RP Event 9: The Ball
Inside the Aetherian castle, King ALARIC watched as TARA paced to and fro in front of him; they had received word that her father had been brought to the kingdom safely, and he was being escorted into the throne room… as was the ‘mon responsible for the attack. Moments passed: then, GAWAIN entered the throne room with NESS and BRAN behind him.
: Sire, milady - I introduce the Ard Rí Ness and *growl* Lord Bran.
: Oh, Father! You’re sssafe!
: Of coursse I am. Those ‘monss you sent to pick me up were… adequate.
: They were lucky. If all had gone according to my plan, I-
: YOU! (rushes up to Bran and slaps him with her tail) How dare you attack my father in cold blood! If you had sssucceeded… If you’d killed Daddy… I…
: Tara… Cousin, I’m sorry. I may not be a fan of Ness, but I care deeply for you. Seems like Alaric has made you happy, and if you’re happy, so am I.
: Ugh, disgusssting. Apologiess will not work with me, Bran; I will not forgive you so eassily. When we get back to Ulsster, I plan to take every speck of land you -
: You will do no - sssuch - thing! The time of the Ard Rí is over, Father; I am to be wed, and as sssuch, the landsss of Ulster fall to my husband. You can keep your title and your fortresss, but the power you once had hasss been diminished. Think of it as a retirement of sortsss.
Ness starts to retort, but Tara silences him with a sharp glare, and he shuts up, looking a bit proud; his daughter had grown up after all…
: Now as for you, Bran, Alaric is the king of Aether, and ssince you are in Aether, you will receive punishment from him.
: 17 years in the dungeon. No trial.
: W-What?! Hold on, Tara, can’t you talk some sense into him? I’m family!
: Yesss, you are… Alaric, may I sssuggest an alternative punisshment?
: ...Quite possibly, yes, but be warned Bran. You’re in deep water here after your actions. Try anything and I’ll place around numbers larger than 17 for your dungeon time.
: *sigh* Thank you, your highness. I will take whatever penalty you deem appropriate.
: Hmph, thiss ought to be good…
: Oh, it will be, Father. And Bran, you will learn of your ‘jussst reward’ soon enough...
ONE WEEK LATER...
Bells chimed merrily throughout the Aetherian castle: the king had just been wed to his new queen! All of his citizens attended the happy ceremony - including a few dignitaries from Ulster - and now that the newly-wedded couple have arrived at the castle, the ball could begin. With food laid out and decorations hung, the doors opened to the guests who poured in en masse, eager to celebrate now that the assassination mess was over.
Dinner went off without a hitch, and as music began to play, King Alaric and Queen Tara sat upon their respective thrones, tails entwined and content to watch their subjects dance the night away.
: Oh, Alaric, what a wonderful day! Everything went perfectly, and all thanksss to your citizensss being able to bring my father sssafely to our wedding.
: Indeed! We are truly blessed to have such supportive and noble citizens. I suppose all that all’s well that’s end well, no?
: Exactly! And Alaric, thank you for lissstening to my requessst about Bran. I know that it wasssn’t easssy to forgive him - god knowsss it wasss for me too - but -
Suddenly, GUINEVERE stampedes into the ballroom! She gasps for breath, running straight to the king, and looks at him with panic in her eyes.
: Sire! M-Murder! There’s been a murder!
: Why is this country doomed to never have nice things?
: Doess thiss happen often?
: Says th’ one who was almost kill’d on the way here.
: Guinevere, what happened?
: It’s Bran, sire! He was found dead in his cell!
: … About time.
: Father! (clears throat) Thisss isss terrible indeed; Bran made a missstake, but the one who killed him made a bigger one. Alaric, we mussst catch him, or her, quickly!
: Right! Gawain, order the guards to lock down the castle, I want every room, corridor, and closet under locks! The murder is not to leave the castle.
: Aye, sire!
: Meanwhile, if they are willing to help, I want every citizen here to help search the castle for clues. See if you can find out who murdered Bran; be warned though, you must have evidence! I won’t take blind accusations or accusations that cannot be backed up with evidence.
Those assembled in the Great Hall start to scatter, soldiers preparing to put the castle on lockdown and citizens readying to begin their investigation… but one character slipped further into the shadows, unwilling to be seen.
: Great, what am I going to do now?
: There’s been a murder on th’ night of the royal wedd’ng! … Sounds familiar, like a story or a song I once heard - ah, but nevermind th’t, we need your help to catch the lowlife th’t did this!
: The victim is Lord Bran, th’t Shiny Garchomp who tried to off the Ard Rí. Say what you will ‘bout him, but he’s still Queen Tara’s family, and his killer deserves justice. Guinevere was th’ one who found him, down in the prison; according to her medical opinion, he was killed sometime during the dinner, or just before, it’s not an exact science.
: ‘Course, no one’s gonna admit they did it - and th’t’s where you come in! King Alaric has put the castle on lockdown, so no one is gettin’ out or in until we discover the murderer, which gives you plenty of time to interrogate the guests.
: Once you’ve talked to everyone, or at least the ones th’t will talk to you, come back to the Great Hall and declare your theory on whodunnit. King Alaric will only hear accusations at a certain time though, so you’ll have to wait until everyone’s gathered.
: Good luck!
BALL RP rules:
--- Once again, here is the link to the DA Chat for this event; click here to get started.
--- There are six rooms, plus the Great Hall, where the guests have spread out. Everyone’s a suspect, so ask whoever is available; some of them may not give you the time of day, but at least you tried.
--- All the rooms have various objects in them too that you can investigate and even collect - consider them “clues.”
--- Whenever you go into a room, you must indicate what you would like to do before typing in the RP material. For instance, if you intend to ask Gaius a question, your submission could look like this:
TALK TO GAIUS: “Excuse me,” Erika said, holding up her notebook to jot her observations down, “but what were you doing tonight at the wedding dinner?”
--- The various actions that can be performed are as follows: TALK: Speaking to someone INSPECT or EXAMINE: Further investigating objects of interest found in the castle; you will be notified of what they are as you enter each room SHOW or PRESENT: Show an item/clue to someone. This also includes things people said (ex. “Gaius told me this.”) USE: Using evidence/item ACCUSE: Go to the Great Hall (hub, dA chatroom) and announce you want to Accuse someone. Do NOT state the name; you will instead send a note to the group with the name of the culprit. You can change the one you wish to accuse up to three times. In the last hour, around 9:30EST, Alaric will ask everyone to once and for all accuse the person they think did it, and then conclude who was right.
--- A limited number of people (3-4) will be allowed to enter the various rooms of the castle at one time. If you wish to enter a room, please announce your intention to do so in the Great Hall (i.e. DA Chatroom) and an admin will provide you with a link to the room you wanted if there is space.
--- If a room is at its cap, please wait to get into until someone leaves that room before asking to enter.
--- You are allowed to collaborate with others and share information but please do so in a respectful way (notes, skype, etc) - some members may want to work alone and gather all of the evidence themselves and thus wouldn’t appreciating being told things they haven’t discovered themselves.
--- If you are working with other person/multiple people, you may ask that all of your characters enter a room together or split up and discuss your findings later.
--- Once again, when you are ready to accuse someone, please announce your intention to do so in the Great Hall (i.e. DA Chatroom).
--- You cannot accuse a SPNC without enough proof. You must be able to prove all of your claims (either with dialogue heard from SNPCs or clues that you collected). Be warned: if you don’t not have enough evidence or accuse the wrong person three times, Alaric will cease to hear you out.
--- All regular chatroom rules apply - i.e be respectful to others, don’t godmod, etc
NEED-TO-KNOW INFORMATION:
BALL RP S.NPC list:
King Alaric: Ruler of Aether, newlywed
Queen Tara: Ruler of Aether, newlywed
Maeve: Tara’s handmaiden, never leaves her side
Ard Ri Ness: Tara’s father, pretty much a jerk
Gaius: Alaric’s advisor, busy-bug
Jackson: Previous king of Aether, ghost
Prince Nicholas: Prince of Aether, can’t get a word in edgewise
Charles Darwing: Nicholas’ tutor, chatty
Capt. Gawain: Captain of the Aether guard, Alaric’s best friend
Lord Bran: Tara’s cousin and Lord of Ulster, the victim
Scáthach: One of Bran’s assassins, very bitter
Aoife: One of Bran’s assassins, broken-hearted
Boris the Chef: Head Chef of the castle, over-worked
Anna: Head Maid of the castle, in need of a nap
Dac: Servant of the castle, the most adorable thing around
Guinevere: Nurse of the castle, found the body
Yubel: Carpenter of the castle, unsure what she’s doing there
Misty: Weather ‘mon of the castle, looking to make her break into hard-hitting news
Caldene: Priest, eager to leave
Dullahan (& Willow): Ghosties, way too happy about the murder
Lords Fergus & Chulainn: Lords of Ulster, visiting dignitaries
Two Strangers…: One Toxicroak and one Politoed, ????
BALL RP Locations:
Great Hall: The central hub. Present are Guinevere, Yubel, Misty, Dullahan (& Willow), Lord Fergus, Lord Chulainn, Caldene, and Two strangers.
'Grand Hall: Not to be confused with the ‘Great’ Hall. Present are Alaric, Tara, Maeve, and Ness.
Kitchen: Where the food happens. Present is Boris the Chef.
Library: I.e. Gaius’ office. Present are Gaius and Jackson.
Solar: Medieval for study. Present are Nicholas and Darwing.
Castle Prison: Where we keep the naughty ones. Present are Gawain, Bran, Scáthach, and Aoife.
Servant’s Quarters: Self-explanatory. Present are Anna and Dac.
Mission/Event 9 Epilogue: After the Ball[]
: EVERYONE PLEASE, MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION! My deepest thanks to everyone for trying to help us catch this murderer. Now, I’d like to request that one of you comes forward to present your findings… Vrikrar!
: !
The large crustacean Pokémon drops a clawful of food he had been eating as the king calls out his name.
: Please come close and give your accusation for everyone to hear.
: I accuse Maeve, King.
: WHAT! You’ve not proof, lobster!
: I’ve uh… plenty!
Vrikrar shuffles through his notes with his big meaty claws.
: Please, speak Vrikrar.
: We all know she was seen carrying the water and bucket that drowned him. Hoping that cleaning gifts would be a suitable alibi. But that’s preposterous, who here would give a dirty gift?
: It would be pretty… mucky of someone to give a dirty gift.
(Everyone groaned.)
: Too weak to take him down on her own, she convinced Gawain to leave, then got him super drunk on fine wine. Being the strong ‘mon that he was, he struggled still, cutting her arm and breaking Yubel’s shoddy lumber. Then she returned to Queen Tara’s side and attempted to remove the evidence by having me drink it. Then things I don’t remember so well. My king.
The Crawdaunt bows tipsily.
: I see… well, given how much some of the ‘mons in this nation drink, I can’t actually pass judgment on you for drinking away evidence.
: She was giving it out for free, King.
: I-I see. Well, I’m sure a hound will be able to pick up the smell of wine on Bran…
There’s a moment of silence that is broken when Maeve dramatically stomps forward with a shout.
: Yeah, that’s right, I did it! Tha’ overgrown purse had it comin’, tryin’ to off the Ard Ri and hurt my queen - well, I wasn’t havin’ any of it! I got that bucket, and the cleaver from Dac, and went down to the prison. After distracting Gawain, it was a cinch to get into the cell, knock th’ brute silly with the base of the cleaver, and drown ‘im! ‘Course he got me a bit with his arm-wing, but tha’ was nothin’ compared to the sweet feelin’ of revenge! An’ I would’ve gott’n away with it too, if it hadn’t been for you meddlin’ Pokémon!
: Gawain, restrain Maeve.
Gawain swiftly takes hold of the ranting Pancham. Alaric and Tara draw close, frowning at her disappointedly before turning to those gathered.
: Well done, all of you. Determining Maeve was the killer was no easy feat, so I thank you for your hard work and swift deduction.
: Great job, everyone! I am pleasssed that the culprit wasss found so quickly - though I wisssh it wasssn’t my own ward… However, there isss something all of you should know. Bran, you can come in now.
On cue, Lord Bran enters the room, alive and well!
: I trust you’ve had your fun, cous’? Because lying so still on the floor has NOT been good on my back.
: Good - now you will think twice before you try to asssssinate someone. Yesss, Maeve did not REALLY kill Bran; ssshe only made it “look” like he died. Seemsss she got a bit overzealousss and went off-script a tad -
: The wine seem’d like a good idea at th’ time -
: - but it wasss all a game at the expense of my cousin’sss comfort.
: I dunno. Something about this whole thing doesn’t seem right - and I don’t mean how ridiculously ironic it was considering what we went through to get the Ard Rí here.
: Yes, sire, the captain is correct. I feel as if something is awry -
A sudden sound cut off Darwing’s voice. Everyone turned to see Vrikrar shoveling down what was left of the food on the table into his mouth. Save for the rhythmic sounds of ”nom nom nom”, the entire room was silent, all stared at the lobster. While taking a second to reach for some wine, Vrikrar noticed everyone’s eyes on him. He dropped the plate of food in his claws and clattered across the floor. The lobster then rolled his eyes at what his second plate of wasted food this evening and raised his claws in the air to get a grip on everyone’s attention, as if he didn’t already have it.
: Err, there also seems to be some sort of threat aimed at you yourself, King, a note signed by Gaius was delivered to Chef, with the request to change the ingredients.
: What? Can you prove this?
: It claimed not to use hazelnuts because their royal snakery were deathly allergic, but the ingredient it suggested as substitute were Leppa berries, something a danger to you. I doubt Gaius wrote it, but I lack any evidence of the true writer.
: I have evidence.
All eyes were cast at the Sneasel - well, all eyes but Vrikrar’s which went back to the plates of food on the table, one of which he eagerly picked up and started eating from again once everyone was distracted.
: Oh? You, young Sneasel? Then please, speak.
: Not one but two notes were sent last night, one supposedly from Darwing, and the other Giaus. Both were fakes. This one was sent to the kitchen, intent on poisoning the king-
He lifts the other letter.
: And this one was to lure the King into the library, only to be stabbed with a meat cleaver that I was trying to find all night.
: When talking to Dac I found the most likely suspect. Or suspects. We have two mystery guests here tonight, guests that were overlooked as the night went on. It is them that made the attempt on our King's life!
: NOBODY MOVE!
Everyone freezes - though for not more than a moment. A cluster of panicking partygoers rapidly draw away, revealing a pair of frog Pokémon- a Toxicroak and a Politoed. Fully exposed from the rest of the crowd, both ‘mon draw the king’s scornful gaze. The face of the smaller green frog suddenly contorts into a sneer.
: GUARDS-!
: Oh, enough of this - DIE!!
The Politoed jumps from the crowd, withdrawing a blade and aiming it for Alaric’s neck. Tara cried out, along with others in the room, and guards moved, eager to protect their king, but they would be far too late, the frog was too slippery and fast… Luckily, someone was just as fast: the Toxicroak, meeting the Politoed’s weapon with his own.
: Stop! I was planning to let you go free, Drog, but I can’t allow you to kill Alaric. I need him ALIVE.
: Really. You honestly expect me to believe that, Bon? You traitor!
: From where I stand, YOU are the traitor - serving “that guy.”
: Truth is, there was no game - or at least, not at first. Drog intended on killing your king tonight after the wedding, and he made several attempts to do so throughout the night. Jay got it mostly right, noticing that the notes sent to various ‘mops did not come from their true writers, and also that your king almost died tonight from poison and a knife. But he did not notice the shattered beam in the prison and what that would mean for Alaric.
: That’s right! I set up that beam in the prison to collapse on top of him, arranged for the leppa berries to poison him, even thought of outright STABBING him in the library!
: Thankfully, I was around to keep an eye on Drog during all this, and that, along with some innocent mishaps, prevented Drog from succeeding.
: And what about you? How can we trust you?
: I am here on… another’s behalf. Besides protecting Alaric, I was also observing him, seeing what he would do with the knowledge he now possesses. But enough talking - time to stop you once and for all!
The Toxicroak abruptly shoves Drog away, pushing on the hilt of his sword, and Drog stumbles backward, gaining his footing and preparing to attack again. But Gawain sweeps forward, grabbing the frog and forcing his arms behind him, causing his blade to clatter to the ground.
: That’s enough out of you, assassin. Who are you working for?
: …
: Tell us, NOW!
: There’s no point in asking him, he’d rather die than say.
: Should we assume the same for you? Your role in this is no less suspicious.
: Well said, milord. Speak up, you miscreant, and perhaps the king will have mercy on you.
Bon says nothing, instead glancing meaningfully at Alaric who has remained quiet throughout it all, even during Drog’s attack. Meanwhile, Tara has stayed by Alaric’s side, eyes wide and frantic - and now she’s staring at her husband with confusion.
: Alaric, my love - what’sss wrong? Why are you so sssilent? You were almossst killed tonight, and you say nothing?! There’sss something bothering you, I know, so please tell usss, I beg you!
: She has a point, sire. I do believe it is time you told all of us what is going on.
The Serperior’s gaze goes from his advisor to his wife, eyes softening. Finally, he sighs, pausing to knead the corners of his eyes with his tail tip before looking at the rest of the room.
: You’re right. It’s time all of you knew …
: Dracul told me… war is coming.