Forms forms forms! Here they are! Sorry they're late!

Name: Majestic Mary

CBer or AE?: CBer

Gender: female, she/her

Appearance: 5'4", blonde hair past my shoulders, blue eyes, pale-ish skin. 

Personality: ENFP-T, generally happy and extroverted, tries to be kind and include everyone. Sometimes sarcastic, and loves making people laugh.

Packing list: Plenty of changes of clothes, plus snow pants, a few heavy jackets, and of course fuzzy socks, toiletries, my journal and pens+pencils, a blanket and pillow, lots of snacks, a Santa hat.

What you'd most enjoy doing: taking long walks through the snow-covered forests.

Other: nope

Hmm, which AE do I brkng? 

I'll come! Snow is beautiful 

Well, since Georgia isn't here to argue why she should go, I'll bring Diana

Name: Diana

CBer or AE: AE

gender: female, she/her

Appearance:  5'4", wavy, shoulder length, golden-blonde hair, blue eyes and clear olive skin. I'll probably be wearing heavy sweaters and cardigans, unless we're out in the snow, then of course I'll be dressed warmer.

Personality: Kind and friendly, cares about everyone. Lover of animals and nature and pretty much the whole world. Very passionate about what I believe in. 

Packing list: Lots of warm clothes, hairpins, a few books, toiletries, my pillow and fluffy blanket, a journal.

What you'd most enjoy doing: Curling up by the fireplace with some hot cocoa and a good book whilst snow falls gently outside.

other: Pescatarian (so vegetarian but I eat fish) 

Chapter 1- The Arrivals

When she heard the doorbell ring, Tealeaf was not expecting a huge, silky-furred white wolf to be standing at her front door. “Greetings,” the wolf said in a gentle feminine voice, tipping her head in a small bow.

Tealeaf yelped. “You… TALK?”

The wolf looked slightly offended.  Her large grey eyes narrowed. “You are the CBer Tealeaf, are you not?  My team and I are here to escort you to the Wintertide Palace.”

“Your team?” Tealeaf asked tentatively.

Oh, for Odin’s sake!” The wolf exclaimed. “Yes, my team.  What else do you think would pull the carriage?  Horses?  I would never let those uncivilized beasts anywhere near my pride and joy…” She trailed off, muttering something about hooves, and Tealeaf got the chance to look out onto her street.  She gasped when she saw an enormous old-fashioned blue carriage in the road.  It was covered in silver trim that made it look dusted with snow, and at its head was a team of four large husky dogs.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” The huge wolf said with a sigh. “And my dogs are the best in the realms.  Now let’s get going.  I can’t keep Crystalline waiting.”

Oh yeah, this is a ski lodge, Tealeaf thought to herself.  Her stomach fluttered nervously at the thought.  Bad things always happen in these… But when the carriage doors swung open and she saw twelve other CBers and AEs laughing together, she felt slightly better.  Maybe this one will be different.

“Hi Tealeaf!” A freckled, brunette girl in a fluffy red sweater greeted her.

 Tealeaf smiled. “Princess Juniper, right?  You’re so cool!”

“Thanks!” The girl said. “Oh, and you can call me Juni!”

Tealeaf stepped into the carriage.  The interior was beautiful, with cushiony dark blue seats, huge windows, and a ceiling that looked like it was made of the night sky.  The seats were arranged around a table that held steaming mugs of hot chocolate and delicious looking pastries.  Jubilee, Gracia, Wreeboo, Silver Crystal, dreamiing, Fidelity, Nightfall, and Majestic Mary were all there, along with three AEs- Rory, Diana, and Cementha.  She took a seat next to Nightfall, who was doodling in their sketchbook.  The vehicle lurched and began to move, picking up speed.  “Wow, can you believe that we’re riding in a carriage pulled by huskies?” Wreeboo asked her companions, peering out the window. “That’s incredible!”

“Ooh, I wonder if we can have dogsled races at the palace!” Fidelity exclaimed. “We could have, like, a CB Iditarod!”

Diana laughed, her blue eyes twinking. “That would be interesting to experience.”

Silver Crystal quietly listened to her friends’ conversation, sipping a mug of rich hot chocolate.  She couldn’t wait to see the Wintertide Palace, and wondered what it would be like.  In her mind, it looked like Elsa’s castle from Frozen- beautiful, icy, and magical.  She couldn’t help but daydream about all the things she would do there, and wondered if she could learn some cool new ice skating techniques.

The guests arrived at their destination sooner than they anticipated.  As Gracia carefully stepped out of the carriage, she couldn’t believe her eyes.  In front of her was a snow-dusted cobblestone path bordered by tall hedges of blooming white roses.  Smaller trails broke off from the main one and wound through gardens of snowy trees and flowers in one hundred shades of blue.  The path led up to a towering medieval castle with two even taller turrets, all made entirely of white marble.  The palace would have completely intimidated Gracia if not for the huge, gorgeous stained glass windows that reminded her of a kaleidoscope.  Surrounding it and the gardens were boundless fields of white and dark forests of pine trees.  The sky above was a brilliant, cloudless blue, topping it all off.  The landscape was absolutely stunning.

As Gracia and her companions stared in wonder at their surroundings, the Empress of Winter was watching.  Her sharp, ice blue eyes analyzed each one of them.  “One is a killer,” she whispered to herself. “One is a thief, and one is a king.” Her white-gloved hands tightened their grip on the windowsill.  She had to be careful.  One wrong move could ruin everything.  Crystalline turned to the young man and woman standing patiently behind her. “Our guests have arrived.  See to it that they are welcomed and made to feel at home here,” She commanded. “But be on guard.”

The young man bowed elegantly and silently exited the room.  His female companion, however, gave a thumbs-up and grinned. “You got it, boss!” She exclaimed cheerfully, following him out.  Crystalline smiled slightly.  The two couldn’t be more different, yet they worked perfectly together.  As she watched the oblivious guests wait excitedly on the grounds below, she steeled herself for the days to come.  They weren’t going to be easy, she knew for certain.

~ ~ ~

So there's the first chapter, I hope you enjoyed it!  Feel free to guess who I am.

Also, Jubi, could you fill out Cementha's form?  Thanks!

*applauds* Wow, this is great! I can't wait to read more :D :D

Could you be Dusk Sky? 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love it so much! I can't wait to see who the murderer is!

Chapter 2- House of Riddles

In front of the thirteen guests, the palace’s huge wooden doors swung open with a low creak.  “Um, does that mean we can go in?” Jubilee asked.

Nightfall shivered, shoving their hands into their black sweater. “Well, I am.  It’s freezing out here.”

But before they could take another step, two figures materialized in front of the entrance with a flurry of golden dust and a slight popping sound.  The two were a young man and woman.  Both had tanned brown skin and blue eyes flecked with gold.  The woman wore a sleeveless golden dress with what seemed to be actual flames flickering at its hem, white sandals, and a diamond pin in her wavy white-blonde hair.  The man, however, had jet-black hair and wore a black tuxedo, golden tie, heeled boots, and diamond earrings.  They both bowed to the shocked crowd before them.

The young woman smiled broadly. “Welcome to the Wintertide Palace!  It’s great to finally meet you all.  I’m Lumine, the housekeeper and chef of this wonderful castle.  My partner is Symphony, who’s in charge of the library and concert hall.  He’s kind of shy, but he means well.”

The man standing next to her frowned. “You don’t need to introduce me,” he grumbled. ‘I can do it myself.”

“Okay, well, I already did, sorry.  You can next time,” Lumine responded, looking slightly annoyed. “Anyway, our third staff member is Gale, who you’ve all already met.” She sighed when she saw the confused faces of her audience. “She’s the wolf.  You know, big, piercing grey eyes that stare into your soul, really intimidating… that’s the one.  She runs all of the outdoor activities.”

“Now that we’ve gotten the boring part over with,” Symphony interrupted, “We can finally go inside.” He shot a glare at his partner.

The guests proceeded through the large doors into the palace.  Its interior was even more breathtaking than its interior.  White marble walls and floors shone in the warm light of a chandelier that appeared to be made from millions of tiny shards of ice.  A spiral staircase, its banisters wreathed with holly branches, wound up to the floor above.  Twisting hallways led on to rooms unknown, and a silver and blue Persian rug carpeted the floor.  Symphony and Lumine both smiled at the CBer’s awed faces. “We have to go report back,” Lumine told them. “But we’ll see you around!  There’s hot chocolate in the common room, and the room assignments are posted on the silver screen in there.”

Silver Crystal was the first one into the spacious common room, followed by her companions.  They all grabbed a silver mug of steaming hot chocolate from the wooden coffee table in the middle of the room and sank into the blue velvet sofas and armchairs, which were adorned with fluffy white throw pillows.  Majestic Mary examined the rooming list that was displayed on the large, TV-like screen on one of the walls.  It read-

First Floor

Hawthorne Room- Majestic Mary, Diana 

Amaryllis Room- Wreeboo, Rory

Sweetbriar Room- Gracia, Tealeaf

Second Floor

Primrose Room- Jubilee, Cementha

Daisy Room- Fidelity, Silver Crystal

Thistle     Room- Nightfall, Juni

Rose Room- dreamiing

Interesting, Mary noted.  They’re all named after flowers.  After a little while, the other guests began to check out their room assignments too. “Aw, c’mon, I have to be with Wreeboo?” Rory complained teasingly.  “You’re with me, Nightfall!” Juni shouted.  Dreamii smiled quietly to herself, happy that she didn’t have to share a room with anyone.  Once everyone had read the list, the screen changed to a map of the Wintertide Palace and grounds.  

Later that night, Rory sat alone in her and Wreeboo’s room, her roommate being in the library.  She gazed out the window at the twilight-blue horizon and something caught her eye.  A small, folded scrap of paper was tucked between the window ledge and glass pane.  She carefully plucked it out and unfolded it.  On the tiny scrap were written a string of numbers- 251521239121214554.  She puzzled over this for a moment, but decided it was just random.  Maybe if she’d ask about it tomorrow if she was really curious.

The next morning everyone gathered in the dining hall for breakfast.  Plates of french toast, cinnamon rolls, biscuits, and eggs cooked in every way imaginable sat before them.  “Wow, Lumine’s cooking is really good,” dreamiing remarked as she took a bite of syrupy french toast.

Everyone nodded happily.  They ate in silence for a little while, devouring the delicious breakfast, until Gracia broke the silence. “Hey, did anyone else find a weird scrap of paper with numbers on it in their room?” She asked.

Juni’s eyes widened as she took a sip of hot chocolate. “I did, actually.”  The dining room was then filled with choruses of, “yeah,” “oh, me too.” and “what do you think that means?” 

“Hey, maybe we should put them all together and see if they’ve got anything in common,” Tealeaf suggested.

After a few minutes of everyone pulling theirs out or going to get them, thirteen scraps of paper were placed on the table.  In total, the numbers read- 251521239121214554 2392019  21812251825 1144 211492025 96251521 191512225 208919 16212626125 715154 1221311 1325 6189514419.  “Okay, that’s confusing,” someone said.

Jubilee frowned, deep it thought. “I don’t think it is,” they responded. “It might just be a simple cipher.”  They grabbed a napkin and a pen and began writing something. “Yeah, that works!”

“What does it say?” Gracia asked, leaning over to see what Jubi had written. “You will need wits strength and unity for you to solve this puzzle good luck my friends?” Jubilee nodded. “Not exactly, but that’s along the lines of it.”

--- 

Throughout this ski lodge there will be quite a few puzzles and riddles to be solved, so feel free to ponder over them!  I'm not Morning or Dusk Sky, but good guesses!

I'm so excited! Could the numbers be strings of coordinates? Nightfall_DreamFire you're rooming with me!

Part 3- The First Fall

Juni let out a joyful scream as she flew down a steep hill on skis, snow spraying everywhere.  The white fields and pine trees surrounding the Wintertide Palace sped by.  The feeling was exhilarating, peaceful and adrenaline-racing at the same time.  She leaned to one side and swerved, watching the snaking trail she was following.  The morning sun reflected off of the sparkling crystal-white snow and caught her eye like a priceless jewel.  She was caught up in the spectacular landscape and didn’t see the snowdrift ahead of her until it was too late.  Snow flew as she crashed into it.

Shouts came from the other skiers.  “Juni!” Wreeboo yelled, dashing over to the girl. “Are you okay?”

Juniper laughed and brushed the snow off of her goggles. “I’m fine!” She told everyone, grinning.  “That was kind of fun, actually.”

Gale sighed, sounding slightly irritated. “Well.  Who’s going next?”

Elsewhere, Silver Crystal was teaching Diana how to ice skate.  She glided across the ice, her long brown hair flowing behind her.  “Okay, now you’re going to want to bend your knees a little for balance,” she instructed.

Diana did as she was told and attempted a figure-eight.  She stumbled a little but kept her footing and ended the move with a small spin.  Silver cheered. “Thanks so much for showing me how to do that,” Diana said. “It’s awesome!”

Silver smiled shyly. “I’m not great myself, but you’ve gotten really good!”

Suddenly something cold and wet hit her head. “Sorry!” someone shouted.  She turned to see Mary, Nightfall, Jubilee, and Gracia engaged in a snowball war.  Jubi and Mary had built a snow fortress and were hiding behind it while Nightfall and Gracia pelted them with snowballs.  Silver turned to Diana. “Up for a fight?” Silver asked her, a grin on her face.

Diana hesitated, confused at first, but then nodded.  The two girls gathered handfuls of snow and rushed into the battle.  As she hid behind a tree and hit anyone who came into her range, she noted that everyone had a different strategy.  Mary and Jubilee were working together, with Jubi swiftly shaping snowballs and Mary letting them fly.  Nightfall dodged every missile and then sent them flying back.  Both Gracia and Silver had more of a hit-and-run style.  Diana kept a close eye on each of them.  Unbeknownst to her, Mary had left her and Jubilee’s snow fort and was now sneaking up on her AE.  Diana turned around just in time for a snowball to nail her in the back.  She saw Mary and grinned. “C’mon, we’re supposed to be on the same side!” Diana told her. “Never!” Mary cried, laughing.

An hour later, the six snowball fighters were wet and exhausted but satisfied.  As they made their back to the Wintertide Palace, the sky grew cloudy and snow began to fall.  “That was such a cool move though, Silver,” Nightfall complimented.  Silver smiled.  At the last minute she’d slipped on a patch of ice, but had kept her balance and somehow managed to catch two of the snowballs being thrown towards her at the same time.  The palace’s doors swung open as the group approached.  A fire was lit in the large living room fireplace, so the six grabbed mugs of hot chocolate and sat around it.  Jubilee leaned back and shook the snow out of their curly hair.  Thunder rumbled outside, and though the room was cozy and warm, they couldn’t help but shiver.

“We should totally do that again tomorrow,” Gracia said cheerily. “This place is awesome!”

“Yeah, but don’t you think it’s weird that we haven’t even seen our host yet?” Nightfall asked.  They’d thought something about the Wintertide Palace was off ever since they had arrived. 

“I guess, yeah,” Silver responded. “Hey, maybe one of us could ask Symphony or Lumine about it.  Where are they, anyway?”

“I can go see if I can find them,” Gracia volunteered.  “I want to check out the concert hall too.” She smiled and dashed out of the room.

A long silence followed. “Hey, um, isn’t this good hot chocolate?” Mary asked, awkwardly trying to start a new conversation.  Everyone else nodded.  It was- a perfect blend of rich, creamy, chocolatey flavor.  But the silence remained.  That is, until it was ruptured by a brief, high-pitched scream. “What was that?!” Mary exclaimed.

Diana and Jubilee had already sprinted into the hallway.  The two glanced around until both their eyes landed on a familiar figure sprawled on the ground. “Gracia!” They both shouted.  Her long brown hair was spread like a halo around her pale face.  Next to her lay the shattered remains of what once was a mug of hot chocolate.  Her green eyes stared unblinkingly up at the ceiling.  Diana knelt next to the girl, her heart hammering. “Is she…”

Jubilee nodded grimly.  Suddenly Symphony appeared next to them in a flurry of gold, his neat hair now wild. “I heard a scream!” He said breathlessly. “Is everyone-” His gaze fell on Gracia’s lifeless form. “O-oh.  Well. I su-suppose I should go get Crystalline.”  With that, he disappeared again.

Jubi and Diana were joined by Nightfall, Mary, and Silver.  “Well, this is a ski lodge,” Nightfall muttered gloomily. 

Soon enough all of the guests were gathered in the palace’s foyer.  A dark cloud seemed to hang over all of them as they waited for Crystalline to show up.  Lumine and Symphony stood awkwardly at the head of the group. “Where is she?” Lumine whispered impatiently.

“Why should I know?” Symphony replied. “I’m not sure she even cares that Gracia is dead!” Lumine frowned.  Her partner was usually calm under pressure.  But now he seemed panicked, and worried.

“Symphony.  Lumine.  I trust that you have handled this?” A chilly female voice spoke behind the two.  Lumine smiled nervously and nodded. “Very well.”

She and Symphony moved to the side so that Crystalline could pass.  She stepped into view and surveyed the now twelve guests.  Dreamii gasped, breathless.  The Empress of Winter was a tall, intimidating woman.  Sleek black hair cascaded down her back, almost reaching her ankles.  Her eyes were narrow, ice blue, and as sharp as diamonds.  She had on a simple sleeveless white bodice over a long gown that faded from a pale, almost white shade of blue to a deep midnight blue at the hem where the fabric pooled around her feet.  She also wore a cerulean neckpiece and gloves, both adorned with crystals, and a thin sword hung in a silver sheath at her side.  She was beautiful in a cold sort of way, and somehow seemed youthful and ancient at the same time.  When she spoke it sounded like a thousand ice crystals clinking together. Crystalline’s eyes fell on dreamii, and the girl shivered.  It felt like the Empress was staring into her soul. “We will hold a funeral tomorrow at sunrise for your fallen companion,” she said. “Until then, please remain in your assigned rooms.”  She gave her guests one final long look and then vanished into a cloud of snow flurries.

---

Farewell to Gracia, may she rest in peace.  But the tale continues.

In completely unrelated apoligies- Admins, sorry this ended up so long!