I don't want to presume QM's interpretation, but in the games red text is used to state things that are true and require no further proof, while blue text is a hypothesis which is elevated to the status of a truth unless refuted.
"I still think you are Taylor Hebert though," Madison started, "and now I am speaking in blue, why?"
"Why don't you just call her? I recall seeing her at the hospital. She is probably still there," Beatrice sighed, clearly exasperated with this line of questioning.
Madison has a working theory that explains some things. Beatrice's/Taylor's trick is obvious to anyone who knows the two are the same, and so she attempts to work around the (correct) hypothesis by presenting a rebuttal that doesn't necessarily disprove the blue theory, but makes it look as if it does. Madison could probably push through with more blue text if she pressed Beatrice on how it still could have been possible, but then we wouldn't have a game on our hands.
Since Beatrice is the only one who knows the truth behind her own identity it wouldn't really make sense (or be fair to the other party) to use blue text regarding Taylor's whereabouts; there is no meaningful rebuttal they could offer. Instead Beatrice's use of blue truths is limited to guessing the girls' motives which she doesn't know and hence could hypothesize about.
Rule of thumb, red is the weapon of the riddler (the culprit, one who knows the truth), and blue is the weapon of the one trying to solve the riddle (the detective, one who makes a guess). The detective can use established/confirmed facts to corner the culprit, and the culprit can propose alternate theories to mislead the detective, but the basics are there.
I would probably disagree with some of the above uses of colored text, but it's a tool that is up to QM's discretion.
Winning Votes: 1) Gain Golden Butterflies as a transportation method. 2) "Will try to pretend to be sad and not show how incredibly relieved she is that the bitch is gone " 3) Only the post office ships in this quest
Across the cemetery, there were a number of people crying. Alan and Zoe Barnes, and her sister were dressed in black along with a number of other people. There was a man of the cloth reading from the bible, and her father had a grim expression upon his face.
"I was supposed to go before you," Alan cried, sobbing into his wife. This caused his wife to start crying too, and then their other daughter as well. Inwardly, Taylor was conflicted. She and Emma had spent the better part of their lives together. 8 rotations of the Earth around the sun, and Emma just decided one day to trash it for reasons still unknown to her. She did not know what happened to cause Emma's change, but funerals had the uncanny ability to force introspection on the most heated rivals and most bitter enemies. Seeing other people react to her death though made her pause. 'I get that some of these people are sad, but does no one care about what I went through?' she thought to herself. 'Yet for all my anger, we all wind up in the same place' Taylor thought to herself.
If one were to observe Taylor right now, she would have that look that said she was on autopilot. Whether it was coming to the fact that her tormentor was dead, whether the fact that her best friend was finally out of reach or whether it was the fact that she killed her, she unintentionally did a fairly good job of impersonating a teenager in shock. She was just standing there in the rain, appearing to go through the motions for all the world to see.
As the pastor read from Psalms, Romans, Isiah and a few other verses and books from the bible, the funeral went on. At some point people were asked to share. Zoe started by sharing a story about how Emma would spend hours with her getting make up just right, and how she was so proud of being a model. Alan shared about the time he bribed her with ice cream to tattle on her sister. Her sister shared a story about how much she appreciated one of the gifts Emma gave her. Eventually it was Taylor's turn to share.
"There are many things I could say about Emma. Though we drifted apart once high school started, there were a number of things I could say about her. But rather than wax poetic about the times we argued over silly toys, talked about boys, or other stories I would just like to say thank you. Thank you for the good times. I really don't know what else to say," Taylor said.
Danny put his hand on her back, and gently escorted her off the podium. It was a somber affair. There was a wake at the Barnes house to which the Heberts were invited but neither of them felt like going.
Once Taylor and her father arrived home, he asked, "Are you alright?". This was the first time to connect to her father in years. A month ago, she would have clung to this like a life-line. Unfortunately for her, powers changed people. That side of crazy in Beatrice was beginning to envelop Taylor. If that was the only problem, she could just ignore it but "I am bored for some reason,".
"That's a unique response. Want to talk about it?" Danny questioned, slightly concern. "It's like if I do not do something to entertain myself I will go crazy. I know I should feel different. She was my best friend for years, and yet I am more angry than sad, and more bored than angry," Taylor replied, having nothing better to do.
"Well, I kind of feared this would happen. I don't know much about powers, but I do know they want to be used. Though you literally used them about a week ago. If that is what it takes for you to stay sane though. I don't suppose their is anyway for you to perform a closed room murder on paperwork?" Danny joked.
"I don't know. I also don't want either of us to be eaten by goats. I feel that my alter ego and I are distinct, but somehow she is bleeding into my normal life and vice versa. I also have this insane urge to prove magic is real," Taylor said.
"What I think I am hearing, is that you need a hobby. I am unsure how much your power is affecting you though," Danny replied. Taylor thought to herself for a few minutes and decided to (See Vote section below). Outwardly, she declared that "I am going out as Beatrice for a bit. I want to clear my head," and headed to her room. She took a backpack with an appropriate clothes and other materials for her disguise before walking a couple of miles away from her house. Finding a sufficiently discrete and unobserved location, Beatrice emerged from her hiding spot.
She did some wandering for a bit, with no real destination in mind until she found someone warding her off.
"Beatrice, you are under arrest for the murder of Shadow Stalker, Emma Barnes, and Madison Clements," Vista declared, the grim expression on her face contrasting with the sheer amount of cuteness coming from the preteen.
"Little ward, why are you by yourself? Though now that I think of it, this is the second time I've seen a ward without another hero. I am willing to bet your superiors do not know of it. Also, the PRT has already tried me in absentitia. Why on earth would I commit myself to the PRT's lack of mercies?" Beatrice grinned, wondering what exactly Vista wanted to achieve here.
"Think of it. A prison is the perfect place to commit closed room murders. If you pulled it off, no one would doubt the power of the golden witch," Vista tried to cajole the witch.
"Why little ward, that sounds like you are challenging me to a game. You have yet to commit a closed room murder, nor are you trying to solve one. The game is not yet afoot. I am the challenged here, so since you chose the locale, I choose three conditions. My first condition is: you and I are the only players. Second, is you are the one committing the murder, and I am the one solving it. Third, the terms of your loss is servitude to me and only me. Do we have an accord?" Beatrice asked.
"Are you out of your mind!There is no way I am murdering someone just because some witch asks me to!"
"Little ward," Beatrice started.
"STOP CALLING ME LITTLE!" Vista interjected.
"Smallest ward, if you want to catch me, all you have to do is win a game. Otherwise, I'm out of here," Beatrice said, and began to turn into a kaleidoscope of golden butterflies.
"Wait!" Vista yelled.
"Smallest ward, get to the point," Beatrice huffed, clearly aggravated slowly transforming from the kaleidoscope back into a witch.
"According to the reports, you accused Shadow Stalker of a closed room murder. Would you elaborate on that at all?" Vista asked.
"All I will say is this. Shadow Stalker tried to perform a murder and not suffer consequences. She failed in both tasks. That game is over, so I have nothing more to say on the subject." Beatrice calmly walked off, not even bothering to change into a golden butterfly. The hero just stood there, stunned at the revelation.
*****
Across town, records were strewn across Hannah's desk. Collin would have much preferred a more systemic or electronic method of going through reports, but Hannah preferred the organized chaos of a desk with the 'nothing is out of place so as long as I know where it is(TM)' filing system. While said filing system was popular in the private and public sector, it made little sense to those not in charge of it. This was it's greatest advantage and drawback.
Hannah looked at Collin. She had the distinct feeling they came to the same conclusion, but figured it worth asking first.
"So, the three girls with a record of Bullying Taylor Hebert happen to be the first victims of Beatrice? Do you think she found out Stalker's civ-id?" Hannah asked.
"It would explain much, but this leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Our ward used corruption in our system to cause a poor girl to trigger. Now the girl has a kill order even though she tried to report multiple incidents. While acting against Ms. Hebert doesn't flagrantly violate the unwritten rules, it comes close. Also , the PR backlash from this would be pretty bad if people realize what Shadow Stalker did. The paperwork generated authorizing the assassination or capture of a minor would set off all sorts of red flags. I also wonder how useful she would be against an Endbringer. Time did pass while those red and blue truths were going back and forth. I'm not sure I would want to test it against an Endbringer, but everything in a PRT swat van had no affect, I'm not sure what else would." Collin commented.
"Next time we can try your more lethal armaments since the kill order has been authorized. In the meantime, let's see if we can't work out some way to transfer her to Arcadia and have our wards keep an eye on her. I will also authorize unmarked vans to follow her around in the meantime," Hannah stated, and then the two began to process the paperwork.
Rolls: Does Beatrice find anyone out on patrol?: 1D2 (2): Yes
Rolls: Faction: 1D5 (PRT, New Wave, E88, ABB, Merchants): 1 - PRT
Who: 1D11 (Armsmaster, M. Militia. Assault, Battery, Dauntless, Triumph, Aegis, Clockblocker, Browbeat Gallant, Vista) 11- Vista.
Opposed Roll Vista Persuade vs Beatrice Crazy: 48 v 52 (Bare success to Beatrice)
Beatrice (Hard persuade roll): 92, 6 (takes disadvantage of 6).
Vista (save vs trolling, deals with Clockblocker advantage) 1, 47 takes advantage of 47
Vista (save vs emotional shock (disadvantage, did not expect red truth) 100, 16, takes disadvantage of 16.
PRT Investigation Roll (1D100): 88. They have a fairly clear idea of what happened in the locker and what caused it. Taylor's civ ID is known to the PRT even though they cannot prove it at this point. The other factions will find this out once it leaks. Taylor can try to do something about this, but her civilian ID is probably going to become known barring some outstanding rolls. Right now though, she still thinks her Civ ID is safe.
What do they decide to do 1D6 (Kill Taylor, Arrest & Birdcage Taylor, Force Beatrice into Wards with rebranding, Try to directly recruit Taylor with a hard sell, kick the problem upstairs, put more eyes on Taylor) 6 - Well, this quest almost ended fast.
Taylor Perception Check (23) does not notice anything amiss.
Danny Perception Check (65, 56) takes advantage due to concern about Taylor. Notices something is off, but unsure as to what.
Not enough time has passed for another general faction roll.
Voting:
Taylor needs a hobby:
[] she needed a boyfriend (disallowed by shipping vote) [] she needs to solve a closed room murder [] she needs to commit a closed room murder
How does Beatrice plan to convince people that magic is real?
[] Take an apprentice (Will be decided by random chance).
[] Do something that can only be done by magic/Write in (subject to QM veto)
[] Begin proselytizing
[X] she needs to solve a closed room murder
[X] Do something that can only be done by magic/ Have her declare in public/PHO that She is not a Parahuman and that she uses magic, with the red truth (subject to QM veto)
[X] Do something that can only be done by magic/ Have her declare in public/PHO that She is not a Parahuman and that she uses magic, with the red truth (subject to QM veto)
One of the major plot points of Umineko is Beatrice trying to get Battler to admit that magic exists, since only a magical being could have committed a closed room murder, which is how the red truth came into play in the first place. He ends up becoming a sorceror, but that was only with a lot of character development on all sides. While Beatrice may eventually be able to do this, right now it is not within her power to do so. Rephrased simply, she needs to convince people that it is magic rather than shards/powers/passengers/nomenclature_of_choice. As Beatrice becomes more powerful however, you shall be able to do this. I'll call this vote in 24 hours. In the meantime, here is the latest tally:
Adhoc vote count started by TheManW/oAPlan on Jun 22, 2021 at 12:45 PM, finished with 8 posts and 7 votes.
[x] Take an apprentice (Will be decided by random chance).
[X] Do something that can only be done by magic/ Have her declare in public/PHO that She is not a Parahuman and that she uses magic, with the red truth (subject to QM veto)
Winning Vote: [x] Take an apprentice (Will be decided by random chance) [x] she needs to solve a closed room murder
Taylor was flummoxed. She needed to have people believe in magic. Not powers, not some pseudo-scientific explanation of powers, but actual magic. Unfortunately for her, tinkers, thinkers, philosophers and scientists continued to believe that a rational explanation for powers existed that humanity had yet to find. She knew she had real magic. She just did not know how to go about spreading the belief. She had watched the fantasia once before, and wondered if she could have an apprentice. As if in response to her thoughts, she suddenly knew she could teach and she somehow knew where her future apprentice resided. She felt something calling her to the north and west. She knew this would be essential to her. Something more essential to witches than the ebb and flow of magic. It was as if the aurora borealis had sent her a sign asking her to head there. Her apprentice was waitng for her in the frozen tundra, someone who would hopefully one day join her amongst the ranks of witches and sorcerers.
As she muddled on her thoughts of magic, she wondered how she was going to get there. She did not have a surfeit of funds nor did she have means readily avaiable for transcontinental travel. As she continued to approach the boardwalk, she heard someone scream. The person had drawn a lot of attention but she saw what everyone was looking at. There was an elevator with a corpse inside. There was no one else in the elevator, and Taylor noticed a receipt with a time stamp showing that the victim bought something at 10:25 AM, and it was not yet 10:30. Taylor could guess the corpse was still warm, and rigor mortis had not yet set in.
"Quick, someone call 911. Also, someone get a priest. I have the distinct feeling this young man is beyond Panacea's help,"some bystander said, trying to prevent a panic from happening. Taylor smiled. The game was afoot. 'Someone was about to get eaten and trampled by goats!' Inwardly, Taylor wondered how much she had changed if that though made her excited , but figured normalcy had passed her by somewhere in high school. She began to turn into a golden butterfly. She knew this one was interesting, but she needed to figure out the best way to crack this case. Turning into a golden butterfly, she figured she should investigate the crime scene before too much was disturbed. She could already see that people were in a hurry to get out of the place and the cops were slowly beginning to file in.
Inside the elevator, a kaleidoscope of golden butterflies observed the corpse. There appeared to be puncture wounds, as if someone had a rapier or thin knife. There was blood spilling out of the body, and the corpse was face down. Whether it was moved to that position before or after the stabbing, Taylor could not readily say. She briefly touched the body, and noticed that the extremities were still warm. She strongly suspected the killer was nearby, but had no real way to prove this at the moment. An elevator would have been too risky to set up a trap in, and it was unlikely anyone could hide in such a place for long.
Realizing that she cannot stay at the murder scene forever though, she realized she needed to make decisions fast. She knew she could either investigate the scene further or go get her apprentice. With all of that in mind, she decided to:
Voting choice:
Choose a mystery difficulty on a scale of Scooby-Doo to Sherlock Holmes:
[] Hanna-Barbera's Scooby-Doo (very easy)
[] Gertrude Warner's Box Car Children (easy)
[] Frank Dixon's Hardy Boys (Medium)
[] Agatha Christie's And then there were none (hard)
[] Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes (Very hard)
Taylor has decided to
[] Learn about the victim
[] Try to see if she cannot spot someone suspicious nearby
[] Look at the other areas around the elevator (other floors, etc)
[] Seek her apprentice (time will pass, ???)
You could be right. I just have a hardback that says Nancy Drew on the cover, so I assumed it was the author or his/her pen-name. FWIW, it's The Haunted Fort. The hardy boys were written by multiple people according to the source of all human knowledge and trolling (The Hardy Boys - Wikipedia). Anyways, once the vote is over I will change it to the typical pen-name of Franklin Dixon above, since it is a corporate author.
Also, I am noticing that these votes are very close. Which leads me into asking if anyone has a good idea on how to break ties? It will probably come up later in the quest too, so now is a good time to figure out how to deal with this. I'll call the vote at the end of the weekend.
Winning Votes: Difficulty is Medium. Learn more about the victim.
Taylor felt that finding the victim would be the first step to finding out who killed him. She also knew she could not stay in the elevator for long. Floating down into a fold in his wallet, she got the name of Aspen M Hunter, who she would decided to look into at the library later. She saw and heard sirens, but had yet to physically see any emergency vehicles. She decided to exit stage right before anyone could relate the kaliedoscope to either of her identities.
She debated whether or not it would be worthwhile to see if she could not catch someone suspicious nearby or look around the floors but figured that this place would be swarming with first responders sooner rather than later. As such, she decided to head to a public library, to see if she could not find something out about the victim.
She learned that Aspen Hunter was married several years ago, but recently widowed due to a gang related crime that killed his wife several months prior. He was listed as a contact in a local non-profit which tried to provide food for hungry people. Judging by his work email, he worked at Medhall but Taylor doubted she could learn much more about that aspect of his life without significant planning or further searching. Taylor knew that there was probably more here, but she did not want to burn the fake ID she was using to access public computers just yet.
Taylor was about to call it a day when she heard something that perked her senses. "Boss, I heard you wanted me to look into the Hunter murder in the newsr. I cannot examine it closely with all the fuzz, press, and paparazzi present, but as near as I can tell someone was waiting for Mister Hunter inside the elevator. I did not see or expect any tinker tech, and it looked like it was done by perfectly mundane means. I doubt any capes are involved, but I cannot say for sure. We can discuss this later if you wish, but we need to discuss other matters however," a blonde said. Taylor was really tempted to follow her but did not know how to do so without alerting her. Also, someone that perceptive would undoubtedly ferret out her secrets fairly quickly, and Taylor did not want to risk that.
Still, that blonde gave her pause. She had no idea how she was able to deduce that quickly, but she could make a powerful asset or a major PITA. Still, Beatrice enjoyed a challenge, and that was beginning to leak over to Taylor. Taylor had a few moves to make, and she had several options to consider. Eventually, she decided that looking around the scene of the crime would help her solve the crime the most.
Before she could act on that however, she needed to head home. When she got home, she noticed her dad was smiling. She had no idea what the cause of the change in his tempermanet was, but he ran up and hugged Taylor.
"Hi dad.um...what's the occaision?" she asked. It was one of the few times that her dad looked life hadn't beaten the stuffing out of him.
"News of your friends death caused a few sympathetic people to look back over your application to Arcadia. With your reason for attending Winslow gone, I politely asked the administrators if they would let you in. You will have to take some placement tests, but they appeared to be happy to have you," Danny explained.
Taylor thought for a moment, and replied...
Voting:
What does Taylor decide to investigate next?
{] Write in.
How does she reply to Danny?
[] Joyfully
[] Calmly
[] Apathetically
[] Other/write-in. Must have IC justification.
Rolls:
What does Taylor find out via the public library? 68
Is anyone else investigating? 87
Is Taylors civilian ID leaked (this will start at a 1D100, and slowly go down. Rolling a 10 or below means it has been leaked. Next time will be 1D80. 18. Taylor's civ ID is safe for this turn.)
