Tol-in-Gaurhoth LXIII: The Cottage of Lost Play

[Mnemosyne]

Lalaith woke up almost thinking she was back at home. The sun was shining in from under the curtains in her windows, and the dark shapes of the plush chairs in her room were quite comforting. But when she pushed the curtains open, the sight of the landscapes of Arda all cobbled together with little reason quickly reminded her of where she was.

Sighing, she walked over to her closet and pulled out a dress to wear. It was time to see what the day brought.

The room downstairs had a light breakfast set out on it. About half the guests were already seated and eating. Things were strangely silent. No one wanted to learn whether what the lady said was true or not.

Everyone heaved a sigh of relief when the last guest, Boromir88, sat down at the table. No one had died.

The meal was finished, but there was no sign of the lady in black, nor of anyone who had anything to do with the actual mansion.

“Well,” said Shasta, “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I wouldn’t mind leaving this place. It gives me the creeps.”

“Yeah, but is anyone going to know the way out of here?” said McCaber.

“We can try,” said Nogrod. “This seems to be one of the more livable parts of the house. Maybe the exit’s nearby.”

Quietly the group walked out the main door to the dining room. A hallway led out from it, and as they walked along it things seemed to get lighter.

“The air smells better here,” said Nerwen.

At last they saw at the end of the hallway a door, with sunlight streaming in through a grille.

Pitchwife ran towards it. “Aha!” He pulled on the door. It was locked. He muttered an oath under his breath, then stepped back and looked away.

The door was covered in scratch marks. Some of them were red.

“Look!” cried autume from behind. To the side lay the lady in black on the floor with a large gash across her chest, her hair spilled out on the floor and matted in her own blood. There was a hole where her heart used to be, and her neck had clearly been crushed.

“I guess she wasn’t joking,” said Eönwë, “though I doubt she had this end in mind. Now what do we do?”

IT IS NOW DAY ONE.

The Living:
Nessa Telrunya
Inziladun
Shastanis Athreduin
Pitchwife
McCaber
Nogrod
autume98
Boromir88
Lalaith
Nerwen
Rikae
Feanor of the Peredhil
Eönwë

[Boromir88]

*looking down at the bloody mess, Boro decides to break the shock*

'So...How do you suppose she died?' (How do you suppose she died? Really, that's the best you can come up with!)

[Inziladun]

This rather reminds me of the movie Clue. Except we aren't being blackmailed. And Tim Curry isn't here.
How she met her end is, I think, immaterial at this point. We must now take thought for ourselves. It seems we must take her words as truth: we cannot leave this place until we succeed in destroying those among us who have been cursed by her.

x/d with Pitchwife and Fea

[Boromir88]

Well, I must say I'm not a fan of blood, unless it be my own blood. Grey's Anatomy, ER, none of those doctor shows...ugh...as soon as they start poking around in a person's body, I cover up and squeam around. If someone would care to get the blood, I could bring myself to move the body...stiff bodies are a bit more tolerable than bodies covered in blood. Though by the looks of most people's faces, I can't tell who's dead or alive at this point.

So...Inzil, If only Tim Curry were here, he'd sort this entire thing out. Speaking of which, who was the murderer in the movie? Wasn't Mr. Green a detective? Whoever the detective was, that is me, this will be solved in no time.

[autume98]

This is the LAST thing on my mind on what to expect when I accepted the invitation to come. My mind is reeling with what this all means. Not to mention the gruesome site before me is starting to make me feel a little queasy. I decide to follow Fea's lead and help look for some cleaning materials.

[Pitchwife]

*comes back laden with towels and begins to mop up the blood*
Glad you're willing to help, autume! I don't like leaving Fea alone over there. Kitchen's that way. *indicates*
If anybody else wants to be useful, it would be great to find a working telephone in this place! I found a computer in my room - the only thing unpacked, just like in real life - , but without internet access; I tried last night.
*looks up at Inzil*
No, I don't suggest we just sit and wait what happens. We'll have to find out who of us was cursed - assuming anybody truly was - and how to deal with them. A time for merciless decisions may yet come - but now is not that time. All I'm saying is, let's not be hasty.
By the way, I haven't seen that movie you and Boro are talking about, but if the situation we've been put in doesn't qualify as being blackmailed by your book, I don't know what would.
Now, I wonder whether this corpse is going to fit into the freezer in one piece... *gulp*

[Lalaith]

Not so hasty, good people. Where is Nerwen and her camera?
I don't feel right about moving the body, but I accept that under the circumstances we can't leave it here...however, before we move it, or clean up, we should photograph the body and the crime scene carefully.

[Shastanis Althreduin]

I feel bad for her, but... to be quite honest, she brought this end upon herself. Yes, she apparently created this... Land of Tolkien, for lack of a better, term, and yes, she was kind enough to invite us all here... but she did turn three of us into slavering beasts and she did trap us here with them, all on the pretext of some "quest". Am I going to be glad it was her and not me? You bet.

Thank you for volunteering to clean this up, ladies. Some of the men want to volunteer for gravedigger detail? No, wait - we can't get out of this house, can we? I don't suppose there's a cellar or something... I'd volunteer myself, but... I have an idea...

-vanishes upstairs-

[Eönwë]

People, people, calm down!

It's only the first morning and already you're turning on each other. Of course its important how she died, and by the looks of it, unless we find any large, blood-hungry clawed creatures around then I assume we must trust what she said.
And also, what if she didn't mention something on purpose? Maybe there were more things put in the food that she didn't tell us about. Well, she's dead now so there's no point expecting an answer.

And also, Pitchwife, I think If you cut here *points* and here *points* , then she will fit in. But what are we going to do if we don't manage to sort out the problem and they kill more of us toMorrow? We have no more space.

And why are we all so quiet? We've all had a good Night's sleep (except the werewolf-morphers), so let's get something done toDay.

[Pitchwife]

No, Fea, you're not alone, and I'll be with you cleaning up in a moment (good point about the fridge, by the way!)
Inzil, the question how she died is not quite so immaterial as you make it. There's still a vague possibility she kept a toothed and clawed pet which turned on her - I mean, one that was here prior to our arrival. The only other explanation is that she did tell the truth, which is a quite...er... disturbing thought.
As for those of us who have been cursed by her (assuming she told the truth), have you no pity for them? They didn't ask for it, did they? It might have been you or me. For all I know, you might be one of them.
*heads off to help Fea, but turns back on second thought*
By the way, looking for exits may be futile. From what we've seen so far, our host was thorough and meticulous in the execution of her plans. I don't think she left us any easy way out of this. And if her mind worked the way I think it did, she's probably left a Middle-earth equivalent for big white balloons patrolling outside.
*leaves*

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Pitchwife

As for those of us who have been cursed by her (assuming she told the truth), have you no pity for them? They didn't ask for it, did they? It might have been you or me. For all I know, you might be one of them.

Pity, yes. Mercy, no. Seeing that there is a disturbing corpse in front of us, I think I have to assume she was indeed truthful. Or are you suggesting we should simply wait and see what happens?

[Pitchwife]

Well, to quote Sam Gamgee: A nice pickle we've landed ourselves in, my dear fellow-Downers! I came here to admire the sub-subcreative efforts of our host, meet some Downers in real life for a change, and have some nice bookish discussions with you, like about immortality and the sons of Elrond or the question whether Orcs can be redeemed - in any case, not to play a weird game with our dear real lives at stake.
As it turns out, our late host - may Eru, or whoever, have more mercy on her black soul than I would - had other plans.
There may be another way to explain this mess, but I'm afraid we'll have to assume that what she told us last night was the truth. In this case, and unless the key to this door can be found on her corpse (has anybody searched?), we're going to need Sam's stubborn courage, Gandalf's wisdom and the discerning intellect of *insert fitting character who escapes me at the moment* to get out of this alive - or at least, get as many of us out of here alive as we possibly can.
*long sigh*
So much for rhetorics. Now, how do we go about this? Hate to admit it, but I'm lost - as most of you, I suppose, since we've been standing here for an hour without anybody saying anything. Any suggestions?

EDIT: x-ed with Boro

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

Glancing around, I notice you all staring fixedly at your feet, at the walls, at the bloody scratches on the doorway, at thin air... Nobody will meet anybody else's eyes, and though you snatch hesitant glances toward the body, there is an incredibly awkward silence.

I can no longer take it. Knowing I'll have nightmares from this later, knowing I should probably be in therapy already, knowing I never should have went along with a crackpot Facebook invitation to an internet stranger's abode (my parents spent how many years warning me about this?), I feel myself slip into a state of almost zen-like calm, as I always do at times like this.

"It's too late to call a doctor. And we're trapped, so she said." I watch you all look up, seeing varying states of fear, nausea, and helplessness in your eyes. "We need volunteers to search the house for exits. Nobody should go anywhere alone. She said we would be safe during the Day... it should be okay to look around together. Also... We need volunteers to put the body in the freezer. I know you're not supposed to touch a crime scene, but I don't know how long we're going to be here, and in this case, it might be more important to preserve the body than to leave it to rot and bloat on the floor. Then..." I look around at the incredulous faces. "I need somebody to help me clean up the blood. It's a biohazard."

I know that the secret to leadership is to behave like it's natural for everyone to listen to you, so instead of waiting for responses, or begging for acquiescence, I begin to walk to where I think the kitchens are, hoping to find ammonia and towels, hoping someone will help me with the grisly mess on the floor, resigned to the fact that I might well be the only person in the room who can see something traumatizing and be sensible instead of melodramatic about it.

[McCaber]

Wait, there's a troop of bloodthirsty killers among us, and people are urging to wait and see what happens? The only thing I can foresee with that happening is more bloody deaths before someone decides that we just might have to consider taking action.

Ah well. I would propose we move away from this mess and discuss things like civilized people in the dining chambers.

[Nogrod]

I see this place is more haunted I thought in the beginning - so let's forget my last idea... Someone has changed the reality. Just a moment before what was yesterDay evening's reality the lady in black said:

Originally Posted by the previous yesterDay

“Oh, and if you don't kill anyone during the day, you all Have a pleasant night.”

But it seems the yesterDay has been changed...

Originally Posted by the current yesterDay

"Oh, and if you don't kill anyone during the day, you all die. Have a pleasant night.”

[Eönwë]

Originally Posted by Nogrod

But it seems the yesterDay has been changed...

No, it was always like that. You must have just misheard...

It's all in your mind...



Now, where was I?

[Boromir88]

Boro, are you actually legal yet? It's so hard to keep track. I'm for a lively G&T, myself...~Lalaith

Affirmative, though for now I think I will just have my coffee fix...mmm what types of roast do we have in this joint?

Boro is looking decent here. Sound words, sensible advice, that sort of thing.~McCaber

Weird, I've been trying to sound as non-sensical a possible, although right now can't really explain why, perhaps I can do it tomorrow. McCaber's list there looks sneaky, well ok...it's really only about me. I guess it's really hard for me to not be so sensible, despite intentional attempts to not be.

On this note: my sole purpose in werewolf games is to entertain my mod or moddess.~Fea

Agreed. And even if your purpose be not to entertain the other guests, I assure you, you do. Though I must ask, is it not possible to do both? That is entertain and find those who had cursed-steak?

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

Originally Posted by Boromir88

Agreed. And even if your purpose be not to entertain the other guests, I assure you, you do. Though I must ask, is it not possible to do both? That is entertain and find those who had cursed-steak?

"Why thank you, sir," I say, somehow managing to convey - while seated eating half a peanut butter sandwich - the illusion of a deep curtsy.

I ponder Boromir88's thoughts. The trouble, I realize, is that I'm not a team player and never have been. I sit off to the side and watch, and once I think I know something, I point. There, there, there, and there, I'll point. They've been inconsistent, or they've admitted, or they've been sneakin'.

I rarely make a spectacle of my critical thought, because I find that people change their actions based on their understanding of perceptions.

So I make a target of myself, and I watch.

I always watch.

"I can try to help more," I say finally, hesitant, "but it will put me at a distinct disadvantage, since I really don't know how to be helpful to anybody but myself, because I don't know what others need to see in order to make judgment calls, whereas I know perfectly well what my best methods of learning are."

[Nogrod]

Originally Posted by McCaber

Ah well. I would propose we move away from this mess and discuss things like civilized people in the dining chambers.

Fully agreed. We've already past the second breakfast but could just make it for a late eleventies or an early supper...

[Shastanis Althreduin]

Please, no. Dining rooms make for stilted conversation and they tend to be quite uncomfortable otherwise. May I suggest the parlor?

-suits actions to words, striding into the parlor and poking up the fire to drive off an unnatural chill-

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Nogrod

So what do you think people, should we take her words for real and try this Day without killing anyone to see if we will have a "pleasant Night" or not? The only problem I see with that kind of proposition is the way she pronounced very highlightingly "you all", which should mean also those she had turned into evil... Who knows this devilry here but at least we should discuss our views about it first before going at each other's necks for real..."

As you noted sir, the option of taking no action is certainly off the table now. Our hostess seems to have taken great pains to arrange all this, and I've become more and more doubtful that her own apparent death was unexpected to her.
Our difficult task now it to try and get enough of a clear head to think things through, and eliminate the evil among us while sparing the innocent. Seems obvious enough, but the deed itself will likely prove much harder in practice.

Originally Posted by Shastanis Althreduin

Please, no. Dining rooms make for stilted conversation and they tend to be quite uncomfortable otherwise. May I suggest the parlor?
-suits actions to words, striding into the parlor and poking up the fire to drive off an unnatural chill-

I hadn't noticed any chill, but I find a good fire is often helpful when one is in need of good thinking.

[Nogrod]

Walking up the stairs Inzy's words still echoed in Nogrod's head and he stopped suddenly turning around.

Originally Posted by Inziladun

Our difficult task now it to try and get enough of a clear head to think things through, and eliminate the evil among us while sparing the innocent. Seems obvious enough, but the deed itself will likely prove much harder in practice.

"Don't you think that a bit obvious thing to say Inzy? How about actually trying to do something and not just repeating that truism?"

He flashed a and turned again to go to his room.

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Nogrod

Walking up the stairs Inzy's words still echoed in Nogrod's head and he stopped suddenly turning around.
"Don't you think that a bit obvious thing to say Inzy? How about actually trying to do something and not just repeating that truism?"

Well, I noted myself that it was obvious. Simply trying to get everyone involved with what needs to be done.

[Nogrod]

Nogrod was sitting at the dining chambers waiting for the eleventies in vain. No one did anything - except Shasta who went to the parlor helping the fire.

Nogrod was getting frustrated while his eyelids felt heavy for the time-difference. Darn it, no one talks... Phwwt... Don't they see the mess we're in? That altered reality and all... yes, yes, everyone's in shock and it's hard to focus one's mind with nothing to focus it with... but some effort, please... He was almost napping at the table when he suddenly woke up. I need to go to sleep... my head is dizzy. But someone has to start something... Blah, someone has to...

Nogrod stood up and walked back to the others, well midway between those who still lingered at the "black lady's" corpse and those that had followed Shasta to the parlor - some of the 'Downers were missing, probably under the same jet-lag Nogrod felt himself to be under... or was it just the stress... well, whatever.

"Okay, I need to get a good nap to clear my head, sorry about that. But it really looks like we actually do have to kill someone of us with the risk of getting us all killed if we fail that. That altered yesterDay made me confident with it. So let's not make it a lottery... and I don't think the lady in Black is really dead. There is more magic or illusions here.

But to avoid the lottery let's everyone speak and let us others know what they think. And even if this sounds cruel I do suggest we start this hideous killing with those who decide to stay silent or try to be especially careful. It's easy to hide and if everyone hides we can but guess. There's ample time though, so I'd not blame anyone especially right now; but when the evening draws on and the Day grows old, and if there still are people who hide away from discussion, they should be the first one's to go.

What I think so far then... well there is little to go on, but I'm afraid of Fea already. Her nice little act of being at the same time so terrified and/or traumatized with blood and looking so helpful was a bit too fitting to be honest. Like she had to especially prove to us she was innocent from the very first time she opened her mouth.

Also I'm a bit worried with Shasta running up and down looking like doing a lot from the early morning up to now but in the end just telling us he's doing things - okay, I do appreciate the fire, but anyway. The way McCaber just says that we should discuss without giving even a slightest thought of his own to be shared looks bad as well. It's easy to show a considerate face saying "let's discuss this", but it is quite nasty to then fall silent without contributing anything to the discussion one calls for.

Of others I tend to like what Pitch, Eönwë and Inzil are doing thus far. Not that I trust anyone of them more than you others, but the way they talk looks like they are getting involved - be that good or bad involvement.

Boro also looks promising in the sense meant above, even if I kind of disliked his happy jump to Fea's "dislike of blood" -thingy which he apparently dropped as soon as Inzy made a remark of the problematics with it... Well, early hours, early hours and not lot to say.

I hope you others have given even one cent's worth of opinions when I wake up again. Now sorry but I'm off to my room."