Detention, 12/9/06 (Danger Shop: 8AM - 5PM, FHT)

[drjcovington.livejournal.com]

When today's detentionees enter the Danger Shop, they will find themselves in the common room of a very quaint provincial tavern/inn of vague and indeterminate age. A large piece of parchment on the dining table bears the list of detention students' names:

Sam Carter
Molly Hayes
Naomi Wildman
Belthazor
John Connor

Beneath the list is a note directing the students toward one of the bedrooms. When they arrive in said bedroom they'll find Janice, lying on the floor beneath a heavy and low-hanging iron chandelier, with three candles scattered on the floor around her and what appears to be the hilt of a knife protruding from her chest.

Once people have assembled she stands up, grinning smugly, and lets the bladeless hilt fall to the floor, perhaps dashing several people's hopes. "Thought you lucked out, didn't you?" she asks. "Well, there is no luck. This is detention. And today you get to help me with a little research. See, my partner Mel just finished translating the most recent of the Xena Scrolls that we've found, and we're trying to make sense of it. Seems we've got a little murder mystery on our hands."

She fishes the Danger Shop remote from her pocket and presses a button, causing the prone form of a dead woman to flicker into existence on the floor where Janice herself had been lying, a knife protruding from her chest in the same way. "This is Ravenica . . . or was. She was a bounty hunter, and she's been found dead under mysterious circumstances in Xena's mother's tavern here in Amphipolis. Discord, the brand-new goddess of retribution, is out to prove herself -- and no one is allowed to leave the tavern until the killer has been found. The killer? Yeah, that's someone in this tavern -- no, not one of you. Any of these people."

Another button-press, and seven people materialize in the room: there's a middle-aged woman who looks like she runs the place, a younger and rather buxom farm woman who carries herself with a bit of an affected swagger, and a naive-looking peasant girl. If the other four happen to bear a striking resemblance to former art teachers Autolycus and Ash, Joxer, D'Anna Biers if she dyed her hair black and wore leather, and a short-haired version of Janice herself, well . . . that's just a coincidence, isn't it? Yes. Complete coincidence. Hey, Janice had to model these simulations on someone. After a moment, all seven of them wander off to busy themselves in other parts of the tavern.

Janice spares a particularly scathing look for her lookalike, passes out a stack of cards to each student, and continues, "Your job is to examine the evidence and question the suspects to get to the bottom of all this. Xena had until sunrise to find the killer, according to the Scrolls; you have until five P.M. I know one thing so far: the knife belongs to Minya. Those cards will give you a little background information on our suspects. So what are you waiting for? Get cracking, kids!"

[OOC: OCD is up and we are good to go, and please keep to the appropriate subthreads. I do ask that if you figure out the killer early, try not to spoil it for everyone else. *g* If you really, really need a hint? See the OOC thread. Otherwise, welcome to Clue, Xena style. And do bear that in mind as you try to solve the mystery.

Right now I? Am going to get a few hours' sleep. After I wake up (which will probably be around 8 AM) Meeeeeeep, overslept! At any rate, I'll be around all day, except from about 1PM-2:15PM PST. Whee!]

Comments

Sign In [Detention 12/9]

[drjcovington.livejournal.com]

No, you can't leave the tavern until the murder is solved either.

Re: Sign In [Detention 12/9]

[carter-i-am.livejournal.com]

Sam Carter

Examine the Evidence

[drjcovington.livejournal.com]

In the appropriate subthreads, natch.

The Murder Bedroom

[drjcovington.livejournal.com]

It's a fairly spacious chamber, though the rate might have been cut a bit thanks to the noticeable stable smells that drift in from the window. Several points of interest in the room include . . .

In the Common Room

[drjcovington.livejournal.com]

There are several items spread out on the table here for your perusal.

The Stables

[drjcovington.livejournal.com]

The horses are kept here, of course; the stables can be accessed from the outside, although Ravenica's room, as previously noted, has a window that opens up to the inside of them. Currently three horses are in residence, including Xena's horse Argo, ensconced in the stall by the window.

Lunch

[drjcovington.livejournal.com]

It's horribly anachronistic for the setting, but Janice caved and ordered pizza for everyone. Get your food and mingling on here in the tavern's common room, then team up if you want and go question some suspects.

Re: Lunch

[bruiser-in-pink.livejournal.com]

Molly sat quietly, eating her pizza and going over all of the clues in her head.

Question the Suspects

[drjcovington.livejournal.com]

If the students were to look around the main room of the tavern after lunch, they'd find the innkeeper and her six current guests in various states of relaxation. All of them are glaring at each other and muttering suspiciously, although the tall, scary-looking woman in leather is pacing and appears to be deep in thought. Not to mention facepalming at the others quite a bit.

All of them, it might be noted, have some motive to have done it, even if that motive might be kind of thin.

Question the Suspects: Cyrene

[drjcovington.livejournal.com]

The innkeeper, and Xena's mother. She seems rather mild-mannered and very sweet, but there's a hint of toughness beneath her benign exterior that speaks to her relation to the Warrior Princess. She is also, it should be noted, extremely protective of her daughter and would profess to having killed to protect Xena in the past.

Question the Suspects: Minya

[drjcovington.livejournal.com]

A somewhat frumpy, but rather spunky farmgirl with a full-on hero worship mode going when it comes to Xena. She's cheerful and talkative, and all that wrangling goats makes for a good amount of strength. If you ask her, she's got at least a passing familiarity with Ravenica, and it's not a pleasant one.

Question the Suspects: Lila

[drjcovington.livejournal.com]

Gabrielle's younger sister, a simple peasant girl from the tiny town of Poteidaia. She seems to be making eyes at the guy who looks just like Joxer. Gods only know why. It'd be very easy to catch a whiff of lavender perfume off of her.

Question the Suspects: Guy With a Striking Resemblance to Joxer

[drjcovington.livejournal.com]

Yes, down to the armor and everything. He seems to be making eyes at Gabrielle all the time. Over in the corner of the room, Janice twitches every time he does. Hey -- doesn't Joxer claim to have a twin brother named Jett who's an assassin? An assassin could have a good bounty on his head.

Question the Suspects: Dead Ringer for Former FH Art Teachers

[drjcovington.livejournal.com]

He styles himself the King of Thieves, and has quite the collection of lockpicks on him. He seems to have known Ravenica . . . and thieves could have bounties on their heads too . . .

Question the Suspects: Gabrielle

[drjcovington.livejournal.com]

Xena's sidekick traveling companion, the Bard of Poteidaia. Frequently a victim of both her highly overactive imagination and tendency to over-rationalize -- sometimes at the same time. She was the last one to arrive at the tavern, and may have seen Ravenica on the road.

Re: Question the Suspects: Xena

[drjcovington.livejournal.com]

You might remember her, or some version of her, from a recent school assembly. The Warrior Princess herself, object of Janice's undying obsession, possessor of quite the shady past, and now something of a crusader for justice. Whether or not she really exists may be subject to debate, but Janice put in the simulation. Do you need more reasons to suspect her?

Dismissal (5PM, FHT)

[drjcovington.livejournal.com]

For the solving of the mystery, and any parting comments before you go.

Re: Dismissal (5PM, FHT)

[bruiser-in-pink.livejournal.com]

All of her questioning had pretty much just eliminated everybody as the killer. Molly sighed. "I don't know. I'm going to say that the horse did it."

OOC [Detention, 12/9]

[drjcovington.livejournal.com]

"I still say it was Minya in the bedroom with the knife!"
"Will you can it? It's not some sort of game, you know!"

The index cards given to each student contain the information given on the suspects (http://community.livejournal.com/fandomhigh/1150930.html?thread=64987090#t64987090) in their respective subthreads.

"Takes One to Know One" (http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Xena+Takes+One+to+Know+One&search=Search) is one of my favorite Xena episodes, ever. Amusingly, it was written by Jeff Vlaming (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0900599/), whose FH-meta connections also include writing for Battlestar Galactica, due South, NCIS, and The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.

I had to simplify the plot a lot for this, or the OCD would have been even more insane; I highly recommend watching it, though, as it's hysterical, and the Joxer-Autolycus snark is a thing of beauty. And oh look, it's a YouTube link in my previous paragraph.

Re: OOC [Detention, 12/9]

[socksofcool.livejournal.com]

Eeeeeeee!

*loves that ep*

Re: OOC [Detention, 12/9]

[badassbutler.livejournal.com]

I DID IT! IT WAS MEEEEEEE!

Re: OOC [Detention, 12/9]

[carter-i-am.livejournal.com]

*waves* I won't be around until probably 2-3 EST, as I must work for a bit first. Woe. Will be back then.

Re: OOC [Detention, 12/9]

[apocalypsesoon.livejournal.com]

*sigh* Great. Now I've got 1 + 1 + 2 + 1 in my head.
Communism was just a red herring.

Re: OOC [Detention, 12/9]

[bruiser-in-pink.livejournal.com]

*resists urge to watch ep before trying to figure it out*

Re: OOC [Detention, 12/9]

[bruiser-in-pink.livejournal.com]

I'm going to be gone for a couple hours. I will be back though.