Long Game 41: INSTABILITY

[DrakeMarshall]

29 minutes ago, Araris Valerian said:

Um, maybe we should lynch Straw? Since the elim win condition is to lynch Joe and all.

Edit: To that end, we definitely need to lynch somebody this cycle. There was a previous LG where we lost because we decided a no-lynch D1 and the elims lynched the captain last minute.

Oooh that would be kind of funny.

Not quite funny enough to let it happen, but funny.

1 hour ago, Steeldancer said:

I'm... sorry?

Me too.

Hopefully I'll have something more intelligent to say tomorrow though, don't worry.

[DrakeMarshall]

This is probably going to be a bit different from some of my other RPs, but lets see how it goes.

 

Jay looked up from his desk. He noted the important-looking stranger waiting there, who cleared her throat a second time.

"Can you direct me to the history section?"

"Err... Yes," Jay responded. "One moment."

He stood, dusting off his coat. His vision faded momentarily as the blood rushed to his head, and he found himself seated again. He tried again, cursing as he got to his feet and remained on them. He hated desk work.

"I am sorry, ah... Just a little off-color today I reckon."

Without waiting for the visitor, Jay strode off in what he thought was the general direction of the history section. He stopped at a junction, looking up.

Was this the history section? Hard to tell.

"Not blue enough," he declared under his breath as the visitor caught up, continuing down a different corridor of books.

"What was that?" she asked.

"Nothing."

Jay hadn't the slightest clue what the sign said on it. The history section was supposed to be a sort of blue... Ish? It had been sort of a while since he'd been there.

"Er... I think we're here," Jay guessed. "These are history books," he declared, more confidently, as if willing it to be so.

The woman nodded curtly. "I need something to overview the founding of the Final Empire. Any recommendations?"

Jay suppressed a sigh of relief. This was the history section after all.

"Certainly. Ah... This one." He rested his finger on a thick-looking tome. Good leather. Dyed a lovely, deep shade of green. "This one looks good." He presented it to her.

"A Collection of Terris Folktales?" She said incredulously.

Jay winced, making a mental note to kick his employer when this charade was through with.

"Yes," he explained curtly. After a silence that prolonged one moment too long, he continued: "Yes, the title can be decieving, but it really does an exquisite job of covering those early days of the Final Empire." He prayed she would accept that.

She looked doubtful.

"Trust me," Jay said. Another moment of prolonged silence, this one stretching onward...

"Anyways, is that the time? Looks like the sky is going orange, and by that I mean closing hours... Off you go I guess! Can't have Luthadel's Library open all the time now, can we?"

 

A brief while later Jay locked the entrance to the library with a soft click. He tapped the lock again, a ghost of a grin spreading across his angular face. It clicked a perfect E flat.

One by one, he extinguished each light, whistling to himself. Gradually, it became darker, until he stood in total darkness.

Jay continued to whistle as he let himself out the back door of the great library, locking it behind him with another click that punctuated his song nicely. He walked across Luthadel, as night gradually fell and the mists thickened around him. They had been disconcerting at first, but the mists were starting to grow on him, slowly.

He continued to whistle as he fished a reed from his sleeve, slotted it into a fancy looking door, and opened it with another click. He was fairly sure this was the right place. Pity he couldn't read the signposts in this cursed language. He entered the building, and sensed a presence coming up behind him. He hung his coat on the rack by the door, muttering something unintelligible to himself as the elaborate rug he tread across slowly lost it's color, bleeding to a dull, uniform grey. Jay walked onward.

He continued to whistle as his coat caught the arm reaching out behind him, batted the glass knife out of it's hand, wrapped itself around the owner's throat, and began bashing his assailant's head against the wall. He walked purposefully up the ornate stairway, down a hallway, and into a bedroom. Jay ignored the occupant, who was beginning to awake, approaching the cabinet beside the bed. He opened the middle drawer, then placed his reed into the keyhole concealed in the back of the drawer, which writhed in his hands until the drawer's secret compartment opened to Jay.

He withdrew a pair of smallish spikes, clucking in disapproval. This was what his employer had wanted so badly? A couple of rusty nails? Foolishness. He moved to close the drawer, then paused. Now what was that? He reached in a second time, drawing out a sprawling, elegant cloak composed entirely of tassels. This was a different story altogether from the nails. A delightful creation. The tassels layered upon themselves exquisitely, creating a beautiful garment, with beautiful potential for his art. Yes, he was certainly bringing this with him.

"No!! Thief!!!" the bed's occupant yelled, reaching towards Jay.

Jay rapped the fellow on his head, pocketing the nails and bundling the cloak under one arm, and left the way he had come.

As he backtracked through the hallway, he saw his coat was still bashing the poor unconscious hazekiller. With a word, the coat dropped limp, and Jay put it on again, stepping over the crumpled guardsman, who he sensed was still alive.

There was shouting in his wake, but Jay doubted anyone would intercept him at this point. The guards seemed... Distracted. There should have been a second guard at the entrance.

He stepped out of the door, closing it behind him. He locked it for good measure, reasoning that if another person robbed this house, they ought to earn it. A job well done, even if his quarry seemed only to be of sentimental value. Hardly his concern. He was far more interested in the cloak. Jay slung his new coat over his shoulders, and disappeared into the mists, whistling happily to himself.

Edited December 28, 2017 by Drake Marshall
punctuation

[Araris Valerian]

Steeldancer. Okay guys, seriously, we should kill Straw. I don't want to lose this game to any combination of trolls and inactive players. We probably need 4 votes on somebody to be safe this cycle, although 5 would be better. I'd bet there are either 3 elims with a vote manipulation or 4 with no vote manipulation. If Straw is village, then a bandwagon by the elims would mean 5 village votes would be a 50% loss, which I doubt they would risk since the other 50% is a guaranteed win for us.

[DrakeMarshall]

2 hours ago, Araris Valerian said:

Steeldancer. Okay guys, seriously, we should kill Straw. I don't want to lose this game to any combination of trolls and inactive players. We probably need 4 votes on somebody to be safe this cycle, although 5 would be better. I'd bet there are either 3 elims with a vote manipulation or 4 with no vote manipulation. If Straw is village, then a bandwagon by the elims would mean 5 village votes would be a 50% loss, which I doubt they would risk since the other 50% is a guaranteed win for us.

I would be quite surprised if the distribution was anything other than 3 elims with no vote manipulation.

We can, for the time being, neglect to worry about our Serial Killer, but at some point that will become an additional concern if not removed.

If there are no further developments I will back lynching Straw, but I don’t like it. I think the elims wouldn’t play their hands like that, if in the least because it’d be no fun. I think Straw is just joking around (that said they should definitely retract their vote).

I think... We need more people to speak up. I’m not entirely sure what direction to go next yet. Maybe in the morning I’ll do something to drag more people in. For now, I really, really ought to sleep.

[nutellaspren]

Checking in to say I've been in transit for about 12 hours and going to bed now so I will properly check in here in the morning -- just here to confirm that I haven't forgotten and I'll make sure not to miss the whole phase.

[Straw]

*reads responses*

*updates reads*

A Joe in the Bush.

[Steeldancer]

@asterion137 asterion. I haven't seen you around, so heres a poke vote. 

Edited December 28, 2017 by Steeldancer

[Seonid]

Sorry it took me so long to get started, but I am serious about being more active this game. @Devotary of Spontaneity, I'm starting to making good on my pledge now.

I agree whole-heartedly that Straw's vote on the GM was worrying. Aaand, now that I'm caught up, I see that Straw has retracted it.

Fair enough. Ornstein @Ornstein Haven't seen you posting around here yet. Want to jump in the game and start talking with the rest of us?

[DrakeMarshall]

@Droughtbringer friendly reminder that the cycle is 3/4 over and you haven't said anything yet.

@Darkness_ I love a good poke. Ahi is probably my favorite.  That said, what are your thoughts on today's lynch? Who would you lynch if it was your choice?

@shanerockes welcome! Also, friendly reminder that the cycle is 3/4 over and you haven't said anything yet.

@ShaneysRus another friendly reminder, but I'm tiring of typing the same thing.

@Sart I pose the same two questions to you as I did Darkness.

@Aspen welcome! Also another reminder that the cycle is almost up.

Idk if any of you said you wouldn't be around for cycle 1 in advance, but I think it won't hurt to mention everybody who hasn't already been poke-voted by somebody else, in case they have forgotten.

 

As I said several times above, the cycle is nearly ended.

Poke votes are super useful at the beginning of the first cycle. They draw people into the game, encourage discussion, and give us some basic reads on each other.

But the first cycle is almost over now and I think they might be less useful. Araris said we needed a decisive lynch, and poke votes have a way of being scattered all over. I think it'd move things forward more if the lynch was based on genuine (or at least publicly feigned) suspicions.

For myself, I'm keeping my vote on Steeldancer. I still haven't found words to properly express why. Sorry 'bout that. I realize that makes things difficult, but it's the best I can come up with right now.

I'll also let it be recorded that I'm reading very tentatively village on both Straw and Araris.

[Araris Valerian]

I guess I'll withdraw from Straw. My vote will go on Drake for now, although I'll switch to Steeldancer if necessary before cycle end.

[Steeldancer]

Ok, so basically our possible Lynch is me, for quite literally no reason at all. That's... A little annoying? I understand getting voted on when I over react to a poke vote (which has totally happened before! Gah), but... As you pointed out, Drake, I'm the only person who has said ANYTHING USEFUL. asterion . Unlike darkness . Who, said something along the lines of liking Pokemon and poke votes? 

Thinking upon why my original post may have set you off, I think it might be my thing about not being lazy. This isn't an alignment indicative thing, as this was something I was planning on doing -being more active and helpful- whether village or eliminator. This is because I forgot about the last game, and I feel bad about it, so I promised myself to be more active and a better participant. Other than that, I can't really address your feelings, especially when you seem unable to put your reasons for voting on me into words. 

[Straw]

28 minutes ago, Steeldancer said:

As you pointed out, Drake, I'm the only person who has said ANYTHING USEFUL.

Nah, Drake only said you had made the biggest contribution so far, also, that post was 18 hours ago. Several other people have made significant contributions to the village. It seems like you’re trying to be a mayor, which seems like something an Eliminator would do. Steeldancer

[Steeldancer]

4 minutes ago, Straw said:

Nah, Drake only said you had made the biggest contribution so far, also, that post was 18 hours ago. Several other people have made significant contributions to the village. It seems like you’re trying to be a mayor, which seems like something an Eliminator would do. Steeldancer

 How the heck am I being a mayor? Many people have not commented at all at this point. I don't know who to Lynch, but I am not interested in being lynched Day 1 again in a game that I'm interested in playing! 

And who else is saying anything useful? There's no real discussion besides you voting on joe to gain reads, which is a good tactic for you, but not necessarily the village. Others have tried to summon inactives, including me. That hasn't really borne much fruit. So please, enlighten me how attempting to defend myself without becoming too defensive- which I am prone to doing, regardless of alignment- is at all like being a mayor, which last I checked, is trying to dictate what everyone will do. 

[Straw]

@Araris Valerian, @Seonid, @Hemalurgic Headshot, @Devotary of Spontaneity, @livinglegend, and @Drake Marshall have all contributed reasonable amounts of text. Drake has also contributed just as much as you have, if not more. Also, I think we might have different definitions of mayor. In my mind, a mayor is someone who attempts to take control of the village. Some mayors might try to dictate what everyone does, but other mayors might be trying to dictate the flow of the discussion. I was mainly suspicious of you due to your claim that no one else had posted anything useful, which is obviously untrue and also attempts to draw attention away from other players, which could significantly hinder discussion.

[Seonid]

I'd rather not lynch Steeldancer today, especially on such weak evidence. (I'll admit to being somewhat influenced by his emotional appeal. It reads town to me, and also hits a particular spot. If you're an Eliminator after that, though @Steeldancer...)

Other forums use the term 'policy lynch,' referring to lynching someone because their play harms the town. One class of players often targeted by policy lynches are inactives, because their play is extremely detrimental. They allow the Eliminators to gain number advantage turns earlier than they otherwise might. In addition, if we lynch the active players while ignoring the inactives, we end up with situations where few people are discussing, which kills the chances of the town to find an Eliminator via analysis.

So, I propose to lynch an inactive today. I'm not saying we should do it always, but on D1 seems like a decent idea. And after this particular D1? Lynching an active player after such a sparse day doesn't give us much info - more than lynching an inactive, sure, but I'm arguing that the long term information benefit is greater if we leave active players around to talk (thus revealing connections between people, allowing us to act off of more information in the crucial later turns of the game).

With that said, I'm up for Ornstein (where my vote is currently), but I'm not married to the idea. Any of the inactives would be someone I'd be fine with.

[Steeldancer]

4 minutes ago, Straw said:

@Araris Valerian, @Seonid, @Hemalurgic Headshot, @Devotary of Spontaneity, @livinglegend, and @Drake Marshall have all contributed reasonable amounts of text. Drake has also contributed just as much as you have, if not more. Also, I think we might have different definitions of mayor. In my mind, a mayor is someone who attempts to take control of the village. Some mayors might try to dictate what everyone does, but other mayors might be trying to dictate the flow of the discussion. I was mainly suspicious of you due to your claim that no one else had posted anything useful, which is obviously untrue and also attempts to draw attention away from other players, which could significantly hinder discussion.

I'm not interested in turning discussion away from anyone except me. In fact, did you not notice how I promptly voted on Darkness? Maybe my statement was a hyperbole.

your reasoning makes sense I guess, but that's not my goal. First, I'm trying to address why my post of role analysis might have caused Drake to be suspicious. I'm not upset about that. I am a little annoyed that currently I seem to be the prime Lynch suspect, which reminds me of MR... 24 I think it was, the Radiant game. Where I was poke voted and then I over reacted and was lynched- and was village. Day one. So maybe I'm not the only contributer, but clearly I'm trying to contribute and be helpful. I propose Darkness as an alternate Lynch, until he says something useful. 

[Devotary of Spontaneity]

First of all, I will retract my vote on Seonid.

Excluding Seonid, we currently have 5 candidates for the lynch with only one vote and then Steeldancer with two votes. I think Steeldancer is acting more like an overly defensive villager than an elim, so I'm not going to vote for him right now.  I'm not going to vote for anyone yet, but I would like to ask @Drake Marshall to explain why he would be surprised if there were more than three elims with no vote manipulation, as the Mistborn would oppose a GM lynch and there may be other village vote manipulators. 

[Steeldancer]

Regarding roles, I just noticed another thing- there are exactly 17 roles, and 17 people. So either this is role madness, or we are missing some allomantic roles. Which, I never got an answer whether this is role madness @A Joe in the Bush. Furthermore, given that this is JOE, it's also probable that we have some secret role, as being one of the "three or less" secrets he said this game had. 

[Hemalurgic Headshot]

Seeing as things have definitely moved along since I voted, I will retract my vote from Devotary.

Now, for the votes placed so far, Steeldancer has the most votes (as previously stated), and Araris may switch his vote from Drake to Steeldancer (please note that he has already previously voted on Steeldancer and Straw). I do not see much reason in lynching Ornstein, even if he isn't active for the first cycle, because he may become active later and we do not want to unnecessarily lynch a villager without giving them a chance. (But please, @Ornstein, please be active)

Because of the three vote minimum, if we are to have a D1 Lynch, I suggest that we refrain from pokevoting (especially without tagging) and only provide legitimate targets, with reasons listed. Steeldancer is the closest to being lynched, and my thoughts on him are rather mixed. His contributions are at first glance helpful, but as Straw has said, implicate Mayor-like behavior. His pokevote on Darkness is not very helpful either ( @Darkness_, please contribute), but it came before my thoughts on pokevotes (see above), so I will let it slide. All in all, it is too soon to get a definite read, but my gut has an off feeling about him.

[Straw]

Hmm... I’m going to change my vote from Steeldancer to Ornstein. I’d prefer not to lynch DA, mainly because he was killed very recently in the MR. Anyway, time for some reads!

Steeldancer: I have a minor Elim gut read on Steeldancer, but he’s contributed a significant amount to the game, which pushes him up to a neutral read.

Devotary: I have a minor village gut read on Devotary, and he’s made a few useful comments on the game, so he’s probably village.

Seonid: Overall, I’m reading Seonid as slightly village. There’s not much more I have to say about him.

HH: I’m reading HH as village. Overall, he’s contributed a lot to the game, and also seems to be being helpful to the village.

[A Joe in the Bush]

14 minutes ago, Steeldancer said:

Regarding roles, I just noticed another thing- there are exactly 17 roles, and 17 people. So either this is role madness, or we are missing some allomantic roles. Which, I never got an answer whether this is role madness @A Joe in the Bush. Furthermore, given that this is JOE, it's also probable that we have some secret role, as being one of the "three or less" secrets he said this game had. 

PAFO on the rolemadness question.

[Steeldancer]

25 minutes ago, Straw said:

Hmm... I’m going to change my vote from Steeldancer to Ornstein. I’d prefer not to lynch DA, mainly because he was killed very recently in the MR. Anyway, time for some reads!

Steeldancer: I have a minor Elim gut read on Steeldancer, but he’s contributed a significant amount to the game, which pushes him up to a neutral read.

Devotary: I have a minor village gut read on Devotary, and he’s made a few useful comments on the game, so he’s probably village.

Seonid: Overall, I’m reading Seonid as slightly village. There’s not much more I have to say about him.

HH: I’m reading HH as village. Overall, he’s contributed a lot to the game, and also seems to be being helpful to the village.

Right, I forgot he died in that. Still, please contribute @Darkness_ funny comments are great, but better when they're helpful. darkness . @Ornstein I'll vote on you if you don't contribute. 

[nutellaspren]

OK, I'm a bit over my head since I don't know any of the players' meta or anything, but I've already flip-flopped on Steeldancer while reading his posts. Felt like he was kind of overreacting/defensive at first but he seems more town now. 

Placing a vote on Straw because his posts so far have all been a little... off. The vote for the host (weird but idk if that's a thing people do here for some reason or if that was as totally bizarre as it seemed to me, lol still getting the hang of how your games here work) and then stating a change of reads, then the list of reads just kind of sounded forced.

(Btw let me know if I get anyone's gender wrong but it looks like most of you are male as far as I can tell? I'm a she though fwiw)

[A Joe in the Bush]

4 minutes ago, nutellaspren said:

The vote for the host (weird but idk if that's a thing people do here for some reason or if that was as totally bizarre as it seemed to me, lol still getting the hang of how your games here work)

People tend to vote on hosts because in some of my past games, lynching me could affect the game. 

[Seonid]

11 minutes ago, nutellaspren said:

The vote for the host (weird but idk if that's a thing people do here for some reason or if that was as totally bizarre as it seemed to me, lol still getting the hang of how your games here work) and then stating a change of reads, then the list of reads just kind of sounded forced.

That's a thing that folks do in Joe's games,  because he hides secret roles and interactions and everything in his games.

Certainly non standard, but always ridiculously fun!

Of course, in this game,  the scum win con is to kill the GM, which they are only able to do via the lynch.