Long Game 5: Noble Secrets

[Macen]

So you guys didn't have a spanreed either? Or did you just never use it to confuse us?

*EDIT* 

 

 

Alv spied out Jost with the soulcaster and Wurum with the bow two consecutive nights in a row. I knew you were likely to attack me because Jost had turned my use of the emotion bracelet with the soulcaster the previous night and the people with reversers had been narrowed to two. We knew I was by far the most likely of the four of us to get hit.

 

The plan was for your attack to be diverted by the painrial so you didn't know I had plate as well. That way you would waste your vote on me the next day and we'd still have four people. We didn't expect that my having plate would be revealed even though the attack was diverted.

 

Well, the combination of you guys protecting someone who had plate on with a painrial, attacking our grandbow holder, and you having shardplate - had me convinced Tion had given you the plate, and that he had told you guys the plan. Sorry Meta - Awes had me so twisted around I was pointing at shadows.

Edited May 30, 2014 by Macen

[Alvron]

We had a spanreed but didn't use it.  Watching you all lynch the other spanreed holders was vastly amusing.

 

Jim

[Macen]

We had a spanreed but didn't use it.  Watching you all lynch the other spanreed holders was vastly amusing.

 

Jim

Ugh. I personally think that was the single most important decision of the game. You got 3 people lynched because of it. Stroke of genius.

[Kasimir]

Macen, on 31 May 2014 - 02:42 AM, said:

Ugh. I personally think that was the single most important decision of the game. You got 3 people lynched because of it. Stroke of genius.

Actually, a stroke of luck too. I was the Ghostblood who started with Plate and a spanreed. Because of the timezones, I didn't get on to use it until after Grellin had contacted me, and Aonar had contacted Awes. That was how we figured we shouldn't be using it. And in the end, I did what we'd been planning to do for a while: I threw the spanreed at Jost right before H. killed him. As Jost already had a spanreed, ours disappeared. It took a bit of luck, but we didn't get that bad penny back.

Edit: I don't know why I typed 'I'. I was the one who attacked Wurum that night. H. attacked Jost, my bad.

Edited May 30, 2014 by Kasimir

[Awesomeness Summoned]

Correction to what I said earlier Ace, we hadn't spied the bow out. We had just narrowed down the list to three people we felt likely had it. Wurum had previously voted for Humperdink so we decided if nothing else, eliminating him would remove one person likely to vote for one of our own.

[Adolin_Dustbringer]

Hmmm... so all I need is an Emotion Bracelet, a Pain Knife, a Spanreed, a Grandbow, and possibly a Soulcaster (not sure if I need one to win). Would anyone like to donate them to me? It's for a good cause. 

[Macen]

Hmmm... so all I need is an Emotion Bracelet, a Pain Knife, a Spanreed, a Grandbow, and possibly a Soulcaster (not sure if I need one to win). Would anyone like to donate them to me? It's for a good cause. 

I'm pretty sure the pain knife you stole earlier counts. I don't think you need to hold one of each, I think you just need to have one of each at some point in the game.

[Metacognition]

Tion leaned back and smiled smugly.

 

"I kept telling everyone that I was innocent, but they were all too blinded by their hatred of someone that was willing to take charge to see it! Well, at least we can finally fulfill this vengeance pact and then I can get back to slaughtering the Parashendi in droves. They have the decency to die properly! But first, we need to finish off Khas and his brethren."

 

It was unlikely that he would be made King now, not after everyone already thought him a possible traitor, but he still had his cunning and his tactical genius on the battlefield. He would just have to find another way to rise to power. He could still become a Highprince. He just needed one of them to die. Highprince Gavilar seemed like a good choice. The man did seem to enjoy his hunts and staging an "accident" for him wouldn't be that difficult at all....

 

This was such a crazy game! You guys did an amazing job staying hidden and letting everyone stay focused on me made it horribly difficult for us to actually gather information! At one point in time, I think our little group of Jost, Ace, and myself just about split at the seems because we were almost sure that one of us was a Ghostblood and since we knew that we were innocent, it had to be one of the other two. Extremely well played! This one was a nail-biter, down to the last minute. 

[Macen]

This was such a crazy game! You guys did an amazing job staying hidden and letting everyone stay focused on me made it horribly difficult for us to actually gather information! At one point in time, I think our little group of Jost, Ace, and myself just about split at the seems because we were almost sure that one of us was a Ghostblood and since we knew that we were innocent, it had to be one of the other two. Extremely well played! This one was a nail-biter, down to the last minute. 

I agree with Meta, you guys did an amazing job of this. I knew someone I was in contact with for a while was GB. It looks like our party of 3 suspecting Awes (which we did early) was for a good reason. You did do a perfect job of making us think that one of us was the bad guy. Mostly due to the spanreed deal. I honestly don't know if we would be where we are right now if the Soul-Caster hadn't hit Khas's Shardblade action, so this is almost completely based on chance. Also, me getting the Shardhammer made a huge difference as well, which is more or less luck as well - anyone could have figured it out before I did (Mine was also an educated guess, at best).

The answers were "Bridge Four" and "The Lopen" in case anyone was wondering.

[Adolin_Dustbringer]

Well, that was fun. Khas.

 

Hope I get the evil role next time. 

Edited May 30, 2014 by Adolin_Dustbringer

[Mailliw73]

This one was intense and without the clues that were discovered at the end, I'm not sure if the nobles would've been able to pull it off. This has to be the closest game yet. I was almost sure that the GBs were going to ruin the good team's winning streak.

"Wine was spilled

People were killed

Is this what the Heralds willed?"

-Subject was a wine merchant. Collected 7 seconds before death on Chach Chach Jes.

[Theorymaker]

A report came in on the spanreed. Jost's body had been found in Alethkar. No one had a clue on how he had traveled there so quickly or when he had left. The only thing they knew for certain was that the Ghostbloods had killed him. Now another Ghostblood had started a duel hoping to kill their rival. She would have to go down to the dueling ring and hope that Jim Bob Dirt won and that Khas would be killed instead.

 

Been a while since I did an RP, hopefully people come on in and vote in the shortened time period.

[Wyrmhero]

D&D was so difficult to sit through, with me wanting to figure out what happened here. We got lucky with Humperdink yesterday, but today's actions were all calculated with no guesses involved, I'm pleased to say. What's best about this is that everyone, and I mean everyone played their parts, even if it wasn't a wholly necessary one in the end.

• Sprenil Painrialed me in case you decided to attack and if Meta did turn out to be traitor. I'm not in a PM with him though, so I'm afraid I don't know the full extent of his help.
• Ace ShardMAced Awes, and was working very hard behind the scenes to make up for my blindness at times.
• I attempted to kill Alv, and Spied on Khas' Shardblade (since he gave away all his items to avoid being Soulcast, I suspected I'd see and confirm it even if the Soulcast failed).
• Tion set up so many Spanreed conversations last night for us. We took a risk on relying on him, and we knew that if he was evil, then he could see all our actions and plan accordingly. But he didn't, and its thanks to him that we could co-ordinate so many actions last night. He also sent a Shardplate to me, just in case.
• Jim stole a Reverser, which helps to cement our victory, and he Pain Knifed Awes. More importantly, it was his theft of the Painrial which allowed us to confirm both Alv's guilt, and Tion's innocence (since Tion suggested it).
• Saritu seconded my vote for Humperdink yesterday, allowing us to lynch a Ghostblood and proving his innocence at the same time. I posthumously honour him.
• Cara Soulcast Khas and provided new items. Not much else has to be said about her contribution, since that speaks for itself.
• Lucal Pain Knifed Alv for us, preventing the Ghostbloods getting their normal kill for definite. Like Sprenil, I unfortunately don't know how else to thank him, since I wasn't directly in a conversation with him over the game.

The only way this night's course of actions could have been better is that I would've liked to changed my action to me killing Khas and Soulcasting Alv. I think we could've surprise-killed Awes with that. But alas, I was in bed at the time and couldn't explain. Ah well.

 

So what's nice about this ending is that the victory doesn't belong to a few people scheming in the shadows. It belongs to all the innocents, working together to achieve this ending. In a game in which lies are a matter of course, I think that this is rather special. I'd like to thank you all for being so willing to work together, and I hope that I didn't keep you in the dark too much. I tried not to wherever possible, and I think I did a decent job of it even if it was a bit risky.

 

I would especially like to thank my partner-in-justice at the end there, Ace. We discussed so much at the end, guessing and second-guessing Meta and everyone else, and the sudden guess at the secret hidden within the write-ups that got him that ShardMAce was well timed - I am afraid I am the one who suggested that pun. We actually guessed 'The Lopen' from the first three letters of the white text - we didn't notice the rest.

 

Regardless, Ace, we couldn't have done it without you. You made good choices with who to trust this game, and it paid off immensely near the end.

 

Of course, there is another group that this couldn't have been possible without: The Ghostbloods. People often forget that the purpose of the antagonists is to weave a fun game to play, with all the successes, frustrations and failures that implies.

 

This may only be my second game, but I am extremely impressed with your playing throughout this. You kept us guessing for so long with your actions, particularly since we never even considered that you had a Spy. Your protection of Awes really threw me and Ace for a loop, and we almost immediately lynched Tion. I am, of course, now extremely glad that we didn't.

 

We managed to hit Awes because I was actually the Noble Spy as well as the Grandbow holder, and I saw Awes' Emotion Bracelet. I originally trusted Tion because he threw you up for discussion on our new PM group, and I immediately leapt on that information as proof that Tion was innocent, since I knew Awes to be evil. I didn't think he would even let us consider a Ghostblood that easily, and I was vindicated in the end, even if we suspected him for a long time afterwards.

 

Also, Awes, I enjoyed our debate as well. We thought we had Jim backing us up through the PMs, and I am obviously glad that he did in the end, but I couldn't just let that challenge you made go unanswered. I'm glad I didn't, because it was so storming fun bantering with someone I knew was evil! Something I must ask though - Why did you go after Fnorf? Random chance?

 

I'm still surprised that we managed to get Humperdink yesterday though, especially since I had no proof at all. I like to think people trusted my judgement on that matter, but that's hard to believe since I didn't know my own judgement myself.. Indeed, I expected the vote to be turned back onto Tion easily, since at that time I only knew of Awes' evilness. If Sprenil had gone for Tion as he had two nights previous, and Awes' had changed his vote to Tion too, it would have at least been a dead even lynch between the two, if not a victory depending on your actions.

 

Alv and Khas were somewhat harder though. Ace and I spent a long time thinking about it, with Ace tossing Saritu's name out, and me thinking about Alv, since he voted for Tion consistantly over three nights, trying to force a lynch. I disagreed with Ace on the matter of Saritu, and eventually I managed to convince him for the better.

 

Eventually, it was Jim who gave us the vital clue, that he had stolen a Painrial from Sprenil the day before. That led us to both trust Meta and to pin down Alv as evil. At that point, it was just a matter of seeing who had voted alongside Alv the previous night to save Humperdink, and it was a choice between Jim and Khas. We knew it couldn't be our friendly neighbourhood thief, Jim, since he had been helping us with enquiries. Thus, we went for Khas. We weren't sure about him though, which is why we Soulcast him instead at first. Again, would have liked to change that, but I am a slave to the rotation of the sun in the sky, sadly.

 

So well played, gentlemen. You gave us a very good run for our money. I had as good as written the game off when you got the Shardblade, never expecting us to get it back. I admit that we haven't won yet, but we are in the final processes of doing so. I am very pleased that it ended this close, as all the best games end like this. Thank you for an enjoyable game.

 

And finally, and most importantly, thank you to Mailliw for putting up with me changing my mind for so long. The rules have been extremely different to what I was used to after the Nalthis game, and I'm glad to say that the only complaint I really have about the game is that you don't run on GMT.

 

Thank you for running the game. It was an enjoyable experience, and I've had a lot of fun, despite the frustrations and failures. It has made me think and reassess a lot over the last days, and often I had to stop myself from thinking more about it than I did on my exams these last two weeks - It was certainly more fun that blasted nuclear physics, I can tell you. So, once again, thank you Mailliw for setting this up and running it. I can only imagine how hard it is to remain impartial and to avoid casting judgement while not playing and seeing all our mistakes and the consequences they have.

 

Let this be a message to all of you - Don't leave new people out of PM groups!

 

The thing about Wurum's Grandbow that no-one really seemed to notice was how different it was to normal Grandbows, if one could call the weapons more appropriate for siege than a battle 'normal'. It was a mess of convoluted levers and gears, devised by his father's best engineering Ardents before the fall of the House. The 'compound' bow, they had named it, for the compounding effect the gears had on the draw and the force the arrow was launched at.

 

The bow itself was technically a family heirloom - The last one belonging to the House of Heron. It was designed such that even a man outside of Shardplate could use it, something he had thankfully not had to test, with the help of his newfound allies and their gifts. He'd never let anyone know, but this was the true cause of his house's downfall - Research into a weapon on par with a true Grandbow that any soldier could use. This was the last prototype they had left, and he was pleased to be able to report that it worked. Now he just had to convince people to invest in the idea. Shouldn't be too hard, after these events.

 

The Shardplate itself, though... It still made him feel awkward, particularly since he had worn two different sets of it these last two days, and neither really fitted. He suspected Awes' Plate would fit him better, but that was another matter entirely.. Regardless, it made him feel different when he wore it. It made him feel more powerful, more alive. He felt like a very different man to the one he was not even two weeks ago.

 

He crunched up the path in the encampent to where the three of them were sitting, waiting. Awes, Alv, and Khas. They knew there was no running - How could there be, when their plans had almost all been countered last night? It was a shame that they hadn't managed to save Saritu as well, but it was too late now. He felt as though Humperdink's body should have been there, just to make the complete set. But that would have been disrespectful. "We will kill you today, Khas, and your friends won't be far behind you."

 

Wurum turned back to the rest of the nobles still left here. They were tough and strong people, and despite the gruesome happenings of the last few weeks, they were cheerful. They were certainly more cohesive and friendly than before. In that, at least, the Ghostbloods had utterly failed.

 

"Jim, it sounds as though Khas is trying to kill you. But I feel that the Almighty would want us to be fair. Awes, lend your friend your Shardplate for the duel. Don't worry, you'll get it back no matter the outcome. Jim, you may borrow my Shardplate. I'm sure Ace will let you use his Shardhammer for the fight. Show him that we are not afraid. Show him what we think of their attempts to divide us. Show him that they have lost."

 

He then turned to the other two sitting there. "But I am Alethi, and I respect my enemies in defeat, even ones that hide in the shadows like you. We will not kill you immediately after killing your compatriot. It wouldn't be... Honourable. You will have that last chance tonight, Awes, Alv. We will fight you tonight, Ace and I, and we will kill you. Do either of you have any preferences as to which of us is the one to kill you?"

Edited May 31, 2014 by Wyrmhero

[luckat]

That was an excellent coordinated effort that Ace and Wurum pulled together last night. The amount that you planned out is impressive.

 

Thanks to Mailliw for putting this game together. It was a lot of fun.

 

I'll vote Khas before I forget.

Edited May 31, 2014 by luckat

[Awesomeness Summoned]

Seeing as I don't have plate anymore, never onwned a hammer, and my character likely wouldn't consider Jim his friend, I'm pretty sure there is an 'Awes' that needs to be changed to 'Ace' in that RP Wurum and Khas will have to borrow someone else's plate.

As for my death, I already gave Maili a request before the game started on how I'd like to die.

Edited May 31, 2014 by Awesomeness Summoned

[Kasimir]

Seeing as I don't have plate anymore, never onwned a hammer, and my character likely wouldn't consider Jim his friend, I'm pretty sure there is an 'Awes' that needs to be changed to 'Ace' in that RP Wurum and Khas will have to borrow someone else's plate.

As for my death, I already gave Maili a request before the game started on how I'd like to die.

I'm perfectly fine turning this into UFC Roshar and going up against him weaponless and Plateless. Besides, y'know, if I had a Shardblade, I'd just throw it at them and yell, "Are you not entertained?! Is that not why you came?"

Edited May 31, 2014 by Kasimir

[Wyrmhero]

Well, my thoughts were that we could rush fixing the plate for the fight. The hammer lending should've been Ace though, yeah.

 

Also, Khas, how can I do anything but upvote that?

Edited May 31, 2014 by Wyrmhero

[Awesomeness Summoned]

My plate was hit with the shardblade and hammer. It's permanently destroyed.

[Wyrmhero]

Oh, really? I didn't realise that hitting it with both would destroy it like that. Well, it certainly wasn't our intention to destroy your plate, I must admit. Maybe we can pick the pieces up and fix it, given time and the skills of our Artifabrian.

[Mailliw73]

Night 6: A Duel

Night 6:

Khas summoned his Shardblade and challenged the thief to a duel. A regular sword would be no chance for a Shardblade so Jim Bob loaned one from Highprince Gavilar Kholin. He went into the duel, scared out of his mind to be facing an assassin. This soldier had killed King Naladar, Fnorf, and some of the other nobles. This man was a trained killer. Jim was just a dirt salesman. He didn't know how he could win this duel.

They began the fight and the nobility rooted for Jim and cheered him on. They all knew that Khas was a traitor and a murderer. Khas' partners, Awes and Alv, were the only ones who even gave any support at all to the soldier. Khas was angry, but he was also remorseful. He felt bad for the death of the King. He wasn't that bad of a man, he had just needed to be removed. But one had to pick their death.

Jim got a lucky swing in after Khas had been distracted by Wurum's proclamations. He cut through Khas' neck and Khas fell to the ground. It didn't look like he was dead and so Jim, Inexperienced with Shardblades, began to swing over and over at Khas' body. Now that Khas was dead. The body began to be cut. Wurum yelled at Jim, "Jim! He's dead. It's over."

Khas was a Ghostblood with a Shardblade, Reverser, Emotion Bracelet, and half-shard.

Votes:

Khas (6): Ace, Tion, Cara, Wurum, Lucal, Khas

Jim Bob Dirt (3): Awes, Alv, Jim Bob Dirt

The night begins now and will end at 11:00 amMDT/18:00 GMT on Monday.

Edited May 31, 2014 by Mailliw73

[Awesomeness Summoned]

The fact that both Khas and Jim were reversed to vote for themselves is a nice touch to end the last day cycle on seeing as that was how the first person in the game was lynched.

[Mailliw73]

"Why do you stain my hands, Despot? Why have the sins of many become mine? The king is dead…long live the king!"

-Collected on Chach Chach Nan, fourteen seconds before death. Subject was a traitorous soldier assassin.

[Wyrmhero]

I must admit, I couldn't resist making Khas vote for himself, and it sounds as though you (as a group) couldn't resist making Jim vote for himself either

Edited May 31, 2014 by Wyrmhero

[Awesomeness Summoned]

Actually, that was Alv's own doing. We didn't really discuss it.

 

Edit: until someone upvotes me again, my rank is 1234   

Edited May 31, 2014 by Awesomeness Summoned

[Adolin_Dustbringer]

The fact that both Khas and Jim were reversed to vote for themselves is a nice touch to end the last day cycle on seeing as that was how the first person in the game was lynched.

And funnily enough, the first vote was reversed from me to the other guy (whose name I forgot and am too lazy to look up). Wonder how much different the game would've been if I died on the first day.