On the Isle of Abinark, the Kingdom of Hydrock has been established to bring peace to the land following The Great Battle. The Hydrock Pact decrees that all ten clans, that belong to the kingdom, shall inherit a designated realm wherein each can live in accordance with their own traditions and customs. The kingdom is governed from Hydrock Castle which sits atop St. Clyston’s Mount at the very heart of Hydrock; this is now the seat of King William Alexander John Vixsor ‘The Claret King’.

You have been invited by the king to attend Hydrock Castle, along with other selected representatives of Hydrock, to discuss matters relating to The Hydrock Pact and the governance of the young kingdom. However, upon your arrival at Hydrock Castle all is not well – Lefqwen of Abinark, the centauress famed for her speed, and usually the first to arrive at Hydrock Castle meetings, has failed to show. This is unexpected, and everyone knows that unexpected events that occur in Hydrock are usually prompted by murder!

High society in 1813 Bodgerton is a-buzz, from the Queen herself down to the kitchen help. Every week, a certain “L. Whistlewind” releases a new scandal sheet containing the most delicious gossip. So far, these rumours have led to three elopements, two duels, and an onstage riot that ended the opera during Act I.

But the worst part is that no one knows who “L. Whistlewind” is. Who could be writing such shocking things—many of them unfortunately true? A young lady desperate to remove her rivals in the marriage market? A servant eager to get back at the “gentlefolks”? An eligible gentleman trying to distract attention from his disgraceful escapades?

There’s a derelict space station near the edge of the galaxy. It was empty until Fishface Pesco from the Gillyx system opened “The Tavern at the End of the Universe” to serve as a stopover for the assorted nomads wandering in space. Some of them are strangely familiar to us Earthlings!

They include antiquated spaceship captains, lost hitchhikers, princesses with wacky haircuts, time-traveling physicians, absent-minded bounty hunters—humans, androids, furry creatures, amphibious types or any combination. They come here to rest, relax or maybe close a shady transaction in a private meeting room.

One night, a rowdy crowd gathers to hear the cantina band. The music stops suddenly when a body, spattered with what looks like blood, floats past the viewscreen. Fishface has been killed! He must have been ejected into space from the closest airlock, and no one had access except the people in this room. One of YOU is a murderer!

Monte Carlo, 1962. The roulette table is surrounded by high-rollers in tuxedoes and evening gowns. The women are dripping with diamonds, only some of which are real. Many of the players are obviously spies or villains, while many appear quite innocuous—but they all have deadly secrets.

Are there more spies here? Undercover detectives? Jewel thieves? Impoverished outsiders trying to appear sleek and wealthy? Who knows?

The croupier might know something… but what is that in his neck? Could it be a poison dart?

As he falls to the floor, the glamorous gamblers are left to wonder—WHODUNIT?