Long Game 4: Colours of War

[Alvron]

Night had fallen across the land as Fron made his way into the city of T'Telir.  The bright colours of the city were muted under the pale moon, reds fading to grey and yellows turning to white.  A few hearty beggars were still lining the streets hoping for a generous soul to pass by.

 

Slipping a couple of coins to a few beggars, Fron carefully slid a small envelope one of them gave him up his sleeve.  Nodding his thanks, Fron quickly moved down the street and into D'Denir Gardens where his contact waited.

 

Many of the gardens statues were missing limbs while others wore a variety of clothing ranging from ripped hats to silk shirts and leather gloves.  Sitting on one of the gardens many benches, flanked by a pair of lifeless, was a small woman wearing a dress of green and white.

 

Handing over a small pouch of coins  "I got your message.  What reason could a priestess have for contacting me?" Fron asked.

 

"It seems some Lifeless have gone missing from the Enclave.'  the small woman said.  "My mistress believes that they were taken sometime last week.  After the coup attempt, the Lifeless ranks were decimated.  We've been hard pressed to restore their numbers.  That's why I sent you that message, and that's why you must find out who is trying to sabotage the peace talks.  I can't do anything officially but you are an Idrian so no one will expect me to contact you."

 

"Very well." Fron spoke after a while. "I will look into this but you'll need to do something for me.  I need to know where the Idrian princess Vivenna is."

 

Turning on his heel, Fron strode away.  He would never show it but those Lifeless gave him the creeps, besides he was late for another appointment.  And hopefully they shall have a breath or two to sell me.

 

It only took four games but we finally got our first deadlock vote.

Edited April 7, 2014 by Alvron

[Sphinx]

So someone could win the breath lottery only to die and have their breath either gone or taken?  Good to know. Hm.

[Claincy]

So someone could win the breath lottery only to die and have their breath either gone or taken?  Good to know. Hm.

That is a possibility.

 

Note: A little over 11 hours left to send me night orders if you haven't already!

 

I'm still missing 9 people's actions...

[nard1993]

Dainard lay in bed at night, tiredly gazing at the ceiling.

The fact that people had so suddenly tried to murder in retaliation had rattled him, it just seemed too soon.

But who knows, maybe they were right?

[el_warko]

Baldrick growled standing protectively over his master.

 

A hand reached out of the darkness.  Baldrick sniffed it, dropped to his haunches, licked the outstretched hand and went quiet.

 

"Say the words Elo"

 

"My breath to yours, my life to yours"

 

His life collapsed in on himself.  He was drab.

[Mailliw73]

I love how many people are keeping things from other games.

[Edgedancer]

I also love the references. Heck, I´m still thinking of a way for more cameos. Eddy was a good start but we don´t want the others to be jealous now, do we?

Edited April 7, 2014 by Edgedancer

[A Joe in the Bush]

"But, It's Blasphemy. Awakening goes against my very religion. How can I give you my Breath when Austre Himself is against it? I've heard your arguments, I believe them. Very well. If the King of Idris can use awakening to save his Kingdom, So can I. I will give you my breath Returned, but only to be used against those who fight the Treaty. Not my People. I give you my breath. Well then what are the Words? Oh, Ok, My breath to yours, my life become yours." Nothing happened. "Did anything Happen?"

 

The figure, frowned out their clasped hands. "Those were the right words, why don't I have your Breaths? Wait, Jeo, what is your Birth Language? You need to say the words in your Birth Language."

 

"Oh. OK then." Jeo made the switch. "My Breath to Yours, My Life becomes Yours." This time, he saw a stream of Colorful Air leave his body, and enter into The Man's. Drab, Jeo was a Drab now. Breathless. "Once the Pahn Kahl are defeated, I want my Breath back, you hear? And If I find out that you are a Pahn Kahl, well I'll hunt, no, I don't know how to Hunt. I'll send Rowan to hunt you down!"

 

"Thank you for your Breath Jeo. I will put it to good use. Try not to vote for anyone else till we have more Info."

 

With that, the Figure left the Kitchen into the Night.

 

I barely understand the rules of awakening, so I decided to give my Breath to Someone I could Trust. Hopefully.

[Herowannabe]

[sarcasm]I do so love how many people are making it public knowledge that they are giving their Breath away. [/sarcasm] Seriously, all it does is consolidate more Breath into a smaller number of people, while simultaneously giving the Pahn Kahl information about who is in that smaller group of people, thus making it easier for them to kill important people and steal larger numbers of Breath. Let's try to not make it too easy for them, shall we?

[18th Shard]

Darn, missed sign up. Here is what I was going to post.

 

Flashback: TalNaat looked at Mabi, Clan, and Wark's accusations in silence. Xaneth had known he would be killed, and wanted to make sure he could make it to his hideout in the nearby buildings without suspicion before leaving. He'd even given TalNaat his metalminds, as part of his charade. TalNaat felt his body pierced in several places, and let the blood he'd created earlier that die flow free. He fell, limply landing on the stones beneath. He had quite a lot of skill at imitating dead bodies. That was why Xaneth had contacted him. TalNaat had some very small spikes, ones that he hid in the center of his femur. Even after he had been coated in molten aluminum, he remained, waiting for his employer's arrival. TalNaat had left a single long nerve connected to an ear in the world above. He heard the clink of metal beads near it. Atium, for the cache, thought TalNaat.  "Here is your payment," came a voice from above. "Your contract is complete."

 

Xaneth walked from Blackwood Cemetary, past Forage and Dyring's graves,  toward a new city. TalNaat had done his job well. No one suspected his escape. In a way, this was true freedom. Gamma and Vizzini had done well with the information and plots he had supplied them with before his 'demise'. Another town ridded of Spiked. That was good, because the Canton of Inquisition had grown bolder lately. All of Xaneth's friends and family were dead, had been killed so the Inquisitors could have Feruchemical Gold abilities. By the Survivor, he would not let more innocents die. The Worldbringers needed to find allies. The world would need their knowledge in the days to come. Xaneth looked down at his new arm bands. Duralumin was his specialty, but he would need more than just Connections to stop the Steel Ministry. His arms glinted with iron, steel, tin, pewter, gold, and more. Xaneth looked at the graves of his allies. No more, he thought, no more deaths because I can't find the Spiked. No more lost to Ruin or Pahn Kahl.

 

Yes, I am a world hopper. I am only observing. But my services as a storyteller are hirable.

Edited April 7, 2014 by 18th Shard

[Herowannabe]

-Spy, aura recognition

-awakening (except awakened rope will still cancel spying and aura recognition...go figure)

-strawmen

-Breath Lottery/Giving breath

-kills

-returned saving

Edit: Forgot to place Giving Breath

I'm curious about your decision on the order of night actions. Personally I think it ought to be the reverse of your list. With Returned saving being the obvious exception.

[Chid]

I mostly agree with Herowannabe about the order, but I think that people should be able to give their breath away before they are killed.  

[Herowannabe]

mostly I think that spying on someone or scanning someone ought to happen after everything else. Knowing how much Breath a person had yesterday isn't necessarily very useful.

[bartbug]

I think that killing should be on the bottom, with returning happening afterward. However, if you decide to kill someone who's giving up a divine breath, then they should be able to save their person before dying.

[Gamma Fiend]

Gammer wasn't surprised. The whole lot of them were fools! Declaring things like that in public when they knew their enemies were listening. Even if it was all just an act, it still gives the Pahn Kahl more information than they need. Sure, Gammer had her own plans, but you didn't see her going and blabbing about it to whoever would listen. Kalad's Ghost, some people are dense! She thought to herself as she went back to minding her own business and continuing her embroidery.

The starting shape was almost finished and Gammer was getting ready to start working on the finer details. All the villagers names were secretly worked into the embroidery, at least the outlines of the names were. How they would be filled in, and what colors would be used to tell their stories however, that was still to be seen.

After all these years, Gammer was still surprised at how many different shades of red there existed.

Edit: I think Aura Recognition should go Third last on the Stack, right before Night Kills and then Returned Orders. Because if people get the results of their Aura reading before anybody does any Awakenings or received any breath, then that basically makes Aura Recognition almost useless. It's cool to know what someone had yesterday, but won't help too much going forward. Unless Claincy purposely wanted to put it that way to troll us, which is a totally acceptable possibility.

And yes, I called it 'The Stack'. Play Magic, much?
 

Edited April 7, 2014 by Gamma Fiend

[Awesomeness Summoned]

I'm gonna add some additional bipartisan agreement and backup what Hero and Gamma said. Yes, it makes sense to not have breaths on hand for the PK to steel if they kill you but giving them away at this point is extremely risky. How anyone thinks after one day they have enough information to trust someone with their breath I can't imagine.

 

One of the biggest mistakes we could do is give the PK enough breaths to make nightblood on one of the first nights. That would potentially allow them to kill three people in one cycle (if they successful sway the votes) which could completely turn the tide of the game. To me, it seems like them taking one breath through a kill is far less dangerous to us than if they trick 4-5 people into just handing them a breath and then still also potentially steel a breath through a kill. Lets not do their job for them please.

 

If you have multiple breaths, make a strawman or a rope to keep your breath sequestered. If you only have one breath, hold on to it until you can be absolutely sure its not being given to a PK. If you are dead set on giving your breath away, please don't announce it to the whole group. As Hero said, all that does is help the PK narrow down targets.

 

Edit: color error

 

Edit: I'd also like to agree with Hero that scanning people seems much less helpful if it only tells you information about them before their actions that night. 

Edited April 7, 2014 by Awesomeness Summoned

[bartbug]

Awesomeness: the trick is not to give it away. The trick is to Awaken it away. Choose an Awakened object at whatever level of Breaths you may have, and do it once and never take it back. So yeah. Preferably, try for a strawman: They have continued use, which is nice. 

Edited April 7, 2014 by bartbug

[Macen]

Cen walked into the Red Salmon shaking his head. All of this debate he kept hearing others have seemed half pointless to him. What type of debate made a good story? Cen wanted action, and intrigue! Alas, the more action and more Intrigue that happened, meant the more chance of him losing his head.

Thinking of losing his head, Cen thumbed a stone medallion around his neck. 

That strange traveler with a cloak that seemed to move on it's own had the stone madallion to him for a couple of small pieces of metal. He had said it would protect him from all sorts of harm. 

Cen walked up to the bar that had been recently installed and shouted for Jeo. "Jeo, I hear you have recently acquired something with a little more colorful to drink. I need a fuddled mind to help me figure this riddle out".

[Claincy]

Night Actions are now Closed. The night will end in 12 hours.

 

I have things to say regarding why the night action order is as it is but I'm not certain I will have time this morning, I'll talk about it this afternoon if I don't.

[PorridgeBrick]

Night Actions are now Closed. The night will end in 12 hours.

 

I have things to say regarding why the night action order is as it is but I'm not certain I will have time this morning, I'll talk about it this afternoon if I don't.

Shoot. I completely forgot about the Returned cutting things short. I guess there's always next night then!

[SirVarrock]

He did mention it about half a day ago, although that was morning for most of North America.

 

Doesn't it suck when you try to write RP for this character, and all you get is stuff that's good for the next one?

[A Joe in the Bush]

[sarcasm]I do so love how many people are making it public knowledge that they are giving their Breath away. [/sarcasm] Seriously, all it does is consolidate more Breath into a smaller number of people, while simultaneously giving the Pahn Kahl information about who is in that smaller group of people, thus making it easier for them to kill important people and steal larger numbers of Breath. Let's try to not make it too easy for them, shall we?

You Mistake us Sir. I am being Honest, but Others might not be. If you say you're giving your Breath to Someone Publiccly, but then Don't, then the PK will still think you're a drab and not Target you.

[Peng the Just]

You Mistake us Sir. I am being Honest, but Others might not be. If you say you're giving your Breath to Someone Publiccly, but then Don't, then the PK will still think you're a drab and not Target you.

I'm going to side with Rowan here. We don't want to give the pahn Kahl more than we need to. Or for that matter the idrians. (Filthy rebel scum)

[Claincy]

OK. Time to explain why the detection comes before the awakening.

 

You are likely to decide you want to use the aura recognition based on suspicions gained during the day cycle. Often the person will be aware of your suspicion or at least have some idea that they might be considered suspicious. If the order were the other way around they could easily hide excess breath in a strawman or awakened rope. Any searching you do before they get a chance to awaken or give breath will be how they are based off the last cycle, rather than how they choose to be seen. Does that make sense to you?

 

Feel free to point out any flaws in my logic/counter-arguments etc.

[Gamma Fiend]

Ah, that actually makes sense. I approve of the order of the Stack with that reasoning.

Gammer sat patiently by the window, waiting for the sun to rise. Colours! Did she love watching the morning sky. All the different colors and hues, the majestic blending of the sun and the horizon displayed in a vibrant spectrum. It almost took her mind off of the blood that was sure to plague the town soon. With the recent murders and the established mob-rule, it would only be inevitable that a body would show up in the morning. It only made sense.

So Gammer sat there in her rocking chair and continued staring out over the silent town. Waiting.