Take Responsibility.

[wordsmithery]

The time allotted for investigation this week is a bit longer than normal - not due to anything done wrong on the part of the Apprentices, but perhaps due to a basic understanding that two corpses are going to be decidedly more difficult to handle than one. However, at the end of the time period you've been given, the elevator is waiting for you, as cold and sterile as always in its journey up to the courtroom; you're down to almost half of your original number, and if anything is going to indicate that this shows no signs of stopping, it's probably this week. The deceased have had three more join their numbers since you were here last - Gold, Varric, and Viktor's portraits have been greyed-out and set atop their spots in the podium circle, the podiums themselves draped in black fabric. As always, the lectern above stands empty. Whether he's with you or not, however, once everyone has found their place in the circle, the Wordsmith's voice can be heard throughout the room. "Welcome back. Two more Apprentices are missing from your number today, and I have little doubt that weighs heavily on your minds. Balanced and Capricious have been lost to you, so that the guilty may have a chance to leave the academy and possibly even gain something otherwise impossible to attain. If you wish for your fallen Apprentices to receive justice in death, then you know what to do: yet again, hold the guilty accountable." Sixteen Apprentices remain. However many leave here at the end of the day has yet to be seen.

Comments

[firstaid]

It... it could have been that, correct.

[introspects]

I wouldn't be completely sure it was Varric who did this.

[firstaid]

You, knock it off! This is no laughing matter!

[Yeah, Estelle's on edge and not taking this shit today.]

[elepe]

...Did Varric use either of those? Or perhaps the culprit did, instead.

[tsugomori]

Oh yes, it was to the crossbow called "Bianca", I believe.

[introspects]

Ah, I can turn that on, Marker-san.

[ so. she's from 2003...when these sorts of phones weren't really a thing...but she knows what power buttons are?! so she's going to press that to turn it on. ]

[plegia]

What are you supposed to do when you hear something like that? It's hilarious!

[oh my god i am so sorry]

[firstaid]

I... I want to say he used the crossbows, however, I'm not entirely sure.

[iaspis]

They were in the bar.

There were also glasses containing a drink, but I didn't bring those.

[elepe]

...Gangrel, there's a time and a place.

[...it's not all that forceful, however, and sounds...amused, almost? Good to know the shitlord never changes, at least.]

[introspects]

Plus, if Varric-san really wanted us to know for sure that it was him, I doubt he would have used the shower in his room to wash off the evidence.

[tsugomori]

Yes. Although I think Hanyuu had looked more closely at him than I did...

[ Because there was no way in 100 hells he was getting near that mess. So god bless Hanyuu. ]

[iaspis]

[gangrel, she will walk over there and literally lift you a foot off the ground if you don't shut up]

[plegia]

[And you know what, that's what will get him to shut up. He waves a hand as if to dismiss it, but he won't fire back with any obnoxious comments or anything so. Well done, Lusamine??]

[sportadork]

So, if we can only figure out who can play the trombone... We'll find the killer! [GOOD JOB EVERYONE LET'S WRAP THIS SHIT UP]

[matchbreaker]

Oh, thanks. I still don't get how that's even a phone.

[ BUT OH WELL. MAYBE THERE IS MORE TO BE FOUND ON THERE. ... You know other than selfies and nudes ]

[introspects]

Did the glasses look like someone drank out of them? How full were they?

[ aaaand we're just going to look at the book. what does the page say? ]

cw: brain matter

[oyashiromama]

From Viktor.

[...Yeah, Hanyuu looks incredibly pained to be saying this. And apologetic. Before she starts, she glances at the podiums to either side of her. Varric... Gold...]

I... I examined his body.

He was in the music room, pressed against the piano, back first. He had...an open head-wound. That was definitely the cause of death. [...This sucks-] It was- it seemed excessive, and furthermore like... Aah, there was...brain residue, on the piano. But it didn't seem like being slammed against the piano would be enough to cause such an injury, nor the splatter.

[...A moment.]

Besides that, aah...both of his arms were broken, messily, and his chest had some bruising. Not as extensive as Varric's wounds, but enough to leave a mark. Besides that...I noticed some glitter a few feet away from his body, undoubtedly from his clothes.

[That...covers that? She looks exhausted from just recounting all of this, but then, Hanyuu looks kind of exhausted by default lately.]

[elepe]

[...

She can't believe that actually worked, what the shit]

[tsugomori]

Ha ha ha, that's quite a good idea, isn't it?

[ if only!!! ]

[trustwellness]

[Between the two of you, you'll probably be able to figure out how to navigate the phone pretty easily! What you're looking for is in the photos. Some of them were taken here inside the school, but the important ones were taken back in Viktor's home world. There's photos of the streets of St. Petersburg and other places, like Hasetsu in Japan. If you keep poking around for long enough maybe you'll find the nude photos in a separate folder, but the important part here are the photos of foreign places!]

[acherontiastyx]

I don't think you have to play trombone to bean someone over the head with it.

...actually, wouldn't someone who did wanna keep their instrument of choice in good shape? Unless they actually hated it, I guess.

[matchbreaker]

He named the thing?

[plegia]

[PLEASE DON'T HE'S SCARED OF HEIGHTS

but also he's shut up because lusamine can actually get him to sit somehow]

[oyashiromama]

He was.

[THANKS GUZMA]