Quick Fix Game 33 - Deception: Murder in the Cosmere

[Elandera]

"Accidental worldhopping insurance, eh?" Oyh muttered to himself as he listened to the people around him. He wondered if the policy would apply retroactively. He'd keep it in mind to contact Larry later, once they solved the murder, of course. He couldn't trust "insurance" until then.

Oyh just watched. He hadn't realized Investicon would be such a go-to place for such unusual people. No matter who it was though, he could observe. That's what he was good at doing: watching, hiding, learning. He suspected it was part of why he'd been chosen by a Cryptic.

-----

On a side note, does anyone know if it's possible for a Lightweaver (or any order of Knight) to have their spren and powers off-world? I might just RP like I can do it either way, but it made me curious.

[MetaTerminal]

Quote

So, yeah Surgebinding would work off planet, but you'd have to get the spren off-planet first. That's hard to do. Cosmere-wide it's not hard hard but it is-- You'd have to know some stuff. You could learn how.

Third result from here. It’s possible.

[Elandera]

2 hours ago, Metaspren said:

Third result from here. It’s possible.

Thanks!! That makes my life easier. And so much more entertaining to RP and keep it realistic.

--RP--

Oyh looked around for his spren. He'd decided a while back to call it Veh, though he wasn't sure why. It just fit. He found the Cryptic on the leg of his pants. The ever-changing designs blended well with the dark fabric.

"What do you think, Veh?"

"Mmmm. Mmmurder. Fun!"

"What? You and I have different ideas about fun. Do you know who it is?"

"Mmm. Missing data. Need more information before mmurderer can be found. Yes."

Edited August 30, 2018 by Elandera
Punctuation

[Devotary of Spontaneity]

Tsynr was an excellent Babsk, but he had a truly bizarre passion for poisons and other hazardous substances. For some reason, the Thaylen Singer took particular pleasure in selling dangerous items for innocent purposes, and as his apprentice, Fourth of the Twilight helped him do it. The truly deadly wares were only sold to trusted customers, which none of the attendees of Investicon were. In addition to more mundane wares, Tsynr had prepared a shipment for a long term client, a Scadrian detective, who was supposed to have arrived an hour before the announcement of the murder. Shortly before Eban had burst in, Tsynr had left Investicon in search of the delayed client, leaving Twilight to watch over their merchandise. Now, there had been a murder and Twilight was sitting at a booth stocked with strong acids intended for metallurgic use, distilled fenweed leaf to treat the Scadrian's insomnia, and, for some inexplicable reason, a tank of deathants. Twilight didn't know what possible reason the Scadrian would want deathants for, but Tsynr hadn't answered her when she'd asked. All she knew was that Tsynr had been trading with this detective for years, long before Twilight became an apprentice merchant, and the pair had a cordial relationship. Twilight trusted her Babsk, but she really wished he'd hurry up and return to Investicon. The glass of the tank was strong, but Twilight feared the prospect of the deathants escaping far more than she feared the assassin that apparently lurked among them. They could and would kill everyone in this room who didn't escape quickly enough;  mandibles strong enough to penetrate even Tsynr's tough carapace and poison that could kill with a single bite made deathants one of the many creatures Twilight had been glad to leave behind when she'd left First of the Sun.

[MetaTerminal]

As several of the others talked about life insurance, Selksi scrutinised the room. There were all sorts of insane people here. A crazy investigator with a pet bird, a grizzled cop, a travelling salesman, a Rosharan who appeared to be talking to himself, and someone with a full tank of ants. Ants! For once, Selksi was the least mad person in the room.

Tapping his chin thoughtfully, he pulled out his writing board. As he did so, a number of other stolen items fell out after it: a plastic skull, a small booby trap, a silver musical instrument, and a piece of slime that had stuck to the bottom of his bag. Selksi quickly gathered the items up and put them away. Thankfully, neither his grandbow nor axe had fallen out. The Almighty knew why he kept either of them - he was barely able to lift the blade, and pulling back the string of the bow was nigh impossible. Hopefully he could sell the items before they got him into trouble.

[Herowannabe]

I got delayed a little bit tonight. Working on the writeup and tiles for Day 1 now. 

Edited August 30, 2018 by Herowannabe
Typo

[Herowannabe]

Day 1: Relic of the Future

The hours passed slowly as everyone waited for the Oracle to return. A few people eyed each other with suspicion, a few were curious about the prospect of solving the mystery and finding the murderer, but as is the case with most Cons, the excitement was interspersed with long stretches of boredom. 

Finally, Eban Naworeh re-entered the convention hall carrying a small stack of papers. Now, in addition to his wild hair and disheveled robes, the Oracle's unkempt appearance was further heightened by ink stains on his fingers, sleeves, and his chin. 

"Storms man, what took you so long?" Someone said. "How many Séances did you have to hold to find out who the murderer is anyway?"

"Hmm?" Eban said as he began handing one sheet of paper to each person. Each page was identical, and contained several paragraphs of prognostication written in a neat calligraphic script, along with a hand-drawn border of an intricate twisting pattern. "Oh, I don't know who did it, not yet anyway, but I did read a handful of clues in the auguries."

"And that took you over 5 hours?"

"Oh shades no! That only took about 15 minutes. I had to make all of these proclamation announcement cards by hand. It would have gone faster, but the photocopier broke so-"

"The fotowhatnow?"

"Photocopier. It's a relic of the future. Anyway it broke so I had to copy them all by hand and-"

"A relic of... How can you have a 'relic' from anything other than the distant past!?"

"Because I'm the Chief Oracle, of course! Who else would you trust to take care of relics from the future?"

"I- Look, that doesn't matter, why in Braize did you spend 5 hours hand-writing all of these sheets when you could have just come and told us what you had discovered."

Eban looked shocked. "Nights afire man! I'm the Chief. Oracle. You don't become Chief Oracle by shouting your proclamations on the street corner like some chouta vendor." He seemed to have forgotten that he had done just that thing earlier, and went on talking anyway. "You have to have a certain professionalism mixed with a little added flair if you want to get and hold a prestigious position like mine for over 8 decades. Hence, the proclamation announcement cards!" He gestured emphatically with the remaining pages. 

"You're a loon, you know that?"

"Indeed," Eban said solemnly. "That's one of the the job requirements as well."

 

---

The game is in full swing now! The Oracle clues are listed below, so start discussing away and players are now allowed to Attempt to solve the crime at any time (remember to @ mention me or the Attempt won't count).

Also remember that everyone must make at least 1 post this cycle, or else be dropped from the game and replaced by one of our awesome Pinch Hitters. 

Good Luck everyone!

Link to spreadsheet

Oracle Clues:

Spoiler

Cause of Death	Location of Crime #4	Social Relationship	Murderer's Personality	Hint on Corpse	Noticed by Bystander
Suffocation	Roshar	Relatives	Arrogant	Head	Sudden sound
Severe Injury	Scadrial	Friends	Despicable	Chest	Prolonged sound
Loss of Blood	Sel	Colleagues	Furious	Hand	Smell
Supernatural	Nalthis	Master/Servant	Greedy	Leg	Visual
Poisoning/ Sickness	Shadesmar	Lovers	Forceful	Partial	Action
Accident	Other Shardworld	Strangers	Insane	All-over	Nothing

Player List:

Spoiler

#	Player Name	Means of Murder	Pieces of Evidence
1	Steeldancer Squid of Steel	Torture, Betrayal, Koloss Blade, Blood Loss,	Rotspren, Aonic Dictionary, Boots, Ragged Cloak,
2	A Joe In the Bush Various Divide	Martial Arts, Venomous Bite, Obsidian Axe, Aon Sheo (Death),	Mistcloak, Cigar Case, Straw Man, Sketchbook,
3	Droughtbringer In	Garotte, Hammer, Sword, Air-powered Crossbow,	Medallion, Bloodseal, Gloves, Fearspren,
4	Devotary of Spontaneity Fourth of the Twilight	Deathants, Fenweed Poison, Acid, Parshendi,	Cup, Blue Skin Scraps, Aluminum Ingots, Uniform,
5	Metaspren Selksi	Kick, Booby Trap, Grandbow, Dreok's Axe,	Writing Board, Elantrian Slime, Musical Instrument, Skull,
6	Rathmaskal Larry	Soulcasting, Jeskeri Cult Ritual, Highstorm, Ettmetal Explosion,	Skaze, Gloryspren, Words Inscribed in Steel, Vandalism,
7	Elandera Oyh	Rope, Deathweed Bark, Smoke, Tompher Poison,	Cremlings, Bullet, Red Sphere, Crem ,
8	Wiritospren <name pending>	Shades, Suffocation, Aon Daa (Power), Hemalurgic Spike,	Technology, Aviar Feather, Smoke, Lak,
9	Madagasar Mad	Birchbane, Drowning, Swampvine, Hook,	Piece of Ralkalest, Shelldry Cards, Pet Bird, Make Up,
10	Snipexe Snip	Pistol, Blackbane Leaf, Poisoned Wine, Black Frayn,	Water Bottle, Seafood, Colorful Scarf, Saddle Strap,
11	Araris Valerian Aralis	Aon Ehe (Fire), Stone, Bare Hands, Essence Marks,	Ice, Contract, Portrait, Aluminum Bullets,
12	Kidspren <Name Pending>	Aimian, Metal Poisoning, Deepwalker, Sacrificial Altar,	Hallandren Dyes, Soulstone, Ash Stains, Empty Pouch,
13	Phattemer Bobby Tables	Steelrunning, Bow & Arrow, Glass Dagger, Nightmaw,	Fingernails, Tarachin Ball, Artisan’s Script, Hideout,
14	Paranoid King John 'Not-A-Murderer-At-All' Smith	Whitespine, Dakhor Ritual, Poisoned Dart, The Bands of Mourning ,	Bay Wrap, Dust, Larkin Corpse, Lucky Hat,
15	I think I am here Itiah VII	Buried Alive, Toxic Fungus, Midnight Essence, Spear,	Hoid’s flute, Shu-Dereth Pendant, Ichor Alchohol, Metallurgy Equipment,
16	Randuir Tezed	Rifle, Poisonous Sting, Kandra Digestive Acids, Rioting,	Footprint, Dirt, Purple Blood Droplets, Forged Painting,
17	Cadmium Compounder Rettih Chnip	Meekers, Mistwraith, Punch, Disease,	Silver Dust, Tattoo, Cracked Shalebark, Lockpicks,
18	Bort May Bebort	Explosion, Sand Mastery, Bloodsealing, Coins,	Child's Toy, Trap Door, Vandalized Statue, Red Flag,
19	Arinian Niar	Burned at the Stake, Awakened Rope, Sandling, Fire,	Bright Green Hat, Hidden Message, Firestarter, Letter,

 

Day 2 will begin when the countdown ends: 

Edited August 30, 2018 by Herowannabe
added writeup

[Araris Valerian]

@Wyrmhero Does "partial" refer to the state of the body; part of the body is missing, or does it refer to the wounds being on part of the corpse, or is it up to our interpretation?

Edit: Or perhaps could some impartial source answer this? @Alvron

Edited August 30, 2018 by Araris Valerian

[Madagascar]

*raises hand*

I solved the crime! Well Scarry, my noble crime-solving pig did. It was an accident. Thus there was no crime. We can all go home now.

*cold silence ensues*

All right. I am gathering that the answer is no.

"Accident" and "sudden sound" seem to imply sudden violence, such as a fall. Perhaps accidental poisoning, but poison was not selected.

[Paranoid King]

12 minutes ago, Araris Valerian said:

@Wyrmhero Does "partial" refer to the state of the body; part of the body is missing, or does it refer to the wounds being on part of the corpse, or is it up to our interpretation?

Based on contextual clues, I would guess it is where on the body you can find hints of the murder.

I am most suspicious of ettmetal explosion/skaze.

I'm also suspicious of booby trap/elantrian slime, buried alive/dereth pendant, and rioting/ forged painting.

I'm discounting betrayal (because they were strangers) and the jerethi ritual/all the aons (because it was an accident)

Edit: The more I think bout it, the more likely it sounds. @Wyrmhero, is it ettmetal explosion/skaze?

Edited August 30, 2018 by Paranoid King

[Araris Valerian]

I think that Aon Ehe (Fire) and Aon Daa (Power) could both be the culprit. Accident brings to mind when Raoden tested the chasm line on Ehe. Also, an Aon could cause a Sudden Sound. The generic Explosion and Fire methods also seem to fit with Sudden Sound and Accident.

[MetaTerminal]

I think if poison was used, it would have been selected.

Araris ninja’d me on this, but I wouldn’t discount an Aon being misdirected in this case. A Jeskeri or Dakhor ritual also can’t be discarded if they went wrong somehow (perhaps when being paired with Vandalism)? 

EDIT: Also, a Drowning/Pieces of Ralkalest might account for both Partial (pieces) and Despicable (although maybe I’m just really afraid of drowning).

Edited August 30, 2018 by Metaspren
Had an idea.

[Kidpen]

PSA:I am kidpen once again. It's late and I've got homework, so I'll make a relevant post tomorrow when I wake up. 

[Paranoid King]

Oops. @Herowannabe, is it ettmetal explosion/skaze?

[Araris Valerian]

@Paranoid King You might want to reference the rules:

Spoiler

Making an Accusation

The Investigators’ goal is to solve the crime by correctly identifying these 3 things:

1. The Assassin

2. The Method of Murder

3. And the Key Evidence

Each player only gets one Attempt to solve the crime during the game- this is tracked on the spreadsheet and made public knowledge, so everybody knows who has/hasn’t made an Attempt yet. To Attempt to solve the crime, please do the following:

1. Post in the thread that you are Making an Accusation, and color the text red.

2. Declare which Player you are accusing, along with the Method you think they used and the Evidence they left behind (by choosing one of the Methods and one of the Evidences assigned to the accused player)

3. Mention the Oracle by using the @<username> function of the site (or by quoting one of the Oracle’s posts).

An Accusation will not be counted unless it follows all 3 of these steps. For Example: When Dalinar is ready to make an accusation, his post might look something like this:

I am making an Accusation! I accuse Szeth of being the Assassin, and I think he used Lashing to commit the murder and that the Key Evidence he left behind is the Message Written in Blood.

The Oracle will respond to each Accusation as soon as possible (by the end of the current cycle, at the latest), as follows:

• If the Player, Method, and Evidence are all guessed correctly, they will say “Yes.” The Investigators then win the game.

• If any part of the Accusation is wrong, then the Oracle will simply answer “No” without giving any further information.

NOTE: If a player make an Accusation and is wrong, they are not eliminated from the game. They are free to continue discussing and posting their suspicions and trying to persuade other investigators to their point of view, but they are not allowed to make any more Accusations.

 

Edited August 30, 2018 by Araris Valerian
Edit: Wow, that didn't paste very nicely :/

[Herowannabe]

47 minutes ago, Araris Valerian said:

@Wyrmhero Does "partial" refer to the state of the body; part of the body is missing, or does it refer to the wounds being on part of the corpse, or is it up to our interpretation?

All clues are up to your interpretation. As Oracle I am not allowed to give you any more information about the clues. 

13 minutes ago, Paranoid King said:

Oops. @Herowannabe, is it ettmetal explosion/skaze?

@Araris Valerian beat me to it. See his post above ^

[Elandera]

"Sel. Where is that again?" Oyh was too new to worldhopping, especially considering it had been an accident in the first place. The idea of a whole Cosmere of worlds was... daunting, to say the least.

"Mmm. Different powers there," said Veh in response. "No Highstorms. No Stormlight."

"And they said it was an accident. So probably not any kind of sacrifice or ritual. Those tend to be pretty intentional."

"Yes. Mmmm. Sacrifice not good."

"What do you think about the sound, though."

"No daggers. Mmmm. Assassin's weapons."

"What about a gun, or whatever they're called?"

"Mmmm. Mmaybe. Are there guns on Sel?"

----

So I'm slowly going through the list and crossing off things I don't think fit the categories. Pretty much any poison has been crossed off (blackbane, black frayn, metal poisoning, etc.), along with Highstorms since they are Roshar-exclusive, and disease. I also removed blood loss, and daggers (though the latter is less definite). 

I'm thinking along the lines now of an explosion, or Aon Ehe, as has been stated. It would fit an accident with a loud noise, both possible on Sel. I would consider Jeskeri Cult Ritual to fit with the Despicable category, but that really doesn't fit with an accident.

As for evidence, I'm removing Fearspren, Rotspren, Gloryspren (since like Highstorms, those are Roshar-exclusive).

[DeTess]

Quote

In a city like this, the only accidents involved in a murder where the clues the perpetrator hadn't intended to leave behind. For the 'oracle' to claim it was an accident anyway, well it spoke volumes as tot the nature of the crime. The wrong man, at the wrong place, at the wrong time. It reminded me of myself, though so far I've been able to stay one step ahead of old Iron-eyes.

...First of all, do you even know the gender of the victim? And second of all, how does this gravelly-voiced stuff help solve the crime? Here, watch this.

Methods matching accident (and not matching nay of the other options)

Aon Shao

Ettmetal explosion

Essence marks

Rioting

explosion

fire (maybe)

Smoke (maybe)

Shades (maybe)

Aon ehe (maybe)

Booby trap (maybe)

I've got shades as a maybe mostly because there shouldn't be any on Sell. Smoke, Aon Ehe and Fire could all be considered an accident, but are probably better reflected by severe injury or suffocation. Booby trap might fit, but if you're placing booby traps, you're not trying to accidentally hurt someone.

Aon Shao is an illusion, and I can see how a poorly timed illusion results in an accidental death. Same goes for the two flavors of explosion, while an essence mark failing at the wrong time could also cause an accidental death due to failing equipment or a fallng bridge or something. Rioting could start a literal riot or a  stampede or something else in which the victim is collateral damage.

Quote

The victim hadn't been the intended target, but that didn't change the method of execution. With only part of the body recovered, it indicated a weapon sharp as a shardblade and big as a Koloss. Several of the suspects had brought weapons that fit just that description. Its a funny thing, how fast you can go from 'investigator' to 'suspect'. People look for answers, and if those involving themselves with the crime aren't providing them, people start wondering whether those involved are the answer.

...you are the worst.

[Madagascar]

2 hours ago, Metaspren said:

EDIT: Also, a Drowning/Pieces of Ralkalest might account for both Partial (pieces) and Despicable (although maybe I’m just really afraid of drowning).

 

Mad steeples her horrible, poorly manicured fingers. Ohhhh and someone falling or tripping or being pushed into water would make a splash ... or a sudden sound! Sounds convincing! Clearly whoever is in possession of these clues ought to be immediately secured to a heavy vertical wooden post, doused with a properly flammable liquid, and given 20 seconds to say their prayers. Who is this wretch? Whoever they are, they must be immediately and mercilessly--

Uh wait hang on ... give me a rain check on that one.

[Bort]

May Bebort took his card from the Oracle, and stepped away from the crowd to study it. Despicable, hmm? Well, that could cover half of the people in the room, at least, so he couldn't use it to rule anyone out. The others though... It happened on Sel, so he dismissed all of the Spren, and other locally occurring events.. Accidental, so there went the Jeskeri Mysteries ritual and a few others. No mention of poison, or blood loss. Those were crossed off his list as well.

After a while of analysing data, May stepped forward and said, loud enough for all to hear. "If my analyses is correct, I believe we can cross a few names off from our list of suspects. I don't think we have reason to suspect Squid of Steel, Various Divide, In, Oyh, Rettih Chnip, or Kidpen any longer. Does anyone disagree?"

He looked about the room to see what others thought.

[I think I am here.]

Has anyone noted blood loss? First thing I saw when I was quickly scanning for accidental means murder. A small wound could count as partial, I guess.

EDIT: Scratch Blood Loss, took another look at the Oracle cards.

Ettmetal explosion sounds like it could work, but I’m not sure how it could fit the ‘strangers’ category, unless it was a demotion or something.

Edit again: MAJOR

Rand, I like your list, but considering things like smoke (and buried alive for those who think that), I’d think the Oracle would pick Suffocation more than they would ‘Accident’ per say, so I would cross that out (for now at least)

When it comes to Planet, in my opinion, if the means to murder was a one not planet-specific, I believe Oracle would put ‘Other Shardworld’ as that would heavily narrow down our options. Since it has been specified it’s Sel, I think that must mean one of the Sel-specific ones, rather than a planet-neutral ones.

I think Esscence Marks and Bloodsealing should be crossed out, those have shown to require quite a lot of planning, and besides, would craft a soul stamp or a blood seal for a stranger?

I find the possibility of accidental Aons much higher. Yes, they still require planning, but less, and they can’t be controlled as well if you don’t have modifiers, which is never specified.

So that leaves me with:

Aon Ehe

Aon Sheo

Aon Daa

Aon Sheo seems like an overall death affect, so I’m not sure if there would be any effect on a corpse.

Aon Daa is energy and Aon Ehe fire, both seem like they could have a partial effect on a body (maybe part of the body is burnt or something) though I’m leaning more towards fire.

So, yeah, Araris. Not an accusation, but still. I think I’ll wait for some more Oracle cards before I do that.

Edited August 30, 2018 by I think I am here.

[CadCom]

Quote

 

@Rathmaskal

This was too easy...Larry already had someone coming up to him asking about insurance.

"Now, Rettih...I know you don't think you're going to need specific types of insurance, maybe you never attempt to go worldhopping...but that's why get insurance.  What if worst comes to worst.  You sound like an ideal candidate for our Spontaneous Worldhopping insurance plan.  Say you're walking down the street, without a care in the world.  Suddenly, you see out of the corner of your eye a small glimmer.  It's Nothing, you think to yourself.  So you keep walking.  But that glimmer stays in the corner of your eye.  Eventually, you turn around and walk toward it.  Or maybe you start running, and not watching where you're going.  BAM, you run into a perpendicularity and find yourself on Threnody.  With our standard package, you get a free ride back to where you came from.  Add in the extra 'Accidentally Landed in Threnody' package and we'll even provide you with enough silver to ring yourself for three nights."

Larry reached into his briefcase.

"I've got some basic paperwork right here.  Just some standard payment schedules, negligence clauses, that type of thing." 

"Ahh, well, you see, I've run some numbers" Rettih began, "and according to my calculations, If someone has never worldhopped before, the chances of them doing so spontaneously at some point in their life is very slim. Approximately 0.0005% So I am not risking it. However, the chance of my home getting destroyed, say, by a fallen tree, or a highstorm, or even some sort of ettmetal explosion is much more possible. Approximately 2.2% Do you see why I would be more interested in homeowners insurance with a simple liability plan?"

"Also, I'm asking for a friend, but do you have any insurance for those who are trying to break the fourth wall?" Rettih asked. 

--Analysis post to come--

[wiritospren]

Here it's! I Made the ultimate accident-making list Awakened rope,fire, explosion, coins, metal poisoning,Aon ehe,aon daa,booby trap.

I'm sure I didnt do it so aon daa is gone. Explosión make a Lot of sound so is gone.

Awakened rope,fire, coins, metal poisoning,Aon ehe,booby trap.

But metal poisoning don't leave Marks, and since so it's gone

Awakened rope,fire, coins, Aon ehe,booby trap.

And since it was extranger, I'm almost sure it was a booby trap.

[DeTess]

21 minutes ago, wiritospren said:

I'm sure I didnt do it so aon daa is gone. Explosión make a Lot of sound so is gone.

Why are you dropping explosion for this reason? A 'sudden sound' is actually part of the provided hints.

[Paranoid King]

Third time's the charm! @Herowannabe!

I am making an Accusation! I accuse Larry of being the Assassin, and I think he used Ettmetal explosion to commit the murder and that the Key Evidence he left behind is the Skaze.