Apologies for how many "had"s there are here, and for how long it took to post this. I still can't get Contentment's speech quite to my exact liking but I guess it's time to let it go. I also lost my creature notes, so had to remake some names, and they honestly don't sound as cool as they did before. I promise we'll get to the action in maybe two more parts! Thank you for your patience! Just get through a couple more long introduction posts and then we'll get to the good stuff (the murders)!

@Reuby, thank you, and I'm glad you liked the way I portrayed you! 

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Day 0, Part 3

The dragon’s name was Coco and she was a lovely, scaled beast, studded all over with plates that spoke of the ocean and unknown places and possibility, forever shifting in the changing sunlight. She had a long, tapered snout, and spiked tail, and amber eyes like droplets of fire. She had been sleeping when the CBers had first arrived, but with the scent of newcomers, had woken up and was jumping all over them like a large dog, except that she was twice the size. At first everyone had stood back, wary because of the warning in the invitation, but Celine had ventured out, unable to hold in her excitement, and found that the dragon was actually quite friendly, though the two hosts still cautioned carefulness. “Coco is usually a sweetheart,” Contentment said, “But as of late she’s been a bit… irritable, if you understand my meaning. She can snap at the slightest annoyance or discomfort, and trust me, you do not want to be anywhere near her when she’s angry. She’s got sharp claws and sharper teeth and isn’t afraid to use either, or both at once.” For now, though, Coco didn’t show any sign of aggression, and the CBers were happy to play games of fetch with her (using a rather large log) until Luxury and Contentment said it was time to move on. “There are more creatures to see,” Luxury said. And indeed there were.

The baku, a mix between a tapir, an elephant, and a mouse, was a sweet creature, aptly named Cozy - “but she only responds to ZZ or Z,” said Contentment, who seemed to know all the creatures’ preferences and such. Apparently, she was able to eat nightmares, if anyone was having any bad dreams. You just had to call her over, and she would suck up the bad and leave you to a peaceful rest-of-the-night. “Just call her in your head, and she’ll hear. She has tiger paws so she doesn’t wake you.” Z padded up to the group, displaying that she did, indeed, have tiger paws, and nuzzled each one of them in turn, prodding gently with her short trunk. 

“She’s checking you all out!” Luxury laughed, a clear bright sound like the tinkling of bells, and the CBers looked on in surprise. They had never seen Luxury laugh before!

There was also a regal flying tiger, who swooped over the group and landed gracefully, head held high, looking at them with imperious indifference. “And this,” said Contentment, “is Critique, but call her Tiki.” Tiki nosed Contentment’s hand, as if looking for treats, and Contentment stroked her gently. “She’s a wngetier, famous for her brilliant wings, as you can see, but her species is sadly becoming extinct because of humans stripping her for her beautiful golden feathers.” The CBers shielded their eyes as Tiki flared her wings suddenly, strutting like a peacock, and the sun caught the gilded gold feathers such that they cast a bright glow over the wngetier like that of the sun rising. When the CBers opened their eyes again, she was gone, just a dot in the distance. “I think she got bored of us,” Contentment giggled, watching the retreating speck of orange.

"There are so many creatures..." breathed Luna Silvermoon as they walked back to where they had started.

Contentment beamed at them. "That's right! This is the Deck, and we're lucky to have many wonderful beasts living here!"

Moon Wolf raised her hand. “But why aren’t they in enclosures?” she asked. The other CBers nodded, also wondering. Every time they’d seen creatures, they hadn’t had free reign, like these critters did, for both their and the animals’ safety.

A cloud passed over Contentment’s face, and even Luxury watched nervously as their sister looked at the CBers with a level gaze. “Why do you think?” she asked calmly.

“Maybe.. because it’s cruel to lock them up? Even if they are wild?” pangolin offered.

Contentment nodded. “And also, this is their home too, did you think of that? These creatures here, there were more before, but the ones here now chose to stay. They can leave at any time but they choose this place as their home. And that's important to remember, because this is not a menagerie, where we lock up living things, or a pet store, where we tame them. We call this the Deck because we think it suits the place better. A deck on a ship is open and free and quite the opposite of caged, it's where the wind blows and things happen, and it's always moving and changing. In other words, it's wild. And this is a place where things are wild. Everyone understands, right?"

The group nodded and Contentment continued.

"Besides, all these animals were here before us anyway, it'd feel weird telling them what to do. Luxury and I bought the Inn from an eccentric billionaire, who was collecting the animals for a private zoo." Her face wrinkled in disgust. "The billionaire's name was Richard Guy, I'm sure you've heard of him?"

Recognition flashed across the CBers' faces. They had all heard about the billionaire who famously was found murdered 12 years ago, in his own estate. Apparently he had been having a party - a party celebrating the Inn's transfer of ownership to Luxury and Contentment, they now learned - when he got up to go to the bathroom and was discovered dead on the stairs an hour later.

"So.." said Hawkstar. "This is where Richard Guy died? The Sunbeam Estate?" 

"I'm afraid so." Luxury said. "But don't worry about old Rich's ghost. We only have one here, and it's certainly not him!"

"Y-you have a ghost?!" BookGirl exclaimed.

"Well.. yes. Of course." Lux gave her an odd look. "You haven't heard about Sunbeam?"

"Sunbeam?"

"Yes. Rich named his estate after his goldfish, Sunbeam. That's where the Inn's name comes from too. You see, Sunbeam is how he made all his money in the first place. When he was a little boy, he had been splashing in the river, when he caught a goldfish and brought it home to his parents. Unfortunately, the fish died along the way, but Rich had trapped it in a bag and it's spirit couldn't get out, so it remained a ghost. He kept the fish and named it Sunbeam, because of the way sunbeams sliced straight through it, taking it on tour around the world. Folks would pay big bucks just to see the "Ghost of the Goldfish"! Sunbeam is still with us today, you'll probably see it somewhere around here. It likes to float through the walls, seems to find it enjoyable, so don't be spooked if you see a flash of orange suddenly poke it's head through a painting and stare at you."

The CBers looked at Luxury for a moment in awed silence. Finally, pangolin said "Wow." and they moved on to other topics.

"Are only Coco, ZZ, Tiki, and Sunbeam still living here? Or are there others too?" Hawkstar asked.

"One other," Contentment said. "We call him Mr. Dersir, but really he should be Camouflage or something. He's a pro at hiding and blending in, so we unfortunately can't find him right now. You'll probably see him around whenever he decides to show himself though! He's a Brsider Shdowonster, a species so rare it doesn't even have a common name yet! But he's a real sweetie, and a perfect example of why you shouldn't judge by appearance!"

"Why?" asked Moth. "What does he look like?"

Luxury shuddered. "You don't want to know."

"Anyways," Contentment said. "I think it's time to show you all your rooms! Trust me, you'll love them!"

Reuby Moonnight opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, Luxury added, "and they really are 'plush rooms', right down to the silk sheets, just like it says in the invite!" Reuby shut her mouth quickly as Luxury glared at her, wolves in her eyes. Finally, they said, "Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Dead: 0

Alive: 12-15

Uncertain: 0

The creatures:

Coco - dragon

Cozy/ZZ/Z - baku

Critique/Tiki - wngetier

Sunbeam -  goldfish - ghost

Mr. Dersir -  Brsider Shdowonster - missing/in-hiding

Bonus: 1st version of Contentment's speech, because that's how unhappy I am with the 2nd version I'm using. :

This magical place, this.. illusion, though pangolin still couldn’t wrap their mind around how it was, was called The Deck, and housed many creatures you didn’t see normally in your everyday life. Creatures many doubted were real… until you were staring right at them. In fact, Pangolin hadn’t even known some of them existed before this! For example, the baku, a mix between a tapir, mouse, and elephant from Japanese myth that ate… nightmares? Pangolin couldn’t even figure out how that worked! Apparently, though, they were good to have around because if you were ever having a bad dream, you could ask the baku to suck it right up and you would be able to sleep the rest of the night in peace. At least, thought pangolin, the baku was awake (in the 1st version, Coco was asleep the whole time). It was wandering around a grassy field, waving its short trunk around. Which pangolin thought was interesting. None of the animals were locked up in an enclosure or anything of the sort. They were just free to roam around and do whatever they wanted, no boundaries, restrictions, or limits. They could even leave the property if they wanted, which, for some reason they never chose to do!

“Why do they get more privileges than us?” Moon Wolf asked now. 

Contentment glanced.. well, contentedly at the baku, lumbering about. Her name was Cozy, but the CBers had been told she only answered to ZZ. “Well, this is their home too.” she answered simply. “And they should be free to go wherever they want, whenever they want in their own home, should they not? That’s why this place is a “Deck”, not a menagerie. It isn’t some messed up zoo or even sanctuary. It’s their home. They chose it.” Contentment turned to face the CBers, a face made of iron. Pangolin startled, she had never seen their friendly host so.. intense, before! “You see, this place, the Sunbeam Inn, it used to be the home of a collector. An esteemed man. You may know of him. His name was-"

and that's where I ran out of steam writing, trying to figure out an appropriate name.