[Fin] Murder in the Mountains (End)

[TenOfSwords13]

Midnight Red has been asleep for some time, having collapsed in the front hall as soon as he arrived. Now, he awakes, muttering to himself.

... the storm of ice continues beyond the walls. Woe is me, yet perhaps a blessing of a muse...

[artsyGeek]

[Huh, a poetic person. Definitely not something he expected in a place like this, but it's quite interesting.]

[. .he's still not going to bother with an actual introduction though. He simply waves at Red (do you mind if I call 'im that?), looking otherwise disinterested.]

[TenOfSwords13]

Red waves back, tiredly.

Greetings. How do you fare on this cold, dark, day?

[artsyGeek]

"Could've been better. For one, the snowstorm is. .definitely not good. Not by much, but still. There's also a corpse here apparently."

". .then there's this. .person. Keeps talking about "the Old Gods" and some weird cult-like bullshit."

[He sits down on the floor, leaning on the wall - whereupon a few butterflies seem to appear out of thin air nearby.]

". .the hell have you lot gone to?" [he muttered in their direction.]

[TenOfSwords13]

Red takes a notepad and a pen out of his jacket, and starts writing.

... hmmm... this could be the dawn of a story... a blizzard, a corpse, and madmen...

[artsyGeek]

"A story? What are you, a reporter?"

[TenOfSwords13]

I am rarely a man of truth- I am a master wordsmith, whose fictions entertain the minds of the masses!

[Florien]

From the locked room of the Very Subtle Death Cultist(tm) comes a shriek of

NO! IT'S NOT THE START OF A STORY! IT'S THE CONTINUATION OF ONE THAT'S BEEN GOING ON SINCE WHEN THE OLD GODS WERE YOUNG! FROM WHEN LIFE WAS INTERMITTENTLY FLOPPY AND CRUNCHY, AND WHEN THE OCEANS WERE ROCK ALL THE WAY UP! WHEN THE GIANTS WERE SMALL, THE SMALL ONES GIANTS! WHEN THE DOMINANT SPECIES FOLLOWED THE WAY OF THE SECOND CIRCLE OF THE SEVEN AND A QUARTER CIRCLES, WHEN THE LAND WAS RULED BY DECAY! AND DON'T YOU FORGET IT!

They fall silent as the conversation continues. Were they listening specifically for a chance to shout at someone?

[TenOfSwords13]

I thank you for your input, cacophonous voice.

Red continues writing.

[artsyGeek]

"Ah, a writer. That sounds n-"

[Annnddd then that shriek happened :tm:.]

[Kondraki looks at the general direction of where it came from, before yelling back with,] "I HOPE WHATEVER GOD YOU'RE PRAYING TO IS LISTENING, DIPSHIT. NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOUR GODS!"

[After that, he clears his throat.] "Anyways, what were we talking about again? Right, your work."

[TenOfSwords13]

Red looks up from his notepad.

I compose spectacles for the stage, for the screen, and to be witnessed in written word. Many of my works have been said to be "unsettling" and "horrifying"... and I assume those are favourable words.

[artsyGeek]

"Ah, the horror genre."

[He sighs.]  "Wish I could say more about it. After all the shit that happens in my work, I've grown used to it to the point that, in the rare chance I see it, I'm barely fazed with the genre's shenanigans."

[TenOfSwords13]

Hmmm... what do you do to sustain yourself, that works such as mine leave no effect?

[artsyGeek]

[The researcher shrugs.]

"I'd tell you, but I doubt that I could. Or rather, should."

[Cassie]

"yikes they could've ended up opening that guy's room, good thing i drew them to the crow maid's".

...sus. Someone else is in here.

[MadameButterflyKnife]

Blue is now very on edge from the weird voices. Okay, they're definetly watching us, someone's watching us...can't be BLI, we're too far, but something's watching us in here.

>investigate the Voice

[PointMaid]

You all seem to be very creative people, Ada says with a grin. We're working on a game, actually. I code, Chip does design work, we both do some of the writing.

She also > Looks to see if there's any internet in the house

[Mr. Lee Hammer]

> Also hop on in the investigation of the voice

[Cassie]

> The voice

...that is odd. No one else can be seen within the cabin.

> Internet

...It's doubtful that internet access can be achieved when the snowstorm's this harsh.

[TenOfSwords13]

A disombedied voice, for which exploration reveals no source... a phantom, no doubt.

Red clears his throat, then shouts:

REVEAL THYSELF, INFERNAL SPIRIT!

[PointMaid]

Well, no internet. Damn. I don't even know that there's a router to fix or a... dish to clear off? Is satellite internet a thing out here? Maybe it's through the cell towers, we can't do anything about that, if the signal even reaches out here...

...Somebody's got a sound system set up for sure, though, she says, referring to the voice.

[Kennifer]

"Okay yeah, see this started off like some kind of wacky sitcom thing... Buncha random people go hiking, get snowed in together, hilarity and hi-jinx ensue, yadda yadda yadda, storm clears up and everybody goes home. But man, this is getting really dark really fast..."

Probably still with some comedic moments, Amy thought. Especially with that over-the-top death cultist. And this other dramatic guy who just woke up. Disembodied voice could go either way.

[artsyGeek]

[Okay wow. First off, some horror writer who's a taaad bit overdramatic, but it's not like Malakhiri's overdramaticness. That's fine, he could deal with, err, "poetic" people. Then there's the couple - Or at least, the gal. Seems like they're the sort of people who'd deny weird shit happening via mundane explanations.]

[Man, sometimes he wish he knows any terms that are shorter than that. Kondraki looks over to the others, noting how. .odd, some of them are. One might even call 'em. .anomalous.]

[. .that joke didn't landed very well due to the only anomalous ones being Tainted Soul and Freddy as far as I recall but my point still stands.]

". .this. .sure is a group to be stuck with."

[KungFuCutbug]

> silently investigate for a sound system

[Kennifer]

Amy's gonna

> see if anyone's hiding and that's where the voice is from