Long Game 23: The Siege of Luthadel

[Elbereth]

13 hours ago, Alvron said:

I'll talk.  Just as I have all game.  In the Penrod Doc.  I wouldn't have voted for you this early if it wasn't for MR15 though.  Keeping track of that game is now at the top of my list.  At least until Mckee comes back and I can't guarantee that I'll be aware enough to vote later on like normal.

I'm not surprised that you are enjoying the outed eliminator RP.  It really fits your style.

...Well, I wasn't really expecting you to talk as a result. Talking's not really your thing.  And thanks.  

13 hours ago, zas678 said:

I'm curious, however, as to who the other spiked are. We know that dowanx chose Elb. Does that mean he chose similar players for the other factions? Or did he pick a few lurkers who are trying to wait out the game?

 PAFO.  

Really glad I wrote most of these ahead of time, because I am in no state to be writing right now... 

Sandhya and Thanata: The Rest of the Story, Pt. 5

Sandhya killed again the next night. Thanata knew what had to be done better than she did, after all. And it was necessary, she told herself.

It was necessary…

The fourth night after the first death, she awoke in the early hours of the morning, disoriented and confused. 

Sandhya! Sandhya! Thanata called urgently. Wake up! 

“What?” she asked groggily. 

The Inquisitor is dead.

That woke her up, all right. “What? How?”

I don’t know. I only saw the end of it. But he managed to convert someone to his cause before he died. Go, quickly. There’s something that you need to get before they do.

“They?” Sandhya asked, dressing quickly. 

The Inquisitor has servants. I don’t know how many. But they’re within each of the factions, infiltrating and manipulating. Be careful, Sandy. Don’t die on me.

She grabbed her cloak and closed the door to her bedroom quietly behind her. No need to wake the rest of the house, after all. “Don’t worry, Thana. I won’t.”

[Araris Valerian]

Well Straw, you kinda forgot (or at least didn't mention) that there are Mistborn in this game, in addition to coinshots, as far as role-blocking ability goes. So I am not too sure that you will get other factions to reveal the name of their coinshot when there are other possibilities.

[Straw]

Not the name, just the target.

[A Joe in the Bush]

We had no roleblockers or coinshots.

[Straw]

Thank you.

[Elbereth]

Hm, not sure I'll get through all of these before I die... You'll just have to let me live a little longer.

Sandhya and Thanata: The Rest of the Story, Pt. 6

When they reached the scene, everything was still quiet. Sandhya was sure someone had seen the body by now, but no one had dared come anywhere near an Inquisitor, even one that looked dead. Sandhya didn’t blame them. She didn’t want to go near it either, but Thanata’s voice gave her strength.

 

It’s dead, I promise. A note of satisfaction entered Thanata’s voice. That which killed me has been killed in turn.

 

Sandhya didn’t know how she felt about  that. All her life - well, perhaps it had only been a week (how could it have been only a week?), but nothing before that time in her life mattered anymore - she had focused on finding the Inquisitor and killing him. That was the only thing that was important, and now he was dead.

 

“What do I do now?” she asked herself. She couldn’t go back to before, back to balls and suitors and pretty meaningless calligraphy.

 

Though Sandhya expected no answer, Thanata said softly, The Inquisitor still has servants doing its work. And- well, find the tablet first.

 

“The tablet?”

 

There’s a wooden tablet somewhere around here. You’ll want to read it.

 

She found it fairly quickly under Thanata’s instruction; it was lying on the ground not far from the Inquisitor, close enough to have spots of blood (still wet) on it.

 

She picked it up with her fingers, trying not to touch any of the blood, and read the words inscribed on it.

 

“Tram.”

 

Yes, Thanata agreed. Bring it to Elend Venture. He’ll know how to do things properly.

 

Sandhya nodded. Then, she noticed a few more words at the bottom, half-covered in blood.

 

“Ruin shall reign,” she mused. “How poetic. Perhaps when the Lord Ruler died, the Inquisitors simply wanted everything else to die along with him.”

 

It’s not poetry, Thanata said, sounding troubled. Ruin is… something. A being, I think. With time he can force others to his will and they become his servants. The Inquisitors were especially vulnerable, from what I understand. Something about the way they came to be… what they are.

 

But the important thing, Sandy, is that the Inquisitor was only one of Ruin’s servants, and I don’t know how many more there are. Dozens, hundreds probably. Several within Luthadel itself, infiltrating each house… Tram was probably the one chosen to infiltrate Venture. Sandhya went cold with anger at the thought of someone, some thing, taking over Venture itself. And he’d come close, too. With Ri and Ranel dead, Sandhya was the only one left to oppose him.

 

You wondered what you could do? That, Sandhya. You can find every follower of Ruin and destroy them. Even if it takes killing half of Luthadel first.

 

Sandhya nodded grimly. "Whatever it takes."

Edited July 20, 2016 by Elbereth

[TheSilverDragon]

Well, it looks like elbreath is spiked.

[Bugsy]

Elb. 'Cause boxings  

[Master Elodin]

Right. Elb

 

[Elbereth]

Sandhya and Thanata: The Rest of the Story, Pt. 7

So, the next day, when it came to trial, she talked. She lied, even. She hadn't taken down the Inquisitor. She still didn't know who had. But she did know that Tram hadn't. He was just lying to save his own skin. So she lied in turn. Whatever it takes. Thanata said he was a servant of Ruin, and the tablet confirmed it. So he had to die. Whatever the cost. 

And then he died, and he wasn't Spiked. How could he not be spiked? He must be, but he wasn't. 

And now they all suspected her, suspected her because of something she'd never done, something she would never do, these prying, suspicious faces surrounding her. She held her head high while they could see her - her upbringing permitted nothing less - but when she was out of sight, she ran. Ran, and ran, and ran, finally ending up back in her room. She had nowhere else to go, and it was at least a little safer than the streets at night. Though with everyone out to get her, she couldn't even be sure of that anymore. 

She sat down at her desk, looking at the calligraphies laid out in neat order. Thanata's (she had retrieved it when her body had come back), black and silver and edged in deep red. Ri's, in lighter colors - green and pink and lively, with only a few scars marring it in the same color of her lifeblood that Sandhya remembered so vividly from the balcony. A few other names, half-completed; others she had killed or who had died at the Inquisitor's hand. 

She cleared enough space, then put a fresh piece of paper in the center, arranging her pens and brushes automatically. 

Then she started working with the light of a candle and the mist outside, and she didn't stop until it was done. 

TRAM, it read. Bold, brave letters. Ambiguous gray (not like the mists; more solid). After a moment of staring at it, she outlined it in a very thin line of red. 

When it was done, she bowed her head over it for a moment. A tear started dripping from her eye, but she brushed it away before it could drip onto the still-wet calligraphy. 

She held the tears back a few minutes more while she washed her brushes and put them back neatly as always. 

Then she fell onto her bed and wept, wept as she could not weep for Thanata. It was irrational, part of her knew, but most of her did not care. The world was wrong somehow. She couldn't quite manage to form the thought yet, though. She simply needed to weep, and so she wept. 

No one came for her that night. Too busy fighting amongst themselves, probably. Sandhya didn't particularly care. Even Thanata didn't speak. She hadn't since they'd found the Inquisitor, that morning. Maybe she'd finally passed into wherever spirits were supposed to go. Maybe not. Sandhya couldn't bring herself to wonder. 

Eventually her weeping passed into sleep, and for the first time that week she did not dream. 

[Renegade]

Time's up!

[Renegade]

 

Night 6: The Counter-Inquisition

(Many thanks to Elbereth for her death write-up.)

When one of the servants of Ruin had revealed herself, there was much jubilation throughout all the factions… but some terror as well.  How many more of these spiked would we have to find?

 

That next morning, Sandhya dressed for death. She wore a beautiful gown, a deep red one that Thanata used to wear before she got too tall. She automatically slid the dress on, tugging it past the bump on her chest where the spike was, and grabbed a black cloak to go along with it. They thought she was a servant of Ruin? Then she might as well dress the part.

She walked out to the town square, where they were waiting for her. Of course they were.

 

"Lady Sandhya," one said.

 

"I do not serve Ruin," she replied. "I believed that Tram served the Inquisitor, and thus he had to die. I am sincerely sorry for that, but I do not regret it."

 

"Sandhya," another said, ignoring her.

 

"Listen to me! The Inquisitor killed my sister. Thanata. Do you really think I would serve my sister's murderer?"

 

"House Venture is dead because of you," someone said.

 

"Yes, because they wished for peace. And that cannot happen, or Ruin will kill us all."

 

"So you killed your own house, your own family."

 

It was necessary, said Thanata, startling Sandhya slightly. "It was necessary," she agreed.

 

"Why would Ruin kill us all if there was peace?" someone else asked with curiosity.

 

"Or rather, why is that any different than us killing each other?"

 

Sandhya stared at them for a moment, frowning. "Well, because... because there's at least a chance this way that some of us will survive."

 

"But Ruin will just kill the victors anyway, won't he? If what you say is true, why wouldn't he have killed us all before we killed his precious Inquisitor?"

 

"Well..." Sandhya couldn't refute their logic. She began shaking her head. "No. I do not serve Ruin. I would never serve Ruin!"

 

No. You would never serve Ruin. But you have no trouble listening to your precious, dear older sister, do you? Thanata said.  

 

"No..." Sandhya said, refusing to accept what she already knew.

 

Your precious, dear, dead older sister. You'd do anything for her.

 

"Thanata..." Sandhya whispered, ignoring everyone around her. "No, please, Thanata..."

 

You've forgotten something, Sandhya. How would you have known if Tram were evil?

 

"He would have been..." her hand rose to her chest. "...Spiked. No. No, no, no." Suddenly the spike that she'd nearly forgotten about - how could she have just forgotten about a big piece of metal sticking through her chest - rose back into her awareness.

 

Do you want to know what Thanata really saw when she died, Sandy? Thanata's voice said, words still pleasant and kind just like it was Thanata speaking again.

 

Sandhya shuddered. This was Ruin talking. Ruin, with her sister's voice. "I've been serving Ruin all along..."

 

She saw that you would come into that alley, and she saw that you would become my servant with the power of her blood. That's what haunted her, Sandhya. And she could do nothing to stop it.

 

"No," Sandhya said, as the crowd murmured.

 

"Wait, what?"

 

"What's going on?"

 

"Did she just admit to being Spiked?"

 

"No," Sandhya said more frantically. "I do not serve you! I will not do your will, whatever you try to force me to do."

 

Won't you? Ruin said, sounding amused. You have been doing my will this whole time. You incited the factions to war against each other. They're killing each other without my having to lift a finger. You killed Ri and Ranel. You killed Tram, who killed my Inquisitor. Thank you for that, by the way.

And now you've outlived your usefulness, Sandy. Sandhya shuddered again at the kindness in that voice. Your life has come to Ruin, and it is time to be done.

 

Sandhya closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath.

 

Then she stood tall and looked at the unfriendly faces around her. "Very well. I am Spiked, and I have unwittingly been serving Ruin. I deserve death for what I have done."

 

And perhaps you will even see Thanata again, Ruin said mockingly. Or, wait. Will that just be me again? You still serve me, Sandhya. You are mine.

 

Sandhya ignored the voice and reached for her sternum. She brushed aside her dress to reveal the spike to the onlookers, who gasped.

 

Then, without giving herself time to think, she began to slowly pull the spike from herself. It hurt, worse than anything she could ever remember, even when she'd Snapped, but she kept pulling and pulling.

 

Even now you do my work, she heard, fainter now. For you distract them even as my true servants wind deeper and deeper into their trust. You shall see many of these faces again soon. All shall come to Ruin.

 

Farewell, Sandhya, and be grateful that you shall not live to see the day when Ruin reigns. Then there was a mocking laugh, and then blessed silence.

 

Finally, she held the full spike in her hands, covered in her own blood (and some of Thanata's too, she was sure). Good thing I wore red, she thought incongruously. Distantly, she heard the spike clatter to the ground as her hands grew too weak to hold it.

 

Before darkness took her, her last thought was, Thanata, I'm coming...

- - - - -

Sandhya (Elbereth) was lynched!  She was a Spiked Smoker from the Venture faction, with a Copper Spike!  (This means she was a Smoker prior to being spiked with Copper, in case.)

 

Vote Tally

Elbereth (12): The Only Joe, Elbereth, Alvron, Master Elodin, Straw, cloudjumper, Araris Valerian, zas678, Nyali, TheSilverDragon, Bugsy6912, Conquestor

 

 

Venture has fallen!  You may no longer target it with any actions.

Night 6 begins now and will end in 47 hours.  Good luck!

[Amanuensis]

@Elbereth, please post so I can upvote you for the great write up (even though I blame you for the fall of Venture)  

Edited July 21, 2016 by Amanuensis

[Elbereth]

Sure thing.  I did mean to let Ren do my actual death, but I got a little carried away.

Ruin shall reign...

Edited July 21, 2016 by Elbereth

[Conquestor]

Well, that went as expected. Finally! "She heard voices that told her what to do," Parth said to BLANK (Again, this position is open for anyone that wants to join) "She said something about her sister Thanata was talking to her, but I believe it was something else because of the way she acted at her death. I believe something infects their minds and controls them, but I am not sure how," Parth continued to explain. "We need to find other people that have this problem and put them out of their misery. It also appears that this thing does not care if it's minions die,"

[cloudjumper]

Any suspicions, anyone? Or thoughts? Or anything?

Edit: By the way, I will not be active Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Edited July 22, 2016 by cloudjumper

[Renegade]

4 hours left!

[Renegade]

Time's up!

[Renegade]

 

Day 7: The Element of Surprise

I believe that I am running out of time.  I haven’t seen anyone since I was put in my cell, save for the occasional guard bringing me small rations of bread and water.  My metalminds were all confiscated from me while I was unconscious.  I know of nobody left to save me.  I am trapped.

 

Jonly strode forth from behind a small hillock, sword pointing high into the misty night.  “CHARGE!” he shouted, and several hundred men obliged, yelling and screaming into the mists, towards Pewtergate.  They had almost taken over the gate on the two previous nights, but had lost many men in the process.  However, the tower’s defenses had been heavily weakened.  Tonight would be the night that Pewtergate would fall.

And when it did, Jonly would receive all the credit for it.

Jonly dashed with his men towards the slowly-growing Pewtergate in the distance.  Even as the arrows began to fall from the sky, he could hear nothing but the roaring shouts of his men, who swiftly raised their shields to block the incoming missiles.  Jonly raised his sword higher in defiance, and his men continued their rush towards Pewtergate.  They would make it, this time.  They would make it or die trying.

Pewtergate eventually began to loom larger and larger as Jonly’s men came closer to the walls of Luthadel.  Several of his men had been struck down by arrows, and the archers’ fire never ceased.  As they approached, Jonly could see the brutal chunks taken out of the gate.  It’d take mere minutes for them to hack through the gate and rush inside.

Several of Jonly’s men suddenly veered to the side, one accidentally pushing Jonly to the ground.  As Jonly blinked his eyes and attempted to see through the mists, he spied the source of his men’s terror: a large wave of koloss.  “To the gate!” Jonly shouted, but could barely hear himself in the clamor.  “To the gate!”

Jonly rose, brandishing his sword, and glared at the koloss.  As they charged closer, Jonly’s glare became more fearful, until he realized that he couldn’t possibly take down these koloss.  It would be impossible.

Jonly threw his sword straight into the ranks of the koloss before fleeing, only to find his men and himself trapped between Pewtergate and the koloss.  They would stand no chance against the onslaught.

The koloss closed in, killing them all.

- - - - -

Cenn Celverclogs Stimbers flipped a coin into the air, then Burned his Steel lightly, causing the coin to hit a target on the other side of the tent.  Cenn nodded, writing down a few notes in his notebook.  Interesting.  Ever since he Snapped a few months ago, he had dedicated his life to writing more about his Allomantic abilities.  As far as he knew, nobody had successfully quantified Allomantic Burnings, but he thought that he could possibly come close.

Cenn flipped a second coin in the air, and this one suddenly slammed into the ground.  What in the-?  A figure, face hidden behind a hood, crashed through the tent, slowly landing on the coin that had just fallen to the ground.  Cenn’s eyes widened, and he grabbed another coin from his pocket, Pushing it straight at the intruder.  The figure Pushed against the coin until it hovered in midair, then took a step to the side, causing the coin to spin off in the other direction.

Cenn looked about frantically, then Burned his Steel, following the blue lines to a pouch on the intruder’s belt.  Cenn Pushed on the pouch with all of his might, then Pushed on the metal spike behind him that held the tent up, bracing himself.  The intruder flew backwards, out of the tent’s opening, until they unclasped the pouch, causing it to fly off across the encampment.

Cenn reached to the side, taking his pot of coins, then threw the entire pot forward, Pushing on all of the coins inside.  The coins shot out at the figure, then flew off to the sides, redirected by the figure’s Steelpush.  The intruder then Pushed against several of the coins that had fallen to the ground, launching into the air.  Cenn grumbled, rushing out of his tent to see where the assassin had ended up.  However, the assassin no longer had any metal on them, and the mists obscured their flight.  They could be anywhere.  Any Cenn wouldn’t sense them coming.

Cenn breathed heavily, then picked up several of the scattered coins, Pushing them randomly up into the sky.  If the assassin attempted to redirect them, he could possibly triangulate his position.  But none of the coins deviated from their paths.

That is, until one coin, in the palm of a hooded figure behind him, Pushed a coin straight into Cenn’s skull.

- - - - -

Jonly (The Only Joe) was killed by a koloss horde!  He was an unspiked Smoker.

Cenn Celverclogs Stimbers (TheSilverDragon) was coinshot!  He was an unspiked Coinshot.

Day 7 begins now and will end in 47 hours.  Good luck!

[Zas678]

Now that Elb is lynched and that's all taken care of, it's time to try and root out the other 2 Spiked. 

Straw, you mentioned that Nayali was indicated as the most likely to be Spiked in your faction. Why is that?

[Conquestor]

I won't vote on Nyali until I have a reason besides "we think." I also would like to here a defense from Nyali.

[Nyali]

I was at the time, but that was days ago and I'm not sure if it's still true. People suspected me largely because, as far as I recall, I was the person they'd want on their team if they were eliminators. I still think that's a terrible reason to be suspicious of someone, but I'll let other members of Cett comment on that if they'd like to.

Now that we know who the Inquisitor is though, I would like to point out that I haven't been in a game with Dow before so there's little reason to think he'd want me specifically on his team. Elbereth was with me in LG20 where I did great (though we didn't really interact much that game), but she was also in LG21 where we were curb-stomped (I died Night 1 (though I got better), and I was pretty useless for the rest of the game). And she was in LG22 with me where I really screwed up and was kinda a total moron, so... yeah. We also have no idea if she had any input into who Dow spiked anyway.

 

I'm going to be away all day (cyberpunk boffer LARP playtest!). I might be on tonight depending on the Shallan situation and whether or not I fall asleep right after she does.

[Araris Valerian]

I'm gonna vote on Straw. He has done a few things that seemed like they mostly were attempts to create chaos, rather than to support his own faction victory or help find the Spiked. Although, I would also be totally willing to lynch Phatt, since he has been frustratingly absent for pretty much the entire game.

[Straw]

I realize that I have been acting chaotically and I will try to participate more in the future.

[Conquestor]

Ok, sorry straw, but that wasn't really a defense. I want you to justify the reason why you were acting so eratically.