Second Investigation

[wringmaster]

Investigation 2

Your days in the Cirque de l'Ardeur are coming to an end. It will be less than 48 hours until you're allowed to leave if you choose so. With the finish line in sight, all one must do now is survive until then.

However...one or more people may not have gotten to.

When everyone wakes up, nothing seems off. There are no burning tents right now. Despite that, as soon as they get wandering around, they'll notice something awful happened last night.

It's time for the second performance of the Cirque de l'Ardeur to begin.

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MED TENT

[wringmaster]

[walktodeath]

[ WELL; SHE'S HERE.

It looks strongly like Novio has been mauled by an animal, so let's get an overview of the site... what happened to the animal? ]

CONTENT WARNING: Animal Death

[wringmaster]

[Alright, let's get this done. The animal is here, that's for certain.

This animal in question is a wolf! Its pelt has quite an amount of blood on it, soaking its torso. There also is blood on its paws and claws, and there's even some on its jaws.

Novio's corpse is bloody, the wolf's corpse is bloody...this med tent truly is an unpleasant time. Perhaps it's a good thing Tokiko is ready to tackle this all]

[walktodeath]

[ Tokiko looks at all this, then down her body. She's wearing a white sundress. Perfect?? But she's here already and she honestly thinks she's a better candidate for doing all this than some of the others. She is certainly less squeamish.

So okay. Novio.

How is he positioned? On his front, back? Does he look like he's been moved or more like he's died to wolf and then left right where he fell? Any patterns in the bloodbath around him? ]

[wringmaster]

[Well! You sure are going to get blood on you, dear, because there's a lot of blood on the ground, especially around Novio. If this wasn't a magical circus this would be hell to clean up.

Good thing, though: this means some things are easier to tell. One look will show there are no tracks in this med tent! Or any patterns worth noting. No signs of tampering, either. It looks pretty natural...

...as natural as a situation like this one can be, at least.

As for the position of Novio's body, he currently is facing upwards! Lying on his back, in other words]

[walktodeath]

[ Well, if she's already going to get bloody, then why not go all the way. After all, messiness can be excellent camouflage for small precise actions.

So Tokiko kneels down in all the blood to actually examine Novio's body in detail. Does every single wound truly look like an animal bite or scratch? Or is there anything that seems more methodical? ]

[inthelineofdanir]

[Tokiko's getting points here for not being afraid to get messy. Milla's come into the med tent as well, looking around at the mess and then to her and Novio.]

I thought I smelled blood. [She looks from the wolf to the corpse.] He was mauled?

[Joining Tokiko in her inspection of the injuries! Milla's definitely seen the corpses of men that have been mauled on the Ice so. She's curious to see if all of these look like claw and animal teeth marks or not.]

[wringmaster]

[Take a gander! Your experience in people getting mauled will show you that, without a doubt, Novio's neck was mauled! This throat was torn pretty badly, and there are no traces or signs of it having been made with a tool of any sort.

Looks pretty authentic to the experienced eye!

As for the rest of the injuries, they're authentic claw and teeth marks, she'll be able to tell]

[walktodeath]

[ After this realization, Tokiko turns to Milla and frowns. ]

He was, but... Can you take a look at his apparent opponent? I am not certain that these wounds truly match up...

[ And while sending Milla to deal with that, Tokiko will look at the condition of the tent around - how are the inanimate objects in the tent looking? Aside from bloody. ]

[wringmaster]

[Well! The inanimate objects in this tent look pretty normal. They don't seem to have been knocked away, nor reorganized, nor used in any way. This place may be full of blood but thank goodness the supplies are still intact. Well, leaving aside this whole area is now a biological hazard.

There's something that stands out, though, and it's near Novio's hand: a sword.]

[walktodeath]

[ Oho, oho!

Tokiko is absolutely going to take a closer look at that. How big is the sword? Is it bloody, damaged? Does it have any noteworthy ornaments? ]

[wringmaster]

[This sword looks surprisingly generic. Functional, without any notable characteristics. Not all that sizable, too.

There's blood on it, though! And some minor damage from use, but nothing that stands out or looks unnatural]

[walktodeath]

[ Is it one of the swords that were around at the circus for tricks and performances before? Tokiko's been looking around enough for the last two weeks that she'd probably be able to tell. ]

[wringmaster]

[Yes! Bingo. Mystery solved!]

[inthelineofdanir]

[A nod.]

I will check the beast.

[Off to do that!]

[inthelineofdanir]

[I forgot to have Milla actually say something aloud when she checked the wolf so after she checks the wolf--]

I think you are correct. The snout is too small for this bite, and the beast's toes do not spread wide enough.

This beast is meant to deceive us.

[wringmaster]

[There are so many claws and teeth marks on Novio many would feel bad for the guy. This is so...brutal, some would say! And what's more, every single one looks jagged, wild, and absolutely not methodical. The exact location can be seen on the diagrams, of course.

...........

...hm? Tokiko's close examination yields interesting results. There's no mistakes these are claw and teeth marks...however...they look pretty big. Perhaps even too big to have been made by that wolf nearby.]

[inthelineofdanir]

[After Tokiko asks Milla to investigate the wolf, she's coming over to check out the wolf! She's gotten a good look at Novio's injuries, so--were they made by the wolf? If not, can Milla get an idea of how much bigger the fangs and claws were that might have done it?]

[wringmaster]

[Check out this beast! This is a wolf. And there's blood on its fur, teeth, and claws. The obvious thought is that it attacked him pretty savagely.

However...yes, an examination will show that despite all the blood here on the wolf's attack features...they do look a tad too small to fit Novio's injuries.

As to how much bigger, well, at first glance one wouldn't be able to this wolf may not have been the one to make them. Only a close examination allowed you and Tokiko to find out. In other words, the size difference isn't noticeable unless you examine in depth]

[inthelineofdanir]

[Good deal! Milla spends a little bit more time on the body, going back to it and memorizing the size and shape of them and checking the arrangement of teeth on the bite rings for details. I'm assuming she's not going to get much more off that so this is more just noting for completeness that she's doing so!

Are there any injuries on the wolf, by the way? Did Novio manage to defend himself with the sword at all?]

Content Warning: Animal Death

[wringmaster]

[Oh, yes. There sure are injuries on this wolf. Looks like a lot of the blood on its torso came from a couple stab injuries on it]

cw: animal death

[inthelineofdanir]

[Welp! Time to go and grab the sword near Novio and check it against the wolf's injuries!]

Re: cw: animal death

[wringmaster]

[Drumroll!

It's a match!]

cw: animal death

[inthelineofdanir]

[Interesting. A sword close to hand, a slain beast, the appearance of claw and bite marks... this does look like a fight scene, certainly. And there are no footprints leading out of the blood... hmm.

She's going to take another look around the room to see if there's anything else to be found. And out of curiosity, which was closer to the opening of the tent? Novio or the wolf?]

[wringmaster]

[The wolf is closer to the entrance! Although not by that much, they're generally in the same area.

Take a look around, Milla! Checking around, you'll find...huh. Looks like some red fur. Intensely red fur, in fact]