ximilia | Video; UN: stardust on a train | (OTA for all IC clue sharing and whatnot!)

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Video; UN: stardust on a train | (OTA for all IC clue sharing and whatnot!)

Okaaaay, scooby gang. How about you put all your big brainy heads together and start giving each other the scoop?

Because you guys have been running around like crazy, so I figure I'd be... useful and make a group huddle here over the network.

....

I don't usually do group projects, soooo. Have... at it.

Go team, or whatever.

... And also, I don't think Luna's involved at all. I mean, chances were low anyway, but I've been with her a lot and she's really not giving off any suspicious vibes. Her brother Oden might? But he didn't really do anything that weird when I followed him and Luna. Okay, he did say something about having 'an agreement' with Jove and that 'Jove was alone in his idea'. And then he told her not to worry, that she'll get her part of her inheritance when she's of age.

As for the night of the murder, Luna said she had gone to sleep first. That the railroad tracks kept her awake, and when she went to Helios and Terra's door and knocked to try and hang out with them, they weren't answering. Maybe not even there, since I can't imagine why they'd just totally ignore her...

[She scratches the back of her head.]

She's gonna be teaching me some card games later, so. You're all on your own tonight. But I'll keep an eye out to make sure nothing else comes up that might be useful.

[After a deep sigh, she adds — some minutes later, to avoid too many ears and eyes:]

... My dream for the future is to have a long life with my sister. That we can come back to a town that gives us a chance at really living. That my family could be — fixed by the orbs, so maybe we could just... be happy. Just for once.

There. Personal goal accomplished. I hope.

[OOC: FEEL FREE TO INFO-DUMP and threadhop!!! I'm just your handy dandy vessel to do the clue-sharing.]

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Well, Jove appears to have truly died in that sleeping car- the body wasn't moved from elsewhere, and there really is no sign of a struggle. Their belongings don't seem to have been disturbed, so we can rule out robbery too.

My best guess is that he was ambushed by more than one person- that could explain the defensive wounds on only one hand and the lack of any struggle or sound. The wounds seem to have started messy, but became neater- and there were six of them.

There were also letters... and one was clearly made in imitation of the other. They both claimed to be from Hortensia Day, and said much the same thing. Aside from some familial comments- regretting that she wasn't a better mother, saying they'd be fine as long as they had each other- there were also instructions to return her last discovery to the museum and collect the reward, and beneath her name, a series of numbers and letters.

R16L14R11

Except I'm not sure what it means- some sort of code, perhaps?

Reminds me of a school locker lock.

Like, um. Right 16, left 14, right 11?

Or... something like that.

Edited 2022-05-11 22:50 (UTC)

Then the question is where the lock is... and what's behind it.

Maybe it's like a... suitcase with a lock dial? A safe, maybe?

Something in the luggage area?

Viveca seemed certain the orb was in Vrefesea. And whatever it is, it wasn't in the cabin.

I think we should see if Hortensia or her family owned any property in Vrefesea.

No, not the cabin.

I mean the luggage area, with everyone's junk in it. The place none of us can really snoop around in, because the whole car is being watched by cameras. Even if the orb isn't around, there might be more there.

It seems like people've only looked in the luggage in the cabins.

It's worth looking into- we should be careful though, unless we want even more of the crew to be arrested. We'll need a way to either disable the cameras or keep the train's security away.

Another possibility would be to wait until the train arrives in Vrefesea and follow the Days when they take their luggage- and investigate it once they leave for the funeral. We could also investigate any property their mother might have owned- Viveca seemed certain that the orb was in Vrefesea already.

I mean, I'm willing to get arrested.

What're they gonna do, throw the stupid 16-year-old looking for snacks in jail forever?

But I guess... someone who could actually get by the cameras would be better.

wait wait, were the letters worded like those were her last wishes?

Because Peter said she died in a work-related incident.
Either she was mortally wounded and had enough time to write these letters or it wasn't an accident.
Or none of those letters were written by her.

Possibly? Although if her husband also died in an accident, I could see her writing something like this in advance, if she knew she was about to do something risky. Given the age of her children, it would be strange if she didn't have a will.

A will is understandable, especially since this family appears to be well off.

It's just being worded like that, especially referring to a recent discovery- It just sounds suspicious to me. Though, I don't suppose she was very specific about this discovery? She could have been speaking generally.

It's very vague- no discussion about what it is, just to claim the reward.

Well, either way

Considering they were archaeologists and this family was in our mission file, I'm willing to bet that the parents (or just the mother) found the orb on their excavations. Which means it's either in the museum already or it's this recent discovery that's still in the family's possession.

So.

How do we go about that? Just wait until they hand it off and steal it from the museum? It'd probably be easier.

[ Translation: "The murder thing is just getting really complicated. Let's do crimes and get out of here." ]

Twice, we've heard of how the orb was discovered. Both times, someone found it underground. I think the idea that the Days found the orb during one of their excavations is reasonable (And I wonder if some mission will involve doing some digging of our own?)

If the code is related to a lock, or the location of the orb, we may be able to take it before anyone else gets to it... but we should try to make sure that this murder wasn't connected to the orb, or we may end up walking unprepared into a fight- one we will be less equipped to handle than usual.

Yeah, that's a good point. We don't want a do-over of Braccia and Cheri.

If the murder is connected to the orb, though, I can't imagine that the current owner would be so willing to hand it over to this museum.

[ And I can't tell if it's known ICly or not, but what about this private buyer that Jove wanted to sell the orb, too? :|a ]

Unless this is about trying to get access to the orb, and they don't have it.

Viveca was certain the Orb was in Vrefesea, and while she's had incomplete information before- like not knowing the orb in Braccia had an owner, everything in Scorpion's Bend, or that there were two orbs in Giva... when she's said 'the Orb is here, or may be here', she's been accurate.

That's true. I don't believe the orb is on this train.

As long as these things can't make long-distance contracts, anyway.

So either Jove had a deal and now no one holds the orb, Jove was trying to get the orb and was killed for it, or Jove and the orb aren't related at all. Does that sound right? [ He kind of doubts that last one just because of coincidence. From what they know so far, his money's on the second one. ]

Well. The orb reached out to us, and made a bargain before we arrived on the station, but our situation might be unique. The orb is probably locked away in some safe in Vrefesea, but the one in Badrock managed to reach out to bandits. This one might have reached out to the Day children, or someone else.

Yes, although given past experience, the third is unlikely. I think the second is more likely than the first, though.

I was thinking we were unique, yeah, but I forgot about the bandits. That's not a good thought right now.

Agreed. Considering most of the siblings are practically strangers to each other, it's very possible.

I'm all for optimism, but given how the orbs spread chaos and are eager to be used, our only hope that it hasn't is that the limited magic in this world also affects the orb.

Exactly. But he must have some connection to the real Jove- the letter is a forgery, but it was made by someone with access to the original.

The orb might be the cause of the limited magic, too. We haven't seen any other place that blocks everything like this. At least, I haven't.

I have. The further you get from the Old Kingdom, the weaker magic gets in Ancelstierre. Past a certain point, there's nothing supernatural at all. Perhaps this world just has a similar nature to that place.

That's interesting. It would be easy to think the Old Kingdom is just the source of your magic but that's clearly not the case... It's kind of a disturbing thought, that this can keep happening.

Anyway, I hope you're right. If it is the Orb and we take it back to the station, that's not going to be good.

But if it is the planet, then that means the Orb could be weaker. I wonder what it can still do that would make people want it. Unless it's just some antique.

Particlarly since Degar is using a spell to contain the orbs.

Maybe someone made a bargain to get rid of all the magic long ago?

Well. If it has enough power to reach out to people, it could promise them all sorts of things. And if there's no other magic, what little power it has could still be tempting.

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Video; UN: stardust on a train | (OTA for all IC clue sharing and whatnot!)

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