Quick Fix Game 40: Uneasy Lies

[Kasimir]

@Haelbarde [Concerned Statement] We appear to have interested a goddess.

[Smug Statement] We shall have to make a game worthy of her attention.

[Concerned Statement] The players won't break it again, will they?

[Statement of Trepidation] I am almost afraid to Discover 

---

Hi guys, welcome to the game! This is an important GM announcement. I will make this again at the beginning of the game, which is now taking place in around eleven hours' time.

We are removing/patching the Assassination System. Please read this carefully as we do not want to cause more confusion, but we also do not want more problems/breaks.

Changelog: [Read this for a summary of the main changes]

Spoiler

• The Reform Spy will no longer be lynchproof. We die like men
   
• Lynches and kills will no longer reveal roles. We will only reveal if the deceased was a Conspirator or an Agent of Discovery.
   
• The Assassination ability will be removed. Instead, we will have an Assassination mechanic. On the death of the last Eliminator, a sudden death final countdown lynch round will be triggered. This lynch round is special in several ways: it is a standard 24 hour QF cycle, and any player in the game is allowed to post in the thread. (Yes, this includes the deceased.) However, only Eliminators may cast a lynch vote. If the Reform Spy is discovered and lynched, the Eliminators win the game immediately.
   
• tldr; the Eliminator team has two disjunctive win cons: they can either outnumber the Village, or they can discover and lynch the Reform Spy in the final Assassination Cycle. The Village team has two win cons: they must both eliminate every Agent of the Discovery Faction and ensure that the Reform Spy is not lynched during the Assassination Cycle.
   
• The dead will be streamed into Faction dead docs. While the Village dead will go into a Village dead doc, Discovery dead will inhabit a Discovery dead doc. We ask that you adhere strictly to information hygiene so that information does not flow between dead docs. If there is demand for a spec doc, it will likely be independent of the Village dead doc.
   
• We ask that you not do extreme things like spam the thread to the point it cannot be used during the Assassination Cycle. Manipulation and strategising and discussion in the dead docs is otherwise permitted and encouraged.

Rationale [Less important but good to read if you're curious I guess]

Spoiler

• Making the Reform Spy lynchproof leads to difficulties. The Assassination ability grows more powerful as the players dwindle (due to probability) and the Reform Spy is still known to be alive. The lynch becomes a tenable way of determining if a player is the Reform Spy. In addition, the Reform Spy is now compelled to die before this point if they do not want to cost the Village the game. We are concerned that is unfair to the player.
   
• The Village has been having difficulty juggling the need to both protect the Reform Spy and to find the Eliminators. Having an Assassination cycle instead of the ability helps by streamlining the two halves of the game, such that the main game can be slightly more SE-centric, and the Assassination cycle can be slightly more Avalon/The Resistance-centric.
   
• This gives the dead something fun to do  

If you see any potential breaks, we would appreciate if you inform us early. I have already taken this patch (courtesy of Hael) to a few people, but more minds and eyes are better.

Thank you, and see you in under eleven hours 

Edited October 18, 2019 by Kasimir

[Arrae]

7 minutes ago, Elbereth said:

She leaned closer. “But a little lost hairpin couldn’t really have brought you all this way looking for me. Could it?”

"No, it didn't," Joon admitted. "I wanted to return it earlier, but you're a hard one to catch, Ellira. I had to ask around a bit to find you." A lot of asking, actually. Plus some tailing. There weren't a lot of green-eyed people around here, but somehow Joon had been pointed to three false leads before finding the right green-eyed girl. "What I heard interested me. Going to the Frozen Moon? It's dangerous; my father told me that he'd give me five lashes if he ever caught me here."

Joon sipped at his tea to buy himself some time. Now for the plunge. "You're an adventurous one, Ellira. I like that in a girl."

[Elbereth]

Ellira laughed brightly at that. “And I like a guy who’s willing to go to some effort to find a girl he likes,” she tossed back. “And venture into a bit of danger, even.” She sipped her tea. “Not that I’ve ever found it that dangerous, truly. The clientele tends to be quite polite, in fact, and their dress at least seems high class enough. I’m sure it’s safe here, don’t worry.” She gave him a naive, reassuring smile.

Her mind raced behind her smile. Had he really only been looking for her because she was pretty, or was there further reason? Had he known about his merchant friend’s murder and somehow suspected her - maybe because of the hairpin, even? She cursed herself inwardly for being so careless as to lose that. And she’d been careful; he’d have had to do more than just a bit of asking to find her. She was pretty, but to be so doggedly pursued? He had to have other motivations. 

Well. Hopefully he didn’t have any idea how dangerous she truly was. She’d insist on staying to watch the meeting, first, and then go home with him and kill him if necessary. A pity, if so, because in other circumstances he’d be such fun to seduce, but loose ends had to be tied. She’d learned that the hard way. 

Edited October 18, 2019 by Elbereth

[Kasimir]

Please note that the rules in the initial game post have now been updated to their current incarnation for ease of reference. (RIP anyone trying to figure out what the original rules were, but hey  ) Thanks @Alvron for helping me out there!

Once again, this information will be repeated at the start of the game. Let's not have a Reform Spy think they're lynchproof now 

[StrikerEZ]

24 minutes ago, Kasimir said:

Once again, this information will be repeated at the start of the game. Let's not have a Reform Spy think they're lynchproof now 

.....you could’ve just tagged me.

Also, @Arraenae @Elbereth you guys are much better at the RPing than I am.

[Alvron]

55 minutes ago, StrikerEZ said:

.....you could’ve just tagged me.

I believe the opposite was true in your case.  Didn't you forget you were lynchproof?   

[StrikerEZ]

7 minutes ago, Alvron said:

I believe the opposite was true in your case.  Didn't you forget you were lynchproof?   

..........I definitely need to pay more attention to what I read.

Also, if I’d remembered I was lynchproof, definitely would’ve let RNGesus decide between me and Tess. I think the elims were gonna vote manip anyway though? But I could’ve claimed Survivor. 

[Kasimir]

1 hour ago, StrikerEZ said:

.....you could’ve just tagged me.

If I'd meant to, I'd have said, "Let's not have a Reform Spy think they're a Striker now." 

[StrikerEZ]

5 minutes ago, Kasimir said:

If I'd meant to, I'd have said, "Let's not have a Reform Spy think they're a Striker now." 

Wow....honestly, that’s what you should’ve said.

[DeTess]

Regarding the new rules, the only thing I'm wondering about is whether having the handler no longer reveal as such swings the 'difficulty of finding the spy' too far the other way. Apart from that it all looks fine.

[Kasimir]

3 hours ago, DeTess said:

Regarding the new rules, the only thing I'm wondering about is whether having the handler no longer reveal as such swings the 'difficulty of finding the spy' too far the other way. Apart from that it all looks fine.

That's fair! Ultimately, I think the balance on that is a bit of a crapshoot - it'll end up depending on who the Spy is, who the Handler is, how many roles there are (since these are confirmed to not be the Spy or the Handler.) A good Handler will certainly make finding the Spy difficult - that's their primary job. Given that there are no PMs though, and given (so far) Village performance in QFs that don't have Seeks or roleblocks all over, an Eliminator team that goes into an Assassination Cycle would likely be facing a rather active Spy.

We'll take that into account while jiggling the distro balance. Thanks for bringing it up!

[Kasimir]

[Ominous Statement] Re-sign-ups have closed. Please stand by for the thread. Again.

[Kasimir]

Cycle One:

Full Circle

“As it transpired, the fifth year of Emperor Gamman’s reign was shaken by threats from without and within. For all he spoke about reform and changing the nature of Rose Empire policy, Gamman inherited the previous Emperor’s mistakes, and relations with Svorden continued to be strained throughout the early years of Gamman’s rule. Gamman, too, had a keen instinct for power, and he had inherited a devastated polity in the aftermath of the Succession Riots, which saw the Moderation Faction almost entirely eradicated. Even so, ShuWen of Ukurgi argues convincingly that policies passed in the first years of Gamman’s rule were more about the consolidation of his power and the concomitant control of internal dissent…” —Shuos KanSeun, When the Rose Blooms: The Lives of the Emperors

ㄢㄋㄌ

On the sixth day of Gushurye, Arbiter Darela of the Reform Faction was discovered in her office. The door was ajar.

It was said that the Strikers had only discovered her because of the stench. It was, after all, well into the dog days of summer, and by the time they discovered her dangling from the rafters, it was, well. The less said about that the better. Rumour had it that a number of Strikers—seasoned, toughened men and women who pulled bodies out from the slums and sewers on a weekly basis—had fallen to their knees and evacuated their breakfasts.

They cut her down, of course. The funeral was a relatively subdued affair. Everyone knew that Arbiter Darela had quarreled with Arbiter Huzin in the Frozen Moon the other week.

Everyone knew that Arbiter Darela had disappeared and everyone knew that they were supposed to know. That was how these things worked. 

The official consensus was that it was a terrible tragedy, except that a Striker had gotten drunk off-duty and whispered to a flower-seller, who in turn had chatted to a butcher, the butcher a seamstress, and suddenly half of Imperial Seat had heard it from someone that if Arbiter Darela had, in fact, taken her own life, she had been helped by a series of stab wounds in her back.

Arbiter Huzin attended the funeral, her lips pressed together in a tight colourless line, her gaze fixed straight ahead. The last remaining arbiters of the Reform Faction, Arbiter Raishin and Arbiter Ijimai both attended as well.

It was noted that Arbiter Ijimai appeared to be suffering from an illness. 

It was also noted that their final, missing colleague, Arbiter Turela, had not been heard from for weeks. 

The very brave might approach the remaining arbiters of the Reform Faction and carefully offer their condolences. It was, after all, known that Arbiter Turela was fiery and stubborn as a rock-mule, and with a withering impatience for fools. It was also known that Arbiter Turela had shouted at the Striker who was the Captain of the Guard in the palace, and that they had fought about the proper use of treasury finances, and that Arbiter Turela was now missing.

Someone who was exceedingly brave, to the point of folly, might further observe to Arbiter Huzin’s face that Arbiter Ijimai had refused to consent to legislation lowering the bar for the exercise of emergency powers, allowing the Rose Throne to bring the full force of the Strikers to bear upon the Svordish library in the market district.

Some said Arbiter Raishin had all the backbone of wet porridge. Others said that if Arbiter Raishin had a single principled bone in him, it was that he was a survivor, and that he had some understanding with Gamman and would never act against him.

Whatever the truth of that, Arbiter Ijimai eventually passed away after a short but gruelling illness.

And then there were two.

ㄢㄋㄌ

Those were the larger events: the one the entire Imperial Seat knew about. But in the weeks that followed, smaller events came to pass: little things, easily overlooked by those who stood on the lofty peaks of the world and gazed down at the happenings and deeds of empire. 

One evening, a man went out to buy tea.

He never returned home.

Another evening, letters worked their way across the streets and rooftops of the Imperial Seat. Some worked their way into select books, and were pressed carefully between the pages so a casual onlooker would see nothing amiss. Another found its way into the light carrying tube of a courier pigeon and took wing across the ink-dark skies.

Another was traced in a mixture of crushed beans and carefully applied to fine paper. Another was wedged in a drawer, another was left on an armourer’s workbench.

Always, they said the same thing, in the end: spelled out in letters neat and crisp, strong and bold, crisp and flowing, ink pooling at the end of the brush so it sheened copper on the paper.

The Frozen Moon, two nights from now.

Even Emperors fall.

ㄢㄋㄌ

The door creaked, letting out an annoyingly loud protest as it swung open. The first person to enter the Frozen Moon stepped warily over the threshold, wondering if it was a trap. The letter that had been folded up and stuffed hastily into a coat pocket—really, he should have burned it when he first received it—felt like it was painting a target on his back. In any case, he had plenty of reason to be wary. It was a bad time to be someone with a distinctly foreign-sounding name in the Imperial Seat. It was an even worse time to be attending a meeting along the lines of what the letter had suggested. Lawrence Scholdei was fully prepared to flee if the Frozen Moon had turned up to be stuffed to the rafters with Strikers. 

It was a bad time to be in the Imperial Seat, really. Made a man jumpy. Made him see shadows everytime he turned his head.

But there was Darela, wasn’t there? No one had heard from her for days, and then...

Those were the times they were living in, and beggars made poor choosers, so Lawrence Scholdei breathed and set aside his worries and sauntered over to the counter where the lone MaiPon server was cleaning clay cups and stacking them one after another.

The MaiPon server glanced over at him, a scowl darkening his face. “So early?”

“No one else is here?”

The server shook his head. “Booked the whole teahouse,” he muttered, disapprovingly. “Didn’t like the look of him, but he paid.”

“Who was he, do you know?”

The server stared flatly at him and refused to say anything more. In all fairness, Lawrence had not quite expected a response. After all, if you were soliciting those who might be interested in a matter of conspiracy against the Emperor of the Eighty Suns, you wanted a respectable teahouse that was known for a reasonable amount of discretion.

Lawrence sat at a table and looked around. Normally, the teahouse would have been packed with patrons, but the mysterious letter-writer had paid for the use of the Frozen Moon, and so the teahouse was currently empty. He briefly entertained the idea that it might be a trap, and then dismissed it. If it was a trap, it had netted only a single fool. 

The MaiPon server came over with a cup of hot tea and a platter of steamed buns, and then left, taking up a broom with him, likely to sweep the fallen leaves from the courtyard outside.

ㄢㄋㄌ

The letter was nailed to the wall with a single crossbow bolt. Asterion crossed the room, glancing about him warily. It had been difficult, immediately after the Succession Riots, to be a known member of the Discovery Faction.

Not any longer, however. Things had changed since then.

It had helped that they had thought him dead, and afterwards, being a blasphemous scholar of the Discovery Faction meant nothing so long as he was useful.

He breathed and the colourless cloak he wore shifted, slightly. A small price to pay for the precaution, even though it had not at all been easy to obtain. But there was no ambush, and as he reached out with his senses, he realised that the interloper had simply broken into the secret garret in the Gardens of the Sun, and left, having delivered the letter.

He drew back. 

He could make out little from the letter itself, except for the startling words. The promise of power. Or perhaps, of vengeance. Asterion was not certain he cared for vengeance. The handwriting displayed the neat, economical strokes of the current favoured calligraphic style of the Rose Empire, except—there. A slight defect: a slight flourish, as though the writer had favoured a more elaborate calligraphic style, but had mostly succeeded in suppressing their original handwriting. The crossbow bolt itself; now that was a more interesting message. He ran his fingers along the fletching. The Strikers did not use swan feathers. Not any longer. And yet, the arrow was fletched with a swan feather. 

He tugged the crossbow bolt free. It had been embedded by force, rather than fired from a crossbow. He would have had to cut it free if it had come from a crossbow. 

The letter he folded neatly and slipped into a pocket of his cloak. 

The writer, at least, had Asterion’s attention. He would go to the Frozen Moon, for the first time in five years. He would return and watch.

And perhaps he would find out what he wished to know.

ㄢㄋㄌ

Everyone asked Kavela if her name was really Kavela.

You’d think people would know people could more or less share the same name, Kavela thought, as she perched somewhat high up in the peach tree and watched. She watched as person after person furtively crept towards the Frozen Moon and entered; she watched as the MaiPon server went out into the courtyard to sweep the fallen leaves.

He didn’t look up. People rarely did.

She peeled her purloined orange thoughtfully. She had been given the letter and told to come here and report on who she saw, and what she heard. She would have to enter the teahouse, of course. Eventually. She could spy on who came and who went, but she was expected to report as well on what was discussed, and this could not be done from a peach tree outside the teahouse.

The letter would win her admission. She’d slipped it from the pocket of Arbiter Raishin himself—a fortuitous bump-and-grab. Her heart was still racing at the thought. Stalking Arbiters was dangerous; pickpocketing one, even in the crowded marketplaces of the Imperial Seat, was a fast way to get her door kicked in by Strikers. 

The letter, though. Her fingers tingled. She had more than one buyer lined up for the information from this meeting. And already, she had seen so much that was useful. Members of the various Factions: Glory, and Heritage, and Moderation—somehow struggling at the precipice of extinction—and even Gamman’s own Reform Faction. She recognised a Striker by his gait and the way he balanced himself, even though he carried no sword to the meeting, and tensed up, but then realised he wore a mask and his manner was furtive. Even an Arbiter came. It was Uskevan, Kavela thought. His build was distinctive, though it was bold of him to come without a mask. But Uskevan was of Glory; no doubt he thought a mask beneath him.

That was interesting.

Whoever had written the letter had been clever. She hadn’t realised what was happening at first, until she realised that the paper carried with it just the faintest whiff of crushed soybeans. A little steady heat and the words bloomed on the paper, materialising in dark brown writing.

She munched thoughtfully on her orange, licked the juice from her fingers, and made her way down the tree, slipping from the last branch down to the courtyard tiles.

Oof. Hard landing.

The MaiPon man just raised an eyebrow at her and continued to sweep. Kavela moved past him, and towards the meeting at the Frozen Moon. Most of the others should have arrived by now

ㄢㄋㄌ

Ellira nursed her tea and watched as the tea and the steamed buns eventually loosened up this evening’s visitors to the Frozen Moon. Some of them wore simple masks, meant to conceal most of their features except their mouths. Not their throats, of course. She noticed a tall Grand—she supposed he was attractive enough, in a fine-featured way, if you were in the market for meat—smiling at her, and smiled back, ducking her head a little with feigned shyness.

It always helped when they underestimated you; by now, it came as breathing to Ellira. And there was a little frisson of a thrill running sharp in her veins at the beginning of this dance, and then when she killed; by preference, close enough to feel the moment the life left them.

This evening, however, the Grand was not her target—not yet, at any rate. Perhaps her master would change her mind later on. Her instructions had arrived for her in a coded message tied to the leg of a pigeon at the coops. Infiltrate the meeting, mark those who were there, and report back. The promise of death to come.

No one was yet admitting that they’d convened the meeting. That was fine with Ellira; she concealed a yawn behind her hand. She hadn’t expected anyone to admit to it, in any case. Those who spoke now spoke guardedly; in implications and worried glances, rather than to directly solicit conspiracy. Differences of Faction and rank were set aside here. Everyone knew what Gamman had done to his own arbiters. Everyone here was someone who had come to the conclusion, however tentative, that something had to be done. Something had to change.

It took only half the night of verbal fencing and multiple cups of tea before the conversation drifted into offers of resources and assets, and then finally, outright conspiracy.

“Gamman is still young, for an Emperor,” declared one of the others. Ellira decided she was either more careless, or simply more trusting. “We can’t outwait him. Look at what he’s already done to the Empire. He’s gutting the laws, one by one, and those who can stop him, and if we wait, there’ll be no one left capable of stopping him.”

“Exaggeration,” said the other. It was the tall Grand, Ellira realised. He folded his hands together. “But not untrue. Gamman already has his own private army, and he’s not afraid to deploy it as he desires. The Strikers have more powers under Gamman than they’ve ever had in the history of the Empire, and they are more numerous than they’ve ever been in the history of the Guard. More importantly, Gamman has been striking out at his opponents. You do realise that, don’t you?” he was speaking louder now, addressing the rest of the room. “If any of you were so much as followed, we’re going to disappear and then be found again in our own homes.”

Like Darela, he meant. 

“Bold of you to assume we’re not even being infiltrated right now,” someone began.

Which was about the point they were all interrupted by a series of loud, piercing shrieks. Ellira winced and clamped her hands against her ears immediately. Even Joon’s handsome features were marred by a grimace.

What was going on?

Someone dragged a very naked and very dead body out from a storeroom. It took Ellira a few moments to realise it was Arbiter Urskevan, formerly of the Glory Faction, and shot through with an excessive amount of crossbow bolts, all fletched with feathers that were a striking arterial red. He had vanished for a while, ostensibly to locate more steamed buns.

Clearly, he’d bitten off more than he could chew.

The Grand pressed a hand to his mouth, his pale eyes wide. 

Someone screamed. And screamed. And screamed.

That was the point at which the clandestine meeting disintegrated into turmoil.

ㄢㄋㄌ

Herat decided she’d had enough. Getting rid of Gamman was all and very well, but she hadn’t bargained to end up dead in the process. Nights, how many arbiters were dead, by now? If they could kill an arbiter, they could most certainly kill someone like her, with all the ease of swatting a fly.

“Well,” she said, as casually as possible. “Be seeing you around, then.”

The Grand called out after her, but Herat had made up her mind. Enough was enough, and she was leaving, and that was—

She made it halfway out of the window before she felt something. It was like someone had punched her in the stomach, and she felt the air rush out of her lungs at once.

And then another punch. And another.

Callused hands closed about her legs as someone yanked and she slid back, all at once, flopping to the floorboards of the teahouse, and then pain flared, all at once, as though it’d decided she’d been sufficiently spared, and she could’ve sworn there were crossbow bolts, short, thick, and heavy, protruding out of her stomach.

Nights. Nights, she’d been shot. Nights.

The Grand studied her, gravely. “She’s been shot,” he called out to the others. She did not know how his voice remained calm. She drummed her heels back against the floor, her breath coming in quick, panicked gasps. She’d been shot and it was hurting like blazes; it was like her stomach was molten glass and it hurt so much—

“They’re outside,” the Grand said. Still calm. “I think we’re surrounded, now.” 

She knew he was saying something else, but there was a loud roaring in her ears and the world grew dark and distant and wavering.

“Forgive me,” the Grand said, and then the world fell away.

At last. At long last.

ㄢㄋㄌ

The cycle has begun! It will end at 9PM, GMT+8, tomorrow - on the 19th October. Please stand by for role PMs, player list, and rule clarifications! Please also remember to check the rules in the original thread, which has been edited to reflect the changes to Assassination and the Reform Spy!

Edited October 18, 2019 by Kasimir

[Kasimir]

Player List

Spoiler

1. I think I am here. - We think they're going to be someone 
2. DeTess - DeCharacter
3. xinoehp512 - Ecnelis
4. StrikerEZ - character pending, don't think they're an ez target
5. Elandera - Marzia, best armorer in the Rose Empire and getting better
6. Burnt Spaghetti - Somi, street kid, duck and cover
7. Young Bard - Emperor of the Eighty Suns Kavela, serendipitous social climber
8. Rathmaskal - Yesterday "Yes" Jones, certainly not a yes man, yessir
9. Alvron - Asterion, they shot him, so he votes in the shade
10. Elbereth - Ellira, fatal femme and assassin
11. STINK - in, potentially with 1337 h@x0rz
12. Butt Ad Venture - Lawrence Scholdei, confused passerby
13. Devotary of Spontaneity - Faitren
14. Arraenae - Joon, dat boi prettier than a k-idol
15. little wilson - Wai ZhierSen, sparkling because she's not from Champagne

Rule Clarifications

Spoiler

1. What do the lucky numbers mean?
They're flavour. This game has more flavouring than a packet of instant noodles.  But if you strike the lottery, give me a call!

2. The Embedded Operative gets different bonuses based on which cycle and which side they make their choice for. Choosing in the third and fifth cycles are mutually exclusive.

3. The third cycle Discovery bonus essentially 'shares' the kill with the Discovery Faction. The Embedded Operative gets it on every other cycle, and the Discovery Faction gets it on every other cycle. (Mutually exclusive.) Moreover, both the Embedded Operative and Discovery know who each other are. They just can't communicate.

4. Arbiters cannot change non-existing votes. They can only change existing votes, either by re-directing them or converting them to a no-vote.

5. Is everybody in the same role again? Or was RNG used?

Quote

And the people gathered before RNGesus and said, "Lord, I know you dispense roles but did you have to make me a vanilla? And why is my role red? Am I a secret Eliminator?"

And the Lord RNGesus made no reply.

"Lord," said the people, "Say to us that you have selected us by chance." And RNGesus stretched out his hand and blessed them with incredibly strange lynch results and unguessable role distros.

"But surely Lord," said the one known as Striker, who was loved by RNGesus, "You didn't make the same people evil again?"

"Yea," said RNGesus, "I am thy god and thou shalt not put thy god to the test," and he smiled and Kas and Hael sighed at another cursed lynch.

Spoiler

PAFO

 

Edited October 18, 2019 by Kasimir

[Young Bard]

I should have stayed in the peach tree, Kavela thought, suddenly tense. She quickly took note of all the exits in case she needed to make a quick escape, then started inspecting the other guests more closely. Most of the guests had some form of weapon for self-defence, with varying degrees of skill for hiding it - anyone in the room could have managed this, Kavela realised. This all seemed... familiar, somehow. She shook it off - this was not the time to get distracted.

One girl seemed to be sobbing, and was being comforted by - wait, no, that hadn't happened. Focus. The girl seemed to be talking to a rather handsome young man - the kind that usually seemed full of themselves and easy to dupe - and neither of them had noticed the body yet. Another man clutched his tea, as though haunted by past memories - I can relate - maybe he knows something. Kavela had a vision of the man standing, panicked, fleeing out the door - Kavela almost ignored the premonition, but... She looked at the door that the man had fled through, and slowly moved to bar it. If the man - or anyone else, for that matter - tried to flee, Kavela fully intended to ask them a couple questions first. ( @Alvron )

That done, she took a closer look over the assembled group. They seemed dishevelled, unprepared, and afraid. Even as she spoke, she could see people sneaking paranoid glances at one another, prepared to snap at a moments notice. If this was the grand resistance that was going to topple the Discovery Faction, then Kavela may have backed the wrong horse.

Like you're doing any better, Kavela. Having memories of things that haven't happened?

Kavela shook of the feeling and went back to hawkishly watching the room.

---

Take two, here we go.  I have to admit, I kind of love what I'm able to do with the RP because of it... Unfortunately, this was my only bit of RP, so my Groundhog Day escapades won't go on for long, but it was still great fun to write.

[Rathmaskal]

Yesterday felt like she'd just been here...yesterday...

~~

OK folks, I think we're all on board with the general rules of the game at this point.  One of things I didn't get a chance to weigh in on in the original iteration of the game, Spy, don't be afraid to 'bus' a villager if you're just going to draw a ton of attention to yourself by defending them.

Other than that, rollover time is at a slightly weird time for me (7am), so I'll probably bounce back and forth between hopping on right before rollover and not being seen for about the 9 hours prior.  (I'll try to do more of the former)

[Elbereth]

“It’s perfectly safe, I’m sure-” Ellira was cut off by a sudden piercing shriek. 

Ellira gasped at Urskevan’s body as they dragged it out, staring at it as if she couldn’t take her eyes off of it, and used the time to examine the body. Someone was making quite the statement, with those feathers. 

Then she turned back to Joon, wide-eyed. “That isn’t- I can’t- he’s dead, isn’t he? He’s been murdered. How could-” she started breathing more quickly, looking to be on the edge of panic. When more crossbow bolts flew in at Herat, she shrieked. 

That’ll make things a tad trickier, she thought. Alright, then. Let’s play. 

---

 

@Arraenae

Checking in to RP (obviously) and note that discussion today (and I mean lynch  discussion, not “hey let’s talk about the rule change for fifteen hours”) is important and I’m worried about it lagging since we’ve already had a D1. 

I’ll hopefully be back in a few hours to offer actually useful thoughts when people have posted anything other than RP, but for now... 

Wilson. Welcome back.  

Edited October 18, 2019 by Elbereth

[DeTess]

20 minutes ago, Rathmaskal said:

OK folks, I think we're all on board with the general rules of the game at this point.  One of things I didn't get a chance to weigh in on in the original iteration of the game, Spy, don't be afraid to 'bus' a villager if you're just going to draw a ton of attention to yourself by defending them.

Yeah, this is an important one. If you as a spy manage to stay under the radar the entire game, but then on further analysis appear to have a perfect voting record, you're going to be in a bit of trouble  

Anyway, I'm a bit at a loss of what to say now. Everything I wanted to say I already said last cycle, and everything there was to say about what I had said has also already been said, I think.

Edited October 18, 2019 by DeTess

[STINK]

As someone who was not involved in this supposed last cycle you are all hallucinating, I also don't really have anything of merit to add just wanted to say something you know how it is

[Burnt Spaghetti]

Somi let out a shriek, her hands flying to her mouth. She backed up to a wall and ducked behind a... oh theres no chair here...? She blinked with confusion. why did she think there was a chair there? She instead ducked underneath a table. This was like a bad dream that she couldn't wake from. At least she should be safe from any crossbows under the table right? She decided to not think through those possibilities and peered out from underneath, watching with wide eyes the reactions of those around her. This was not how she expected her day to go at all.

 

---

It sorta just feels like the qf has had a c1 of a LG length heh. I need sleep tho so ill check back in later

[StrikerEZ]

I still need to figure out who my character is, but I’m not currently in a position to focus enough to do that. So, I won’t be RPing for a bit right now. 

I’d just want to say that the odds of Tess and Itiah being elims again are probably pretty slim. I’m not gonna completely write them off yet, but I won’t be focusing on them much, besides for how other players react to them. I know there’s an inactivity filter, but isn’t that just if you don’t make any actions? It’d be far too easy for an inactive elim to stay alive by not posting, therefore not getting suspected, but still surviving by putting in actions. However, if they did that, we’d be able to tell since they wouldn’t be removed from the game. So I’ll leave the players who haven’t posted yet alone for now. 

In other news, @Arraenae Rae. Here’s a stab vote to welcome you back to SE!

[Arrae]

40 minutes ago, Elbereth said:

“It’s perfectly safe, I’m sure-” Ellira was cut off by a sudden piercing shriek. 

Ellira gasped at Urskevan’s body as they dragged it out, staring at it as if she couldn’t take her eyes off of it, and used the time to examine the body. Someone was making quite the statement, with those feathers. 

Then she turned back to Joon, wide-eyed. “That isn’t- I can’t- he’s dead, isn’t he? He’s been murdered. How could-” she started breathing more quickly, looking to be on the edge of panic. When more crossbow bolts flew in at Herat, she shrieked. 

That’ll make things a tad trickier, she thought. Alright, then. Let’s play. 

 

---

 

@Arraenae

Ellira said something. Joon couldn't make it out. All that he was aware of was the body in the middle of the teahouse, sightless, staring, dead. A fly lazily looped around the face.

A choked whimper. A sinking icy sensation in the gut. An accompanying warm one in the pants.

Of in the distance, someone screamed. And screamed. And screamed. A feminine tenor, perhaps. Or a masculine one with a voice crack.

The body looked different from other ones seen before. Not like the prettied, dressed up ones in a funeral. A fly lazily looped around a face, he had never seen that before, not with his own eyes, in his own head.

An echo, from long ago. "Do you know what you are playing at, boy? You are not ready for this! If I ever see you in the Frozen Moon again I'll give you five lashes, you hear me? Leave!" Then a little 13 year old boy had shamefacedly left the teahouse, forgetting all about the meeting and the secret documents he had seen there, forgetting about politics, forgetting about trying to emulate his father. Until now.

Joon proffered his hand to Ellira. "We -- let's get out of here," he said. He motioned to the door with his other hand.

---

Striker. Have a stab back. Now, tell me, how do I know you're not an elim?

[StrikerEZ]

1 minute ago, Arraenae said:

Striker. Have a stab back. Now, tell me, how do I know you're not an elim?

Because I say so?

Would an elim ask if you wanted to test RNGesus with him? If you want, I’m totally willing to put both of us up for the lynch. Wilson can tag along too if she wants. 

[Arrae]

2 minutes ago, StrikerEZ said:

Because I say so?

Would an elim ask if you wanted to test RNGesus with him? If you want, I’m totally willing to put both of us up for the lynch. Wilson can tag along too if she wants. 

I don't have anywhere better to place my vote now, and we need discussion, so I might as well be belligerent about that Give me your thoughts on El and I might take this vote off.

[Elbereth]

13 minutes ago, Arraenae said:

Joon proffered his hand to Ellira. "We -- let's get out of here," he said. He motioned to the door with his other hand.

Ellira stared at Joon, wide-eyed. “Didn’t you see what they just did to that poor woman? If we go outside, we’ll be killed.” Someone’s out of his depth, apparently. Just my luck. 

She began sniffling. “Why would they want to kill us? I haven’t done anything wrong!” Maybe her crying trigger his protective instincts enough to snap out of his shock. 

---

I... hate to do this again, but Wilson Striker.  

What makes you think it’s any less probable that Tess or Itiah is evil? Why didn’t you include Stick in that list? Why would Kas deliberately pick a team which is composed of entirely separate members instead of letting RNG run its course? I can see saying that all three aren’t evil together, but if the new evil team happened to include Tess, I don’t see why Kas would throw that out.