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Long Game 23: The Siege of Luthadel


Renegade

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Well, shoot. I come back from a no-cell zone up at a friend's lodge to find I'm the last non spiked in Cett. Nyali is spiked, not that it particularly matters to me given the fact that Cett basically can't win anyways. Nyali is also a Mistborn, so there's no telling what she can accomplish tonight. 

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Day 9: Ruinous

I can feel it coming.  Any minute, any second now, my demise will come.  And I can only hope that the tale of my story will survive for generations to come.  But I can’t even be sure that there will be any generations to come.  Ruin is at hand.

 

Guilty felt… actually rather guilty, for being the last surviving member of Jastes Lekal’s faction.  Even Jastes Lekal had fled -- the coward -- leaving him, on the top of the walls of Luthadel, to look down on the chaos and destruction on the streets below.  Some of that had been his own faction’s fault, he knew.  He’d been partially responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent civilians.

Koloss rampaged through the burning streets, smashing anything that they felt needed to be smashed.  The factions’ control over the koloss was weakening, he could tell.  Something else was beginning to control them all.  One of the koloss, just beneath him on the wall, suddenly sniffed the air, and looked straight up.

Straight at Guilty.

The koloss roared, and began swinging its enormous sword at the base of the wall, chips of stone flying off.  Several other koloss decided to join in, and they all swung their swords at the wall, chopping at it like a tree.  Guilty grunted, and took off at a run down the wall.  Before he could get more than five feet, however, the wall began to buckle and collapse.  Guilty jumped off the crumbling section of wall, grabbing onto a secure section of wall with one hand.

Guilty was now trapped.  He might be able to land one a partially fallen piece of wall below, but if he missed, it’d mean certain doom.  Of course, he really had no other options.

Guilty blew out a breath, then let go from the wall’s jagged edge, his arms out to grab onto the ledge below.  However, Guilty flew by the ledge too quickly, and his hands couldn’t grab hold of anything.  Guilty found himself screaming, falling towards a small group of eager koloss below, cheerless smiles on their faces.

- - - - -

Parth Resnuren was having a terrible evening before the coin nearly struck him in the face.  But when a shadowed figure rounded a burned hovel in the slums of Luthadel, and launched that very coin, Parth had had enough.

The figure immediately reached into his belt pouch to take out another coin, but Parth reacted faster, Pulling the pouch of coins into his open hands.  The figure narrowed his eyes, pulling off his hood.  “A Lurcher, eh?  Might be interesting.”

Parth growled.  He’d have nothing from this assassin.  He hurled the coin pouch behind him, where the assassin would be unable to affect him with it.  Then, Parth unsheathed a metal sword.  The sword had cost him a fortune, and was made out of some strange metal that was completely resistant to Allomancy, something that was affirmed by the quizzical expression on the assassin’s face as he attempted to Push on the sword.  In reality, the sword was mostly steel, with a small layer of the metal covering it; the metal could apparently prevent any metals inside of it from being affected by Allomancy as well.

Parth moved in, thrusting his sword out at the assassin, but the assassin Pushed off of several nails at the base of several of the burning hovels around him, launching himself in the air.  Parth frowned, then Pulled on these nails gently, moving them from their normal position and causing the assassin to be lurched to the side, as his anchors moved towards Parth.

The assassin immediately reacted by flaring a Push at the nails on a house farther down the street, causing some of those nails to completely dislodge themselves from the wooden structures altogether.  The assassin touched the ground in a cloud of dust, and whirled to face Parth, charging at him with his sword raised.

The assassin gave a wicked smile, then opened the palm of his hand, revealing a small coin wrapped in a foil of the same material that Parth had used in his sword.  The coin had been completely hidden from Parth’s Lurching.  The assassin tossed the coin from its casing, and Pushed on it with all his might, striking Parth before he could react.  Parth fell to the ground, and the assassin picked up his sword, inspecting it gently.

- - - - -

Guilty (Master Elodin) was killed by a koloss horde!  He was an unspiked Tineye.

Parth Resnuren (Conquestor) was coinshot!  He was an unspiked Lurcher.

Lekal has fallen!  You may no longer target it with any actions.


Day 9 begins now and will end in 23 hours.  Good luck!

Edited by Renegade
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So, Nyali is spiked, and Penrod is close to guaranteed a victory. Ah, well. GG, everyone, and good luck to Penrod in their efforts to kill the spiked in their midsts. I'll keep checking on until I'm inevitably killed by Koloss in the coming turns

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2 hours ago, Bugsy6912 said:

So, Nyali is spiked, and Penrod is close to guaranteed a victory. Ah, well. GG, everyone, and good luck to Penrod in their efforts to kill the spiked in their midsts. I'll keep checking on until I'm inevitably killed by Koloss in the coming turns

I also wish Penrod luck in rooting out the Spiked from their house.  Bad luck that is.

Don't worry about being killed via Koloss Bugsy.  It's the hangman you need to be careful of.

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4 hours ago, Bugsy6912 said:

Ah, well shoot. Didn't realize the spiked controlled the lynch now. So long, everyone, and well played! Gratz on a spiked victory without a steel spike, that's pretty impressive 

A coinshot and two Mistborn will do that. Not to mention the copper spiked smoker (pure luck, that was). Plus, one of your seekers (Phatt) has been AFK for most of the game... At least, my math says he's a Seeker, never claimed. I had Con and Phatt and Zas marked as being non-allo, lurcher, and seeker in some order, and Phatt's the only one whose role we don't know now. Not that it matters at this point, unless someone is a secret Mistborn with like, every metal ever.

I wasn't spiked when I suggested SD kill the other Seeker, btw. I just had no idea, and neither did he.

Edited by Nyali
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I'm back from the depths of inactivity to find a field full of inactives and spiked. Oh dear. I was always pretty sure that Nyali  was spiked and I was pretty sure Alvron was as well. Araris comes as a surprise though. But faction before spiked. Ah well.

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Aftermath: Ashes Rise, Empires Fall

[Well of Ascension spoilers ahead.]

 

Sazed awoke from his cell at the metallic sound of a door bursting open.  Even before he saw the three figures walking down the hallway to his cell, a chill ran down his spine.  He somehow knew that something had gone horribly wrong.  That these weren’t the cronies of Ashweather Cett or Ferson Penrod.  No, these had to be agents of Ruin himself.

The three figures walked into view, and Sazed narrowed his eyes.  There was no way that Hadrian Penrod himself would work with Shara, a well-known member of House Cett… unless they were spiked.

“Olvar, Shara, Hadrian Penrod,” Sazed said, nodding to each person in turn.  “What is the meaning of my imprisonment?”

“Ruin figured it’d be best to have you out of the way for a time, lest you figure out where the Well of Ascension is,” Olvar responded, his face impassive.

“That’s ridiculous.  We all already know that the Well of Ascension is somewhere in the Terris Mountains.  Vin should be there any day now.”

Olvar chuckled.  “I’m afraid your ancient Terris prophecies have lied to you.  The Well of Ascension is nowhere near where you believe it is.  It’s here, in Luthadel.”

Sazed’s eyes widened.  “That… can’t be true.”

“Unfortunately, it is.  And it is a matter of mere moments before Ruin will be able to escape from the prison that has he has been trapped in the past millennium.  You, unfortunately, will not be able to see Ruin’s ascension.”

The three spiked unsheathed their swords, and Hadrian Penrod stepped forward, unlocking Sazed’s cell.  Sazed stepped back, trying to make sense of the situation.  Maybe he could…

A figure flashed down the hallway at an incredible speed, knocking all of the spiked to the ground.  Sazed reeled back, then leaned out to face the person who had saved him.

The person in question was a tall, hawk-faced man in black robes, a thin silver sword at his side.  Sazed instinctively trusted the man, and fear slowly melted from his mind.  “Who… may you be, sir?”

The man smiled.  “You can call me Hoid.  Normally I would not intervene in such a brutal fashion, but things are not as they should be.  Come along now, before they awaken.”

Sazed stepped forward, and the two men walked swiftly down the hallway.  “So… what exactly are we to do, in order to stop Ruin?” Sazed asked.  “Those three said something about the Well of Ascension being in Luthadel.”

“Yes, yes, I know,” Hoid said, rounding a corner.  “Went there earlier today.”

“You… you’ve been to the Well of Ascension?”

“On multiple occasions, yes.  Now is not the time for that.  Now is the time to minimize the damage.”

“The… damage?”

Hoid nodded.  “I cannot stay here for long.  Ruin will escape, unfortunately, no matter what you may try to do at this point.  It is too late now.  But have hope, in the days to come.  Many others will lose it, but you cannot.”

“Why not me?”

“I cannot say.  But keep your head up.  Things will be alright in the end.”  The pair emerged through a large metal door, out into Luthadel itself, which was alight in the night with thousands of fires.  Ash seemed to rise through the mists, rather than fall.

“By the Forgotten Gods,” Sazed breathed.  “The city’s worse off than before.”

“And, unfortunately, it will only be worse with the arrival of Ruin.  However, I cannot really be around for that.  Ati and I used to get along well, but now…” Hoid shook his head, then took off at a run.  “I must leave.  Good luck, Sazed.”  With that, Hoid was gone.

Sazed glanced around, immediately discovering that he was at the base of Kredik Shaw.  Maybe Hoid was wrong.  Maybe he could reach the Well before…

I’M FREE! a voice boomed from the ground, and the entire city suddenly shook, flames arching higher.

Sazed looked around, eyes frantic.  So this was it.  Ruin was free.  And he was the only one left, in the middle of…

The door behind Sazed crashed open, and a coin slammed into Sazed’s chest.  Sazed crumpled to the ground, the forms of the three spiked standing triumphantly above him.

“I’d consider this day a success,” Olvar smiled, then turned to Shara.  “Finish him off.”

Shara grinned, unsheathed her sword, and slammed it into Sazed’s chest.

“Today shall be the end of two empires.  An empire that has existed for a single year, by that fool Elend Venture.  And an empire that has long opposed Ruin, foolishly trying to prevent the inevitable.  The end of all things.  But today, that ending begins.”

Hadrian and Shara nodded.  NOW GO, a voice boomed from the ground, and the three immediately dispersed, going off to serve their master.  Ruin would not be stopped.  Not anymore.

- - - - -

The Spiked have won the game!  Congratulations, and good game to all.  I think the game went pretty well, minus the late-game inactivity, and a minor error I made with Venture’s koloss (they should’ve had 1 koloss survive after cycle 2, though this wouldn’t have changed the outcome any).

Anyway, here are all of the game docs:

Spreadsheet (with 5 tabs)

Venture (Venture 2.0) (Venture 3.0)

Cett

Lekal

Penrod

Spiked (Spiked 2.0)

Dead Doc

Spec Doc

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Playing this game was a blast Ren.  And your write ups were fantastic.  Faction games are my favorite games to play and this one was run extremely well given that you basically had to do it by yourself when it was made for two GMs.  Very well done.

Also thanks to Aman for getting Orlok lynched and handing control of Penrod to the Spiked.  Was most kind of you.

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Thanks for running the game Ren! I know I'd do a lot of things different if I could do it over, but it was still a ton of fun(even though El was totally a meanie and wiped out my faction).

Congrats to the Spiked, and kudos to Dow for picking a great team. You all played an excellent game.

Also, a shout out to my Venture teammate, Sart, for wrecking the Spiked players plan to take over Venture! Way to go, even if it did sorta cost you the win. >>

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Elbereth had this whole plan laid out, and Sart was mean and Ruined it. :(

I thought you guys were going to murder me when it came out that I was Cett. I had this whole post ready where I was going to reveal who all three Coinshots were, and then imply that there was a fourth who was Spiked, when really there were only three and it was one of the three.

Also, that was me being totally sardonic when I was talking about how a Zinc Spike would be useless to the Spiked and Ren would only give them one if he wanted them to have a useless Spike (I was a Mistborn spiked with Zinc). :D

I'll post the RP I wrote of my Spiking on a bit when I'm awake and on a real computer. (see below)

 

And Ren - thanks so much for the great game! It was really fun. :)

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

Earlier...

Shara sat in her room in the tiny clear space in the very center, the eye of the storm of paper and maps that covered every other surface. Plans tumbled about in her head as she looked at the chart of names on the far wall with lines of twine of various colors connecting people and their houses. Statements written on scraps of paper were tied to the strings, evidence to support each theory. As she stared, a plan became to fall into place, turning her mouth up into a grin.

"They think I'm in Penrod," she said to herself, pointing at a scrap on the wall that simply read "HOUSE LEKAL." A line of dark red - a mark of certainty - connected that scrap to one that read "RIMA." The line was strung heavy with evidence. "I think it's time to play up that little misunderstanding. I never thought speaking out against Kipper would work so well to my advantage - I just wanted to confuse the field a bit, keep them guessing. Apparently, I succeeded."

Fondly, she looked at a small chart off to the side, a list of names, titles, and professions - the other members of House Cett's secret inner circle. "Hang in there, everyone. I'll find a way to take the city in the name of Lord Cett. We'll come out of this mess on top, and from there, we'll make the world a better place. Well, a better place for us and our families at least, and family is what counts in this sorry world." She smiled again, thinking of what was to come. "You know, I've never been a spy before! This is exciting!"

"I am glad you think so, Shara," said a voice from behind her.

A shadowy figure sat in a corner of the room, hidden by stacks of books and notes. He (or she?) must have been there the whole time! She squeaked, her hand moving to grab a vial of metals at her belt. The belt that she wasn't wearing, the one that she had put next to her bed in case she was attacked in the middle of the night. The belt that was, right now, out of reach. Careless! She cursed at herself - why did she need to get up in the middle of the night to go over her plans? Why couldn't she just have waited until morning, or at the very least downed a vial if she was going to be up for any length of time?

She considered diving for the belt, or for her stash in the closet by the door. But, instead, she calmed down, releasing the breath she had been holding. It's all okay, she told herself, it's just a nighttime visitor, no one to be scared of. Worry evaporated under an intense peace that filled her mind.

"Do not be afraid, child. I am just here to help you. Be at peace." The figure stood up and pushed back the hood of the heavy cloak he had been wearing, revealing a face pierced with a spike through each eye. The face of an Inquisitor.

She paled, but said nothing. I wonder what they've been doing since the Lord Ruler's gone, she wondered idly. She smiled at the Inquisitor, and she finally realized what was happening. He was using emotional Allomancy on her! Her mind tried to form a plan, some kind of escape from the room - an Inquisitor coming like this did not bode well, but she just couldn't care enough to more. She felt nothing but peace and laziness, and sitting on the floor was so much more appealing than running for her life.

"You said you wanted to be a spy, did you not? I give you a chance for a far more exciting target. Your own House." He walked to her then and knelt down. "Personally, I want to see how well you do, child. This should prove... fruitful." He took something from inside his cloak - no - from inside his body! Something stuck through his chest. She saw a flash of bronze as horror filled her, the peace fleeing as if it had never been there. As she frantically thrust herself upward, the bronze weapon in his hand struck her between the ribs. It was a spike. A spike of pure bronze. She stopped, certain she was dead, but no - that wasn't it. This wasn't a weapon. This was...

A voice spoke in your head, "Ah, good, another one. You will be useful." At the sound, she felt a momentary chill deep within her, but it was quickly replaced by joy.

The Inquisitor beckoned to her. "Come, there are some people you should meet. Your new family, you could say. And be careful if you burn Zinc - you'll find your ability to Riot has strengthened considerably, and it would not do to be discovered."

The two left her room, notes written on scraps of paper swirling in the wake of their passing.

Edited by Nyali
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