Quick Fix Game 33 - Deception: Murder in the Cosmere

[Herowannabe]

2 hours ago, Cadmium Compounder said:

Welcome back!

If you can kill Joe, I'll give you a prize! I doubt you'll be able to because reasons.

Like the fact that there is no player elimination in this game?  

 

welcome back @Arinian!

[A Joe in the Bush]

2 hours ago, Arinian said:

Look who's back! Me! 

Should I sign up for this game?

Hmm... hmmm... Joe signed for this game. Can I kill him? Probably. Okay I undoubtedly should sign up for this game. Sign up me as Niar.

 

2 hours ago, Cadmium Compounder said:

Welcome back!

If you can kill Joe, I'll give you a prize! I doubt you'll be able to because reasons.

Those reasons being that i am unkillable in this and every game.

[Herowannabe]

Day 0 - Investicon

Eban Naworeh ran down the street, his wild hair and long robes trailing behind him as he frantically checked the addresses of buildings. 

No... No... Not that one... No, that's the bakery... No... AHA!

Eban ran into the arched entryway to the building. Above the arch hung a large banner that proclaimed "WELCOME TO INVESTICON."

Investicon was the largest, longest running annual convention held specifically for all things investigation related. All the best private eyes, police investigators, spies, intelligence agents, and detectives from all over the Cosmere flocked to Investicon every year. 

Eban burst into the convention hall, and drew up short. About 2 dozen people stood inside the large hall, most of them huddled around the table that held complimentary punch and cookies. 

"This is it?" Eban said.

"If by 'it' you mean 'Investicon' then, yes!" a friendly volunteer wearing an "Investicon Staff" T-shirt said. "We've got a great turnout this year, up 25% from last year!"

Eban ignored her and shouted, "There's been a murder!"

Nineteen heads perked up and swiveled to look at him, and someone said, "Um... who are you?"

"I'm Silverlight's Chief Oracle. I had a vision!" As realization set in, people started bombarding him with questions.

"Where?" 

"Er... I don't know." Eban said. 

"Who was killed?"

"I... don't know that either."

"When did it happen?"

"Yeah... I'm not really sure."

"Do you know how the murderer did it?"

"Uh... nope."

"Well, what do you know old man?"

Eban straighten up and declared triumphantly, "The assassin is here, in this room!"

Nineteen pairs of eyes widened in shock and looked around suspiciously at one another, then turned back to Eban expectantly. 

After a few moments of silence, someone spoke. "Well? Which one of us is the assassin?"

"I... have no idea." Eban said, wilting, but then abruptly perked up again. "But I can find out! I'll go do some divinationy type stuff, maybe hold a Séance or two, spend some time meditating... Wait here!"

With that, Eban turned and dashed out of the room. 

---

 

Welcome to QF33, our first attempt at Deception, Murder in the Cosmere! The game has officially begun, but right now we're still in cycle 0. I will be sending out everybody's role in the next couple of hours, and the Assassin will have roughly 24 hours from this post to select their Method of Murder and Piece of Key Evidence. Once they have done that, I can set the starting tiles set and ready. 

Right now the player list has been set and everyone has been randomly assigned their Methods and Evidences. The starting tiles have not been chosen yet, so you can disregard those for now. You can view all of this in the game's spreadsheet, or click on the Spoiler tag below:

Spoiler

#	Player Name	Means of Murder	Pieces of Evidence
1	Steeldancer Squid of Steel	Torture, Betrayal, Koloss Blade, Blood Loss,	Rotspren, Aonic Dictionary, Boots, Ragged Cloak,
2	A Joe In the Bush Various Divide	Martial Arts, Venomous Bite, Obsidian Axe, Aon Sheo (Death),	Mistcloak, Cigar Case, Straw Man, Sketchbook,
3	Droughtbringer In	Garotte, Hammer, Sword, Air-powered Crossbow,	Medallion, Bloodseal, Gloves, Fearspren,
4	Devotary of Spontaneity Fourth of the Twilight	Deathants, Fenweed Poison, Acid, Parshendi,	Cup, Blue Skin Scraps, Aluminum Ingots, Uniform,
5	Metaspren Selksi	Kick, Booby Trap, Grandbow, Dreok's Axe,	Writing Board, Elantrian Slime, Musical Instrument, Skull,
6	Rathmaskal Larry	Soulcasting, Jeskeri Cult Ritual, Highstorm, Ettmetal Explosion,	Skaze, Gloryspren, Words Inscribed in Steel, Vandalism,
7	Elandera Oyh	Rope, Deathweed Bark, Smoke, Tompher Poison,	Cremlings, Bullet, Red Sphere, Crem ,
8	Wiritospren <name pending>	Shades, Suffocation, Aon Daa (Power), Hemalurgic Spike,	Technology, Aviar Feather, Smoke, Lak,
9	Madagasar Mad	Birchbane, Drowning, Swampvine, Hook,	Piece of Ralkalest, Shelldry Cards, Pet Bird, Make Up,
10	Snipexe Snip	Pistol, Blackbane Leaf, Poisoned Wine, Black Frayn,	Water Bottle, Seafood, Colorful Scarf, Saddle Strap,
11	Araris Valerian Aralis	Aon Ehe (Fire), Stone, Bare Hands, Essence Marks,	Ice, Contract, Portrait, Aluminum Bullets,
12	Kidspren <Name Pending>	Aimian, Metal Poisoning, Deepwalker, Sacrificial Altar,	Hallandren Dyes, Soulstone, Ash Stains, Empty Pouch,
13	Phattemer Bobby Tables	Steelrunning, Bow & Arrow, Glass Dagger, Nightmaw,	Fingernails, Tarachin Ball, Artisan’s Script, Hideout,
14	Paranoid King John 'Not-A-Murderer-At-All' Smith	Whitespine, Dakhor Ritual, Poisoned Dart, The Bands of Mourning ,	Bay Wrap, Dust, Larkin Corpse, Lucky Hat,
15	I think I am here Itiah VII	Buried Alive, Toxic Fungus, Midnight Essence, Spear,	Hoid’s flute, Shu-Dereth Pendant, Ichor Alchohol, Metallurgy Equipment,
16	Randuir Tezed	Rifle, Poisonous Sting, Kandra Digestive Acids, Rioting,	Footprint, Dirt, Purple Blood Droplets, Forged Painting,
17	Cadmium Compounder Rettih Chnip	Meekers, Mistwraith, Punch, Disease,	Silver Dust, Tattoo, Cracked Shalebark, Lockpicks,
18	Bort May Bebort	Explosion, Sand Mastery, Bloodsealing, Coins,	Child's Toy, Trap Door, Vandalized Statue, Red Flag,
19	Arinian Niar	Burned at the Stake, Awakened Rope, Sandling, Fire,	Bright Green Hat, Hidden Message, Firestarter, Letter,

In the meantime, free to start RPing (bonus points if you incorporate your Methods and Evidences into your RP) and/or start discussing general strategies. 

 

 

Edited August 29, 2018 by Herowannabe
updated players' names on the player list

[Madagascar]

*Mad and Scarry the forensic pig glower suspiciously at everyone with two pairs of beady little eyes*

I don't trust a single one of you.

*human and pig glower intensely at the PET BIRD that has just appeared on their desk*

No, not even you, chicky.

*glares at PET BIRD intensify*

I bet you did it. Or if you didn't do it, you know who did.

*grabs birdcage and starts shaking*

TALK! TALK, STORM YOU, TALK!

"*desperate squawking*

YOU KNOW THE TRUTH! YOU'VE SEEN! NOW TELL ME OR I'LL THROW YOU TO THE PIGS!

*SQUAWK SQUAWK SQUAWK*

"P---P---POLLY WANTS A CRACKER"

Throws the PET BIRD aside. I knew that chick knew something. Now I have a name. All I need is a face to fit it with. I'm going to be reinstated to the force in no time, guys.

Edited August 29, 2018 by Madagascar

[Herowannabe]

All role PMs should have been sent out by now. If you have not received a role PM from me or if you have any questions about your role or the game, please shoot me a PM.

Also, since sign-ups have opened up several people have changed their username for National Spren Week (J/K I don't know why everyone is changing their name to "<fill in the blank>-spren"). I'm going through and updating Players' names in the spreadsheet and in the first post of this thread right now. I can't edit the player list in the sign-up thread because the moderators have already locked it, but that list does have links to the post where each player signed up, so you should be able to figure out who is who pretty easily. 

Now that the game has begun, I'd like to remind everyone to please do NOT change your username until the game is finished. Or if you do, please at least make a public service announcement so that it's clear to everyone who you are. Thanks!

[Elandera]

Oyh stared at the man who just burst in, proclaiming a murder. 

What? This is a load of crem! Why does this always happen to me? I just want to go home.

Oyh wasn't sure how he'd made it out of his own world of Roshar, but hoped someone at Investicon might know how he could get back. He figured not all world-hoppers were as coincidentally unlucky as him. Someone had to know how it worked. 

He started to grow nervous, however, as he comprehended the words. There was a murderer among them. He couldn't trust any of them to show him the way back to Roshar unless they found and revealed the murderer.

Oyh straightened, trying to look resolute. If only he had Stormlight...

I can do this. I've done this.

"I will find them, storm it all. The cremling can't hide forever."

[Paranoid King]

John sat astride his whitespine, surreptitiously feeding it a handmade larkin baywrap. He would have preferred a mistwraith, but he'd grown too heavy to ride any ever since he'd befriended that strange priest. Their bonding experiences tended to have a lot of chanting. And also screaming. But he had gotten a nice hat out of the deal, so he couldn't back out now.

Investicon! What a place! He surreptitiously tried out a few accents while he waited for the main event to start. 

"What you playin' at, huh? You ain't got nothin on me!"

"A tragic misunderstanding, I assure you. If you examine my alibi, you should find it quite airtight."

"Yaas, I can tell you story. Tree days ago I was-" Dust to the eyes! And I make my escape!

The double doors at the head of the room burst open, and a wild man burst into the room. John instinctively grabbed his blowgun from his inside jacket, but relaxed when the man proclaimed there had been a murder. This must be the main event!

He rolled up his sleeves, exposing his shiny armbands, and hopped off of his mount. "Gitout o here, Flufy," he said, "Ol John's got a cime to solve."

[I think I am here.]

Itiah VII turned his head and yawned at the newcomer, proclaiming their was a murder. Great. Another plot device to get the main characters thinking. The first this day, though, if that meant anything.

I wonder who the murderer is, he thought idly as he twisted his head around to get all of the detectives around him in his field of vision. Who knows, it might even be me! Knowing the kinds of twists writers these days are pulling, I wouldn’t be surprised.

Itiah let the thought pass as he lazily took out a nice looking flute from his pocket, attempting the chords (if flutes even have chords idk) before realising his writer hadn’t included Flute Playing in his list of skills.

Another funny thing, he noticed. I’m named after my writer’s username. It was like he was too narcissistic to let anything else slide, and too lazy to change up the name between characters.

But oh well, it was the writer’s wish, and so as much as Itiah wanted to be free, he had to always grudgingly admit it was only because the writer, the real Itiah, said so.

(Yup. Just about)

Edited August 29, 2018 by I think I am here.

[Rathmaskal]

Larry leaned back in his chair after the old man had completed his rant.  A murder?  Larry saw opportunity.  Nothing like tragedy to get people thinking about insurance.

He looked around the room, looking for his first target.  Life insurance would be the easy sell today, of course...but there was a lot he had on his mind...  Wild Spren insurance, Spontaneous Worldhopping insurance (with the Accidentally Landed in Threnody clause of course), Mist insurance (dang he'd been able to sell a lot of that on Scadrial...nowhere else oddly), Ran out of Breath as a Returned away from Nalthus insurance, and of course, his favorite, Chosen By the Dor insurance (although no one had bought that in thousands of years...must be something different on Sel since he'd last headed there).

Larry stood up.

"Before we get started, people, it's clear we live in dangerous times.  If someone in here is, in fact, a murderer, there's no telling what else could be going on.  If you go missing, who is going to take care of your family?  What if your shardplate is stolen or vandalized?  Who knows what's going to happen if Odium breaks free? 

"So, would anyone like to buy some insurance?  I'll provide discounts on any bundles people buy.  Never can be too safe.  You won't find anyone else in the Cosmere who can offer the prices and service I can."

As Larry continued, he could see the gloryspren appearing above his head...Hmm, must be a better speech than he thought.

"My contracts are written in steel, not even Ruin, oh, shoot, Harmony...that's right...NOT EVEN HARMONY can change these contracts!"

Edited August 29, 2018 by Rathmaskal
typo

[CadCom]

Rettih approached Larry. He had no magical abilities. He lived an ordinary life, with an ordinary family. He did not need any of that fancy worldhopping insurance, or anything like that. "Larry, do you by chance offer Homeowner's insurance. I just need a liability plan that covers in case of damages."

While waiting for larry to respond, Rettih noticed Itiah VII in the corner, looking troubled. He tried to pay closer attention to him as well, and was able to deduce that Itiah VII was trying to break the fourth wall. Rettih could possibly help with that. After he had decided whether or not to purchase insurance, he would approach Itiah to offer his assistance there as well.

Edited August 29, 2018 by Cadmium Compounder

[DeTess]

Quote

The client had burst into the meeting like a thunderstorm breaking at the end of a stifling summer's day. Loud. Flashy. Unwelcome. But not unexpected. One did not attend a meeting of the 2 dozen best detectives, bloodhounds, Private Tin-eyes and assorted other investigators without expecting something like this to occur.

...What are you doing?

Quote

The client was nervous, and with reason. His story was as muddy as the Purelake after a Highstorm and his accusation as baseless as a Far dominance Skaa mudhut. And yet...

...You're doing the noir detective narrator thing.

Quote

And yet, there'd been a smell in the air, like the stench of a Kandra fresh from assuming a new body, or the reek of Alethi politics. The client lacked proof, but proof was all around us, for those with the guts to dig it up.

Stop doing the noir detective narrator thing!

Quote

I took the job. I should have known better of course. Nothing good comes from associating with a client like that in a city like this. but I'm Tezed, Private Feruchemist, and once a mystery has sunk its claws into me, I'm not one to let go.

Seriously? That sentence didn't even make any sense. If a mystery has sunk its claws into you, you don't get to decide whether you let go, as you're not holding anything! Seriously, stop tapping that bloody unsealed Aluminium mind already!

Edited August 29, 2018 by randuir
grammar

[Paranoid King]

Strategy time! I've played the original game before, so I figure I can share some tips:

• You have only one guess, but three days to gather information. It's usually best to use your guess on the third day
• However, the oracle needs to know what info is most or least useful. This helps him choose which cards to replace. So it is good for a few people to guess on d1 and d2.
• Watching the cards the oracle replaces can be just as useful as watching the ones they leave out. If a card is replaced, it is because it wasn't used or it was misleading us.
• It's usually best not to rule out possibilities. That is, if eban has a shardblade and the murder was on scadrial, it's still possible that he used that weapon. But if the murder was due to poisoning/sickness, you can probably rule it out.
• As an addendum, if someone posts their list of evidences they've crossed out, double check everything.
• Witness - don't out yourself. That means don't solve the case on the first day. 
• If someone is acting fishy, it's probably the accomplice or an odd investigator, not the murderer. Look at the clues instead of focusing on people's attitude.

[MetaTerminal]

Quote

Selksi wasn’t no murderer, he protested. But his objections didn’t fly, and here he was sitting in a circle with a bunch of policemen, who occasionally shot each other accusatory glances. How was he to know that Investicon had nothing to do with Investiture? Stuff like that could sell for emeralds, so wasn’t it understandable that he’d been sneaking around pinching anything that looked expensive?

Nothing for it now. The person who announced the murder had assured him that if they found him innocent, he would be free to leave. Maybe they’d give him a nice, shiny medal for solving the case. An expensive one.

Alright, I’m looking forward to this game, although it’s not a format I’m used to. From your experience, Paranoid, how is the game balanced in terms of Investigator and Killer win rate? It seems a lot more difficult and abstract, since we don’t have any lynch flips and voting patterns. But I suppose it comes down to what Oracle cards we get.

[DeTess]

56 minutes ago, Metaspren said:

Alright, I’m looking forward to this game, although it’s not a format I’m used to. From your experience, Paranoid, how is the game balanced in terms of Investigator and Killer win rate? It seems a lot more difficult and abstract, since we don’t have any lynch flips and voting patterns. But I suppose it comes down to what Oracle cards we get.

Note to self: Metaspren might be new, but sounds very dangerous.

Quote

One investigator stood out to me beyond all others. they looked fresh, inexperienced, but a city like this ate the new alive and spat out their hopes and dreams after it was done chewing. I wasn't fooled for one second, and they vindicated me the moment they spoke up. Ruthless and experienced beyond their years, they'd be trouble. With a bit of luck, they'd be the right kind of trouble.

...seriously? That's how you're going to play this?

Edited August 29, 2018 by randuir

[Paranoid King]

23 minutes ago, Metaspren said:

From your experience, Paranoid, how is the game balanced in terms of Investigator and Killer win rate? It seems a lot more difficult and abstract, since we don’t have any lynch flips and voting patterns. But I suppose it comes down to what Oracle cards we get.

I've never played the game with this many people, so that might throw this off a bit, but in my experience, the investigators win about 60% of the time. The oracle always gets the place and means cards, and the other cards are generally less useful. Events are always nice, though.

As long as the investigators are communicating before guessing and the oracle gives the right clues, we should be good.

[Arinian]

2 hours ago, Paranoid King said:

Strategy time!

Insanity time!

1 hour ago, Paranoid King said:

we should be good.

We all gonna DIE!!!

1 hour ago, randuir said:

That's how you're going to play this?

I'm not going to play it. I gonna eat my shoes... want right?

And where is my Hat?

[Paranoid King]

22 minutes ago, Arinian said:

And where is my Hat?

17 hours ago, Herowannabe said:

Day 0 - Investicon

14

Paranoid King John 'Not-A-Murderer-At-All' Smith

Whitespine, Dakhor Ritual, Poisoned Dart, The Bands of Mourning ,

Bay Wrap, Dust, Larkin Corpse, Lucky Hat,

19

Arinian                                            Niar

Burned at the Stake, Awakened Rope, Sandling, Fire,

Bright Green Hat, Hidden Message, Firestarter, Letter,

Well, I already have a hat...

But you can never have too many hats, that's what I always say!

Edited August 29, 2018 by Paranoid King

[Madagascar]

3 hours ago, Paranoid King said:

Strategy time! I've played the original game before, so I figure I can share some tips:

 

Bah! You call this a mere "game"? There are people's lives at stake here! Families! The fragile social contract which tenuously separates man from beast and prevents our societies from dissolving into a nightmarish muddle of pure unbridled chaos!

Oink: A chance at redemption for past misdeeds and to be reinstated as Oracle back home by solving the case and proving once and for all that torture works.

That as well.

*scribbles down in notebook while loudly mouthing words* John ... Not a Murderer ... Smith ... confessed ... to being in close proximity ... to multiple previous homicides ... recommendation ... 45 minutes on the rack ...

Edited August 29, 2018 by Madagascar

[Rathmaskal]

This was too easy...Larry already had someone coming up to him asking about insurance.

"Now, Rettih...I know you don't think you're going to need specific types of insurance, maybe you never attempt to go worldhopping...but that's why get insurance.  What if worst comes to worst.  You sound like an ideal candidate for our Spontaneous Worldhopping insurance plan.  Say you're walking down the street, without a care in the world.  Suddenly, you see out of the corner of your eye a small glimmer.  It's Nothing, you think to yourself.  So you keep walking.  But that glimmer stays in the corner of your eye.  Eventually, you turn around and walk toward it.  Or maybe you start running, and not watching where you're going.  BAM, you run into a perpendicularity and find yourself on Threnody.  With our standard package, you get a free ride back to where you came from.  Add in the extra 'Accidentally Landed in Threnody' package and we'll even provide you with enough silver to ring yourself for three nights."

Larry reached into his briefcase.

"I've got some basic paperwork right here.  Just some standard payment schedules, negligence clauses, that type of thing." 

All contracts are final.  Any gross negligence on the part of the insuree will result in a claim being rejected.  Any historical or magical items acquired must be surrendered upon return trip to home world.  Larry's Discount Insurance (LDI) reserves the right to cancel any policy upon notice to insuree without cause.  LDI will, under no circumstances, be liable for any unexpected activity during return trips including, but not limited to, vessel encounters, equipment failure, etc.

"Now, what's your life insurance situation?"

[Paranoid King]

1 minute ago, Madagascar said:

Bah! You call this a mere "game"? There are people's lives at stake here! Families! The fragile social contract which tenuously separates man from beast and prevents our societies from dissolving into a nightmarish muddle of pure unbridled chaos!

Oink: A chance at redemption for past misdeeds and to be reinstated as Oracle back home by solving the case and proving once and for all that torture works.

That as well.

*scribbles down in notebook while loudly mouthing words* John ... Not a Murderer ... Smith ... confessed ... to being in close proximity ... to multiple previous homicides ...

Pfft. They just tell us that so we take it more seriously. Believe me, this is the reason I came to investicon. They do something like this every year. Last year we had to figure out who committed the murder in the village where half the people always lie.

Although they usually wait until later in the convention to start the mystery. Maybe the organizers think this one will just take a while.

[phattemer]

I'm going to have a grand time figuring out how to make Steelrunning, a Bow & Arrow, a Glass Dagger, a Nightmaw, Fingernails, a Tarachin Ball, Artisan's Script, and a Hideout into a cohesive narrative that will ultimately be ridiculously incorrect. Excellent.

[Paranoid King]

21 minutes ago, phattemer said:

I'm going to have a grand time figuring out how to make Steelrunning, a Bow & Arrow, a Glass Dagger, a Nightmaw, Fingernails, a Tarachin Ball, Artisan's Script, and a Hideout into a cohesive narrative that will ultimately be ridiculously incorrect. Excellent.

You're clearly a fingernail-bitingly nervous terrisman who stole a nightmaw and is on the run from the courts of Hallandren for winning too many games of tarachin. You're prepared to defend yourself with a bow, or even with a dagger if they get too close.

Edit: Great minds think alike

Edited August 29, 2018 by Paranoid King
anti-ninja'd

[MetaTerminal]

10 minutes ago, phattemer said:

I'm going to have a grand time figuring out how to make Steelrunning, a Bow & Arrow, a Glass Dagger, a Nightmaw, Fingernails, a Tarachin Ball, Artisan's Script, and a Hideout into a cohesive narrative that will ultimately be ridiculously incorrect. Excellent.

Obviously the victim was a Steelrunner riding a Nightmaw, clipping his fingernails with a glass dagger while fleeing to his secret hideout from a Hallandren God King-archer. It’s so simple!

EDIT: Me and Paranoid submitted that at the exact same time!

Edited August 29, 2018 by Metaspren
Coincidental humour.

[I think I am here.]

Itiah VII noted the smell of fear in the air as he realised fear was not a smell and his writer had just been using flowery language.

He took another glance at the people surrounding him, trying to identify the archetypes around him. Writers were always trying to do something new with their characters.

There was always the classic Zinc-tongued insurance guy with the fine print contracts.

There was a noir, who seemed to always have Jazz playing when he was around.

There was the theif, or as Itiah found he liked to call it, shiny, since that was all they cared about. If he wasn’t wrong, they’d go through some character development or something. Practically everyone was using it nowadays.

And I’m another archetype, he thought. The casual fourth-wall breaker who doesn’t care about anything else. Jeez, his writer was lazy.

Itiah continued along this train of thought as he took out Ichon Alchol and proceeded to chug it. If he criticised his writer, did that mean he had free will? Or did it mean his writer was merely using him to host some self-depreciating humour?

Evil.

(Uh huh, I’m such an evil guy for writing. Too much alcohol, dude)

Edited August 29, 2018 by I think I am here.

[Steeldancer]

hi guys I’m around but I haven managed to set up my WiFi in my dorm room yet, plus I have orientation tomorrow, so I’ll probably not be active for the first day. That being said, I will be as active as possible afterwards