WEEK 5

[umbralant]

WEEK 5

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Was what happened on Friday yet another tragedy in a string of them or just a complete shitshow? Well, regardless of which line of thought you subscribe to, the reality of it is that another three of your number are no longer in this realm with you. At least the remains of what had happened last week have been neatly cleaned up as always, even if that might not change what’s been etched in your memories. The drum set in the jazz bar remains busted though, because the masterminds aren't that generous. At least the tarot shop and boutique remain fine even if the vanished crystals and women's clothing aren't going to be restocked.

But either way, it’s a new week, and that means new locations to explore as the fog gives way to more of the city and its lamplit streets. The new moon waxes to half this week, appearing as a crescent moon for most of the week. It's far from optimistic, but maybe the brightening is a sign that this will be over soon...? Or maybe it just means the worst is yet to come, it's hard to say.

[[Welcome to Week 5! Note that new areas have been added, and can be found under the Week 5 tab on our Locations page. Once again, feel free to make top levels at your discretion, and remember to note it in your header if you plan on investigating any locations. You can also privately contact The Lady or Rembrandt.]]

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MEETING - HOTEL RESTAURANT

[reanbeans]

[ Rean had, like last time, arrived in the Hotel Restaurant as soon as it hit 12:30PM.

Today, he hadn't brought anything to eat but he's sure everyone would understand.

Once everyone was in, he'll address everyone. ]

I'm glad to see everyone's come. I think as usual we should go over what we learned from this week and the last, especially what the dead have been up to in Twilight.

[ ... ]

Let's also try to come together and figure this out as much as we can. I don't think it can be stressed enough how much we're going to need to work together in order to be successful.

Remember, the Lady wants us to fail. So let's do our best to prove how wrong she is to keep holding those same expectations.

[ And with that, discussion's open. As always, treat as a general mingle. \o/ ]

[deadlygoals]

[ No food means he's going back to his fling... a new back of chips. ]

Lady took some stuff out of the autoshop. Just the heavy machines and she probably took parts from the other cars that were there. Dist is going to help figure out what.

[ Dist is being a good helper so pls appreciate him. ]

I did find something about work done to salt mines. I wonder if there's a way to access them around here?

[ He actually brought the file with him. ]

[reanbeans]

[ Aidios bless Dist ]

...There is the subway. It might lead to the salt mines, though if it's the exact same way Dist and I saw it before, we're going to have to try another route.

Anyway, what kind of work was it?

[ortion]

About that...

[Dist chimes in after a confirmation of what Dazai said.]

It is actually getting worse down there.

[deadlygoals]

Lighting, air conditioning maintenance, cat walks... It's a pretty thick file.

[inordertobelieve]

[ Mikami is here, with a cup of coffee from the opera house, because god, he needs a lot of that today. Yesterday was... he's not sure what it was. Was it fun? Probably not. Was it a welcome distraction? Yes. Does he feel absolutely miserable today because he isn't accustomed to drinking? Also yes. Those are the trappings of running from your problems, he is learning now, for the first time, at age 27. ]

We really need to sit back and figure out an actual concrete plan for ourselves as a group - beyond just 'surviving'. Even though, evidently, even that has been too much for us. If anyone even considers taking this motive...

[ He just trails off and massages his forehead for a second. He looks very much like he wants to execute any motive-takers himself.

And that's it, that's the speech, he's too tired for more. Thanks Mikami....? ]

[deadlygoals]

[ Want a chip, buddy? ]

[inordertobelieve]

[ After a skeptical consideration of the package... yeah. A single chip. We've reached this level of camaraderie. ]

[reanbeans]

...I think you're right.

Enough is enough. Though I figure the motive might be rather tempting since it's a threat than an offer this time.

[ He'll sigh. Time to try patrolling again as usual. ]

[inordertobelieve]

It's a stupid threat. One should live in such a way that secrets of this caliber don't amass in the first place.

But I know nobody here is concerned with how one should live to start with.

[ Apparently Mikami getting more familiar with everyone just means he's casually mean all the time now. ]

Still. If we take the Lady down, her threat is neutralized as well. Everyone should put their efforts there.

[raventhaw]

I’m sure someone will.

[ she’s not very optimistic!!! ]

But if we’re nearing the end, chances are she’ll stop dishing out motives in the near future.

[drydrown]

[Cumore is here, and he's got his head down on the table because goddddd he doesn't drink ever and he feels disgusting today, but you know what he's here at all and clearly no one can fault him for trying.]

I stand by what I said at the trial. We all stop yelling about how worthless or useless everyone may or may not be. If you want to survive you're going to either make yourself useful or you're going to stop whining.

It would be for the best if we could be cohesively useful, but at this point I think that's a bit much to ask.

[psychophant]

Since Rembrandt has been spending much of his time in the art museum lately, I took the opportunity to examine the church, and more specifically, the area where he usually stays. The only thing I was able to find was a strange book. I didn't bring that, but I did copy down everything that was in it.

[And here it is! His handwriting is very fancy with entirely too much flourish, so hopefully you guys can read it. And since this is clearly important, it's in purple ink!!]

Otherwise, I spoke with the Lady about what she said yesterday; she confirmed that we're nearing the end of this. I don't know exactly what she has in mind for the end, however.

[reanbeans]

...It feels like this is the type of thing he'd leave behind on purpose because of just how silly it was. Maybe it's meant to be a riddle.

[ But Aidios knows what to make of it. ]

[bawcock]

Do we even know what she's after? The best I've got is something Rembrandt told me—and I've got no idea what it meant or how I was supposed to take it.

breaking and entering

[deadlygoals]

Is there any places we haven't been able to check out yet? I want to try breaking into the hotel, but the furniture in the way implies they may have been trying to keep something in there.

[ And he's but a wee noodle. ]

[moonfang]

Yeah, about that...

I actually tried to break in through the second story windows yesterday. It didn't work -- the glass is super thick. But also, it seems like all the rooms were being used fer some sort of experiments and on top of that, they were all boobytrapped to hell and back with what looks like Rembrandt's magic. Whatever is in those hotel rooms, the Bitch doesn't want us anywhere near 'em.

[bawcock]

Oh. I finally got around to asking Rembrandt about all of our powers—and I think we can safely say he isn't running around using anyone's abilities. Wherever they went, they're unrelated to what he's got going on.

[ ymmv if this is good news or bad news or worthwhile news ]

[notbymyside]

[That is probably good news here tbh]

So everything he does is of his own ability?

[moonfang]

[If you look, Zangetsu physically relaxes, like a huge weight was taken off his shoulders]

Thank something. What a relief...

[reanbeans]

[ And so this wasn't entirely obvious while the thread was wrapping up, at some point Rean pulled the paintings out from underneath a tablet or something.

Don't worry, he had wrapped them up in cloth so they weren't damaged. ]

Before I forget, there's something I want to show everyone. It's these paintings.

The first one seems to be consisting of a red moon along with with a city, as you can see...and you can spot blue eyes from the people in cars and windows. Another important thing to note that I don't think this is Krakow, as the buildings look more Eastern than Western. The timeline looks like it's also from an earlier time, judging by the appearance of the vehicles as well.

[ Here, of course, as he held it out, leaning it against one of the walls. Then he'll bring out the second one to put it right next to the first. ]

There's also this one...and I've hardly any idea what to make of it. Half of it's empty with this arch right in the middle, and underneath that arch is some orb that looks half-white, half-black. And it looks almost like you can feel the energy glowing around the orb.

[ He's not sure how to describe it so people can just...look. The painting spoke for itself. But anyway, he brought out the third... ]

It looks like it's showing a bird that's fallen—and uh, died. Judging by the red paint here. [ He felt a little silly talking about this, but!! ] But then if you look right to the middle, the energy from that orb fell upon the bird and then over to the right you can see it's flying—with red eyes.

...So, anyone know what to make of this? I'm thinking that bird's definitely someone—or something—definitely related to the Lady, but other than that it's really hard to follow.

[notbymyside]

It seems to be telling the story of a bird dying and being brought back to life. Perhaps the orb represents that power to conquer death?

But regardless, art usually tells stories in abstract ways. I wouldn't be surprised if we are meant to believe that there is a way to revive the dead.

[moonfang]

[Zangetsu takes one of the pieces and turns it sideways, like that might change things]

Huh. This seems... oddly specific.

[deadlygoals]

We do know someone with red eyes. [ Rembrandt.

He's going to look between the paintings though. ]

Figuring out what art means isn't really my expertise...

[ Even if he dabbled in it a little. ]

[bawcock]

Why is it always orbs?

[ This isn't a useful contribution at all but, like, why orbs. ]