As of right now, spots are CLOSED. Our participants are Nightskiies, Zealatom, Lindel, Silver Crystal, Jewel, Onyx, pangolin, True, Barnacle, Knight, Jaybells, Quill, Harper, Lightning Girl, Cathy, Milka, NerdFace, Adrian, Dallas, and Qwinn.

The adventure starts in three days, on Monday, May 3. Expect frequent updates, and don't forget I haven't been guessed yet!

Your host,

Rex Arcanum 

Day 1:

{In which introductions are made, food is eaten, and the murders begin}

The CBers arrived at precisely 4:30 pm, piling out of the bus and chattering excitedly to themselves. The ride over had been pretty uneventful, most of them anxious to get the driving over with and see the lodge. As they filed out from the bus, dragging their luggage behind them, many of them seemed surprised at the cool, sharp air of the mountain. Most of their shock at the cold quickly dissolved as they took in the area around them: the mountain curved and spiked into the atmosphere, blanketed with evergreen trees that stood in stark contrast to the white, cloud-laden sky. The feature that caught most of their eyes right away was the mist that wreathed the top of the mountain and hovered ominously over the tops of the trees. 

“Oh, wow,” Zealatom breathed. “Creepy.”

Barnacle, who was rather unfazed by it all, shrugged. “It’s called Mistwraith Mountain, guys. Of course, it’s going to be misty.” Pangolin swatted his arm for being impolite. 

“No kidding,” Jewel murmured. “It looks like we stepped into the set for a car commercial.” 

True’s eyes were wide as they took in the view. “It’s so pretty.”

“I’m glad you think so,” a voice sounded from behind them. The CBers whirled around to face the Mistwraith Mountain Lodge, which they had missed while marveling at the nature of the mountain. The lodge was huge, made of dark, polished wood, with many windows and decks facing the landscape. The edge of the gardens could also be seen, which took up most of the area behind the lodge. A man, presumably the one that spoke a few seconds ago, was standing at the bottom of the steps leading to the front door. 

“Rex Arcanum?” Jaybells guessed, remembering the name from the letter. 

“Correct,” the man confirmed, stepping forward. “Call me Rex. I will be your host during your time at Mistwraith Mountain.” Rex looked to be in his thirties with short, choppy white hair; not the kind of white that comes with old age, but the kind of white that seems natural, like he was born with it. You know, that very common, normal kind of white hair. 

The next few minutes were spent letting the CBers know the basic rules of the lodge (no wandering off alone, always consult him before doing activities, etc, etc), much to the eternal unhappiness of the AEs. Rex also informed them that the only other people in the lodge beside themselves and Rex were the staff in charge of cleaning and cooking. 

“Now,” Rex announced, clasping his hands together, eyes gleaming. “Who would like a tour?” The crowd cheered, and Rex did a quick check to see if anyone had dared bring any popcorn-making devices (Barnacle’s device was cleverly hidden under a fake bottom to his suitcase, but it only took Rex around ten seconds to locate it) or weapons (a few people protested, claiming that the letter never said they couldn’t bring weapons, but in the end, a dagger, a swiss army knife, two swords, several bottles of chemicals, and a flask of poison were confiscated). 

The tour revealed to the CBers the main parts of the house briefly, including the massive foyer where they entered, an ornate dining room, a TV room stocked with movies, an indoor pool, the outdoor gardens, and a handful of other areas. By then, it was around 5:30, and the group of CBers led by Rex finally made it to the rooms where they would be staying. A common room was set up with board games and plenty of room, and the entrance to all four rooms was visible from there. 

“All right, everyone,” Rex said, and pulled out a slip of paper from his pocket with names listed on it. “In the Cobalt Room we have True, Knight, Dallas, Quill, and pangolin, in the Azure Room we have Silver Crystal, Jaybells, Lindel, Adrian, and Jewel, the Sapphire Room has Onyx, Lightning Girl, Cathy, Qwinn, and Harper, which means that Barnacle, Zealatom, NerdFace, Nightskiies, and Milka are in the Indigo Room.” He gestures to the rooms, inviting them in. “Go ahead and settle in, dinner is at 6:30. We’ll leave most of the exploring for tomorrow when you all are rested.”

The group dispersed and unpacked in their rooms, talking about everything that they had seen so far. Every room was set up similarly (two bunk beds, fuzzy carpets, fully stocked bookshelves, plushy beanbags) save for the fact that the decor matched the shade of the room’s name. At 6:30, the CBers gathered together and headed down to the dining room, where a hot dinner (lobster mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, and salad) was already waiting for them. Dessert was pie à la mode, and after the meal was done, everyone was full and laughing as they made their way back to the rooms.

And then, someone died. It wasn’t too complicated; it was really rather simple. Unfortunately, the CBers did not seem to think so.

Silver Crystal stumbled, body convulsing once, twice, and then fell to the ground, still. Green liquid dripped from her lips.

“Silver!” Jewel shrieked, eyes widening in horror. The loud noise alerted everyone else, and the group exploded into chaos. Onyx shouldered faer way to the front and knelt next to faer CBer, feeling Silver’s pulse. 

“Dead,” Onyx whispered, barely believing what faer were saying. Faer usually unfazed state was shattered with shock and disbelief, before hardening into an unrecognizable expression.

“Deadd?!” Qwinn gasped.

Jewel, Silver’s other AE, wailed in grief. She rounded on Nightskiies, who had been walking with Silver when she collapsed. “What did you do?”

Nightskiies‘ eyes welled with tears. “I- I didn’t- we were just talking and then she collapsed! I don’t know what happened!”

That’s when Rex arrived, having heard the commotion from the other side of the lodge. He blinked once in surprise at the sight of Silver’s cooling body, and then took charge, shooing everyone into their rooms. 

“What-” Jewel said in a hushed voice. “What a-are you going to do with th-the-” she seemed to choke on the words “-the body?”

“It will be taken care of,” Rex assured them. “Now, please everyone, go to your rooms. This is a most unfortunate case of food poisoning. I will personally go and inspect the kitchens now.”

The CBers reluctantly obliged, all heading to their respective beds with heavy hearts. A few of them were able to get a decent night’s sleep, but the residents of the Azure Room were accompanied by Jewel’s sobs the entire night. 

~~

Dead: 

Silver Crystal, poisoning (?)

Suspects: 

???

~~

And so it begins! The plan is to update every other day, and I really don't think that my identity will stay secret for much longer, so feel free to guess me! Comments and suspicions are welcome!

Day 2:

{In which a discovery is made and suspicions are formed}

The next day started with a melancholy atmosphere that seemed to encompass the whole lodge. Even the breakfast of bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches didn’t improve the mood. If anything, it worsened the trepidation that everyone was experiencing about the incident yesterday. The food largely remained untouched out of fear of poisoning, except for Barnacle, who decided it was well worth the risk. He had already consumed his sandwich, as well as pangolin’s, True’s, and Cathy’s.

Everyone was painfully aware that their group was smaller today: Jewel had opted to stay in her room, and Silver...

Hushed conversation was buzzing through the room, everyone wondering how and why and where. 

“Do you really think it was an accident?” 

“Why would anyone do such a thing on purpose?”

“You’re saying Silver was poisoned?” 

“I’m saying it’s a possibility.”

“Didn’t pangolin bring a flask of poison?”

“No, it was confiscated, remember?”

The conversation, along with the rest of the whispers, was cut off when Jewel sprinted into the room, out of breath. She jerked their head toward the rooms, urgency showing in her eyes. 

“Everyone, come to the common room,” Jewel said impatiently. 

“What?” Quill asked. “Why?” 

Jewel’s voice was grim. “I found something.”

Lightning Girl was the first person in the common room, followed by the rest of the CBers and AEs; no one had stayed behind. 

“What is it, Jewel?” Onyx said. 

“This,” Jewel held up a small vial, a small amount of thick green liquid still at the bottom of it. “I found it on the floor, behind my room’s door.”

NerdFace gasped. “That looks just like the liquid that was coming out of Silver’s mouth after she died- after she fell,” she amended.

“So she was poisoned!” Dallas proclaimed. 

“Why was it behind your door?” Lightning Girl questioned suspiciously. 

“Excuse me?” Lindel asked incredulously, who was in the Azure Room with Jewel. “You’re saying one of us did it?”

The group erupted into conspiracies and suspicions. 

“Everyone be QUIET!” Quill shouted. The angry murmurs stopped at once. “There’s no use in blaming each other for something we’ll never find the answer to. Not right now, anyway. We should go on with our day and hope that this was all one big misunderstanding.”

“She’s right, you know,” Rex said. The CBers turned around to see that Rex had (once again) found a way to stand behind them without anyone noticing. A few people took note of this and even fewer wondered if he could be behind the poison. He continued, “You shouldn’t have to worry about any of that right now. Please, go on with your day, and I can investigate this further.”

With some nudging from Rex, the CBers all left the common room. Zealatom, pangolin, Jaybells, LG, Nerd, and Quill decided to check out some of the hiking trails in the woods, the AEs Lindel, Onyx, Barnacle, Milka, Dallas, and Cathy departed to do who knows what, True, Adrian, Qwinn, and Knight went to the gardens, and Harper, Niteskiies, and Jewel decided to wander around the lodge. 

Harper found herself on the observation deck, which was positioned on the roof of the lodge, overlooking the entire view of the trees and mist, which had cleared up a little bit since yesterday; sunlight leaked through the clouds and dappled the forest. It was quite peaceful, really. She took a deep breath and let it out. She had all the time in the world to figure out everything with the poison. There was no reason to worry.

Footsteps announced another presence on the deck. “Enjoying the view?” a voice asked.

Harper smiled. “Yep. It really is beautiful.” She turned to the newcomer, smile faltering. “Um. What are you doing with a rope?”

Harper thought she had all the time in the world. In reality, she had no time. No time at all.

~

It was the late afternoon, and the hiking CBers returned in high spirits from their journey when they heard the scream. They exchanged alarmed glances with each other as they rushed to the source of the sound: the dining room. The AEs joined the crowd of people pushing and shoving to get into the room. The scream had come from Niteskiies, who, despite shaking with fear, appeared uninjured. She was staring at something outside one of the massive windows, eyes blank with horror. 

It was Harper, hanging from the bottom of the observation deck. I’ll spare you the details. 

Quill choked on a sob. After a few chaotic moments, Rex had arrived and herded the CBers back to their rooms, promising once again that everything would be taken care of.

They were welcomed back into the dining room after Harper had been removed. No one came.

~~

Dead:

Silver, poisoning; Harper, hanging

Suspects:

???