Quick Fix 65: More Deception: Murder in the Cosmere

[Archer]

2 minutes ago, Sart said:

Wait, how do we know the Witness is in the game? Doesn't it depend on the distribution?

I think it's a fair assumption that a 17 player game has all the roles. :P.

I like the work-splitting suggestion, so here's mine:

Spoiler

 

Arguably, any cause of death can be Severe Injury related, so hopefully there's a secondary category that fits better with what is chosen. 

I envision AonTia as being an accidental teleport somewhere dangerous, so it could involve suffocation (eg. in space).

I consider both magic and magical beasts to be supernatural. 

I need to look into descriptions of AonSheo if that becomes relevant. Can't recall if it involves sickness-like dying. 

 

 

 

 

[Araris Valerian]

2 hours ago, Araris Valerian said:

All roles are present in the game

 

[Kasimir]

32 minutes ago, Sart said:

Wait, how do we know the Witness is in the game? Doesn't it depend on the distribution?

Obviously, you've caught me. I'm the Witness

2 hours ago, Araris Valerian said:

All roles are present in the game, and everyone should have received a PM from me with your alignment, role, and Evidences+Methods.

11 minutes ago, Araris Valerian said:

 

Ninjaed  

Edited to add:

13 minutes ago, Archer said:

Arguably, any cause of death can be Severe Injury related, so hopefully there's a secondary category that fits better with what is chosen. 

Probably? Still think some cases like Aimian or Booby Trap are a bit less likely to lead to Severe Injury, so would not be my first port of call. IDK if I'd agree with Severe Injury for Aon Sheo as a possibility, since that's the death Aon, so I'd consider that less likely as well.

Edited March 16, 2023 by Kasimir

[Ashbringer]

2 hours ago, Araris Valerian said:

 

7	Ashbringer	Birchbane, Nightmaw, Punch, Whitespine, Stone	Hidden Message, Journal, Chicken, Hairpin, RaiDel Pepper

 

Jekyll looked at the various boxes in front of him. A set of evidence that he could use or leave behind in the event of a murder. He wasn't a murderer, of course, not this time. Or at least Jekyll wasn't. There was that... other business, but he had it under control.

He sipped from a goblet of a watery-green liquid.

Anyway, the contents of the crates were his now. His 'possessions'. While he hadn't exactly been expecting to receive the rusting Bands of Mourning, the usefulness of the items were... not as impressive as he'd imagined. Not a scrap of Investiture, unless you counted the two wild animals. He'd only encountered a nightmaw once, and while it had proven ferocious, it had been quite difficult to handle. Although if he could find a way to mimic its ability to sense minds... well, the trick would be to do that without dying. Jekyll doubted a nightmaw would be able to kill him, or even trigger the Lifeline, but it would still try to eat him which would just not go well for all parties involved.

The rest... another live whitespine with the potential for further biological adaptations, but nothing a trip through Roshar couldn't find him. Then a common poison, a literal rock, and... a punch? As if the rest of the potential perpetrators were incapable of using their fists as weapons?

Jekyll sighed. Well, it could have been worse. Somehow.

[Kasimir]

40 minutes ago, Ashbringer said:

a literal rock, and... a punch? As if the rest of the potential perpetrators were incapable of using their fists as weapons?

The real question, Jean-Guy figured, was if it was the sort of punch you dealt out at the bar or the sort of punch that got spiked at parties.

The sad thing was, even that was ambiguous.

He was pretty sure at least one colleague back on Scadrial had found unwanted Hemalurgic spikes in his punch. Real fun at parties.

[Shining Silhouette]

Is this my time to learn mech analysis??

*shakes magic eight ball*

Spoiler

hmmm.

 

[Ashbringer]

1 hour ago, Kasimir said:

The real question, Jean-Guy figured, was if it was the sort of punch you dealt out at the bar or the sort of punch that got spiked at parties.

The sad thing was, even that was ambiguous.

He was pretty sure at least one colleague back on Scadrial had found unwanted Hemalurgic spikes in his punch. Real fun at parties.

Jekyll's hand quivered a moment. He quickly raised his glass to his lips and - too late. My turn.

The man's skin rippled, appearing for a brief moment transparent and flexible, before solidifying into another pattern. Not as overt as other transformations, or even the one he was basing it off of. But clearly different people. And clearly something was wrong with this one.

Jyde - Hyde? eh, the pattern says Jyde - gave a grin. Spiking punch, eh? It was something he could have done. Much easier to do with other things, but oh he could have done it. And so much more.

Spoiler

Jyde looked at all the pretty tools he had. A lot could be done with these beauties. Jekyll just didn't have the inspiration, the joy of working with your bare hands. Or rather, someone else was delegated their Bare Hands, eh? A punch was just one. And he could deliver quite a punch with these bones.

Birchbane was a fairly simple Scadrian poison, but not one that the world at large knew about. It acted slow, and was ingested, but the effects categorized by Straff Venture - oh, Straff, that had been an interesting ad-venture - were largely misplaced. It causing suffocation seemed possible, but unlikely. Blood loss even less possible, and an 'injury' or 'accident' caused by it would be nigh impossible. As poisons go, Hrovell is where the supernatural arise, not Scadrial. And regardless, it's a poison, eh? Should be marked as such.

A Nightmaw, such an interesting feathered friend. Can find your mind and then rip you to shreds. No suffocation there either, just wounding. Quite capable of causing severe injury with its beak and talons. Blood loss is possible too, although "ripped in half" isn't precisely due to the loss of blood as much as the loss of half a body. A supernatural element is present slightly, but that's just how it finds ya. No poison either. As for an accident, it could be. Getting the attention of a nightmaw is one of those accidents you can only make once. Of my limited collection, the Nightmaw is indeed the most supernatural, but the true cause it can cause is a severe and mortal injury. 

Punch! Wham! Pow! Despite my best efforts, a punch from me should really be as mundane as any if I keep cover. An accidental punch is possible, but rarely life-threatening - more the fall after that has a threat of death. No, a killing punch can really only be a severe injury, or maybe a bit of blood from a broken nose. But where's the severity? A nightmaw's talons or whitespine's spines carry much more destructive potential. 'Suppose none make sense. Perhaps Injury if the nightmaw's senses are too supernatural for the oracle's liking. Or for a spiked bowl of punch, perhaps a poisoning, but that requires cruel interpretations, and we're not cruel, are we?

Whitespines, eh. Unleased or no. Essentially the same as Nightmaws for all intents and purposes, however: a whitespine relies on much less Investiture, only as much as the average Rosharan in the Stormlight cycle as opposed to the nightmaw's unique attributes. And a whitespine impales and prods more than rips and tears, which means more deaths related to blood loss may occur.

And lastly a Stone, Rosharan specialty or no. Depending on the size, could cause many issues to most life forms, but rocks falling is the most accidental of any possibilities as even a death caused by a predator has some intention to it. But crushing force can cause quite a severe injury or loss of blood, but has much less potential for supernaturality or poison-induced death.

(Edit: Also I'm back from the trip I mentioned, so I should be normally-active instead of not-active.)

Edited March 17, 2023 by Ashbringer

[Mat]

I'll do the thing:

Spoiler

• Steelrunning: I imagine this as a quick hit-and-run, so suffocation/poison/accident are all obvious nos. Severe injury is possible but doesn't have to be, hence the yellow. Loss of blood probably could be yellow instead of severe injury and in my head those two might as well be the same thing (which isn't true and I know that) but my yellows are all kinda weird so/shrug. But it's definitely supernatural.
• Hemalurgic Spikes have moderate supernaturalness (since it's investiture, but not in the assassin themselves) and is the same reds as steelrunning for obvious reasons. Severe Injury and LoB are likewise obvious, I don't think I need to spell out why :P.
• Chasmfiend: Suffocation got a yellow in case it like traps you under its claw and suffocates you or something but it's more likely imo that you get a severe injury. Losing blood is possible but it's probably more likely you just get... crushed. It's not poison (that I recall) and I think accident fits here.
• Dakhor RItual is a weird one since I don't actually remember exactly what this is but it feels like injury/LoB/Supernatural all make sense. Sickness/Suffocation seem too subtle for the Dakhors. Also not an accident.
• Highstorm fits as an accident and not much else, I greened injury over loss of blood for the same reason as chasmfiend. It maybe deserves a yellow for supernatural idk.

That seemed like a lot of me saying "I put it as this because it makes sense there" and really am not attached to this rating at all so feel free to poke holes in my arguments :D.

 

[Kasimir]

4 hours ago, Sart said:

Wait, how do we know the Witness is in the game? Doesn't it depend on the distribution?

Very weak positive on Sart for this, FWIW, this being Day Zero and chill day for us and all. Not sure 'how do we know the Witness is in the game' really emerges from an Elim perspective, since that's their alternate wincon. 

Edited to add:

59 minutes ago, Matrim's Dice said:

• Dakhor RItual is a weird one since I don't actually remember exactly what this is but it feels like injury/LoB/Supernatural all make sense. Sickness/Suffocation seem too subtle for the Dakhors. Also not an accident.
•  

Jean-Guy couldn't say he remembered much about the Dakhor. A Sel problem, as far as he was concerned. Still, every world had their own problems with a bunch of people who thought ritualistic human sacrifice was fine if it got them what they wanted.

Edited to add 2:

5 hours ago, Kasimir said:

Mine:

  Hide contents

 

Disputations welcome. Colour-coded by strong consistency, moderate consistency, weak consistency (which I also interpret as 'inconsistent with'.) My rationale, briefly spelled out:

-Poisoned Needle: Poisoning the obvious cause of death here, accident is plausible but unlikely (i.e. poked self with own poisoned needle by accident), unlikely to cause severe injury, unlikely to be a case of loss of blood, suffocation maybe makes sense depending on type of poison but am willing to mark this with a red as well, and extremely unlikely to be supernatural.

-Surgebinding: Clear case of supernatural cause, potential for accident due to shenanigans with illusions, poisoning I deem unlikely, suffocation theoretically possible if you transport someone underwater or soulcast their lungs into stone or something, loss of blood theoretically possible using raw division, ditto for severe injury.

-Bare Hands: Points to suffocation being likely, potentially severe injury (neck snap? Not sure.) Loss of blood very unlikely cause of death, similar for supernatural, inconsistent with poisoning/sickness also, could see a push on a flight of stairs by accident being bare hands and accident but a bit contrived, so yellow.

-Pistol: Gunshot wounds. My favourite part of first aid training. Severe injury theoretically possible, ditto for loss of blood and trauma injuries, suffocation very unlikely excluding a contrived lung collapse sort of case, supernatural and poisoning inconsistent, accident maybe in a world where the gun discharged by accident.

-Booby trap: Depends a lot on the trap. Could see suffocation and injury maybe playing in, can accept injury maybe should be a red here. Accident is possible as well (can accept it should be a yellow), poisoned trap is maybe possible but close to red, supernatural unlikely unless it's a special trap Aon or something, loss of blood unlikely as well unless it's some kind of poisoned spear pit trap (what even.)

 

 

[OOC: Felt there's a need to clear this up before we go too far astray - yes, Araris will pick what he feels matches best but I think it's always best to be exhaustive and flag assumptions in order to ensure that a bad assumption doesn't show up, hence having Pistol and Booby Trap as multiple greens, and my sea of yellows. Between the two, I'd take Blood Loss for Pistol (slight eh for Severe Injury if ricochet happens), and lean Accident for Booby Trap.]

Edited March 17, 2023 by Kasimir

[Cinnamon]

Jude sat up in her rocking chair letting out a deep sigh. She was getting too old for this. She stood up and walked over to the windowsill of her small hut, picking up a can of water and sprinkling it over a pot of grass sitting there. Glancing around the room, she took in the sparsely decorated surroundings. The only thing that broke the monotony of the crem coloured walls was a forged painting she had bought a while back from a traveling merchant to remind her of home. Turning to Jao she gave a gruff chuckle "I'm a sentimental old sod aren't I" The little axehound made a noise as if in agreement. Bending down to look her pet in the eyes she said "you're a storming clever little animal. aren't cha? If only people were half as clever as you." Straightening up she made her way back over to her armchair. This was going to be a long few days. She could feel it in her bones.

Spoiler

 

[JNV]

Hi hi hello Ive never actually played the real board game but Im excited um I guess were doing a thing now so um yeah boom a thing

Spoiler

Swampvines that thing on Patji where the plant poisons you so um yeah poison and accident pretty straight forward suffocations kind of there but like between the two its poison all the way Awakened Rope definitely isnt stabbing you any time soon at least reasonably could theoretically be an accident but like the Ja is on our side theyd say suffocatin or supernatural the Shaod honestly I dont really get how the Shaod is a murder weapon but yeah Buried Alive is also straightforward same with Knife well I guess knife could be an accident but I already took the screenshot and I dont want to go back and mess with it now 

Jen slipped on their mistcoat and stepped into the night. They had a rendezvous to attend and some Breaths to retrieve and a knife. It was a nice knife. Sharp enough to draw blood and pure enough to keep shades away. Not that there were shades here, but best to be safe. You never knew when the job would take you away. They'd been all over the cosmere for the Ghostbloods and nearly died several times. On the plus side, they did get an interesting plant from the last job. Cultivating it offworld had been a struggle, but the results were worth it. A near untraceable poison, as long as they went back for the plant afterwards. And as long as the skaze didn't warn their murder victim for "some light entertainment". The skaze was a nuisance, but it was a burden Jen had to suffer for the cause.

[Ashbringer]

59 minutes ago, Kasimir said:

Jean-Guy couldn't say he remembered much about the Dakhor. A Sel problem, as far as he was concerned. Still, every world had their own problems with a bunch of people who thought ritualistic human sacrifice was fine if it got them what they wanted.

Jyde gave a grin. The Dahkor was definitely something he knew. More than Jekyll even, as much as a scholar as that one was. The Dahkor Rituals needed sacrifice - not only one ordered by many other monks, but of the ones he'd seen, they required a willing participant. Certainly not an Accident. Not a Poison/Sickness either. But from my memory, the sacrifice is essentially reduced, disintegrated - it's not Loss of Blood that kills them, nor a Suffocation. Perhaps you could say it's a Severe Injury, to the soul. But in Jyde's book - and it's a good book - the Dahkor is Supernatural through and through.

Enough!

Jyde clutched his head, then scrambled for the glass he'd set down and took a deep drink, shuddered, and twisted himself back into Jekyll.

[Amanuensis]

Do Pieces of Evidence work the same way? If not, how do we narrow those down? 

[Mat]

23 minutes ago, Amanuensis said:

Do Pieces of Evidence work the same way? If not, how do we narrow those down? 

I think that the clues we get from Araris can fit both, and do fit both. So we could make more charts using those if we want to.

What do people think about when we all should guess? In past runs it was pretty spread out.

[Kasimir]

1 hour ago, Matrim's Dice said:

I think that the clues we get from Araris can fit both, and do fit both. So we could make more charts using those if we want to.

What do people think about when we all should guess? In past runs it was pretty spread out.

[OOC: Will colour later mobile life is hard.

1. The clues are supposed to point us to both since Araris generates them to lead us to the conclusion and is teamed with us. I just generally feel the evidentiary connection is a bit weaker without seeing the clues but we can definitely do both first, since there's a lot more scene tiles to go. 

2. IMO, we shouldn't all guess at once because part of the point is using info from a failed guess to try to make more sense of things and clarify more doubts. We don't get this if everyone is guessing last minute, or off the bat. I don't want to hyperorganise that though as it's not fun. Barring any strong or moderate convictions, I will probably personally hold off on at least the first cycle. I'd be wary of low info or outright misleading guesses from the Elims.] 

Edited March 17, 2023 by Kasimir

[The Paradoxical Phenomenon]

The other Herdazians sometimes liked to make fun of Jorazh. Cousin, they’d say, “you do not talk very much, and you have a funny name. We think you are a little weird.” But then they’d invite him to their house, and have a drink and some dinner. Well, a lot of dinner. But that was beside the point. Jorazh was quiet, yes. But that was because he liked to observe. He liked to observe so much, that he left Herdaz, (where he was lucky to be raised) and explored the rest of Roshar. When he reached the Horneater Peaks he had learned enough about the Cosmere to know how to travel through the Perpendicularity. He’d learned things like these through… distasteful means. He traveled through the Cognitive Realm until he reached Silverlight and, through many challenges and difficulties, became a member of the Seventeenth Shard. Now he was on Nalthis, trying to track down that buffoon Cephandrius.

[OOC: Just to clarify, “[OOC:…]” means “out of character” right?

[Kasimir]

47 minutes ago, Kasimir said:

[OOC: Will colour later mobile life is hard.

1. The clues are supposed to point us to both since Araris generates them to lead us to the conclusion and is teamed with us. I just generally feel the evidentiary connection is a bit weaker without seeing the clues but we can definitely do both first, since there's a lot more scene tiles to go. 

2. IMO, we shouldn't all guess at once because part of the point is using info from a failed guess to try to make more sense of things and clarify more doubts. We don't get this if everyone is guessing last minute, or off the bat. I don't want to hyperorganise that though as it's not fun. Barring any strong or moderate convictions, I will probably personally hold off on at least the first cycle. I'd be wary of low info or outright misleading guesses from the Elims.] 

[OOC: I guess spelling my thoughts out more clearly since I'm no longer on mobile - it works out to me as a bunch of trade-offs. 

I don't want to oversell how powerful a wrong guess is either - a wrong guess just rules out a specific set of combinations from our possibility matrix, i.e. A + B + C. Suppose someone guesses Archer is the Assassin and he picked as the Method Aon Sheo, with the Footprint being the Key Evidence. If Araris says this is wrong, it could be wrong because:

i) Archer isn't the Assassin -> Extremely bad, as the guess is 'cold.'
ii) Archer is the Assassin, and both Method and Key Evidence are wrong. -> Could be worse. Lukewarm.
iii) Archer is the Assassin, and one of the Method/Key Evidence is wrong, but the other is correct. -> Best case scenario.

So being told it's wrong isn't that helpful since we sort of need to know which is the possibility we're working with and they can't really be treated as equipossible (well they can but it's the wrong understanding of probability in this context I would argue.)

But it still does help us cross out a set of options. Which means a lot hinges around the combination you choose, which should ideally be well-informed, and this means using the clues, and also failed guesses and I suppose some adjacent/peripheral player reads to help.

E.g. if the clues allow us to narrow down to a pool of five different combinations (this is a toy example, I don't really believe we'll be this well off this early) - then ruling out the Archer combination drops us to four different combinations. That's helpful.

There's probably a debate we can have about whether it's better for everyone to hold off and make maximally informed guesses on the last cycle. In theory this would allow information maximisation off the clues, but I don't really feel most players will have the bandwidth to cram all that discussion and thinking into the last twenty four hours, much less to make informed guesses about it, and this neglects that wrong guesses are still a little informative.

(Also kind of feel this lets the Elims slack off and I'm principally opposed to that  )

The tldr; is that there's probably a maximally optimal way to organise this, but I don't favour completely frontloading or backloading this, and think that otherwise, I don't feel there's much reason to hyperorganise who should guess when. Just go with what feels right for you and try to be selective enough about guesses. There's a trade-off between likeliest and most informative IMO.

As I said, right now in my current state, I don't really feel like I want to make a C1 guess. Maybe I'll change my mind, maybe not, we'll see. Kind of early to call this.]

37 minutes ago, TheAlpha929 said:

[OOC: Just to clarify, “[OOC:…]” means “out of character” right?

[OOC: Yes.]

Jourth of the Jwilight knew something, Jean-Guy figured. 

He stepped outside the bazaar for a moment and sighed. It was supposed to be a simple deal, but with the Ja calling out nearly a quarter of the Special Crimes Division and half of Homicide, Jean-Guy wasn't so sure it was 'simple.'

Jourth of the Jwilight dealt in death, plain and simple. The more exotic the better. A whole tank of deathants, rare poisons from First of the Sun, and even Hemalurgic constructs that should've been stopped at Scadrian customs, but if there was something Jean-Guy knew, it was this: everyone had their price. And Jourth had her ways. It made him twitchy, when the others browsed her Scadrian collection. Places the CSF were supposed to have kept a tight watch, but didn't.

Knowing what he did about Jourth didn't make it better.

You made compromises. That was what they always said. Cultivated your informants. Someone like Jourth was a useful friend to have, and the trade wasn't so much in instruments of death as it was in scraps and morsels of information, and a working relationship built over time. They'd'd someone like that, back on Scadrial. The pre-eminent black market dealer in Hemalurgic spikes, sitting down at the table with a Chief Inspector and conversing calmly over tea.

Intelligence-led policing, they called it.

Bulldrek, Jean-Guy called it.

You were supposed to find and arrest the criminals, not come to the table with them.

His mobile vibrated in his pocket and he stepped outside to take the call.

[Araris Valerian]

Just a heads up, rollover is going to happen a bit late. 6 or 6:30 instead of 5, I’m not able to get on a computer where I can mess with the spreadsheet right now.

[Araris Valerian]

The Ja felt the moment of death, knew the killer at once, and began channeling his energy into communicating to whoever might be sensitive to his powers.

The SPF gathered together in a room, each having felt the Ja's efforts to clue them into the identity of the killer. They all had brought their assorted exotic weapons, Investiture, and other random knickknacks, which meant the room was rather crowded, in particular with somewhat dangerous objects. The Investigators set to work, eager to solve the crime and disband before something deadly was set loose.

---

The game has fully begun! My clues are listed below, and you can also see them in the spreadsheet. Begin discussing, and anyone is now allowed to solve the crime. Just remember to @ me or it won't be counted.

Cycle 2 will be posted at 5PM Eastern Time on Saturday!

Link to Spreadsheet

Oracle Clues:

Spoiler

Cause of Death	Location of Crime #4	Evidence Left Behind	Victim's Clothes	Time of Death	In Progress
Suffocation	Palace/Keep	Natural	Neat	Dawn	Entertainment
Severe Injury	Manorhouse	Artistic	Untidy	Morning	Religious Worship
Loss of Blood	Temple/church	Written	Elegant	Noon	Assembly
Supernatural	Farmhouse	Manmade	Shabby	Afternoon	Trading
Poisoning/ Sickness	Hut/shack	Personal	Bizarre	Dusk	Social Visit
Accident	Safehouse	Invested	Naked	Night	Feast

Player List:

Spoiler

1. @xinoehp512 - Jacob
2. @JNV - Jen
3. @Cinnamon - Jude
4. @The Wandering Wizard - Jango
5. @The Known Novel - Jounger Gerri
6. @StrikerEZ - Jariel
7. @Ashbringer - Jekyl
8. @Sart - Jerome
9. @Matrim's Dice - Jatrim
10. @Amanuensis - J'aman
11. @Kasimir - Jean-Guy Chrétien
12. @Archer - Jello
13. @|TJ| - JJ
14. @The Bookwyrm - Jerald
15. @Fifth Scholar - Just Judge Jehoshaphat
16. @Shining Silhouette - Jaculiferous Jack
17. @TheAlpha929 - Jorazh

 

Edited March 17, 2023 by Araris Valerian

[Archer]

Here's what I imagine the Assassain was thinking about when they made their selection yesterday:

-Pick tiles that fit in multiple categories. Ambiguity avoids reducing the PoE. We can lightly assume that things that obviously are in just one category (like Poison-related stuff) wouldn't have been chosen. 

-Pick tiles that incriminate someone else. This is a lower priority, but if you can set up someone who has similar tiles to you, it's worth a shot. 

-Mislead people by wrongly classifying or broadly classifying your tiles if you did the color chart assignment. This is a reservation I had about people doing their own selections, but the upside is we can now check to see if anyone tried to slip one by us. 

 

Which regards to cause of death: Accident, I assume that was the best option. As in, you can cross off anything with a more obvious fit in another category. 

What does In Progress mean? 

[Amanuensis]

For anyone else who might still be confused how this game works (AKA me before I just did this myself), I recommend checking out the last iteration (QF33B). Specifically:

TLDR we have those 6 clues (Accident, Hut/Shack, Manmade, Naked, Noon, and Religious Worship) to narrow things down now, and with each new cycle we'll either get a new column added with another hint or a unique event that helps us solve in some way.

ED1T:

8 minutes ago, Archer said:

What does In Progress mean? 

Based on the other tiles, I'm guessing a public event that took place at the same time as the murder.

ED2T:

Hope this works since I can't quote C0

Spoiler

ED3T:

Oh yeah, does anyone know what a Rathbore Monk is?

Edited March 17, 2023 by Amanuensis

[JNV]

49 minutes ago, Amanuensis said:

Oh yeah, does anyone know what a Rathbore Monk is?

Trained Shu dereth assassins

Ok in the spoiler is the list of murder weapons based on Accident

Edit posted too soon hold up

Ok done

Spoiler

• Hemalurgic Chimera     because thats more severe injury or loss of blood type thing
• Aon Daa (Power)    probably Supernatural if anything
• Kandra Digestive Acids    I really dont see this one as an accident
• Deepwalker    feels more like severe injury
• Firesnap Lizards I have no idea what these things are and the only thing the internet pulls up for their name in quotes is the last run of this game 
• Swampvine     Could be accidental but probably poison 
• Awakened Rope    Probably not an accident 
• The Shaod    This is supernatural if anything and I still dont get how this actually killss
• Buried Alive    Suffocation
• Silver Knife    Loss of blood
• Venomous Bite    Poison
• Martial Arts    Severe injruy
• Explosion    Honestly Id say this one is more severe injury but could definitely be accidental plus with victims clothes you know
• Garotte     No ones accidentally runnning around garotting people come on
• Deathants Poison
• Aon Ehe (Fire)    Supernatural
• Patji’s Finger    Honestly like theres not really that many ways for this to kill 
• Dagger     Same as silver knife
• Scarf    Suffocation
• Black Frayn Poison but honestly hard to accidentally take drugs
• Toxic Fungus     Poison
• The Bands of Mourning      Supernatural
• Atium     Supernatural
• Burned at the Stake     Suffocation or severe injury
• Meekers Honestly like any animal could be accidental and theyre small weasals
• Poisoned Wine     Poison you know what Im giving up on commentary for the reds its pretty obvious ok
• Rifle    
• Acid    
• Shardplate    
• Rope
• Birchbane    
• Nightmaw    
• Punch    
• Whitespine    
• Stone Like this could be a guy gets a stone dropped on his head whoops but like severe injury maybe
• Spear    
• Blackbane Leaf    
• Soulcasting    
• Backbreaker Powder    
• Coins
• Steelrunning     Mostly just cause I cant really think of how this kills
• Hemalurgic Spike    
• Chasmfiend    
• Dakhor Ritual    
• Highstorm Supernatural but also like its pretty easy to die on accidnet in a storm
• Koloss Blade    
• Tompher Poison    
• Rathbore Monk    
• Fire     Honestly probably sever einjury or suffocation but its more possible than most
• Parshendi This one is kind of weird as a murder weapon in general but like if a Parshendi accidentally killed you maybe it doesnt really lend itself to alternate causes of death
• Poisoned Needle    
• Surgebinding    
• Bare Hands    
• Pistol    
• Booby Trap Pretty easy to accidentally stumble into a booby trap
• Cliff     Pretty easy to stumble off a cliff
• Aon Tia (Transportation)    
• Aon Sheo (Death)    
• Poisonous Sting    
• Shades
• Blood Loss    
• Aimian    
• Grandbow    
• Essence Marks    
• Enhanced Strength
• Dismemberment    
• Rioting    
• Air-powered Crossbow    
• Poisoned Dart    
• Disease
• Cut-away vines     
• Obsidian Axe    
• Kick    
• Metal Poisoning    
• Midnight Essence
• Lifeless Soldier    
• Suffocation    
• Drowning     Might be better for suffocation but like pretty easy to drown on accident
• Mistwraith    
• Betrayal
• Duel    
• Hammer    
• Fenweed Poison    
• Bloodsealing    
• Beheading

---

So the close ones are Patjis finger Steelrunning Booby Trap Cliff Cutaway vines with a side of drowning firesnap lizards explotion meekers fire highstorm and stone with a mini side of Parshendi just cause I dont really understand how thats a cause of death

Edited March 17, 2023 by JNV

[Archer]

Spoiler

Here's my first pass of the Methods of Death possibilities. Feel free to challenge them. Bolded are my favorites. 

Whoops'd with Magic - Steelrunning, Soulcasting

Nature - Cliff, Highstorm, Stone, Cutaway vines, Paitji's finger  (most other natural options had poison elements or were suffocation) 

Animals - Nightmaw, Chasmfiend, Deepwalker, Whitespine, Mistwraith, Firesnap Lizards, Deathants, Meekers, Parshendi, Shades

I'm conflicted over whether Araris would call Shades Loss of blood or Accident. I feel like the animals aren't the best fit, but that counts on Araris choosing Severe Injury for them which I'm unsure about. I crossed out humans eg monk because they have intention.

 

[Sart]

What's immediately jumping out at me is the Piece of Evidence column. We know that it isn't Natural, that it isn't Invested, that it isn't Artistic, and that it's not Written. That should narrow down our search a fair amount. To be honest, I'm having trouble finding anything that fits.

[Fifth Scholar]

I'm finding the most interesting clues for me to sort through the Naked one, as well as the combination of religious worship being ongoing but the location not being temple/church. That might let us rule out a few of the more 'ritualistic' ones? Overall I agree with Sart that this is hard to piece together in my brain.

edit: is it fair to rule out the more 'magic'-y methods of murder like Soulcasting, Aons, etc., since Araris didn't give us a 'supernatural' clue for cause of death?

Edited March 17, 2023 by Fifth Scholar