The Most Dangerous Game II – All Manor of Secrets
| Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Catterick Manor. I am Jeeves, the Cattericks’ butler, and it is my solemn responsibility to assist you in your investigations. Twenty years ago to this day, the lord of the manor, Baron Catterick, was murdered most cruelly, and with no eyewitnesses to the act. Since then, the Baron’s ghost has been trapped here, haunted by the level of violence visited upon him. I have been authorised by Baroness Catterick to offer a £1,000,000,000 reward to the persons responsible for putting the Baron’s ghost to rest. The last three persons left standing once the mystery has been solved will take a share of this reward. I must warn you: frivolous guessing will result in your being expelled from the manor—permanently. It is not enough to guess at who may have killed the Baron; you must discover not only the identity of the killer, but also establish the motive, and the location of the murder weapon, which was never recovered after the Baron’s body was discovered. Now, being professionals, you will no doubt wish to hear about the circumstances surrounding the Baron’s death. Allow me to enlighten you. |
Baron Catterick had arranged a social gathering for some of his family and close friends. It was to be a fairly large gathering, with over fifty people invited, and the servants were to have their own revelries in the kitchen once the main function was underway. The party was to commence in the dining room, where hors d'oeuvres and fine wine would be available for sampling. Then, the guests would move to the ballroom, where they would waltz to sedate piano music.
The Baron was dressed and prepared for the party, and had retired to his study to handle some personal correspondence while waiting for the guests to arrive. An hour before the party was due to start, the Baroness went to check up on her husband and found him dead. Her screams brought other members of staff, including myself.
Of course, being a man of collected wit, I immediately set about preserving the crime scene. I noted the position of the body—collapsed over his writing desk, slumped in his chair. I also observed that the Baron only had injuries to his back, implying that he knew and trusted his killer, or that he did not know his killer was there.
The windows were locked from the inside, and none of the staff had seen anybody come or go from the study in the time leading up to the murder. The Baron’s injuries were consistent with a piercing or stabbing implement, though the murder weapon was never found. The Baron’s solid gold pocket watch, and his diamond cufflinks, were still on his body following his death, which I believe precludes theft—whether opportunistic or planned—as a motive for his murder.
I have taken the liberty of putting together a list of all persons present in the day leading up to the Baron’s murder. First, let’s start with the family:
The Baron was dressed and prepared for the party, and had retired to his study to handle some personal correspondence while waiting for the guests to arrive. An hour before the party was due to start, the Baroness went to check up on her husband and found him dead. Her screams brought other members of staff, including myself.
Of course, being a man of collected wit, I immediately set about preserving the crime scene. I noted the position of the body—collapsed over his writing desk, slumped in his chair. I also observed that the Baron only had injuries to his back, implying that he knew and trusted his killer, or that he did not know his killer was there.
The windows were locked from the inside, and none of the staff had seen anybody come or go from the study in the time leading up to the murder. The Baron’s injuries were consistent with a piercing or stabbing implement, though the murder weapon was never found. The Baron’s solid gold pocket watch, and his diamond cufflinks, were still on his body following his death, which I believe precludes theft—whether opportunistic or planned—as a motive for his murder.
I have taken the liberty of putting together a list of all persons present in the day leading up to the Baron’s murder. First, let’s start with the family:
• Baron Catterick - the victim
• Baroness Catterick - his wife
• Thomas Catterick - their son
The family employed a number of permanent staff who lived here in the servants’ quarters. They are:
• Myself - I am, naturally, beyond reproach
• The Cleaning Maid, Molly
• The Cook, Jane
• The Groundskeeper, Robert
• The Houndmaster, Fergus
• The Chauffeur, Dhaval
• The Washer Woman, Anna
• The Nanny, Clarice
In addition, we also had a number of part-time staff, travelling salesmen, and notable guests, lodging with us temporarily, whilst we prepared for the party:
• The Collier
• The Chimney Sweep
• The Interior Designer, Mr. Marks
• The Faberge Egg Merchant
• The Wine Merchant
• Lord Byrom
• Lady Byrom
• Captain Black
• The Pianist, Mr. DeLacey
I have also provided you with a map of the general layout of the manor and grounds. You can view the map here:
For now, the only areas accessible to you are the Entrance Hall, the Dining Room, the Decrepit Treehouse, and the Duck Pond. I must confess that I most embarrassingly misplaced my keys for the other rooms, whilst some areas are inaccessible for other reasons.
I will, of course, endeavor to assist your enquiries in any way that I can. If you have a question about a particular person, item, place or clue, you may ask me (ASK JEEVES) about something and I may be able to elaborate. For the sake of fairness, I will only elaborate on public questions. I won’t answer anything in private.
One last thing. I understand the billion pounds reward may bring out your competitive streak, however, I strongly recommend you attempt to put aside your murderous urges until at least the start of Day 2.
Best of luck to you all.
For now, the only areas accessible to you are the Entrance Hall, the Dining Room, the Decrepit Treehouse, and the Duck Pond. I must confess that I most embarrassingly misplaced my keys for the other rooms, whilst some areas are inaccessible for other reasons.
I will, of course, endeavor to assist your enquiries in any way that I can. If you have a question about a particular person, item, place or clue, you may ask me (ASK JEEVES) about something and I may be able to elaborate. For the sake of fairness, I will only elaborate on public questions. I won’t answer anything in private.
One last thing. I understand the billion pounds reward may bring out your competitive streak, however, I strongly recommend you attempt to put aside your murderous urges until at least the start of Day 2.
Best of luck to you all.
• Entrance Hall •
You stand in the entrance hall to the manor, and it is immediately obvious that the Cattericks were once collectors of all manner of ancient trinkets. Several battered and rusty suits of armour line the moth-eaten runner carpet which leads to the hallway. Three portraits—a man, a woman and a young boy—adorn one wall, whilst Constable paintings hang from the wall opposite. There’s an alcove at the midpoint of the left wall, into which a bookshelf containing several books has been set. The crystal chandelier hanging from above is dusty, the light from it muted, as if it cannot entirely breach the shadows in the darkest corners of the room.
In the middle of the hall stands Jeeves, patiently awaiting your queries.
• Dining Room •
The dining room’s fine polished table is bare and covered in fine scratches, and the legs have started to rot away. The twelve chairs around the table are unremarkable, though their upholstering has become faded and sun-bleached. The most prominent feature in this room is its stained glass windows depicting scenes of old hunts—foxes and hares seem to have been the preferred prey. Set into the chimney breast is a heavy wooden mantlepiece, on which are several curiosities including a stuffed robin and a set of tarnished silver snail-forks. There’s an ineffable air of sadness about this empty room.
• Duck Pond •
The first thing that strikes you about this duck pond is the lack of ducks. Upon closer inspection, you spot several sinuous forms lurking beneath the surface of the water, but you can’t tell what kind of fish they are. The grounds around the pond are themselves marshy, the grass growing in mounds where the earth runs a little drier. A rickety wooden bridge juts out into the pond; its destination—a small island with a dilapidated hut on it—rendered out of reach thanks to the gap in the bridge at its mid-point. It’s hard to tell how deep the water is, and with unknown fish lurking down there, you’re not willing to risk wading out.
• Decrepit Treehouse •
To call this a treehouse would be akin to calling Buckingham Palace ‘a bit posh’. In truth, it was a tree mansion, an undertaking of impressive carpentry fit for a Lord. Time and the elements have not been kind to the structure. Several of the ‘rooms’ have caved in, and wood is strewn across the ground beneath the tree. What’s left of the treehouse looks like it won’t be up there for very long. It’s clearly too unsafe to try and climb up, but there may be clues in the scattered debris.
• The Kitchen •
This kitchen was once the heart of Catterick Manor; the place where meals were cooked for the family and their guests, and where the servants came to eat and gossip between their daily tasks. Now, the fires of the ovens stand cold, and the shelves are completely bare. A few hessian sacks—their faded words ‘Potato’ barely readable—have been gnawed to tatters by rodents, and the once-clean floor is strewn with the tiny, brittle bones of Warfarin victims. There’s a dumbwaiter set into the wall, but it doesn’t work; neither does the heavy ceramic sink with its rusted iron faucets. Wind howls down the chimney, and you imagine you can hear ghosts of the past crying out for justice… or vengeance.
• The Library •
This library serves as a shrine to the written word; its priests are Homer and Shakespeare, Dickens and Keats. Thousands of books line the floor-to-ceiling shelves, and there are signs that this room once saw heavy use. Two chairs stand forlorn beside a table which houses a reading lamp that no longer works, and the mantlepiece is covered with tarnished silver photo frames, the pictures mostly of a cherubic blond-haired boy. A pair of reading spectacles lies crushed on the floor, and a now-dry teapot will never again serve the room’s readers. Most of the books are first-edition prints, and you can only imagine how much some of them are worth, even in their musty, moth-eaten state.
• The Ballroom •
This grand room has seen generations of dancers sweep and twirl their way across the polished oak floor. A grand piano has pride of place at the head of the room, and a couple of small tables and chairs provide respite for tired feet. Of all the rooms you’ve seen so far, this one is the least touched by age. The drapes are long and barely touched by the moths that have plagued the other rooms, and the various statues on the mantlepiece have only a thin coating of dust upon them. There are relatively fresh logs in the fireplace, just waiting to be lit.
• The Kennels •
Despite the fact that the kennels haven’t been used in twenty years, this place still smells like wet dog. There are several pens used to contain the hunting hounds, and various pieces of hunting paraphernalia are scattered around, including a broken bugle and a falconry jess. A small room with a rickety, rat-eaten wooden bed frame is where the houndmaster once lived, sharing his sleeping space with the animals he cared for so well. A few bones litter the cold stone floor, but they appear to be rodent in nature, and much fresher than the other items in the area.
• The Withdrawing Room •
This type of room is generally used for small, intimate settings. In times long past, the women of the house would retire here after dinner, to allow the men to discuss in peace the important issues of the day. More recently, it seems this room has been used as a place for needlework as well as childplay; two or three rattles and teddybears are abandoned on the chaise-longue, whilst a large embroidery frame stands beside a chair, its image of cherry blossoms in an eternal state of half-finish. The knowledge that these cherry blossoms will never enter full bloom makes you feel sad.
• The Fishing Hut •
The first thing you notice as you step into this ramshackle fishing hut is how cold it feels in comparison to the air outside; as if all the warmth has been sucked from the structure. The second thing you notice is the skeleton, its bones bearing thousands of tiny bite-marks. The skeleton is slumped against the far wall of the hut, and there isn’t enough left of its clothing to tell by attire alone whether this was a man or a woman. Only one thing gives away the gender of this long-dead individual; there is a second, tiny skeleton curled up in what would have been the visceral cavity of its mother. Your skin turns to gooseflesh, and you put aside the desire to flee in terror, to instead search for clues of what really happened at Catterick Manor twenty years ago.
The game has now begun! You may Ask Jeeves questions or immediately begin with an Action (Move/Case/Use Ability, etc). If you have questions related to game mechanics, please ask here or via PM—don’t ask Jeeves.
Throughout the game, this post will be updated with relevant information.
Time until Nightfall: http://itsalmo.st/#night2
Surviving Players
2. Moose!
4. Austyboo
6. Xardob
9. Lumos
13. Calradianın Bilgesi (rep SeánC)
Current Player Locations (as of 29/8/17 Day 2)
Known Weapons
Code:
MacheteCannot be hidden. Fair defence if attacked in the open, okay defence if attacked in secret.
Can kill in the open or in secret.
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Big McLarge-Huge
Code:
HatchetCannot be hidden. Fair defence if attacked in the open, okay defence if attacked in secret.
Can kill in the open or in secret.
Code:
Fabergé EggThis Faberge Egg is fabulous, but it doesn’t make a very good weapon. You could probably bludgeon somebody to death with it, but you have to ask yourself whether it’s worth the trouble.
Too fabulous to be hidden. Weak attack, no defence.
Can kill in the open or in secret.
Code:
Wooden StakeCan be hidden. Weak attack, no defence against conventional weapons. This appears to be a pretty ****ty weapon.
Can kill in the open or in secret.
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The Doge of Benis
Code:
PoleaxeCannot be hidden. Fair defence if attacked in the open, okay defence if attacked in secret.
Can only kill in the open.
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Lumos
Code:
Folding ChairCannot be hidden. Improvised weapons offer a weak attack, a weak defence if attacked in the open, and no defence if attacked in secret. Best used against unarmed players or in secret.
Can kill in the open or in secret.
Code:
French Cavalry SabreCannot be hidden. Fair defence if attacked in the open, okay defence if attacked in secret.
Can kill in the open or in secret.
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Bilgesi
Code:
ShotgunCannot be hidden. Very good defence if attacked in the open, okay defence if attacked in secret.
Can only kill in the open.
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Xardob
Code:
Fabergé EggThis Faberge Egg is fabulous, but it doesn’t make a very good weapon. You could probably bludgeon somebody to death with it, but you have to ask yourself whether it’s worth the trouble.
Too fabulous to be hidden. Weak attack, no defence.
Can kill in the open or in secret.
Code:
Meat CleaverCan be hidden. Fair defence if attacked in the open, okay defence if attacked in secret.
Can kill in the open or in secret.
Who Owns What
Bilgesi
Big McLarge-Huge
Lumos
The Doge of Benis
Xardob
Austyboo
Moose!
Code:
Rusty Breastplate
Code:
Shotgun
Code:
Carving Knife
Code:
Lucky Rabbit's FootBig McLarge-Huge
Code:
Hatchet
Code:
WWII First Aid Kit
Code:
Antique Tome
Code:
Faberge Egg x2
Code:
Wooden StakeLumos
Code:
Antique Panda Statue
Code:
Folding Chair
Code:
Antique Jewelry Box
Code:
French Cavalry SabreThe Doge of Benis
Code:
Poleaxe
Code:
Gold Locket
Code:
Bag of Norse Runes
Code:
Tarot DeckXardob
Code:
Antique Figurine of Sekhmet
Code:
Garland of Garlic
Code:
Antique Spyglass
Code:
Meat CleaverAustyboo
Code:
Wooden Decoy Duck
Code:
FlashlightMoose!
Code:
Lucky Rabbit's FootUp for grabs:
Tarot Deck
Clue 1
Clue 13
