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Mid-Range Game 26: Sands of Lossand


Jondesu

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Koralis, the true ruler of Laesire, surveyed his kingdom.  He didn’t need to stand atop a high building to do so.  Instead, his kingdom was arrayed around him like the court of the Taishin.  Here were the beggars, the swindlers, the cutthroats and thieves, the burglars, the assassins and the thugs.  They were the true power of the city, and from his den he could change the fate of anyone he wished.  Men prospered or disappeared on his command, and businesses changed ownership, flourished, or sank into oblivion as he wished.

There were few who stood up to him, and none who lived to protest his rule.  The Taishin could control Lossand, and remain unaware of him, but here in Laesire, his power was unchecked.

————————————————————————————————————————

At the outskirts of Laesire, however, another solitary man surveyed the city.  Here in the Jewel of the Sands was treasure untold; not riches and goods, no, though there were those as well.  The treasure he wanted was more ephemeral.  The lives of men to command, hearts to fear him, tongues to whisper his name.  Ihsan, Master of the Black Sands, was here to claim his new home.

————————————————————————————————————————

As the city went to sleep, not because the sun was setting, but simply because all men must sleep, Koralis’ beggars and swindlers brought his share of their profits to him, but his burglars and assassins went to work. Arlin, quiet as a spider, crept into the house of one of the merchants who had refused Koralis’ offer of protection.  The man and his family would serve as lessons for the rest of the city, a reminder that Koralis’ offers were not to be refused.

Just inside the window, Arlin paused and surveyed the room, an old habit that had served him well many times.  On this occasion, it allowed his eyes to adjust to the low light inside the house, the curtains drawn to give a semblance of dusk.  He took in the furnishings of the small study he had entered, with a desk and chair, shelves of scrolls and books, and a lockbox with the man’s profits likely stored inside.  He wasn’t there for the money, however.  That would also be left as a message.

What he failed to notice, however, was the man standing by the window, waiting for him to enter.  Ihsan’s spies had entered the city months earlier, infiltrating Koralis’ gangs, as well as the merchant classes and even the police force.  Now, on the eve of his arrival, they had prepared a message of their own.  Arlin felt the small blade pierce his back, neatly puncturing his kidney, rendering him immobile and silent as he collapsed breathlessly to the floor.

When the merchant’s family awoke, they found the assassin dead in the study, with a simple message attached to his back:

“This city is mine. The Black Sands claim it as their own.”

 

 

The Game

General Rules:

Spoiler
  • This is a vanilla Elimination game, for the most part.  There will be a 24 hour Night cycle followed by a 24 hour Day cycle, beginning with a Night cycle (the first Night cycle will not permit any kills or actions).

  • PMs will be open during Night cycles.  There are no restrictions on PMs, except that Lopen and myself must be included in all PMs.  Group PMs are permitted.

  • All actions must be submitted via your role PM during the Night cycles.  If you will be unavailable during a Night cycle and wish to submit your action early, let me know, and that will be handled on a case-by-case basis.

  • The alignment and role of players who are lynched or killed by the Black Sands will be revealed at the beginning of the following cycle.

  • Every player must post in the thread at least once per full cycle (combined Night and Day cycles), starting from Day 3.  Anyone who does not is scorned by Koralis and will be unable to perform any actions the following cycle, and if they do not post that cycle, they will be left for the desert to claim (killed). Sending in actions or participating in PMs will not protect you.

  • Role-play posts are encouraged but not required.  I will attempt to include sufficient RP inspiration in each daily/nightly writeup.  At the end of the game, I will present awards to those who showed the greatest dedication and creativity, along with any other awards I deem appropriate.  These will be meaningless in the game, but may provide some personal satisfaction. I may even hand out badge images if desired.

Roles:

Spoiler
  • There will be two factions in this game, the Kors and the Black Sands.  The Kors are the standard village faction, despite being a criminal gang, and the Black Sands are the rival gang trying to take over.

  • Most players will be Thieves. They simply subsist in Koralis’ gang, earning their keep by participating in his schemes.

  • Some players will be Snoops.  They prowl around the city and keep an eye on Koralis' interests, making sure his gang members are loyal to him and him alone.  The Snoops can see who a specific player targeted with an action (if any) each Night. If the player took multiple actions, the Snoop will be informed of each target.

  • At least one player will be a Bodyguard.  Even in a cut-throat gang like the Kors, there are some who value life.  Each cycle, the Bodyguard(s) can target one person (or choose to self-target and protect themselves), who will receive protection that lasts for that single Night cycle.  If they are attacked that cycle, they will not be killed. This does not protect against the lynch or guns.

  • Among the group is a Black Market Arms Dealer, who has trafficked in a few rare and highly value Guns.  Each Night cycle, they may give a gun to a single player, up to a maximum determined by the GM before the start of the game. Players who have a Gun in their possession may make a single kill with it during any Day or Night cycle by simply posting in the thread: “I have a gun and I am shooting [player name].” The targeted player must IMMEDIATELY stop post and participating, pending GM review.  Any player who makes a false gun claim will be killed immediately instead in retaliation, and their target will not die. Once the GM confirms the death, the dead players role and alignment will be revealed immediately.

  • The Black Sands will be composed of players who may have any of the above roles, and they will also have a kill, to be submitted via a group PM sent to their members.  This PM must not be used for any other purposes.  All Black Sands player will be considered to have taken an action against the target, regardless of who submits the order. They win if they outnumber the Kors. The Kors will win if the Black Sands are completely eliminated from the game. The Black Sands will have a doc in which to plan and communicate. 

Rollovers are currently planned to be at 8PM Eastern Time.

Player List:

Spoiler
  1. Ookla the Walker of Roads as Silver Feather
  2. Steeldancer as Steel
  3. Kynedath as Schrito
  4. Ookla the Haphazard as Erdon
  5. Randuir as Talzeen
  6. Straw as Gliht Bkackn
  7. A Joe In The Bush as Jesenesh Stormwind
  8. Ornstein as Pizanca
  9. Walin as Rennid
  10. Alvron as Ra
  11. Ookla of Five as themself
  12. Darkness_ as Grevilar S'nathar
  13. Arinian as Apophis
  14. A Budgie as Chocolarzin
  15. livinglegend as TBD
  16. Megasif as Vatch Aut

Signups will run for a week, ending at 5PM EST on Dec 20. Extended signups will run through Friday, Dec 22, at 5PM EST.  We will take a break over Christmas, either via a longer cycle or a gap between cycles.

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Just a note: This game is set on Taldain, the setting for White Sand, but will not contain significant spoilers.  It's set in a city of my making with characters not found in the graphic novel or the prose version (which I will definitely not reveal spoilers for in this game), so it has no tie-ins to the plot of White Sand.  If anyone catches me saying something that might be a spoiler, however, please let me know and I'll remove or edit it.

This space reserved for updates:

Rule Clarifications:

Bodyguards can self-protect, but will not be informed of the results of their action outside of the writeup.  Successful protects will be revealed.  Bodyguards cannot protect against a gun attack, day or night.

A Snoop who observes someone who makes multiple actions would be informed of each target, yes.  All Black Sands members are considered to have taken an action against the kill target, not just whoever sent in the order.

Roles and alignments will always be revealed on death. This includes gun deaths, in which case alignment and role will be revealed as soon as the GMs confirm the death. Yes, you read that right, it will be revealed mid-cycle in those cases.

There is no minimum number of votes to achieve a successful lynch.  If there is a tie, one of the players with the highest number of votes will be chosen at random (including if there are no votes at all, in which case all players are at risk).

Edited by Jondesu
Rule Clarifications
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I'll sign up, but I won't be contributing too too much before Christmas. I took on a big project that I need to finish, but I can still make time for this. If I survive past Christmas, then maybe I'll start to RP so I'll sign up as Schrito. Schrito is a spindly gambler/kleptomaniac who likes birds.

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44 minutes ago, Kynedath said:

I'll sign up, but I won't be contributing too too much before Christmas. I took on a big project that I need to finish, but I can still make time for this. If I survive past Christmas, then maybe I'll start to RP so I'll sign up as Schrito. Schrito is a spindly gambler/kleptomaniac who likes birds.

As long as you're not inactive, not RPing isn't an issue! Same goes for you, @Steeldancer!

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I'm signing up as Raljeen, an experienced thief who came to the city of Laesire after being to kicked out of his last city of residence for several probably false crimes. :ph34r:

Edited by Ookla the StrooklaEZ
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7 hours ago, Ookla the StrooklaEZ said:

I'm signing up as Raljeen, an experienced thief who came to the city of Laesire after being to kicked out of his last city of residence for several probably false crimes. :ph34r:

 

6 hours ago, randuir said:

Yeah, I'll sign up. I've been looking forward to your gun mechanic for a while now, @Jondesu.

Edit; Oh right, sign me up as Talzeen.

 

3 hours ago, Straw said:

I’ll sign up as Gliht Bkackn.

 

3 hours ago, A Joe in the Bush said:

I will sign up as Jesenesh Stormwind, a mercenary hired by the city to infiltrate and destroy both gangs.

Added!

3 hours ago, Ookla the Rae said:

Can I get a link to the spec doc?

Will do. I’ll probably send it out once signups close.

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4 hours ago, Ornstein said:

EDIT: Also, what did i miss? Half the people have the name Oolka!!

 

It's Ookla season. People change their names to Ookla something. I have no clue where it originated or why people do it, but it's a thing that happens.

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21 minutes ago, Kynedath said:

It's Ookla season. People change their names to Ookla something. I have no clue where it originated or why people do it, but it's a thing that happens.

You have been a Sharder for over two years and you don't know why we have Ookla season???? :o Shocking.  Absolutely shocking. :P   This thread by Kaymyth should explain everything one needs to know about the hallowed Ookla season.  :) 

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Silver stood, surveying the dusty town. He checked the canteen at his hip. Enough in there to draw more water. He checked the knife on the other hip. Enough knife to draw blood. He started walking, head down, hands tucked into his robe. He had almost made it to the city boundary when a voice halted him.

"Excuse me sir,..."

~~ Anyone?

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5 hours ago, Alvron said:

You have been a Sharder for over two years and you don't know why we have Ookla season???? :o Shocking.  Absolutely shocking. :P   This thread by Kaymyth should explain everything one needs to know about the hallowed Ookla season.  :) 

Yeah, sorry for being ignorant concerning that. I'm on the shard on and off. But now that I've read that, I'm very much more appreciative concerning the subject! Man, you guys never cease to amaze me!

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I'll sign up and edit in my name later.

EDIT: My name will be Rennid, a man who has lived on Darkside long enough to know he likes Dayside better. His alibi says he's been working in the city for over three years, but it's actually two...Yeah that's it.

Edited by Walin
I put in some stuff
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Rule Clarifications:

How many players do you need to run the game?

Can bodyguards self-protect? Will bodyguards be informed if they successfully defended someone? Will successful protections be revealed in the writeup? Can bodyguards protect someone from a gun attack if it happens at night?

If a snoop observes someone who makes multiple night actions against different targets, would the snoop learn the identities of all targets? Are all Black Sand members considered to have taken an action against the eliminator kill victim, or just the person who sent in the kill order?

Will the roles and alignments of all dead players be revealed, or does this only apply to players who have been lynched or killed by Black Sands? 

 

 

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18 hours ago, Walin said:

I'll sign up and edit in my name later.

EDIT: My name will be Rennid, a man who has lived on Darkside long enough to know he likes Dayside better. His alibi says he's been working in the city for over three years, but it's actually two...Yeah that's it.

Added!

18 hours ago, Ookla the Haphazard said:

Rule Clarifications:

How many players do you need to run the game?

Can bodyguards self-protect? Will bodyguards be informed if they successfully defended someone? Will successful protections be revealed in the writeup? Can bodyguards protect someone from a gun attack if it happens at night?

If a snoop observes someone who makes multiple night actions against different targets, would the snoop learn the identities of all targets? Are all Black Sand members considered to have taken an action against the eliminator kill victim, or just the person who sent in the kill order?

Will the roles and alignments of all dead players be revealed, or does this only apply to players who have been lynched or killed by Black Sands? 

 

 

Thanks for checking! 

I don't have a specific minimum set up, but I would be hesitant to run a game with less than, say, 15 players, simply for the enjoyment of those involved. If I don't get close to that, I'll probably extend signups.

Bodyguards can self-protect, but will not be informed of the results of their action outside of the writeup.  Successful protects will be revealed.  Bodyguards cannot protect against a gun attack, day or night.

A Snoop who observes someone who makes multiple actions would be informed of each target, yes.  All Black Sands members are considered to have taken an action against the kill target, not just whoever sent in the order.

Roles and alignments will always be revealed on death. This includes gun deaths, in which case alignment and role will be revealed as soon as the GMs confirm the death. Yes, you read that right, it will be revealed mid-cycle in those cases.

I had some other questions via PM that I'll include the answers to in the second post for clarifications, as well as probably updating the first post with the rules.

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