Long Game 86: A Stricken Match

[Mat]

Can we agree that there's only 1 Spiked left? [Edit: Ninja'd by Steel]

3/13 is 23% and 4/13 is 30%, and with Stick being a Full Feruchemist I feel like the former is much more likely.

I also think the last one could be a Synod member, since we haven't had an elim one of those yet, but I don't think all the Synod should claim for the sake of maybe shrinking the PoE and I could definitely see Fifth and Kas leaving the Synod doc pure. It might be worth them using their Synod kill tonight, if they can come to a decent conclusion, but that's up to them to decide.

Off the top of my head Illwei and Elan have both risen in my reads considerably, but I'll need to do some reading to come up with more than that. Illwei's point on Archer is proving to be viable, though.

Edited June 5, 2022 by Matrim's Dice

[Archer]

Yeah, y'all can kill me now. I was waiting to rail against people (like Synod's headband) for jumping to murder for an e-e connection without verifying the primary evilness of the link (JNV), but I ended up on the wrong side of that flip. I'll disclose that I am Jeff in the Synod doc and am aware that the group has elected to slay me tonight. So you can save your generic kill shots. The only reason I can think to keep me alive is that I'm a Sparkler with a full metalmind, so I can potentially see who submits the NK if you spare me until next Night. But that requires me to guess the person who submits it, which is a longshot. 

Let's see. 9 minus 2 today is 7. So maybe 5v:2e. Exe to 4v:2e. But you have to guard against a seized Synod doc, which is a possibility with 2 elims in it and well placed kills. 

Okay. Do what you gotta do. Also, if you think there's one elim left, is there much harm in roleclaiming next Day? Copper Mat especially. And if you could all focus your energies towards assuming I'm going to flip village, that'd be fabulous. Kill me, but don't waste time looking for connections and stuff like that. There's an actual elim or two out there that you need to catch. 

Also someone should RB me because that's the smart play. 

Edit @Fifth Scholar can we get an order of actions for generic role block and the three types of kills? 

Edited June 5, 2022 by Archer

[Fifth Scholar]

25 minutes ago, Archer said:

Edit @Fifth Scholar can we get an order of actions for generic role block and the three types of kills? 

All kills occur simultaneously, though the Synod kill is not an action. The roleblock happens before any other Night action.

[Araris Valerian]

@Fifth Scholar can we get a final vote count?

[Kasimir]

13 minutes ago, Araris Valerian said:

@Fifth Scholar can we get a final vote count?

You may need to refresh. It was edited into the write-up after Mat pointed this out.

[Araris Valerian]

1 hour ago, Elandera said:

Araris = Neutral

Uh. Why do I only get to be neutral for bussing a teammate voting early on JNV and sticking with it? Not to mention that the VC proves that I refrained from filling my metalmind, as I said I would.

[Elandera]

3 minutes ago, Araris Valerian said:

Uh. Why do I only get to be neutral for bussing a teammate voting early on JNV and sticking with it? Not to mention that the VC proves that I refrained from filling my metalmind, as I said I would.

You're right.  I forgot who the first JNV vote was. You're up to villager.

[Kasimir]

This is a pointed reminder to all players that responsibility is on you to make your votes visible and easy to read. We will check through things and we understand when formatting fails happen, but please, for the love of God, if your post screws up and your vote goes into a spoiler box, please just double-post and naked vote or something.

Given the use of spoiler boxes to contain filler material, especially coloured reads list, I think this is a reasonable request.

I have been asked to confirm the current vote count is correct. I can confirm it.

[Alvron]

Well chulldung.  I really didn't like the votes on JNV but clearly it was correct.  I've never had much if any luck trying to do things logically.  I much prefer a good random stab in the dark.  Too bad I'm likely to be roleblocked and/or killed this Night or I would give it another shot.  Who knows, maybe I will.  However, since we are now under 10 players, some generic actions (kill, roleblock and protect) only have a 50% chance of going through even if we are the only ones placing those particular orders.

Wei, sorry for voting you.  It was a random vote due to me running out of time and since I knew it wouldn't count as I was filling, I figured it wouldn't hurt.  
Araris, how dare you be village.  Or at least appear very much village.  Izzy wants you to be evil so be evil k?

[Kasimir]

One more clarification guys - PMs are by default closed and all PMs are GM-created. This is because the generic 'send PM' action has a limit of two PMs in total per Night, so if PMs are more popular than expected, we have to RNG. (Same goes for the applicable quota for any other type of generic action.) Not to mention that roleblocks exist.

Please do not jump the gun and create a PM. We will do it for you after determining if your action is successful or not  

[Steeldancer]

Hah, as if anyone would be stupid enough to do that!

Spoiler

 

[Archer]

Player List, From Villagest to Evilest

Alvron – Indisputably village for sniping elim power role N1.

Illwei – Strongly pushed JNV yesterday.

Elandera – JNV voter. JNV’s self-pres vote.

Araris – JNV voter. I think I probably misread them…

Matrim’s Dice – Was meaningfully voted on by Stick D1. But went for Elan CW yesterday.

*

Xino – Undercut by Striker NK, e/v interactions.

Ashbringer – It’s always the quiet ones.  

Steeldancer – Self-centered analysis and strongly pushed me as an alternative exe yesterday.

*Archer – I’m a vote manip with partial control over the Synod and I appeared to protect JNV. I’ve therefore gathered three Synod votes and will be killed.

I strongly encourage you to generically Protect the top of this list, because we want the final showdown to be between our very villager people and someone left over by PoE. If you’re a villager among Xino/Ashbringer/Steeldancer, this especially applies to you. You dying helps us get through the list of suspects quicker and provides more certainty than if our top clears die, so selflessly shielding is the best play. Besides, we all know Alvron is itching to snipe someone again, so he’s got the kill covered.

If this goes on longer than expected, mass claiming and coordinating generic actions to try and head off the NK are good approaches. Use your PMs!

If we kill from the bottom of the list to the top, I think we have enough reasonable clears to pull off the win. It’s best to have padded margins here, in case some people are still filling or the elims have vote manip. So if there’s a debate between say Ashbringer and Steeldancer, just consolidate and come back to the second one the next Day.

Reminder that JNV took the first stab at explaining the vote breakdown N1, which makes sense since the elims needed to do that anyway. Fun quote: “I feel like for some reason there was just this hyperfocus on Steeldancer for a long time which seems weird”. Intriguingly, JNV didn’t vote that Day. I think my elims didn’t care/weren’t on to mess with the vote theory stands.

I’m fairly certain that Steeldancer is the final elim, based largely on PoE. He also appears to be the Synod member suspiciously pushing my death, but hasn’t confirmed their identity yet. Once that kill is used, I encourage the Synod members to reveal themselves and discuss what went down there.

[Mat]

There’s one post from Steel where he complains about JNV’s style of writing from last turn that doesn’t read e/e to me. But since my elim reads have been slightly off the entire game maybe he is just elim :D. I want to check how JNV treats Steel, I noticed earlier how JNV lightly defended Stick D1 so maybe there’s something like that we can find.

I would say Ash for voting Elan but he was the first vote of the turn so idk. Maybe I’m just easily swayed but Archer still just seems villagery to me, despite his voting.

Edit: After rereading I think I agree with the e!Steel read. Distancing fits cleanly there, and makes sense.

Edited June 5, 2022 by Matrim's Dice

[---]

CURRENT READS

Illwei - VVV
  - Expressed interest in voting Stick on D1
  - Lots of helpful and Villagery analysis on D2
  - Pushed for a JNV wagon on D2
  - Nice role PM

Alvron - VVV
  - Shot Stick

Araris - VV
 - Started the train off on JNV yesterday, despite not really having much support.
 - Stayed on the train even though it would have been easy to switch votes to anyone else (me, Elan, less so elan but same thing)
 - Good interactions with Striker on D1 that are random but i liked.
Not higher due to the fact that

Elandera - VV
 - I like the consistancy with keeping up with her reads in thread, updating them as she goes
 - was an early JNV voter, and again, didn't move even when it would have been easy for her to hop onto me if she wanted to.
Not higher due to the fact that she was V reading me, making it potentially harder to switch off of JNV if they were teamed

Matrim - V
 - Stick voted him at EoD
 - Voted Stick early D1
 - Both him and JNV commented on Steel's not reading the rules being NAI.
Not higher due to the fact that he has not voted on an Elim at EoD, and was pushing what I believe are multiple villagers (ie: Me, Xino, Elan). Also due to having a similarly bad reaction to the growing JNV train as Archer.

Xino - N/V
 - Hasn't done much, but good interaction with Stick on D1.
 - Voted on JNV? I honestly don't know.

Archer - N/E
 - Tried to vote anywhere but JNV yesterday
 - Pushed who I believe to be multiple villagers (ie: Me, Araris, Elan)
Not lower due to the fact that I have been wrong on Archer in the past and will be wrong on Archer in the future. There are definitely some villagery moments, like right now, but in my opinion his vote hopping yesterday and avoidance of JNV is too much for me to not look at. If this is a case like the last MR where he had tied himself so tight to the flipped Elim (striker) as a villager then I am sorry, and I don't mean to say "you're an Elim because you are wrong" because villagers are wrong. but also I don't really think I can look past that enough.  I never really want to get complacent and say "we have room for enough misexes" because I'm not even sure if that's the case (I'm slightly worried that the Elim team is 4 people and not 3) but I do believe that Archer is an essential death to move forward in the game.

Steel - E
 - Strangely confident this game
 - nothing else really going hard for him
Not /lower/ due to the fact that I kinda like his fixation on the specific "reads on me for reading the rules" bits, but also that no one was actually giving a read on him based on that is strange.

Ashbringer - E
 - Done nothing
 - Voted Elan
Not higher due to the fact that they have done nothing and only voted villagers

NEXT STEPS?

Voting
Assuming Archer flips v, tomorrow the wagons should be Steel/Ash over Xino imo. I think everyone in my Neutral/Village reads has some sort of interaction with Stick or JNV that puts them there. Steel and Ash are the only people who don't have any sort of level of clearing interactions, so I believe those should be the running to go on D3. If it's still not over by then I think we should do a full re-eval on everyone and re-sort from there.

If the game continues after Archer is dead, I again ask that people do not fill if it negates their own vote. If Archer is not the last Elim then either we have 1 or 2 Elims left, and we can't let them gain control of the exe just because you want a chance at using your ability. (Not trying to hate on people who like using night actions, but don't forget to weigh the pros and cons about your NA always)

Discussion
Even if people are against it, I know, it might be useful to do a full claim of your roles and action history tomorrow. we'll be missing people but it might help figure out what was going on with the votecounts in the past and whatnot.

I was hoping that the Synod people would claim tonight, but it's not seeming like that is going to happen with the time that's left.

--

Now that i think about it, Ash had 2 votes. I don't think that the Elims would want to leave 2 of them in a tie (not even 1) but i mention 2 because I think Ash is only an Elim with either Araris or Mat, and Mat did have one vote by the end of the day. So the team is either Archer or Steel by themselves, Potentially Xino but ehh?? or Either Araris/Ash or Mat/Ash, and Mat/Ash only works if Mat is a skimmer and Stick filled something that negated her vote (which, high chance tbh lol)

Edited June 5, 2022 by Illwei

[Mat]

Ash had some pretty villagery points D1– things like being among the first to mention hiding the Copper, and other posts I can’t remember off the top of my head but aren’t really things that an elim would want to mention. I could go find more of those I guess.

Ash also was basically ignored by both Stick and JNV, and looking back you can see that Stick and JNV distanced pretty well; it’d be weird to me if they did that but then never mentioned their third teammate. (And again, with there being 13 players and Stick being a FF, I don’t think there’s any chance of four elims). Steel fits that slot nicely, and if I get past my village tone read of Steel he makes a lot of sense as the third.

And like Illwei mentioned, we agreed that the elims likely weren’t in real danger D1 and Ash was a train. A late train, but still one that existed.

So yeah there’s my v!Ash case I guess 

Edited June 5, 2022 by Matrim's Dice

[---]

Ok, sue me.

@Alvron @Araris Valerian @Elandera @Matrim's Dice @Archer @xinoehp512 @Ashbringer

Might be selfish but I don't want to be responsible for Archer dying again if he's village. Yes, the links to JNV are strong, not as strong as they were with Striker in the MR, but still. 

If anyone in the synod would want to move their votes to Steel Instead?

[Araris Valerian]

I'm leaning village on Archer because of his attacks on me (though I'm beginning to doubt part of that reasoning). But I also think that his last cycle wasn't great in regards to JNV. 

[---]

I am in the synod @Archer and will retract my vote on you and vote for Steel if one of the other two also vote steel. Otherwise I'm staying on you.

[Mat]

I mean, if the Synod kills Archer then you’re not responsible, Illwei, even if you did make a case they had to agree with it

I also lean v Archer but I wonder how much discussion it’ll suck up if he survives. That alone isn’t a good reason to kill him though.

[Elandera]

I agree with Mat here for once. Archer is too much of a question mark. I'm not getting as much of an elim read from Steel as I am from Archer, so I'd rather the Synod use the kill there. If it doesn't work, then we can revisit Steel and other candidates for the exe the next turn. 

[---]

Mmm :/.

If Archer flips Elim feel free to hit me over the nose with a newspaper

[Archer]

would have been nice if you'd come around sooner 

Spoiler

maybe I'm evil... maybe I just wanna bonk you on the nose, you'll never know. Until D3. Then you'll know. But until then. Mystery!

[---]

i feel better now then lol

[Fifth Scholar]

Night over! Silence till the next writeup goes up. 

[Fifth Scholar]

 

Day Three: Stamped Out

Jeral sat in the Laughing Salmon, plain-hilted cane-sword laid out on the table before him.

Izzy, flush with her new boxings from the watch, was nursing a wine at the bar. 

Jeral wasn’t sure he felt like celebrating. 

Part of him felt cravenly relieved that Sparky had turned out to be Spiked after all. Killing felt—alright, he supposed, if you knew and could accept that the other person had been Spiked and sent from the Steel Ministry to kill in Frebarind.

But he’d never killed before. The cane-sword had always been about self-defence, and he’d never found a fight he hadn’t been able to talk his way out of, and thieves usually went to look for easier targets after you’d thwacked them a few times, or cut them up a few times.

The feel of his cane-sword cutting through Sparky though, in that last fatal swing…

It stuck with him. Lodged in his mind, like a loose fishbone.

For the first time in a long while, Phelan hadn’t confiscated his lucky dice. Jeral hadn’t come to the Laughing Salmon to roll the dice, to make his own luck. 

For the first time in a long while, he didn’t find himself thinking about the golden-hilted cane-sword, or desiring it. He didn’t find himself pressed to save up the boxings for it, and he didn’t even think about how Izzy was so much closer to purchasing the cane-sword than he was. Not that Izzy seemed the type to go for cane-swords, golden-hilted or otherwise.

Jeral had never killed before. A single stroke that spanned the moment life crossed over to death, and Jeral decided that if the Lord Ruler was kind, if the forgotten gods of old Terris were kind, he would never again need to draw the cane-sword to kill.

Enlisting the inhabitants of Frebarind to root out the agents of the Steel Inquisition had worked wonders. In only two days they’d found the Frebarind Finisher and her accomplice while the Synod hadn’t managed to track down any of the killers in weeks. It was too much to hope they’d found all their agents, Sparky had mentioned doing the will of an Inquisitor and nobody had found the spikes that had been removed from Stick yet. However, Raven decided she was much better at hiding her identity from people who’d want to kill her than identifying people doing the same and turned her attention to her analysis of the poison that killed Inadeus.

A search of Stick’s and Sparky’s belongings hadn’t turned up the delivery method, a small needle or dart or knife judging from the puncture wound. In fact, their possessions had been quite sparse. On some level this made sense; Stick had been in dire financial straits and would have sold off what she could live without, and Sparky had been too young to have inherited his family’s wealth. On the other hand, the lack of any kind of spikes or poison or weaponry in either of their lodgings meshed with their being other killers who had cleaned up after them. 

But that was a problem for the people of Frebarind and later-Raven. For now, the problem was that she only had the trace amounts of poison she’d been able to harvest from Inadeus’s bloodstream. There wasn’t enough for her to run usual tests when encountered unidentified substances, but a small-scale boiling point test would be a good start.

Such a wide temperature range for the boiling point suggested an impure solution, but Raven had been agonisingly sure to isolate the poison from any other substances in the bloodstream. Perhaps the poison was inherently impure, a mixture of several different compounds instead of one completely unknown one. If that was the case, she might be able to replicate it. First she’d have to wait for the boiled mixture to condense back into a liquid and then boil it again to separate the mixture into its component parts. She sighed. If only brass Feruchemy could extend to other objects.

She’d recovered almost all the poison, having to wait longer than usual since every last drop was valuable, when three of the four other associate Synod members came into her lab. “What is it?” Raven hissed, gesturing to all of them to stay out of the way. 

“If you’re done here, we have need of that poison,” Headband said. 

“Of course I’m not done. Do you see how little there is? I’m not going to waste my one sample. What do you need it for anyway? The people of Frebarind are doing just fine without us.”

“We all feel it’s for the best if we took care of Synod business personally.”

“Took care of… wait. Is that why Stann’s not here? You’re going to kill them? Or are you trying to get me to support a coup against the leader who’s gotten results?”

“No, we still support Landis,” Half-mask assured her. “It’s Stann we want to kill. We took a vote and we all agreed,” Half-mask said, and No-mask nodded in assent. “Even Stann came around in the end.

“That doesn’t make sense,” Raven argued. “Why would Stann agree to die if he’s working with the Inquisition? Where’s Landis? And why do you want this poison to kill them?”

“That’s exactly what Stann wants us to think,” Headband explained. “Pretend they’re on our side and are willing to cooperate just to get us to lower our guard. Landis agrees with us. ‘We cannot allow any threats to remain in our town. Every option must be exhausted.’ He’s making sure Stann doesn’t try to run while we got you.”

“We need the poison,” No-mask spoke up, “because Stann is a respected clerk in town. If we’re wrong, we can’t afford to have the Synod be blamed for their death. Any reports of infighting will lead to chaos. By using a method known to be the province of the Spiked, we can blame them for Stann’s death. Of course, if we’re right and Stann is Spiked, then we can claim credit.”

“That’s a lot of hedging for someone you're so convinced is working against us,” Raven said. “If you’re that unsure, why are you killing them?”

The visible side of Half-mask’s face tightened. “We’ve known Stann for much longer than you have, and a lot longer than we’ve known you. Landis says that even he doesn’t know who you are or where you came from, just that Hazen told him you were a certified Keeper. I keep track of every Full Feruchemist we have, and you don’t fit any of their descriptions.”

“Oh, well in that case if you want to be able to pin Stann’s death on the Spiked, I can certainly help. Let me just pick out a spike from my extensive collection and I can stab them to death a few times.”

“That’s enough,” Headband shouted. “Raven, you’re not a suspect. But Stann does need to die. We can’t allow for any possibility of the Synod being compromised.”

“Fine,” Raven sighed. “Bring them here. I’ll need to do a post-mortem examination anyway, and I need more time to reproduce this poison and ensure a lethal dose.

“I’ll remain here to monitor your progress,” Half-mask insisted, as No-mask and Headband left.

Half-mask may have suspected her of being involved with the Steel Inquisition, but having a second person to help identify poison components made the process much faster after distillation was complete. By the time Headband and No-mask returned with Landis and Stann, they had managed to separate out a silvery metal with a remarkably low melting point.

“Ah, I recognise that,” Landis said. “I’ve made it a point to collect and identify any metals that might be useful for Feruchemy, and that one has no such use and is far too lethal to warrant further testing. I trust that you’ve made enough progress to be able to reproduce this toxin?”

“I can’t be sure. We haven’t conclusively identified the other ingredients yet, but I’m confident that with further study -” she broke off as Stann suddenly broke free from Landis’s grasp and charged the lab table. Raven and No-mask instinctively assumed defensive postures, but Stann wasn’t heading for either of them. Instead, they grabbed the vial of mercury and raised it in a toast.

“I’m Spiked after all!” they said, and drained the contents.  

“Joyful lamentations!” Faleast cried out, from his usual place in the market square. It was getting late, and the town crier would soon stop his work and return home.

“Praise the Ja!” Eiwlil intoned, shaking her head aggressively.

“Joyful lamentations! Noble Venel was the accomplice of the Frebarind Finisher!”

“Praise the Ja!” Eiwlil preached. “Praise the Ja, for the Ja led me to Venel! Yesterday, a bird landed on the roof of the Venel manor and I knew it to be a sign from the Ja, who is smiling on Frebarind! Praise the Ja!”

“Sometimes, a bird is just a bird,” Artwyn groused. The amount of foolishness in Frebarind today was astounding to the old curmudgeon, and he still wasn’t sure how being in good physical condition meant he was some sort of unnatural liar who was working with the Steel Ministry.

“Praise the Ja!” Eiwlil snapped. “The Ja spoke to me through the bird!”

“Joyful lamentations!” Faleast called out, one last time. He looked about him, but the market square had begun to empty out. Even the grisly affair of the Frebarind Finisher was not enough to keep the inhabitants of Frebarind filling the square after dusk had begun to fall. He began to gather his things, taking a swig from a copper flask.

Artwyn locked up his shop for the night. He glanced about his shop, taking in the half-finished cabinet ordered from a count in Luthadel new to the position of House Lord, the tables and chairs that Phelan had requested. Something about a bar brawl in the Laughing Salmon the last week that had broken a number of Phelan’s chairs. 

It didn’t matter to Artwyn. Boxings were boxings, and Phelan was a frequent customer. Unlike the intricate joinery of the count’s cabinet, the tables and chairs at the Salmon were of the same design, and sanding the wood was a repetitive and soothing task.

Enough for the night, though. Artwyn leaned on his staff. Truth was, he wasn’t as young as he’d used to be, and the shenanigans of the day—the running, breaking down Sparky’s door—had tired him out, even if he wasn’t about to show it.

Someone had to keep Stann on their toes, after all.

Time was, you could go out in Frebarind without having to be armed. But an old man needed his walking stick, and Artwyn was good at delivering discouraging thwacks to thieves. He figured the same went for any Spiked still in Frebarind.

“Praise the Ja!” Eiwlil called out, as regular as clockwork. “The Ja has delivered! Praise the Ja!”

The square was emptying out, and Artwyn set across it. He had lodgings above the shop, but it felt like a night to head to the Laughing Salmon, to talk to Phelan about his ordered furniture.

He narrowed his eyes at Steel, who sat on an unrolled straw mat, his copper bowl placed before him. People seemed to have been generous today; perhaps they were in a good mood, now that the Frebarind Finisher appeared to have been found, and Jerald’d done for Venel.

“Good evening to you,” Steel said.

Artwyn nodded to him. Wasn’t sure there was much that needed to be said. A bunch of people in Frebarind were suspicious of Steel. There were whispers that Steel had too many connections to the Frebarind underworld, that if you wanted a hired knife, or a poisoner, or a smuggler, Steel was the one you talked to, and he could set you up with someone else.

A thought occurred to him.

“Weren’t you trying to join the Tathingdwen Tautological Society of Tautology?” Artwyn asked, slowly.

Was that a glint of something sharp in Steel’s sleeve? A knife?

“Sort of,” Steel said, scratching at his chin. “See, the thing is, Stick promised me some boxings if I joined. Something about a recruitment drive, she needed more members in Frebarind, or something. Good thing I never showed up for that first meeting, eh? For all I know, she’d’ve kidnapped me and put spikes in me or something.”

“Or something,” Artwyn said, softly. “You never went?”

“Never had the time to,” Steel said. “What do you think, man? I have my own things to do.”

They stared at each other, carpenter to beggar. Stann’d pushed for Artwyn’s store to be ransacked, and now everyone was whispering about how defensive and prickly Steel was. Suspicion was like that, Artwyn thought. It covered everyone like sawdust.

A loud cry pierced the night.

“Praise the Ja!” Eiwlil shouted.

“Eiwlil?” Steel asked.

Both of them ran; Steel scooping up his bowl and mat, and Artwyn with surprising speed. He hadn’t thought he had another run left in him, but it turned out that when someone was screaming like that, he did. It was the sort of scream that suggested that something was terribly wrong, the sort of scream that you made if someone was trying to kill you or something awful like that.

A dark shape lashed out at Eiwlil, and Artwyn caught the glint of a knife in the flames of the streetlamps.

“Praise thJa!” Eiwlil spat out, shaking her head. “The Ja has saved me, praise the Ja!”

The dark shape chuckled, and stabbed at Eiwlil again. Artwyn could not make out how badly she had been injured but figured if she still had breath to praise the Ja, then she probably wasn’t too badly off.

He struck out with his staff. There was a loud crack, and a cry of pain, and the bloodied knife dropped to the pavingstones of the street, where Steel scooped it up. That glint up his sleeve that Artwyn had seen earlier must have been a knife after all, as it was in his left hand. 

“Too late,” whispered the attacker, and he smashed a vial on the ground, and then Artwyn was choking, his eyes watering. He could hear Steel coughing, and he could hear wheezing, laboured gasps that might have been Eiwlil struggling to breathe. He couldn’t see through that thick cloud of fumes—what had the attacker done?

“Careful,” Steel managed, and then was wracked with coughs again.

“Poison?”

“Praise…the Ja!” Eiwlil gasped, defiantly.

“No,” Steel said, which was good enough for Artwyn.

But by the time the fumes from the mixture had cleared, Steel having pulled his shirt over his head and wet it with his waterskin to form some kind of improvised hood and mask, Eiwlil had bled out.

Steel closed her staring eyes, his own gaze sombre.

“There is another, then,” he said.

Artwyn knew what he was talking about. Another Spiked. Yet another Spiked, infesting Frebarind like woodrot. But you had to make a clean end of it, or you’d be dealing with the infestation years out from now. 

“Looks like it,” said Artwyn.

 

 

---

Eiwlil (Illwei) was killed! She was a Synod Village Skimmer! 

Stann (Archer) was assassinatedby the Synod! He was a Synod Village Sparker!

Day Three has begun! It will end in approximately 47 hours, on Tuesday 7 June at 10:00 PM EDT (-4:00 UTC). 

There is an Exe today, with no vote minimum. 

Thank you once again to the wonderful @Kasimir and @Devotary of Spontaneity for some truly fantastic writeups. Everyone who enjoys them should go shower both of them with upvotes.

Once again, if you wish to fill a metalmind, please contact us before doing something which will violate its fill conditions. Y’all know the drill by now.  

Good luck! 

Player List:

1. Ashbringer as Faleast, a town crier surprisingly enthusiastic about announcing woeful tidings and most bitter lamentation as the destroyer comes upon us

2. The Unknown Novel as ExMach Inadeus, an otherworldly visitor and luck epic who claims power over chromium…at the very least Village Brute

3. Matrim’s Dice as Jeral, a older gentleman who recklessly flouts the local gambling laws in hope of one day buying that gold-hilted cane-sword he covets

4. Steeldancer as Steel, a street beggar with a shadowy past and a desire to one day join the Tathingdwen Tautological Society of Tautology 

5. Archer as Stann, a clerk with patchily dyed blue hair and immaculately maintained blue flipbooks Village Sparker; Synod

6. _Stick_ as Stick, Treasurer of the Tathingdwen Tautological Society of Tautology Spiked Full Feruchemist

7. Elandera as Eran, an old woman who misses her twin sister who lives outside Tathingdwen and hopes her garden is doing okay

8. StrikerEZ as Vardenwith, a Terris steward in training who is sadly not catching on very well Village Brute; Synod

9. JNV as Venel “Sparky,” a noble kid who occasionally gets too emotional for their own good Spiked Sentry

10. Araris Valerian as Artwyn, a tired old carpenter

11. xinoehp512 as X the Executioner, a middle-aged lady who yells at her four bloodhounds in a thick accent 

12. Alvron as Izzy Dedyet, who promises she has reformed her ways

13. Illwei as Eiwlil, an avid Jaist missionary who emphasises vigorous head-shaking in her preaching Village Skimmer; Synod

Edited June 6, 2022 by Fifth Scholar