Take Responsibility.

[wordsmithery]

Again, the elevator is waiting for you after the allotted time for investigation is over; it idles almost patiently at each floor, waiting for everyone to be on board before sending all of you up to the courtroom high above. Over a third of your original number is dead. The losses are made all the more apparent by the addition of several greyed-out portraits around the podium circle at the center of the room; Kira, Mercy, Judy, Nick, and Kimbley have all joined the ranks of the deceased, their podiums draped in black. Meanwhile, the lectern above stands empty. The Wordsmith waits for everyone to find their place in the circle before he speaks; once that much has been done, his voice can be heard easily throughout the room. "Welcome back, Apprentices. The past several days have been troublesome indeed, and I need not point out that your number has dropped significantly. But a matter even more pressing requires your attention at the moment. In accordance with Rule Seven, the guilty seeks to leave the university and rewrite history. If you wish to prevent that, hold them accountable and have them take responsibility for the fate of Incendiary." Nineteen Apprentices remain. However many leave here at the end of the day is up to you.

Comments

[plegia]

It wouldn't be possible to win the game with only two people. I don't know what the Wordsmith would do, but there's no way to win if only two people are alive.

[foundfate]

I didn't wake up until the morning.

[Which...doesn't actually help really, now that he thinks about it. It could mean that Varric didn't go anywhere last night, or it could mean that Watanuki slept like a rock and missed everything.]

Look, let's just- let's look at the clues, okay? Me hearing or not hearing him doesn't matter if the clues end up revealing that someone else did it.

[neverheardofhim]

You remember what I said last week though, don't you, Goldie? If I thought someone was going to hurt you or any one else I cared about, I wouldn't hesitate.

If I'm right, then things don't look great for me.

[oyashiromama]

Oh no, I believe another party had to have been involved. Just...if he were the one making the gas, that could have been his impetus.

[firstaid]

I believe it is a murder. I also believe someone knew about his... feelings... and may have seen him as a good victim.

[uncouthhatcher]

[... Well, Gold looks uncomfortable speaking up here, because Varric is a nice guy--]

Ain't got anything against you, Varric, sayin' that now. But could've been an accident, and... this motive seemed to hit a couple people pretty damn hard.

[Varric's reaction is definitely one that came to mind, but it's not like he followed him out.]

[neverheardofhim]

We're assuming that Kimbley would have lived through it too. Unless he's invulnerable to poisonous gas, I don't see how that would be possible.

[plegia]

...Can't wait to watch them get eaten, then.

[matchbreaker]

Well it's pretty hard to knock yourself in the back of the head. If that's still cause of death.

[plentyfriendly]

I also found a few things in his room.

He locked his door, but left it open, and there was no damage to the lock or anything like that. The key was still on his bed, along with a waterlogged doll that looked a lot like Chiyuki.

[uncouthhatcher]

Would we even have a trial for... you know, something like that anyway?

[byday]

Sickening.

But entirely plausible.

[matchbreaker]

[ That's... Elda bites her lip, and actually starts off on Edging towards Hanyuu's platform ]

Are you saying someone killed him to save everyone else, someone killed him out of pity like Bubblegum says, or it was just coincidence?

[oyashiromama]

I do trust you. And I want nothing more than your belief to be the case. [She glances at Varric. They're side-by-side, after all.] But hiding things will just...make the situation more muddled, and it could mean whoever did do this would get away, and we'd all die.

[elepe]

We will still have to consider that possibility, you realize. You should have just said that in the first place.

[It's...perhaps a bit coldly stated. Maybe it's justified considering the subject at hand, but...]

There's plenty else to discuss, so I suppose.

[neverheardofhim]

It did. And if you ask Kimihiro, he can confirm that I even thought about it. He offered me an alternative though.

[plentyfriendly]

Has anyone actually asked what would happen in such a case?

[She regrets not, just a bit! Too late for that now, though.]

[neverheardofhim]

She's right, Goldie. Be honest with 'em.

[elepe]

[...well, that gets a pause.]

He would have reacted violently if he believed he had nothing more to lose. Would that be a correct assessment, Varric?

[uncouthhatcher]

[...]

I don't know shit about chemistry, but I do know that Smokescreen fades as it spreads out. If he kept it to a certain area and then kept away, maybe he would've survived.

[Any trainer can back him up here. It's why you don't use gas/smoke attacks in enclosed areas, because you will die.]

[oyashiromama]

It could be either. I'm just thinking through...what I knew about him.

[Kimbley's not here to speak for himself, so someone has to.]

[plegia]

He's a smart man, he works with chemicals like that. I have no doubts that he would have found a way to kill everyone he wanted to and kept himself alive.

[...why is this striking him weirdly though???]

[feistytrader]

[Copper... chloride? Was it copper chloride?]

I think the copper stuff makes blue fire. Kimbley showed me once. I don't know anything else about it, though.

[ravagers]

A little bit... He told me this week he was being sent on a missiom to a desert town. And that things there hadn't been going as they had planned.

[uncouthhatcher]

Me and Silver have got like, five of those dolls back in our room, so I can tell you right now that they're poppin' out of the vending machine like crazy.

[...]

Did he have it on him or something like that? Why the hell is it so wet?