robowest | [ WEEK ONE

TRIAL

In the morning, the town comes back to life. Birds crow overhead, a snake nearby hisses, a lingering coyote dips behind a shop before disappearing into the wild. It's a frightening contrast to the stillness of yesterday but it doesn't mean it's over yet. After all, today is the trial.

The Sheriff stands on the porch of the Town Hall and brings his hand up to his mouth to let out a whistle. He'll thumb back to the Hall behind him and very clearly state --

"Trial time, folks. Get in here and figure out who did it."

And then he'll turn to leave before pausing and adding on,

"Bring a snack or somethin' too.

The Town Hall is set up more like a court house, a Judge's bench at the front but instead of at center, it's off to the side as if more for observation than participation. There's a table at the front of the room already holding a small box and a pad of papers and pen, for voting apparently. A side room containing only a metal gurney is next and today it's obvious why there's a gurney there at all with the corpse, resting right on top of it. Aside from that, there are rows for everyone to take a seat and it's only after everyone is inside and settled, that the doors close and the Sheriff speaks.

"Well, have at it. You've got till nine."

And then, he points to a clock on the wall that reads 12:00. Good luck.

Welcome to the trial post! Characters are free to discuss everything related to the trial here. They won't be let out of the room until 9PM when voting ends. Every character must vote and the voting post can be found here.

If there are any questions, please shoot a message to this journal or to

robowest.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Figure out who did it, huh...

Sei really doesn't like the idea of playing along with this, but Ao's body on the gurney is an ever-present reminder that they need to avenge her death by catching the killer, so here goes.]

I know we're all going to say we were in our rooms, but I think we should go over our alibis anyway. Especially since we all have roommates - anyone who's innocent should be able to have someone confirm it.

I'm guessing she was killed after we got locked up in the hotel... But do we have any approximate hours? An alibi isn't worth much if we don't have a period of time to focus on.

9 PM.

[ She pipes up, slightly hoarse, but very serious looking. ]

That's when the front door of the hotel locks. Our rooms lock at midnight.

We might be able to figure that out by taking a closer look at the body, but for now, we can focus on alibis for the period of time between curfew and when we were let out.

[Sei opens her rulebook, which she'd brought with her, and taps the relevant line.]

Murders eligible for reward will occur Thursday nights... we know it had to have occurred then, because killing her without trying to get the reward would be senseless. Not that going for a reward is a good reason, but...

Edited 2017-01-21 17:18 (UTC)

There's something I've been wondering.

[ Xion clears her throat, and then nods to herself. ]

So, we know ... we know murders are eligible for reward ... [ she's struggling. take a deep breath and keep going. ] Thursday nights. But is that window the same window as curfew, or are Thursday nights all night eligible? Like... what's the time frame?

Edited 2017-01-21 17:30 (UTC)

It's a little unclear... we may have to ask to have that clarified.

[Ambiguous rules, why...]

O-Okay. I can help, if you need it.

If you could ask him, I'd really appreciate it... I don't want to badger him with too many questions myself.

[Sei's already asking one question, after all! It's only fair if someone else gets to bother the Sheriff, too.]

Oh! Yeah, okay! I can do that!

[ xion is On The Job ]

If eligible murders [ugh] can only happen on Thursday nights, that means our killer must have started moving before midnight. Or — it should, at least. Anything past midnight falls into Friday.