Mid-Range Game 10: Divided Loyalties

[little wilson]

….Can assassins stalk dead players (stake out their grave or something) to find out if they are elsecalled?

 

They cannot. The only people who can target the dead are the Elsecallers, Lightweavers, and Scholars. (Lightweavers can Illuminate an action from a dead person to a living person and therefore the Elsecaller/Scholar would not succeed with their action if they targeted that dead person).

[Kynedath]

Also I had a thought about stink’s claims.

What if he really is a runner, and is in contact with an assassin who has witnessed Aonar and Kipper target whoever the assassin followed. If then it was revealed that who was followed was actually attacked by diagramists (for example Haelbarde and Venture) then that would imply that whoever targeted the person followed was actually a diagramist (unless the person followed was targeted by multiple actions but still). So that's my current theory.

Possible but we have no proof of it until STINK says that it's true. Even then, it's a shaky house to live in. But we are trusting that right now, STINK is actually a runner, so trusting another one of his claims isn't that far fetched.

 

I have already stated my (albeit meager) reasons for not voting STINK, but at this point, I don't feel like voting Feligion would get me any good feelings. Voting right before roll-over, for someone who is already under heavy vote fire, and my vote could be the turning vote on him? That would not be the ideal situation to find yourself in. I would vote for him at this point, for reasons that I will state next cycle, but I want to let him defend himself first, not vote for him at the last minute, not letting him even see that I had voted for him.

[STINK]

5 minutes until you all get to see my PMs! How exciting!

 

EDIT! 

 

Feligon (yes he is active)

Zas (all hail)

Adavantos (he is writing something right now)

Shallan (mhm)

Kasimir (why?)

 

EDIT2: Also, no shenanigans with votes. STINK. Regular Runner

Edited December 21, 2015 by IrulelikeSTINK

[Amanuensis]

Feligon

For the record, I'm trying to save Stink because I believe he is innocent and because I personally think it's important to keep Runners alive. Also I should say that this has nothing to do with me not wanting him to reveal that we have a PM together. I can explain this more later, but like this time last cycle my time is short.

[STINK]

Nope.

[little wilson]

Time's up!

[little wilson]

Cycle Five: Spoiled Broth

It was the stench that first tipped Krippe off.

He’d once been postmaster in Highprince Roion’s warcamp, overseeing the various runners and messengers, making sure that the transactions of information flowed and proceeded exactly as they were supposed to: seamlessly and punctually. Despite Roion’s untimely death, Krippe had managed to find himself made one of the several postmaster in Urithiru, and had set about memorising the layout of his assigned sector with grim determination.

During his morning and evening rounds, Krippe had come to ascertain certain facts.

First, no one had seen Kholak Bagar in days. For all the man had been assigned a set of quarters in Urithiru, no one seemed to have seen hide nor hair of the man; nor had anyone even been able to confirm that Bagar had even moved to Urithiru in the first place. It happened; resettling the Alethi warcamps into Urithiru was a logistical nightmare, and he’d been asked to deliver letters to people who weren’t even in Urithiru, on occasion. And it wasn’t unknown for a Highprince’s soldiers or camp followers to decide they were better off on the Shattered Plains or making a run for it than heading down to Urithiru. Or perhaps Bagar belonged to one of the hold-outs.

There were so many possibilities, and each time Krippe stared at the post accumulating underneath Bagar’s door, he felt a faint prickle of curiosity.

Second, in the past few days, he’d begun to detect a certain stink. At first, he wasn’t certain about where it had originated from, but as time went on, he was increasingly sure that it had come from Bagar’s room. Which wasn’t good.

Third, life as one of Urithiru’s postmasters, nominally under the pay of the new Highprince Roion, was singularly boring and unexciting.

He kicked in the door.

All right, technically, he’d bludgeoned it repeatedly with a mace, but Krippe told himself that he’d tell everyone else that he’d kicked the door down. He sounded more formidable that way. He stepped over the pile of accumulating unread mail and continued on it.

Almost immediately, the stench threatened to overpower him. With his stomach doing somersaults and his gorge rising, Krippe made his way carefully into the room. Everything was untouched, he noticed. Bagar lived sparsely and had few keepsakes; some of his belongings had yet to be unpacked.

Dust had settled everywhere. No one, as far as Krippe could see, had entered the room, before he had. Before, Krippe thought, the killer had.

He took one more step, but he’d already known what he was going to see, before he’d actually seen it.

The eyeless corpse of Kholak Bagar grinned at him, blue-tinged lips peeled back in a grimace. Worms wriggled in its eye-sockets.

Screw that, Krippe thought. He was vaguely aware that someone was retching; that he was kneeling on the ground, and finally, that he was the one losing his breakfast.

-

Had someone else stumbled upon Kholak’s body, the matter might have been handled with a greater measure of discretion. As it was, a pale and sweating Krippe stumbled into the dining hall and announced, to the entire world, as it was, that he had discovered Kholak Bagar’s body in his own room and that Kholak’s eyes, true to form, had been gouged out.

“Krippe and Arran Faenel did it,” John Doe declared immediately, in a voice that was meant to carry.

“And what evidence do you have for that?” Elba wanted to know. “Do sit down,” she told John. “The rest of us are eating, here.”

“I have my reasons,” John Doe said, with a mysterious smile. “I’ve been running messages throughout Urithiru, remember?”

The others weren’t so convinced. “It’d be just like one of those killers,” someone else muttered. “Accusing without evidence, and trying to turn us against them so we’d do your dirty work for you. We didn’t fall off the chouta cart yesterday, Doe!”

“Well, as I’m sure we can all agree,” Elba said, “The recent spate of murders is highly unsettling. But John, you’re not helping matters like this, with wild, unfounded accusations. The last thing we need is panic here.”

“He’s suspicious,” Sheon Idris stated. The man folded arms tight with corded muscle. He had the bearing of a warrior, or a leader. It was hard to say which, with Sheon. “I say he did it. It’s easy to pin the blame on someone else, and he’s not even doing it well.” He stood up.

Bort snorted. “It’s ten broams to a beardnut that he did it,” he said. “The man’s got something out for the two of them. It’s as plain as Stormlight. Maybe he’s been reading their messages; maybe they’ve got something on the killers and he wants to stop them. There’s only one way to be sure.”

The mob advanced on John Doe, reaching for belt-knives and swords and anything ready to hand. For some reason, John Doe stood fast, refusing to run.

“I’m a runner,” he agreed. “And I’m not the killers.”

He seemed to look at each of them in the eye, as they approached him. “I’m sorry if you think I am. But my reasons are my own.”

He was pelted with a series of improvised missiles, including a variety of beardnuts, and severely beaten up before someone took pity on him and ended his life with a swift slash across his throat.

-

In the ensuing chaos, no one noticed the boy making his way across the dining hall, carefully looking at seating places. As one of the servers in Urithiru, he had a good memory for faces, and he’d been quick to memorise who was seated where.

Ordinarily, Fenar wouldn’t have bothered with a task like this. But they were paying him good money to bring the men in question a special order from the chef, and the way he saw it, the kitchens were going to be docking his pay for the ruined broth anyway. He badly needed the chance to make some money on the side.

Expertly, he wove his way through the crowd, balancing the tray of special desserts and sweetmeats on his non-dominant hand. He knew better than to pilfer one, though. Cook’d beat him, and he knew what happened to men who ate the specials.

Citona Vinid was easy enough; she had a distinctive way of sitting, and a face that stood out in a crowd. He left the tempting dessert on her plate and moved on. For Krippe, he feigned the unobstrusive server.

“Wine, sir?”

Krippe looked at it and shook his head.

“You look like you could use it, sir,” Fenar said. “Cook made it special with spices to steady your stomach. Said you looked like someone’d walked over your grave.”

“That’s what I feel like,” Krippe muttered. “Stormfather, I never want to see something like that again. His body was a right mess.” Another task done; Fenar gracefully extricated himself, and headed back towards the tables.

The last customer was the most difficult. For some reason, Fenar could’ve sworn that they’d always chosen a place towards the far end of the hall. And yet he’d seen them early on, sitting where Malarn customarily was.

He shrugged. He wasn’t being paid to question the seating choices of people, Fenar thought, philosophically. He was just the hands and legs and eyes, as it were.

He deposited the final sweetmeat on the last plate, and left the dining hall, moving at a brisk pace.

Maybe he’d find out that Cook’d managed to work some culinary miracle and salvage the ruined broth. Then he wouldn’t have to be paying for his inattentiveness out of his wages, and he’d get to keep the bonus from this assignment too.

All in all, it’d been a good evening, Fenar thought. A very good evening indeed.
 

---

John Doe (5) : Aleral, Krippe, Sheon Idris, Bort, Elba
Frank Au Faliu (3) : Agrigar Leiken, Malarn, Torren
Krippe (1) : John Doe
Cla (1) : Lopen

John Doe (irulelikeSTINK) was lynched!
Malarn (Mailliw73) was poisoned!
Shallan was poisoned!
Krippe (Kipper) was poisoned!
Kholak Bagar (Honey Badger) was killed by the Diagrammists!

 

Player List

 

1. Seixa (Phattemer): A man who believes he's a Skybreaker Squire
2. John Doe (Stink): A man who thinks he's a fish
3. Locke Tekiel (Orlok)
4. Agrigar Leiken (Adavantos)
5. Aleral (Araris)
6. Kholak Bagar (Honey Badger)
7. Alycia Kavdar (RippleGylf)
8. Walter Kysley (polking): an Azish soldier
9. Krippe (Kipper): a Urithiru postmaster
10. Malarn (Maill): a man who stinks
11. Sheon Idris (Seonid): the late King of Arelon, seeking vengeance on Mr T and his adherents. I pity da fool.
12. Baheal Edr (Hael): son of the late Ableah
13. Yallah (Tony Shark)
14. Arran Faenel (Aonar)
15. Hellscythe (Hellscythe)
16. Deadeye (Kynedath)
17. Slalassalas (Paranoid King): swordfighter who's "defeated" many Horneaters
18. Kael of the Forge (Elkanah): an eager emigrant
19. Frank "Gold Frank" Au Faliu (Feligon): a pirate with an nonflying(?) pirate ship, looking for his brother
20. Starri (Starry Smite): an overlooked brightlady
21. Citona Vinid (Shallan)
22. Arina (Arraenae)
23. Torren (Twei): an ex-Skybreaker Radiant, ditched by his spren 
24. Inor Haze (Creccio)
25. Maximilianos Sebarial (Venture)
26. Lopen (The Mighty Lopen)
27. Jain (Lightsworn Panda): a walking, talking panda
28. Moros (DeathClutch)
29. Edurams (Sart)
30. Bort (Bort)
31. Mace (Mace Windu): a strange man who wields a purple sword-thing
32. Ashei Ghetti (Burnt Spaghetti)
33. Cla (Clanky)
34. Elba (Elbereth)
35. Zas (Zas): a creative shoemaker seeking flesh for new shoes
36. Lorna (Alvron): a huntress

Edited November 2, 2016 by Alvron

[Seonid]

Well that was an interesting cycle. I can reveal that Shallan was a Runner or the Bondsmith. And also that she was inactive enough that she hadn't checked our PM in 3 days. So unfortunately, I don't know who else she had a PM with. Wish I could give you more.

[RippleGylf]

I wish I could help more, but we just don't know anything.

[Kynedath]

I wish I could help more, but we just don't know anything.

I agree, we need to know more. In this game especially, we need to have information. I have noticed a very significant drop in the amount of posts and ideas, and I think that it is mostly due to the most active players being killed off. We just lost Mail, who was one of the main contributors to the discussion. If we don't start talking amongst ourselves, then we can't find the eliminators and we can't win. I am imploring the inactives to start speaking up.

 

I think that I have a moderate idea of the workings of the active players, but I have no idea what the inactive ones are doing. I can't know what they are doing and that makes me very suspicious. I know that this is my first game, but if I were an eliminator, then I would try to lay low and not draw any attention to myself. I am, for now, going to attack the inactives. Orlok, you are the one that I find the least contributive at this point and I would like to know why you are not participating in the discussion very much.

Edited December 21, 2015 by Kynedath

[Paranoid King]

The result returned from scanning Starri was:

 

Son of Honor Cook

[Araris Valerian]

Well, that means that we either had 4 cooks originally, or that Transformation was used. I personally suspect transformation, because I think that there are/were 3 cooks, one for each team (and we have never seen 4 poisoning attempts in one cycle, although that is a bit circumstantial).

 

Also, it appears my vote was changed, because it was definitely on Feligon before. I am going to leave my vote there for this cycle, since I find it suspicious he has been active in Pms but not the thread. Also, I am going to be offline until Wednesday, so good luck guys. Don't eat the soup! (or do, if you're a diagramist)

[Elkanah]

Since our need for information is at its apex, I will reveal that Malarn was an assassin and Kipper was a scholar. Both were members of the faction they claimed.

Please don't shoot the messenger. I think it's better to spread around any info I can find. Especially now that we're down by a scholar.

[Kynedath]

Since our need for information is at its apex, I will reveal that Malarn was an assassin and Kipper was a scholar. Both were members of the faction they claimed.

Please don't shoot the messenger. I think it's better to spread around any info I can find. Especially now that we're down by a scholar.

May I ask why you know this and how we can trust you? No offense, I'm just trying to be careful.

[Paranoid King]

Well, that means that we either had 4 cooks originally, or that Transformation was used. I personally suspect transformation, because I think that there are/were 3 cooks, one for each team (and we have never seen 4 poisoning attempts in one cycle, although that is a bit circumstantial).

Starri wasn't very active before, was she? I imagine she could have been a cook that just hasn't been around to kill anyone, right?

 

I'm saying this because I really want my result not to have been transformed. I hate not being able to trust my data.

[Elkanah]

May I ask why you know this and how we can trust you? No offense, I'm just trying to be careful.

Yeah you're fine.

I was in contact with Maill through a chain of command pm. After we were relatively sure of each other, we exchanged roles.

Kipper's role I determined using mine. I'd rather keep that secret for the time being if that's okay. Just let it be known I'm sure of both roles. I don't know if kipper was a diagrammist or not though.

[Orlok Tsubodai]

Kynadeth, you make a fair point about my lack of contribution - to which I must turn to my being away with my family.

I shall be contributing far more in the immediate future.

Part of my delay has been considering this:

I am Thaidakar.

Hael was one of my commanders.

I'm going to call out Twie as a potential voice in the diagrammists - and would be interested in other's thoughts on their alignment.

Could Ghostblood runners please contact me, and of course, any protection that can be granted would be of great use!

[Kynedath]

I can definitely understand being with family this near to christmas. I am interested in why you think that Twei is evil. I hope that you can post more often after christmas. Orlok unless you give me reason otherwise.

 

Phattemer is also very inactive and I don't think that I can remember the last time he posted. Please explain your lack of contribution.

[Feligon]

So, I've tried to post a few times, but I keep forgetting to hit post after typing it all out, my pm's aren't really going anywhere, but I did have a few suspicions.  Turns out they were not evil (so far as the scans can be trusted)so I'm just trying to open pms with as many people as I can.

[Elkanah]

Creccio, would you mind letting us know the ranks of those sons of honor who have died? I think any information we can gather at this point will help us out.

I like your contribution crusade idea, Kyndath. I'd like to hear more from [red]Deathclutch[/red]. I don't think he's posted since the first day.

Edited for clarity

Edited December 21, 2015 by Elkanah

[RippleGylf]

Creccio, would you mind letting us know the ranks of those sons of honor who have died? I think any information we can gather at this point will help us out.

I like your contribution crusade idea, Kyndath. I'd like to hear more from [red]Deathclutch[/red]. I don't think he's posted since the first day.

Edited for clarity

 

Emphasis mine. Contribution crusade is a bad thing. More often than not, it deflects attention from eliminators to inactive innocents. Even if we knew the identities of the inactives after they die, it doesn't give us any information. Lynching lurkers, I can understand, but lynching people who haven't posted isn't going to help. So, Kynedath for now.

 

Edit for vote retraction.

Edited December 22, 2015 by RippleGylf

[Mailliw73]

Creccio, would you mind letting us know the ranks of those sons of honor who have died? I think any information we can gather at this point will help us out.

I like your contribution crusade idea, Kyndath. I'd like to hear more from [red]Deathclutch[/red]. I don't think he's posted since the first day.

Edited for clarity

The coding is [ color=red] [ /color] without the spaces.

[Elbereth]

Well, that means that we either had 4 cooks originally, or that Transformation was used. I personally suspect transformation, because I think that there are/were 3 cooks, one for each team (and we have never seen 4 poisoning attempts in one cycle, although that is a bit circumstantial).

We know for a fact that there were 4 (or more, though that's unlikely) cooks at the beginning of the game. All roles are distributed equally between the two factions, without regard to who's a Diagrammist and who isn't. Therefore there has to be an even number of every role, half for the Ghostbloods and half for the Sons of Honor.

Personally, I'm inclined to trust this reading. It makes sense. There have never been 4 kills in a cycle, which points to an inactive cook (though there are other scenarios as well).

I am not happy about losing Starry, but I am much less happy to lose Shallan and Stink in the same cycle. Two Runners (one of whom could have been a Bondsmith) have already died. This is not good (though mitigated by the position PMs).

I'm also not happy about losing Kipper, if Elkanah's telling the truth. There goes one Scholar, one more link to information. Storm it.

Speaking of Scholars, Aonar, who did yours target?

[TheMightyLopen]

We know for a fact that there were 4 (or more, though that's unlikely) cooks at the beginning of the game. All roles are distributed equally between the two factions, without regard to who's a Diagrammist and who isn't. Therefore there has to be an even number of every role, half for the Ghostbloods and half for the Sons of Honor.

Personally, I'm inclined to trust this reading. It makes sense. There have never been 4 kills in a cycle, which points to an inactive cook (though there are other scenarios as well).

I am not happy about losing Starry, but I am much less happy to lose Shallan and Stink in the same cycle. Two Runners (one of whom could have been a Bondsmith) have already died. This is not good (though mitigated by the position PMs).

I'm also not happy about losing Kipper, if Elkanah's telling the truth. There goes one Scholar, one more link to information. Storm it.

Speaking of Scholars, Aonar, who did yours target?

 

I don't think all roles are distributed evenly between factions. Just KR roles, with the exception of the Bondsmith. Unless I missed something, which is possible.

 

I'm not sure what the heck the Cooks are doing to be honest, and with the results of this Cycle, it really seems like there is a Diagrammist Cook. With the way the game has progressed, it just doesn't seem like a good idea to go killing 2 active players like Mail and Kipper. I was hoping we could send a message to inactives/lurkers by hitting a few of them this Cycle, which is what my list was for, but I guess the Cooks didn't agree with me, or their targets were changed by a Lightweaver.

 

I'll post more in a bit, but I would like to say to Ripple that the Contribution Crusade ain't a bad idea sometimes. I think I understand your reasons for doubting it's helpfulness to the village, seeing as how you were saved by it before as an eliminator(in MR8, what's funny about this is that Phat was the first death under the CC banner), but Kynedath's vote isn't on a strictly inactive player. Phat has been online and active elsewhere on the forums, but hasn't posted here for a while. I'd say that's basically lurking. I'm still more suspicious of Feligon and Tony Shark though, since it's not unusual for Phat to go quiet sometimes(that's not to say it's okay, but rather that it's not something that strikes me as overly suspicious). 

 

So, Tony Shark, what's going on? Why so quiet lately? Any thoughts on recent events?

 

Edit: removed vote

Edited December 22, 2015 by TheMightyLopen

[Kynedath]

Emphasis mine. Contribution crusade is a bad thing. More often than not, it deflects attention from eliminators to inactive innocents. Even if we knew the identities of the inactives after they die, it doesn't give us any information. Lynching lurkers, I can understand, but lynching people who haven't posted isn't going to help. So, Kynedath for now.

I am most definitely not saying that we ignore strong signs of diagrammist behavior, all I am saying is that I don't trust people who don't at least try to help. I have (I'm pretty sure) legitimate worries about people who don't say anything. They could be doing anyting and I have seen many observing the conversations but never doing anything. I promise that if I have very strong suspicions about someone, then I will act upon it, no matter their activity level. The thing is though, as I said before, if I were a diagrammist, then I would try to lay low and not be noticed. If my thinking is flawed, then I am open to suggestions, but at this point, we need people to talk and the inactives are essentilly limiting our information by not contributing.

 

@Lopen I have no background with SE so I don't know how players normally act, but if this is normal behavior for Phat then I would probably be inclined to not vote for him. My worry is that he is using his previous reputation to hide his motives.