The Arklay Murders
is a Play-by-Post Game hosted on Sufficient Velocity by Sushi. Set in the Resident Evil universe, the story follows the newly assembled Arklay Taskforce as they investigate bizarre activity in and around Raccoon City.
This Story Contains Examples Of The Following Tropes:
- Alternate Timeline: Events in the story indicate Umbrella experienced issues containing its B.O.W.s earlier than in canon, as at least one Cerberus managed to escape into Arklay County about a year before the Mansion Incident happened.
- Anyone Can Die: Unless they are set to appear in Off The Books (see below), everyone, even a player character, can die if their rolls are bad.
- Bioweapon Beast: The Cerberus has made its debut in the most recent posts at this time, and more are set to show up later on.
- By-the-Book Cop: The whole cast counts as this, trying to reasonably and fairly handle every challenge that comes their way.
- Cop Killer: The first case in the RP is explicitly called Cop-Killer, and focuses on the Taskforce trying to capture the titular suspect after she kills a cop while resisting and then evading arrest. She's implied to be infected with an Umbrella virus due to be able to shrug off gunfire.
- Cult: One appears to be committing numerous cannibalistic murders across Arklay County. Anyone familiar with the series will know the murders are actually being caused by T-Virus based zombies.
- Dirty Cop: As always, Chief of Police Brian Irons. Off The Books confirms that he shuts down the Arklay Taskforce when they get too close to uncovering the truth.
- Dramatic Irony: When examining a case where a girl named Allison shot her own father, apparently at his own request, the cops on scene wonder if foul play was involved, noting that he was an average Umbrella janitor with no prior hints of psychotic breaks. Readers, however, will know exactly why he did what he did.
- Foil: The Arklay Taskforce is one to the S.T.A.R.S. - while the latter is an elite squad comprised of former military personnel and experts in a variety of fields and are closer in function to a counter-terror unit, the Arklay Taskforce is made up primarily of normal police officers who handle more mundane cases across Raccoon, though are still a force to be reckoned with.
- Foreshadowing: There are hints being dropped every now and then about the true nature of the bizarre murders happening around Raccoon City.
- Officer Schneider finds several burnt dogs corpses, with special attention being made to just how thoroughly the bodies were burned.
- A later case notes that someone melted bodies with acid, which is an extremely unusual way to dispose of a corpse...unless you are trying to ensure it doesn't contaminate something else.
- Foregone Conclusion: A sequel roleplay, Off The Books, has confirmed that the Task Force will figure out that Umbrella is behind the Cult Killings (though going by the description, not the Zombie Apocalypse stuff) and will eventually be disbanded by Irons to stop them from uncovering the truth.
- Genre Shift: The first few cases are set up like a normal police procedural, with standard police actions and what not. At the time of this writing, though, elements of Zombie Apocalypse are beginning to make their way into the story - the Cerberus B.O.W. has already made its debut in the story, and more are set to come.
- Just Before the End: The story starts during October 1997, placing it slightly less than a year before Raccoon City is destroyed after a T-Virus outbreak. Despite this, signs of things starting to go wrong are already present - apparently, a Cerberus or two got out of containment ahead of schedule...
- Outside-Context Problem: The Arklay Taskforce is an elite police force, and very efficient at taking down criminals. Against B.O.W.s, though, it's blatantly clear that they have no idea just what they are fighting.
- Police Procedural: The first case focuses on this, dividing up time between the primary case (which involves a Cop Killer) and the rest of the cast handling mundane police tasks (examining new recruits, crimes like speeding and petty theft, and so on). It doesn't seem like it is going to stay this way for long, though...
- Time Skip:
Word of God is that Off the Grid takes place some time in 1998, several months after the events of the main story. - Zombie Apocalypse: While none of the cast has cottoned on to this yet, as anyone familiar with the Resident Evil franchise should know, the various cannibalistic murders are actually being caused by T-Virus infected zombies, and are the first signs that things are going to hell.
