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

One bloody shovel and one broken shovel?

[h. . . hmmmm]

I wonder why one shovel was broken?

[Ha... hahahaha........... Before the trial gets derailed too much:]

Because I broke it popping the coffin in Rin's grave open.

[HE LOOKS. NOT EMBARRASSED, BUT DIDN'T THINK HE'D HAVE TO TALK ABOUT IT.]

Rin and I wanted to know if anything was under the graves. So we, y'know, dug it up? A couple days ago.

[They talked about it yesterday, too.]

[ ............. ]

[ Oh, Jason. ]

Was the skeleton in there at that point?

[ Either he can read this or someone can read it aloud for her, idk. ]

[He nods, and for the benefit of everyone who can't see what Chane wrote:]

Yeah. The skeleton was there at that point. We dug up my grave, too, and found another one.

[He scowls.]

I think that's why they buried Ao there. The dirt must have still been soft.

[ looks .... shocked, but ]

You ... you dug up a grave?! So ... does that mean the broken shovel wasn't used yesterday at all?

[ jason why are you like this ]

We didn't think they were real graves at that point.

[IT'S STILL SKETCHY, CHILD.]

Seems like it, though.

They're real graves... with.... fake bodies in them?

[ she sounds a little dazed ]

Or the wrong bodies in them.

[The stench was too real, honestly.

He shudders.]

Let's focus on finding our killer, alright? We can worry about the graves later.

[ .... after a beat of hesitation, Xion nods slowly. ]

Yeah. You're right. This is kind of a red herring as far as the investigation goes.

[ fun minigame: figure out why xion knows what a red herring is, but not an ass. mysteries! ]