Anniversary Game 5/Anonymous Game 4: One Final Blaze of Light

[Indigo Weasel]

Is nobody else going to say whether they could choose between wincons or not?

I agree that Toucan should reveal their wincon, and if it isn’t plausible we should Lynch them.

I would also like to be PMed, especially by Cultivation/her factionmate. I think our wincons are probably compatible.

Edited January 16, 2019 by Indigo Weasel

[A Joe in the Bush]

52 minutes ago, Violet Axolotl said:

Do individuals count as factions or do they not? That is the question which I have been considering. @Seonid @A Joe in the Bush

Factions are generally considered to be players who share a win con and know who eachother are. Unfortunately, Seonid and I haven't been as consistent as we should be in our Vocabulary, but in general, you can assume that if there is a Individual who knows of no one else that shares a win con with them, they are an Independant Faction. In most cases, that hypothetical Solo player would count as a faction, in some specific cases, they would not.

[Amber Vulture]

Sorry for not posting before now - I've been busy.

I'm inclined to trust Toucan - I think he's been jumped on unfairly. Since there's no 'Eliminator' team, as such, when there's a lynch, I'll probably vote for an inactive unless I see something (in Toucan or anyone else) that seems to work against my factions interests.

---

Agent Amber looked around Silverlight. This part of town wasn't familiar to him - that was irritating, but not too much so. Amber knew the drill at this point. Set up contacts. Gather information. Know the pieces on the board before you go interfering. That's the best way to stay alive.

He looked around, and made his way into an alley. With high walls and narrow streets, the lights along the street barely seemed to light up the grimy surroundings. Seems he'd found the shadiest part of Silverlight. Still. People here might have... skills that are valuable to me.

That's when he noticed the person standing at the centre of the road ahead of him. They didn't seem to be moving. Amber did the math very quickly in his head. If this is what he thought it was, it was entirely possible that there was another thug behind him - possibly two. There weren't any other ways out of the alley. Amber thought for a moment, then walked forward.

"Hello, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. It's a fine afternoon for walking, is it not?"

[Plum Rhinoceros]

@Amber Vulture, who are you talking to?

[Scarlet Octopus]

I prefer to think that we are all eliminators .

[Onyx Flamingo]

Exvee continued to walk down the street. He finished his Chouta. Rusts, he didn’t have enough money for a second one.

He considered trying to con another one, but that would’ve been hard, considering everyone was worried about something or the other.

Now it apparently was a Shard war. But Exvee found things often sounded worse than they were. “Hello,” He said to a man on the street. “Do you happen to know why a Shard war is so exciting?”

The man, who Exvee internally named Dave, appeared baffled. “You... what do you mean why is it so exciting? It’s a Shard war!”

Exvee sighed. “Well, that wasn’t very helpful, Dave,” and continued on his way, leaving Dave confused and asking who was this ‘Dave’ guy anyway.

[Sunburst Toucan]

2 hours ago, Quartz Zebra said:

@Sunburst Toucan, I’d like it if you could answer, specifically, this earlier question of mine. It would go a long way towards assuaging my suspicions if I knew that achieving your win conditions would not end the game. 

I already clarified once that no, it does not end the game. If it did end the game, I would definitely consider that to be a non-neutral win condition, because that would most definitely and severely hinder everybody else by causing them to immediately lose the game.

I admit I am a bit surprised by the shard's general attitude towards neutrals. It doesn't feel like that long ago that the shard was, if anything, a little too overly protective of neutrals. I strongly believe in a healthy distrust of neutral claimants. But I also strongly disagree with executing neutrals merely because they claimed neutrality, especially in a faction game.

But I digress. Actions speak louder than words, and I am going to find a way to make a neutral and open-ended role interesting and a positive part of the game.

[Chartreuse Penguin]

1 minute ago, Sunburst Toucan said:

I already clarified once that no, it does not end the game. If it did end the game, I would definitely consider that to be a non-neutral win condition, because that would most definitely and severely hinder everybody else by causing them to immediately lose the game.

I admit I am a bit surprised by the shard's general attitude towards neutrals. It doesn't feel like that long ago that the shard was, if anything, a little too overly protective of neutrals. I strongly believe in a healthy distrust of neutral claimants. But I also strongly disagree with executing neutrals merely because they claimed neutrality, especially in a faction game.

But I digress. Actions speak louder than words, and I am going to find a way to make a neutral and open-ended role interesting and a positive part of the game.

Neutrals are all well and good, but claiming neutral in a game with lots of hidden information? Sets people on edge. And for good reason, because just as neutrals can be helpful, they are also very harmful potentially. But also fun. 

[Mauve Crocodile]

1 minute ago, Sunburst Toucan said:

I admit I am a bit surprised by the shard's general attitude towards neutrals. It doesn't feel like that long ago that the shard was, if anything, a little too overly protective of neutrals. I strongly believe in a healthy distrust of neutral claimants. But I also strongly disagree with executing neutrals merely because they claimed neutrality, especially in a faction game.

In my somewhat limited experience, SE tends to go in swings and roundabouts. One game they're all for working with neutrals and the next it's 'Off with their heads!' It's something that I like and dislike about these games. It's always changing.

[Salmon Meerkat]

4 hours ago, Scarlet Octopus said:

I prefer to think that we are all eliminators .

Oh, well then, in that case Scarlet Octopus.

 

The following text was edited in after its original posting:

This vote isn't entirely a joke. On the subject of neutrals, I'm willing to give Toucan the benefit of the doubt, and feel pretty skeeved out by some players reactions, Scarlet being the foremost on my mind. Granted there isn't a ton else to discuss, but neutrals have been the main focus of Scarlet's posts so far and in a heavy lean towards "KILL IT WITH FIRE". I really don't agree with or enjoy that kind of mindset so if I was being forced to kill someone right now, it'd probably be them.

Also, there's about 25 minutes left in the turn so get your orders in, people.

Edited January 16, 2019 by Salmon Meerkat

[Seonid]

And that's a wrap! The turn is over, and the new cycle has been posted. PMs are going out as we speak. Enjoy the Night Turn!

[Seonid]

Night 1 - Reflections in a Darkened Mirror

Like a soft murmur in the grasses, a breeze rose over the oceans of Roshar. Drawing strength from the waves below it, it grew in power and fury, blending with other winds like riders of some apocalyptic Hunt. By the time it reached the Purelake, the winds had joined the highstorm, and it scoured the land before it.

The people of Vedenar huddled in their houses as the rain lashed their city, lightning and thunder splitting the night sky with awful power. Vedenar was a powerful city, lights and colors lit by the power of man's science buttressed by the investiture of the gods, but this was no ordinary storm, not even an ordinary highstorm. Beyond the sky, powers clashed together, the first signs of a great struggle. The Long Peace was at an end.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

On Scadrial, the first notice the local inhabitants had of anything out of the ordinary was an influx of Worldhoppers. During the reign of Autonomy, such had tried carefully to blend in to avoid notice, keenly aware that they were violating her ban on interplanetary travel. But suddenly, worldhoppers began to appear out of thin air, taking no pains to hide their presence. In nearly every bar in Elendel, worldhoppers drank, swapping stories of narrow escapes and harrowing adventures.

A discerning eye, however, would notice that the worldhoppers kept to certain groups, and kept a wary distance of others.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

The Cognitive Realm on Sel boiled hotly, the chaos of the Dor churning in wild fantasies. Across and around it, skirting the edges of the madness, flew the transport ships that carried worldhoppers to and from Sel, in evident disregard for their own safety. Carefully screened lest the passengers glimpse the madness outside - three flights had been lost last year to careless Dor-gazing - they charted the only reasonably safe path to the Shardworld.

Slowly but surely, trade routes were opening and communication was passing along old networks.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

And on far-off Yolen, a dead world scoured clear of even the foul fain life that had once inhabited it, sparks of power flew through dormant lines, criss-crossing the world with lights.

Across the Cosmere, things stirred and strained against their bounds. The age of Autonomy was coming to an end.

 

Player List:
1. Amethyst Scorpion
2. Azure Mouse
3. Amber Vulture
4. Charcoal Hyena
5. Chartreuse Penguin
6. Coral Swan
7. Cream Tuatara
8. Emerald Falcon
9. Fuschia Ostrich
10. Indigo Weasel
11. Ivory Dragonfly
12. Magenta Albatross
13. Mauve Crocodile
14. Melon Dingo
15. Mint Heron
16. Onyx Flamingo
17. Opal Lion
18. Oxblood Beagle
19. Pearl Chameleon
20. Plum Rhinoceros
21. Quartz Zebra
22. Saffron Iguana
23. Sage Kangaroo
24. Salmon Meerkat
25. Sapphire Elephant
26. Scarlet Octopus
27. Sunburst Toucan
28. Taupe Gecko
29. Turquoise Gorilla
30. Violet Axolotl

Shardworld Tracker:

Yolen: 1/8 charges

The night will last until Thursday, January 17th, 12:00 AM, Mountain Time

RULES CLARIFICATIONS:

My apologies for not making sure that the posted version of the rules had all of the kinks worked out. Joe and I were working on rules tweaks up until shortly before the game started, and some of those tweaks ended up causing conflicts with basic framework stuff that we hadn't checked until the conflicts started getting pointed out to us while the game was going. We have now gone over everything, and believe that we have cleared up all the contradictions. Any faction specific rules that needed updating have been announced to that faction.

Here is the updated portion of the rules text, for reference:

Factions and Win Conditions:

The players will be divided into several different factions, each with its own unique and secret win condition. In addition to the secret win condition, however, any faction can also win the game in the following ways:

 

Last Faction Standing: If the living members of your faction outnumber all other players in the game, you win the game.

 

Adonalsium Reborn: If your faction controls all available Shards of Adonalsium at the end of any Turn, you win the game.

 

Unless otherwise specified, any faction reaching one of the win conditions will end the game. If multiple factions reach their win conditions on the same round, all of the factions with completed win conditions win together. A faction with a win condition that does not end the game must have reached that condition before the game ends.

 

IMPORTANT NOTE:

Cycles will be ending one hour earlier from now on. Rollover will still be at 1:00 AM, Mountain Time, but all cycles will close at 12:00 AM, mountain time, on their designated day. The intervening hour will be used to manage the rollover. Thank you for your understanding.

Edited January 16, 2019 by Seonid

[A Joe in the Bush]

I think all PM's have been sent out. If you were expecting something, but did not receive it, please PM me so I can check.

[Salmon Meerkat]

38 minutes ago, Seonid said:

Shardworld Tracker:

Yolen: 1/8 charges

Huh. I didn't expect Shards to organize this fast.

Quote

Creating a Shardworld: A group of Shards working together can create one of the following Shardworlds: Nalthis, Braize, First of the Sun, or Yolen. In order to do so, a Shard must use their action during the Day Turn to add a charge of investiture to the Shardworld. At the end of the Night Turn, if one of these Shardworlds has at least 6 charges of investiture (8 for Yolen), and that investiture has come from at least 3 different Shards (4 for Yolen), the world has been created and is available to worldhop to. Created Shardworlds also offer unique Shardworld roles.

Never mind that, I misunderstood how this worked. It looks like a single Shard used their day action to charge Yolen while the rest likely invested in someone. The fact that a Shard made that choice is actually fascinating.

Quote

Yolen: Actions taken by a player on Yolen cannot be redirected or roleblocked. A player may use their action during the Day Turn to gain any one of the following roles: Researcher, Truthwatcher, Elantrian, Feruchemist, Mastrell, Awakener, Voidbringer, or Aviar Controller.

Whoever they are, they've clearly got the end game in mind. 

[Onyx Flamingo]

I’ll quote Indigo Weasel:

Quote

I would also like to be PMed, especially by Cultivation/her factionmate. I think our wincons are probably compatible.

Hi, so what did you mean? This implies you know another Shard’s/Faction’s wincon, And since it was Day 1 there was no action you could have took to get that information.

Seems odd you’d say that, you might know some information the rest of us don’t..

[Quartz Zebra]

Radler gazed intently at the sheet of instructions Domand had given him, committing them all to memory. Not that any of the actual goals were exactly forgettable, but it would be unwise to forget a small detail by negligence. He got the feeling his employers would not be pleased. Once he was sure all were in his head completely, he threw the directions into the lit fireplace, watching the flames slowly consume them. Now only he knew what he had to do, for the Cosmere and for himself. 

He opened his mouth to ask Domand how in Adonalsium’s name he was supposed to find Preservation, especially if a hostile force was potentially controlling it, when he pivoted and found the man gone. Questions bounced in his head: who is that man? What is his real aim? But they would have to go unanswered. He sighed. For some things, you just had to trust to your own intuition. Scadrial had been a former site of Preservation’s presence; perhaps he was there, and if the Vessel was elsewhere, well, he could always use the contacts he had gained access to with that slip of paper, with the strange seal. He would figure out what that meant, eventually. But for now, he settled with slipping into the Cognitive Realm, and winging his way towards the planet of metals.  

---

Note: whatever Radler is doing is not related to any in-game goals, or in-game actions. Just thought I’d clear that up. 

If there was a bit more time I’d address Toucan’s claim more thoroughly, but with the new set of clarifications that are backing his claims up, he isn’t necessarily lying. Hopefully, discussion can move on from him tomorrow when we begin to have lynches. 

[Magenta Albatross]

Hmmm, I'd really thought I'd picked a more original destination to hop to. Ah well.

***

Tessa took a deep breath of the Scadrian air. It tasted different to any other world she'd ever visited, with just he barest hint of wood-smoke wafting on the breeze. It'd been a while since she'd been home. She hadn't really been feeling homesick, as she'd been doing important work all around the Cosmere. But it still felt right to be here now, especially during the endgame.

Vahal had come up with an extremely ambitious plan, but it could end these conflicts forever. Maybe 'end' was too strong a word. 'Limit in scope and reach so that casualties are kept negligible and innocent civilians are not caught in the crossfire' was how he'd put it. And the most beautiful thing was that it didn't require them to beat anyone. They didn't need to remove any pieces from the board, merely prove their capabilities to restrict the actions of the key pieces.

Containment had been tried and failed before, of course, but this time would be different. Nos ticking shards in containers, just convincing them to start playing by mortal rules. "Well then, time to go say 'no' to a Shard." she muttered to herself  as she passed from empty fields into Scadrials largest city.

 

Edited January 16, 2019 by Magenta Albatross

[Sage Kangaroo]

Well, if a Shard didn't feel inclined to Invest in someone, it makes sense to me that they would choose to Invest in Yolen. It takes the longest to create, and it gives them the most bang for their buck since it had all Roles available to it.

[Opal Lion]

1 hour ago, Sage Kangaroo said:

Well, if a Shard didn't feel inclined to Invest in someone, it makes sense to me that they would choose to Invest in Yolen. It takes the longest to create, and it gives them the most bang for their buck since it had all Roles available to it.

But once Yolen is created it benefits everyone, not just the shards that invested in it. I'm guessing that whoever invested in yolen is probably an independent player and not part of a faction since it makes more sense for the shards to invest in a teammate at this stage in the game. If it indeed is an independent player, I could see this potentially being a contributor to their wincon.

[Salmon Meerkat]

25 minutes ago, Opal Lion said:

But once Yolen is created it benefits everyone, not just the shards that invested in it. I'm guessing that whoever invested in yolen is probably an independent player and not part of a faction since it makes more sense for the shards to invest in a teammate at this stage in the game. If it indeed is an independent player, I could see this potentially being a contributor to their wincon.

I don't personally think it benefits everyone. In fact, I would prefer Yolen never get created because it invalidates a rather large part of what makes this game unique.

[Magenta Albatross]

5 minutes ago, Salmon Meerkat said:

I don't personally think it benefits everyone. In fact, I would prefer Yolen never get created because it invalidates a rather large part of what makes this game unique.

It comes with risks though. Sure, you could go to Yolen to get a particular power you could get elsewhere, but that'd place you on the same world as people picking up the voidbringer role. Personally, I'd not go there unless there was some kind of benefit I really needed that I could only get there.

[Salmon Meerkat]

31 minutes ago, Magenta Albatross said:

It comes with risks though. Sure, you could go to Yolen to get a particular power you could get elsewhere, but that'd place you on the same world as people picking up the voidbringer role. Personally, I'd not go there unless there was some kind of benefit I really needed that I could only get there.

Problem is people can gain the researcher role as well, allowing them to target anyone. No one is really safe given enough time.

[Cream Tuatara]

Yes, but researcher can only be used once, then essentially needs to be recharged, and only really works if you have other roles to use. If you just have Researcher, it does no good at the time. Yolen seems to act as a world to speed up the Late game, hopefully attracting everyone to center around one place, so that, as the game begins to slow down, this can be used to speed it up again. If the game gets too slow near the end, then I think I'll like it. 

[Amethyst Scorpion]

Yolen is very much an endgame planet, where I think most people will be going once it’s created. As long as Ruin doesn’t blow it up immediately, it’s a good default Investment option when you don’t have a target.

[Indigo Weasel]

5 hours ago, Onyx Flamingo said:

I’ll quote Indigo Weasel:

Hi, so what did you mean? This implies you know another Shard’s/Faction’s wincon, And since it was Day 1 there was no action you could have took to get that information.

Seems odd you’d say that, you might know some information the rest of us don’t..

Maybe I do.

Or maybe I said might because I was guessing based on them having Cultivation.  

Or maybe my wincon is compatible with almost every faction.

I'll ask my factionmates if I can tell you my wincon.