MURDER AT THE MASQUERADE! [PAGE 18 FINALE!]

[TiH Student Council]

A girlish shriek rang out over the loud music filling the auditorium. If one paid close enough attention then perhaps, just maybe, in their heart of hearts they would feel as if a part of themselves had just died. Or they could just go back to what they were doing and consider it just a part of the atmosphere. This is Halloween after all! But no, there was something off about this shrill cry of pain and agony and terror. For one, it brought no sense of satisfaction to any of the students in the hall as a feeling of Fear usually should. Strange. Secondly, one of the student council's helpful gnomes was missing.

It wasn't that nobody noticed him. It wasn't even that he was just hiding. No, this was not a gnome that hides or lets himself blend in with the crowd. This is a gnome who wears a bright pink heart-pattered suit, who curls his beard and follows couples around sighing happily and commenting on how adorable they are.

He's loud, obnoxious, pushy and almost painfully flamboyant.

Dr. Love, the self proclaimed shipper of all things shippable and good in the world, was gone.

Where did he go?

Had that been his terribly embarrassing cry?

Perhaps.

A lone party-goer, a pretty blonde valkyrie, suddenly appeared from a door. Where had this door been the whole time? It doesn't matter. We don't question these things. It was behind a curtain, most likely. A curtain that was inexplicably shorter than the rest as if someone had torn off the bottom. She had on a brown and gold detective's hat, and there was a classic brown pipe sticking out of the corner of her mouth from which bubbles were floating out of. Over her shoulders was a short little detective's cape to match the hat. There was even a mustache...

Freya was on the case.

“ACH!” She began, holding a bright pink gnome's hat high above her head. “WE HAS GOTS AN ISSUE, MISS JUNKO!” She called out, getting the futakuchi-onna's attention with those words alone. Junko quickly gathered up the front of her skirt in a way that would allow her to rush to Freya's side, stopping just beside her to first take in what she was seeing. One, where the hell had she been keeping that hat and pipe. Two, why was she wearing a mustache. Three...was that a gnome's hat? It looked like Dr. Love's! Strange..

“What's the problem, Freya? Why are you...”

“THIS GNOMES IS DEAD.” She held out the hat. Junko just...blinked.

“Wh..what?”

“DEAD. D-E-A-D.”

“No, I heard you the first time I just don't understa--” Freya continued, speaking above Junko and holding the hat above her head again.

“I founds this door behind the curtain, and when I opens it there was a SCREAM! I saw someones big and bulky growling and stranglings him! And then I turned the lights on...and he was dead.” Behind her mask, Freya's eyes were wide. “The killer was gone before I could sees thems.” Junko's eyes were wide, her jaw dropped. Freya gave a solemn nod. “It is terrible, yes?”

“I...suppose..but Freya he's just one gnome we can get others to do a better job than he ever--”

“NO!” Freya's eyes narrowed. “We must finds his killer! It is importants! Why does yeh not care?!”

“Because...he's just one gnome? He wasn't even a very helpful one at that he was actually rather--”

“ACH! Neverminds yeh.” She gave Junko a suspicious look. “I'll get everyone else to help instead. Do nots leaves prom, Miss Junko.” She turned sharply on one foot simply to make her cape billow as she walked, something not entirely difficult to do anyway with her wings holding it up in a way that it made her form seem somewhat larger anyway.

Freya disappeared through the door again, leading into an unfamiliar room should anyone decide to follow her. Junko watched her go with the most incredulous look. She looked around at the rest of the party, frowning. That was strange..

“Um..just...just continue what you were doing, everyone~! I'm sure she's just kidding.” A look was given to the four remaining gnomes; Brutus, Oliver, Lucky and Sticks. She still blamed them for the mishap earlier. “Behave, okay? Would hate to lose more gnomes, hm?” She pouted and hurried off, wanting to distance herself from the room and Freya.

The four gnomes looked at each other with worry, each one slowly turning to the room Freya had gone into. Where Dr. Love had apparently been killed..

Will you follow Freya?

 

[TiH Student Council]

A mystery is afoot.

There seems to be something off with the room - besides the chalk outline of Dr. Love on the floor. The hosts of the evening make no commentary, simply standing back to nod towards the room to allow everybody to take a look at it. It seemed that while Freya was in charge of sleuthing things, she wouldn't be the only one taking a look at everything that was in the room.

"Take a look around. Maybe you will find out some clues that will help you discover who the killer among us is."

'Us' being the Student Council and their lovely assistant gnomes.


The Room:

In the room there are several items worth looking at. Once every 24 hours you may investigate an item within the room to try and get information from it. When you do, post what you are looking at in red bold text to draw the attention of the Student Council Mule. After the 24 hours are up, we will post the results of the sleuthing and you may choose to either sleuth a new item, or something else.

The items you have to look at are:

• Bookcases (numbered 1 through 4)
  
• The Stairs
  
• The Desk
  
• The Fireplace
  
• Picture Frame
  
• Far Rug
  
• Fireplace Rug
  
• Crystal Ball
  
• Random Glass Object No longer an option

Be specific when you post your sleuthing. Post which bookcase (by number) you're looking at, which rug, what you are doing with it, etc. The more specific you are, the better, or even worse, information you could find. Also, more than one person can investigate each thing - that doesn't mean you won't just make the same observations, however!

When you post what you're looking at, please include your minipets screenname at the bottom of your post.


Interrogation

After Dr. Love's mysterious murder, the entirety of the Student Council as well as their Gnome-Assistants are now under suspicion! Unlike items in the room, they may be interrogated at any time. Their information may have varying levels of truth to them, however.

After all, they could be the murderer!

Those you can interrogate are:

• Junko [Eight]
  
• Jericho [Blade Kuroda]
  
• Shehk [demon_pachabel]
  
• Christof [Bilious]
  
• Oliver [Nio Love]
  
• Brutus [Blade Kuroda]
  
• Sticks [Bilious]
  
• Lucky [demon_pachabel]

When you interrogate one of the suspects, just quote their player so they can get to you when they have the time.


Due to the RP intensity of this event, we will NOT require you to [[Enter]] and [[Exit]] this thread. You may be in this thread and other prom threads at the same time, but it is up to you to determine how that effects your timeline of events during prom.  

[TiH Student Council]

Student Council Vice President/Acting President: Junko
As Vice President bumped up to Acting President after the school's most recent...event, Junko took charge of making sure every last detail of tonight's festivities go perfectly. As excited and optimistic as ever, Junko can be found flitting about the prom venue making sure everyone is happy and everything is going smoothly. She is very nervous.











Student Council Treasurer: Jericho Bloodbane
A red dragon and the treasurer of the student council. Lately he has been keeping to himself much more, as well as keeping his body shrouded in a large dark but fancy cloak. Word has it he's become rather paranoid. Best not do anything to anger him.












Student Council Public Relations: Shehk Iordanescu
Public Relations Representative and one of the biggest helpers behind Prom's set up this year. Despite any fuss she raised last year (and she did make quite a scene), she seems much happier and upbeat this year. Most easily found worrying over Jericho.










Student Council Secretary: Christof
Student Council Secretary, the patchwork hunchback is unnervingly quiet. Probably on account of his stitched lips- as a result, he never complains when tending to every task put ahead of him. That is what Igors are built for, after all. The look in his eyes as he gives you a polite bow, though, are silently annoyed.

Student Council President: Riley
The missing former SC President, now passed, leaves a strange void in the council's presence.

 

[TiH Student Council]

Oliver
Oliver, the youngest of the gnomes, has been harassed and bullied his entire life. He's still excited to help, but it seems that excitement is tempered somewhat during this event. Maybe he's tired of always being everyone's stepping stone..

Brutus
One of the gnome helpers who has a tendency to grief his coworkers in potentially dangerous manners.

Dr. Love
The hopeless romantic of the group. Dr. Love will defend all that is good and loving in the school, and nothing can stop him. Nothing can stand in the way of true love!

Sticks
A nervous, skinny gnome with a scraggly beard and a wild-look in his eyes, and a tin-foil hat. He is often seen wobbling about with a pack of matches muttering about society crumbling and the government putting mind-control potions in the water supply.

Lucky
The unluckiest gnome, has a bad tendency to end up in painfully impossible situations. If it shouldn't hurt him? It will end up doing just that.  

[TiH Student Council]

WHODUNNIT!?

Think you know who the murderer is? The sooner you vote, the better your prize will be! But the later you wait, the more specific the clues become, and the more likely you will be right! All you have to do to vote at any time is PM the mule with the subject title "WHODUNNIT" and place your vote!

BUT REMEMBER!

Once you vote, you cannot change your vote later on! Will you wait until you're sure? Will you make a wild guess? The choice is up to YOU!

 

[TiH Student Council]

ROUND ONE DISCOVERED CLUES

---------------------------------------------------------------------

The oriental style far rug brings color and life into the otherwise drab room. It smells of chloroform.

The books at the first bookcase themselves are very well kept, ranging on topics from sewing to haunted treasures.

There is a well-written letter on the desk, half finished. The wording is elegant, certainly written by a well-spoken individual.

At bookcase four, there is a copy of the book 'The Little Prince' stuck amongst the rest of the books which house old literature such as 'Dracula' and 'The Wolf Leader' as well as a copy of Frankenstein. Some of the books look as though they'd never been touched except to be placed on the shelf.

The books in bookcase 2 are color coordinated with all of them put together in color groups - except for one red book randomly stuck between the blue colored covers.

A clear crystal ball within a cage, set upon a golden pedestal. The reflections within it are somewhat odd. Is that fog inside? You should look closer..

Trying to pick up the random glass object fails, as a glass cage protects it. It is set upon the floor with a wooden frame. It seems dusty. Several drawers could be seen.

The scene painted upon the picture frame is serene. It looks recently moved..

The fireplace rug is ornate but small, set out in front of the fireplace. There is nothing underneath it.  

[TiH Student Council]

ROUND TWO CLUES

When inspected, the frame itself looks tilted. Nothing under or around it seems out of place - though it's clear the spot on the wall where the frame used to be is lighter than the rest of the wall itself. Curious..


The railing remains firm upon being pushed. There are some marks that look kind of like scuffing on the steps. It looks like there might be something underneath...


The cover of the misplaced red book clearly states it's title: How to Serve Dragon. One might assume it was either a cookbook, or an etiquette guide, but when the book is opened, all the pages are ripped out.


The crystal ball is set in a cage and cannot be picked up. Inside, the fog slowly swirled within the ball. It caught bits of light that danced within it. It is mostly grey in color, but there seems to be hints of blue and black in the mix. The presence of so many eyes on it seems to be imbuing it with power..


The inanimate glass object, which was still just as guarded by the glass cage as it was the last time someone looked at it, is undisturbed. The attempt to grab it, however, knocks over the cage, and shatters them both.


Upon touching it, one of the books immediately disintegrates.


Most of the writing is too messy to read, but what can be read is eloquent:

"The gnomes are far more of a hindrance than any help. I will have to complain to the appropriate venues or take matters into my own hands..."  

[TiH Student Council]

ROUND THREE CLUES

Upon closer inspection, the scuff marks appear to actually be remnants of fresh dirt. The step was loose and breaks off from being yanked. There's a box under the stairs... which would have been accessed more easily to go from the side of the steps.



When inspected, it was clear the picture frame was hiding something. Behind the picture was the front of a black safe. It had a typical rotating lock, and absolutely no way of figuring out how to break it - except to keep trying.



Investigating the fireplace will get you burned - as the fire flickers higher the closer anyone comes to it. Someone doesn't want you anywhere near there..



Light danced within the crystal ball further and the fog whirled about. It seemed like it was trying to form something... but then gave up. A question mark appears within the crystal ball.  

[TiH Student Council]

FINAL ROUND FOR CLUES!

The fog sparked within the crystal ball. For a moment, it looked as if a needle and thread could be seen, but apparently getting chewed on might have damaged it a bit as the image quickly faded. As for the other question it received, it just reflected whoever was speaking.


The box was gone, having been the bomb to blast Brutus away. Remnants of various mechanical components could be seen.


Picture Frame: See here


The stairs were covered with soot from the blast. Little chips of wood could be seen as a result of that as well.


Simply looking into the ball received no reaction.


The rug is dirty, having some ash on it.  

[TiH Student Council]

WHOWONIT?

tba

 

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[TiH Student Council]