Long Game 6: Daes Dae'Mar, The Great Game

[twelfthrootoftwo]

If we elect another mayor, Khamsi doesn't get her double vote today.

Waes.

[Shivertongue]

Joy, another bandwagon. This has worked so well for us in the past... 

 

I'm throwing my vote to Trimat, for reasons I have explained to Wilson that basically come down to this: He told me he was a Viewer, and who he Viewed. After consulting with Wilson, I found out he told her the same, but told her different Viewings than he told me. And  the last Viewiing he claims was of Sprell, who was conveniently killed the same night.

 

So either Trimat is lying about being a Viewer to mess with us, or is a Viewer and has been messing with us by lying about who he's Viewed. Either way, I'm certain he is a Darkfriend. And if he's lynched tonight and I'm proven wrong, I will walk up the gallows steps and put the noose on myself with the next vote.

 

Also, I vote to keep myself as mayor, as Waes is clearly going mad from the Taint.

 

(I'd like to submit an objection to how these elections work. If they can be so easily circumvented, is there really a point? I never got to even use my double-vote... after all I've done for this town... )

 

[Edited because I misremembered something]

[little wilson]

I really shouldn't be doing this right now, since I'm exhausted and my brain hates me. I apologize if this post is incoherent. I'd do RP, but Witless is asleep (where I should be), resting from this long day of working through the vast manipulations of the DFs and would therefore be boring. Sorry.

 

On to the vote. We have 5 votes for Khamsi. I cannot, in good conscience, join in this, since I'm not at all certain that Khamsi is a DF. For a while, I was convinced she was, but now I'm even more convinced that this is a set-up. She is being framed, and we are falling into this trap that the DF's have set up just as much as we fell into the trap with Bela.

 

There are a few ways I could vote today. I could go for the Dreamwalker who still lives, even though it would be strategically incompetent for the DF's to allow us to continue PMing after losing such crucial roles. Unless the Dreamwalker was a DF. I could go for the claimed Wisdom, who has garnered suspicion for their behavior. I could go for Trimat, since Shiv's statements about his "reliability" is totally accurate. However, I have my sights set on a slightly higher priority target. The Forsaken himself.

 

Grimlar al'Pil. You said near the beginning of the game that we couldn't win without lynching people.....I'm confused. We've lynched people every day--people we've had evidence on--but we still have nothing to show for it. You also said that you would be more offensive in this game, but you really haven't spoken much, despite being active. In fact, the day you spoke the most was the day we lynched Bela. Yet that was also the day you didn't vote. Could it be because you were playing a deeper game, getting everyone else to lynch the person you'd helped frame? 

 

Additionally, I called you out day one, and you defended yourself that night. The defense wasn't bad--in fact I was willing to accept it (even though you never did respond to my statement that lynching does not necessarily mean that you will win). The only problem has been that you never responded to my PM. You still haven't. You're the only active player left alive who has completely ignored me. Which is funny, since I accused you. If you were innocent, why would you completely ignore your accuser? Wouldn't you at least kind of throw up a defense of yourself to them personally? Rather than just in the thread? That would be the logical conclusion. Unless you're a DF. Then you'd want to avoid me. Because I'd be analyzing every word you said. And, since you're evil, I'd notice. And you'd get lynched. But you don't want that so it's easier to just.....not answer.

 

Plus Jerric's already mentioned the amazing coincidence of my accusation of you and then the Forsaken not attacking on Night 1. And it makes perfect sense that you wouldn't because I'd laid out a very logical accusation with a fair bit of evidence to back me up... You had a target and you were worried about the Viewer. Or the Thief-Taker. Either one could be devastating to you if made a kill and I happened to get into contact with one of them. Shame that I didn't. Shame that neither of them Viewed you that day. Of course, one of that is probably working for you, so no shock there.

 

You really should've answered. Or at least talked to someone. The fact that you haven't really doesn't look good for you. The fact that people have to pry to extract anything at all from you and we still haven't been able to confirm the role you gave. Things aren't looking good for you....In fact, you might say they look rather.....grim.

 

I'm not sure if you'll die today or tomorrow, but I know who you are. And I won't stop until you're dead.

 

[Aonar]

I strongly dislike what I am about to do, but I find myself with no other choice. On the subject of the lynching today, my opinion rather differs from Wilson's. I believe that the Darkfriends are simply playing upon our fears of a framing and mislynch; then going on to scapegoat the soon-to-be-inactive Trimat to further their own ends. But I digress.

 

It has been pointed out to me that whether or not Khamsi or my other main suspects are Darkfriends, they cannot be the Forsaken. As such, it is more practical to vote for one who could hold this role. Seeing how it is extremely late into the day, we have no time to debate who most likely holds this role, and I find myself forced to vote Grimlar. I apologize Grey, if we are wrong. 

 

This is all out of character rather than RP, as Leas as I've written him would never change his vote at this point. I'll have you know though, Khamsi, Trimat, I am still watching you. Neither of you are off the hook by any means.

[Dellexe]

I'm going to follow the lead of the more experienced players here and vote Grim.

Khamsi can only defend if she's a Darkfriend. The Forsaken can still kill. We kill him, we seriously cripple the other side.

[Gamma Fiend]

Just a little under 4 hours left until the Turn ends!

From my quick, (just woken up) tally, the vote looks like it stands at

Lynch:
Khamsi (4) - Grim, Newan, Waes, Douza
Grim (4) - Erik, Witless, Leas Fel, Dellan
Trimat (3) - Trimat, Nath, Khamsi
Waes (1) - Ralv

Mayor
Waes (3) - Leas Fel, Newan, Douza
Khamsi (1) - Khamsi

Edited June 30, 2014 by Gamma Fiend
Colours

[+Quitecontrary]

I'm throwing in my vote for Grim on this one.

I have no time to write an RP on this right now, but the arguments look very strong against Grim .

As for Khamsi, I reserve my judgment.

Trimat is a liar though and I was initially tempted to vote him.

Edited June 30, 2014 by Quitecontrary

[GreyPilgrim]

Well, this is the perfect storm!

Wilson, since the reasons against me are outlined by you, I will address my response directly to you.

True, I have been active without saying much. A lot of that is due to the fact that I check the game very often to keep up, but not when I have time to post. Not that that means much. About Day 3, though, that is a pretty weak correlation. I in fact only posted about the Dreamwalker message, to ask a question, and to say I would be inactive. I did not participate at all in the movement against Bela. All of those votes were after I was gone. And the only thing I had said against Bela that day (possible at all in the game) was the Dreamwalker message, and those were not my words.

I will give you that about the PM. I should have responded to it, but I honestly kind of forgot about it and didn't feel the need to go directly to you, as I am in co tact with another member of the planning committee whom I trusted more than I did you at the time.

About the Forsaken not acting on Day 1, that same argument works against anyone who was voted for Day 1. True, no one provided as much justification as you did, but I found your justifications rather weak at that point, and no one else voted for me so I imagine they felt the same.

Now, I shouldn't be surprised it isn't looking good for me, as it is Day 4, and I always die Day 4, but I think this can still be avoided. I will go forward publically and state that I am a Regular Villager, most certainly not the Forsaken. Unfortunately, evidence has stacked up against me. But that is fairly unavoidable. Luckily for you, Wilson, I trust you now more than I ever have in this game. While your reasoning falls apart to me because I am innocent and know I am not the Forsaken, it is convincing for others. I am pretty sure you are innocent now. But I am sure that I am innocent. I am also not sure at all about Khamsi, so will be keeping my vote on her.

Edited June 30, 2014 by GreyPilgrim

[twelfthrootoftwo]

If you were innocent, why would you completely ignore your accuser? Wouldn't you at least kind of throw up a defense of yourself to them personally? Rather than just in the thread? That would be the logical conclusion.

I can't speak for Grimlah. I'm in no PMs with him, so everything I know about his playstyle comes from what's publicly available in the thread. I can, however, speak for myself.

If I were in that position - being accused by a logically presented argument that attracted attention in the thread - I would largely have done what he did. Present a counter-argument, also in the thread, covering everything possible and specifically referring to the accuser and their logic. If the accuser attempted to contact me privately, I would discuss any issues they brought up, but would not defend myself beyond referring to my post.

Not answering a PM at all is strange. That the Forsaken didn't kill immediately following the accusation is also notable (though that alone doesn't narrow the candidates to one). So I'm not saying Grimlah is definitely innocent, just arguing one point.

 

edit: blue

Edited June 30, 2014 by twelfthrootoftwo

[Awesomeness Summoned]

This game has just been one long train wreck of innocent people (presumedly) doing and saying things that make them look more suspicious than the actual DF. It started with a last minute vote for Gade and just kept going from there. Case in point, Khamsi, why when you just barely convinced us you were being framed and some of us still think you are likely a DF due to all the evidence against you would you then ask to keep the mayoral vote under the weak argument of "but I didn't get to use it"? We think you are a DF! Of course we aren't going to leave that power with you. Please stop doing suspicious things if you aren't one.

Then there's Trimat who spent most of the game avoiding revealing his role. When confronted, he goes and tells like 3-4 different people. Then he tells them all slightly different stories.

I'll openly admit that I probably didn't help the situation with my aggressive play style this game. A lot of people still suspected me pretty late in the game and If Trimat is innocent, his paranoia after events in game two was only exacerbated by my actions. But, I had decided early on that having knowledge was the only way for the channeler's abilities to be used effectively. After getting attacked night one, that seemed like the only rout left open to me because I was well and truly in the spotlight and getting hit by the DF meant I had the best argument for not being one (and funnily enough the best argument for being one as well). It was my first time attempting to take the lead role in a game and may have laid it on too thick for some people. You live and learn.

Whatever the case for why people have drawn suspicion this game though, if Trimat and Shiv turn out to be innocent, then we well and truly shot ourselves in the foot by distracting ourselves and making it too easy for the DF to lay false trails. I've been suspicious of grim for a while but I've been far more sure of Dellan's culpability recently and him voting so quickly for grim after the others makes me wary of that vote as well. For now I'm just leaving my vote how it is and will probably just flip a coin right before the cutoff. Shiv seems to like that method so I'll let his fate be decided the same way.

Edit: formatting

Edited June 30, 2014 by Awesomeness Summoned

[Newan]

Guys. No time to post. Spark notes version of my thoughts:

Everybody vote for Khamsi. The idea that he was framed makes little sense. Why would dark friends waste water weave on the off chance?

If Khamsi is bad it's likely that grim is good. He did vote for Khamsi early on.

If Khamsi is chan

[Gamma Fiend]

10 minutes to go! And then the thread will be locked and the write-up commencing! (This one will probably take a while)

[Awesomeness Summoned]

Looks like George Washington dislikes Grim. Who am I to argue with the first president even though I’ll probably regret it after the writeup.

[Gamma Fiend]

Night 4: A Silence of Three Parts (Yes, Rothfuss much?)

 

The village of Drell's Crossing lay in silence, and it was a silence of three parts.

The most obvious part was the silence that lay over the town in the wake of the devastation from the night before. The villagers had crawled out of the Cellar underneath the ruins of The Waffle House, and had spent the first part of the morning in solemn contemplation. They had never seen nor heard of anything nearly as ferocious as the storm the previous evening, and more than a few of them whispered it had to have been the unnatural result of the Dark One's own, unknown interest in the village. Many of the villagers had even given up on praying to the Light for help, knowing full well they were on their own in this endeavor.

 

Inside the ruined inn, the remaining villagers huddled around a slanted table, one of it's legs broken off during the previous night, stuffed far away in the corner over by the bar, and drank in determined silence. If there had been a larger crowd, even a handful more of men, the silence may have been filled by conversation or laughter, or the clatter and din of noise expected from a drinking house. If there had been joy in the air and happy things to sing about, there would have been music..... but no, of course there was no music. There was none of these things and so the small, sullen silence remained, acting like a counterpart to the larger, hollow one that lay over the village.

 

The third silence was not an easy thing to notice. It was the sound of a noose being slowly drawn, the rough, frayed edges of the rope being tied into a knot, and the small quiet as all of the villagers who had gathered to watch the lynching as they collectively held their breath to wait for the results of their decision. The silence belonged Grimlar al'Pil, as he stood on the ledge of the platform and looked out over the ruined town, as the villagers were too ashamed to look him in the eyes before he was hanged. His silence was greater than both of the other silences combined, for his was the sad, heavy silence of a man who was waiting to die.

 

It had taken many hours for the villagers to rouse themselves out of their sorrow-filed catatonia from earlier in the morning, and as the noon sun hung high over the town, accusations had started to be thrown around like the debris in the air from the storm from the prior evening. As the afternoon stretched into twilight and eventually evening, it appeared as if the villagers couldn't make up their minds. Some began to question Khamsi's authority and proposed whether the Waes would be more fit to be Mayor, despite the cobbler's insistence that he was no good to lead them, citing his madness from the taint of Saidin.

As the cobbler was being sworn in, he reached into his pocket and brought out coin while he looked around, staring everyone into the eye as he flipped the coin up and caught it in his outstretched hand.

“Heads,” he declared breaking the silence over the town, as his gaze focused on Grimlar, the town drunk who was still standing on the platform awaiting his sentencing, as he shrugged and raised his voice to address the rest of the villagers, “This is what happens when you elect a madman mayor. Hang him”

 

It wasn't with much enthusiasm that the villagers cut down Grimlar with as soon as he stopped flailing, and a quick search of his person found nothing on him, with the villagers unanimously declaring that he was just another innocent victim of the bloody game of Daes Dae'mar. And it was with this somber news that the sun began to set, casting the village of Drell's Crossing into another darker, deeper silence.

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Grimlar al'Pil was a Regular Villager! Waes was voted Mayor!

 

Lynch:
Khamsi (3) - Grim, Newan, Douza
Grim (6) - Erik, Witless, Leas Fel, Dellan, Rishi, Waes
Trimat (3) - Trimat, Nath, Khamsi
Waes (1) - Ralv

Mayor
Waes (3) - Leas Fel, Newan, Douza
Khamsi (1) - Khamsi

 

 

Player List^TM

1)(Kasimir) - Kaim, a retired Thief-Taker Deceased Padan Fain
2)(Little Wilson) - Witless, the Town Fool
3)(Lightsworn Panda) - Jain, Random Traveler Deceased Villager Dreamwalker
4)(TheoryMaker) - Nath, an Average Guy
5)(Kal Dell) - Dellan, Quiet Countryman
6)(Alvron) - Ralv, a Passing Wanderer
7)(Only Joe) - Joel, Antisocial Hermit Deceased Regular Villager
8)(Leonardus) - Lam, Street Sweeper
9)(Shivertongue) - Khamsi Zareef, Domani Gleewoman
10)(Mailliw73) - Malai, Horse Breeder Deceased Villager Thief-Taker
11)(Grey Pilgrim) - Grimlar al'Pil, Town Drunk Deceased Regular Villager
12)(Renegade) - Gade, Innkeeper  Deceased Villager Whitecloack
13)(Adolin Dustbringer) - Jim Bob Dirt,  Dirt Salesman Deceased Wisdom
14)(AonarFaileas) - Leas Fel, Aiel War Veteran
15)(Lev) - Bela, A Shaggy Mare? Deceased Regular Villager
16)(New One) - Newan, a Seanchan morat'raken
17)(Awesomeness Summoned) - Weas, Cobbler
18)(Ashiok) - Trimat, Manure Salesman
19)(twelfthrootoftwo) - Douza, Blacksmith Apprentice
20)(Sphinx) - Senna, Village Weaver Deceased Villager Wolfsister
21)(Jaelre) - Jae, Inn Hall Boy Deceased Regular Villager
22)(Aspren) - Sprell Hanaar, Village Carpenter Deceased Regular Villager
23)(Binnut) - Bunnt Nibbel, Quiet Farmer
24)(Sir Jerric) - Erik, Homesick Borderlander
25)(QuiteContrary) - Rishi, Tavern Maid

Edited July 1, 2014 by Gamma Fiend
Added Player List

[Awesomeness Summoned]

For shame! using the literary themes from Sanderson's own bearded nemesis? Blasphemy!

 

Oh, and yeah, about what I expected the results of the lynch to be. Why expect a good outcome at this point in the game?

 

Edit: It was a good write up though Gamma despite your poor choice in inspiration.

Edited June 30, 2014 by Awesomeness Summoned

[Newan]

Waes, is Witless verified? Because the amount of trust I have for her is very low right now. If you have some more that you could lend me, that would be great.

But come on guys. Just because somebody doesn't want to contribute to the counsel doesn't mean that thy are bad. That was made bright as day in Sprell's case.

If Khamsi was set up, I'd eat my figurative boots. When Bela was set up it was just killing people, which the darkfriends want to do anyway. I don't think they would waste a water weave just on the off chance that you guys were viewing Khamsi, would they?

[Awesomeness Summoned]

This is in response to Newan’s post. Be warned, it is a recap of the entire game (mostly) so it is quite long.

 

The only person left alive who has been absolutely unequivocally verified is Aonar. If you think about it, we have only had three cycles to positively identify people with only two viewers and a thief-catcher. Not really much time to get a lot accomplished.

 

The first night, both viewers scanned Aonar and showed regular villager. 

 

Malai tracked Kaim on the second day to prove he could identify what someone's target was. Wilson knew what Kaim did the night before so when Malai gave the right answer we knew he was legitimately the Thief-catcher.

 

The second night, I'm still not completely sure who Trimat scanned since his story has been different depending on who he messaged. The other viewer though scanned someone and found them to be a regular villager. Normally I would say that verifies that person since the forsaken also struck that night, but I have no way of being 100% sure the viewer is on our side or a DF and feeding me false intel. Based on behavior I'd say Trimat is the DF viewer but who knows. If you all agree that you trust the other viewer, I will say who was verified that night. That same night, Senna needed to prove she was the wolfsister so we could trust her. We decided the inactive player was the safest choice since we didn't have any extremely strong leads and it wouldn't make a difference if the inactive had a role since they weren't helping anybody with it anyway.

 

On day three, after the forsaken had made a kill, Malai tracked Aonar and showed that he targeted Trimat (as he was supposed to be putting the fang on his door that matches up), which verifies Aonar as clean.

 

Night three, Trimat was told by three different people to scan Shiv, Wilson, and me respectively. Obviously despite attempting to work together there wasn't as much trust in the council as everyone assumes. Instead, he claims to have conveniently scanned Sprell who everyone knew the role for by that point. Shiv finally revealed his role to me earlier that day and it ended up being one someone else had already claimed. Obviously, that didn't guarantee he was a DF but that was why I had the suggestion passed along to Trimat to scan him. I also instructed the other viewer to scan him as well and was hoping by doing so it would verify Khamsi one way or the other and also maybe tell me if one of the viewers was a lier. The viewer claimed though that the scan of Khamsi came back as unsuccessful. That same night, I thought Senna was pretty set on killing Dellan but apparently she was leaning pretty heavily towards Khamsi. It seems she went after Khamsi because there is no other good explanation for why her kill didn't go through and for Khamsi to have been protected from viewing. He had to have had water placed on him.

 

Newan, no one has been killed for not cooperating with the council. Though to be honest we really shouldn't be calling it that since there really wasn't anything decided and acted on in that group. I kept my own council with Wilson, Senna, Malai, and Aonar. I never fully trusted Shiv. I only went along with that plan because people still didn't trust me and I felt following that plan for gathering the roles would get people to lessen those fears.

 

Sprell was the only one you could say in a way say was killed because he didn't send me his role but it wasn't because he didn't send me his role it was the evasive way he went about it. Trimat and Dellan both claimed to have contacted other "council members" with their roles so I didn't pursue the issue with them. If Sprell had simply said I don't trust you so would rather not give you my role, he would still be alive right now. I shared his response to my inquiry with Senna, Malai, and Aonar. They agreed it was shady and gave the go ahead to fireball him. Had he not encouraged our suspicions, I would have used air on Senna last night and we'd still have a wolfsister.

 

Yesterday, though, our suspect list was as follows (thanks to Aonar for the formatting idea. ( )=claimed role [ ]=suspected role):

 

Binnut (Regular [Forsaken?]) - one of two claimed villagers who the dragon fang vote did not corroborate as likely villagers.

 

Grimlar (Regular [Forsaken?]) - one of two claimed villagers who the dragon fang vote did not corroborate as likely villagers.

 

Khamsi (Aiel-Blooded [Channeller?]) - Results of Night Three made us strongly suspect he was the channeler. 

 

Trimat (Viewer [DF Viewer]) - His sporadic behavior made it difficult to tell if he was lying or if he was just being super paranoid. 

 

Ralv (Dreamwalker [DF dreamwalker]) - This was mostly Wilson’s hunch since she is the one who has been in contact with him. 

 

Dellan (Wisdom [DF Wisdom]) - I suspected him for a while but the moment I found out he was a wisdom, he jumped to the top of my list since it was unlikely two wisdom’s would have been placed on team good. The evil side usually has one protective role. The fact that he was the only person in the game who exclusively claimed to only contact Shiv about his role increased my suspicion of both of them. Shiv never once suggested we scan the duplicate wisdom to make sure he was legit despite being in contact with Trimat and knowing I was in contact with another viewer.

 

The decision that had to be made last night though was were we confident enough in Khamsi’s guilt to risk wasting the vote on him. If he was aielblooded, the lynch would be a waste. If he was the channeler, it would have been helpful but not as much as the forsaken. If he was really being framed, though, we would waste the vote and be another person down.

 

With Senna dead, the other roles were largely worthless as well for the DF and they would be happy to let us kill their viewer/dreamwalker/wisdom instead of the channeler or forsaken which is why I think Trimat started acting shady and Dellan revealed his role to us. They wanted to take the fire instead of the key players.

 

It was ultimately decided that the forsaken had to be taken out in order to have a serious chance of winning this thing. I could have gone either way between Binnut and Grimlar but there were more arguments made in favor of Grimlar so that’s where the decision went (I was asleep by this point). When I woke up to see that Dellan had almost immediately jumped on the Grim vote (and he was at the top of my suspect list) I had serious doubts about our decision but by that point Grim already had the majority. I brought up the doubts about Dellan’s vote but it wasn’t a strong enough case to sway anyone with so little time left in the vote and since my vote wasn’t going to make a difference I flipped the coin.

 

And that is how we got to the point we are today.

 

Trying to work behind the DF’s back obviously failed miserably this game, so there is everything out on the table. Maybe the group can pull out a win in the last second but at this point we must lynch the forsaken tomorrow or its pretty much over (unless I can out guess the DF in what they think I will do tonight).

Edited June 30, 2014 by Awesomeness Summoned

[Awesomeness Summoned]

Also, we might as well take a vote tonight on who we all as a group think should die tomorrow. That way we can ensure the dragon fang helps ensure our lynch tomorrow.

Edited June 30, 2014 by Awesomeness Summoned

[Binnut]

I am sorry that I wasn't able to post yesterday, I really did not think yesterday would be that busy. I did have a very quick look through my mobile once in a while, but had no time to post.

 

It is nice to finally know what is going on, but I am sad that you are thinking I am a Darkfriend.

I'm not sure what happened with that fang, but the only thing I can see is that another villager (or a Regular DF) voted in a way he/she was not supposed to do.

 

I do agree that we need to get the Forsaken tomorrow, but it is not me. You will have to look somewhere else.

[Gamma Fiend]

There are 24 hours left in this cycle! It will be ending tomorrow, July* 2nd, at 11AM EST.

Edited July 1, 2014 by Gamma Fiend

[Gamma Fiend]

By the way, just because I said everything was silent in the village in the write-up, that doesn't mean the thread actually has to be quiet.
Where's all that awesome RP this game had going strong earlier!

[Ashiok]

I finally got the reference, I started Rothfuss today!

[Gamma Fiend]

*Sighs*
 

Cycle 4 has ended! PMs are CLOSED. Write-up coming shortly.

 

Oh, and enjoy the Kingkiller Chronicles, Ashiok! Rothfuss' writing is beautiful, and you are in for a fantastic journey!

Edited July 2, 2014 by Gamma Fiend

[Gamma Fiend]

Day 5: Three Ghosts

With yet another innocent victim lynched, the villagers of Drell's Crossing settled in for another bleak, bloody night as they huddled deep inside the ruins of their old homes and waited for the shadow to come and claim them. For midnight was the domain of the Dark One, and as he grew stronger with each passing day, so did the Pattern weaken.
 

***

Between evening shadows and day’s pre-dawn light
they work their own will throughout all of the night
casting, conjuring, whispering rhymes
with knowledge both new and from ancient of times.
The man who channels stands alone. He gives his friends for sacrifice.
On rising smoke of the incense they burn
their whispered words carry desires to churn
to bring about change with nature’s own power
in earth, moon, sun, starlight, leaf, field, and flower.
Two roads before him, one to death beyond dying, one to life eternal.
By flickering candlelight magic is wrought
with spells, stones, anthame, chalice, and knot
the wand and the cauldron used wisely discrete
where pentagram, triquetra and censor meet.
Which will he choose? Which will he choose? What hand shelters? What hand slays?
They know, they will, they keep silent, they dare
they call upon earth, water, fire, and air.
With determined of hearts, yet malice toward none
the energy’s sent for the work to be done.
Blood feeds blood. Blood calls blood. Blood is, and blood was, and blood shall ever be.

Ralv stepped back from his finished message, looking up at last standing wall of The Waffle House where he had painstakingly spent the entire evening engraving and painting to make sure it would be seen by all in the morning. As he turned back around and went to will himself back to that strange, miraculous place, he wondered if the villagers of the town had really understood the wonderful nature of his delightful little poems he had been leaving for them.

As a traveling wanderer, he had no particular attachment to this small, isolated village that was under attack from the forces of the shadow, and he certainly had no interest in actively helping them out, for he knew as soon as he was in harm's way he could immediately leave the town behind as fast as he willed it. But for some reason he couldn't bring himself to leave. Not yet, at least. He had always been a prankster, at heart, and in his travels he took much glee in bringing riddles and mystery to people wherever he went. That's why he was amazed that people spent so much time trying to break his nonsense codes when there were real and immediate dangers that threatened to destroy them all.

Maybe they just enjoy the distractions, he thought to himself with a smirk as he went to go step through the doorway to Tel'aran'rhiod, the World of Dreams, but was suddenly knocked off of his feet as the ground suddenly began to tremble and shake. The silence of the night was pierced by a loud rumbling as wooden buildings creaked and groaned in their foundations, and the shattering and clanging sounds as glass and metal and everything else not fastened down began to rattle around and fall to the floor with loud crashes.

Ralv was unsteadily trying to get back standing upright when was startled by a loud bang behind him, and as he looked to see what it was he fell back down to the ground, eyes growing wide with terror.

Striding out of the Cellar of the inn were Three Ghosts, chatting amiably amongst themselves and utterly unperturbed by the chaos of the quaking of the ground or building. The spirit of Malai suddenly paused and wrinkled his nose.

“Something stinks,” he said, looking straight at Ralv with a quizzical look, but staring off behind him instead, as if he couldn't see him standing there.

Ralv stared back in terror, realizing that he wasn't in the Unseen World, where the sight of spirits was frequent, but that the ghosts of the villagers were actually walking around in the waking world! The ground suddenly stopped trembling and Ralv got back to his feet and ran towards the doorway of the inn, taking one last look back at the ghosts standing outside of the doorway of the Cellar, and was caught off guard as he felt rough hands suddenly grab him from the back of the his neck and rammed a cold dagger right into his throat.

“For the shadow,” was all he heard as he choked and coughed on his own blood and slowly faded into unconsciousness.
 

***

Gade, the deceased Whitecloak, marched through the village at midnight underneath the quiet, peaceful moon. He was exhausted after a day of organizing everything down in his Cellar back at the Spruce Thicket, but he had another job to do still. Fulfilling his duty to the Children of the Light and rooting out darkfriends and servants of the shadow. He had officially retired from the organization many years ago, but there were some habits that were hard to let die.

The village of Drell's Crossing was a quiet, isolated place, but sometimes the shadow preferred the lonely, remote places to get the strongest hold over, working in the shadows and out of sight and avoiding notice. That was why Gade needed to remain vigilant and steadfast in his endeavours. And that was why he decided he was going to interrogate Lam on this evening for any information regarding the shadow.

He stepped into the street sweepers home, mentally commenting on the dirty, unkempt floor with garbage and broken clutter strewn about it, but not noticing the rest of the wrecked household as it lay ruined about him, or the direct cast of moonlight from above as their was no longer any roof. No, Gade was on a mission for the Light, and would not be distracted by such things. Without any doors, the whitecloak was able to stroll right into Lam's bedroom and announced to the body lying motionless on the bed that he was under arrest for interrogation and to come peacefully.
After a moment of silence, an irritated Gade strode forward to shake the sleeping street sweeper awake when his hand passed right through the solid the Lam's solid leg. With a gasp he drew his hand back, and in the moon light he could see a puddle of blood that had pooled in the bed from the open gash on the street sweeper's throat.

Gade heard a noise behind him and turned with a start to see an indistinguishable figure hiding in the shadows holding a mirror, and in the reflection he could see the room around him as it really was, ruined and in shambles, the results of the horrible storm from the night before, with the corpse of Lam laying on the bed. What he couldn't see was himself standing in the wreckage of Lam's house, for he realized with a sudden crash that he himself was dead, lynched many days ago.

The shadow let out a haunting laugh and cried with triumph, “When the dead walk the earth, the days of Tarmod Gai'don approach! The Final Battle draws near, and the Shadow shall consume the entire world! “

Gade let out a cry of frustration, praying to the Light to, wishing he could help the villagers in their time of need, but he slowly began to fade away as he returned to that unseen world, Tel'aran'rhiod, where he could only watch in horror as evil slowly destroyed his home of Drell's Crossing.
 

***

The spectre of Kaim stalked through the streets of Drell's Crossing with a wide grin on his face, unaffected by the occasional rumbling of the ground beneath him and fully aware of his supernatural presence in the world of the living. He had to admit he had been surprised by the fireball that had claimed his life, but he let out a wild, maniacal laugh full of glee as he rounded a corner and saw a freshly painted Dragon's Fang scrawled on one of the remaining walls of The Waffle House.

He may have been dead, but his mission was still accomplished. The Taint he had carried forth from Shadar Logath had already infected this town, and buried itself deep down to it's roots, where it was carried by all of the villagers as they stared at each other with narrowed, suspicious eyes. No, this village would never recover from the plague of evil that had visited them in these dark days. He knew the fogs of Mashadar were still hiding hiding somewhere in this village, lying dormant and in wait, eager to be picked up once more and free to wreak it's havoc on the world.

As the sun began to rise once more in the horizon, bringing with it more revelations of death and deceit, Kaim departed the village of Drell's Crossing with a smile on his face as he stepped back into the World of Dreams, where he would continue to watch as the dark evil of Shadar Logath consumed each and every soul in it's wake. He was able to linger long enough to hear the first shouts at dawn as the fresh bodies of the evening were being discovered.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ralv and Lam died! Ralv was a Villager Dreamwalker, and Lam was a Regular Villager! (An Inactive Regular Villager, at that)

A Dragon Fang was scrawled on Khamsi's Door!

This Cycle will last 48 hours and end at 12PM Friday, July  4th!

There are no more PM's allowed!!!

Updated Player List^TM

 

1)(Kasimir) - Kaim, a retired Thief-Taker Deceased Padan Fain
2)(Little Wilson) - Witless, the Town Fool
3)(Lightsworn Panda) - Jain, Random Traveler Deceased Villager Dreamwalker
4)(TheoryMaker) - Nath, an Average Guy
5)(Kal Dell) - Dellan, Quiet Countryman
6)(Alvron) - Ralv, a Passing Wanderer Deceased Villager Dreamwalker
7)(Only Joe) - Joel, Antisocial Hermit Deceased Regular Villager
8)(Leonardus) - Lam, Street Sweeper Deceased Regular Villager
9)(Shivertongue) - Khamsi Zareef, Domani Gleewoman
10)(Mailliw73) - Malai, Horse Breeder Deceased Villager Thief-Taker
11)(Grey Pilgrim) - Grimlar al'Pil, Town Drunk Deceased Regular Villager
12)(Renegade) - Gade, Innkeeper  Deceased Villager Whitecloack
13)(Adolin Dustbringer) - Jim Bob Dirt,  Dirt Salesman Deceased Wisdom
14)(AonarFaileas) - Leas Fel, Aiel War Veteran
15)(Lev) - Bela, A Shaggy Mare? Deceased Regular Villager
16)(New One) - Newan, a Seanchan morat'raken
17)(Awesomeness Summoned) - Weas, Cobbler
18)(Ashiok) - Trimat, Manure Salesman
19)(twelfthrootoftwo) - Douza, Blacksmith Apprentice
20)(Sphinx) - Senna, Village Weaver Deceased Villager Wolfsister
21)(Jaelre) - Jae, Inn Hall Boy Deceased Regular Villager
22)(Aspren) - Sprell Hanaar, Village Carpenter Deceased Regular Villager
23)(Binnut) - Bunnt Nibbel, Quiet Farmer
24)(Sir Jerric) - Erik, Homesick Borderlander
25)(QuiteContrary) - Rishi, Tavern Maid

[little wilson]

That was quite unexpected… Clearly I was wrong about Ralv.

 

I don’t really have anything to add to Wes’ statement during the night. He explained everything pretty well (except for some of the details involving Maill’s verification. Khas didn’t tell me his actual action since he was attempting to verify my trustworthiness as well).

 

At this point in time, it is imperative that we kill the Forsaken. The problem is that while we’re nearly certain that Khamsi, Dellan, and Trimat are all Darkfriends, we’re less certain about the identity of the fourth, and we only have our suspicions about their roles--which is that Khamsi is the Channeler, and Dellan is probably the DF Wisdom. Which leaves Trimat and the last DF as the Forsaken. We have suspicions on who the last person is, but input would be great. If we don’t kill the Forsaken today, this game is over for the Villagers. That’s a guarantee.

 

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