Second trial

[letsplayamod]

The time has come once again. Gather in the arena, it is time for judgement.

[The murky weather outside reflects the mood of the walk out to the cliffs. Once again, several soldiers have stepped free of Typhon's veins to stand guard over the arena. Maybe it's a mistake, but they seem to offer their silent condolence, if not their indifference.

With everyone gathered, a great rift opens once more outside the barrier. Typhon reveals himself, this time only from the waist up. Peering down from his glowing portal, blanketed in the last light drizzles outside your shimmering dome.]

Bah... So safe and secure within your bubble. Or, perhaps not anymore. [He moves to rest a palm on the barrier, and recoils as it once again stings his palm.] See what your Athena has 'gifted' you - nothing but strife. A broken world that needs rebuilding... But no matter. I will complete that task once we are through.

You have your evidence. Now, begin.

[TRIAL START]

Comments

[cannotunravel]

[Misane wastes no time in speaking up]

After investigating I can declare with no doubt this was not an accident. This was murder, with no doubt -- since actions were taken specifically to cause a death.

I couldn't find anything indicating Alex was specifically targeted, but this was all meant to take a life.

[threeapplestall]

Owwww...

[Mortis clutches her head. don't worry it's a comedy concussion it's nothing serious]

...so... Alex really did...

Well! That means it's time for Great Detective Mortis-chan to get to work!

[markofnobility]

I can confirm this- the stables were clearly sabotaged.

[yourheroine]

Boop boop...Aoi didn't see what happened, but...somebody made the shelf fall on purpose?

They needed to reload that badly?

[sweetsynergy]

Okay, I don't like Athena, but the strife has been like ninety percent you, dickhorns.

[But, she actually has- one piece of evidence this week. They can heckle Typhon whenever they want.]

Anyway, the lift was all scuffed up. Something big and heavy getting dragged around, anyone find anything like that?

[pariunt]

There was oil all over the hallway floor. Maybe our murderer was hoping someone would slip and break their neck, along with what happened to Alex.

[catsgothistongue]

[He arrives to the trial, -1 shirt which he left in the laundry room before coming here. Wouldn't do much good to bring/wear a shirt covered in a friend's blood, for a number of reasons.]

No surprise there. From what I can tell, whoever set that trap didn't care who they got, just left it up to whoever set it off first.

[Which was Alex... Dammit]

[murchada]

So, someone set a trap, just waiting for someone to get there... and Alex was just the one unlucky enough to trigger it.

[liedol]

[ ... She's starting to really hate this guy. Ai purposely gives him none of her focus and instead turns her gaze to the rest of the group. ]

I, um... I didn't see what happened to Alex-kun, but somebody was messing around in the kitchens. The pots and pans were all missing again and all the jugs of olive oil were pretty much empty. They weren't super heavy even when they were full, but... I'm not sure just any of us could've lifted them to carry around? They're not heavy, but they're really tall.

[ by which her 4-foot-eleven ass means, they're almost as tall as her ]

Oh - some candle stuff was missing, too. It looks like somebody took a candle and some matches and some... twine, I think? I dunno what for, though.

[fillets]

It really does seem impossible for all of it to be happenstance... if the victim hadn't been Alex, it could have been any of the ones who stepped in after him, I think. But what did you find specifically, Misane?

[brokenhabit]

Sabotaged?

[tailoredfate]

Sabotaged? How so?

[murchada]

Oh, come on, that much is just as likely to just make someone fall on their ass and get up again.

[liedol]

Mortis-chan, are you sure you're okay?

[ bunmom is here to fret. unsurprisingly. ]

[fillets]

Some of us got awfully close, I'd say.

[latinumsbetter]

[Quark stands with his arms folded, doing his best to ignore Typhon completely.]

There was a thin smear of olive oil in the lift room, just about...here-ish.

[he holds his hand up, flat and parallel to the floor, just a bit above his head. ]

It wasn’t that big, maybe an inch or two wide, but it seemed a strange place for that sort of thing to end up, especially that high up.

[raisethemoon]

A trap. The cowardice of it!

[ Luna spits, clearly having transitioned from tearful to furious between Alex's death and now. ]

I found these outside. A saw and these...corks.

[ She's just gone ahead and carried both the handsaw and the corks with little holes in the sides to the courtroom with her, and drops them unceremoniously in front of her. ]

[catsgothistongue]

Again with the pots and pans...

[YOU GUYS WE USE THOSE TO COOK NOT MURDER WHYYYYY

But back to the task at hand.]

How tall would you say they were?

[stringup]

The shelf that fell on Alex had its feet mostly sawed through, such that it was guaranteed to fall over.

[ Velvet will bring out the snapped off shelf legs from somewhere within her sleeves as concrete proof. ]

[cannotunravel]

The shelf that held all the chisels that ended Alex's life was not originally on that spot. It was moved there. I found marks that proved it.

This means the shelf and the contents was set in a way it'd fall on somebody placed on that anvil. I checked the anvil and could confirm it wasn't moved.

[Leaving up to Velvet to point out the way the legs of the shelf got sawed, since she found those!]

[necromants]

[Right. Well. Time to get started.]

I examined Alex's body. For those who are unaware, we heard a commotion and found Alex had slipped on something, and ended up crashing, where he was pierced by several chisels. He died from his injuries, despite our best efforts to heal him.

His injuries were in line with this sequence of events; there were no defensive wounds nor any unexplained marks. The chisels that pierced him hit several vital organs including his stomach and lung. These chisels pierced him straight through. He also sported fresh bruising from his collision with the anvil and then crushed by the shelf.

[brokenhabit]

Could it perhaps be from someone's hand steadying themselves against the wall or something else of the sort?

[murchada]

I guess so. It better be really goddamn important.

[she's just gripping her own arm tightly, trying to keep her voice level.]

[sweetsynergy]

How big are we talking.

[markofnobility]

The stable doors were all left open. I will admit I feared for a moment... that I had forgotten to close them the night before. But as I explored it was clear it was intentional. There were pots and pans in a pile on the ground in the stable, and they had been tied with rope and twine. I found more rope among the rafters, as well as a still burning candle set up to reach it- it seems the pots had been tied up and set to fall once the rope burned through, causing a clatter.

I offered a pan to one of the horses- it is an item they should have never seen before but it was scared of it. So I feel I am correct in my assumption of what happened. The paddock door was also closed, forcing the horses to go only one way. It is a miracle that none trampled each other or broke a leg...

Better them than Alex, but it is infuriating regardless.