It was a clear and sunny day as the Redwallers were out of doors, gathering berries and the like from the surrounding countryside. They frolicked and sang in the forest as the dibbuns all ran about them. None of them had any idea what was about to unfold; the might of Cluny's horde could not compare with how shocking this event was to be, and Iron Beak's dominion could not compare with its terror. This is the story of how such an event took place in our own beloved Redwall.
OOC: Well my little minions! Go ahead and roleplay away! When it starts you will all be in a group in a meadow, foraging. I'll select one of you to die and that person may continue on as a skipper that they create. :) Hope everyone has a good time!
A short, thin old squirrel stood in front of a bush, a basket hooped through the crook of his arm as he collected berries and dumped them into it.
"Oh, my old back is no good for this!" he muttered, hopping awkwardly away when two Dibbuns ran, giggling, past him.
Brother Asney wiped his paws on his habit.
"Ah, youth. Bella!" he waved at the ottermaid from a distance away. "Come and help me, will you?"
Bella had been chatting with one of the other gatherers who's eyes seemed to be slowly drooping in a sleepless manner, clearly tired of having to talk to her, when Brother Asney called for her. The gatherer's eyes quickly perked up. "Oh, don't worry about me, go help the old man." He started lightly pushing her away, and got up from the patch of grass he had been sitting on to move far away from that little never-ending chatterbox. She picked up her basket and skipped over to the Brother, dropping a couple berries along the way.
"What'cha need help with?" She said, bouncing lightly up and down, a trick she used to keep her ever active mind busy.
Asney attempted to hand Bella what he had harvested.
"Can't you take this and get me another basket? Old bones, you know..."
The squirrel couldn't help but mutter something about a "crazy Abbot who had no respect for the old creatures" under his breath.
Bella quickly grabbed the Brother's half full basket and handed him her own almost empty one.
"Here, you can have mine! There is quite a lot of room left in yours so I don't see the point in getting rid of it yet."
She slung the basket onto her arm and started helping Asney with the bush he was working on, rapidly tossing all of the berries she could see into it.
Cieron walked over a rise with a basket full of berries in each paw, moving towards the larger group. "Found a good patch over there," he said as he dropped the baskets with the growing pile. "They'll be happy about that in the kitchens!"
As the Redwallers finish foraging for various supplies, clouds gather overhead and a low rumble is heard. The Abbot orders everyone inside, as they start gathering by the gate to be counted to make sure that no one was missing, one Redwaller was missing, the recorder Asney. Skipper went to go look in the area in which he was last seen by Cieron. What he finally found under a bush left him speechless with anger, surprise, and grief. Asney's throat had been cut by an extremely small, smooth blade, he hadn't found it on the scene, and after a short, but extensive search he reasoned that the killer took it with them. When he returned to the group, they were taken aback by his utterly blank face. He was unresponsive to questions for quite some time, eventually though, they managed to pry what he had found.
"What happened?" Cieron asked again, looking at the distraught otter.
"I said Asney was murdered." Skipper Ralph's paws shook with rage. "Slit right across the throat with some kind of small blade. When I find the killer, I will make them pay! There will be no end to their suffering!"
He got up and stormed off down the hallway.
Cieron sat down and stared at the floor. Who could have done such a thing? Asney was such a nice creature. When he saw him last he was alive and well. Now he was gone.
"Must've been one of the paring knives," he thought aloud.
"Hey Skip!" Derry the squirrel bounded into the crowd, "There's some delicious cordial you should try down in the..." He stopped short when he saw the somber mood the hung over the normally cheerful Abbey. "What happened?" questioned Derry, the beginnings of a frown coming over his face.
OOC: Hello, HoltLutra, and welcome to the forum!
Would you like to join this role-play? :)
OOC:Yes, it that okay? I'm new to this forum.
OOC: Yep! It's fine! Just make a character sheet first in the OOC topic. :)
OOC: Where is that? Sorry...
OOC: When you go into the Roleplaying Board, there are four child boards: Completed/abandoned Roleplays, Roleplay Dueling Board, OOC Roleplay Discussions, and the Roleplay Tournament Board. Go into OOC Roleplay Discussions, and look for the topic: Murder on the Meadow - OOC Discussion and Sign-ups
Here's the link for you. :) http://www.redwallabbey.com/forum/index.php?topic=10169.0
OOC: I made the sign-up, so now we can continue the RP now. Thank you!
OOC-
You have to wait until the owner of the RP says you're in.
OOC: Okay
Father Bungo's eyes widened, but he seemed to not comprehend what Skipper had said. He remained silent for quite some time before finally responding. "We should gather in Cavern Hole to discuss what we should be doing," he said as he walked silently to Cavern Hole.
Foremole agreed, "Aye, there be a badbeast among us."
Derry was still slightly confused, he had not been out on the berry picking expedition.
"What happened? Where's Ansy?"
Derry instantly began to get a feeling of dread as the other Redwallers looked around uncomfortably. They all knew that Ansy had been a father figure to Derry, as he had not known his own parents.
He looked toward the sad faces, "Well?"
Bella stared at the beast, a look of pure terror painted across her face. Her usually bubbly manner had vanished, and she could barely hear the chattering of the others, her mind humming with horrible thoughts of how this might have happened.
Derry stumbled over to Bella, "What happened to Ansy? Please, Bella, tell me!" He grabbed at Bella's paw as tears began to well in his eyes.
Bella snatched her paw away and stared at Derry, her face frozen in shock.
"He. . . he was killed" She said in an almost inaudible murmur. "M-murdered"
"We don't know how, though," said Cieron, shaking his head. He followed after the Abbot. "Let's try to figure this out."
Derry's frame began to shake as he quietly sobbed. In an instant, however, Derry stopped crying and a steely resolve appeared in his eyes. "Alright, let's listen to the Abbot and find out what we know." He strode off following the Abbot and Cieron.
OOC-
Remember, it's Asney, not Ansy.
OOC: Oops, my mistake. Sorry.
Foremole Gustaf placed a comforting paw around Derry and said, "Don't worry, we'll find Asney's murderer out soon enough, as my old father used to say: 'The way this is done, though tricky, is to find who did it, what was was used, when it was done, where was it done, why it was done and how it was done'. So what say you, Master Derry?"
Derry looked over at Foremole, "Thank you Foremole, this sounds like an excellent plan. We must find who committed this terrible act." Derry walked down through the quiet Abbey, following the other beasts solemnly walking into Cavern Hole.
"When we will be having Asney's funeral service?" he asked.
"Ah yes, his funeral," Father Abbot said. "But before we lay his body to rest, we must first allow his spirit to rest as well. We should first find out who has done this despicable deed. To do so you must first investigate where Asney always spent his time recording our history:the gatehouse. I will remain here and ponder over these facts that we already have, when you discover something bring it back here and we shall discuss it." With that, Father Bungo sat down in front of the roaring fire of Cavern hole, and closed his eyes. His lips began to to twitch, a strange habit indeed but one that the Redwallers already knew to mean that Bungo was in deep concentration and not to be disturbed.
Cieron immediately headed towards the gatehouse, but stopped. "Wait. . . what are we looking for? The gatehouse is full of stuff."
Derry shrugged his shoulders, "Perhaps the first step should just be to go in and check if anything seems amiss. I should be able to help, I knew Asney pretty well and I will probably notice if anything is out of place."
Foremole Gustaf nodded his head, "I'll come with you Master Derry, have to keep those eyes sharp and minds clear. And keep in mind of the six questions."
"Of course, Gustaf. Thank you." said Derry as they walked into the gatehouse. They looked around briefly. The entire gatehouse was terribly messy. Books were strewn across the table and resting of the arms of Asney's armchair. Various phrases were underlined and circled in messy script. "Gustaf, what do you think?" asked Derry tapping on one of the books.
"Well Master Derry," Gustaf said placing his paw on the chair, " first things first, was this gatehouse always this messy when Asney was recorder? If not, what is out of place? Second, did Asney underline and circle words in his records before, if not, can they be a clue?"
"No Asney always tried to keep the gatehouse very clean. He must have been looking for something specific for it to be this messy. And secondly, Asney rarely underlined or marked anything in the old books unless it was very important." Derry told Gustaf.
"It seems to me, that since the room is messy, there was either: Asney was frantically looking for something, or he had a fight in here, or someone else rampaged the gatehouse." Gustaf paused, watching Derry's expression, and he continued, "Since, you said Asney is organized, option one is unlikely; We didn't hear any fight and we were all outside so rule that out. So, we should assume someone is looking for something Asney has in here. Did he have anything that he personally owned that would be missing? Second, would these markings in the text give us a clue?"
OOC: Stop here for a moment, to let me think of what will be in the records. I'll try to post tomorrow.
Inside the recordings of Asney, the Redwallers discovered several scribbled texts. But one of them in particular stood out to them. "This summer so far has been filled with various enjoyments and excitements. But many curiosities have permeated this summer as well. But there is something specific that the name of main participant I shall not write down in these pages. I have seen some creature running in the dormitory. I know that it was not merely my imagination, for I also heard the patter of its feet. It was quite a small creature, but no Redwaller, as was shown by its ragged garments, and the general filth of it. It did appear however that it had been cleaned and cared for of late. I turned down to climb down the ladder, when I saw a Redwaller climbing up the ladder carrying clothes, blankets, and various provisions. As I tried to warn the them, they looked up in shock, and quickly scampered down the ladder and ran away. I must confront them about what I saw, if they offer a decent explanation I will not be forced to bring my findings before the Abbot. But if they do not, I must act accordingly."
~Brother Asney,
Summer of the Blooming Daisies.
Derry looked up from the records, clearly shaken, "What could Asney have been talking about? I have not seen anything around Redwall that match the description from the records. Have you Gustaf?"
Foremole began going into a deep thought but after a while, he frowned and shook his head, saying, "No, not to my knowledge. This is a mystery I cannot comprehend. Best to take it to the abbot."
"Perhaps before we trouble the Abbot, we should investigate the dormitories and see if we can find anything." Derry suggested to Gustaf.
OOC: Don't immediately come to the Abbot after every discovery. He's supposed to be a very minor part in this. If you guys could actually change that it would be great.
Quote from: HoltLutra on October 28, 2017, 03:44:55 AM
"Perhaps before we trouble the Abbot, we should investigate the dormitories and see if we can find anything." Derry suggested to Gustaf.
OOC: Just so people see the "new" post. And thank you Holt.
@Krantor the BrutalOOC: Are we continuing this still? I want to, but if you guys don't...
I do. But we have to change our posts so that the abbot isn't involved...yet.
OOC: I already changed my post
"That would be a good idea Derry. Your suggestion give me the idea that we should collect all the facts and possibilities we can and then present them. What do you say?" Gustaf said thoughtfully.
"Perhaps, Foremole, we should investigate where the murder occurred...I'd rather not, but it could be one of the only things that can help us in finding the murderer." Derry replied.
"Alright, after you." Gutaf said as the two friends continued their search for the answer to the mystery.
With a deep breath, Derry stepped out the doors of the Abbey. The storm had left a cover of fog over the landscape. Derry began to walk to the berry field where Asney had been brutally killed.
"Let's see," Gustaf said, "this is where we found the body. Start looking around for some clues, Derry. There can be something hidden, like a loose patch of dirt, or crushed bushes." Then he started to sniff the ground to see if something was out of place.
Derry pushed aside the bushes, not noticing anything in particular. "Anything?" he called out to Gustaf.
OOC:
@Delthion is there anything in particular you would like them to find?