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 Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 4:32 pm
She watched as Katherine stormed past her cabin and shrugged. "Good thing I packed my own lunch".
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Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 7:55 pm
BANG! THUMP! STOMP, STOMP, STOMP...
"Augghhh..." moaned the awakened passenger. Alert, she sat up from her bed. "What was that?!" she said aloud to herself. She reached out her hand for the lamp on the table beside her and promptly flicked it on. Looking at the door, she heard nothing else but the clacking of the track beneath. She glanced at her watch on the table, realizing that she been alseep for most of the day. "Probably just a bump in the track. I've missed lunch... and dinner. No point in getting up and going out now."
She looked around her moderately-sized cabin. It was a beautiful train, but something that she would never think of going on herself, alone. Your typical grandmother, she was a bit of an introvert and enjoyed staying inside. Although, she had to admit that a change of scenery was nice. Retirement was getting boring, one could only bake pies and knit scarves for so long. Mrs. Laureen Edel tiredly stared at the lamp, remembering how exactly she wound up here.
Last week was her 67th birthday, and after the cake had been cut up and served her 2 sons presented her with an envelope. She was not expecting a gift, as each year she told them (no matter how cheesy it sounded) that their being together was enough and they -and their wives, after some convincing- seemed happy enough to comply. Inside was a ticket to some fancy sea-side resort, that included travel by "an authentic Victorian passenger train". She had to go, to make her family happy.
The drive was brutal, 4 hours. She had packed her bags late last night, being the procrastinator that she was. Waking up extra early to avoid traffic to the city proved futile. All the honking and movement kept her from much wanted sleep. As soon as she checked in and found her cabin, she had plopped into bed.
"Maybe it won't be so bad," Mrs. Edel reassured herself out loud after reminiscing. With a sigh she switched off the lamp and slumped back into bed. "At least it was cheap. Damn you eBay..." she muttered, and drifted off into sleep again.
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Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 12:12 am
♦ ♣ ♥ ♠
As the skunk slipped into the kitchen, there were in fact two people in there- a chef, and an assistant. It was likely the assistant that Katherine had been fighting with, and she seemed genuinely upset by the situation. She had likely not been the instigator based on her demeanor- the chef was attempting to console her though you couldn't hear what they were saying, as they were keeping their voices extremely quiet. They didn't seem aware of your presence.
A broadcast came over the loud speaker. "Ladies and gentleman, we apologize for the disruption in the dining car a few moments ago. Please evacuate the dining car and we will ensure that all traces of the mess are removed- special dinner hours will be extended once the car is clean. In the meantime, if you will kindly return to your personal cabins, an attendant will be making rounds to take information to provide refunds for your tickets in compensation for the behavior of our employee."
You have been promised compensation for the inconvenience!
♦ ♣ ♥ ♠
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Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 3:50 am
She began to wonder what the attendant who would be coming round would think of the cabin... or rather the items in it. She decided therefore to pop many of them back in her trunk.
"There, that looks more... normal." The only personal items now left in the cabin were a book on the desk, titled the History of the World, and the trunk that sat on one side of the cabin.
She sighed and settled down to her pasty.
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Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 4:05 am
 Upon hearing the announcement, Emilio sighed and carefully stacked the five stained plates that he had picked up. Worried that he would stumble on the fallen disaster and fall with the plates, he placed the plates on the nearest table. Relieved, Emilio took out a small packet of baby wipes from his bag which hung by his hip and cleaned his hands with a single wipe. Happy with his clean hand, Emilio smiled and stood up, ignoring the slight stain from a fork that Jan created on his new leather jacket. Emilio then slid over to his table and gathered his sketch book and tools before smoothly exiting the cart. Down a long corridor he walked through, noticing fellow raged passengers entering their own cabins or muttering out words inside.
He opened his cabin door with a key before walking inside happily. The boy then looked at his half messy cabin before rushing to clear it. His bags were sprawled on one side with one open, his art supplies falling out. Emilio closed the door of his cabin and slid his sketch book inside the bag. He zipped it up before tending to his other bag, which had his clothes. He had pulled out his leather jacket at the beginning of the ride and bear in mind, it was way on the bottom! The fair-skinned boy re-folded his clothes and zipped up his bag. Proud on his work, he jumped back to the other side of the cabin to lie down. He pulled out his iPod touch from his bag and tucked in the earphones he had bought into his ears. He took a last sigh before looking up at the cabin's roof top, wondering about what the resort looked like.
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Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 8:53 am
As another man bent down to clean up after the mess, Maren caught him murmuring about a waste of food. In a quiet tone, he replied, "Indeed, it is." Then, as the elf reached for a coffee mug, yet another man came down, but this one was chatting and taking a fallen piece of bacon. Now, Maren preferred over-land or -water transport, and so had never been in a plane. As such, he just "mmmmm"ed in response. A fair number of the dishes had been picked up by the time of the announcement. Maren stood and put his stack on the same table where the other man had put dishes. Then, leaving the dining car, he ducked into a lavatory to wash his hands.
Maren entered his cabin and stopped, frowning. A full-length mirror revealed food stain on the knees of his brown trousers. That will take so scrubbing to get out, he thought with an inward sigh. So, after closing the cabin door, he fetched a clean pair that looked much like the first and changed pants. Putting the soiled ones aside, Maren went to a window and watched the scenery flash by as it was colored by dusk.
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Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 3:55 pm
Iwa kept as silent as possible in order to creep up behind a counter, ears swiveling to get the most effective amount of noise in order to listen to the conversation.
"Food? Food, food? Food, food?" Iwa whispered to itself, wondering if they would remake the meals.
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Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 6:16 pm
♦ ♣ ♥ ♠
There was no indication that the meals would me remade at that point while cleaning was still in progress. Upon catching sight of movement, the staff prompted the little skunk to step out of the dining car and return to her cabin so that the cleaning could continue as quickly as possible.
♦ ♣ ♥ ♠
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Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 7:51 am
 As he looked down on the tracks over the railing of the narrow platform at the end of the train it occurred to Jan that – lost in thought – he must have walked past his cabin. A number of things had occupied his mind since he left the dining car: The young man he had met, who had seemed somewhat sad despite being in such a nice place. The hostess and her strange behaviour. Whether accepting a refund was legitimate when he hadn't paid for the ride in the first place. What Anna would have done in this situation. He hated himself for that last thought, but he just couldn't not think it. The light of the sun blinded him momentarily and Jan raised his left hand to shield his eyes before he lifted them off the rails racing past below him. The sky was a stunning mixture of red, yellow and pink as the bright orange ball of the sun hovered slightly above the horizon, sinking slowly. It was a beautiful sight. And so, waiting for the perfect moment to take a picture, he picked up his camera.
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Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 9:03 pm
♦ ♣ ♥ ♠
As the last of the passengers made their way back into their cabins and got comfortable, the entire train darkened as you went through a tunnel. There was still plenty of light to see by, so it was no inconvenience- it was just a bit strange atmospherically. You milled about for a bit waiting for someone to come around to discuss the refunding of your ticket.
Just as you began to wonder exactly what was keeping the employees (yet another delay), you heard a series of extremely alarming grinding noises before the room suddenly pitched and you were tossed to the far wall. Within a split second, it pitched the other way- and you were thrown back against your window. The glass cracked a bit with the force but thankfully it didn't shatter. The train exited the tunnel at that point and spun, apparently in the process of derailing from what you could see and coherently piece together in the moment. Had this NOT happened in the tunnel, it likely would have rolled over and done quite a lot more damage to its self.
Notably, had this not been a 'first class' train, the furniture in your room would likely not have been bolted to the floor and may well have crushed you during that episode. Sure, the train cars were zig zagged all over the place now- but they were all mostly intact. You could see through your window that the caboose was still in the tunnel, which had collapsed due to the train smashing into it so many times. You wouldn't be escaping that way.
You could see through the windows outside your cabin that the steamer and the first few cars had broken free of the rest of the train during the derailing and tumbled quite a ways away- as you contemplated whether or not anyone would be alive inside them, the steamer exploded. The conductor was certainly gone- along with most, if not all, of the staff that had been in the front cars. There was nothing you could do for them now; you needed to worry about yourself and the other survivors.
While dwelling on that, you noticed the surroundings. There were hundreds of trains here, scattered all around you. Trains of all eras that had some across these rails and others- it seemed that they'd been collecting here for years. Passenger trains, cargo trains- all sorts of things. It looked like you were in a man made crater that was being used as a dumping ground- you were passing through here at night, you were only seeing the trains because of the fire of the flaming steam engine. Under normal circumstances this would all be invisible. The tunnel on the far end that would serve as escape seemed to have been collapsed by the explosion as well, and the sides of the crater were far too steep to climb.
You were trapped here until someone noticed you were missing and there was absolutely no cell phone signal. Great. At least it looked like there was plenty to explore, if you were going to be stuck HERE for the duration of your vacation. You certainly hoped that someone would notice that the train didn't make it to the station, but given the way this trip was going you somehow thought you shouldn't hold your breath.
The other passengers seemed to be milling about, they all seemed to be alive and unharmed. You made your way through the cabins trying to find anyone that was still unaccounted for, checking in on all the passengers, when you came to the room that had belonged to Katherine.
you could very clearly see through the glass window that something was not right inside the room. You slowly attempted to open the door, only to find it locked- though it wasn't hard to see what had happened. She was bound to a chair in her room, her hands were tied with what looked like an electrical chord taken from her luggage. Her head was tilted back, making a large bruise on her throat plainly visible- and you could vaguely make out that there was something in her mouth.
You weren't able to see anything else in greater detail without getting inside the room, though it was plainly obvious that Katherine had been killed recently. The only people that had been through this way were passengers.
One of the people amongst you was a murderer.
[Cuddle Puddle is now dead. You are free to explore the train yard and break into Katherine's room to search for clues.]
♦ ♣ ♥ ♠
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Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 9:38 pm
Dia screamed upon seeing Katherine's body. Refusing to believe she was dead Diamond quickly looked around trying to find something to break the glass with. Spotting a pipe that had broken off the train she rushed to pick it up and smash the glass. Once the glass was broken Dia reached in and unlocked the door. She ran in and tried to find Katherine's pulse, finding none she burst into tears. Threw her tears she spotted something in Katherine's mouth. Dia slowly reached in and pulled it out.
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Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 11:15 pm
Emilio couldn't believe the scene in front of him. Katherine... the female who had been out on a rampage hours earlier in the dinner cart; the one who had spoiled his dinner for him. The bruised boy brushed the thought out of his mind before he brushed his way through the crowd of survivors to the soulless body which was currently being examined by the girl who had ordered the grilled chicken earlier. The girl had decided to pull out what was inside her mouth. He didn't want to witness it. He decided not to look; taking the chance to look around the cabin and saw the expressions of the other passengers look disrupted.
Emilio wondered who in this crowd of people decided to kill Katherine. Sure it was her fault that the dinner wasn't served and that she had a large fit, knocking angrily on passenger doors. Knowing everyone was peeved during that hour; Emilio drew up a suspect list in his mind. The man in the tourist shirt was happy... too happy. Emilio's eyes flickered on him before looking back at the remains of Katherine. The object had been pulled out and dropped onto the floor, rolling to his feet. He picked it up before making a disgusted face. " This object.... Disgusting." he commented. It had been a short, thin pipe which had been strayed from the roof of Katherine's cabin. Emilio dropped the pipe... What kind of person would do something this cruel? Which passenger out of the crowd did this?
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Nespin Fernagon Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 11:48 pm
After the train stopped shaking, the man very carefully did something. He very, very carefully took a bookmark out of his pocket, and placed it between the pages of the book he had been reading. The book was then closed and the slim volume was slipped into a jacket pocket.
Only then did he get up off the floor where the rough ride had left him, and dusted himself off. A quick look around the train revealed the situation - and he smiled grimly. Right. Enough people were going to look at the victim - lets take a look somewhere else. He walked doggedly towards the front of the train, to where the cars had separated. When he got there he climbed outside and got down to examine where the trains had previously been connected...a gut feeling suggesting that the front section detaching wasn't a lucky accident.
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Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 6:51 am
 The metal pipe was cool and solid under his trembling fingers and Jan clung to it until the world around him stopped spinning uncontrollably. And then a little longer - just in case - before he stumbled on, slowly, one hand on the brass handrail, the other pressing a handkerchief to the cut behind his left ear. There was a scream from somewhere ahead of him. It meant someone was there. He willed himself to walk faster despite the nausea rising within him as he moved. Upon entering the next wagon he was greeted by the sound of shattering glass. A small crowd had gathered here and forced open one of the cabins. The hostess' cabin. He joined the others inside, holding himself upright by leaning against the doorframe, taking in the scene with a blank expression. Everything was blurred, fuzzy, like looking at an old monitor after someone messed with the contrast and brightness. The light made his eyes hurt. It was impossible to focus on anything for more than the fraction of a second, if at all. But even lacking detail it remained obvious what had happened in this room. Katharine looked like that unlucky rookie player who had run into Dave 'The Strangler' Hatrop during the first round of last season's playoffs. After staring at the body for a moment Jan Weißflog fished the camera from his pocket and took a few pictures. When he was done he stashed it away again and simply remained standing by the door, his face even more ashen than before.
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Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 10:50 am
She rose calmly for her bed. The movements of the train seemed to have done nothing to either her or her belongs. Calmly reaching into her trunk she removed some family heirlooms.
"So it has begun... I shall not be part of the throng and they will know me and not risk their own lives for it." Touching the swords on her back calmly she made her way to the Katherine's cabin with definite steps of purpose.
A number of the other passengers had also their way here and looked more than a little unsettled by the turn of events. She pulled out a notebook and began writing down every detail in a language none of the passengers recognised.
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