Mid-Range Game 4: The Alethi War of Unification

[Renegade]

I changed my vote in case Aonar was a Scout, and we decided to Shardblade him or something, if we found him very suspicious.  However, as you said, I just realized that if Aonar is a member of Prince Aladar’s army, there would’ve been no reason for him to go Scout, so he might not be a Scout.  There’s no other reason for that vote change; I suspect Odysa, Torwel, and Aonaran equally (and quite a lot, as you shall see below).

 

Alinel’s claim seems to make sense, considering that if he lied about last Week’s protection and Mek had scanned Tal (which would’ve been a likely player to scan), he could’ve easily been caught in that lie.  Things didn’t turn out that way, and he could still very well be a Spy, but some of my previous suspicion on him has been alleviated.

 

Jasnah I’m keeping in limbo until she posts, because she’ll just die this cycle anyway if she doesn’t.  Jasnah: If you do come on, I’d very much encourage you to say something useful of some sort; suspicions, ideas, something like that.  If you’ve been watching this thread and are feigning inactivity, shame on you.

 

So, that leaves Odysa, Torwel, Aonaran, and Jost (less so, but I could see Wyrm trolling us and making 3 lighteyes-darkeyes teams) as the main suspects, three of whom I suspect.  The individual connections may seem subtle, but taken together, they are intriguing.  You wanted me to be bloodthirsty?  Well, I will.  With facts!

 

First, Aonar.  As I look back through his posts, he really looks like he’s Ace’s partner.  The first thing of note is that he criticized Meta’s plan on Week 1 (while many of the points were valid, I think that the extent of the post made a subtle implication that Meta should be watched), and slowly built up dissent towards him until Week 3.  During that very cycle, Macen goes off what Aonar says to provide evidence suggesting Meta’s guilt.  It isn’t until Week 4 that Aonar suggests Macen as a Spy (or really mentions him at all), putting Macen as one of his main targets.  However, Aonar never votes for him, instead focusing on Jost (presumably to avoid in-thread contact with Ace), and the cycle that Aonar puts suspicion towards Macen is, coincidentally, the same cycle that he revealed himself as a Surgeon (which would have, in theory, cleared his guilt).  After Ace reveals himself, Aonar just says that the Surgeon is too important a role to lose, and doesn't mention him until the following Week (when he's pretty much dead).  Conversely, Ace never once says anything about Aonar, other than citing him as a source.  Considering that Aonar takes a lot of stock in inter-player connections, and the two have interacted in games before, this connection (or lack thereof) between the two seems uncanny.  I’m not sure of Aonar’s role anymore, and he has never revealed it, but I’d guess that he’s a Messenger, Scout, or Squadleader (which doesn’t really imply anything).  And that’s not to mention that he seems to purposely be avoiding the thread at this point, despite being called out.

 

Onto Odysa!  Like this current cycle, Odysa posted a bit against Jasnah at the very start of Week 1.  For another thing, Odysa seems to be playing “dumb,” trying to get us to think that she’s more erratic and less dangerous than she actually is.  My best evidence towards this was last week, in which she was just trolling incessantly, instead of playing reactively as usual.  In one post during Week 2, she says something along the lines of “If I were an Eliminator, wouldn’t my partner help me out?” which raised a bit of a red flag.  Just saying that makes that argument practically pointless anyway.  A few times, when people suggested that she be lynched or blocked, she almost jumped into that too eagerly.  Obviously, if she is an Eliminator who wished to be blocked, it’d make her partner open to use their abilities.  (Going off of that, it’s more likely that Odysa actually is a Spearman than her teammate is.)  She spoke of her getting roleblocked hypothetically as well, which seemed odd, and once wanted for someone else to protect her.  Furthermore, while Torwel has defended her numerous times (see below), Odysa never seems to react to her posts (or mention Torwel at all, despite her being nearly as inactive as Jasnah), which, as with Aonar and Ace, is suspicious.

 

Finally, Torwel.  My first argument against her is very weak, I must admit, but it’s something that I’ve noticed amongst Eliminators: she tries to quantify the number of Spies in the game (and guesses correctly).  Alv does the same thing, so, again, this isn’t much of a point against her.  I believe that her first “defense” of Odysa was when Wilson revealed three of her suspicions (one being Odysa), and Torwel questioned why Wilson did not immediately reveal her suspicions.  (Which seems kind of superfluous, as Wilson already revealed her reasoning.  Again, not much of a link between Torwel and Odysa, but it’s something that I noticed.)  She tries to direct suspicion onto Wilson multiple times.  Torwel states that she is a terrible Eliminator and is bad at manipulation, after Wilson points out that one of her posts seems manipulative.  Then, as we’ve mentioned, is the fact that she was roleblocked Week 2, and there were no kills that battle.  One point that really gets my suspicions going is when Torwel specifically states what she would’ve said to Odysa if she was indeed trying to help her.  That post just seems odd, including the part in which she claims to be an ideal lynch target, and being rather convincing in that she has no role.  Combined with the point that Odysa is more likely a Spearman, this could mean the Torwel does indeed have a role.  In Week 4, when she states that the vote is between Jost, Ace, and Odysa, she votes Jost, saying that Odysa is still not suspicious.  Torwel hasn’t really put out that many suspicions, staying relatively quiet unless someone votes for her.  Finally, her post last cycle seems unnecessary.  Maybe she could’ve got away with defending Odysa, but it did not seem necessary to imply that Newan and Marand could’ve been impersonating Odysa, and also placing suspicion on players who have cast votes against Odysa.  And I still don’t know what to make of the fact that she was contacted by two Messengers.

 

Anyway, that’s what I’ve got.  This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t keep an eye out on the rest of the players, but this is the most conclusive set of information I have at the moment.  (And I still haven’t posted the 4 new dead poems.  I’m... working on it.)

Edited December 11, 2014 by Renegade

[Mckeedee123]

My apologies Mek.  I missed the post where you asked who I targeted.  You were my target. 

 

Aww... Thanks. I was so sure I wasn't going to survive that battle. Good to know someone was looking out for me, even if they were probably roleblocked   

 

EDIT: Speaking of which, are we assuming that some spies are going to try for one of the Shardbladers this round? It's harder to protect with 2 of them, after all.

Edited December 11, 2014 by mckeedee123

[luckat]

Edit: I especially mention Torwel because given your mention of code phrases, I found "Not sure what's happening up north, but where I live, looks like it's going to be a wet summer." to be an interesting non-sequitur. Given that Marand is dead, could I ask if Torwel was checking in there? (I don't need to know her codephrase; I just need to be able to rule out the possibility that she was confirming contact with someone else.)

 

That was in response to me.

 

With regards to the vote discrepancies, it's very hard to get things absolutely right. Marand's vote is missing, so I shall add it. However, it's for Eolhondras, not Alinel, as it was never retracted. Odysa's vote was missing too, so added it. I did not count the change due to it not being coloured in. While that may seem a little cruel, I have to be consistent with the previous time this happened.

 

That's understandable. Votes are just something I tend to pay attention to in particular. But I've messed up on vote tallies in the past, and that's without having to keep track of the rest of the game. I think you're doing a great job with it all. Also, Marand did retract his vote for Eoldren. The name is in green in his first sentence in this post. I hope I'm not getting too annoying.

 

But this puts us in a slightly awkward position, because we have three Guardsmen. Which is by no means impossible, but something to keep in mind. But let's think a little more about things: the kill from Team Aladar and Team Roion seems to have gone through. Macen most likely made the kill, just to be safe and to prevent his partner from accidental exposure. So if Araris is a Spy, there are two possibilities for him--Team Aladar, or Team Roion. If he's on Team Roion, then we know he did not send in the kill orders last cycle. That's a bit interesting, considering that it seems the whole point of Araris lying low ("flying under the radar", as he puts it) is to avoid aggro. Who would have sent in the orders then? The partner less in the spotlight--or at least, less on Wilson's radar. Possibilities range from Joe (again, sorry, it had to be mentioned), to (I believe), Torwel, Odysa, and Jasnah. (Mek and Eoldren being ruled out for basically the same reasons; Ren and Aonar have been left out because they are somewhat on the radar, relatively speaking.)

 

I don't quite follow the bolded part. He wasn't roleblocked last cycle, Aonar was. Alinel could easily have sent in the kill orders last cycle if he's a spy. It's possible he wouldn't because he had been roleblocked the cycle before.

 

About guardsman numbers, if there's 4-5 that leaves less room for a fourth messenger or any of the unclaimed roles. If everyone is who they say they are, there's only one spot missing, and they are either a scout or a squad leader, or both of those roles are out of the game. Although, one of the claimed spearmen is probably lying. We could have started with three messengers who were all good, but it feels odd to me that the spies wouldn't have any with the lack of communication between spy teams. In the context of messaging in previous games, it's possible Wyrm gave us 3 to watch us kill them all because he figured we'd do that, but it makes the overall balance feel off to me. Then again, three good guards and a good surgeon with only one evil guard feels like an imbalance in protection to me, so I probably just don't know what I'm talking about.

 

I think it's likely that Karlin protected Ace. If he was pretending to be Odysa, I'd take what he said with a grain of salt, and it's not like he had a partner to protect anymore. Also, I'm not entirely convinced that he didn't send in orders last cycle. I believe he was on at some point during last cycle, and he could have sent in orders without posting at the time and either meant to post closer to the end of the cycle but didn't have time or forgot that he had to post that cycle to survive. It's possible though.

 

This cycle's been quieter than previous ones. I guess that's what comes of losing four people. We still haven't heard from Aonar, Eoldren, or Damon. I'm especially surprised about Aonar because he seems to be near the top of most people's suspicion lists, and remaining silent isn't likely to change that. I would be interested in hearing what Eoldren has to say since it seems he is good. I don't know what to make of Damon.

[Aonar]

Aonaran sat in his tent, plucking out a slow Horneater dirge on his lute as night fell. The wind carried the scent of blood and death from the battlefield, along with the acrid tang of an far off Highstorm. Just another ill omen on a day that seemed fated to disaster. He saw the looks of the others around the camp. Their sidelong stares, their solemn glances. They looked at Aonaran like a man on the gallows; a tragedy, a curiosity, someone to be both pitied and despised. 

 

He knew what it meant. The strange orders they had been receiving were not so unusual when you saw them for what they were. Men who should have been safe, well back from the initial charge; they were dying. They were being sabotaged by their own leaders, forced to prove their loyalty or die in battle. And if Aonaran was right, he would be next.

 

Silent for a moment, he allowed the last mournful, dissonant notes to fade into the cool night air. Whatever the morning would bring, there was little he could do. Aonaran turned back towards the inside of his tent, carefully replacing his lute inside it's case. As soon as it was secure, lay down on his bedroll to await the dawn's light, and whatever new horrors came with it.

 

 

My goodness. There are far too many posts accusing me at this point for me to possibly get around to quoting them all so I'll just respond to the accusations I can remember/scroll up to and read.

 

1. General inactivity/unhelpfulness: I'm really busy this time of year. Simple as that. I really shouldn't have signed up for this game. Last three days, I've barely been able to keep up with posts, with how I've been bouncing around between classes and Karate and random-unexpected-hiking-trips. (On the last I managed to sprain my thumb, again. Not fun doing karate with a sprained thumb.) Due to my busy-ness, my Diagrams petered out around Cycle 2.

 

2. Ren's massive suspicion-essay: First off: I was honest to goodness suspicious of Meta. Nothing more, nothing less. I didn't like how he laid out his plan, and I could draw a (relatively) strong parallel between him and Jain. However, as I said earlier, he defended himself well, and had you guys decided to start the lynch-train a little earlier, I would have taken my vote off of him. Secondly, your argument connecting me to Macen (well done, by the way) is flawed for two reasons: 1. Macen's been a suspect of mine since the second cycle. 2. I was role-blocked on the second cycle. Now, I know, neither of these really disproves your analysis, (and the points shouldn't be taken as an attempt to do that) but please, wait for me to have time to respond before you start working off the assumption that I am evil, as it feels like many of you are doing.

 

3. Next: At what point do things move from, "moderately inactive" to "deliberately withholding information?" There's no reason for me to have withheld that I was roleblocked... oh, wait. Wilson and the Lighteyes (which would be an awesome band name, by the way ) were looking for any reason for there not to have been three kills the first battle, and I really didn't feel like drawing attention to myself when I knew there was a decent chance I wouldn't be able to respond again for a while.

 

4. If y'all would like to know my role, I'm a Guardsman, and have not yet used up my role. (And my role is apparently as common as dirt too which is kinda strange.) I protected Meta the first cycle, Wilson the Second, skipped over cycle four (I had no clue what was going on, and didn't want to end up saving someone who shouldn't be saved) and Vron last cycle, (apparently redundantly) assuming that Wilson was telling the truth about her Lighteye skip, and deciding that Surgeons are more important than King's Wits. (Sorry Kas.)

 

As for my own suspicions... (roughly in order) Torwel, Jasnah Odysa, and Reihmer are all up there, for reasons everyone else has already stated. I don't really know who to vote for, I'm too tired to really do any more analysis, and I'm not going to get back on before the cycle ends, so I'll once again leave this in your hands.

 

If you've bothered to read to the end of this, good on you. I don't care much at the moment whether or not I'm killed, so feel free to disregard the above if you didn't actually read it. It seems to me like you've pretty well got this one in the bag at this point, so merry lynching and see you all next game.

[Mckeedee123]

 This cycle's been quieter than previous ones.

 

Agreed. In fact, I'm actually taking the time to read all of the massive walls of blue text this round because there are considerably less of them.   

 

Hmm... to RP or not to RP? That is the question.

 

Alright, fine. There's been way too much blue lately.

________________________________________

 

Mek was a target.

 

He knew it as he collected his equipment. He knew it as he lined up into his battle formation. He knew it as he marched toward the enemy, spear in hand, to end the Northeastern Phase of the Alethi War of Unification.

 

Leading up to the battle, there had been four major deaths in the army. Four.  The last few days would be remembered as some of the bloodiest in the war's history, aside from the actual battles. Karlin and Ace would not be missed, of course, traitors as they were. Marand though... well, at least Mek didn't have the man's blood on his hands, though several soldiers marched with their heads down, ashamed for their part in his death.

 

There was some good news, however. Dalinar had reported, just before the battle, that a darkeyed spy loyal to Vamah had been captured and tortured into giving names. By next week, Vamah's entire intelligence network would probably be decapitated, both figuratively and literally. Progress had been made towards Aladar's as well, but everything was far from conclusive.

 

The nature of Roion's spy network though... well, that was still an enigma. From what Mek had heard from the higher-ups, Roion had started with one of the most powerful intelligence networks in the army, and the Committee of Un-Alethi Activities had made little progress in singling those spies out. Roion's spies were more intent on reporting information than committing acts of sabotage. It was a safer way to do things, and their intel was probably the biggest reason why the war had been dragging on for so long up here.

 

As he marched, Mek inspected the army forming up on the field ahead. Fortunately, the Kholin army wasn't within firing distance of Roion's archers yet.

 

Weeks of fighting battles with hails of arrows coming at them had forced the army to adopt new tactics. Mek, along with the rest of his squad, had been assigned larger, square-shaped shields, which could be raised above the head to block arrows when the company adopted its new "Chull-Shell" formations.

 

He glanced at Kaddar. No one had made any moves against the man yet, but Mek watched just in case. Kaddar had distinguished himself as loyal to Dalinar early on in the war, which made him a target for assassins. Mek believed that the man's role would make people less likely to guard him, which could help Mek avoid situations like that fiasco last week, when Mek had barged into the Committee of Un-Alethi Activities office demanding for Eoldren's arrest, only to find that the man had actually been dutifully protecting Kaddar from an assassin during the attack. Come to think of it, Mek's story of events seemed to conflict with the official report, what with the arrows and all. Mek had resolved to get some more sleep. (Come to think of it, I am actually writing this at 1:08 AM in my time zone)

 

Horns began blaring from the other side of the field. The Kholin army was about to come within range of Roion's archers. Mek could barely make them out, pulling arrows from their quivers. In the confusion of this battle, Mek had no doubt that at least one enemy assassin would try to kill him. Alvron had mentioned something earlier about staying close by to protect Mek if he were attacked, but Ace had used his last shred of authority to send the man to clean latrines for the duration of the battle. Perhaps it doesn't matter if I watch Kaddar after all. I certainly won't be able to report anything once I'm dead.

 

Mek heard more horns blow. This time, from his side of the field. Well, I'm doomed. Might as well make the most of it. He unlatched his shield, and the army charged.

 

 

_______________________________

 

Mek survived the battle.

 

He could barely believe it. He was bleeding from wounds all over his body, including a fairly large cut on his chest, but with a little medical treatment, he would live to fight again. No sign of assassins. Even Kaddar had survived unscathed, despite what Mek had assumed.

 

Dalinar's vanguard had engaged Roion's army quickly, and had barely been weakened by Roion's barrages of arrows. The Kholin cavalry had then managed to flank the archers, turning the battle into a rout. Another victory. So far as Mek knew, Dalinar's army hadn't lost a major battle yet. Unexpectedly, however, Roion had refused to surrender, and what was left of his troops had regrouped farther north.

 

Storms, Mek was sick of fighting Roion. Would next week's skirmishes finally end this phase of the war? Only chance time would tell.

Edited December 12, 2014 by mckeedee123

[Kasimir]

That was in response to me.

 

 

That's understandable. Votes are just something I tend to pay attention to in particular. But I've messed up on vote tallies in the past, and that's without having to keep track of the rest of the game. I think you're doing a great job with it all. Also, Marand did retract his vote for Eoldren. The name is in green in his first sentence in this post. I hope I'm not getting too annoying.

 

 

I don't quite follow the bolded part. He wasn't roleblocked last cycle, Aonar was. Alinel could easily have sent in the kill orders last cycle if he's a spy. It's possible he wouldn't because he had been roleblocked the cycle before.

 

About guardsman numbers, if there's 4-5 that leaves less room for a fourth messenger or any of the unclaimed roles. If everyone is who they say they are, there's only one spot missing, and they are either a scout or a squad leader, or both of those roles are out of the game. Although, one of the claimed spearmen is probably lying. We could have started with three messengers who were all good, but it feels odd to me that the spies wouldn't have any with the lack of communication between spy teams. In the context of messaging in previous games, it's possible Wyrm gave us 3 to watch us kill them all because he figured we'd do that, but it makes the overall balance feel off to me. Then again, three good guards and a good surgeon with only one evil guard feels like an imbalance in protection to me, so I probably just don't know what I'm talking about.

 

I think it's likely that Karlin protected Ace. If he was pretending to be Odysa, I'd take what he said with a grain of salt, and it's not like he had a partner to protect anymore. Also, I'm not entirely convinced that he didn't send in orders last cycle. I believe he was on at some point during last cycle, and he could have sent in orders without posting at the time and either meant to post closer to the end of the cycle but didn't have time or forgot that he had to post that cycle to survive. It's possible though.

 

This cycle's been quieter than previous ones. I guess that's what comes of losing four people. We still haven't heard from Aonar, Eoldren, or Damon. I'm especially surprised about Aonar because he seems to be near the top of most people's suspicion lists, and remaining silent isn't likely to change that. I would be interested in hearing what Eoldren has to say since it seems he is good. I don't know what to make of Damon.

1. You're right on the bolded part; teaches me to type at 2am... >> So the Roion case says little about who his partner could be.

2. My main reason for taking some of Karlin's words at face value, despite his half-hearted attempt to pretend to be Odysa, is basically that his last message gave me the key to finding out who he was. "'My plan was to protect Jain....but I had no access to my computer for that cycle and was oblivious to his impending doom until it was to late.'" Pretty much points away from Odysa and at Jasnah and Karlin alone. So given that he wasn't heavy on deception, I try to read most of what he said as not being primarily deceptive. You may differ, and indeed, you are correct in pointing out it is a possibility that Karlin has in fact protected Macen. I'm not sure I want to bank on that possibility, because it's also possible that one of our two claimed Guardsmen have in fact done so. I'm also pretty sure he didn't send in orders, because that's the best way to explain the lack of a kill.

3. Now, 4 good Guards and 1 good Surgeon versus 1 evil Guard is downright ludicrous. I buy that Wyrm is a troll; like you, I'm finding 3 good Messengers hard to swallow (although the Spy Messenger could simply be not claiming Messenger). I'm basically even more troubled by the suggested Guardsmen numbers than our 4 Spearmen, at this time.

@Kas: I didn't send in any orders at all during cycles 1 and 2 because I didn't want to waste my power saving a spy, which I thought was a risk large enough to try and avoid. If you want, I'll send in my order to protect Alv, but I'm not too sure how that is going to help, since the spies wouldn't target that person if they knew that's who I was blocking. My suggestion is that you guys give me the freedom to pick one in the group of Alv, Luckat and Newan, but right now my power is set on Alv.

 

If the shardbearers don't die, then it is pretty much impossible for us to lose this game. Just between the people that have been confirmed good, we have enough votes to tie the lynch with the spies. I suspect then that I won't be a target tonight, unless the spies want to ensure that their next kill attempt goes through.

 

I'll come back on in an hour or so and see if you guys are cool with me taking a little more freedom in who I protect.

4. Very frankly, Araris, you're missing the point of such a plan. It's not about blocking the Spies so much as eliminating you from our Spy-pool, given we're not sure we can trust you. You might remember that from LG7. I'm still not sure I want to trust you at this point, given a second Guardsman claim and the almost-definite possibility of one more evil Guardsman--I'd be more willing to let Alv have free choice of protections. If the others disagree, then I'll defer to the vox populi.

I grant that Aonar's equally fishy, and I'm trying to decide what we can/should do about him.

-

Edit: Luckat, my bad: on 3., it must be either Karlin or Aonar who saved Macen. Araris was role-blocked, and unless you want to postulate Guardsman #6...I'm also a bit reluctant to think it's Karlin for the reason that Macen's exposure came in the last hours, which is outside of Karlin's timezone, and Macen was fighting it to the end, pretending to be a Surgeon loyal to Dalinar. It seems quite a stretch for Karlin to protect Macen and to hope that Macen was in fact a Spy. And Karlin wouldn't have Spy reasons to have known that, as he was a barely-active lone Guardsman on a different Spy team. He could've made a lucky guess, but the case against Macen was very tentative early on--in fact, Macen was claiming to be an essential Loyalist role, which meant that by rights, Karlin shouldn't even have been throwing protection on him. It was really only Alv who cemented it.

Torwel.

Edit 2: Just to indicate I'm not pulling it out of nowhere--Jain's following Melbourne Time (sorry Jain, but it was in the Nationality Thread.) Karlin is his RL friend, so it's not too much of a stretch to say that Karlin is also following Melbourne Time, which is currently GMT + 11. Which means that the cycle ends 7am his time. Sure, he could get up at 6am or so to catch the end of the cycle, but I just thought I'd point out that would indicate Karlin won't always necessarily be able to catch/follow the often wordy and significant developments going on in the cycle (hence his not realising I had revealed myself both as Wit and as his contact) and the last time he was on, Macen was claiming Loyal Surgeon. So yes, I find it more likely that Aonar protected Macen.

Plus, he decided not to tell us he was role-blocked because we were looking for just about anyone to lynch? Really? Conveniently shifting suspicion onto Torwel? Because he didn't have enough time to defend himself when he was capable of putting up posts in the next couple of cycles? (Recall he was role-blocked in Cycle Two. Despite repeated calls for the other role-blockee to come forward? It's Cycle Six now. He sat back for three to four cycles, during which he was capable of posting, and at no point decided to reveal the information. That's suspicious, IMO.

To anyone who is feeling tldr; please just read the two Edits for a summary of why I think Aonar should be lynched.

Edited December 12, 2014 by Kasimir

[Wyrmhero]

The Cycle will end in ~8 hours.

[Eolhondras]

Current vote standings:

 

Damon (1) -Mek

Aonar (4) -Kas, Ren, Newan, Eol

Jasnah (1) -Odysa

Odysa (1) -Alinel

Alinel (1) -Twei

Twei (1) Joe

 

Sorry for my silence this cycle. Been a busy couple of days, and I know its a lazy thing to say, but 10 vs. 3 with 7 people basically cleared, just feels like we're the yellow jersey riding into Paris.

[Jasnah Damodred]

I'm a Messenger.

[A Joe in the Bush]

And once again Jasnah posts every second cycle, barely surviving Inactivity.

 

Jasnah, do you have any thoughts about the game at all? Any suspicions? You're obviously following the game, so could you place some votes or defend yourself?

[Kasimir]

I'm dead, was all Kaddar could think, as the archer nocked an arrow to his bow and drew back the string. He heard the thwack! of the arrow flying, and threw himself as far as he could, forward and to the left. He staggered, regained his balance, and hefted the spear, wondering if he could put it through the archer before he was shot again.
 
"Storm it all," said the lighteyed archer, lowering his bow. "I'm not paid enough for this."
 
Kaddar coughed. "You aren't?"
 
"What do you think?" the man groused. "I hate archery, I'm worse than a chull at it, and Highprince Roion doesn't pay me enough to fight."
 
"Well," Kaddar said, "What do you think about working for Gavilar?"
 
The man blinked.
 
Sensing an opportunity, Kaddar went on. "Be happy to pay you double what you're earning."
 
His erstwhile opponent looked, for a few moments, as though he was seriously considering the offer. Finally, he said, "Thanks, but that's not an offer for me. I guess I'm already headed somewhere else." His hand drifted, Kaddar noted, to the inside of his arm.
 
Around them, the fight raged; darkeyed spearmen cried out as they were cut down, and flights of arrows hissed through the air. Roion was fond of archers, Kaddar noted. They should've improved the shields the darkeyes had. He'd lost his own somewhere in the melee when he'd faced this archer. "That happens," he said, thinking of the night Gavilar had asked him to be his Wit.
 
The man laughed; a short, tired sound. "Try not to get yourself killed, Brightlord."
 
Kaddar blinked. "And you...?"
 
"Call me Khas," said the man, over his shoulder. He turned and strode away through the clamour of battle, bow at the ready.
Nothing is true, everything is permitted.

[Alvron]

Eol, your count is off slightly.  Jasnah and Damon are the same person so they have two votes on them.

 

Aonar.  Sorry but with so many Guardsmen and Spearmen and no one claiming Squadleader I think one might be hidden and waiting for a chance to tie up the vote.  Can't let that happen as if there is then they are most likely a spy.

[Renegade]

Really, Jasnah?  Can't you say anything other than your role?  You can't possibly be that busy to just post three words, and your trend of posting practically nothing is hurting the Village team more than anything.  If you're trying to avoid suspicion, well, it's not really working that well right now.

 

Now, finally, those dead poems:

 

Marand:

Man with no occupation, the truth revealed; truthly, the occupation, none with men.
Possession of spanreeds, his death sentence; dying, his spanreeds of possession
Alert all mistaken, to take care.  Take to mistakes, all alert.

 

Karlin:

Silent Purelaker, a mischievous guard, guarding mischievously a Purelaker silence.
Friend of Jain, now left to die, to leave now, Jain of friends.
Spies fallen, they cry, “No, Almighty!  No!”  Crying, they fall, spies.

 

Ace:

Brightlord officer, a true purpose revealed.  Revealing purpose truly, an officer, Brightlord.
Burnt eyes, he now lies dead; laying now, his eyes burn.
Ending this spy’s charade, we nod our farewells.  We nod, our charade spying the end.

 

Kenara:

Scribe and officer, killed by spies’ bloody hands.  Bloodied spies, by killing officers and scribes.
Wars of words hath she fought, she hath words of war.
Now all is gone, we leave solemnly.  Solemnly leaving us, gone is all, now.

Edited December 12, 2014 by Renegade

[Wyrmhero]

This Cycle is now over. Next one will be up shortly, though the writeup will take some time after.

[Wyrmhero]

Week 7

Aonaran looked up from the simple, thin soup that he had been dabbing at with a piece of slightly stale bread for the last ten minutes or so. There were Lighteyes visiting, it seemed. Nothing too special, since they always came and went without warning, but their livery was different. Blue. Dalinar's personal guardsmen.

Ever since Ace had gone and gotten himself into that stupid and ill-fated duel, he knew it was only a matter of time before someone put the pieces together. He had performed his task a little clumsily, after all, transferring himself to the frontal assault on Prince Roion's forces a few weeks ago. But he had needed the Brightlord to stay alive for their plans to work, and that had just not happened.

Sighing, he finished the bread off, then lifted the soup bowl to his mouth to drain it. As last meals went, it wasn't exactly a filling one. It was better than Soulcast stuff, that was true, but sometimes he wondered if tasteless food would be better than this stuff. Was the army so poor it couldn't afford a pinch of spices per soldier each day?

Well, as much as he was ever a soldier of this army. He stood up and handed his bowl back to the cook, before heading over to the soldiers. If he was going to die, it would at least be with dignity. He respected Dalinar enough for that.

It sometimes seemed strange to him, that he would respect his enemy so much. But how could one not, when he carried such titles as 'The Blackthorn'? Even in Prince Aladar's lands, even amongst his loyal troops, the man was a legend to them. It made it very difficult to keep morale up before a fight, as well. Just the mention of who they were fighting would be enough to spread talk of desertion amongst the rank and file.

"Sirs?" He said, slipping his way into the crowd easily to stand before Dalinar's men. "I believe you're looking for me."

*

Damon finished writing down his thoughts on the piece of paper before him. Then, he rewrote it using the woman's script that they favoured here. Then, he carefully rewrote those thoughts on a third piece, but this time he wrote them as glyphs, or as close as he could make to the words using glyphs. That was the most important copy, since it was to be sent to a male living here who, for some reason, they didn't allow to write.

He blotted the third paper dry, and then folded it neatly up before writing the recipient's name onto it. Damon handed the letter to a passing runner, before returning his attention to the other copies. These he'd keep. He always kept notes of his correspondence, so he could remember or show others. Aside from that of a more... dangerous nature, of course. He was neat, not a fool.

Stowing these two copies away inside a bag, he headed out of the tent. He had a bit more work to do before the day was done.

As he left, he almost walked straight into Odysa, the strange mercenary that he'd seen around the camp quite a bit recently. He'd had his eye on her; there was always a chance, with mercenaries, that they would prefer hard coin to soft reputation.

He nodded politely to her, and she smiled back. "Where are you headed?" He asked her, out of a desire to make small-talk. Maybe he'd finally mention their plan today. Stormfather, they needed the extra help.

"To the practice grounds," she replied, hand resting on a dagger at her side. "I could use a bit of a workout today, I think."

Damon nodded. "I'm heading that was as well," he said. Though not for practice, no, nothing of the sort. He was headed there to see if he could get someone killed. They might not die today, or perhaps for a week, but eventually their luck would run out. Their spear would break, or their armour would wear away... He wasn't sure which he should do today.

"Then let's walk together," Odysa suggested, setting off beside him. They continued  to make idle chatter on the way, but they found the sparring grounds were barred from them.

"I told you they'd be together," Newan said, nodding. Gloryspren flittered in the air around him, as he tried not to look too smug about it.

"I suppose you did," Tal nodded, speaking softly. "Perhaps you are right then," he added, summoning his Shardblade to his hand.

"You're going to kill us?" Damon asked, "without a trial? What would Dalinar say about that, I wonder?"

"We have his permission," Newan grinned. "I convinced him, all proper and the like."

"I'm not with this man," Odysa protested, taking a step away from Damon. "I haven't a clue what he's done." She went to leave, going to walk past them, but Newan summoned his Shardblade and held it out to stop her from leaving. She took a step back and drew a pair of knives from her belt.

"You're not going anywhere," he said, nodding to Tal, who returned it grimly. They struck at the same time.

Damon was not a fighter, and he had no real weapons on him, but he drew his knife all the same. Tal's blade sheared through the blade and cut through his spine with ease.

Odysa gave a better accounting of herself, dodging Newan's blade. While it was light and able to be moved next to effortlessly, a Shardblade was still unwieldy and cumbersome for one not skilled in its use. She fought quietly, watching his eyes and feet, and successfully dodged the second strike.

Odysa lashed out, and her knife landed in Newan's arm. He yelled out in pain, and he let go of his Shardblade. It disappeared almost instantly, his concentration entirely broken. He retreated, pulling the dagger back and beginning to resummon his Shardblade, but before he could count up ten heartbeats, Tal's blade cut Odysa down as well.

Newan scowled at his peer. "I had things under control."

"I'm sure," Tal nodded. "Check her for a Spanreed," he suggested, letting his Shardblade become mist and kneeling down beside Damon's body.

"That's not exactly proper," Newan said hesitantly. "I mean... Her safehand is exposed and everything."

Tal looked at him, and then decided it was best not to say anything about his idea of standards. "She's a warrior and you killed her. Just check her body. Hopefully that will be the end of this." He pulled a Spanreed out of Damon's shirt. "Well, he was definitely one."

"Right..." Newan nodded, kneeling down, attempting to check her body by lightly patting it down while averting his eyes.

A few minutes later, Tal sighed and checked for him. He turned to Newan when he was finished and shook his head. "No, nothing."

"...Oh," Newan said, his face paling at the realisation of what he'd done. "Dalinar's going to be so Storming angry."


Aonaran Faialen was a Darkeyed Guardsman, loyal to Prince Aladar!

Aonaran Faialen (6): Norlav, Reihmer, Newan, Eoldren, Kaddar, Dalinar
Damon Shan (2): Odysa, Mek
Torwel (1): Jost Joslin
Odysa (1): Alinel Lenia
Alinel Lenia (1): Torwel

Damon Shan was a Darkeyed Messenger, loyal to Prince Roion! He was killed by a Shardblade, wielded by Tal.
Odysa was a Darkeyed Spearman, loyal to Dalinar! She was killed by a Shardblade, wielded by Newan.

The Cycle will end at 8PM GMT on Sunday.

At the end of the Cycle, there will be a Skirmish against Prince Aladar.
 

 

Player List
Darkeyes:
Damon Shan, Worldhopper [Jasnah Damodred] - Messenger
Norlav, a mercenary drafted by the Blackthorn [Alvron]
Wok, a Horneater princess serving the Blackthorn [Ashiok] - Messenger
Reihmer, a bad ketek poet [Renegade]
Odysa of Shao, a former-assassin turned mercenary [Winter Cloud] - Spearman
Karlin, a Jah Keved Purelaker [surgebound Rainspren] - Guardsman
Aonaran Faialen, a wannabe musician [Aonar Faileas] - Guardsman
Marand, no further description [Mailliw73] - Messenger
Mek, a defector from Highprince Yenev's army [mckeedee123]
Alinel Lenia, Horneater exile, second son [Araris Valerian]
Torwel, reluctant conscript, wants ale [twelfthrootoftwo]
Eoldren, guy with a sweet tooth and a grudge [Eolhondras]
Meller, a bridge builder for the Blackthorn [Metacognition] - Watchman

Lighteyes:
Kaddar, a one-eyed veteran spearman with a fondness for riddles. [Kasimir]
Kenara, a scribe for the Blackthorn [little wilson] - Officer
Jain, a possibly-resurrected Shin traveller with a panda [Lightsworn Panda] - Swordsman
Jost Joslin, a soldier who never had a Shardblade [The Only Joe]
Ace, a guy with an oversized mallet and a talisman [Macen] - Officer
Tal, an enthusiastic young recruit and Shardblade wielder [luckat]
Newan, a failed (and failing) Envisager and Shardblade wielder [Newan]

Edited June 20, 2016 by Alvron

[Kasimir]

Well, three things first. King, in your report, you say that Aonar was a Darkeyed Spearman. But your list has him as a Guardsman. Could we have confirmation of which he is, or is this your way of telling us that he did indeed use his Guard ability? Second, is there going to be a Skirmish, a Battle or a Highstorm at the end of this cycle? Last, if an Eliminator kill hits a Scout who was off Scouting, will it be reported in the same way a Surgeon/Guardsman save is?

 

Now, as far as I can see, last cycle has been pretty good: we've managed to root out 2 of the 3 remaining Spies. So good job guys, but we can't rest on our laurels. Let's find the last Roion Spy. Now that Aonar's dead: who among us received his spanreed, if I may ask?

 

As far as I can see, our suspect pool really depends on whether Araris is truthful about being a Guardsman. If he is, in fact, a Guardsman, then he's clean (I think.) Our suspect pool for Jasnah's partner would really be the two Darkeyed Spearmen (claims) and the Lighteyed Swordsman: so, Ren, Torwel, and Joe. Obviously, we can do further ruling out from there. However, of course, if Araris is lying, then he's back in our suspect pool, as it were.

 

Thoughts?

 

Edit: I hate the colour editor. So storming much.

Edited December 12, 2014 by Kasimir

[Wyrmhero]

Well, three things first. King, in your report, you say that Aonar was a Darkeyed Spearman. But your list has him as a Guardsman. Could we have confirmation of which he is, or is this your way of telling us that he did indeed use his Guard ability? Second, is there going to be a Skirmish, a Battle or a Highstorm at the end of this cycle? Last, if an Eliminator kill hits a Scout who was off Scouting, will it be reported in the same way a Surgeon/Guardsman save is?

• Fixed
• Fixed, and...
• If an Eliminator hits a Scout who was Scouting, they will not be mentioned in the writeup, just as a Lighteyes skipping a Combat.

[Kasimir]

• Fixed
• Fixed, and...
• If an Eliminator hits a Scout who was Scouting, they will not be mentioned in the writeup, just as a Lighteyes skipping a Combat.

 

Oh Almighty, I have one last question. What happened to Torwel's vote on Araris?

 

Edit: Not so, I lied, I have another. May I just confirm that if a kill hits a member of Team Roion, then it will also not be reflected in the write-up?

Edited December 12, 2014 by Kasimir

[Renegade]

Well, it’s 9 against 1 now, and out of those 9, 6 are basically confirmed, so we really can't lose at this point.  Before doing anything else, I’d like to say this:

 

Final Spy: I’m going to make you an offer.  Reveal yourself now, and I will have an epic ketek poem written in your name, praising your glory and awesomeness.  Trust me, if I could choose any way to go out, this would be it.  Do it.  Because, if you don't, we'll still kill you, and I won't write a poem for you.  So there.

 

Edit: Fixed an embarrassing grammatical error.

Edited December 13, 2014 by Renegade

[Kasimir]

(Technically, we can do this the crude way, by slaughtering everyone who isn't me, Alv, Mek, Eoldren, Newan, and Luckat. It would be crude, but it would be a mindless way of solving the problem.) However, if we figure out who the surviving Spy is, may I please request that a Spearman lead the lynch against me? >>

 

Yes, yes, I recognise it's a new low for the King's Wit. >>

 

Edit: Not that this should stymie discussion since we still need to do so to flush out our last Spy, if they don't accept Ren's generous offer.

 

Edit 2: My read now is that since Aonar is on Team Aladar, the role-blockee was likely Jasnah instead. Pretty much the only person Aonar could've counted on not to go, "Eh, wait a sec bruv, I was the one who was role-blocked." That was why I'd asked Alv about the cycle in which she'd contacted him. Perhaps she'd told him that, but I'm not sure. So I guess following the second role-block is not likely to be useful by this point :/ Unless we can somehow reframe it in the context of the kills.

Edited December 12, 2014 by Kasimir

[Newan]

Wyrm, would I lose my shardblade if I led a vote against the Wit?

 

Also, for old times' sake:

 

[Wyrmhero]

Oh Almighty, I have one last question. What happened to Torwel's vote on Araris?

 

Edit: Not so, I lied, I have another. May I just confirm that if a kill hits a member of Team Roion, then it will also not be reflected in the write-up?

• It's where it's always been, Kas: In the writeup
• And yes, if one of team Roion was Sabotaged last Cycle, it would not be reflected.
• Newan, you keep your Shardblade, but lose your nice fancy glowing eyes and Darkeyed Role.

Edited December 12, 2014 by Wyrmhero

[Kasimir]

Wyrm, would I lose my shardblade if I led a vote against the Wit?

 

Also, for old times' sake:

 

evilness mr4.jpg

The rules say you wouldn't, but you'd be busted down to Darkeyes. I don't want that to happen to you or Luckat. You guys deserve a happy ending to this game.

Nevermind, forget about my request. It isn't a big deal anyway, and our energies are better spent trying to red-vote for the last Spy. And I've never actually survived to endgame as a Good player, so this personal victory thing can go hang >>

 

Edit: For those tracking Lighteyes votes, I used my secret vote on myself. I nearly forgot to submit it (I think I submitted it 4 minutes before the close), so I figured I was the safest place to throw that on.

Edited December 12, 2014 by Kasimir

[Renegade]

I'm voting for Torwel.  Will I change it again?  Maybe, maybe not.  While her connection with Odysa is defunct, Torwel was still roleblocked Week 2, and both Alinel and Jost have suggested things against Jasnah.

 

Alinel: Looks like Newan might Shardblade you, so if you are a Spy, I suggest that bonus opportunity I mentioned...  (Obviously, that extends to Torwel and Jost.)

 

Damon Shan:

Silent messenger, walking amongst camps of war.  War of camps, among walks messengers silently.
Roion’s spy, quietly slipping in and out, out and in.  Slipping quietly, spying Roion.
Met death by Blade’s end, eyes burned.  Burned eyes end Blades by death’s meeting.

 

Odysa:

Spearman mercenary, the loudest one.  Loud, the mercenary spearman.
Cleaning latrines and stabbing enemies, stabbing and latrine-cleaning,
We should not forget Odysa’s importance.  Odysa, forget not should we.

 

Aonaran:

Aladar’s conniving spy, in league with Macen; with leagues in spying connivingly; Aladar’s.
Guarding a wealth of secrets, secrets of wealth, a guard.
Remember deceit, for Aladar’s chull is cooked.  Are chulls Aladar’s?  For deceit, remember.

[Kasimir]

Tentative vote against Joe. Given that he apparently is cool with throwing doomed teammates under the bus, I'd like to know a little more about what he makes of things thus far. Same call to Araris, and Torwel already has a vote on her.