Trial 1

[yourghosthost]

[After everyone has finished their investigations, everyone finds themselves gathering in the stretching room once more. The door shuts behind them. The corpse swings above the proceedings, ominously, and wandering eyes can't help but draw their attention to it.

It especially draws attention when it appears to move upward.

The whole room seems to move downwards, as the walls get longer and the ceiling gets further away. A snide comment from your Host echoes throughout the room:]

Tell me. Is this haunted room actually stretching? Or is it just your imagination?

Find your place in the graveyard. I will be with you shortly.

[After a few moments, the room stops. A new door opens.

It appears to be an outside area, covered in overgrown plants and moss. An incredibly high gated fence surrounds the whole area, and perpetual darkness (accompanied by a bright full moon) sets the mood. A cobblestone path goads you on through this area, leading to a circle of 25 tombstones, each labeled with a participants picture, name and their birthdate. They're arranged to face each other, ominously enough. On top of each tombstone is a small typewriter-esque keyboard.

The only unique tombstone here is the only marked for Karolina. It's adorned with a red rose and a glass of cognac, and her tombstone is marked with a limerick:

Here Lies Karolina Dean
She might have had a rough life
But she really didn't deserve that knife

As everyone finds their places, the Host speaks.]

The keyboard on your tombstone shall be used for voting who you believe committed this crime. Due to the...nature of some of our participants, I will be forgiving misspellings and accidental presses, but each guest shall only receive one vote, and we go by majority rules.

Take all the time you need, please. There's no turning back now.]

Comments

[sentadaughter]

[She gives him a moment, but once his hand is in hers she is going to hold onto it firmly. Not enough to hurt, but enough to prove that she's right there, someone solid is there for him.]

Bad things happen sometimes. Accidents happen. Bad people do things when good men don't have a chance to help. Sometimes things go horribly wrong in ways nobody could have predicted. But regardless of the reason, the end is the same.

Nobody can change the past. Thinking about what you could have done differently will only weigh you down. You're not meant to carry a burden like that, Wander. You've done nothing to deserve it. So instead of looking to the past and the 'what ifs', how about you walk facing forward, hmm?

[folkscallmewander]

[It won't totally relieve him of the guilt that he could have done something, but having someone ground him keeps his mind from wandering so far he loses it. Accidents happen, he can't help everyone, that's something he's re-learned so many times during each travels, but it doesn't make those moments feel any worse.

And hasn't he always believed it's better to think about the future rather than stay in the past? He'll be better next time. He's Wander, the traveler that's out to help people, not feel awful about himself.

But...something about Ping's words is bothering him. He's messed up from Karolina's death and the trial room, so it could just be his anxiety getting the worse of him.

Wander looks up at Ping's face, slightly more relaxed, but with a hint of concern.]

[sentadaughter]

[She sees that look, and she just shakes her head.

Not now, Wander. She'll talk later, if they both make it through this, but not during the trial.]