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Quick Fix Game 22: Ghosts in the Night


Wyrmhero

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I just want to point out that it's very, very improbable that Bart would lie about Aman being his partner. It would be way too easy for the real partner of Aman to counterclaim, unless both Bart and Aman's partner were elims but even then its a stupid claim to make. I'm fairly certain Bart is telling the truth about being paired with Aman.

Also. Where are you guys getting this two elim kills per cycle business? I read wyrm's post on it and he said all elims could submit kill orders, but only the first one submitted counts. So... There isn't multiple elim kills a cycle. If there were, we'd be royally screwed, since there are only technically 11 total players.

Finally... Hm... Bart, I'll wait and hear what Aman has to say I guess, but I really wish you would just explain yourself... Do you want Aman to explain it because it is sensitive information and needs to be PMed? You don't really strike me as too suspicious, but you're posts are really odd. I hope an explanation comes next cycle like you said it would, but if none comes, I'll probably choose to vote on you again at that point.

So... Throwing more votes at people... Lopen, I don't suppose you could explain your vote on HH? It looked like you might just be tying up the vote, and yet you seemed to express real suspicion on HH, and since he already had a vote... I'm not sure. Are you supporting lynching HH, or trying to keep anyone from getting lynched?

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1 minute ago, Drake Marshall said:

Also. Where are you guys getting this two elim kills per cycle business? I read wyrm's post on it and he said all elims could submit kill orders, but only the first one submitted counts. So... There isn't multiple elim kills a cycle. If there were, we'd be royally screwed, since there are only technically 11 total players.

One Elim Kill:  Kills one linked player.  That player and their partner die.  2 people die by the Elim kill. :P  I love how mentioned the 'technically 11 players' thing, after having asked about how the Elim's kill two people. :P 

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2 minutes ago, Magestar said:

One Elim Kill:  Kills one linked player.  That player and their partner die.  2 people die by the Elim kill. :P  I love how mentioned the 'technically 11 players' thing, after having asked about how the Elim's kill two people. :P 

Okay, but every pair of people is effectively one person in this game. So, while a kill will take 2 users out of the game... For our intents and purposes, it's still only killing one person. Not two. Because for our intents and purposes, there are only 11 players. 11 players with multiple personality disorder.

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Bah, and ya'lls arguments of Bart's weird choice of announcing his partner not being an Elim-y move is also making sense.  I've jumped on people for something strange they did C1 too often without any real evidence, and it doesn't usually work out.  So, Bart.

The problem is, I don't have anyone else I really want to throw a vote on.  Maybe we could get away without a D1 lynch this game, but it does seem to often work out poorly.

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1 hour ago, Drake Marshall said:

Okay, but every pair of people is effectively one person in this game. So, while a kill will take 2 users out of the game... For our intents and purposes, it's still only killing one person. Not two. Because for our intents and purposes, there are only 11 players. 11 players with multiple personality disorder.

Heh.  Fair enough.  Multiple personality disorder it is. :P  Wow, my brain is even more messed up than I had at first believed! :P 

And, now to continue the whole cycle analysis thingie.  I probably won't do this again. :P 

  1. Sart:  RP's, and displays excellent taste in music.  
  2. Jondesu:  Ask Bart if he just publicly claimed that Aman was his partner.  Notes that this seems unwise.
  3. Drake:  Asks the sensible question;  Could we hear something from Aman?  Notes that this doesn't seem really like an Elim thing to do, yet ends up voting on Bart anyway.
  4. Len:  Notes that people shouldn't get into a bandwagon just yet.  (I can't believe what my eyes are seeing. :o ) Says Bart doesn't really read as Elim.
  5. Drake:  Notes that Bart had better give him a good reason to retract his vote.  Says that he is doing what Bart encouraged:  To vote.  
  6. Lopen:  Responds to a bunch of things, says he normally would support a D1 lynch, but not today.  Says Len's post may have been pointless, but, hey, Villagers make pointless posts too!  Votes on HH, says he'd like to here more from certain people, including me, and says he's against lynching Bart for now.  Doesn't like lynching newbies. (I agree.)
  7. HH:  Responds more to Lopen, talks more statistics.  Asks Jondesu if vote on him is 'Real'
  8. Stick:  Says she's not super suspicious of Bart.  Tells Bart he should elaborate and explain more.  Thinks a tied lynch would be good, since the Elim's can kill two villagers anyway.  (Not technically.  This game is messing with my head.)  Notes that she is indeed relevant.  (But is she?)
  9. Jondesu:  Takes his vote off of HH, notes that he'd be worried about losing Aman, but that the vote on HH is not real, and ends up voting on Bart anyway.
  10. Magestar:  Makes an extremely long post about all previous posts, which would be recursive to talk about.  Notes that he's not super suspicious of Bart, isn't sure if he's lying or not.  Says more to come.  
  11. Drake:  Thinks it's improbable for Bart to lie about Aman being his partner.  (I disagree?   I mean, who's going to come out and say Aman is their partner?  It would just put a target on their backs.  Better to draw away the Elim's fire, or something.)  Asks about the two elim kills per cycle.  Takes his vote off of Bart, notes that he'd like to hear what Aman has to say, but wishes Bart would be more forthright and just explain.  Wonders why he would vote on Len.  Throws a vote on Lopen, to get his attention and hear what he has to say.
  12. Magestar:  Responds to Drake and explains the two elim kills per cycle thing, which is really just a two village deaths per cycle thing.
  13. Drake:  Says, no, not really.  There are technically only 11 players.  (Whatever.  This is just semantics at this point.
  14. Jondesu:  Takes vote off Bart;  He's convinced.  Jondesu notes that he doesn't know who to vote on now.  (Don't vote on anyone.  It's better that way.)

Now, you didn't really think I'd describe this post?  That'd just be odd.

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1 hour ago, Jondesu said:

Bah, and ya'lls arguments of Bart's weird choice of announcing his partner not being an Elim-y move is also making sense.  I've jumped on people for something strange they did C1 too often without any real evidence, and it doesn't usually work out.  So, Bart.

The problem is, I don't have anyone else I really want to throw a vote on.  Maybe we could get away without a D1 lynch this game, but it does seem to often work out poorly.

This. This is pretty much the place I'm in right now. Someone, please do something actually suspicious so I can feel good about lynching you! :P

53 minutes ago, Magestar said:

Now, you didn't really think I'd describe this post?  That'd just be odd.

15. Magestar makes a post explaining other posts, then refuses to explain his own post. He comments on other folk's posts. ;)

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3 hours ago, Drake Marshall said:

So... Throwing more votes at people... Lopen, I don't suppose you could explain your vote on HH? It looked like you might just be tying up the vote, and yet you seemed to express real suspicion on HH, and since he already had a vote... I'm not sure. Are you supporting lynching HH, or trying to keep anyone from getting lynched?

I would also like to hear @TheMightyLopen's grounds on my suspiciousness. Is there a problem with pointing out potential evidence? 

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Night 1: The Nature of Reality

"That's it?"

Wurum shrugged at him. "What more do you want?"

"Well," Khas said, sighing theatrically, "You started with this tale of mob justice or whatever, and then... Where was the payoff?" he asked, pouring himself a little more of the wine. "It was the dullest start to a story I've ever heard."

"Be that as it may," Wurum replied narrowly, "that is what happened. I can't tell you why the events unfolded as they did. Some might consider it a good thing that they didn't immediately go around slaughtering each other. But remember, this was only the start of things. You asked what happened, and I am telling you."

"Yes, but you could have spiced it up a little, rather than making it as bland as soulcast stuff," Khas insisted. "At least that way your audience wouldn't be in danger of falling asleep where they sit."

"I can tell you an exciting, fake story or I can tell you a duller, real story," Wurum said. "Which would you rather?"

"What sort of choice is that?" Khas shook his head. "Why does reality have to be boring? I reject any sort of notion of a world like that."

"Fine. I can tell you that Revali was run out of town on the back of a horse he stole. Or that Brandir Sebarial escaped execution by the skin of his teeth due to his connections to the Alethi nobility. Or perhaps that Bart got involved with a deadly duel on the rooftops with Harvey, only ending in a stalemate when they fell off the roof into the main street. Would this be more palatable?"

"Well, it's a good start," Khas nodded. 

"Sorry, but I won't," Wurum cut his hopes off. "I am the storyteller, and therefore I get to choose how the story goes. I choose for it to be real and honest and factual. If you want some falsified tale, go and learn to read or find a woman to read fiction to you. Far as I'm concerned, the world is strange and dark enough these days without making it moreso."

"Fine," Khas sighed. "Then you leave me no choice." He waved a hand at Wurum and then took a small sip of his wine. "Continue then, sir. Tell the story how it should be told."

"Good." Wurum poured himself another glass. His hands were starting to shake just a little. "This part will probably interest you more - You see, while the day might have been fairly dull in your most esteemed opinion, that night was more interesting, for there was an attack..."



No-one was lynched!

TheMightyLopen/Revali (1): Drake Marshall/Mestow
Elenion/Brandir Sebarial (1): Bartimaeus/Bart
Bartimaeus/Bart (1): Elenion/Brandir Sebarial
Hemalurgic_Headshot/Harvey (1): TheMightyLopen/Revali


Night players may now post in this thread until the end of the Night Turn, which will be at 10PM GMT on Friday..

There is a Messenger alive; Night players may PM each other until the end of the Night Turn..


Notemos Town Hall Clock

 

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Player List

 

Day

  1. Hemalurgic_Headshot (Harvey)
  2. Magestar (Enoemos)
  3. Elenion (Brandir Sebarial)
  4. DroughtBringer (Groot)
  5. Sart (Sart)
  6. TheMightyLopen (Revali)
  7. _Stick_ (Stick)
  8. Bartimaeus (Bart)
  9. Jondesu (Thorot)
  10. Arinian (Arvian)
  11. Drake Marshall (Mestow)

Night

  1. Straw (Dave Davenport)
  2. STINK (Odd Man)
  3. Manukos (Whiler)
  4. Ecthelion III (Amnar the Watcher)
  5. Arraenae (Neiha Solam)
  6. Elbereth (Senja)
  7. Amanuensis (The Soulcaster)
  8. OrlokTsubodai (Locke Tekiel)
  9. Figberts (Hak)
  10. phattemer (Seixa)
  11. Randuir (Battadin)
Edited by Alvron
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Night can post? How useful. I hope we can continue and possibly start any discussions, no matter how discrete they are.

I would appreciate if any Night players could PM me, so that I don't have to go through the arduous process on mobile and that I may also see who is here and who well, isn't.

Good night to all,

Odd Man.

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I'm here, but am shattered. I've had a long and somewhat stressful day at work, so won't be able to give this as much time as I'd hoped today.

The main point I'd like to make is the importance of discussions, and of our not getting side-tracked with bandwagons or lynches of inactives. We have eleven players, and with two deaths a cycle, that means we don't have long at all to get information. I'd like to see every player offer thoughts on the game, and on other players. I promise to get my own up before this cycle concludes. 

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Hak went out of his training room, and into town. After eating some soulcast meat, he stepped over to Aman. Aman. He looked a bit nervous, but seemed to be fine. "Hey, Bart" he said, grinning. Aman/Bart backed up. "So, care to explain what the hell was going on with Bart last night?

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Right. Everyone else seems to feel like waiting for Aman, so I’ll start the discussion with a few notes on the day turn. 

One. Regarding the number of eliminators: I could see either two or three, depending on the rest of the distribution. I, personally, feel it is safer to assume three. I’d rather have two be a pleasant surprise than three be a very unpleasant surprise, and in the end it doesn’t actually matter except in lending urgency to lynches. We’ll kill all of the elims, or we won’t. (Hopefully the former.) So why not assume the worst case scenario? 
(Also, particularly responding to HH - yes, village will be more powerful if there are three and less so if two. I trust Wyrm's distribution. It'll be balanced.)

Two. Regarding claiming: I’d tentatively fall on the side of not doing so. The advantage is that if the elims want to get rid of a Day player, they can then kill the Night player. (There’s a potential disadvantage in that not claiming means that evil Night players could claim if the village doesn’t have a kill - which seems quite likely to me given this game’s structure/pacing will already be very fast - and we wouldn’t be able to get rid of them because we wouldn’t know their Day partners and thus be able to lynch them. That said, I think the advantage to not claiming outweighs that possibility.) 

Three. @Arinian - were those your partner’s actual words, or paraphrased? 

Four. To clarify the bit in the writeup again, just to make sure it’s no longer a source of confusion: Kas’s character (or Wyrm’s, can’t remember which and don’t want to bother checking) said that the Ghostbloods had barely a dozen agents in the area, if that. We are the Ghostbloods. The village. Kas/Wyrm wasn’t referring to the eliminators. Each player-pair is one agent. There are eleven of us, thus not quite a dozen agents. Kolo? :P

Five. I disagree with… whoever said that Len’s starting discussion about the number of eliminators was pointless. Again, don’t want to go back and check, and I didn’t note it down. Is it a discussion that’s going to be useful? No. Not really. But it does start discussion, which it did quite neatly, I think. 

Current reads: Lopen as somewhat strong village. Bart/Aman more likely village, but not strongly. HH more likely village - Lopen was correct in his points that HH was being illogical, but I don’t think that’s indicative of him being evil. The amount of effort (and seemingly spontaneous effort, specifically) that Mage has put in thus far makes me think village on him as well. Slight evil read on Len, but possibly biased given I don’t know how well I’m telling apart what Len always does from what he did in LG31 (in which he was evil), given that I haven’t seen him in games for a while. 

@Jondesu I would argue that it was fairly obvious why Bart was doing what he did, and not confusing at all? He didn’t want to be lynched, and Aman didn’t want to be lynched. By far the easiest way to do that (and also spark discussion, which I suspect was a secondary motivation), would be to claim his partner. No one wants to lynch village!Aman, and if Bart/Aman are good I’m somewhat more suspicious of the players who voted on him after that reveal. 

That’s about all right now. Anyone else have comments they feel like sharing? 

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I do have one or two short things to share. Below are my thoughts on the various day-time players.

Mage: Mage started posting relatively late, and mostly kept to a full annotated summary of the posts of the first day. He didn't really bring any new insights to the cycle, but that's understandable given his late entry. His summary doesn't contain anything particularly controversial. Neutral.

Arinian: Arinian hasn't add too much to the cycle, though his posting of his partner's comment was interesting. I'll talk more about that later. He supported the no-lynch idea. The chance of us hitting an elim with our first lynch where incredibly small, so I see the no-lunch idea as a village idea at the moment. Arinian's few other comments also sound somewhat more village to me. Leaning slightly village

Stick: I agree with Arin's partner that stick should say more of substance. One intersting thing was that stick indicated she'd tie the vote if necessary to prevent a lynch. Neutral

Drake: Drake has been presenting a lot of standpoints. that he tehn subsequently backed off from. He starts by stating support for a contribution-crusade during cycle 1, handily forgetting that every person is a two-player team and that the other player could take over in case of inactivity of the first half. when Lopen calls him out, he backs off from the idea, stating agreement with Lopen.

He then joins the vote on Bart, stating that unless Bart gives him a reason to not vote on him, he'll keep his vote there. A while later, he back off from Bart based on the statements by some other players. He then votes on Lopen, asking hi to explain his vote on HH. Lopen had given some explanaiton for his vote on HH and asked him several questions, some of which got answered.

There are two things in Drake's posts thats stand out to me, namely his suggestion of a contribution crusade at the start, which was rightly pointed out as being a very bad idea in this game, and his vote on Lopen, for which he stated that Lopen hadn't given proper reason (which Lopen had given). Leaning elim

Lopen: Lopen starts by pointing out that doing a contribution crusade in a two-headed game is a very bad idea. He later posts reactions to various other posts, most notable is a tentative agreement with arinian regarding a no-lynch. He then votes on HH, stating his statements regarding it being unlikely Bart and Len where elims, and the fact that he then subsequently brings some suspicion to Bart as reasons for his vote.

Most of Lopen's posts have felt like village to me, though I'd have liked to see him respond to HH's defense. Leaning village

Drought: Drought has reminded everyone that you should make use of your partner, as it gives you someone indisputable trustworthy that you can bounce ideas off. Though this is true, it's also rather obvious. I'd like to see some more from Droughtbringer next cycle. Neutral

Bart: His actions have been very odd, to put it mildly. He's either speaking the truth or lying. Originally, I had him as 'neutral' if he's speaking the truth and 'elim' if he's lying, but my partner pointed out that lying about this is not something a sane elim would do, as it is a certain way to get attention from Aman, which is bad, m'kay? So I'll list him as Neutral, for now. @Amanuensis, care to shed some light here?

HH: Of most note are HH's statement that it is unlikely for Bart and elenion to be elims. His quoting of statistics does hold out (it's 1-(10/11 *10/11), which is actually less than 1/5). He hasn't said anything else that was particularly alignment indicative. Neutral

Sart: Given that no one called for Sart to add more to the discussion, I'm assuming his current patter of posting RP and not much else is what he always does. Neutral

Elenion: Elenion starts the game by opening the discussion on the number of elims. I'm getting the feeling this discussion is a bit like SE's version of a cheesy pick-up line.Anyway, on to the rest of his posts. His defense againstbeing accused of opening with a 'forced' and 'insincere' post feels genuine to me. Forcing yourself to post and participate is certainly somewhat better than not posting at all. His comment about not all bandwagoning on Bart was also interesting, especially given his title. Overall, his comment feel ever so slightly village to me. Ever so slightly village

Jondesu: Jondesu's first post was impressive, in that it looked big and meaty, while actually saying absolutely nothing. He votes on HH ad asks him a question, without actually giving his own input on the matter he wants HH's input from. He then continues to explain that he'll try to figure out who the pair-ups are, and that he won't share who his partner is, though if anyone could share theirs, that would help him figure everyone out (*wink-wink, nudge-nudge*). This is a combination of the only marginally helpful, obvious, and obviously fishing for information. One important thing to take away from that post, however, is that he thinks no one will lie about their partner, because it would be too easy to disprove.

Then he switches his vote to Bart after Bart claimed aman as partner. He states that he'd hate to loose aman, but thinks bart is just trying to gain trust. In other words, he suspects Bart of dong the thing he thinks no-one will do because it would be way too easy to get called out on. Though in his favor, he does later retract that vote again.

Overall, I got an elim vibe from him. His retracting of his vote speaks somewhat in his favor, but his other attempt at getting crap past the radar has gotten my attention. Leaning elim.

Anyway, There's one last thing I'd like to add before signing off on this, and that's regarding posting the literal contents of a PM from your partner. I'd recommend being extremely careful with this, as it will allow people to narrow down who your partner is (For example, Arinian, me and my partner have narrowed yours down to about three possible players based on that little snippet you posted). So take that into account. either accept the risk, have your partner paraphrase your post, or put some effort into making it look like someone else wrote it.

 

 

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GM Request - It is very hard to spot actions being sent in when there is back and forth between the day and night players. Can I ask that people bold their actions or in some way make them noticeable to make it easier for me? I'm not saying that I will not accept non-bolded actions, mind, just asking that people bold them for clarity's sake.

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15 minutes ago, Arraenae said:

I PMed Aman. He says that he's going to post everything as RP and that Bart is his partner.

Hopefully can post more before rollover. Will get to a list, hopefully.

That's good to hear. I hope you don't mind, but I'd still like to hear this from Aman himself in some way, but this should clear up some of the confusion of the day-turn.

Edit: Also, @Straw, @phattemer, @Manukos, do any of you have anything to add to the night-cycle?

Edited by randuir
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hmmm nothing much , interested in seeing what the whole bart thing will turn out to be , though it seems like it is nothing more that a newby misstake , i made quite a few of them in my first game , since then i've learned my lesson people who talk too much end up dead

interesting analisis randuir , i kinda agree with you on drake (though that is what i thought last game and it ended up being his playstyle)

the only other information i can give is that arraenae is a ghostblood 

P.S. my deduction came from reading her reputation title and should not be taken seriously

P.S.2. does any one have any specific thoughts on how the day cycle turned out?

 

 

Edited by Manukos
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I think Bart is most likely to be a newbie who did some awkward communicating, as Manukos and Randuir said. Also, maybe Wyrm decided that giving Aman less time to talk could balance him. They could still be elims, but Bart's partnerclaim wouldn't be evidence either way.

Len, how are we going to handle RP? I know it's a small issue, but it's really bothering me. Should we post long chunks in each of our turns? I PM every Night player with character details for Neiha and you write up everything?

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I find myself wading in a sea of mist so thick that when I raise my hand to my face, I can barely tell it’s in front of me. It takes a minute for me to notice the difference - maybe because my eyes need time to adjust, or perhaps because I’m having trouble manifesting a form in this place - but I can see it now. A faint outline silhouettes my fingers and my palm, a shade or two darker than the infinite expanse of gray vapor that permeates this realm. It’s as if, in this place, I am little more than a summer mirage. I cannot affect it, but my presence obscures it somehow.

Curious, I swipe my hand through the mist before me, fast at first, although the impression I leave is fleeting. Clenching my fist, I leave it hanging for a minute. Two. When I pull it back, a small dot remains. Not black, but close enough to it. Slowly, I trace a symbol with the dot at its center. A column with two concave sides. Four lines extending from it to make a cross in the foreground. But before I can add the circles to their ends, the dot begins to fade.

Without further consideration, I drop my hand and step through the unfinished aon. It’s not natural that I’ve come here. Not alive, at least. My time is short, and I was not sent here for experiments.

I’m here to explore.

I take a step further into the haze, towards one of the tiny white spheres burning in the distance. It’s a strange sensation, walking on nothing. You’d think it would feel like flying, but it seems my spirit prefers the familiar sensations to the unknown.

Time passes, and yet the white spheres only get marginally bigger. I’m not sure how long I've been here exactly, but its felt like an eternity. Out of habit, I reach into the hem of my cloak. Rather than grasping my pocket clock, my hand passes straight through my chest. Of course. While my spirit may be here temporarily, my body remains in Roshar. As soon as I think of that place, I feel something grab me from behind.

Already? I ask myself. But I just got here.

Glancing backwards, I see an orb of light rapidly expanding. It’s blinding to look at, but once the orb and my eyes align, it becomes impossible to flinch away. Whatever’s happening, my vision burns. I hear nothing, but my ears are bleeding. I am not meant to be here. I know that, and so does this place. The speed at which I’m ripped out of the Beyond, it’s no surprise that I feel like my skin is peeling from my bones, that I feel like my bones are turning to dust.

Clenching my jaw while I fight the urge to scream, I wonder. What does It think when It looks at me? Do I seem a perverse voyeur, or a ruthless invader? Does It see me the way the world does, or the way I see myself? Is It disgusted by me? Araid of what I’m capable of? Or does It see the truth?

Does it pity me?

I awaken in my “bedchamber” with a start. As I raise myself from the slab on which I lay, I stare at the skylight above me. The first moon, Salas, peeks over the edge of the frame. Its violet light shines through the jagged ridges that make the crystal into a mural, casting shadows of disparate brightness across the stark, obsidian walls. I keep no possessions here. Anything that I value is too important to have near them. They might be my employers now, but that didn’t mean I trusted them. Anyone who hides things from me should expect me to hide things too.

My stomach does not growl, but I sense that I am hungry. Stepping towards the door, I nearly forget my cloak, turning only as I notice that my hand is uncovered. My skin is the same color as the walls, the same texture. Black as night and hard as stone. Cracks mar the back of my hand, forming webs that lengthen as they run up my arm. If I looked any farther, I’d find the imperfections all over my body. If I owned a mirror, I’d see my disfigured face.

Without another thought, I fetch my cloak and slip it over my head, making sure my fabrial clock is still in the chest pocket, and that my Soulcaster is still in the pouch at my hip. I check the time; 673d. I haven’t been asleep this long since… well. Since I left home.

Retrieving my Soulcaster from the pouch, I check the stones before I slip it on. One ruby, bright and smooth like a tear of frozen lava. One emerald, so dim and dark that it resembles a jade. One heliodor, slightly cracked and leaking yellow light. Too many orders and not enough storms have the most important foci broken and drained. Judging by their luminescence, I could maybe feed the Ghostbloods for another three days. If they wanted any more after that, they’d either start hunting or begin chanting the Stormfather’s name.

The rings on my Soulcaster are thicker than most, the chains longer, broader. Through my eyes my hand seems normal, but to the others, I’m practically a giant. I was already tall before my transformation, but the extra thickness of my skin made me more looming. A blessing and a curse, as though it kept the others from disturbing my sleep, or my work, I was also sluggish. I could run practically forever, but not that fast, and it annoyed me more often than not how many times I had to duck my head underneath a doorway.

I wander down the empty halls of my Soulcast warehouse, left hand concealed by a fold around my waist, right hand clenching my pocket clock before me. By the time I reached the “kitchen” eleven minutes had past. In sixteen more, my work shall begin.

A mortar like bowl as big as my head sits at the center of the room, filled to the brim with piles of rocks. I grasp the largest stone I can find and hold it before me with my left hand, the one equipped with my Soulcaster, before I tap the yellow crystal to expend some of its light. A flash erupts from the palm of my hand, then quickly fades, revealing a hunk of dry meat where the stone used to be.

Idly, I wonder. If I had an infused garnet, could I Cast the meat bloody?

Not bothering to cook the meat, I depart the “kitchen” and take a left. My teeth, like my eyes and my skin, are hard and crystalline. They tear the Soulcast flesh with ease. It tastes horrific, but I’m used to it. This part of Roshar? I wouldn’t find much better, anyway.

Before I can reach the storeroom, I hear a slam come from the front entrance. Leaving the hunk of meat in my mouth, I check the time. 696d. A bit early for my assistant to be in a rush, isn’t it? That’s never a good sign.

“Caster!” Bartimaeus hollers as he skids past a corner, his shoulder colliding with the wall. “We have to run! Flee!”

I raise my eyebrow, not that I have any hair on my body, or that my assistant could see the motion with a hood drawn over my head. His eyes are locked on the hunk of uncooked meat dangling out of my mouth, which I clearly slurp and swallow whole. After a pair of coughs to loosen my gullet, I speak for the first time since I woke up, my voice a slow rumble.

“Run?” I ask, then cough again. “What do you think I’m made of?”

Bartimaeus looks at me incredulously. Of course. He’s too new to this job. To me. The boy just doesn’t understand. He’s panting hard, and his eyes are pleading. Almost looks like a puppy, but not that local axe-kind.

“What’s got you so frightened? Is a Highstorm blowing the wrong way?”

My assistant tries to speak, but chokes. Sighing gravely, I wait for him to calm down. “The other Ghostbloods,” he starts, then tries to catch his breath. “They’re mad at us,” he added, then after another pause, “I think they want to kill me.”

I don’t even react, just stare at him with my diamondesque eyes. For a long, drawn at moment we remain there, staring at each other awkwardly. Him clenching his chest, struggling to breathe. Me as still as a statue, my hands hidden behind my back.

He must be joking… and yet he’s not.

“What did you do?”

I didn’t have to curse or raise my voice to express my anger. If anything, it was how quiet and cold I said it that made the boy panic.

“Well, I, uh. It all started when that windbag Brandir started talking. You know how you say the man rides on the coattails of his uncle, acting like Eshu, speaking of things he does not understand in front of those who do.”

Another moment. More awkward silence.

“Go on.”

Bartimaeus gulps.

“Well, uh. Everyone’s been talking about those Sons of Honor. How our leader has warned us that traitors might be among us. So I thought about what you said about Brandir. Thought, hey, he's basically the fakest person in town. If anyone was a traitor, why couldn’t it be him?”

I can see where this conversation was going. Instead of waiting around to listen, I push the boy aside and begin walking towards the front entrance. He yelps at the sudden contact and hesitates for a moment before following me.

“If you expect me to diffuse an angry mob that you brought to my doorstep, I’m going to need to know everything. What happened next?”

Bartimaeus sniffs, his feet dragging on the floor as he trails behind me like a shadow.

“Well, I was already upset from something that bard said to me earlier… he called me a scoundrel and accused me of trying to impersonate him because of my name. I guess I kinda took it out on Brandir, which drew the attention of the others… and… and…”

Sigh.

I throw the front door open and step out into the field. Perhaps field is not the best word for it, as like most of the territories this close to the Frostlands, the land is ragged, and sparse. Anywhere you look there's more rocks then there are plants, even when they aren't busy hibernating underground. Besides the vague shapes approaching from the outskirts of Notemos, there are barely any signs of life out here.

"...and?" I ask him with a sharp glare. Bartimaeus is nervous. Sweating, judging by his glistening brow. Growing impatient, I reach for my hood to pull it down and show him just how unamused I am, but it proves to be unnecessary as the threat alone scares the words right out of him.

"And, well, they asked me what I was doing there, so I told them that it was none of their business. They must have misheard me, because I may have mumbled… so they thought I said I was there for business. I don’t know why that matters, but suddenly Brandir is accusing me of being a Son of Honor. So I, kinda, sorta, maybe told them we were working together, hoping your reputation would account for something, but that only ended up drawing more attention. Next thing I know a couple of the others start freaking out on me. Mestow and Thorot took Brandir's side and started asking questions. When I didn’t answer them, they began yelling and tried to grab me. I only managed to get away from them because Brandir was already drunk, and the other two were working patrols. Before I disappeared, they shouted that they'd come find me for answers."

"Well if they want answers, then they better hurry," I reply with a sigh. Once again, my bumbling assistant has put me into a bothersome predicament. At this point, my only hope is that no more than an hour of my time is wasted. You'd think that someone my age would care less about something like that, but I don't. Ah well. I have no one to blame but myself. It was me who decided to try turning my workplace into an orphanage, after all.

I place my hand on my assistant's shoulder and he flinches. When I speak, I smooth out my voice.

"Don't beat yourself up too hard, Bart. You're new to the Ghostbloods, to their dynamic. You just need to consider your words more. To pay more attention to what you say. I don't blame you. Brandir Sebarial is one of the Ten Fools, if not all of them. I would have challenged him too, if I was in your shoes."

As hard as I try to cheer him up, Bartimaeus doesn't seem any better. He's quivering in his boots, though that might just be because he's cold. I know it's technically winter, even if I can't feel it. Temperature barely affects me, given my condition, though now that I've remembered, I notice my breath is turning into fog.

"Go inside and begin prepping the materials. I'll take care of our coworkers."

Bartimaeus doesn't answer, though after a short delay, he departs. Taking a deep breath, I return my gaze to the approaching shadows and straighten my back. "Lo!" I shout into the night. "Who goes there?"

Edited by Amanuensis
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