Places to Chat
Chatterbox: Pudding's Place
Welcome to the Treehouse Maut! It is a wonderful place where CBers and AEs can relax together, have pie wars, and all the CB classics! To go here, please take this note and put it high in the branches of a nearby mango tree. Password is mangrove. A mystical bird will then swoop in, take the letter, and take you to a castle in the sky.* This 14 day vacation will be an awesome respite from the usual craziness of the CB, and if you like the craziness, there is a great place for yelling maniacally, pizza, and murders**. Come to the Treehouse Maut today!
*Not actually a castle. And no, I have not just finished reading Howl’s Moving Castle. I don’t even like it! It was House of Many Ways. So there.
**Not that I’m suggesting anything!
Sincerely, Chaan Aakash.
You look up from the note. It’s the season of fall turning into winter, where everything is gray and rainy. A break would be nice- no. No. What are you thinking? It’s obviously a ski lodge. You are going to get murdered so fast, it won’t even be fun. A raindrop falls on your head. You sigh and stand up to go inside, where you find the CAPTCHAs have stolen all your chocolate. “Really?” you groan. The letter is in your pocket. Now you have to make a choice.
You walk up to an old mango tree and clamber up, placing your note inside. But perhaps you would not have done it if you had known the meaning of the word maut.
You probably can tell by now this is a Ski Lodge. Fill out this form here to join!
Name:
AE, CAPTCHAE, or CBer?:
Perceived age:
Personality:
Insanity(scale from one to one hundred):
Appearance:
Favorite type of tree:
Packing List:
Password: Go look for it.
Diary entries are welcomed and encouraged! Updates will be about once every two or three days. AEs, CAPATCHAs, and CBers are all allowed. I’ll start when I get 11 participants.
submitted by Chaan A , age Ski Lodge, Guess if you’d like.
(May 4, 2018 - 1:24 pm)
(May 4, 2018 - 1:24 pm)
Can AEs/Captchas vote?
(July 2, 2018 - 6:39 pm)
Yes, they can! I just said CBer because it was easier :) anyone in the Ski Lodge can vote, and you do so by commenting “Yes, she is the murderer” or “No, she is not the murderer”. I will count up the votes and say the outcome in the next installment.
(July 2, 2018 - 10:00 pm)
azch
wvca
Hmm. Aztecs catching waves in Cali? Interesting...
(July 3, 2018 - 7:01 pm)
Alright, well we'll need to think this out carefully instead or just jumping t--
GUILTY! GUILTY! GUILTYYYYY! That's the worst alibi I've ever seen, you have no proof for any of it. She did it! Kate did it! GUILTYYY!!
But what ab--
GUILTY!
I can't take you anywhere, can I?
I don't know, it's not a great alibi but she's right about the body-finding thing, probably wouldn't have done that if she was the killer. I'm not really feeling this one, I say she's not the murderer.
Great. Just great. Now our votes are gonna cancel each other out because you have to be analytical all the time. She's clearly guilty! And even if she isn't, well, then that's one less person to worry about!
(Chaan - I'm sorry no one is voting, I'll try to keep this 'lodge at the top of Pudding's Place and see if that helps at all)
(July 4, 2018 - 7:11 am)
Top
(July 4, 2018 - 12:55 pm)
You are all going to die...
(July 4, 2018 - 6:00 pm)
whoa that was not me. Scaryyyyy
(July 4, 2018 - 10:59 pm)
Hm, that is a pretty awful alibi. I think the detective knows what she's doing... Sigh, yes, I think she is the murderer.
(July 5, 2018 - 8:56 am)
Top
(July 5, 2018 - 5:54 pm)
Kate the murderer? Huh. Whatever. I'll say yeah.
I take it I don't get to vote, being dead.
(July 6, 2018 - 2:52 am)
Nymph! You haven't seen Sea Glass recently, have you? I've been waiting for xyr in the thread. Because she could post here, I'm assuming Viola? has internet. If you could give xyr a nudge towards that thread, that would be awesome. A LIGHT nudge, mind you.
(July 6, 2018 - 3:10 pm)
Yeah, she's horrible about that.
Alas, it is true.
(July 16, 2018 - 8:33 am)
Top
(July 7, 2018 - 7:36 am)
Top
(July 9, 2018 - 1:11 pm)
Day 2 Part 4: Ghosts
Note: I’m just spelling Viola? Viola occasionally as it is much easier on the punctuation.
****
“No!” Kate-the-Great sobbed as she was dragged towards an open trapdoor in the floor. “Please, don’t! I’m not a serial killer, I promise!” Nymph, the dragger, looked down and hesitated for a second before continuing to make her arms shorter, pulling Kate towards the gap. (Of course she can’t just drag me normally, Kate thought, she has to use her overpowered shape-shifting powers to do it.) Nymph said she thought she had seen a flash of turquoise as Lilypad was murdered, but Kate hadn’t been anywhere around there.
Walking next to her was Marigold. Her mouth quirked. “That’s exactly what a serial killer would say,”. Kate couldn’t believe it- how could Marigold act like everything was normal, when nothing- nothing -was. Still... “Really?” Kate asked, playing along. “How do you know?”
“I don’t,” said Marigold, “I’ll have to go ask all my serial killer friends.”
Kate laughed. And then she looked down. The trapdoor was right there.
Nymph dropped her. Kate-the-Great fell screaming through the chute, which turned into a slide midway. She landed in a pile of cushions, and got up gingerly, wincing at her floor burn.
Why are there cushions in a jail cell? She looked around. There were thick iron bars on the front, like one would expect, but the ground, below the cushions, was prickly grass, and the walls on the other sides- there were none. There was a sunny field, surrounded by trees, and two girls were sitting in it.
Kate raced towards them. One of the girls spotted her and jumped up. “Kate!” Kate-the-Great recognized her. Viola?’s long purple hair flew out around her as she headed towards Kate. The two girls hugged, then Viola seemed to gain some dignity. “Are you all right?”
Kate nodded. “There were cushions.”
Viola grinned. “Lilypad, get over here! We’ve got another!”
The other girl got to her feet. “Another? Already? But it’s still Day 2... isn’t it?” Now that she was closer, Kate could see that it was really Lilypad.
“How did you die?” she asked, cocking her head at Kate. “I can’t see any wounds, except that friction burn. Oooh, death from friction burn would be so painful,”.
“What?” Kate said, trying to process what Lilypad had dropped on her. “I’m not dead!”
“Then how are you here?” Lilypad asked. Oh! Lilypad and Viola? were both murdered... so is this, like, the CB afterlife? Then why am I here?
“I don’t know,” Kate said hesitantly, “but I think it’s connected to Mafia. I was guessed as the murderer-“
Lilypad and Viola? stared at her in horror. Lilypad started backing away slowly.
“But I didn’t do it!” Kate said quickly. Lilypad looked at her suspiciously, but Viola? nodded.
“I believe you,”.
“You do?” Kate said, then realized she probably shouldn’t act so surprised. “I mean- thank you. No one else would listen!”
“So they put you down here?” Viola asked, scooting closer. “Wait- that must mean there’s a way out!” Hope showed in her face, and Kate remembered Viola? had been the first to be murdered. Before Lilypad had been killed, they must have thought they’d be stuck in the field forever...alone.
“I think,” Kate told her. “It’s a pretty steep chute.”
“We-e-ell,” Viola said, “I might be able to solve that problem.” Lilypad and Kate stared at her. “Oh, didn’t I tell you? I can levitate.”
“LEVITATE?!” Kate and Lilypad shouted.
Viola? grinned smugly. “Yup. And I think- I think -that I can carry you guys up with me. Now, where’s the chute?”
***
The three girls’ faces popped up above the trapdoor. Kate had gone weirdly translucent, but Viola and Lilypad assured her this was normal- they were translucent too, and everything was fine. It did mean she’d be invisible to most people, which Lilypad considered an advantage. It felt too much like ghosts to Kate. We are ghosts. Kate had seen Viola?’s dead body. Lilypad’s too, eventually, when they were burying her at sea. Her hand had gone through a wall just now, and she was pretty sure she was floating a few centimeters above the ground.
Viola? helped Lilypad up, then Kate. Stepping lightly, the girls started heading up a flight of stairs. They stepped into a room and looked down. “Who is this? Why are we here?” Kate whispered.
Lilypad looked like she was about to cry. “This is the real murderer,” she said, “the one that killed me,”. Kate looked down on the sleeping girl. She could see tear tracks under her eyes, and as she watched Kala let out a quiet sob.
“She doesn’t seem very murdery,” Kate commented.
“Believe me,” Viola? said, “she is.”
“But-“ Kate-the-Great started, and then she was cut off by Kala sitting up. The murderess rubbed her eyes and yawned, then looked up. She can’t see me she can’t see me, Kate repeated in her head like a mantra.
“I can see you, you know,” Kala said. “And honestly, do you call that being stealthy?”
Kate yelped. “You can?”
“Well, duh,” Kala said. “Can’t everyone?”
Kate and the two murdered girls exchanged glances. “No-o,” Lilypad said, “I don’t think anyone can- except you. We’re ghosts, and it’s your fault.”
Instead of looking angry or sad, Kala’s expression grew steadily more and more excited. Finally, she said, “Don’t you see? You guys are the break I’ve been waiting for!”
“Um, what?” Kate asked.
“You’re outside the game! The Narrator can’t hurt you or make you do anything!”
“Who’s the Narrator?” Viola? asked.
Kala shuddered. “I- the Narrator’s been fixing this all up. They’ve been talking in my head, making me do things. They’ve kidnapped Chaan-“
“WHAT?”
“I know, right? The Ski Lodge is spiraling out of control, and you’re the only ones who can fix it!”
Kate felt a smile start to come over her face. “Then let’s do it.”
The four girls sat on the bed and began to make a plan. When the sun began to rise, Kate and the others went to find a good spot to wait. Viola? looked back at Kala. “Y’know, there are only a few people who can see ghosts. Some people are born with it. And some people can see them because they’re dying,”.
“I’ve never been able to see ghosts before,” Kala said.
“Then-“
She nodded. “If you fix this fast, though, we can all get out of the Treehouse Maut. And-“ Then her face turned white. “The Narrator’s woken up. Get out quick, before he makes me stop you.”
Kate nodded and ran down the hall. The last thing she saw was Kala, face lit up with an unearthly glow, whispering a name into the black orb. “Spyro.”
(July 9, 2018 - 3:31 pm)