Hello, people of /gameboard/ and /seacats/ as a whole, I am Theon and I have a proposition for two of your members. Foremost, I’d like to attest the enjoyment I’ve had in reading some of the past games here over my period of (admittedly long) lurking. For the sake of backstory, I am an aspiring author, and I have particularly enjoyed some of the RP games here. In that vein, this thread is the start of my own game. It’ll be as any other game, with RP elements, notably similar to the game Replication by anon-kun.

I don’t want to get too detailed or anything yet, so this thread is - as aforementioned - a proposition: to Ozaki and Rika-Beatrice. Now, of course, there are some timezone issues here that I’ve noticed and am aware of, but fortunately the format of the game is such that it will take some time to play anyway and I have worked on ensuring that the game flows smoothly nonetheless. Further rules and information will become available during the game, should they agree to play; or presently, of course, to clarify anything beforehand.

For the record, my selection of participants is… particular. My RL schedule is also a wee bit occupied, so I don’t want an immense cast, but I do want a game that is consistent, challenging, and worth our time.

And, of course, this game will be set on Rokkenjima.

The difficulty is merciless. You either solve the mystery or fail trying; there is no in between.

So! Ozaki, Rika-Beatrice -- how’s about some fun, hmm?

>>13458
Wow, your writing feels really poetic and professional. I'm impressed!

I'm definitely interested in playing; it's been a long time since I last got to play in an RP gameboard, but I really liked it. And after all, how could I possibly refuse a personal invitation?

I'm always up for an RP game, count me in. My only question is when do you plan to start? I'm rather busy until the 15th because of exams and all that.

Last edited at 13/12/01(Sun)11:11:55

>>13460
The 15th is fine by me. The pace of the game should start off a tad slow to begin with, as this Holiday season is fairly busy in my personal life (I won't be constantly busy though), and after that everything will pick up.

I'll be observing with great interest. Give 'em hell and don't hold back, difficulty is one thing we don't show mercy on (so long as it's solvable)

>>13462

Ozaki have won too many games Rika, so even if you can cooperate don't let him win this one as well ok.

>>13464
Pfft, actively sabotage that Canadian quack

KuUUUUUuUU! It's almost the 15th of December! I can't wait to observe this! Gaaaah! The anticipation is killing meeEEee!

I'll be watching too. Good luck!

Sorry for any inconvenience, but due to how immensely busy my holidays have become, I have to postpone the game until after January 6th. A combination of finals and other obligations mean that, while I could start the game now, I will be highly sporadic in my activity… which isn't particularly fair to you. Hence postponing it until I can run it at a much more consistent pace. In light of that, however, here are the rules!

-

The game begins with Rika and Ozaki being stranded on the shore of Rokkenjima following a tropical storm that capsized the cruise ship they were both on before. Both characters know each other, with topics such as their mutual affection for murder mysteries having been discussed prior.

With that, the rules:

1) The characters of Rika and Ozaki are your pieces (this is implied), and metagaming is prohibited. That said, it is reasonable to assume that two intelligent individuals that have been stranded on a relatively secluded island with strangers would prepare for their own self-defence (a la, a wee li’l bit of metagaming that this is a murder mystery game is allowed), as long as it is reasonable. Use your better judgement -- or, more importantly, your piece’s better judgement.

2) Both players have the same goal: to solve the mystery that will be presented; that is all. At the end of the game both players will present their theories privately to me; further details about the “endgame phase” will be provided as we near that stage of the game.

3) Both players may use any of the information gathered during the course of the game/story to create their theory.

4) Only one player can win. If both players lose, I win.

5) The pieces are completely human, can be injured, and can die. Death prior to the “endgame phase” is a loss for that player; but not necessarily victory for the remaining player. Victory is determined solely by correctly solving the mystery during the “endgame phase”.

6) Both pieces will be recognized as competent, trustworthy individuals capable of conducting investigations and interrogations by the ‘characters of the story’ (a la, the NPC’s I control).

7) Neither piece has any prior connection to any of the other characters of the story.

8) Neither piece may leave Rokkenjima, for any period of time. The limit of “what is Rokkenjima” is a short distance away from the shore, and neither beneath sea level or into the sky.

9) Once the pieces arrive on Rokkenjima (the beginning of the game), no other piece, nor character, may arrive on or leave Rokkenjima either. The game is a closed circle once it begins.

10) Neither piece may permanently incapacitate the other; murder, kidnapping, etc. Trying to engineer or manipulate a situation to intentionally incapacitate the other piece is also prohibited. Essentially, it is impossible to force the other player to lose. Oh, it is possible for the pieces to have altercations, however; they can fight, try to poison each either, hide rabid woodland creatures in each other’s pillowcases, whatever -- just as long as the players realise that neither piece may be killed as a result of their actions. ‘cause shenanigans be’s fun, y’feel. (If you’re into that.)

11) If it turns out I’m a moron and forgot a really important rule/caveat/whatever at a later date, I may update these rules to include it. Y’know, for the sake of the game not rolling itself into a brown paper bag and throwing itself at doorsteps. With a match.

Addendum: For the sake of clarity, physical actions and direct dialogue spoken by your pieces should be differentiated. The use of green text for actions and movement is completely acceptable, or you may use any other convenient format for your own posts if you wish. I will personally ensure that my own written dialogue will be within quotations, all actions conducted by the characters I control will be in plain text, and that any out of character/meta-actions will be within brackets.

-

>>13469
I agree, these games tend to go better if it is played consistently. I'll need to remember that for my next game "Desecration of the Golden Witch".
Well anyway, thanks for the rules at least. See you then, in the new year.

Massive stormfronts rage overhead, the seas roil and churn, and your last memories are that of chaos and mayhem. The ship has presumably capsized, as no traces of it remain when you awaken, beyond some arbitrary trash at the beaches of your awakening (glass, timbres, etc. indicators of a shipwreck).

There continues to be thunder and lightning and torrential downpours around you. It is, indeed, very dark and stormy; visibility is low, and obviously if you remain in the cold and dark for too long you will certainly suffer the negative affects of hypothermia, or disease, or worse. On top of the fact that you both maintain some minor injuries (scrapes, bruises, maybe a cut or two, up to you) that should probably be attended to as soon as possible, although they are not immediately as threatening as the environment itself; the degrees of your minor (or worse) injuries are up to you. (I mean, hey, if you want to break both of your legs and cut your arm in half from the start I won't stop ya.)

You awaken on a rocky beach, surrounded by boulders, driftwood, debris from the ship, and smashing waves crashing against the nearby 2-story high probably-too-treacherous-too-climb-in-this-weather cliffs. You can see that going either up or down the beach will allow you to locate a more friendly route up the cliffs to the forest above.

You awaken near a dock, though there are no ships moored. The storm rages just as severely here as it does anywhere else on the island, although the terrain is much more navigable and significantly less I-want-to-see-Ozaki-get-injured-ish. The forest is (relatively) easily accessible, and a path leads from the dock through the forest up a winding, but much less dangerous and violently entertaining, path.

>>13523
Still stunned by the impact of the disaster, it takes me a few minutes simply to register the fact that I'm still alive. Slowly getting up, I check myself over and am amazed to find that my injuries are relatively minor.

Looking around and taking in what I can through the darkness and the storm, I quickly notice that the path through the forest is clearly manmade, suggesting that there is human habitation nearby. It begins to truly dawn on me that I may actually survive this after all.

Having somewhat recovered, I feel a moment of sadness for the other passengers on the cruise ship. Could there be any other survivors? I highly doubt that everyone else was as lucky as me. But the immediate force of the storm and the pain from my injuries are much more compelling. The instinctive self-preserving drive to find shelter from the storm overrides all else for the time being, and so I quickly rush down the path through the forest, running as fast as my injuries will allow.

>>13525
As you travel the path, you come upon a stone staircase. Climbing the staircase, you arrive in a large rose garden, and you see a gazebo in the centre with what should be glorious looking arbours and adornments if not for the mess being caused by the storm. At the end of the rose garden there rests an immense Victorian mansion. There is nobody visibly in sight, but there are lights in some of the rooms, mostly on the ground floor. Far off in the distance to the side of the garden you can barely make out one more large structure, and one much smaller structure.

Upon waking up I search my pockets for any items. Perhaps a lighter and some ruined smokes.

After I come to the conclusion I should probably worry about surviving . I search the trash and pieces of the boat for some rope, also any larger shards of glass. I check myself for any wounds. Regardless of what I find I will start to make my way along the rocky beach and try to find a path into the forest.

>>13526
Normally I would be stunned to see such a grand, old-fashioned building in such an unlikely place as this, but right now getting out of this storm is all that I care about.

I run through the garden to the mansion entrance and knock on the door repeatedly, shouting for help as loudly as I can.

>>13527
You locate a lighter, but it is either broken or devoid of any lighter fluid and it is impossible for you to tell right now unless you stand there and put a lot of effort into figuring out exactly why. Among the debris you do manage to find a threatening shard of glass; which, obviously, is equally unsafe to you as anybody else if you're not exceptionally careful with it. Hell, even holding it by itself in this weather is just asking to get your hand cut right on open. You have had a headache for a while but otherwise you are just fine.

You locate a not-too-treacherous path up the cliff after some minutes and manage to safely navigate it to the top; the forest is now in front of you.

>>13528
After knocking, the door swings open, and you are presented with the face of an old, stereotypically-butler-faced looking man who is probably a butler if his butler-y tuxedo is any indication. Beneath the voluminous and many layers of stoicism, he registers surprise.

"Are you alright, miss?" He inquires, following a quick inspection of your injured form. Following that, he half-turns, gesturing an arm wide to indicate that you may enter the building. He shouts into the house, "Doctor Nanjo, could I request your assistance here at once."

>>13530
"Thank you so much!" I acknowledge the butler gratefully as I run through the door into the mansion. The feeling of relief as I finally reach shelter is overwhelming, but is quickly followed by a sense of deep exhaustion as my body catches up with me. I feel like I want to just collapse on to the floor right now, but settle for kneeling down and taking deep breaths as I wait for this "Doctor Nanjo" to arrive.

>>13529
I take the glass shard and hold it with some of my tattered clothing in order to protect myself. As I walk through the forest trying to find some sort of sign of civilization I cut markings into the tree trunks in order not to get lost.

>>13531
The supposed Doctor Nanjo arrives relatively quickly for a creature of his rotund excellency, wearing his white coat and such forth. He would introduce himself to you, and then ask, "How did- oh, nevermind," and instead wipe away his immediate curiosity by instead asking if she can stand on her own, while motioning to the butler to aide in helping her up and along to a guest room if possible.

>>13532
After an extensive period of near-hypothermic, very, very soggy wandering through the forest you come upon what appears to be the posterior of a large Victorian themed structure, with a path leading in from a different section of the forest to the front of the building. If you're not completely blinded or delirious by your marvellous adventures you'd probably notice a prolific cross or two rising from the top of the sides of the structure.

>>13533
I want to say I can't, but even under these circumstances I don't want to be seen as totally helpless. "I think I'll be okay," I mumble unconvincingly as Genji helps me up. I then proceed to follow the two of them wherever they may take me, trying my best to stay conscious for as long as I can.

>>13534
Ignoring the religious building I attempt to venture down the pathway in hope of finding some place that appears habited.

>>13535
The men help you to the aforementioned guest room, down the main hall and off one of the side halls. You is moved into a bed, and the doctor works to fix whatever minor injuries are fixable, and the butler returns a few minutes later with some hot tea and a portion of leftover food for her. Your batteries are very nearly dry, so to speak, so while you may get up and move around and do some stuff for a while, you can feel that physical and mental exhaustion are very nearly about to put you to sleep if you don't crawl under the blankets yourself anyway. (The same applies to Ozaki, by the way, but to a lesser degree so that he has an opportunity to find some degree of safety.)

>>13536
You follow the path, and eventually come across another building; again, the apparent rear of the structure. The bottom floor lights are lit up with the same general consistency as Rika saw of the front. You notice some blurred, shadowy forms of individuals moving around inside in front of the light sources. There is a back door, and one of the windows near it is open; if you near it, you can hear and smell common indicators of food and cooking.

>>13537
Not feeling in any particular mood to exhaust myself any further after the shock of everything that's happened, I eat and drink what I can, and then proceed to collapse on to the bed. The feeling of the warm blankets over me is incredibly comforting and it finally starts to seem like everything is going to turn out alright.

Within minutes I am fast asleep.

>>13538
I go up to the door and attempt to hear if they are talking.
After I will knock and call out "Hello, is anyone there? I need some help." I will also try to open the door assuming it may not be locked.

>>13539
You fall asleep soundly. The storm continues to rage outside, but you manage to sleep quite well nonetheless granted your combined exhaustion and relief.

>>13540
As you attempt to speak to the individuals inside, you merely mumble from your cracked lips and tired body. You lose your balance, and nearly fall face first through the door to what is clearly a kitchen, but land on your knees without too much disgrace. There are three people inside, each of which appears to be wearing similar or identical uniforms, like house servants. All three are surprised and one startled and nearly ruined the food they were preparing. One exclaims, "Another one!"

>>13542
I attempt to get a better look at the people in the room.
Seeing how I can't talk I'll just wait for them to try and help me.

>>13543
You have determined that of the three servants, two are younger; one frail male, one slightly chubby female. The third is an older and large male, apparently the chef of the trio. The chef gestures to the female, "Go get Nanjo please, Shannon. Kanon, help me." He turns to the male and indicates towards you, and both move to help you up, check for any immediately threatening wounds (of which they find none), and hold you up. After you have been helped Shannon has left, the chef inquires, "Can you stand on your own, sir?"

>>13545
I try to stand up. Either way I accept their help seeing how I can't do much else.

>>13546
The younger and older servants help you out of the kitchen, down a hallway, toward an empty guestroom. Before you reach the door, a man presumably Nanjo arrives, with the girl you recognize as Shannon from earlier, in front of your room. They all enter the room, and help you into a bed, as you are on the verge of being completely deprived of energy.
The doctor quickly checks you over, and then tells the other servants that it;s okay and they may leave him to attend to you alone. They leave the room; you are alone with Nanjo. Shortly after, the chef returns with a jug of water and an empty glass, then fills it and leaves the jug for you. Some sliced bread is left by your bedside should you require sustenance, Eventually both of them leave to allow you to remain asleep, as you keep passing in and out of consciousness, although it is possible for you to hold a brief conversation is you desire.

>>13547
I go to sleep.

>>13548
You also sleep relatively soundly, like Rika.

(Short Break. The game will progress once I post the two of you have awoken.)

>>13541
You awaken in your room, the storm persists outside nearly unabated. There exists no clock or blatantly, immediately obvious indication of what time it is or how long you've been out, but you feel much more rested, albeit probably still some degree of mentally tired (at your discretion). You can tell that those injuries which required any degree of bandaging or other minor attention have been seen to and attended, and you are healing and in no obvious danger. You have a few moments to a minute between when you wake up and when the man from before who identified as Nanjo knocks on the door to notify you of his presence a few seconds before entering. After a cursory inspection, he asks with some polite concern, "How are you feeling, miss?"

>>13549
You awaken in your room, the storm persists outside nearly unabated. There exists no clock or blatantly, immediately obvious indication of what time it is or how long you've been out, but you feel much more rested, albeit probably still some degree of mentally tired (at your discretion). You can tell that those injuries which required any degree of bandaging or other minor attention have been seen to and attended, and you are healing and in no obvious danger. You would find a fresh change of clothing on the end of the bed, and nothing would immediately occur after you awaken.

>>13550
"A lot better than I did before, that's for sure. Thank you so much for your help," I tell him, sitting up and trying to smile politely despite not feeling particularly happy about all that's happened.

"Did you find anyone else? There were a lot of other people on the ship...did any of the others wash up here?"

Last edited at 14/01/08(Wed)02:56:36

>>13551
I take a look around the room and survey its general layout. I also examine how my body is doing.

>>13553
And by that I mean in more detail than already given. Ie, am I sore, will I be hindered in my movement at all, etc.

"Ah, actually, one other wandered onto the property last night, in quite a way. He remains asleep, so we haven't been able to find his name or anything about how you have gotten here. If there are any others here, it could be quite difficult to find them, granted the continuing mayhem of the storm. Speaking of, what is your name, miss?"

The room is western styled, with two single beds, two dressers - one of which sports a mirror attached to it - and two doors in the room; one is open, leading to a bathroom with a bath-shower, and the other is closed. There is a single, moderately sized window, on one of the walls. Whether or not you ate the sustenance provided, the dishes would be cleared and removed from the room.

You have bandages on your person, but your injuries are not severe enough to warrant any stitching or more severe medical attention beyond that. You remain sore, tired, and your head hurts a bit still, but your mobility is not negatively affected.

OOC: Sorry for taking a couple days to respond. I started the game the same day my next semester of school started, and while I don't have too many classes or anything this semester a couple days just took far more time to get administrative things out of the way for classes. I should be relatively unhindered from now on, unless any typical extenuating circumstances arise. (I dunno, maybe if I get mugged or stabbed or something. Y'know. The usual.)

>>13555
"Oh, I'm sorry. My name is Rika. Furudo Rika. ...Would you be able to tell me what this man looked like? A friend of mine was on that ship, so...I know it's probably not him, but I want to make sure."

>>13556
I examine the clothing and check the pockets. After changing from my rags to the new clothes I'll go wash my face, then go open the closed door.

>>13558
"Well, he appeared tall, thin, with unkempt hair, but to be honest he also looked bloody and bruised and half-dead, much like you, so it's hard to say, Furudo-san. If you are feeling up for it I can show you to the other survivor." He offers a faint smile of condolence.

>>13559
After you dress and begin to wash up, you would hear a knock from the door.

>>13561
"You may enter."

>>13560
"I'd like that, thank you."

I get up more quickly than I probably should have, and everything blurs momentarily. Closing my eyes for a few seconds and then reopening them seems to clear it up. I don't trust myself to stay composed if I really let myself confront the thought that he's probably dead, so I take a look around the room in an attempt to distract myself.

"I forgot to ask, where exactly are we anyway?"

>>13562
The door is opened, and in enters an old, female servant. She is smiling, but appears surprised that you're up. "How are you feeling, sir? Do you need anything, is there maybe anything more I can get you?"

>>13563
Nanjo proclaims, "We are on Rokkenjima," while moving to open the door. As he continues speaking, he leads her out from the room, simply into the hallway. "An island owned by the Ushiromiya family. I am Nanjo, the family doctor."

When you enter the hall, you would see that the door to the room adjacent to yours is open. Further, you would see the old servant that is talking to Ozaki in the doorway of that adjacent room.

Nanjo would greet the servant (which Ozaki would hear, now), and ask her, "Is he awake?"

>>13564
"No I think I'm good thanks for asking."

Assuming this is when I would hear Nanjo I would then walk over to the entrance of the hall.

"Is someone else there?"

>>13566
Immediately recognising Ozaki's voice, I very inconsiderately push Nanjo out of the way and greet him delightedly. I then proceed to surprise him even more by launching into an uncharacteristically energetic monologue.

"Oh, you're alive, Ozaki-san! Well, of course you would be. You always survive everything, don't you? Even that time when you were at that school, oh wait, you didn't technically survive that did you? Well never mind, I'm sure it will turn out better this time."

Then, suddenly seeming to regain my self-awareness, I quickly shut my mouth and turn to Nanjo and Kumasawa.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm probably confusing the two of you aren't I? We've known each other a long time, you could even say we're rivals of a sort. I was just really happy to see him again. So, Ozaki-san, how are you feeling?"

>>13567
"Ah, you never run out of energy do you, Rika? Im glad to see you are well... I'm feeling as well you are I imagine."

I stretch my back out a bit.

"So I'm still a bit fuzzy on the details. Where are we exactly?" I ask to everyone, mainly the servants.

>>13568
The servants appear surprised by Rika's reaction, but the woman smiles more and allow them to meet. Nanjo, seemingly very slightly relieved, would say, "How fortunate that you two are friends. With that energy it seems I didn't need to worry so much. He then tells Ozaki the same information he told Rika in regards to his whereabouts. "Ah, the rest of the family are waiting to meet you, once you two are ready."

>>13570
"Sure, I'm feeling up for it."
I follow Nanjo once everyone is ready.

>>13571
"Okay, let's go~"

I follow along behind, looking generally much more cheerful than someone who was just caught up in a major accident should be. In the back of my mind part of me is aware that this may be some kind of weird defense mechanism that will probably backfire later, but in my current mood I can't really bring myself to care.

You are both led down the hallway, until you arrive in front of a set of great doors in the main hallway. Nanjo opens the doors, ushering you in (to the parlor).

Since I'm too lazy to restate what we all know about these characters, allow me to just state which characters are present: Eva, Rosa, Krauss, Rudolf, Hideyoshi, Natsuhi, Kyrie, Battler, George, Jessica, and Maria.

Because I am also too lazy to write out all the small chit-chat for a bunch of people that, again, we effectively all know pretty much everything about anyway, I will just say that they all introduce themselves to you two, since none of them say or do anything unusual or whatnot. Oh, and when they introduce themselves, they do mention 'status' stuff, like who's related to who and how and whose the eldest sibling, etc. A la, general biographical stuff. Only the family members are introduced, no servants.

After the introductions, Krauss walks up to you both, and proclaims, "As the eldest son, and despite the circumstances of your arrival, I welcome you both to our island as guests. Your stay may, unfortunately, be protracted, as the weather makes it impossible for any travel to or from Rokkenjima, however I promise you a pleasant stay."

>>13574
"We are both extremely grateful for your hospitality," I say quickly, not wanting to give Ozaki the chance to start things off on the wrong foot with the family. "Does this island have a telephone system or any means of communication? I'd like to inform the outside world about the storm and the fact that we survived, if possible..."

Last edited at 14/01/13(Mon)15:05:53

>>13574
"Thank you for all of this. Will we be staying in those rooms?"

>>13575
"Oh, that's right," Krauss huffs, turning to Nanjo and asks, "Has Genji said anything about the telephone and radio status?"

Nanjo would respond, "While the phones within the mansion are still operational between each other, all communication outside of the island is not operational, sir."

Krauss turns back to Rika, with a slight shrug, "Ah, well there you have it. It appears we'll all be quite stuck here for the duration of the storm. There's a ship set to return on the morning of the sixth, assuming the storm has alleviated sufficiently."

>>13576
Krauss then turns to Ozaki, and shakes his head slightly. "No, we've setup rooms for you in the guest house. A servant will show you to your rooms after dinner, although if you want to head there before that you can ask any of the servants for assistance, of course."

>>13577
"I see, talk about bad timing...Well, I guess I shouldn't complain when we're so lucky to be here at all. The 6th, huh...Um, what day is it again? I'm sorry, I'm not sure just how long I was asleep..."

>>13577
"When would dinner be held anyway?"

>>13578
"It is currently the fourth of October. The time, seven pm."

>>13579
"Incidentally we were about to dine. If you do not harbor anymore questions would you care to join us?"

>>13580
"Gladly, what about you Rika?"

>>13581
"Certainly, that sounds fine to me."

>>13582
Krauss leads everybody from the parlor to the dining room, down the main hallway. After everyone finishes gathering, the family members take their respective seats, by status; Krauss at the end closest to the heads chair at the far end of the room, on the right side of the table. Everybody assembles down both sides according to rank. You two are at the very end of the table, considering that it is a wide enough table to seat you both at it's end. The head's chair is empty.

After a few minutes pass there is a knock on the door, which Krauss responds to with an, "Enter," the chef enters accompanied by the female servant Shannon that Ozaki met, with the serving carts in tow.

"It is my honor to prepare this feast," the chef decrees.
"Thank you, Gohda. I'm sure it'll be delicious. Only the best from a five star chef, of course," Krauss smiles.

Gohda, pleased by the attention of the family, begins setting the table from the far (highest ranked) end. When he reaches you, back at the front of the room, he comments to Ozaki and Rika, "I'm so glad you two are alright. It's my pleasure to have some new palates for my cooking, even if only for a while."

>>13583
"No, no, the pleasure is ours I'm sure."

After the table is prepared, and before the meal begins, Eva speaks up to Krauss. "Will father be joining us?"

Krauss stoically responds, "As I have already explained, I asked him before and, by all indications, it is highly unlikely that he will be leaving his study at all."

Before Eva has a chance to reply, she is instead preceded by Rudolf, who, with great sarcasm, exclaims, "So the old man can't even grace us with his presence, ey?" Hideyoshi nods his head affirmatively to that.

Natsuhi raps her knuckles on the table once, and speaks up with agitation at Rudolf. "It is the choice of the head to conduct himself within his home as he pleases. Be he visible or not."

Kyrie calmly states after that, "It is rather odd that he would stay in his study for nearly two entire years, though, without showing his face to anybody." After a few moments of silence, with nobody following up to her, she continues, a little quieter, "Perhaps... he isn't doing quite as well as we believe."

Eva nods. "I agree, we should go ask him ourselves."

Natsuhi, fuming, stands from her seat and opens her mouth to yell, but at the same time as her rise the door swung open and slams against the stop at the moment she's about to talk. In the doorway stands a broad-shouldered, stocky looking old man with an immense scowl, Genji behind him. The family are all shocked, the servants having retreated to the walls, and Natsuhi remains standing just as a caveat of being stunned.

"Look at your faces," the old man scoffs. "Pathetic! Scared enough to soil the fine upholstery that's already worth more than you lot to begin with!" His gaze carves a path of devastation across the eyes of all his direct children, just once each, a cursory, momentary glare, as he strides around the table to his highback at the end of the table.

He lays a hand onto the table, but not without the presence of a smack without the force to upset a single piece of cutlery, and calls out to the chef. "Gohda, my meal," to which the chef immediately bows quickly and then snaps to conducting his business. After a few moments, he sets a tray down, and begins to set the portions of the meal down. He attempts to explain each dish, at the beginning, but the man silences him as soon as he does. "The food will do the talking, chef."

Gohda, looking as if he had almost been assaulted, cowardly agreed with some deal of emphasis, and then promptly shrunk back to the wall as soon as he had finished setting the meal down.

Kinzo begins to eat; the rest of the family don't, even though their meals had already been set out. After a few moments of near-silence but for Kinzo's eating and some rustling from the kitchen staff clearing the room, Krauss begins to speak up.

"Father--"

"You're a disappointment as a son. You could hardly be more of a disappointment if you were a daughter," the man stopped eating to interrupt. After resuming eating, and a few more seconds of stretching silence from the family, he sets his fork and steak knife down, and straightens up to glare at the assembly. "I don't want a word from any of you. Not a single, incompetent mutter. If it were possible, at this very moment, I would damn the meal and have a boat return to remove you lot from my island."

His gaze flicks back to Krauss, and when it darts away from him to his wine a greater scowl has stretched his lips. He raises the glass, drinking over half its contents before setting it back down and reclining against the back of the chair so as to look down his nose at the table.

"I can hardly even eat in the presence of such detritus. Grueling to even hear the sniveling, conniving hissing of hot air and steaming filth echo through my walls. You lot are like a host of guppies, little and decrepit and tearing at your kin for rights to the largest chunk of rotting flesh from your mother's corpse. Always, always scheming over inheritance, and not a one of you deserves a shred of it."

He has to stop, to scowl so intensely he almost veritably growls. He looks away, part-disgusted part-disgruntled. He leans forward, to reach for his knife and spear a cut of thick, bloody meat, before he continues, "If so much as a single one of you could attempt the riddle, then maybe there would be some tiny fragment of hope to be found." He raises the speared meat, punctuating his statement with prepared dead animal.

Some small portion of the humiliation of the family is replaced with surprise; so much so, in fact, that Eva is surprised enough to muster a great deal of idiocy and speak up, "Do you mean that epitaph?"

At which point Kinzo straight up loses his shit, slams his fist on the table, and breaks out into violently intense laughter. It's not a laugh of pure mania, nor is it a laugh of amusement; he's probably not having an apoplexy or anything either; it seems a lot more like he's just really, really fucking pleased with himself, with a metric shitload of narcissistic disdain for everybody else sprinkled on top.

And cut the laughter as he literally appears ready to flat out stab the fucking table with a fork, but instead somehow manages to just impale the shit out of the meat he's eating, and raise it and just take a bite out of it. Y'know, cause he probably got tired from all that literally bonkers laughter.

"It was all a race, you see! Against you and the witch! Ah, ha-ha," he chortles one final time.

"Too late, now. Much too late. You all lose, and I'm the winner. This could hardly get any better unless you were all so ashamed you all decided to do something properly for once and kill yourselves," he offers with one feral ass grin.

"When I die, the contract will be paid back in full to Beatrice! Until then, since not a single one of you is the least bit capable of absolutely anything of any microbial significance, it'll remain here - trapped with me. Out of your grubby, clawed fingers."

His mood seems to drastically shift back to it's earlier vehemence out of nowhere, and he shoves the chair back and stands, fists on the table, completely focused and straight-edged. "My children are all severe disappointments," he states, with anger but not chaotic fury. "I should give my money to charity." His gaze flicks to Genji, and then, after a few moments, to Eva with a slight tilt of his head. "Or better yet, to the servants. "He stares at her with vibrant, cold eyes with such intensity that she seems to practically mutate into an albino right there. Once he appears completely satisfied with the second-hand humiliation that that instils in the rest of the family, he straightens back up - standing tall.

"Either way, none of you that deserve to inherit my fortune. Not Krauss, the simpleton son that invested in moon tourism - all your deals were moronic and your partners were using you. Not Eva, the stupid girl that wants to be treated like a man - when will you learn that your only conceivable use would be to find an intelligent man to marry into the family. Ugh, you can't even do that though; instead, the one you find has a bankrupting company, and you're both even more massive dead weight together. And Rudolf, certainly not Rudolf - you're going bankrupt too, and that's literally the most noteworthy feature about you. You're all so completely disappointing," he concluded, his gaze striking down the row of his children to pierce them all. Once he gets to Rosa, he goes, "Oh, right, you. What have you done again?" He turns to Genji, then seems to change his mind and look back at Rosa, "Nevermind, I'd rather not know. Whatever it is, it's disappointing. You disappointment," he sneers, holding her shaking gaze for a few more moments, before looking to the end of the table and pointing, to say, "And you!"

. . .

After a completely frozen pause he blinks, to look over at Genji and lower his arm, every shred of his familiar anger having completely vanished. "Who are they?"

Genji takes a step forward, and explains to the man, "Survivors of a naval accident during the storm, sir." The old man nods, mumbling, "So, it has begun..."

The man turns to leave, declaring that his food be brought to his study on his way out. He is out the doors without another word.

Well, after all of that, the family gradually begin to - almost robotically - begin eating. For the record, all of their children are there, and were completely ignored throughout the debacle... leaving them in roughly the same position of awkwardness as yourselves, one could imagine. You could talk at this point, although the adults would also decide at this point that the children and the shipwreck survivors shall all be relocated to lodgings in the guest house after dinner, as they wish to remain and discuss family business in the dining hall. Nanjo is tasked to leave with you and the children to the guest house, and Kanon meets you immediately after exiting the dining room.

>>13588
As we head for the guesthouse, I attempt to strike up a conversation with the cousins.

"Is he...always like that?" I ask, putting on my best puzzled expression. "And what did he mean by a riddle?"

>>13589
Jessica would answer, "Ah, more or less. We don't really see him often enough to... pay much mind to it."

Battler would speak up, "Are you kidding me? That freaked me right the fuck out. He seemed borderline violently sociopathic at one point there."

"You haven't had any experience with him in six years, have you, Battler-kun," George says to Battler.

The group now arrives in the main hall / front hall / where the front entrance to the mansion is. Jessica would proclaim, "As for the riddle," while turning to face the giant portrait of Beatrice, with the epitaph on its pedestal before it. "Grandfather put it up a few years ago, after you had left, Battler."

"We had always considered that it probably had something to do with the inheritance, but nobody took it seriously," George concludes.

Maria, who has as of yet basically just been a completely unmentioned door-stopper but nonetheless does still exist even if she's really really annoying, shrills out, "Ou-uuu! I know all about the legend! Beatrice is my friend!"

Battler perks an eyebrow, and frowns. "What are you talking about? What legend?"

Maria scoffs, "You don't even know that much? What an imbecile!"

Battler softly bops the top of her head and sneers, "Tch, don't you act all high and mighty."

George softly clears his throat. "Beatrice is said to be Kinzo's benefactor; apparently, most of the family wealth is sourced from her. It's become a bit of a rumor that she was actually a witch who gave him a mountain of gold through magic."

"From the sound of what he said in the dining room I guess whatever purpose this epitaph had is now void, huh?"

I take a closer look at the writing on the epitaph.

>>13591
Behold the sweetfish river running through my beloved hometown.
You who seek the Golden Land, follow its path downstream in search of the key

As you travel down it, you will see a village.
In that village, look for the shore the two will tell you of.
There sleeps the key to the Golden Land.

The one who obtains the key must then travel to the Golden Land in accordance with these rules
On the first twilight, offer the six chosen by the key as sacrifices.
On the second twilight, those who remain shall tear apart the two who are close.
On the third twilight, those who remain shall praise my noble name.
On the fourth twilight, gouge the head and kill.
On the fifth twilight, gouge the chest and kill.
On the sixth twilight, gouge the stomach and kill.
On the seventh twilight, gouge the knee and kill.
On the eighth twilight, gouge the leg and kill.
On the ninth twilight, the witch shall revive, and none shall be left alive.
On the tenth twilight, the journey shall end, and you shall reach the capital where the gold dwells

The witch will praise the wise, and should bestow four treasures.
One shall be, all the gold from the Golden Land.
One shall be, the resurrection of the souls of all the dead.
One shall be, even the resurrection of the lost love.
One shall be, to put the witch to sleep for all time.

Sleep peacefully, my most beloved witch, Beatrice.

>>13592
"What a creepy riddle. Who would even write something like that? It reminds me of that mystery novel Ozaki-san and I were reading a while ago, the one about the seagulls.

Anyway, I suppose we shouldn't hang around for too long. Let's go, everyone."

>>13592
Seeing how I don't have anything else to ask about this I too encourage the movement to the guesthouse.

>>13594
The group heads out of the mansion, with the aide of umbrellas 'cause sky-water. While walking to the guest house, Kanon would inform the group, "Because of our unexpected guests, we'll have to shift around the arrangements. Nanjo, you will be moved from room three to room two, to accommodate."

Nanjo nods, "Of course, I don't mind at all."

After a few minutes of walking you all reach the guesthouse. Upon entry, the bar is setup and ready for use, furniture is at the tables, and the building looks quite habitable indeed. Which is nice, y'know, instead of being a dusty, forgotten guest house to hide people in. The group continues to the staircase and up to the second floor. Kanon gestures while explaining, "George and Battler are sharing room one, Nanjo and Ozaki will be in room two, and Jessica, Maria, and Rika will be sharing room three." He provides the respective keys (only one for each room) to George, Nanjo, and Jessica respectively.

Nanjo would say thank you, and dismiss Kanon, who heads off down the stairs. Nanjo then continues, "My luggage is still in room three, so I'll take care of that, Jessica-san."

After unlocking, then entering the room he closes the door to pack and clean. While he's cleaning, Maria tugs on Rika's sleeve, and with a big smile on her face as she stares up at her, she proclaims with childish glee, "Do you wanna play games with us? Do you?" The child pointedly ignores Ozaki, because he's a tall, sketchy looking, dirty man and she's not quite into that whole scene yet.

"Maria, she's quite tired from the storm. She probably wants to rest," George interjects on Rika's behalf.

"Well, if you do want to rest, we could just play in George's room and give you some peace and quiet, Rika-san?" Jessica follows up.

>>13595
I wait for Nanjo to come back with the key to my room because apparently everyone hates me.

>>13595
"I can play with you for a while if you like," I tell Maria with a smile, not wanting to disappoint her. "I don't feel too bad right now, but I really shouldn't stay up too late or I'm going to regret it tomorrow.

Just a few games, okay?" I finish with a small yawn.

Nanjo exits his room and says that he's cleaned up. He closes the door and returns the key. Then he invites Ozaki into room two, after unlocking and opening the door.

The cousins, and Rika, go into room three.

>>13598
You and Nanjo enter room two. Nanjo begins to unpack his bags and organise his stuff again on the bed closest to the door. The room has two single beds, a large window that doesn't open, curtains covering the majority of the window, a ceiling mounted lamp with the switch by the door, an open closet that appears to be empty except for spare blankets and such forth, two bedside tables (Nanjo's has a phone on it), and no bathroom in the room.

Nanjo, concluding with the various intricacies of luggage related business, asks you, "Do you plan to rest in the room? I think I'm going to go read by the fire in the lobby, just downstairs."

>>13599
All the cousins and yourself enter the room. After a little bit of set up, everybody begins to play Old Maid. Oh, the layout of the room is essentially identical to that described for Ozaki, except of course that there is an additional bed for an additional person to additionally sleep in. Battler pipes up, to Jessica, "It must sure suck to be cooped up here all year! ...No boys, either!"

Jessica scoffs, blushing a little bit, and attempts to deny it. "I d-don't know what you're talking about."

Maria, being the innocent little girl she is, pipes up, "But didn't you say you liked K-" At which point Jessica practically falls over on her side in a successful attempt to cover Maria's mouth and end that sentence, but, y'know, without outright homicidally murdering her like I am really inclined to write about right now but unfortunately that isn't what happens here so yeah.

At this point, Battler would lean toward George and whisper something to him.

(You may converse with the cousins as you see fit, at this stage. And, if you want, it is also acceptable to leave the room; it's not so late yet that it'd be weird to do so, after all. Especially since there's no bathroom in this bedroom and girls, y'know, sometimes just /Gotta Go/. If ya know what I mean.)

>>13599
"Well, I'm not really tired after that nap, so I guess I will take a look around until I'm tired if that is fine."

I leave the room and go into the hallway.

>>13600
I do my best to make polite conversation around the game, trying to get to know the cousins and their personalities as I do so.

If nothing interesting comes up in the conversation after a few games then I will start yawning a little and making obvious mistakes in the game to signal that I'm tired. If no one catches on then I will apologetically ask if it would be alright for them to move to George's room so that I can rest for a while.

>>13601
You exit into the hall. Nanjo would close and lock the door behind you. He would then say, "If you need to sleep, come and see me in the lobby." He exits down the hall, and stairs, to the lobby, unless you stop him to say something more.

>>13602
Nothing of any particular interest happens throughout your stay with the cousins, so eventually they notice your tiredness and would politely leave the room to allow you to rest.

>>13604
I try to go to sleep for the time being.

>>13603
I examine the second floor's layout and check the windows for their types and locks. I check for any other rooms on the second floor. If I find any unlocked I'll open them and examine the room.

>>13606
You check the second floor and locate two windows (one at either end of the long hall), each of which has a latch lock and is currently closed and locked. There are five doors in total on the second floor, all of which are identical makes and types of door; three of the doors go to guest rooms one through three and the other two head to a bathroom and a library.

You inspect the bathroom, and discern that it is fairly standard. Mirror over the sink, a bath-shower, two towel racks with rather frilly fancy looking towels, a toilet, and a trash can.

As for the library, it is essentially just a moderately sized room (not much larger than the bedrooms), with bookshelves on all of the walls. There are no windows. There are two additional standing rows of bookshelves in the middle of the room.

>>13607
I take a random mystery novel off the shelve in the library and return to the hall.

"And Then There Were None," By Agatha Christie.

Ozaki would see the door of room three open and the three cousins exit the room, without Rika. They would head past you to room one, greeting you as they pass. Rika would be able to hear the voices of the cousins greeting Ozaki from inside the quiet room.

((You may awaken and leave the room whenever you wish, Rika. If you get bored of doing nothing while Ozaki probably goes on his search to locate the 11th through 15th commandments you may also leave and explore yourself without having to feel obligated to "be awoken by something" or whatever.))

>>13609
Hearing that Ozaki has left his room, my curiosity gets the better of me and I leave my room to greet him.

"Oh, hi Ozaki-san. What are you up to?"