That Italian Guy posted:

Well, we did never feel like this before according to the story...

Evertree posted:

He grins, looking down at your hands clasped together. Then he looks back up and leans forward to kiss you again.

You stay like this for the longest time, coming together and then parting to gaze at one another. Eventually he looks back in the direction of the inn. He is thinking very carefully, as if trying to make up his mind about something. You wait patiently, stroking his fingers with your own, until he says, "I don't want to have to say goodbye to you tomorrow."

Before you can say anything he continues. "I've been thinking about what you said and about how you were able to leave your home and see the Worlds… but my situation is a lot more complicated than that. Mother needs me. There are things about this place that she could never do without me and she could never tell to anyone else."

You know that he's working towards telling you something and you hold his hand gently, waiting for him to find the way.

"There's…" he manages, "something else I want to show you. I just need to fetch something from my room. Will you come with me? We can go back through the kitchen. It should just be Gilly in there and she won't tell."

"You asked me before about this place being cursed. Well… there's something you should know. Mr. Brushgather was talking about two men who disappeared from this inn last month… Only they didn't disappear. They killed each other and I helped mother to cover it up."

You say nothing but hold Lamuel's hand gently in yours while he struggles to find the words for his story.

"It was these two men coming over from Lux. They seemed like trouble the moment they arrived and I noticed things starting to go missing throughout the night. I told mother and we went to confront them only when we opened the door, they were both dead. One of them was beaten to death with the doorstop and the other had been strangled. It looked like they'd done it to each other, fighting over the stuff they'd stolen. Mother said the inn wouldn't survive a scandal like that and so I took them out to the river in the woods and we covered the whole thing up." <Clue 11 updated!>

He stops, staring at you unwaveringly, waiting for your condemnation.

1. "It's okay. We've all done things we're not proud of."
2. "Thank you for telling me."
3. "Your mother shouldn't have asked you to do that."

Stats posted:

Clues
11. Two thieves died at the inn a couple of months ago (one bludgeoned with a wooden doorstop, the other strangled) and Mrs. Dupree and Lamuel covered it up.

Evertree posted:

"I don't want to keep any secrets from you," he insists, visibly relieved at your acceptance. "I know we just met but I feel like I really can trust you."

Once again you feel like he's working towards telling you something and you wait patiently for him to find the way.

"There's…" he manages, "something else I want to show you. I just need to fetch something from my room if you'll come with me? We can go back through the kitchen. It should just be Gilly in there and she won't tell."

You could hardly refuse and so you reply,

1. "Lead the way."
2. "Looks like this well might be magical after all."
3. "May I hold your hand as we walk?"

ultrafilter posted:

1

Evertree posted:

Lamuel says nothing but takes your hand as you wander back towards the inn.

As you reach the house guided by your handsome stableboy you feel a lightness in your chest. You can't explain it but something in his touch feels like it's lifting the weights from your shoulders. The burden of taking care of your father, the fears that you will not be able to make a success of yourself in Lux, the concerns for all the mysteries at this inn, they all seem to lift and you can't help grinning from ear to ear.

But these feelings never last long.

As you walk through the empty kitchen into the staff corridor, you notice that the door at the far end is slightly ajar. Lamuel notices it too and a curiosity furrows his brow.

"That's Gilly and Wen's room," he explains. "They weren't in the kitchen…maybe I'll just go check everything's all right."

The two of you walk down the hallway to the door, Lamuel's hand tightening in yours as he pushes it open.

You both step into the room and stop dead.

On the other side, you find Gilly…

…face down…

…a knife in her back! <Clue 6 updated!>

Stats posted:

Clues
6. The cook has been stabbed with one of the inn's carving knives.

Stats posted:

Stats
Combat: 35/100
Guile: 18/100
Perception: 67/100
Magic: 67/100

quote:

${lamuel}'s hand

Regallion posted:

Funktor posted:

We are Perceptron, the embodiment of perception.