Scioly Assassination 160: A Puppet's Strings

[sc95837]

It's "bard." "r" isn't taken yet, so it's just as valid as "n" is.

[LittleMissNyan]

A fluttering piece of paper, pinned to the wall with a knife.

52°11'30"N
1°42'29"W
Dszg wrw gsv yziw yvjfvzgs gl srh druv?

aristocrat^ reads : "what did the band bequeath to his wife"
i think maybe band means bard? idk, could be a typo.
the coordinates lead to "Stratford-upon-Avon", which is shakespeare's birthplace(According to google :p)
(sorry if someone already said this or i'm doing something wrong, i don't really know what i'm doing bc never done one of these before and don't have discord)

hehe no worries my Discord access is patchy as well :') that was actually the officer clue! So that's not really relevant now, we're working on the first kill clue (the Macbeth one)
Pretty sure the answer to that clue was "his second-best bed" or something, since Shakespeare's sometimes refered to as "The Bard" and he really did give his wife that bed hin his will

Further clue updates??
- Vigenere key of "beattheclock" returns nothing useful, key of "lady" returns "jacobeqvwfalmx"
- Trumoomilk (on Discord)'s name is apparently Jacob- target?
- Aristocrat frequency test didn't return much coherence
- a bunch of other vigenere keys I tried returned nothing better
- Sassy's sig changed again: "Tick-tock, hurry up, better fill your grid..."
- grid? what kind of grid? electrical grid??

[Banexet]

The "grid" thing in the sassy's sig is probably a reference to the fast facts grid, especially since you need to fill up a fast facts grid in a short amount of time (hence "Tick tock"). Umaroth did Fast Facts, making him more likely to be the target.

[LittleMissNyan]

The "grid" thing in the sassy's sig is probably a reference to the fast facts grid, especially since you need to fill up a fast facts grid in a short amount of time (hence "Tick tock"). Umaroth did Fast Facts, making him more likely to be the target.

OOH WAIT sticking the ciphertext through a vigenere with the key of "fastfacts" actually makes something coherent! It returns "pantherapadres"and Panthera is the genus for lepoards and tigers and jaguars (his forums pfp)- and "padres" would definitely be Umaroth! eyyy someone go protect him

[Banexet]

I protect Umaroth because the ciphertext of the pigpen put through a vigenere cipher with the key of "fastfacts" which comes from the sassy's sig means "pantherapadres", and Umaroth profile pic is a member of the genus panthera and a name for Umaroth is "padre".

[Piplup7575]

Rules update: Due to the decreased number of officers, the number of deaths/incorrect accusations required for the assassinator to win will be lowered to 10.

[Piplup7575]

DUNSINANE - INNER CASTLE

A servant traverses the halls, deep in thought.

SERVANT (Banexet)
“Unnatural deeds do breed unnatural troubles”, but must the reverse yet be true? For a troubled mind must bring itself to bring these deeds about...

A chamberlain rushes by in a panic, almost knocking the servant over. He trips upon a tapestry and falls to the ground.

LADY MACBETH
(from off) Coward! TRAITOR! Your sullied ears betray thee!

Lady Macbeth enters, a terrible sight. She clutches a dagger in a grasp as fierce as the bloodlust in her eyes. But the true shocker is the dark strands that wrap around her limbs and protrude from her joints, their ends melting away into thin air.

SERVANT (Banexet)
(terrified) What is this?

CHAMBERLAIN (Umaroth)
Flee! She has lost her mind!

Lady Macbeth shrieks and swings at the chamberlain. The servant flings the end of the tapestry to deflect the blade, which gets tangled in the weave.

GENTLEWOMEN
(from off) What is that cry?

Lady Macbeth frees her dagger, but her second swipe comes to no avail.

SERVANT (Banexet)
Please! My lady!

Lady Macbeth shrieks again and plunges the dagger into her chest. A group of gentlewomen enter the scene just as she tumbles to the ground. The sight sparks a clamor of fear, and all rush to her side.

GENTLEWOMAN #1
Too much a strain for our dearest queen!

GENTLEWOMAN #2
Would not by her own hand she done’t?

The dark strands have long since dissipated. Seyton enters, surveys the scene, and exits to report on the calamity.

LORD MACBETH
(from off) Wherefore was that cry?

SEYTON
(from off) The queen, my lord, is dead.

Darkness.

[Piplup7575]

PALAIS GARNIER - DRESSING ROOM

A crowd of dancers gather in the dressing room. The energy is tense.

ALL DANCERS
He’s here, the Phantom of the Opera!

MEG GIRY
And he’s made demands.

DANCERS
Of what?

MEG GIRY
Of Il Muto, and its casting! He seeks to make Caroletta pageboy, her role to be filled by Christine. But with threats yet renewed and his salary due-

MONSIEUR ANDRE (JoeyC)
(from off) Absolutely NOT!

Monsieur Firmin, Monsieur Andre, and Madame Giry exit from a nearby office, standing in the hallway. Their words are easily heard from within the dressing room.

MONSIEUR ANDRE (JoeyC)
We don't take orders from cryptic madmen!

MONSIEUR FIRMIN (CPScienceDude)
Carlotta will star, and that’s FINAL!

MADAME GIRY
Messieurs, I implore you-

MONSIEUR FIRMIN (CPScienceDude)
No! You sorely test our patience!

MONSIEUR ANDRE (JoeyC)
So incredibly audacious!

MONSIEUR FIRMIN (CPScienceDude)
Bending to these wild demands-

MONSIEUR ANDRE (JoeyC)
And all these notes are by your hand!

MESSIEURS FIRMIN (CPScienceDude) AND ANDRE (JoeyC)
Must we find us a replacement now for you?

MEG GIRY
(horrified) No!

Messieurs Firmin and Andre storm away, Madame Giry trailing desperately behind.
The dancers begin muttering among themselves. Meg is despondent.

MEG GIRY
Oh no, oh no, oh no no no...

DANCER #1 (LittleMissNyan)
They won’t do that, Mme. Giry teaches all the dances!

A ceiling tile falls, eliciting screams from the nearby dancers. The jolt dislodges an envelope taped to its side.

DANCER #2
Another note!

DANCER #3
Meg, it’s for you!

The note is passed to Meg, who opens it with trembling hands.

Dear Meg,

You seem an amicable child, so I hate to inform you that more than the position of concierge is at stake in the days to come. One might wish this usurper amongst the skies, or would the moles be more fitting? For a heavy weight would surely bring them booming down to earth, if not for their grand expertise. But I’m sure the ties of a mother would cut deeper, would they? It’s all up to you...

Your most obedient servant,
O̶.̶G̶.̶

Nervous murmuring from the dancers. Meg looks about to cry.

MEG GIRY
Christine! Christine! Oh, what have you gotten us into?

[LittleMissNyan]

ahhh I don't know much about Phantom of the Opera and it's also a wordplay clue lemme google some things real quick

- Palais Garnier is an opera house in Pairis and also the setting of PotO
- Il Muto is an opera in the play, Italian for "the mute"
- Monsieurs Firmin and Andre run the opera house, Caroletta is leading soprano
- Madame Giry is either box keeper for the Phantom or the dance rehersal leader (book vs. play) and Meg's her daughter
- dang sassy you really want us to spoil the entire show don't you?
- O.G.? I thought this was the Phantom? ID clue??

Target looks like a build event person perhaps? booming" = Boomilever, "skies" = ELG/Wright Stuff, "moles" = Mousetrap, "ties of a mother" = Heredity/Designer Genes? Who does these events?

[Fyren]

(Put this on Discord, but this is decently important so yeah)
I'd also like to note that JoeyC and CPSD have not been active for a while and as far as I know aren't Discord active. Since they're mentioned, the sassy is probably an older forums user that was active in 2020ish since that's when both JoeyC and CPSD were fairly prominent on the forums. I was originally suspecting Two as a sassy, but seeing these guys be mentioned rules them out. Not too sure who else would be into this stuff, though...