Annual Wistvale Gala!

[Orp Boon]

Tank laughs.

"Oh, I have my reasons."

He pours himself a glass of wine from the table and swigs it down almost in one gulp.

Mrs. Rose Smith smiles.

"Oh, that sounds like a nice school. How much is tuition there? I hear my sister complain a lot about it and I always feel so guilty that I can't help."

Mr. Venger speaks up from the end of the table.


"Oh, Lieutenant, are we going to be only carnivores this evening or are you going to bring out some vegetables from the Far East as well?"

Angelines scowls.

"As you wish."

She claps and the butlers emerge again. Jeeves leads the line out of the kitchen to the table. They place platters on the table and remove their covers revealing large bulbous fruit on each platter. The fruit is purple and seems somewhere between a pumpkin and a melon. Serenity and Tauer may have seen them before and might remember them as quite tasty.

As the guests dive into the next course the butlers remove the empty plates and platters from the table. Angeline replies to Mr. Venger,

"Good enough, Mr. Venger?"

He reclines in his chair and blots a bit of yakow steak off his mouth.

"Gooberfruit are okay for a provincial event, sure, but my dinner party last month had smoked dodeca-melons. They were just exquisite."

"Maybe you could invite me to one of your events next time, neighbor, or is my nose not high enough to get let in?"

"Lieutenant, you know we would just spend the whole night squabbling like this. I can't have my guests listening to me bicker at every event. Your guests seem fine with it, though."

Old Lady Crone stands up. Her eyes seem to be literally steaming.

"Don't insult Angeline like that! You're a mean man and a terrible father!"

Old Lady Crone throws her napkin on the table and leaves the room, smoke trailing behind.

[Neko]

::Neko sits with her mouth hanging open and a spoonful of the fruit held halfway to her mouth...

Wow... Were all such grand events like this? It was more than a little awkward, but entertaining as well. Obviously these people knew each other well. She gave a silent sigh of relief for being a new face here so no one could throw insults at her. She hoped...

She gave another glace at Tauer to see how he was handling all this and tried to give a smile. ::

[Serenity]

"Oh it's..." Serenity was trying to find a way to put it lightly, "not a terribly hefty sum," she lied, miserably.

"However, the institution gives special attention to those with remarkable talent. Most of it's students make their way with grants with the promise that they'll stay in Highever to take a position that helps further her development."

As she spoke about the academy, Serenity was almost surprised when a new dish arrived before her to reveal a fruit she was quite fond of.

The next moment was watched with mild interest, yet amusement as Serenity could be seen trying to hide a smile as Mr. Venger spoke up. However, it soon faded as one of the guests got up to leave.

"It's called being civilized, Mr. Venger. Politeness and patience urged me to keep to myself as I didn't want to speak out of turn at a foreign table. Though I lived in Wistvale once upon a time, it was a different, unruly place then. What customs have grown since, I hadn't the slightest, but I took a safe assumption given the class that Ms. Buckley has displayed this evening."

Serenity barely gave him direct eye contact, giving the impression that he was a sore to look upon.

"Squabbling over who has the nicest things at their parties is the drivel of children."

[Tauer]

Aside from the extremely odd drunken dwarf, the rude Mr. Venger, and the infuriated Old Lady Crone, Tauer was having a good time. He picked at the gooberfruit - a fruit of which he hadn't eaten since childhood - and turned his attention to Neko to see that she was glancing his way. He could sense that she felt awkward about the open hostility in the room but the demon gave her another reassuring smile.

Want to switch seats? He whispered with a chuckle. Then, more seriously, he added, If you feel uncomfortable and want to leave, I can make up an excuse.

[Orp Boon]

Angeline looked shocked for a moment. The butlers, standing in a line against the wall whispered to themselves until Angeline rushed by.

"Mrs. Crone, wait! You can't leave!"

She made towards the door where Old Lady Crone left.

With Angeline gone the table fell quiet for a few moments. All that could be heard was the infrequent click of silverware on plates.

Mr. Venger tried to break the silence.

"With Angeline gone, this is probably the best time to say this..."

Suddenly all the lanterns in the dining room went out. Everyone was startled. Mrs. Rose Smith and Mrs. Venger let out cries of surprise. The sound of chairs pushing back and people getting up could be heard. A strange noise came from the end of the table. A crack, then a thud and the tinkle of silverware being jostled.

The lanterns were relighted instantly and the room was revealed. Everyone was standing up from the table except for Mr. Venger. His head was laying on his plate as his blood began to pool up around the gooberfruit.

Mrs. Rose Smith and Ms. Giver scream. Mrs. Venger claws at her husband's shirt and clutches him to her chest. Kyle Venger slowly backs away.

Angeline rushed back into the room.

"What's going on? I heard screams. Oh my...

Sergeant Harrison!"

A Sentinel in uniform runs into the room. He staggers at the sight of the dead man. Angeline barks at him.

"Lock down the estate. Full lockdown. Use a nexus if you have to. No one leaves! Got it?!"

The sergeant stammers an answer and runs off into the manor.

[Neko]

::She gives a smile to Tauer that she hopes looks reassuring. A battle with weapons she could handle, a war of words however, she was at a decided disadvantage. But since it was not directed at her, she felt ok to stay here.

She is turning back to her fruit as the lights go out. At first she thinks it's part of the Gala, until the screams begin. Out of reflex, she reaches for her Kunai only to be reminded that they were left at home. Instead she settles for the silverware...

Grasping at the table in the dark, she tries to find the knife she had been using to eat with. Grabbing something she hopes is the right thing, she moves instinctively to place herself between Tauer and the direction the noises came from...

And that's when the lights came back on, and the scene was revealed. No, she thought, this was most definatly NOT part of the show... ::

[Tauer]

In the dark, Tauer heard others getting up from their seats and decided to do the same, only he knocked his chair backwards and possibly spilt his drink over the table. As the lights came back on, the demon was standing their still holding a piece of the gooberfruit.

At the sight of a rather dead Mr. Venger at the end of the table, Tauer turned instinctively to protect his feline friend, only to discover that she had moved to do the same. Seeing the knife (or whatever implement) in her hand, Tauer realized that Neko was better prepared to react to the situation than he had been.

He dropped the fruit on the table and looked around, warily. Who had turned out the lights and murder such a beloved guest? So many suspects and so many motives.

Is everyone else ok?

[Serenity]

When it had gone dark, Serenity immediately stood up from her seat and prepared to cast her magic, getting the sense that there was something wrong about it. As light returned to the room she, like everyone else, was shocked to see Mr. Verger lie dead.

Well this is a first for me at a dinner party...

The murderer was gone from the scene it seemed, or so Serenity wanted to believe. A fearful thought emerged, wondering if she was the only one who stayed at her place when the lights went out.

She looked up from her thoughts when Taeur asked his question, "Yes, I'm alright it seems."

She looked down at the weeping Venger, frowning. Though Serenity was beginning to dislike the man, he didn't deserve this nor did his family.

[Orp Boon]

As the guests look around they realize most people moved around when the lights went out. Angeline looked at each guest.

"I'm sorry but I will have to detain you all. My men will set up a perimeter until we can figure this out. NO one will leave this property. The murderer won't be able to get away."

She ran a hand through her hair and massaged her scalp.

"Bradley!"

A Sentinel entered.

"Yes Ma'am?"

"Is Archer here still?"

"Went home early I beleive, ma'am"

"Then grab York and get in here. We can't just leave him like that."

Bradley left and returned with another Sentinel carrying some supplies in a canvas bag.

"Jeeves, could you please go to the main hall and make sure everyone remains calm?"

"Anything for you madam."

Jeeves bowed and left. The other butlers begin to clean up the spilled foods and drinks on the table. Mrs. Venger still sobs on Mr. Vengers body as the blood fills his plate to the edge. Bradley tries to pull Mrs. Venger off as York lifts up the deceased and inspects him.

A large cut is visible going deep through his throat entering from the front. A pair of bloody shears lies in Mr. Venger's lap.

[Neko]

::With a look back to Tauer to be sure he's safe, and a quick glance to the others on her side of the table to determine the same thing, Neko sets the spoon she had snatched down on the table and makes her way slowly towards Ms. Buckley and the body.

She had originally intended to get a better look at the wound to determine how he was murdered, but that answer was provided when they came to move him.

Scissors... And from the front, by the looks of it. Who ever the killer was had to have gotten close to the victim then...

Continuing forward, she looks over those that were around the body when the lights came on. Surely anyone creating that kind of wound would have gotten blood on them somewhere, right?...

As she neared Angeline she hesitated, waiting to see if she could get her attention. The last thing she wanted was to surprise anyone, especially her, under the circumstances. ::

[Orp Boon]

Angeline noticed Neko.

"Yes?"

[Serenity]

As someone who essentially called her husband a child, Serenity didn't feel right with her instinct to try to comfort the new widow as she lay there pathetic against her husband. Serenity stood silent as she watched Ms. Venger being pulled off so that others could better examine the body.

Serenity swallowed her nerve and moved closer herself to see the body. The noble squinted when she saw the bloody shears; a crude way to be killed, she thought as she covered her mouth momentarily.

Though it was odd, Serenity noticed when she looked back, where the shears were and the placement of the wound. It occurred to her then that if the murderer were to come from anywhere...

Without alerting anyone, Serenity moved over to the side of the table near Mr. Venger's end and got down on one knee to look under.

[Tauer]

Tauer's phoenix egg, yakow steak and gooberfruit threatened to make a reappearance as he caught sight of the nasty wound in Mr. Venger's throat. The demon prince could handle blood, but when it came to lacerations caused by sharp implements, he could not help but feel more than a little queasy.

To mask his squeamishness, Tauer looked anywhere but at the body. Luckily, Neko and Serenity were helping with that, so he'd only get in the way anyway. How was everyone else coping? Where was the dwarf?

[Neko]

::She hesitated a moment longer, looking at her feet and biting her lip as she tried to work out the best way to comunicate her desire to help to the Lieutenant...

Wait...

Lieutenant...

She looks up to Angeline and points to herself. Then she snaps her feet together and stands up as straight and tall as she can before saluting the woman before her.

Mental fingers crossed, she hoped the woman would get the message. ::

[Orp Boon]

Serenity gets down on one knee and pulls up the tablecloth revealing...nothing. The floor under the table was completely devoid of anything and in fact looked a bit dusty.

The drunk dwarf was standing in a corner of the room drinking from a wine bottle. His breathing was very erratic.

Angeline looked at Neko with a stern face.

"I appreciate your compliance but I don't know how much I can trust you."

She looked back to the group.

"I don't know how much I can trust anyone in this room. I'm sorry but that's how I'll have to deal with this. We may end up doing personal interrogations."

A few Sentinels armed with longswords entered the room and manned the doors. Mr. Venger's body was carried out of the room by four other Sentinels.