Mid-Range Game 4: The Alethi War of Unification

[Aonar]

Aonaran sat back in the barracks, watching the other darkeyes train. Some threw themselves into their kata, working themselves as hard as they could, regardless of their actual skill. They seemed as if they thought the hard work could make them forget that any minute they could be stabbed in the back by their fellows. Others went through the forms slowly, their minds clearly elsewhere. More still stood leaning on their spears, giving up all pretense of training, obviously disturbed by the idea that there could be spies in the army.

 

He saw no real point in the exercise. Aonaran could kill like any other man, and would practice when he needed to, but war was not his sole ambition. At times, he hated his people, the way they glorified fighting, war, destruction. The way things stood, the Alethi would drive themselves extinct, before long. If Gavilar was to be believed however, then Aonaran was not the only one who thought this way. Uniting the warring Highprinces would be the only way to finally bring peace to Alethkar, the only way to avoid their self-destruction.

 

Reaching carefully underneath his bunk, Aonaran slowly pulled out the case that he'd concealed there when he'd first been conscripted. Long and slim, made of burnished ironwood, it was by far the most expensive thing he owned. Looking around quickly to ensure that no one was around, he opened the case and removed the lute inside. Made of the same dark wood as the case, it gleamed softly in the dim barracks. Once upon a time, he'd hoped to become an Ardent, to avoid the social prejudices that would prevent him from practicing his art. Unfortunately, with the start of the war and the Blackthorn's mass conscription, those plans were put on hold.

 

Striking a soft chord, Aonaran tried his best to relax and take his mind off the troubles of war. He couldn't say he was particularly successful.

 

 

Are you suggesting that you're the Wit, Wilson? That would be hilarious. I'm not going to take your word for it though. 

 

I'll throw a vote on Jain, seeing how he's been around, but hasn't posted yet. (Sorry about my own relative inactivity, I've been having some computer problems with my laptop, and it took some finagling to get my diagrams set up on my other computer.)

 

If anyone's interested, here's where the votes stand:

Mek (0): Reihmer

Meller (1): Alinel
Marand (1): Norlav
Kenara (1): Jost
Jain (1): Aonar
Kaddar (1): Reihmer

Tal (1): Kenara

Edited December 1, 2014 by Aonar Faileas

[Ashiok]

I'm confused and not able to contribute much right now. Why do we want the WIt to lose? And seeing as protection is maintainable, can't we have Important role X step up and claim? Then we can protect them. Also, with messenger PMs, they just lost a message with the rule change, because they would have had one at the middle of this cycle (if they wanted it). Now, everything is set back by half a cycle...

Tl;Dr: I'm rambling and asking questions. Goodnight

[Newan]

It had been a long, uneventful day of travel, but Newan was finally here and enrolled in the Blackthorn's army.  He stopped in to say hi to his squad, but then left.  They seemed to be talking about something important, but Newan was exhausted and didn't want to get into a heavy discussion right now.  

 

The drive from San Diego back to Provo was twelve hours long.  I'll say something useful tomorrow.  

[Metacognition]

"The foremost support needs better grounding. Fix that," Meller stated to one of his underlings. "A shaky bridge is like a shaky house; neither is trusted for support and I won't have my bridges be thought of as unstable!"

 

Of course, after hearing the announcement from the Blackthorn about spies, it seemed that they were all on somewhat unstable ground. Meller didn't really want to bother with that kind of nonsense, as he was on the verge of a breakthrough in bridge design, one that would allow the armies that used them to dictate the field of battle and likely be victorious; mobile bridges. Before now, armies crossed the canyons and rivers of the Alethi countryside on already established bridges or new ones were built where they were needed. Both avenues took time and resources and established choke points. If Meller could get his new concept to work properly, the army could bring their own bridges and cross wherever they wanted to, surprising the enemy and it would all be because of Meller. 

 

...Now that he thought of it, that seemed like a good reason for the other armies to send spies into Dalinar's army. In fact, he wouldn't be surprised to find out that there were more than one group of spies. In fact, while the brightlords and ladies seemed to think that they were dealing with a unified front of enemies, it was far more likely that there were individual pairs of spies from each of the armies. This would likely make rooting them out even more difficult as they were just as likely to work against each other as they were to work together. 

 

Yes, he'd have to guard his blueprints carefully and hide his initial constructions from view, just to be on the safe side. 

[Eolhondras]

Roses are red, violets are blue,

Ice cream is delicious, I'd like some more please...

 

Damnation.

 

No matter how hard he tried, Eoldren just couldn't compete with Reihmer's talent for words.

Maybe tomorrow he though with a sigh, then kicked the dirt in front of him, erasing any trace of his embarrassing poetic exploits.

 

Setting off towards the kitchens, (yum yum yum) Eoldren turned his mind to the recent feeling of empowerment he'd felt in the last few days. He'd been a 'vital' part of Dalinars forces for some years now, but never before had he felt important in this way... Perhaps the chef had specifically chosen him to be the taste tester for all his new dishes? Maybe his worth had finally been recognised and he was being promoted to captain of the guard? Or ever his greatest dream was coming true, that highstorms would begin raining lemonade! Time would tell.

 

Finally he reluctantly set about surveying the other peculiar creatures inhabiting this camp. To be honest they were all pretty weird... Like that shin guy with the big furry thing? No idea what the hell that is but it looks delicious.. Then there were some horneaters, drunks, mercenaries of questionable backgrounds, but spies? Eoldren was a horrendous sleuth, but perhaps he could do some digging to pass the time. He'd have to give it some more thought.

Edited December 1, 2014 by Eolhondras

[Renegade]

Reihmer rushed into the training grounds, only to discover it was raining.  “Storming storms,” Reihmer pouted.  He saw Kaddar pass by, with a pair of guards.  Suspicious man.  Wasn’t he the one who had made that battle plan?  Reihmer feigned a smile, thrusting his spear at an imaginary target, trying to look like he was training.  Well, this stinks.  Perhaps a poem could help?  Still making sporadic spear thrusts, Reihmer spoke:

 

"Around kitchens, the hungry darkeyes sit, darkeyes hungering the kitchens around.
Stomachs empty, their eyes tear up; tearing eyes, their empty stomachs.
Food for all, and all for food,
Chouta is chouta.

 

Breathing heavily, my mouth waters; my watering mouth, my heavy breathing.
‘Tis a sign that I must eat, must I that sign a ‘tis.
Seeking food, my stomach groans; stomach my food, seeking?
I leave for snacks, hating snacks for leaving me.
What does it mean? You mean it does what?
Food for all, and all for food,
Chouta is chouta.

 

Herdazian cuisine, so sublime, I partake.  I, sublime, so cuisine Herdazians.
Wash it with Horneater drinks, for drinking Horneaters with it wash.
Food comes, food goes, it all flows; all it goes, food comes.  Food!
Delicious and brittle, brittle and delicious.
Chorus comes, come chorus!
Food for all, and all for food,
Chouta is chouta.

 

Friends come with food, with come friends.
Ripe or sour, my feeling’s never dour.  Never feeling my sour or ripe.
Sweet and tangy, I never feel mangy.  Feel!  Never I tangy and sweet.
Soulcast meat, so sweet, so meaty; Soulcast
Meat is rather neat; rather is meaty.
Food for all, and all for food,
Chouta is chouta."

 

Eh, just make what you want of that poem.  I don't have a translation for it.

 

By the time Reihmer ended the poem, many of the other darkeyes in the training grounds had stopped and turned towards him with a hungry expression.  Several of them even made a run for the mess hall.  “A good poem, isn’t it?” Reihmer asked, smiling.  Only then did he notice that a brightlord officer was striding towards him, a furious expression on his face.  Ah, crem.

 

“What have you done, soldier?” the officer said, grabbing Reihmer by the shoulders and shaking him.

 

“Um… I’ve been practicing my… erm, thespianism.”

 

“Thespianism?” the brightlord asked, cocking his head.  “Well, maybe you ought to stop acting and start doing!  You understand?”

 

“Yessir.”

 

“I’m putting you on probation, soldier.  Go clean out the chamber pots in the barracks.  And don’t take all day!  I have more important things to take care of than insubordinate darkeyes.”

 

“Yessir,” Reihmer grumbled.  He knew that making a poem to spite the brightlord would probably be a bad idea, at this point.  So, he did as he was told, sulking back into the barracks.  At least it was out of the rain.  And maybe he could start focusing on those Spies.  He hadn’t thought of it before, but he was going to end up in battle sooner or later, and he didn’t want to end up in a battle like the one that had just occurred hours ago.

[A Joe in the Bush]

I don't have time to write up an RP right now as I just got back from Thanksgiving weekend and I have somewhere to be here shortly, but I want to give the reason for this. Somehow Wyrm didn't get my name onto the list of the lighteyes, because I wasn't on there when he posted the write up. I was on the darkeyes list. I asked him about it, and he realized the error and fixed it. I'm guessing that when he wrote that write up, he was using the list he made that didn't have my name on it. Hence my lack of appearance in the tent. Nothing more conspicuous than that. You can keep the vote on me though. I don't mind.

I'd assumed it was something like that. A pre written write-up with our names just put it, but people signed up at the last minute so he added another person to the Lighteyes.

 

And since You gave me permission, I'll keep the vote on you Until Brightlady Kenara responds. Since I'm to lazy to Rp voting for somebody Else.

Edited December 1, 2014 by The Only Joe

[Mailliw73]

I've been out of town and just got back, so I'm here, but I'm pretty busy this week, so I won't be able to post as much as usual.

[Lightsworn Panda]

(Sigh). 

 

WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY AM I ON TEAM GOOD AGAIN GAAAAARGH! WHHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!

 

WHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!

 

(Cough)

 

(Sob)

 

I am frankly a bit confused about this game. Let me get this straight: There are multiple Eliminator teams, each comprised of 2 people, and they can only kill us on Highstorms?

 

Jain lay weeping on his bed. Why had he been brought back? Why had he been wrenched from his place in the Tranquiline Halls? he had been at peace there. Now he was back again.

 

Jain glared at the toy panda on the other side of the room. the innocently cute and cuddly toy smirked back. Once again, Jain could have sworn he saw a red glint in the panda's eyes.

[little wilson]

Are you suggesting that you're the Wit, Wilson? That would be hilarious. I'm not going to take your word for it though. 

 

It would be rather hilarious, wouldn't it? Especially since I was witless not too long ago. Unfortunately, no. I still lack wit.

 

Joe, I'm sorry. I still don't have time to RP. Perhaps tomorrow. We shall see. I applaud your laziness, though.

 

I'll vote Tal simply because I want to hear from luckat. And then maybe I'll vote for Macen. Or Twei. Who knows?

 

 

Why do we want the WIt to lose? And seeing as protection is maintainable, can't we have Important role X step up and claim? Then we can protect them. Also, with messenger PMs, they just lost a message with the rule change, because they would have had one at the middle of this cycle (if they wanted it). Now, everything is set back by half a cycle...

 

 

I'm not sure if you're asking if we should be targeting Wit to die, so he's out, or if we should be trying not to kill him so he loses that personal victory. I'm inclined to say you mean the latter. And I'm not sure I'd say that that's our strategy. I mean, not that we want the Wit to lose, because I don't care if he survives or dies (although I'm sure he'd prefer to die...so long as it's by Shardblade or lynch). The worry is that if he dies, whoever killed him loses their role. Or whoever was the first vote in a lynch. And I don't know about the rest of you, but I kind of like roles.They're useful. Losing them doesn't really help us. Unless it's a spy that loses it. So....that would mean lynching the Wit and hoping that a spy was the one to place the first vote.

 

Hm. I just had a sudden thought, but I'm not going to post in here because I don't want to give the spies any help. Plus, it could potentially reveal one of them. Maybe. Probably not, but possibly.

 

What role would you want to step up? I don't really see any that we would benefit from having everyone know about. Plus, who knows if the protective roles would protect them, since they might not trust them. The only role that's definitely good is Wit. And we don't want the spies knowing who that is. Because their kill on him is the only one that gets rid of him without causing any damage at all. Or giving him his personal victory. So I'd say we should keep our roles close to us, rather than ask for such-and-such role to step forward.

 

It's not really set back by a half-cycle. Sure, the messenger has to wait to get a message through, but they'll have the entire next cycle to talk to the person, and then they can start a PM with someone else if they want to. It's unfortunate, but we should be talking in the thread anyway, and PMs are so limited that unless the Messenger is someone like Meta, it won't really matter too much what goes on in the background. Not that they shouldn't use it to communicate. We do need some background communication. But the fact that it's a little delayed isn't much of an issue.

 

I am frankly a bit confused about this game. Let me get this straight: There are multiple Eliminator teams, each comprised of 2 people, and they can only kill us on Highstorms?

 

Highstorms are the one time they can't kill us. Each team (I think there's two teams, so four eliminators) picks one target each cycle. During Highstorm-cycles, no eliminator kill goes through. During Skirmish-cycles, one random eliminator kill goes through. So, flip a coin, that person dies. During battles-cycles, all eliminator kills go through (assuming none of the killers are action-blocked).

 

You're not the only one confused. I was rather confused too. And then I wrote down all the rules and stuff in my spreadsheet. And everything sort of clicked into place. It's still a little confusing though. There's a lot going on. A lot to keep track of. It'll definitely be interesting.

[Alvron]

What role would you want to step up? I don't really see any that we would benefit from having everyone know about. Plus, who knows if the protective roles would protect them, since they might not trust them. The only role that's definitely good is Wit. And we don't want the spies knowing who that is. Because their kill on him is the only one that gets rid of him without causing any damage at all. Or giving him his personal victory. So I'd say we should keep our roles close to us, rather than ask for such-and-such role to step forward.

 

Highstorms are the one time they can't kill us. Each team (I think there's two teams, so four eliminators) picks one target each cycle. During Highstorm-cycles, no eliminator kill goes through. During Skirmish-cycles, one random eliminator kill goes through. So, flip a coin, that person dies. During battles-cycles, all eliminator kills go through (assuming none of the killers are action-blocked).

Agree with you on the roles not being revealed yet but something to consider is that once a Shardblade is awarded we will know a 'safe' player and can then have the protectors keep them alive as long as possible.

 

Disagree on the number of spies though.  I think that four is too few.  As they don't know who the other teams are then there is a chance that they could kill each other which is something they don't want.  I think there is six or maybe eight spies, that seems more balanced.

[Kasimir]

Kaddar lay in his hammock, wondering why he'd thought playing the darkeyes was amusing. Oh right, he thought, because people get killed when I actually play the Brightlord. Nirn and Hulin were sleeping, wings tucked in.
 
Storming Sadeas. All Kaddar had done was to report the man's strategy. "What a riddle, eh?" he said aloud, although his chickens certainly couldn't hear him. "And one certainly answered by a spy among us." The only question was who; the answer to the riddle, as it were.
 
He put that riddle aside to ripen, and came back to the one of the Ryshadium. "Name the Ryshadium that carries Alethkar on his back." No, not quite. He'd have to worry at it a little more, leave the other riddle aside for the time being.
 
-
 
So, as I mentioned in sign-ups, my last exam is on Friday, after which I'll be able to be a lot more helpful about things. Also, today's my birthday and I'm spending it revising and trying to find a thesis topic as my deadline is tomorrow. Only reason I'm saying this is as a reminder: my level of busywork is pretty high at the moment. Therefore, I'll be minimally active at the moment.
 
Main thought I have to supply at this point is that things will be somewhat tricky this game as the teams of Eliminators won't know each other: it's also open as to how cooperatively they want to play since they can win together but otherwise, their goal is rather open. So that's something we need to assess as well--that will tell us what useful strategies for identifying the teams are.
 
King: I just want to confirm this for once and for all--does each team of Eliminators get in one kill each per skirmish, or is it one kill in total? (I know what your rules say, but you were previously somewhat vague on that point, so I'd like to seek clarification proper on how to interpret those rules.)

[Wyrmhero]

King: I just want to confirm this for once and for all--does each team of Eliminators get in one kill each per skirmish, or is it one kill in total? (I know what your rules say, but you were previously somewhat vague on that point, so I'd like to seek clarification proper on how to interpret those rules.)

 

There will only be one kill per Skirmish due to the Eliminator teams. Each Cycle, every Eliminator team can choose a player to add to the potential deaths this Cycle. The player killed in this way during a Skirmish will be chosen at random from all the players chosen in this way. Note that if a player is chosen twice by an Eliminator team, they will have twice the chance to die. Eliminators on this list who are facing their own army will be ignored. In a Battle, all viable targets chosen by Eliminator teams will die.

[twelfthrootoftwo]

Torwel scowled at the rainspren in front of him, before bringing his foot down squarely on its one eye. Nothing but a splash and then solid rock. He kept walking. No point looking back; it would still be standing there, mocking his attempts to express his frustration at the weather. One of these puddles, the storming thing would break under his boot, or so he told himself.

 

Not that he disliked the rain. Rain was fine, as long as you weren't in it. Quite nice to watch through the tavern window, with a warm hearth and a fragrant mug of lavis ale. Yes, ale was fragrant; you just had to attune -

 

Stop that. No point making himself more annoyed at his long post at the watchman's tower. He'd be under cover once he got there - not that it would do much good, being already soaked to the bone. Maybe the rain was an omen? He'd heard rumours of spies in the camp. Perhaps the Stormfather was sending a message.

 

The non-RP version:

 

It is Raining.

 

Is this important?

 

Also: we learn role and alignment after death - does that include an indication of which team a spy belongs to? We can use this to assess how coordinated they are after a few successful lynches.

 

The only role that's definitely good is Wit. And we don't want the spies knowing who that is. Because their kill on him is the only one that gets rid of him without causing any damage at all.

My understanding was that the spy would also lose their role...?

 

I'm inclined to agree with Alvron on the spy numbers. Since they don't know each others' identities, there will probably be a decent amount of friendly fire between the teams. My gut feeling is that there's six, rather than eight, mostly because the first four deaths being villagers seems unlikely, but not impossible.

[Kasimir]

"Well," Kaddar said, to no one in particular, "Try this one, Nirn.
 
'A forest on the move, that does not grow
A vast thicket of thorns that lighteyes scorn.
To those who meet us we bring but sorrow
Know us and name us; we rise with the dawn.'"
 
A sleepy squawk. "You can't sleep all day, you know. Even though that's something I'd quite like to do myself. Riding into battle...I think I'm getting too old for that."
 
A baleful eye glanced at him, before Hulin tucked her head back under her wing.
 
Kaddar sighed. "Everyone's a critic these days, it seems." He rocked the hammock. The breeze was...pleasant, and the tent gave him some shelter from the rain. I miss the rain, he thought. And marching. And all of the things that came with just being a spearman in one of the companies in the Kholin army.
 
Now, they were all supposed to find the spies in Dalinar's army. As well ask them to find a button amongst grains of sand. Kaddar shook his head. The Blackthorn wouldn't like being told that it couldn't be done, and he did have a feeling that if they didn't find the spies, it would be the end of them. Self-preservation, he mused, was generally a good reason to do things. Of course, it didn't make it the right thing to do. But that was another basket of painspren altogether.
 
"What shall we do, Hulin? Hmm?"
 
-
 
Thanks, King. One last thought I had that popped up: what are we going to do about the secret Lighteyes vote? There are clearly about five of us, and we don't know how many among the five of us are spies. For that matter, we don't even know if one of us is the Wit: recall that the Heterochromic is a Darkeyes with a Lighteyes role. And it would be just like King to troll us by putting a Heterochromic as Wit, and then laugh at whoever the poor sod who lynched the Wit is.
 
So, as I'm seeing it, we have five Lighteyes, none of whom we can be sure of (obviously, I know I'm not a spy, but that reason is inaccessible to all of you, and I'm speaking from a public reason sort of perspective here) which means that if all of us are voting at once, there won't be a draw, and the Blackthorn's vote will go onto someone. If none of us vote, then we could essentially give any Lighteyes Spies a free extra vote to throw onto someone and attempt to cause a lynch. Perhaps that is not much of a threat, but I thought I'd table the issue anyway: are we going to block that? Do we want the Lighteyes to vote for particular people in order to cancel out their votes and not have shenanigans? Are we free to vote? Etc.
 
My initial impulse was not to do a secret vote at all, but because of the concern of Spies among us (I'm pretty sure that there is at least one or two of us who are Spies), that might just leave things open to a spy-driven lynch. (And maybe we mightn't find that a problem: I know in past games, we've sometimes tried to tie votes and wait for the Eliminators to mess with them, but I reckon such a strategy becomes much harder when we have five people, and two to four teams within the sample of five to account for.) It would be nice to hope that the Spies end up cancelling each other out, but I feel this is a possibility that needs to be addressed, so I just brought it up for discussion.

 

Edited for spelling.

Edited December 1, 2014 by Kasimir

[Wyrmhero]

Is this important?

 

Also: we learn role and alignment after death - does that include an indication of which team a spy belongs to? We can use this to assess how coordinated they are after a few successful lynches.

 

It isn't important, I was just curious as to how long it'd take for someone to ask . It hints towards there being a Highstorm in the future, but you all already knew there was one coming anyway. Aside from clarifications, all the rules are in the first post. And yes, the information drop on death will also include the team the spy belongs to - I classify that under Alignment.

[Kasimir]

King: I do have a second clarification. From what you're saying, this is my understanding of how the Spy kill works. Please correct me if I'm wrong. I am going to make some assumptions in order to explain the mechanics of the Spy kill, and I acknowledge that your correcting my mistakes (if any) will not say anything about the number of Spy teams, or any of my other assumptions. This is purely done for explanatory purposes and it is simply an assumption.
 
[ASSUMPTION 1]: 2 Spy teams.
[ASSUMPTION 2]: Skirmishes on Week 1, 2, 3
 
Week 1: Skirmish, Spy Team A selects Person X, Spy Team B selects Person Y. Y is randomly selected for death.
People remaining on the Sabotage List: X.

Week 2: Skirmish, Spy Team A selects Person X, Spy Team B selects Person Z. Z is randomly selected for death, against the odds.
People remaining on the Sabotage List: X, X.

Week 3: Skirmish, Spy Team A selects Person H, Spy Team B selects Person M. H is randomly selected for death, against the odds.
People remaining on the Sabotage List: X, X, M.
 
Basically, my questions can be separated into two questions-categories:
1. Do entries on the Sabotage List from previous days carry over until the person dies or the game ends? Is the only way entries are removed from the Death Note List upon death? What happens if said person has been protected from death in that particular cycle--are they still on the List or does that merit their removal from it?
 
2. If a person has been selected twice by a Spy Team, can we roughly read it as their having two entries on the List? Can this 'being selected twice' happen over two Cycles, or does this only occur when Team A and B (in this toy scenario) both select the same person for death?
 
Thanks, King! I greatly appreciate your patience in dealing with the clarifications.
 
P.S. Yes, guys, I am busy. I am also a procrastinator, but I really need to get back to work now >>

[Wyrmhero]

At the end of each Combat, someone off the list will die. Everyone who took part in that battle (so everyone except Lighteyes who skipped it) will then have their equipment replaced and be removed from the list of possible deaths. Surviving a death will also remove you from the list. The only time someone is carried over to the next Cycle is if they skip a combat.

 

If a player is selected twice by Eliminators before they take part in a battle (so a Lighteyes skips a battle and is Sabotaged twice in a row, or multiple teams select the same person for Sabotage), then they will have two entries on the list, and thus twice the chance of dying in a Skirmish.

[Mckeedee123]

Mek marched westward, watching rain pour from the sky. Not a Highstorm, unfortunately. This precipitation lacked the vitality he was accustomed to, but made up for it in resilience. It had been going on for days, like a miniature weeping. The patter of rain was accompanied by the constant beat of over ten thousand soldiers marching in step, heading to the border of Highprinces Sadeas and Vamah.

 

Though the Kholin army's objectives weren't completely clear, they would likely end up in a small engagement with Vamah by the end of the week. Things would go well. Probably. The only reason they might lose the engagement was those saboteurs. Yesterday, one of the army's new experimental mobile bridges had been damaged by an arsonist. The boy who had been assigned to watch them had been murdered. The rain had kept the bridge from being completely destoyed, but the fire had still made it permanently unusable. Meller had been enraged, though Mek wondered what was so important about a storming bridge. It's not like we're fighting on the storming Shattered Plains. Armies in Alethkar have managed just fine using the storming permanent bridges already in storming place.

 

He looked back toward the rest of his squad. For the hundredth time, he thought about what a strange crew they were. Reihmer was there, whispering poetry to himself, The Way of Kin... Wok marching behind. Newan was asking Odysa if she would drown him in one of the rain-filled pools next to the road, as Aonaran fingered his mysterious wooden case. Eoldren kept tasting the rain and muttering "nope, not yet." 

 

Well, if one of them was a spy, the skirmish coming this week would help to smoke them out. He turned back around, excited for the battle, and marched onward towards Alethkar's future

Edited December 1, 2014 by mckeedee123

[luckat]

I’m sorry I didn’t post yesterday. I don’t have a lot of time this morning, so I haven’t read the thread as thoroughly as I’d like. I’ll just put down a few thoughts.

I agree that it seems most likely that there’s six spies in this game.

Since they don’t know who the other teams are, leaving voting up to their manipulation won’t give us much good information. If we want to be sure of a lynch, we’ll have to plan for both squad leaders and the lighteye votes.

I’ve got to go now. I’ll try to get something more substantial up later.

[little wilson]

My understanding was that the spy would also lose their role...?

 

I'm inclined to agree with Alvron on the spy numbers. Since they don't know each others' identities, there will probably be a decent amount of friendly fire between the teams. My gut feeling is that there's six, rather than eight, mostly because the first four deaths being villagers seems unlikely, but not impossible.

 

Well, the Wit's personal victory only happens if he's lynched and dies or is killed by Shardblade. Death in combat doesn't matter. I was under the impression that it's only in those two scenarios when his ability to make the person who killed him lose his/her role kicks in. So the only time a spy would lose his/her role would be if they were the first to put the vote on the Wit.

 

As for the number of spies. I was running off something I heard pre-game: that unless we got 5 more players (this was before Meta and luckat joined), we probably wouldn't have a third team. I agree that 4 is rather low. However, 6 is a little high for 20 players in the game, even with the possibility of friendly fire. A lot of that has to do with strategy anyway, and I'd imagine that the spies are going to be playing a little more on the cautious side of targeting just to keep the chance of hitting another spy as a bare minimum (ie targeting the players who have shown themselves to be more than likely allied with Dalinar rather than targeting players who are somewhere in the middle ground). Unless they want to go full-traitor mode and take the win for just their team of spies, not caring about the other teams. I kind of doubt they'll do that though. 2 against 18 is rather wretched. Especially when there are other eliminators out there.

 

Which means that players who are outspoken and indicate that they're aligned with Dalinar aren't likely to last very long. In retrospect, I should've considered that last night before I posted that second time. I'm fairly worried now. Ah, well. Hindsight. I'm pretty sure I'm going to get targeted today, and if that happens, whatever.

 

The idea that I had yesterday that I didn't want to post in the thread was about voting. Until the Wit dies, the lynch is the only way the spies could lose their roles (if I'm right about a sabotage kill on the Wit not affecting the Spy who killed him). Watch the vote very closely. And I don't mean shenanigans after it. I mean retractions, vote switching, and band wagons. Pay attention to the order of them. If a band wagon starts and the person who initially placed the vote on the band-wagoner retracts their vote, they could be a spy. Or it could be someone who didn't want to start a bandwagon. Or any number of other things. The point is to watch the people who do that. Keep an eye on them afterwards. If they get into a habit of it, the odds go up of their spy-ness.

 

Of course, now that I've brought this up, they're going to be less likely to do that. Falling more into the middle of votes. Possibly not even taking part in lynches at all, just to avoid detection that way. Still, while the Wit is alive, pay attention to the votes. I'll be watching as well, but I don't have high hopes of surviving this game. I'm pretty sure I'm dead either today or tomorrow, and my skipping combat today isn't likely to save my life. Nor would I request protection from anyone, since I'm not worth saving. It's a well-known fact I'm better on team evil than I am on team good.

 

Also, Tal. And now, Macen.

 

Oh, and one clarification for Wyrm: during skirmishes, when choosing the random target, is the random factor the spy team or the target? Meaning, are you choosing randomly which spy team is successful with their sabotage or are you choosing which target gets sabotaged? There may not seem like much of a difference between the two at first glance, but if you get two spy teams who choose the same target, if it's the spy team that's randomly chosen, an Officer could potentially block the spy team from successfully sabotaging the target. If it's the target that's chosen, there are two spy teams doing it, so no matter what (unless you've got an Officer and a Surgeon/Guardsman working in tandem) the sabotage will go through.

[Wyrmhero]

Assorted clarifications:

 

• The Officer's roleblock on a Darkeyes can stop the player from being Sabotaged. Therefore, they will not be on the list from that team in the first place, and hence they won't be one of the choices, unless they skipped the previous battle or another team has it out for them.
• The Officer's roleblock can stop any Role, Spy or Shardblade action. They cannot stop messages in progress. They can roleblock the Scout, and they do affect Heterochromics.
• Heterochromics have a Lighteyed Role (Wit, Surgeon, Officer or Swordsman) but do not get to take part in the Lighteyed vote or skip battles.
• The Wit's death in battle has no effect on the Spy who Sabotaged him.
• Guardsmen cannot protect themselves. They require a Knight Radiant for that.

 

Also, somehow I forgot to mention the more important things...

• The army must kill all the Spies for a Good win. The Spies must collectively outnumber the other players for a joint Evil win.
• There must be two votes on a player for them to be lynched, and tied votes will prevent the lynch from happening.
• A tie in the Lighteyed vote will mean that Dalinar will be indecisive and abstain from voting.

[Macen]

I don't have much time - working and busy. But, I would like to say hi, and that I'm alive. Thanksgiving tried to put me in a food-coma, but I prevailed *victory cheer*.

I am going to vote for Jost, simply because he was such a chull to me in our meeting with Dalinar. Rude.

I'll try to get some RP'ing in with my MAce and Medallion later, but I don't have time at the moment.

Wyrm, can MAce give me any super powers!? Pretty please! I mean, since I'm Lighteyes and all, it wouldn't be hard to RP having shardplate and a ShardHammer ShardMAce.

Edited December 1, 2014 by Macen

[little wilson]

Macen.

 

And with that, we now have only two people who have not checked in at all. Odysa and Damon. Winter Cloud/pir2h hasn't been on since the game started, so that explains why she hasn't checked in. But Jasnah has totally been on. Multiple times. Now, since there aren't any PM's going on right now in this game, there's no reason for her to be feigning inactivity. So, Damon. Care to check in? 

[the winter system]

Okay! I'm back. Was a little busy yesterday finishing up NANOWRIMO. However, now that the 50,000 word mark has been crossed, I am all ready to do some Sanderson Elimination! I agree with Oookla. If Jasnah's been on and has not even said a 'I'm too busy to do a long post right now' explication for why she is not posting, but is still reading, then I want to know why!

 

RP time!

 

     Odysa trudged through the mud. She hated the mud. It had been a while sense she was in the mud, she had spent a long time in the desert tracking a couple of targets down. Why had she decided to pose as a mercenary? It was a dirty job. She kicked at a puddle. Her eyes looked around. Brown eyes, brown mud, brown trees. She trudged through the mud.

    Filthy mud. So disgusting. She looked up at the clouds. Her clothes stuck to her body. She marched in a line of spearmen. Other people looked at her briefly, then glanced away. She took her time, wading through the thick cold mud. Odysa gazed around, her eyes catching on certain people longer than others.

   Odysa's gloves were soaked through. She did not mind, her people were beyond the safehand tradition. It would bother others, though. And her hand was cold. She reached into her Blackthorn uniform and pulled out an extra pair of gloves. These were warmer, at least she hoped. Mud. Cool mud that soaked her boots. It was wet and cold and miserable. Odysa would have preferred a highstorm to a dark grey cloud above the sky.

   "Mud." She muttered. "The most annoying substance here."

   "Shut up." That earned her a cold glare from a squadron leader.

   "Never mind." Odysa continued to trudge through the mud. "Just mud and rain and an endless landscape."

 

EDIT: Forgot a ", added it. 

Edited December 1, 2014 by Winter Cloud