✦ WEEK ZERO: TRIAL

[streamy]

✦ WEEK 0, TRIAL: VICTIM ARCHETYPE

TRIAL

29

REMAINING

WUH-OH?

Rise and shine, superstars! It's a brand new day and a brand new opportunity to prove that you have what it takes to win this season's grand prize. Didn't manage to sleep well after yesterday's grisly discovery? A shame. But filming schedules are a cruel mistress, and they don't care to wait for the sleep deprived. As soon as the clock strikes 11:30AM, an announcement will play from the numerous loudspeakers hidden around the island:

THE REAL WAIFUS OF STREAMY VALLEY SEASON 11 RUNNER UP

All contestants, please report to Gold P. Beach. The next segment of this week's thrilling sudden elimination round is about to begin. I repeat, all contestants, please report to Gold P. Beach. The next segment of this week's thrilling sudden elimination round is about to begin.

... Hey, doesn't that voice sound familiar? Is this what they call a celebrity cameo? Huh. Ignore the announcement, and you'll soon find yourself accosted by the local mascots — namazu, loporrits and gestrals alike following after you and trying their damnedest to haul your ass to the beach. And if the pleading stare of these adorable(?) creatures is still not enough to get you moving, then worry not! Because at exactly 11:59AM, if you still haven't made your way over to the beach, a trap door will abruptly materialize under your feet and drop you right into the path leading up to the beach! Better stick your landing, or millions of viewers across the galaxies will watch you belly flop onto the ground. Embarrassing... The path leading up to the beach has been lined with torches, carving out a direct trail that leads right into the bowels of The Council — an old, abandoned ship that rests on the island's south shore. Whether it's the real deal or a fantastic piece of art from this season's set designers is anyone's guess, but you should probably avoid rubbing up against the rustier looking bits and bobs just in case. Inside the bowels of the rotting vessel, you'll see a circular area with enough benches for all of the remaining contestants to lounge about, and several long stone slabs that look a little less empty than usual. And while the sun shines bright above you during the daytime, you'll find that the torches surrounding the ship will soon become your only source of illumination once the sun sets and you are plunged into the murky darkness of the night. Well, with the sole exception of one torch that will remain unlit the entire time. At the far end sit three thrones with a rather peculiar display behind each one, and currently occupied by Live, Laugh and Love. A large LED display has been hung up behind them, which simply reads:

TIME REMAINING 09:00:00:00

As soon as it's officially 12:00PM, the LED display will begin to count down until it hits 00:00:00:00 at the very end of the trial. To the left of your hosts, there's a large beach cooler filled with all kinds of chilled drinks — from water bottles, to juice pouches and sodas, and, yes, even half bottles of wines and other alcoholic drinks. There's a plastic table nestled a couple of feet away, where the remains of the ship shield it from the sun, covered in a spread of sandwiches, baked goods, chips, dips, and what appears to be leftovers from yesterday's lunch and dinner. None of these items are fresh and most of them look like they came right out of a vending machine, but it's the thought that counts...? Welcome to your very first trial, superstars! Better get nice and comfy, because you're going to be here for a long, long while.

☰ VICTIM(S)

Will

☰ OOC NOTES

✦ It's trial time, baby! Over the course of the next nine hours, characters will have the opportunity to discuss, investigate and theorize about this week's murder. Characters will have time to examine the body of the victim and explore relevant locations. ✦ There will be a one hour tag break starting at 4PM EST/1PM PST. While players are allowed to keep tagging through the hour, all mod tags will pause and players are encouraged to take a break, eat and hydrate. ✦ The voting page is now unlocked! Please read through the post carefully for more information about how voting will work in this game. Note that voting is not mandatory in The Vine, and it is up to each character to decide if they wish to cast a vote before the end of the trial or not. ✦ Characters will be unable to leave The Council until the end of trial, as they will be blocked off by that same translucent barrier that prevents them from entering the currently locked segments of the island and a small gaggle of some very determined mascots. You wouldn't want to make them sad, right...? Exceptions will be made for the purpose of investigations, of course, where characters will be accompanied by an NPC escort.

🔗 FULL NAVIGATION

NPC QUESTIONS // NETWORK // VOTING // BODIES // EVIDENCE TURN-IN // EVIDENCE CHECK // INVESTIGATION REQUESTS // INVESTIGATIONS // LATEST FLATVIEW

Comments

WHERE THERE'S A WILL...

[cleaved]

[ rawiyah reaches to squeeze junpei's shoulder, before she speaks up. ]

Apparently a, uhm, video of what Narja and I saw has been going around. But if you didn't see it, the two of us were the ones that found Will's body at The Council. When we first started, everything was kinda out of focus and foggy for us, and we couldn't see too far around ourselves - just that there was an arrow on a line, which we followed to The Council.

The sky got weird, a bunch of colors and also kinda fuzzy, too. But there were weird noises every now and then - in order, one was a kinda clicking, snapping, whirring; the other was a buzzing, clunky thing, with a crackle at the end. [ anyways - ]

Every step we took to follow the arrow, it jumped us forward in sections. And at the very end, we got reversed in time faster than I've ever gone before, until everything was gone and we were back at the start. I got told that it's like a tape? And that we were put into the "footage."

But our first jump was when we started seeing droplets and the occasional smudge of pink. I tried to touch it, but my fingers went right through it like it wasn't even there. It went in the same direction as the arrow.

The second jump, there was still the pink, but we also saw a line in the sand. Long, wide, and not too deep, and heading with the arrow and pink towards The Council. The line wasn't broken up any, so whatever made it didn't skip in the sand any. It was a consistent drag of whatever made it. Everything smelled like ocean and iron.

The third jump, the smell of iron increased, and that was when we realized that the pink stuff was blood. I know the smell and taste of blood - it wasn't just the metallic tang from the ship. Even if it was still pink, you could tell that's what it was. It was everywhere, and we could move forward freely for long enough to get a look at Will laying on one of the slabs and the place being covered in pink. His hands were folded on his stomach like he'd been laid to rest peacefully, despite all the blood. He wasn't breathing.

Then, my phone started going off. Before we could do anything, there was a weird noise - and then we reversed.

[abracatdabra]

[ raising his hand. from down here ]

Now, bein' pulled into the footage is just a guess, but it'd explain why they couldnae touch anything. We've got technology able to do that back home.

[ i mean it's a vr room versus whatever the FUCK this place is but you know. if it was magic that's fine. whatever. ]

[cleaved]

[ points down at him like yes, that. ]

It doesn't exist where I'm from, so... if anybody wants to pull up the video of the whole thing, I can tell you when to stop before it shows The Council, if you need to stop short.

[bangforyourboo]

... Yeah, VR creating super realistic scenarios is possible, but setting all that up in the time they had is pretty crazy.

[becomingpotatoes]

Did you at any point before finding the arrow feel like you were being directed to go somewhere? Any sort of intuition or gut feeling?

[cleaved]

No, not really. It just kinda happened. With it so fuzzy, I don't remember how I got from the Lemon Lounge to that point.

[staghunt]

Maybe if we could find that line in the sand, or some remnant of it, it might take us somewhere else between where Will was found and where he might have started out. Have to start somewhere.

[cleaved]

If it's there at all after time reversed... I guess with this whole fiasco up and running today, maybe it will be?

[extensiveform]

Thanks for the recap, Rawiyah. Are you okay?

[he may have brought his big fluffy muppet coat from arrival in case anyone is in need of a makeshift shock blanket.]

I'm sorry I didn't... I couldn't keep him safe for you after all.

[cleaved]

[ ugh jem... she reaches out to take his hand, giving it a squeeze. ]

Hey, it's okay. This isn't on you at all. [ if anything, will was with her and the other lemons. so it's on her! :) ] I'll be alright - s'not the worst thing I've ever seen, unfortunately, so I'm just... angry.

[starpitcher]

[ just makes a bit of a face thinking about more timey whimy bullshit ]

With all that, it's still weird he was treated so....... kindly? You'd think... well.



[ you know ]

[cleaved]

Yeah. It was really off-putting and stood out to me more than anything else.

[staghunt]

With the place being such a mess, yeah. It contrasts with how he was laid out... maybe it was even more complicated outside of taking his life.

[ yeah. ]

[frostythehitman]

If you were put into the footage, I guess it makes sense you couldn't interact with any of it...

Was the...blood the only sign of something being off? Any signs of a struggle?

[cleaved]

I should've looked back behind us when we jumped, to see if we left any footprints in the sand...

[ ughhhh hindsight. ]

Mm-mn. The blood made it hard to see anything, since it was all over him, the slab, all of it, but... I didn't see any signs of a struggle. Nothing tampered with.

[smashcut]

[ yeah the sky sure did get weird and he's still not sure how to feel about that!! ]

[cleaved]

[ reaches and gives his arm a squeeze, too. ]

[syncer]

Thanks for the recap. [ Sincerely. ] The sky getting weird is another thing that bothers me, but... we already know the people we're dealing with can manipulate things however they want. So maybe less weird in the grand scheme of things.

You really were rewound though. Wonder if that explains why we couldn't investigate further yesterday.

[cleaved]

Might be an effect of them playing with time like that..? I dunno. You guys are more familiar with the kinda stuff it's... mimicking? And you're all just as puzzled.

[ she's just throwing spaghetti at the wall. ]

It could be. And, I mean. We're here now? [ gestures at their surroundings ] Still nothing, except for him.

[famem]

It felt like warping.

[ She does not elaborate. ]

[etherealism]

[ places a hand on her shoulder. ]

[cleaved]

[ lifts her hand to cover hers, giving her a smile. ]

Thanks, 'bina.

[disdainer]

[ wish she were the type to give her more than this, but she will at least make eye contact and offer rawiyah a nod. they have a whole day's work ahead of them. ]

[famem]

[ hands her a bottle of water ]

[smashcut]

It was actually pink in person, too? I thought maybe that was just the color balance in the video...