#despairdungeon plot

"Orianthe, the votes are in, and it looks like it'd take one hell of a miracle to save your ass now."

Awu adds, quiet but audible, "You sick little fucker."

"Let's see how she did it, folks!"

Despite her secret- her cannibalism- being revealed, Orianthe still had use for mastermind information. If she could help the guild find Awu's master- the mastermind behind the guild- then she could possibly bring the group closer to discovering the mastermind's identity, helping and possibly saving them all!

The problem was, Orianthe weighed two stone soaking wet. She was, quite literally, a bit of a pansy. So tackling a teammate from nowhere would likely end in an unfortunate game of 'she loves me, she loves me not'. Instead, Orianthe took careful planning to her scheme, and cornered Hiro in Carver's Shrine.

The ghost-type Hiro was drawn to the shrine, hiding inside, when Orianthe threw down her foe-seal orb, pausing her. It was a quick matter of slicing open the pearls around her neck, and the stylist was offed. Orianthe's plan was to frame Eago- leaves are leaves, and since they both knew razor leaf, Orianthe figured framing Eago would be as easy as perfect apple pie.

However, Orianthe didn't account for Eago hiding in the loft, among the numerous treasures of the late, great Carver. Eago was peering down when the foe-seal orb was activated, and upon becoming paused, lost her footing and fell down to the lower part of the shrine.

Attempting to make the snooping sewaddle's death seem like an accident, Orianthe snapped her neck firmly, propping her up against the ladder to make her death appear to be nothing but a nasty fall. But she couldn't help herself- she took a foot for the road, before fleeing the scene.

"Cast your votes, kids-! This one was a doozy, huh?"

"Bouw-wow-bow! You know the drill, don't you, kids? Find the double-murderer! Double the fun, awuwuwuwu!"

Unless someone is killed within 72 hours, every character's greatest secret will be revealed.

But...

Upon the public reveal of the bodies, the murderer will learn one vital clue to discovering the mastermind.

"Jeez, who wrote these, Buzzby...?"

Regardless, Awu seemed eager.

"Come ooooon, kids! We have places to go, things to see! The game's back on!"

The expedition took the guild over the charred flatlands, past the scorched rocks of Mt Deadend, and finally to a cracked pier, where ramshackle rafts awaited them, to carry them across the water and to their exploration's destination.

Buzzby had been working night and day to try and find out just how to send the group home. His nose was constantly buried in Awu's diaries or in old journals, and he seemed as if he was finally inching closer to a solution.

The guild was drawn to the edge of the rocky beach by the smell of blazing fields and smoke.

The flatlands were ablaze.

Mt Deadend's decaying husks of trees were burning beacons in the smoke. Grimy Forest was up in flames, the stench of the burning fumes almost unbearable. The bazaar's exterior was blackened and collapsing.

Through the fire and fog, Awu stumbled, limping on a sore leg, eyes drifting over the gathering crowd.

"WHERE IS HE."

Without warning she staggered sideways, her coat dark with soot, thick trails of saliva hanging from her chin. She looked more dazed than anything, unsure.

Maybe Buzzby was telling the truth, maybe she was just a follower.

She caught sight of Buzzby exiting the hall and a hellish chase broke loose- despite occupying mere seconds. Awu was a blur and Buzzby was a flash, both of them a whirlwind of screaming and claws and teeth until Buzzby finally, in a pitiful scramble of limbs, escaped her jaws.

He fled the camp with a shrill screech and, thankfully, Awu followed, bounding through the flames and disappearing, eventually, into the distance.

Slowly, Buzzby picked himself up. He beckoned for the guild- or what was left of it- to follow him, and he slung Umeko's body over his shoulder, beginning the trek back to the guild.

"I guess I'd better come clean, then, huh?"

"Awu used to be a human. I don't know a lot about who she was, but her name was Abida Mir, and she was the SHSL Servant."

He continued to lead the guild across the ice flats, polished ground like mirrors, the sky reddening as the sun began to sink.

"We found her where we found you, on the rocky beach. Me, Geiger, and Hertz. I was only a ledyba back then."

"Well. That was a turnout and a half, wasn't it? But the majority- a whopping two votes!- goes to Goro!"

Awu seems to shake with laughter, before falling silent.

"... I gotta say. I ain't never been so insulted."

"Because you voted wrong."

"Wait."

"Took you until now, Stinkerbell? Who d'you think has the firepower to melt all that ice?"

When she discovered that Buzzby hadn't packed her a dinner- his fault, really- Awu was furious. Being the guildmaster, she considered herself entitled to a free perfect apple, but Buzzby was adamant to stick to the rules she'd set for him.

So, if only the murderer could get a perfect apple, Awu would play along.

She lured Umeko closer by offering the panpour her big apple- which, unfortunately, became stuck in the ice. However, Umeko was lured into a puddle of ice that had barely frozen over, melted by Awu's flamethrower.

When Umeko struggled on the thin ice, Awu went onto her hind legs and placed her front paws on Umeko's head, pushing her down and keeping her there until the ice froze over.

Awu's paws became stuck, but she pulled them out, leaving the dents in the ice, and she left to eat the perfect apple she deserved.

"See, kids? Now, I don't see any point in bumping off my fellow dark-type quadruped, so one of you Goro-voters-"

"Awu."

"You promised me that exactly this wouldn't happen."

"So, you were okay with them killing each other, or-"

"N-no! I was never okay with it, and you knew that! Y- why did you have to come here, talking about lords and legacies, why did you make me do this?! The kingdom, the voices, they were your dreams! They spoke to you!"

"You know, Buzzers, I don't like your tone right now. You'd better zip it before I-"