You are now in the south outgrowth of a giant hive, situated in the most expensive land-dwelling part of Civisect City. The first room you enter is the ballblock.
South Outgrowth Locations
Ballblock: The Ballblock is a massive and elegant room. Suited for a superstar such as Erilyn, it is outfitted for elegant balls as well as performances, practice and entertaining. The spacious floor is intricate and expensive, framed by ivory pillars and showcasing an overlarge opulent rug. There is a quaint lounge area set-up for guests tonight with a chaise lounge and Victrola. A piano is set up nearby, hooked up to a sound-system to fill the entirety of the room. There are a number of chandeliers in the room, with a huge main crystal chandelier casting light throughout the room. A number of curtains against the walls are drawn for decoration and practicality, emerald green to match the hiveowner's hue.
There are currently no guests in this block.
Trophy Block: A narrower hall than the rest of the hive's blocks, the Trophy Block boasts a number of accolades and achievements in all forms. Or, at least - it used to. Retractable windows opening up to the night sky above the room give the entire exhibit an official glow, attributed to the moon. Most of the photo frames outlining Erilyn and their associates' greatest feats have fallen down. There are a few fauna-based trophies, including some taxidermied high art that has been ripped nearly in half in a corner as well as a taxidermied antlerbeast-head that looks dolefully out over the rest of the area and could very well have been punched in the face. A stomped-on beast-skin rug lies across the floor. More typical awards including a records case that showcases Erilyn's many musical successes as well as some miscellaneous military notations takes up a great deal of space - and looks to be smashed. At the end of the hall hangs an elegant crest, askew.
There are currently no guests in this block.
Exit: You are welcome to investigate freely in the South Outgrowth during this time. To travel to the Central Hivestem, simply walk north. Keep going and you will reach the North Outgrowth, which contains the Dining Block and Nutrition Block. Walk north and then east to visit the East Outgrowth; the Armory and Training Block make up this area. Walking north and then west will bring you to the West Outgrowth, which consists of the Library and the Basement. Note that if you would like to visit a different outgrowth before the end of the second hour, you will lose one of your daily investigations due to lost time and subtlety. Visiting the Central Hivestem will not use up any investigations.
Current South Outgrowth Activities
It is now the end of the party! Your trolls have half an hour or so to get themselves organized before the trial begins! Trial will begin on the evening reset of the 26th.
How to Play:
Welcome to a fun and exciting impromptu royal investigation! This is a RP-based event with simple mechanics, subterfuge, suaveness and no swamps whatsoever.
The investigation period takes place over periods known as “party hours”. Party hours refer to in-game time, not real-time. One “party hour” will take up a period of 3 (real-life) days. The end of each party hour will be clearly posted by the mule. At the end of each "party hour" all trolls will automatically regroup in the Central Hivestem and choose where to go from there.
Each day, your troll has the opportunity to investigate the murder and the suspicious characters of the party! They can do so through sleuthing via exploring locations and questioning suspects. Any time you do one of these things, it’s called an “investigation”. You have 3 investigations maximum per (real-time) day. These investigations will be refreshed daily by the mule. Investigations can’t be used retroactively, and can’t carry through if you don’t use them one day!
At the beginning of a party hour, your troll starts in the Central Hivestem. You can decide which outgrowth your troll decides to search – the North, South, East, or West Outgrowth. During each party hour you may freely enter and exit rooms as desired, so long as you are in the same Outgrowth. If you want to change Outgrowths, you will have to give up an investigation. However, at the start of a new party hour your troll returns to the Central Hivestem and may switch wings without penalty!
In the description of a room, you might see bolded text. Any bolded object can be investigated! If it is bolded in one party hour and then the next party hour it is not bolded, you cannot investigate it that party hour.
When you’d like to use your investigation on a bolded object or sub-location in a room, please write 100 words minimum of flavor text of your character interacting with said bolded item and quote the mule. (If you want to investigate multiple clues in one post, increase the wordcount by 100 for each clue.) If the result of the investigation yields a red exclamation mark like this: [!] then that means that you’ve found a distinctive clue! To claim your clues, visit the Central Hivestem and follow the instructions re: quiet review. There are mysteries aplenty, so sorting out the information is all about logic.
Some items found during investigation are unique, which means that if you find it first, congratulations! You are the only person who holds the information. In order to exchange clues or items that contain clues, trolls must do so in-character (the Central Hivestem is a prime place to do so). Even if you, the player, know of a clue that may exist, your character should not if they have no reason to. Be careful - prematurely calling out other guests may have negative side effects for your character or others in the hive if overheard, and subtlety and strategy is recommended.
RP is strongly encouraged during this meta! Strong RP going beyond the game mechanics will be rewarded. Due to busy staff schedules, please assume that the NPCs are not able to be interacted with outside of the investigation questions during this time. If you have a very special case and would like to interact with an NPC, please let us know privately.
Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2015 7:50 pm
Exploring: Trophy Block Dectective Tsifer is on the case.
Uneven Darth Vader breathes could be heard as Eridia searched for answers. Useful answers. She scavenged the place like she did with the mailboxes in the city. There were no guest at the moment, which was good. The child was in the verge of crying. Was that how she would looked like if Leeroi and Psygki won against her back then? Anything conspiring above one's blood rank was murder to her. Her lusus followed her around, honding her belongings as she prepared to properly investigate. She grabbed a half used notebook or book. To be honest she wasn't sure what it was but it could be written on. Finding something to write with was a whole different story. These were essentially needed to record what happened before and what could happen next in this very room. She had to keep the act, Eridia had to make others think she was helping out rather than doing her job. First thing's first. She had to write down what her instincts told her. The suspects, their possible reasons to murder. As she was about to write down, a unpleasant thought came to mind. Did that included Gerard? He's refined and a purpleblood, despite all the scandals. Eridia didn't believe in any of them just so she could conserve her image of him. Though the flask... What did it really contained? Eridia shook her head, normally she could decided which was the most possible outcome. "What is wrong with me!" She shouted. She was truly desperate to achieve unjustified self-depression. It was her best option and for that she convinced herself she was highly affected by the loss. She purposely started thinking at her own possible death, using that as a reason to be upset about all of this. With that in mind, she had her cover and no more details would escape her grasp now. First thing that called her attention was the photo frames decorating the walls. She looked at them one by one and dedicated each a specific amount of time to inspect it. Eridia wrote down what each image represented. They were all of Erilyn of course, this was their hive. She looked for dust on them, which was highly unlikely. "Maybe if they wanted to hide one of these pictures, then it would be dusty. Or perhaps the clue lies...inside?" She said, sounding like a true detective who enjoyed hearing their own voice. The child decided to take some of the photo frames and open them up. A clue could be hidden inside of one, that was possible.
You inspect the walls for their many frames. You begin to count the frames and notice that there are 3 picture-shaped voids on the wall where frames should be.
ImaginationsParadise
Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2015 11:57 pm
Obviously Alifax was well aware that he wasn't the only one that'd decided to search in this area, but that was fine. He scooted directly south just because it gave him somewhere to start.
Of course, he was now in the most useless part of the hive. This was probably where the performances were supposed to have been. It wasn't very likely that he'd find anything at all, but of course the rug caught his eye, because it covered so much area. There were several things at work here, of course, and the first few things that mattered were things that could easily hide information. He unrolled it to see whether it hid any sort of information underneath. Besides, it was one of the pieces of information that'd be most useful: if it'd already been pushed out of the way, no one would think to redundantly search it again.
He scanned the floor underneath it with worry. He wasn't sure exactly what he'd been expecting - a trapdoor, or something hidden?
Well. Regardless, the next thing to check behind was the curtains, which fairly evidently lacked function. He ran his fingers through the hair on the back of his neck - he really wanted to get these stupid horn covers off of him - as he pulled the curtains to the side as deftly as he could manage. There was a number of curtains, but again: once they'd been drawn out of the way, it would be quite evident to anyone else who followed afterward that they'd already been searched. Wasn't it important to leave a record of what had already been done, so that no one had any issues communicating in future? Besides, they needed to figure out how those mutants had gotten in, probably...
He probably should've started in the nutrition block. Regret pooled in his stomach, but he'd already walked all this way. There was no turning back now.
That task finally done with, he glanced over the rest of the decoration in the room. He wasn't much concerned with most of it, but there were a couple things he could look through later.
He was gonna keep trekking through this outgrowth while he could.
He found the narrow hall easily enough, and emerged in a shiny-looking room with a small purpleblood already in it. She was examining some photographs: nodding quickly at her, Alifax bustled over to investigate the other probable source of pertinent information. He didn't really know anything about Awassi, after all, and he hoped that some insight into their past would prove helpful for the task at hand. Who here had been invited by Awassi personally? Who was here at the Queen's behest? If anything other than those photos might tell, it was the records case, which he sifted through with the patience of someone who actually enjoyed reading nonfiction. Because he was Alifax Bunsem, and he did. Of course, this seemed to consist of medals and trophies more than anything else, but he had the military knowledge at least to recognize that Awassi'd had some significant military accomplishments. Huh.
After a few minutes of reading, he spoke up. "Any of the other guests show up in those photographs?" he called to the block's other current inhabitant. That'd be interesting information, wouldn't it? Although it was probably too much to hope that the photographs were captioned.
Imaginations*******Paradise
Hive************stuck
ballblock: rug/curtains trophyblock: records case
thyPOPE
Devoted Hoarder
Offline
Hivestuck Captain
Alien Datemate
Offline
Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 3:27 pm
You peer at the rug. Even with the prominent repeated pattern you happen to spot some evidence of activity. [!]
You step behind the curtains, hoping to find something hidden near the wall.[!]
You take a look at the records case. You can't get inside, and everything seems to be in order.
thyPOPE
Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 4:44 pm
Exploring: Trophy Block > Ball block Dectective Tsifer is on the case. Investigation: 2/3
"Some faces are recognizable but..." She exhaled, thinking if she should be sharing such information. The highblood shook her head, this could somewhat be a chance for recognition yet it wasn't right, her gut told her so. As she was about to open up another picture and answer the other, Eridia noticed three picture-shaped voids on the wall. Where were the frames? Obviously someone didn't want them to be hanged. She opened her mouth and later closed it, hands touching the voids as she wondered whether to trust him or not.. "Looks like someone took some pictures." She mumbled, her tone was loud enough for him to hear. Her eyes were fixed at the marks, and inspecting the pictures outlines. Eridia drew the shapes on her notes and made a mental picture of it just in case. Hands still touching the perfect outlines. It only happens with mold.. very unlikely, oxidation and... ash...
Ash, smoke!
"Isn't there a chandelier back there stranger?"Eridia slightly thinking about the other and heading to the ballblock to inspect the chandelier. IIts light casted throughout the ball block. It also glimmered beautifully. Awassi had such good taste, she was jealous! The highblood snapped back to reality and noticed was at the hallway entrance. She squinted her eyes to observe the item from her current distance. No good, she had to be nearer. Eridia first looked at it from different perspectives and walked underneath the great chandelier afterwards. The canopy seemed secured, yet the idea of the murderer having a back up plan went up her spine in the form of a chill. She shook her head and proceeded to look at its many arms and bobeches. Maybe something was up there, out of everyone's reach. "Something must be up there... I just know it!"
OMG HI, thyPOPE
Hivestuck
IIII'm gonna swiiiing from the chandeliiiier, from the chandeliiiier.
Alifax shrugged. If she wanted to be vague about it, he didn't really care: it was an easy to ask to head over and glance at the images himself. It was probably those images that contained figures he'd seen tonight: where might they be easily concealed?He took careful note of any recognizable figures within on his growing Awassi pamphlet.
"I saw one," Alifax shrugged, but he didn't have many hopes looking there himself: it lacked easy hiding spaces, considering it was literally made of holes. But perhaps someone had relied on the fact that most trolls tried not to look directly at light sources to hide something there. "If you're looking for something, good luck - " he began. "Don't think I can get this open..."He had some more information from the records to copy down in the meantime, if only because they were relevant to his interests. He flipped through the book - was there a title mentioned within? When he'd given up his pursuits with the records case to dial back, he glanced over at the girl troll, who was still examining the chandelier from below. "Wouldn't it be better to stack some chairs to get a closer look?" he called. She wasn't even old enough to travel independently, after all - she was hardly tall enough to complete a real examination of the chandelier.
Still, as much as he wanted the truth to come out, he didn't really feel like helping this girl in her pursuits of whatever the hell she wanted unless she was going to start acting at least a little cooperative. He was going to head back to ruminate on what he'd found with the rug and curtains, and then maybe when he was back he could help her lift things. Or something.
ImaginationsParadise
Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 5:50 pm
It is a new ooc day! All investigations have been reset to 3. Clues posted in the central hivestem will be pmed out shortly.
Hivestuck Captain
Alien Datemate
Offline
Hivestuck Captain
Alien Datemate
Offline
Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 7:13 pm
ImaginationsParadise
You get a good look at the chandelier and notice a small security camera at the center of its crystalline base. The light is red.
Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 11:52 pm
After conferring with Nahori Alifax returned to the southern outgrowth, keeping his notebook close at hand. The purpleblood was still here.
He moved carefully into the ballblock's lounge area, running his hands over the soft fabric of some of the chaises for a moment before turning to the Victrola. Strange that it was here considering there'd been a rumpus planned with live entertainment - although perhaps a dance hadn't been on the schedule. No, wait - Alifax glanced back through his notes. There'd been a silent auction planned in particular block, and Alifax could see no evidence of the items being auctioned off, or a stage having been set up at all. Although in all fairness, Alifax didn't really know how auctions worked, never having attended one. Perhaps he could...ask the queen?
Ha. Unlikely. But it might be his best source of information, since she actually knew what the party's schedule had been. Stranger still was her assumption that the culprit was one of the adult invites, although perhaps she knew more about the culled seadweller than Alifax did. Or perhaps it'd been a framing.
Well, if it was, Alifax certainly wasn't going to voice his concerns.
He continued examining the Victrola for a few moments before heading to the piano, which was probably more likely to hold any hastily-hidden evidence. It had an entire soundboard hidden from view, after all. Alifax lifted its cover on both ends, running a hand down the keys and wincing when it produced noise. Well, it wasn't like he was hiding the fact that he was here from that purpleblood. She was welcome to come search too.
But it was probably time to head back to the trophy block. There'd been quite a few things he hadn't even bothered looking over, and it was worth a shot now. Once he arrived, though, he had a little more trouble figuring out what he wanted to examine. The taxidermied creatures were of interest largely because it'd been hard to escape the seadweller's booming guffaws about orphaning. The crest - presumably Awassi's - held its own interest. He'd almost certainly examine it later, whether or not someone else did.
Well. It was a little stranger to see the taxidermied antlerbeast-head, and it matched his current horn covers, so there was at least a little humor in searching it next. He headed over to brush his fingers over its surface. Surely he'd notice if there was anything strange here, right? He hoped so. He didn't tend to hunt antlerbeast a lot, though - there was an awful lot of meat on those things, and he only really fed himself. It'd never have been prudent. Still, he was at least a bit knowledgeable about medicine, from that first encounter with Schrad, and he knew a bit about animal parts. Maybe that'd help him see something unusual?
Probably not, but it was better to look it over than not.
Hivestuck
ballblock: piano + victrola trophy block: antlerbeast head
thyPOPE
Devoted Hoarder
Offline
Ancient_Guardian
Offline
Posted: Thu Oct 15, 2015 6:44 am
Ҕᾁʐɱᾁʂ Ҏӫςɧῒɱ xxxxxxHazmas has entered the South Outgrowth || Ball Block Stepping into the Ball Block, the green blood took a few moments to look around. Like the other blocks and outgrowths, it maintained the standard of exquisite elegance set by its neighbors. He meandered through the lounge area. It was only when the tinkling of crystal above him reached his ears that be bothered to look up. Now, he knew the moment he stepped into the block that his randomly picked Outgrowth was not where the mutant bloods were. However, that wasn't the worst part of it.Not that having Alifax in the Trophy Room wasn't bad enough.
'Some extraterrestrial, supernatural force is laughing at me,' Hazmas thought and wondered if it would be worth slipping his mask back on. With how much it limited his vision, he decided it wouldn't. 'Well, might as well meet the inevitable.'
"Don't fall," he called up to the purple blooded issue-with-a-think-pan, "I don't want to get blamed for your death."
ImaginationsParadise
HE REALLY DOESN'T WANT TO BE BLAMED FOR YOUR DEATH, ERIDIA.
Posted: Thu Oct 15, 2015 8:06 am
Exploring: Ball Block > Trophy block Dectective Tsifer is on the case. Investigation: 3/3
After staring for a prolonged time at the chandelier, Eridia's efforts delivered themselves in the form of a security camera at its base. She smiled, her guts were always... sometimes right. Her concentration was cut off when the sound of the pain hit her spongeclots. How long had she been staring upwards?
"Hey, is that you stranger?" The child said to Alifax, prepared to get one last look before writing down what she had found. Then her eyes automatically glared at the troll who addressed to her, sniffnode wrinkled as she saw she and Hazmas shared the same space. She cracked her neck to relax her tensioned muscles and put both hands on her hips.
"Thought I smelt something rotten come in." She said plainly, no smirking whatsoever. "What do you want whiny? Here to steal Awassi's stuff?" Eridia went back to the trophy block to get another look at her evidence. She didn't care if the other followed, not that he would since it was noticeable he couldn't stand her. In the end, almost no one could.
Eridia took the narrow corridor and saw the redblood inspecting several items at his own pace. She noticed how his horn covers matched with the taxidermied antlerbeast-head and a light chuckle escaped her lips. "I saw something up there, just need someone to help me get some use out of it." She said somewhat expecting him to help her as she headed towards the crest.
Her focus was all over the crest, now that was something notable to observe. Her hands trailed the rims of the object delicately as she made her mental notes. The possible materials used, its appearance... She also looked for anything behind it, without taking it down, and around it that could serve as a clue. With her pen at hand, Eridia softly tapped the crest to see if it was hollow inside. She stared again at the surface, thinking something could be hidden inside... or at its surface yet with the current lighting in was impossible for her to concentrate. The lights still flickered.
Maybe the red blood had seen a lighting device or something. "Hmm..." Idly scratching a horn, Eridia decided to walked back towards Alifax, tugging on his shirt to get his attention. "Hey, have you seen a flashlight somewhere around here? I can't really look at it with this light." Again, the light flickered where the crest was.
Maybe the greenblood had some junk that could help. "Hey stink breath! Are you gonna stand there and do nothing? I need a light source over here!" The child shouted at Hazmas, she knew that her voice was loud enough for the other to hear.
Ancient_Guardian
-draws culling circle around a la 'sea bear protection'-
Ҕᾁʐɱᾁʂ Ҏӫςɧῒɱ xxxxxxBall Block > Trophy Block Hazmas rolled his eyes. "Don't tempt me," he grumbled and followed Erida into the trophy block. Like the Ball Hall, it seemed most if not all of the areas around had already been scrutinized by the other trolls. Fortunately, there were still a few items with a lack of finger marks sufficient enough to assume they hadn't been bothered. Unfortunately, the purple-blooded pain-in-the-neck was already exploring the more interesting object of the bunch -the incredible crest stationed at the end of the hall. That left him with the curious taxidermied high art standing in a corner.
Adjusting the mask hanging from his neck, the young green blood leaned in for a closer look, examining the bases as well as the models themselves. To be honest, if these were the trophies Eridia was talking about, they were better off here. Things of this size and shape had no place in his workshop. He was just about to finish up his little investigation when the highblood's grating voice raked across his spongeclots.
"Y'know, normally I'd say 'only if you say please'," Hazmas said, reaching into his pockets, "but with you being a high blood, I think that's as close to a 'please' as anyone's going to get."
Despite his disparaging tone, the fact that Erida actually asked for his help almost made the greenblood smirk - almost. To him, it meant even she knew he had stuff that could be useful and, funnily enough, that felt good. However, as good as it felt, he didn't have his satchel on him. "Not party attire," Machim had said. But he did have a few pockets and like any good pack-rat, he always had something. At the moment, that something was an unused luminescent tube with an appreciatively bright glow. He'd meant to stash it in one of his crates before he left but was running lat and had simply stuffed into a pocket until he got back.
'Pretty lucky if you think about it,' he mused and passed the short stocky glow stick to the demanding highblood across from him.
ImaginationsParadise
Here Eridia, have a glow stick.
Hivestuck
Investigated: Trophy Block - Taxidermied High Art
Posted: Thu Oct 15, 2015 6:03 pm
thyPOPE
The piano is very tempting to play. As you step over to it, you make an effort to see what secrets it may hold... [!]
The old instrument has been outfitted with the most current Alternian technology. It's a bizarre, high-class instrument. You poke around and wonder if there could be something in its wide bell, and stick your hand in. [!]
The pop-eyed antlerbeast stares right at you, mouth agape. On a hunch, you reach into its mouth. [!]
ImaginationsParadise
Erilyn's crest is made up of medals, royal sabres and bolas. It's personalized and quite deadly looking, but it's not out of the ordinary.
Ancient_Guardian
You encounter the high art. A fuzzy mixture of creativity and highblood aesthetics, it's hard to tell where the creature ends and the abs begin. You scour its fuzzy surface for some clues. [!]
Hivestuck Captain
Alien Datemate
Offline
Hivestuck Captain
Alien Datemate
Offline
Posted: Thu Oct 15, 2015 6:15 pm
It is a new ooc day! All investigations have been reset to 3. Clues posted in the central hivestem will be pmed out shortly.