HALLOWEEN 2015- MURDER MYSTERY CYOA

[Yunonia]

A: Search the powder room lounge

"Hmmm..." Bitter had known something very fishy was going on here. If those candies had made it in who knows what else could've!

She decided to leave the kitchen and go investigate somewhere else. With most of the staff gone from there there wasn't much use sticking around. Making her way around the house it wasn't long till she found herself in the powder room lounge. She snooped about checking in every nook and cranny she could think of.

 

[Atmadja]

What on earth had that been about? Clementine had a piece of toast and cheese on her hoof before that had all happened; as Chop Chop went into a frenzy, she put the snack down and stood. This was insupportable-- how was she to get any information from the woman that way? Still, the cheese... Clementine lifted the cheese and sniffed it discreetly, ponderously...

Chop Chop threw open an access panel and Clementine stood stock-straight. What could this mean? What on earth was happening?

"What--that candy--- FUSCHIA! Come at once!" was all she could make out. She excused herself to the restroom, fanning herself with shock. Once the door was closed, she took a deep breath. Everything seemed amiss. Nothing was right. Was everything, no matter how small, important? In that case, how could she know when she'd found something important or not? Without knowing what else to do, she began to look around the restroom, peering askance at everything. She put a hoof around the mirror, checked beneath the sink. If anyone was impertinent enough to stop her--or come in while she clearly needed privacy, she would simply say she dropped something here earlier.  

[cursedandwandering]

B- Go to the Trophy room AND FORCEFULLY DRAG YOUR YOUNGER SISTER THROUGH THE SECRET PASSAGE AGAINST HER WILL

Fea Line

<3 <3

"OH. MY. GOD. I'VE GOT TO SHOW CARAMELL!" Paws squealed, clutching the blueprint to her chest as she scurried into the Trophy Room. The other guests looking on may have wondered why Quarter Mane was suddenly acting like a silly little girl as he bolted out of the office. MAYBE IT'S CAUSE HE WAS A WEIRDO?! Yes, that was probably it. Suddenly acting like an excited girl was totally part of his personality. Yep.

Bursting into the trophy room, Quarter Mane strode up to Delegator and shook him by the shoulders. "You're not the killer right? Promise me you're not the killer! Ok? Ok. LOOK WHAT I FOUND!" Another girlish shriek punctuated the air as the big game hunter held out the blueprints to the other stallion before folding it up to tuck into the pocket of his (faux) fur jacket. "Look, it even says there is a secret passage right in this room!" He whispered, pointing to the section of wall that was indicated by the floor plans. Tapping lightly against the wall, he located the secret panel and pressed against the opening. "The map says this should lead to the library! C'mon Caramell! I mean... Delegator!" He grabbed the pink stallion's hoof, pulling them through the secret entrance into the library.

Yep. Just totally normal Quarter Mane for you. So whacky, what with his shooting of the animals and what not.  

[frozen_flames06]

C: Search the powder room lounge

Book Smart got out of the palm court, feeling lost and discouraged. He wandered into the direction of the powder room lounge, wanting to just sit and think. Outloud away from the others. Sitting on a plain blue plushie pillow, Book Smart began to monologue a bit.

".....If I was a rich phony, were would I put my most trusted records? IF I was he, I would put it in a library. But not a ordinarily library, a secret one that no one but I and one of the staff would know about....but this killer might know it because he/she hasn't been seen.....but how would the killer know unless...they are part of the family."

Standing up, he carefully looked at the walls closely for a switch of a sorts.

Obi was getting a bit miffed about not finding a book or a library.  

[elvyralani]

Stain looked through the powder room as well as she could, noting the out of place coat. It seemed to be a ladies coat, so a lady was with him before he died?
She decided to continue searching the other half of the room.


A: Search the other half of the room.  

[Magician Arcana]

(Investigate the Rug)

Seemed most of the room had cleared out. Sticky Fingers was bummed there was no phat loot to be taken here, but hey... Could have been worse. Seemed like there were things to be seen, including photos and other nicknacks. The phony he had been talking to left, and well... There was only the rug left.

Trotting closer, he gently moved it around with his hoof.  

[LOLLI qAq]

Making a conscientious decision so keep an eye out for Miss Fussbucket or to look for Chop Chop again later, Moneypenny looked around for something else to investigate while waiting for either member of the staff. His Aunt seemed to be headed in the direction of the sitting room and his ... Oh, mother. Where was she going now?
Rolling his eyes he moved in the direction of the restroom, but stopped. Instead he followed Penny Earned in order to search the sitting room.  

[purplerosesbeauty]

B: Search the powder room lounge


Diamante went to the powder room lounge and spotted a pink phony she knew. Well, knew as Lav, not like, as Diamante. But Diamante probably knew her too! She sidled up to the phony as she investigated, and offered a friendly hello. "My dear, if it isn't Bitter Pill!"she said with her old lady voice, putting a hoof around the other phony. It was kind of hard because the mare was taller than she was. "How have you been, you old so-and-so! Can I join your search, dear?" She mostly asked because like, she was having a tough time finding anything. She poked about the coats and noticed the strange one... weird. "Oh dear, you think old Moneybags found yet another poor filly's reputation to ruin?" She shook her head, tsking.

Yunonia

Lav says hi!

 

[Fea Line]

D: Investigate the walls to try and use the spinning panel ONLY TO BE DRAGGED THRU IT BY EXCITED OLDER SISTER THEN TRY TO FIND THE STAIRS ISTHISEVENACHOICEANYMORE???

cursedandwandering

I'm so sorry I had no idea what to write as my choice orz

Del's suspicions had been confirmed. While the gun case was unlocked, this revolver wasn't part of the collection. He was half certain he hadn't seen the gun before, but then again he never really paid too much attention before. His thoughts were distracted however by two different sounds. One of the spinning of wheels or walls and the other....

Caramell was taken by surprise at the all too familiar shriek and all thoughts of staying in character were lost. For the both of them. Obviously. I mean really how could you miss it, they were both practically just screeching from excitement. However Caramell took a deep breath and sank back into character again.

Sort of.

Del snorted loudly, trying to ward off the personal space popping Quarter Mane and his outrageous questions. "ME? The killer?! As if I would kill possibly the greatest money mogul SO THAT I WOULD LOSE MY JOB AND HAVE NOTHING?!!!" Del spat but tiny fits of giggles broke though at times, causing the pink Mare-Stallion to have to stop to choke back his-her fits.

It was too late to argue however as Quarter Paws latched onto Delamell and drug him through a secret passage the other had simply found on the wall. The very same one that Pennybags had stumbled upon accidentally just earlier. "Where did you even get this?!!" Del spat, trying to grab hold of the map piece but the hunter had already stashed it away.

Frowning, Delamell had to really pause, take a deep breath, and collect himself. Mostly because Caramell didn't want to get too out of character and somehow get her sister and her self kicked out of the game. But also because there was something that Del had spotted briefly in the messy blueprints when they were thrust into his face. Something he didn't remember seeing before of all the times he had been there.

On the map of sorts was a scribbled set of stairs that led to the second floor on the south end of the library. Del set himself immediately to finding them, making a B-line for the south end. As there were no -obvious- set of stairs just laying around, he began looking for something that activated them, ya know, like in the movies. (Or rather this was Caramell's idea.) Pushing different books, checking the shelves for secret buttons, things of that nature. He stopped only when he noticed something he felt had to be it, as he was running out of other ideas to search for.

"Get over here!" He called rather grumpily. "You saw it didn't you, the set of stairs scribbled on the map? Think this is it?" Del pointed the beam of his flashlight towards the panel on the ceiling that looked like it could be pulled down to reveal something. But how did they pull it down? "Any bright ideas..." Del snorted again, though not really in a questioning manner.  

[cursedandwandering]

Scara! Let me know if we're getting too far ahead of ourselves with this and we can change things. (We weren't quite sure how many rooms would be acceptable for them to enter and such) (NAH, you guys are good! You're- well, you'll see where you are at later... :3- SF)

Fea Line

Sorry I made things difficult XD

"T'ch. A life of adventure is better than a steady job." The stallion scoffed as he paced about.

Quarter Mane was sniffing about the library shelves, giving the occasional mutter . "A good hunter always pays attention to the tiny details. Even the smallest signs of disturbance in the wilderness can lead to a great beast." While this was said somewhat seriously it was punctuated by giggles.

Pulling out the blueprint again, he peered closely at the room that was indicated as the library in the layout. "Hmm. Well it seems to be in this corner..."  

[theCorniest]

Cutie managed to hold onto the cheque - though it was made out to someone else. For a baby. Her grandfather had written a check to some people who delivered babies for a living. There was absolutely zero percent chance that the old fart would pay this kind of money for a baby that wasn't important to him, which meant it was probably his, which meant... Ugh. Not another aunt or uncle! The LAST thing she wanted was another dumb family member to pointedly ignore at parties!

The sitting room seemed to have been thoroughly gone over by now, so Cutie decided to snoop around somewhere else. The library (D) would probably be quiet, even if not actually helpful. The bathroom was sounding pretty packed, in any case. She seriously did not want to know what kind of monkey business that many people were getting up to in the bathroom.

Cutie was dismayed to find the west library busier than she'd expected. To keep some space between her and the plebs, and to remind them of their place in her world, she took to the air, idly examining the upper shelves. She seriously doubted there was anything interesting in here, but there wasn't much else to do that close to the ceiling.  

[Scaramouche Fandango]

Round the Fifth

Talk to [NPC]

Habeus Corpses: The lawyer is still in the dining room, reading a case file.

Wine About It: The jury is back in. Wine About It is fussing around in the wine cellar, occasionally popping up to the kitchen to sneak some cheese.

Rank and File: SPIDER WAR

Fuchsia Fussbudget: Missing in action.

Chop Chop: In the kitchen, darlings!

Kitchen

Chop Chop and Wine About It are in here. Chop Chop is angrily slamming about pots and pans, while Wine About It is still looking for that missing list.

Dining Room

The dining room hasn't much changed, but additional investigation reveals the hidden panel has come ajar. It should be quite easy to access now... if anybody was still here.

Great Room

Not much has changed in here. This room appears to be completely empty.

Parlor

Rank and File grips the flyswatter tightly. "This is my flyswatter," he growls, teeth clenched. "There are many like it, but this one is mine. My flyswatter is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life."

Do NOT go in there.

Palm Court

This room has pretty much been abandoned.

Trophy Room

The taxidermy eyes shine menacingly in the darkness. Creepy.

Sitting Room

This room has been ransacked entirely. The furniture is all askew and no cushion has been unturned. The birthday cards have been knocked over, and somebody's been crawling around on the floor. This place is a bit of a mess!

You can:
A: Search the sitting room
B: Search the powder room lounge
C: Search the restroom
D: Search the library west
E: If you know where you're going (Penny), you can hurriedly sneak to the stairs.

Office

Pulling up the rug, Colonel Whizbang is greeted with a welcome sight. Hot dang! A safe! Whizbang, who had known Moneybags well, knew just what to put in for the combination. 4-31-8. His children’s birthdates and the month they were born in. The safe popped open and the colonel found HEAPS of business documents. So many documents, all detailing ownership of stocks and stakes and claims. There was also a series of medical files, all about Moneybags. There’s everything in there, from childhood maladies to later-life medical issues. One thing does seem to be missing, however; one piece of paper is torn away, leaving a ragged stub behind. Something was going on with Moneybags’ health that someone else didn’t want anybody to know about. But what?

When Sticky Fingers investigates the rug, his hooves brush against the shattered glass of the CRT monitor. He’s fortunate he didn’t get cut! The glass shimmers in the light, but it’s interesting- the computer itself is fine. Just the monitor is destroyed, meaning that Moneybags probably wasn’t killed for information- and the killer didn’t think that there was anything worth destroying on his physical computer. This just seems like an accident… or made to look like one. After all, none of the furniture is destroyed, just toppled. Even the broken unicorn statue would be an easy repair. Would a real fight have left all of the valuable objects in the room largely intact?

You can:
A: Investigate the room further
B: Search the trophy room (roll a d20 if you want to use the spinning panel)
C: Search the great room

Powder Room/Restroom

A thorough study of the coat turns out a few more things left behind. In the pockets, there’s a few things- a lipstick-blotted tissue that matches the shade found earler, a handful of cough drops, a tin of mints, a sticky nametag (folded in half), and a thin paper credit card receipt with a name on it. This coat belonged to Dr. Womb With A View, although the sticky nametag says “Visage.” If your name was Womb With A View, you’d probably go by Visage as well. This person was clearly in the house recently; perhaps somebody on staff knows who she is.

In addition to these things, an empty bottle of drain cleaner is found under the sink. It’s not just half-used; it’s almost completely drained. There’s a few drops of liquid left in the bottom of it. The back of the bottle is covered in warnings about how you shouldn’t get this stuff in your eyes or nose or mouth or anywhere you might have a mucous membrane. Pretty potent stuff there. It smells like lemons and ammonia.

You can...
A: Search the other half of the room.
B: Go back through the tunnel to the kitchen.
C: Go back through the tunnel to the dining room.
D: Head through the sitting room to the library.

Library
The western branch of the library bustles with activity. This is where you find a collection of first editions under glass. You hadn’t pegged Moneybags as much of a reader, but he has an amazing collection of first editions. Some names you don’t recognize, but others you do- for instance, he’s got a bound volume of Edgar Allen Poe’s short stories- The Fall of the House of Usher, The Cask of Amontillado, Hop-Frog… no “Raven,” though. He never was much into poetry. Another one is a book on economics from the late 1700s- it looks super fragile. The books in this section of the library are in slightly better condition, but the books on the shelves are pretty dusty. One book near the top isn’t dusty at all; it looks as though it has been taken out and replaced very recently. It’s an odd book for Moneybags to have- it’s all about ropes and sailors’ knots. Why would anybody need a book on knots? And who was in here recently enough to replace such a book? Looking up top, Cutie Honey gets a good sense of what the ceiling looks like- it’ll be obvious which panel holds the stairs should she choose to hit the second floor.

Not much has been found in the northern wing of the library- however, an investigation of the rug shows some mouse droppings. Ew. There might be more to find here, though...

The southern branch of the library has a set of stairs that drop down from the ceiling and clang up after the phony using them transfers their weight onto the floor above. While everybody in the library knows they're there- it's hard not to hear them- they are difficult to see; only phonies who know where they are can figure them out easily.

You can...
A: Search the library north
B: Search the library south
C: Search the library west
D: Search the sitting room
E: Attempt to use the stairs (roll a d20 unless you know where they are)

The Second Floor
Quarter Mane and See You Later Delagator climb the hidden staircase and find themselves on the upper floor of the sprawling house. They can see the top of the palm court from here, as well as a bit of the great room; a catwalk with banister posts leading up to the ceiling separates them. The stairs' landing has hallways that fork off; looking down them, a reading room, a lounge, and what appears to be an art gallery of sorts are visible. Directly next to the landing, there's a locked room next to a bathroom. The door is sturdy; there might be a key somewhere, but you'd have to look for it.

You can...
A: Search the reading room
B: Search the lounge
C: Search the... art gallery? Who has an art gallery in their home?
D: Search the bathroom

...and the Others...

As Steelyard Rumble and Lucky Clover searched the house, they found a sliding panel. What luck! Maybe it was a shortcut! They followed the tunnel they found as it sloped downwards... further and further and further they followed it. Eventually, the ground's texture changed significantly, from wood to pressed concrete. Something chatters in the darkness.

That... can't be good.

show spoilerhide spoiler

zippedsiren

Astraea Pandora

Magician Arcana

frozen_flames06

Luafien

StarieMichie

purplerosesbeauty

Atmadja

Yunonia

FrostyPeaches

cursedandwandering

Yushika

Kitty Sprightt

LOLLI qAq

EchoLimaFoxtrot

thyPOPE

Fea Line

Tristam Lockhart

catmagick

VerityHattress

Ruriska

~Twilight...Angel~

elvyralani

Maxx D

Jun D

 

[Maxx D]

C: Go back through the tunnel to the dining room.
Visage. Vigorish's mouth forcefully drew into a thin line, because Fireflight was direly trying not to hysterically crack up at her actual name. It broke into a conspiratorial smile, however, when he shook the drain cleaner, for he recalled the description of his corpse he'd overheard, and certain...unspeakable experiences lined the evidence up.

With urgency, he spun back into the service tunnel to gallop to the dining room, hoping to see -

"Habeus Corpses!" Wow, that was fun to say. "I need to ask about past dealings. Does the name Womb with a View," wow it was even harder not to crack up right now, "or Visage mean anything to you, with or without a connection to -" and a slight snarl, as the debt of a rich Phony flitted past his mind, "good ol' Moneybags?"  

[Ruriska]

C: Search the library west

It was getting pretty busy in here.

Edelweiss smiled softly (she certainly did not grin widely and make faces at everyone) and after walking past all the first editions, climbed up the ladder to take down and inspect the book about ropes and sailors' knots.