaving the parlor were making their way through the hallways, probably talking about something, when Royals tripped over Lady Cerulean.
“Pardon! Where are you heading?” Royals asked.
“Oh! Sorry, I’m uhhh… Yes… I’m going to meet my sister, Athena-!”
“Ah! I did not know you had a sister.”
“Oh yes- she’s my long lost sister! And I think she might have been out on the roof or something like that.”
“The roof?” Gamboge replied, startled. “What about the roof?”
Cerulean looked back at him with confusion. “I… don’t know? Was there something actually on the roof? It was kind of a wild guess.”
“Oh, yes, of course,” Gamboge chuckled. “Wild guess. Have a good evening then, I’ll see you in a bit!” The rest of the people continued briskly to the dining room as Cerulean headed back to the parlor.
~~~
When Cerulean made it back, Mademoiselle Maroon was tapping on the paneled walls with the eraser end of a pencil. A few of the windows were propped open, and icy wind was blowing through the room.
“Helloooo,” Maroon piped up, trying to sound casual. “Don’t mind me. Hey, do you know if there’s an upper floor above this?”
“Hmmm… yeah, I think so? Just a small attic sort of thing.”
Maroon spun around. “Oooohh, is there a trapdoor on the ceiling to get in?”
“I think there would be! Wait, it’d probably be…”
They scanned the ceiling for a second. One panel near the wall had a small latch-
“-Yes!”
~~~
Meanwhile in the dining room: Baroness Teal was trying to find keyholes, Colonel Mint was trying to find hairpin answers, and Professor Mauve was trying to find Cerulean.
“Where’s Cerulean?” she demanded to no one in particular.
“Cerulean?” Malachite asked from another chair in the corner.
“Well, Teal and Cerulean were both being particularly unusual around that grapefruit. I think it’s something more than an odd trend, to be perfectly blunt, and I have my doubts it was a hairpin at all.”
“Ohhhh, a hairpin? I was pondering what that was about. Was that related to the Knight chopping the grapefruit in midair?”
“I find it very suspicious, and I intend to keep a keen eye on them. VERY keen. I do have a degree in psychology, you know. And now Teal is looking around at cabinet lock! I just KNEW-”
Having overheard this last part, Teal mentioned something about being related to a locksmith to the nearest person and moved over to the table to talk about something else.
~~~
“Do you think it would be rude? To go into the attic?”
“Probably not. There were human footsteps up there, and-”
“What if it was one of the staff members?”
“No, we’re good.”
Cerulean caught the latch with a fire rake and pulled the door open.
As it dropped open, a creaky ladder folded down, resting a few inches above the floor. Grabbing the fire rake (in case there was a particularly angry raccoon above), Maroon pulled the ladder all the way down and started up the ladder.
She was then greeted by…
Silence. Nobody up there!
“Anything?” Cerulean called from below.
“No, well- nothing alive! There’s probably a door up here, because whoever was walking around had to have gotten out somehow…”
Cerulean joined the attic and poked around between the boxes before finding a small door.
~~~
Alizarin then entered the room. “It is nearly time for dinner! So, if we could all come to our seats, the dinner will come in presently!”
Everyone- except, of course, the individuals who weren’t there- sat down.
The dinner was brought out by a friendly staff member by the name of Ms. Whit. All was set to begin...
When the lights went out, in a characteristically murder board game fashion.
~~~
“Yes, they must’ve gone in here,” Cerulean said.
“Do you think we should just go to dinner, at this point? It *was* likely one of the staff members, and-”
FLASH! The lights went out, in a characteristically murder board game fashion.
A scream was heard coming from somewhere in the house… …and the dining room broke out in silent, speedy chaos.
~~~~~~~~~~~
This is a murder mystery SI! Let me explain:
I am, as you know, Alizarine. I’m also under a masquerade.
For example, let’s say I signed up to this thing under the name of, like, Mister Green. “Mister Green” is the murderer, and everyone else is trying to spot him.
As the rest of the guests, your goal is to
- try to avoid being suspicious
- try to discover who the mole is
- and keep your own identity hidden!
If you die, you reveal your true identity (and can stick around as a ghost, of course ;) )
List of rooms:
- kitchen
- bathroom
- library
- dining room
- cellar
- courtyard
- attic
- parlor
- carriage house
Passageways between rooms exist and are (mostly...?) yet to be discovered.
And finally, for the purposes of evenly cast suspicion, the weird places everyone is in now that the lights are out!
Ebony: Cellar
Violet: Parlor
Alizarin: ????? (probably being murdered or something)
Royals: Library
Mint: Carriage house
Gamboge: Library
Mauve: Parlor
Teal: Dining room
Malachite: Courtyard
Cerulean: Attic (above the parlor, w/ Maroon)
Crimson: Cellar
Lilac: Courtyard
Maroon: Attic (above the parlor, w/ Cerulean)
~~~~~~~~~~~
The lights come back on, and the storm begins to pick up. For the sake of a more dramatic plot, you find that you have moved to another location. Why? for a reason no one knows, except for, of course, you...
What would you like to do now?
(February 2, 2020 - 10:42 pm)
Hmm. Well, naturally, I'll try to find the lights. And since nobody is around, I'll search around for something the key belongs to. I bet it's a secret passageway.
(February 3, 2020 - 2:57 pm)
I'm going to make a suggestion, as one can do in Clue when one is in a room.
I suggest Cerulean!
(February 4, 2020 - 10:52 pm)
Suggest me for what? Would you like some cheese? Can I suggest at Dr. Mauve?
(February 5, 2020 - 9:37 am)
Essentially, I'm suggesting that you are the murderer. Can anyone prove me wrong?
And yes, I would like some cheese.
(February 5, 2020 - 6:56 pm)
Okay then. I'm not the murderer. Hey, @Dr. Mauve! I am suggesting at you. Are you the murderer?
(February 5, 2020 - 8:46 pm)
Well! To think I liked your taste in my eclairs! I suspect you of weapon discrimination! You're just jealous because I have wonderfully sharp beauties and you don't. BUT OBSERVE- I am not the only one who brought weapons:
http://www.cricketmagkids.com/chatterbox/inkwell/node/426042
Royals, Mint, Teal, and Lilac all have weapons as well, both concealed and not.
Royals, Teal, and Crimson all have concealed their faces with a mask of some sort. As have I, but it is a Phantom of the Opera mask and so only covers part of my face.
So to further my hypothisis that Royals in the murderer, Royals not only has two magical claymores but also a helmet specifically purposed to cover his face. Magic is something only illogical fools would believe in. And who would obciously carry two big weapons into a party? A murderer of course! And who would be so illogical as to believe in magic? A murderer of course! And who wouldn't want their face to be seen? A murderer of course!
Violet is innocent of course, as I have deduced with my excelent scrutinizing skills.
Royals is most definetly guilty of soon murdering Madam Alizarin and possibly others as well. You can thank my degree in psychology and just lock him up right now.
(February 6, 2020 - 9:32 am)
Hmph! Well, I am not the murderer, obviously. Although I have been known to carry around a few sharp objects that may alarm people.
I suspect Royals! He was the one who sprayed grapefruit juice all over me. If that isn't murderous intent and foreshadowing, then nothing can be. My dress is VERY expensive and definetly NOT from a thrift store.
My first course of action is to make sure that my jewels haven't been stolen and the the aforementioned sharp objects are still secure in their hiding spots. Then I will interrogate Violet and see if she's involved in any way, shape, or form.
My closing remarks are, if someone tries to murder me, they might find it harder than they thought...
(February 3, 2020 - 5:28 pm)
When Mauve talks to me, I tell him I wasn't involved and I didn't know what was happening either. Then I investigate around me to find any clues for what happened.
I don't quite have enough to go on to suspect someone yet. But I'll keep an eye out.
(February 5, 2020 - 3:53 pm)
So! From this point onward, this is going to be mostly an RP. You can search the manor, explore things, talk to people, make accusations, etc. in either full RP-chapter-things or in shorter back-and-forth exchanges. I'm still posting updates, but they aren't going to be the main form of plot-driving anymore.
Good luck!
(February 6, 2020 - 6:26 am)
I will SCREECH because I HATE COLD DARK SPACES. I will then attempt to find the lights and stumble around in the dark.
(February 6, 2020 - 10:31 am)
I suspect Duchess Ebony, Mademoiselle Maroon, or Dr. Mauve.
(February 7, 2020 - 2:45 pm)
I carefully check that my poison darts and dagger are with me, then play with my locket that has a picture of myself as a child. Being a shy woman, I slink away to the library to read. Upon entering, I see Gamboge.
"Oh, excuse me, I just wanted to be alone."
"No worries, you are fine."
"Well, then."
A scream shatters.
"My! What. . ."
"I don't . . ."
"I'm going to head out to the parlor and see what's going on.", I say
"Shall I accompany you?"
"I'm fine, thank you."
(February 9, 2020 - 3:10 pm)