Post by Magnus C. Aurelius✾ on Dec 7, 2021 23:47:01 GMT -5
[Entering From: Blue Dress]
"To the next venture, onward into the unknown with praise and delight, oh what a wonderous night." The musings of an old friend played in Magnus's mind as he walked alongside his horse, striding with his long legs in order to keep up with it. He was sure he could ride the horse alongside Victoria, after all his noble steed Cloud was certainly strong enough to lift them both, having been bred for battles that no longer exist. However, he didn't want to crowd the saddle, nor did he think having the magic knight/ noblewoman having the share the limited saddle space with someone that took up most of it. Alongside the fact that he didn't want to work the horse any more than he already had for the day, after all, he did ride it nearly all the way to the Forsaken Region from the Common region earlier within the morning. The sky had now darkened to shades of blue and purple, the air became crisp and colder, and the wind would begin to pick up in small fierce bursts blowing leaves and hair about.
Through conversation Magnus and Victoria had decided on the next event to attend together, now having done two of the games alongside one another, and Magnus was happy to keep the streak going with his new traveling companion. Murder Mystery, was the name of the game, and as they came upon a stall with the words written atop of its hastily wooden made contraption most likely through hard labor as opposed to magic judging by the shabby workmanship. Walking toward the signup table, he helped Victoria off the horse so she could fill out the forms, as he filled out his as well. He tied the horse up by its reigns nearby, petting its head gently and taking the bag of feed that was near its saddle out and placing it in front of it on hanging it from a wooden post, allowing it to simply eat while it waited. The horse obliged and began to eat merrily. Cloud seemed to be enjoying the crisp night air more than Magnus and as such he was comfortable with leaving it outside while he went inside to the starting game. The house looked like the type that could be found within the high-end side of the commoner's region, it had wooden shingles and was made of both wood and stone. The house looked to be about two stories and had 8 windows from the front. The door was ornate, and orange curtains could be seen blocking the inside of the windows to the house. Magnus was given the role of a stableman, which he thought was fitting considering he had a horse, and the knowledge that the horse apparently had a small stable built on the side of it. Whereas Victoria was given the role of a visiting family guest.
The task they were given, was to discover the murderer and why they did the heinous act before they fell victim to them. A risky game, it sounded fun and exciting much like the "Locked In" game they had played earlier but without the restriction of not using any of their magic. As they neared the house children could be seen playing in the small courtyard garden. Singing a children's song "The life of the wife is ended by the knife~" they sing on and on in unison of which Magnus found extremely morbid, and probably an early hint into what the game was going to be about. As he made it inside he glanced around to see 9 others. As they began to speak and confer within another. So far he learned all the roles of the people within the house being: Father, Mother, Son, Oldest Daughter, Youngest Daughter, Husband, Maid, Butler, Chef, with him being the Stableman, and Victoria the Family Guest.
The father was named Thomas Fennimore, a respectable noble business owner (at least for the game). His lovely wife, Opal Fennimore a brash and stuck-up noblewoman, their oldest daughter Lane Fennimore-Barnes a promising genius with a talent for business. She was a woman who refused to solely take her husband's last name, especially because she wasn't willing to give up the noble status that came with the last name "Fennimore". Much to her husband's dismay according to the maid Valda Bax, which was blurted out by her when Magnus, Victoria, and her had a bit of alone time for a second as everyone walked around the house before having tea by in the main dining hall before dinner was about to begin. She seemed to be a bit of a chatterbox and seemed to gleam passionately at the thought of spreading more rumors. According to her, the noble family wasn't very charitable and was extremely demanding. The Butler was named Donald Carline and seemed to be much like the maid in his feelings of how he was treated by the nobles but in time Magnus and Victoria would come to find he was much less willing to give up information or anyone let alone himself. Of which Magnus found suspicious, and last but not least excluding Magnus and Victoria themselves was the chef, who simply went by the name of "Happy". He seemed odd and like he had a few screws loose, but he was assured by Opal that despite his odd sense of character he was a well-respected chef, and great at his job.
Magnus had no idea who was a part of the game as a player and who was an actor, but that didn't matter to him now. Instead, he wanted to immerse himself in and enjoy the game they were about to play. As everyone had split up to go their separate ways. All except for the youngest girl who took a liking to Magnus, her name was "Ruby Fennimore" and she stood next to Magnus as if he was the most interesting thing she had seen all week. She chattered on and on about how Opal was next in line to take over the family business and how everyone was so happy for her. However, as she was about to continue chattering on as the dinner bell had been rung and they all began to move toward the dining hall, all the lights in the venue suddenly shut off. The young girl Ruby clung close to Victoria and Magnus's legs, "St-st-stableman, I'm scared." To which he replied simply by leaning down and grasping the young girl's hand into his own large ones. "Fear not child, it'll be okay, I'll protect you." He said in a soft tone, his fatherly instincts coming out of him full first at the first sight of a young child is scared and in possible danger, game or no game, this factor of him would never change.
After a few minutes of darkness and bumbling around the lights would finally flicker back on, only for a few moments of silence as they all made their way to the dining room at the same time, only for Magnus to notice that both Lane and Donald were both missing. During that time of them sitting down and looking around a horrified scream could be heard. It was gut-clenching and so loud that it startled most at the dinner table, which was decked out with all manners of delicious food that is no, unfortunately, seemed that they wouldn't get to eat. Making his way to the sound of the scream, Magnus placed Ruby behind him to shield her from whatever unfortunate sight she was about to see, game or no game, something wasn't meant for a child's eyes in his mind. He came upon a body, and poor dear Lane with the soothing smile face down in a pool of her own blood with a knife sticking out of her back.
They were instructed to wait by the Butler who was already at the scene of the crime, he insisted that he be allowed to go call the authorities, but Lane's now grieving husband who shed a tear after a tear was yelling at Donald to stay put and that any movement would be seen as him trying to flee the scene of the crime, and that he would be held responsible for Lane's death as it was so pointedly evident that he killed her. After all, the body was at the Butler's feet, and red blood stained his white ornate gloves. Magnus stood and watched the scene unfold, and as he did he began to observe the body of Lane, noticing that she had a few defensive wounds, that there was a bruise on her head and on her hands, her knuckles were bruised and bloody as if she had gotten a few good licks in. The butler on the other hand seemed completely fine, all except for the bruise on his forehead and the blood on his gloves.
Now the game had truly began.
Tag: Victoria Dubois
Words: 1,500
Total Words: 14,832