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?"

>>13610
"Collecting books and what not. I was going to get a grasp of the land you know. Explore the surroundings a bit.
My reason was because this mansion really reminds me of this book actually. Who knows, maybe something similar could happen," I say jokingly.

"What about you?"

>>13611
"Considering the sorts of situations you tend to end up in, I wouldn't actually be that surprised.
But yeah, I'm not actually as tired as I thought I would be right now either. I'm sure it will catch up with me later, but for now I wouldn't mind learning some more about this place. Maybe we can split up to cover more ground?"

>>13612
"Is that so? Well this sounds like a good idea for a contest. How about, the person to find the most interesting thing on the island wins? Of course we shouldn't get to crazy, wouldn't want to leave a bad impression on the Ushiromiya's after all."

>>13613
"Oh, that sounds like fun! Challenge accepted! It's no fun being arch-rivals if we don't do things like this occasionally, right?"

>>13614
"Alright then, on the count of three we begin.
One... Two... Three!"

However little did Rika expect, while I was counting I slowly backed up to the window and flipped the lock open when I got to two. At three I purposely fell through the window as if I was a scuba diver performing a backwards roll. However as I flip I grab the end of the window stopping my fall, followed by letting go. Thus only really falling a considerably small distance.

After I land I try to find my way to the rose garden.

>>13615
"Wha-"

I run down the stairs and out of the guesthouse. Once outside I quickly check to make sure that Ozaki is alright.

>>13615
You successfully complete said action, against my better comedic judgement. However, you do land in a big puddle of mud. Yay filthy shoes! Behind the guest house. You run to the rose garden, and notice that there is the main mansion off to the left and a smaller building opposite of it, on your right.

>>13616
You pass Nanjo in the lobby, who would appear surprised to see you pass outside in a hurry, and probably say, "Oh, what's going on?" If you don't totally ignore him and just zip past. When you arrive outside, you see that Ozaki is nowhere to be found. It is still raining rather heavily outside, making it nigh on impossible to track Ozaki's route with any efficacy, although the same could also be said of yourself.

>>13618
I head to the small building to investigate what exactly it is. I also keep an eye and ear out for any people.

>>13619
Laughing at the ridiculousness of this whole situation and the realisation that I probably should have brought an umbrella, I run in the general direction of the mansion.

>>13620
Eventually, you make your way to the building to discover that it is a garden shed. Upon further inspection, you discern that it is unlocked. If you were to enter the shed, you would notice a single lightbulb light hanging from the ceiling, with a pull cord thinger to activate it. If you activate the light, you would be able to see that the shed is stuffed with various gardening supplies on the shelves, including such things as lawn mowers, weed whackers, hedge clippers, wire cutters, and various other things that you could make some really cute torture dungeons out of.

>>13622
You make it back to the mansion, and just a notch or two below deep sea diving in the area of wetness. The mansion appears the same as when the group left earlier; the ground floor lights are primarily all on, and the second floor lights are most all off.

>>13622
I take the wire cutters, and try to find something I could use to wipe my shoes; like a cloth or something. I wouldn't use it just yet however, and merely pocket it for later.

After I would head back to the rose garden, followed by checking the gazebo assuming I can obviously see it.

>>13623
"I really don't know why I let Ozaki talk me into these kinds of things."

I enter the mansion and take a look around.

>>13624
You do find wire cutters and a cloth. You then navigate back to the gazebo in the center of the rose garden, where you see that under it rests a table with a few seats surrounding it. Other than that, it doesn't appear as if anything is there.

>>13625
You enter the main hall of the mansion and it would appear as it did when the group walked through it earlier. You hear the soft clicking of a grandfather clock, which, if you looked at, would indicate that it is 8:45 PM. You can also additionally hear the sound of the kitchens emanating from down the hall to the left.

>>13626
I guess I'll head to the mansion now.

>>13627
After a moment's pause for thought, I shrug, head for the kitchen, and burst in through the door without knocking.

>>13628
You get to the main hall of the mansion, which is in the same condition it was when Rika was there. It is 8:50 if you look at the clock. Rika is not in sight.

>>13629
Before you burst in, you hear Gohda and Kumasawa talking about menial/mundane stuff. Upon bursting in, Gohda and Kumasawa both jump. When they recognize it's just you, Kumasawa would exclaim, "Good heavens! Don't scare me like that." Gohda, still surprised, asks, "Oh, what's wrong?"

>>13630
I will try and find my way back to the dining room and see if I can hear the parents still talking in there.

>>13631
"Oh, hello you two," I say with a smile as if this is all perfectly natural. "You're servants, right? Do you know any interesting stories about this island? I'm in the middle of an important duel that could determine the fate of the world, so any information you have would be helpful."

>>13632
The doors to the dining room are closed, and you can hear muffled voices through them. Not loud enough to make out what they're saying, exactly, but from the variety of voices you can assume they're all pretty much still inside.

>>13634
Gohda would admit, "I was actually hired fairly recently, to be frank, so I wouldn't know."

Kumasawa, on the other hand, says, "Besides what you've already heard from the cousins about Beatrice, I'm afraid I don't know anything else."

Gohda replies, "Ah, we're currently busy, so if you don't need anything right at the moment could it perhaps wait until after we're done?"

>>13634
I go back to the main hall and try and find a way to get to the second floor. If I can I'll do a quick survey of the second floor and find out how many rooms there are. If no one is there I check if any of the doors are open and examine the rooms.

>>13635
"Hm, okay. Thank you for your help," I tell them, giving the best approximation of an elegant curtsey that's possible when completely soaked.

I then leave the kitchen and wander around aimlessly looking for anything or anyone noteworthy.

>>13636
You find your way to the second floor, where nobody appears to be in the hall. Looking around, you find six doors. Further investigation reveals that two of them are unlocked; the first being the bathroom, the second a bedroom. However, the moment you enter the bedroom, you hear the sound of glass cracking -- akin to a break in the surface of a frozen lake, just one crack, prominent but brief.. Your glance into the room doesn't reveal what caused the sound.

>>13637
After some wandering, you wind up back at the first two guest rooms that you and Ozaki were rested in following your shamble into the mansion the first time. One of the doors is slightly open, and inside you can hear humming from a person. You can see that Shannon has paused to stretch her wrists while making the beds.

>>13638
I enter the bedroom and do a quick survey for the layout of the room and the furniture. I also check the window for the type and the locks. Ultimately attempting to locate the source of that sound.

>>13639
I stand a little way away from the room Shannon is clearing and call out in what seems to me to be a pretty intimidating voice, but your mileage may vary.

"You, servant, I am Beatrice, master of this island. Tell me everything interesting you've noticed or you shall be forever cursed by my magic! *cackle**cackle*"

>>13640
There is a bed, two dressers with mirrors, a wardrobe, coffee table in the middle of the room, a few chairs around it, some potted plants in the corners of the room, and the windows are similar to the others in the mansion (they are closed and locked with latch-locks). There are no visible cracks in either of the windows or mirrors. There is a closet door, and it is slightly ajar. Oh, there's a phone on one of the bedside tables.

>>13641
She is, initially, quite surprised by your sudden outburst. Following that, she appears to have become muted by awkward confusion. ". . ."

>>13642
I slowly open the closet door and take a look inside.

>>13643
I come out of hiding and enter the room, laughing.

"Haha, did I fool you? Don't worry, it's only me. Are you busy right now? I'd really like to learn some more about this island if that's okay with you."

>>13644
You open the door and see lots of clothing and shoes and schtuffs. At the end of your inspection you see, laying on the ground of the closet, a little box which is slightly opened.. Inside the box is a small, cracked pocket mirror. On the back of the mirror there is an inscription.

A cloud encompasses the sky, blotting out all but the stars from one horizon to the next.
The shadow coalesces, resting at the peak of a mount. A howl greets the returned celestials.
A lone wolf, once a leader. The stars, it’s only company.
Gaze downward; the stars usurp, rising from the Earth to meet the sky.
A lone wolf leaps, embracing the stars of the Earth.
Enveloped in solar light, tying it’s tongue and binding it’s mind in knots of star dust.
A captive struggles and eventually breaks loose, but it’s demise have already reared.
This is what it sought. This is the -̸̵̨̨!͏҉̷̧́&̵̀-̸̕͜*̷̛͝͞$͘҉-̷͏͟(̨̡̧̕̕)̵̀͏̴-͡!̷̕͠͏̴$͏-̷҉̸+̢̀*̧͟҉̴͡-̸͘͡!̢͝͝&͏͘-̨̀͘͝*̢̡͝͏
_̶̀-҉̷͘%̶̴͡*̸͜͜-͜҉͡͞(̸̸́͞+̵̴̨-̶̷́́!̡̛̀͝%̡́͘-̶̵̢̀!̴̴́(̧̛͘͢-̶̕͜͞%̷̢͡͡͡&͜͠͡-̴̡̀͠*̕͘͟_̢҉-
̨͝.

The rest has been scratched out.

>>13645
"Oh, ... you must be feeling better if you're energetic enough to joke around like that," she says, while her eyes silently continue with, 'While you look like you just had another shipwreck or a psychotic break.'

"Well, I'm honestly not too knowledgeable about gossip. Kumasawa would be a better person to ask."

>>13646
After reading I'll exit the room. Making sure to check if anyone is in the hall before sneaking out of the room and back down to the first floor.

>>13647
"...Am I going in circles here? I just...Oh, never mind. For some reason I feel like I've already lost. Thanks for your help. I'm going back to the guesthouse, would you happen to know where I could get an umbrella?"

>>13648
You leave the room, with nobody in the second story hallway. Upon reaching the first floor you see Rosa leaving out the main exit of the mansion. Looking down the right hall you can also see some of the other parents leaving out of the dining room.

>>13649
"Ah, you can find the umbrellas in a small basket beside the main entrance doorway," Shannon replies with a smile.
(Last post for tonight)

>>13650
Avoiding the parents, I head to the kitchen and ask if Gohda has any vinegar to spare.

>>13651
"Thank you very much. Well then..."

I leave the room and head for the entrance hall. If I don't run into anyone then I will take an umbrella and return to the guesthouse.

>>13652
You enter the kitchen, but before you arrive at the door, Gohda and Kumasawa exit. Before they notice you, you overhear Kumasawa say, "I don't know what you find so silly, Gohda! My mackerel dishes are both healthy and scrumptious!" Gohda's only response is a sigh, before he notices you, at which point you ask him about the vinegar. He furrows his brow, indicating that he probably has no idea why you want it and is slightly concerned because of that, but he informs you of it's precise location in the kitchen nonetheless. He then excuses himself, and he and Kumasawa continue on their way.

>>13653
Immediately after exiting the room, you see Eva and Hideyoshi on their way into the room. Eva tilts her head, and asks, "Oh, Rika, you're still up. What're you doing here?" At this point, Rika would notice Shannon exiting the room.

Hideyoshi taps Eva's arm, and simply states her name with a grim look on his face, and Eva glances over and nods at him in response. "I'm sorry, but we can't talk at the moment. Maybe we can talk tomorrow."

They head into the room, the door locking after them.

>>13655
After Shannon leaves, I try standing outside the door and seeing whether I can hear what Eva and Hideyoshi are saying. If so, I will continue listening for as long as I can, but while carefully looking out for anyone else so that if someone is approaching, I can quickly return to walking down the corridor as if nothing is strange.

If I can't hear through the door then I will proceed to do as I said in >>13653.

>>13654
I examine the room for its layout. Check windows and doors and the locks on both of them etc.

>>13656
Either they aren't saying anything, or their volume in combination with the door renders you incapable of hearing anything. You subsequently head to the guest house. On the way to the guest house you pass Rosa, who is walking from the guest house to the mansion. She offers you a nod in greeting. You can tell that she appears to have a headache. When you enter the guest house you hear Nanjo make some weird throat clearing sound. He looks up from reading his book as he rubs his eyes, and says, "Oh, Rika. I was worried when you went running out earlier. Is everything alright?

>>13658
There are two doors; the door you originally entered the mansion from, and the door you just entered the room from. Two windows exist on the wall that the back door is also on; the windows are akin to every other window in the mansion so far, with latch locks (and they are also set in the locked position). Additionally, both doors operate with a deadbolt lock. The room itself features an island in the center, with drawers and cupboards containing pots, pans, dishes, utensils, et cetera. Surrounding the room are various appliances, a la ovens, stoves, fridge, dishwasher, and a microwave. There are two sinks beside the dish washer. Finally, in the corner of the room there is a pantry with lots of tasty tasty imported western food and ingredients.

Inside the fridge, should you choose to investigate, in addition to normal stuff that you'd expect out of a fridge, you also find a variety of mackerel flavoured dishes. Including some frankly weird and blatantly unappetizing (well, in my opinion anyway) dishes, such as mackerel and spaghetti, peanut butter and mackerel sandwich, sauteed mackerel with ham in meatbally chunks littered all over it, pickles with mackerel inside a bowl of ice cream, a dish that appears to be just a bed of bacon strips with a heaping pile of diced mackerel on top, and one greek salad cut half the salad add a solid mackerel paste. Also on top of the fridge are a bunch of jars of Nutella BECAUSE WHO DOESN'T LOVE NUTELLA.

>>13659
If I find some vinegar I'll take a swig from it and then exit the kitchen. I guess I'll head back to the guesthouse as well.

>>13658
"Umm, yeah, sorry about that. I got challenged to a duel and the fate of the world was at stake, you know how it is.

By the way, would you happen to have heard any interesting stories about the mansion or the island in general? You're Kinzo-san's personal doctor after all, has he ever mentioned anything interesting? And would you have any idea what triggered his outburst at the dining hall earlier?"

>>13660
While going down the main hall you see Natsuhi talking to Kanon and Genji. They don't notice you, but you can hear them as Natsuhi says, "Just do a quick look around the beach, maybe there's some more survivors."

The two servants bow, before leaving out the main door. Natsuhi turns and heads up the stairs, unless you stop her.

>>13661
Nanjo hesitates a little, before sighing (not so much out of exasperation by you, it appears; probably more like stress). "Well, Kinzo's medical condition has been... slowly degrading, lately," he responds.

He closes the book, and continues, "This is probably why he's had more of these outbursts lately. It has been affecting his mental - or should I say emotional - state quite adversely, unfortunately."

>>13662
I decide not to bother and continue back to the guesthouse.

>>13663
"I see...I'm sorry to hear that. He certainly seemed very lively for somebody that ill, though.

I don't suppose he ever told you anything about the epitaph? I'm almost tempted to try and solve it. I love puzzles like that, you know."

>>13664
While you are leaving the main hall, you would notice from the grandfather clock that the time is presently around 9:30 PM. You arrive at the guesthouse to find Rika and Nanjo talking (you would overhear the next post that I am about to make).

>>13665
"Ahh, Kinzo is pretty secretive when it comes to the epitaph. Although, from what he said in the dining room that solving it at this point is probably pointless."

It is at this point that Ozaki would fully enter the room (although he'd have been able to hear Nanjo say the above as he does).

"Oh hey. What is going on in here?"

>>13667
"Yeah, there probably isn't any point. I just can't resist an intellectual challenge like that."

After saying this, I notice Ozaki's return and turn to greet him.

"Oh, hey Ozaki-san! How did your search go? I'm afraid I couldn't find anything interesting."

>>13669
"I guess I win then. I found a creepy mirror with in inscription on it. Something about wolfs and stars or something... Although I guess I have no proof now that I think about it. Either way I think I'm done for the night."

After that I'll talk to Nanjo.

"Hey Nanjo, I could use the key about now. Getting sleepy and all."

>>13670
"Wolves and stars? How strange. You'll have to show me in the morning. But yes, after all that exertion I'm pretty exhausted myself. Good night, both of you~"

I return to my room to sleep.

>>13671
Nanjo pats at each of his pockets a few times, and eventually procures his room key. The group heads upstairs, and Rika enters her room. Nanjo unlocks the room, and enters with Ozaki. Rika would find Jessica and Maria already asleep in their beds.

Soon, both pieces are asleep, unless you choose to do anything else before my next post. No post before then would equate to you just sleeping.

From an eldritch haze a demon and a witch peer down upon a tabletop. Many little tidbits and gadgets and thingamajiggers move and shift and scale and squirm around atop it. An assam aroma wafts throughout the room without walls or dimension, occasionally stifled when they sip of its infinite source.

"So, the ceremony has begun," the masculine figure comments.

The feminine visage giggles faintly, to respond, "There is no need to worry. The girl is well trained, she can handle a millenia more of this."

He leans down to the board, time and space tearing with a vacuous blip as his index finger materializes, extends, and tips a piece over. He reclines backward, glances over, and replies, "Let's hope that's the case."

The storm continues to pound the island. Black screen. Pan to window. Butterfly flutters through the solid pane, and out of sight into the room. Pan backwards. Kinzo's form is now visible, standing motionless and staring out the window. Rotate vantage around him; rest of the room is empty, Kinzo is alone, butterfly hovers mid-air in front of doorway in background.

Kinzo: "So, you have arrived." ... "How did you get here?"

Butterfly: Silently flutters back and forth.

Kinzo: Sigh. "Even charmed, it only stops human entry, eh?" Walk over to chessboard, move king. "So, I'm the first to be chosen." Slowly begin to laugh (borderline psychotic, subdued).

Butterfly: Begin to multiply exponentially and fly around Kinzo.

Kinzo: Yell, "I have resigned to my fate!" Dramatic interlude. "I will have my revenge in the golden land!" Burst into flames with one final climatic scream.

The sound of flesh and hair cooking are exaggeratedly loud. Seconds pass, and all that remains is a pile of ash. All the butterflies fly to one location, wherein they are apparently just absorbed into one equally sized butterfly cause magic.

Butterfly: Hover motionlessly over the pile of ash. After a few seconds, flutter back and forth. Cease fluttering as a black hole opens under Kinzo's very dusty and non-solid corpse.

Corpse ash falls into hole in a delayed and physically unsound way. Butterfly hovers away. Pan back to window. Fade to black.

You wake up to the sound of the phone (which is on your bedside nightstand) ringing. Jessica and Maria roll in their beds, but seem to remain mostly asleep. You're the most conscious.

>>13675
Puzzled, I slowly get out of bed and pick up the phone.

"Hello?" I say into the receiver, stifling a yawn.

>>13676
On the other end is Genji's voice, "Oh, Rika. Where's Nanjo?"

>>13677
"Ah, um, I think he was moved to room two to make room for us. But why would you be calling for him at this time? Has Kinzo-san's condition gotten worse?"

>>13678
"How did--" but he is interrupted by Krauss in the background. Who is exclaiming with volume, "Is Nanjo on his way yet?!"

Genji softly clears his throat, and finishes, "Thank you, Rika. Sorry to bother you." He hangs up.

A few moments pass, before you hear the phone in room two ring through the wall. You are wide awake now, and may do as you please.

>>13679
You are awoken by the phone on Nanjo's bedside stand ringing, if you weren't already awoken by the ringing in room three.

Nanjo awakes with a groggy start, and then answers it with a, "Hello." After a short interlude - in which his frown grows like a really hairy caterpillar on super steroids - he exclaims, "What?! I'm on my way."

He jumps out of bed, wearing his old fat man pyjamas, and grabs his briefcase. He leaves the room in a flurry.
You may move as you please.

Obviously surprised by the rude awakening I probably would instantly give up trying to get back to sleep. Assuming I am already dressed I will attempt to follow Nanjo seeing how my curiosity beats my tiredness.

>>13679
Realising that something serious is obviously going on, I rush out of the room, hoping to intercept Nanjo as he leaves and ask him what's going on.

It occurs to me for a second that it would be much more appropriate for a guest to try to keep to herself and avoid interfering as much as possible in a time like this, but my curiosity is far too strong right now for me to give that thought much serious consideration.

Rika leaves her room to witness Nanjo fly by in his pyjamas, quickly followed by an Ozaki who probably doesn't notice her because he's a pretentious dirtbag sometimes (y'know unless you want to disagree in your next post Ozaki).

>>13683
I quickly follow after them, I suppose.

>>13684
You both follow Nanjo to the second floor of the main mansion, through the continuing storm. At the end of the second story hall stands Natsuhi in front of an open door.

Nanjo enters the room, which Krauss is inside of. Neither he nor Natsuhi question your presences, apparently too involved with whatever caused such a hustle in the first place.

"Nanjo, how is he?" Natsuhi asks.

Nanjo simply shakes his head with a dour expression. "There's no helping it. He's gone." To which Natsuhi cups her hands to her face, and Krauss presses his hand to his forehead attempting to remain calm.

You would take notice that in the middle of the room, beside a table, on the ground, lays the body of the crazy old asshole that was screaming the night before. From where you're standing there appears to be a small wound on his temple, which has elicited enough blood to spill some on the ground but not nearly enough to form a serious puddle. You would see a shattered glass beside Kinzo's corpse, and the rug underneath is wet with water.

Nanjo speaks up, "What happened, Krauss?"

Krauss shakes his head. "I have no idea. I'd asked Genji where he was earlier, but he wasn't in the study. Eventually, we found him in here. He must have... slipped and hit his head."

The room boasts the rug beneath Kinzo and the table, a large king size bed, two three-panel windows with the same latch-locks (which, again, are set/locked) like the other windows, the table is relatively large and has four equally sturdy wooden chairs around it, three dressers, and some potted plants in the corners of the room. There are also two side doors, one to a bathroom and one to a closet.

You are free to investigate and question within this room as you please, but don't try to run off somewhere for the moment.

>>13685
At times like this where people are still shocked by an unexpected event, it's actually quite easy to make people unconsciously defer to you just by acting calm and seeming like you're in control of the situation. Well, in theory anyway. I've never tried it myself but it worked in that one mystery novel.

I walk over to the body and begin examining it in a way that makes it look like I know what I'm doing. While doing so, I ask without turning around, "What is this room exactly? Can you think of any reason why Kinzo-san would come here?"

>>13685
I ask Krauss, "When was the last time Kinzo was seen was? What is the current time? Finally did you have to unlock this door to enter, do you know which keys work on it?"

>>13686
You effectively poke the body a bit, but don't find anything that wasn't already apparent. Well, except that you'd notice that the nose is broken, but that's about it.

Krauss would say, "This is the VIP room. Father had it made specifically, but I've never seen it used and don't know what purpose he had in mind for it."

>>13687
Krauss responds, "Genji told me that he last saw him around midnight last night. It's about 7:30 now. Well, actually, after I asked Genji about where he was we both headed there to find him. Genji unlocked the door with the only other key to the study, which he keeps, and we found no sign of father. However, I did find this key on the desk which unlocks this room." Krauss would hold up a key labelled VIP.

Krauss continues, "Genji assures me this is the only key into this room. Upon unlocking this door, we found... him. Ah, and his key to his study was on the table next to him."

>>13688
I check the body myself. Assuming he was killed shortly after the last time he was seen then the gap should be around 7 hours give or take. I go up to the body and check for lividity (ie livor mortis) around the head and torso mostly. After about 6 hours in this household environment blood in the body coagulates and settles. I won't go into detail as this should be enough for an estimate for the time of death. Also if his body had been moved after he had been found.

Additionally I will search his pockets as well as check for any wounds that would go unnoticed by obstructing clothing or the like. Finally, I also check his throat for any frothy fluid.

>>13685
I go and search the dressers for anything of interest, leaving the body to Ozaki.

>>13689
Upon inspecting the body you find that the body does indeed appear to be at least six hours deceased, and certainly not too much more than that. It appears that the body has been flipped over onto its back since it has been found, a la recently in comparison to the time of death. You would locate a small key in one of his pockets as you search the clothing. You find nothing in his air passages.

>>13690
The dressers are completely devoid of contents.

>>13691
I attempt to take the key without anyone noticing.
Now having finished with the body, I would then examine the table that the body was found by, as well as the chairs that surround it.

>>13691
I open the closet and search it.

>>13692
A tea set exists on the top of the table. A chandelier hangs above it. The corner of the table closest to the body has some blood on it.

>>13693
The closet appears to be just as empty as the dressers.

>>13694
I examine the bed in the room. I also check under it and around it for anything of notice.

>>13694
I enter and thoroughly search the bathroom.

>>13695
You examine the large king size bed, with large, regal blankets. It is pristinely clean, as if it were recently made but left unused. The bed itself does seem very old, however, with various circular scratches going around the bottom of the wooden spheres attached to the headboard. Besides dust you fail to find anything under or around the bed.

>>13696
You examine the bathroom, which has a toilet, a sink with a very magnificently hand-made mirror, and a bathtub with a shower head which boasts a very large collection of various soaps, shampoos, yadda yadda. Upon examining the towel rack you would feel a prick on your finger; when you pull it back, you notice a very small droplet of blood on your finger-tip. On close examination of the towels it would become apparent that one of the two towels has a region on its surface which has an admittedly light but still present spattering of tiny glass shards embedded into that towel.

>>13697
I examine the main door of the room for any damage and check the locks for their types as per usual. Oh and the potted plants for anything as well.

>>13697
I return to the main room and inform Ozaki of my findings in the bathroom. I then closely examine the rug beneath Kinzo, moving the body if necessary, just because you listed it and I came to regret not examining absolutely everything in that other game.

I'll also check each of the windows.

Ozaki finds that the door is perfectly fine, and not mal-affected at all, and that it works identically to the others (with a deadbolt lock that can be set via latch from the inside). He finds nothing of interest in the potted plants, unless you're into microbiology, in which case, I dunno, maybe?

Rika doesn't find anything new with the rug beyond what was already apparent. The windows also appear set and locked and lacking of any peculiarities.

Nanjo, Krauss, and Natsuhi all, for whatever reason, appear unphased by your investigations. They just accept it.

Natsuhi would look over to Krauss, asking, "What should we do?"

Krauss responds, "Inform the rest of the family, of course. However, many are still sleeping, and this kind of news does not bear lightly. We should hold our silence until everybody is gathered as one so that we may tell them."

At this point Nanjo would agree with a nod. "I will prepare Kinzo for a respectable burial."

Kinzo's body is eventually moved to the bed when you are all done investigating, and everybody leaves the room. Krauss locks the door behind. Krauss resumes, "We were planning to gather in the parlor anyway, but you may all head there for now if you wish. We'll be down shortly." Krauss and Natsuhi leave down the hall.

Nanjo tells you that he's headed to the parlor. Unless you decide there's something radically important that you need to do/say, you head to the parlor with Nanjo.

You enter the empty parlor with Nanjo, and, amidst the awkward and lost silence, sit down quietly in your respective seats. After a few minutes pass, Nanjo sighs - obviously quite taxed from all that's occured - and then he seems to realise that he is still boasting his large man pyjamas, which boast lilacs and small choo choo trains. His face reddens a bit, he clears his throat, and then rises.

"Ah, if you'll excuse me, I should go change," he proclaims, while attempting to remain stiff of voice and posture. He would then leave.

Just mere moments after Nanjo leaves, Kyrie and Rudolf enter the parlor from the same door. Rudolf is smirking and chuckling. Kyrie nods to you both, and Rudolf follows shortly behind once he controls his giggles. "Oh, Rika, Ozaki, already up are you. Did you sleep alright?" Rudolf would ask.

>>13707
"Fine thank you, although I think I forgot something in the guesthouse. If you would excuse me."

I would then follow Nanjo back to the guesthouse.

You leave the parlor, and Rudolf and Kyrie appear confused by your rise but don't stop you. Upon entering the main hall you see Nanjo heading out the main entrance. You then see George, Battler, and Jessica enter the mansion through the same door.

Unless you stop to talk to any of them, you continue to follow Nanjo to the guest house.

>>13707
I give Rudolf and Kyrie an apologetic glance. "I'm sorry about that, Ozaki-san can be so rude sometimes. Might I ask what you found so amusing, Rudolf-san? As long as it's not some kind of private joke, of course..."

>>13710
"Well, isn't it obvious? An old man running around in his pyjamas is quite the sight. Odd, though, since his medical bag is here," Rudolf answers with the slightest gesture at the medical back that Nanjo did indeed leave behind. "Any idea why he'd need that?"

>>13709
You follow Nanjo into the guest house. Upon entering, Nanjo appears to have already ran up the stairs because he's out of sight.

>>13713
Realizing I have yet to survey the layout of the bottom floor I now do so. All while looking for Nanjo of course.

>>13712
At Rudolf's words, I quickly dispel my light-heartedness and adopt a more serious expression. "I do, as a matter of fact, but Krauss-san and Natsuhi-san would prefer to wait until the whole family is gathered before they disclose anything. I'd prefer to respect their wishes in that regard, so I'm afraid I can't tell you anything right now."

>>13714
Excluding the foyer, there is also a small utility room (servant's room), a dining room, a bathroom, and a sun room / tea room.

>>13715
Rudolf's cheerful demeanour waxes to seriousness and concern. He nods to Kyrie, and they both sit down. "I guess we'll have to wait for them, then," he finishes.

Shortly following that, Battler, George, and Jessica enter the room. Battler is the first to speak. "Ah. Hey, old man. I see you're already up."

Rudolf greets him in a solemn manner, and the cousins aren't total idiots so they read the mood and quietly take seats.

>>13717
Assuming I didn't find Nanjo on the first floor I would go to my room and see if he is there.

>>13718
You do not find Nanjo in your room, nor do you see him in the immediate area.

>>13717
Krauss and Natsuhi eventually enter the parlour, with Shannon in tow. Rudolf greets him, asking, "Hey, I heard you wanted us gathered?"

Krauss offers a quick nod. "Eva and Hideyoshi aren't here yet? We might as well wait for them, then."

Krauss and Natsuhi take a seat at one of the coffee tables. During this time, Shannon would be clearing some of the tables on the other side of the parlour.

>>13718
I check the rest of the second floor for anyone. If nothing is found I will head back to the mansion.

>>13720
I remain seated and silent, waiting for Eva and Hideyoshi to arrive. I won't take any action until then, unless someone addresses me in the meantime or it takes an unusually long time for them to get here.

>>13721
You don't find anything of interest, nor is there Nanjo or anybody else to be seen on the second floor. Upon leaving the guest house you can see Nanjo, in the distance, walking on the same path as you (but ahead) toward the mansion.

>>13722
Nothing in particular happens for a while, until a knock on the door is heard. After a short pause Gohda enters, and says, "My apologies, but has anybody seen Kumasawa? She's supposed to be helping me cook."

The family members would attest that nobody has seen her, but Krauss would add, "Perhaps she's still sleeping. Shannon, if you would?"

Shannon would nod and then bow, and state she'll go do that. Gohda resumes Shannon's duties for her.

Krauss asks, "What about dinner, Gohda?"

"I've left Genji to finish. It's nearly done," Gohda answers.

Shannon leaves, and Gohda sets about his business. Silence would take over the room once more after Shannon shuts the door behind her.

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>>13725