Mid-Range Game 43: Death Comes As The End

[Kasimir]

Talbot Oswin was a man who didn’t have enemies.

Of course, you might say, that’s ridiculous. Everyone has enemies. Even worse, some of us have friends. (You laugh at that, now. But the worst enemy is a friend, the close sort. The sort that keeps closer to you than your own shadow. Easiest to hurt that which is dearest to you, that which knows you best. Best keep an eye out for knives in your own back.)

But listen.

Talbot Oswin didn’t have enemies.

Not the former flame, no; they’d met before, and their paths had crossed for a little while before they parted again. No resentment, no bitterness there, surely, nothing left unfinished. 

Surely not the university chum, in those days of wild abandon, when they caroused and skipped classes to go entertain themselves in the tradition of the young. After all, Talbot Oswin was a Heron, on his ma’s side, and as loaded as they come. Old blood, and old money there, the Herons. In Tremredare in the West, during the days of the Old Empire, it’s said you can’t stumble upon a plot or a business venture that doesn’t trace back to the Herons one way or another. Plenty of amusements you can buy in Elendel, if you’re a young, hotblooded noble, and there was never a vice Talbot Oswin hadn’t tried. 

Not from fellow nobles either; surely no one at all resented the Oswin marriage to Thekla Heron. A cadet branch of the Herons, all things considered—the Oswins were really nowhere near important enough otherwise. Yet the Oswins moved up in the world with Thekla’s marriage...too quickly, you might think? Quickly enough to ruffle feathers, even?

There was no reason for anyone at all to resent or dislike Talbot Oswin.

After all, it’s hard to be disliked or hated when you have all the wealth in Bilming and absolutely no compunctions about lavishing it on your companions. And Talbot Oswin was far too focused on his own pleasurable pursuits to really bother with vendettas or feuds, or anything of that sort.

Take it from someone who knows, though: someday, your crows come back to roost.

So: Talbot Oswin.

He had enemies, of course. He just didn’t keep track of them. He never had the energy or time to consider anyone an enemy. But could Talbot Oswin, in his own careless, intensely selfish way have any real enemies, anyone with a grudge burning inside of them, anyone who hated enough to kill?

Well. 

You’ll have to tell me about that.

But I’m getting ahead of myself, aren't I? We haven’t come to the deaths yet, or to the corpse. Talbot Oswin, his throat cut like a pig before the butcher’s knife. Or the guests.

Let’s start again from the beginning, shall we?

It’s a beautiful day, on the outskirts of Bilming, at a manor overlooking the Sea of Yomend. Picture blue skies, with barely any wisp of cloud at all. Picture a gentle sea breeze stirring the flowers. Breezehome, the Oswins call the manor. A summer home, and a place of carefree play. No wonder Talbot Oswin all but took up residence there, in his final months.

Talbot Oswin is sitting in his study and writing letters, one after another. Invitations, most of them, in his sloppy calligraphy, because learning to write a decent copperplate or spencerian is too much work for Talbot, and the Survivor defend him from having to learn to print legibly!

The letters, ink-blotted and stained and sometimes indecipherable, one after another, will be conveyed on a silver tray to his secretary, the esteemable if intimidating Miss Priscilla, who will in turn be tasked with turning the tortured scraps of card into aesthetically pleasing invitations. Sometimes, she adds flourishes of her own, for authenticity. Talbot Oswin approves, of course. All the less work for him.

It’s a beautiful day, on the outskirts of Bilming, and Talbot Oswin is making plans for a party. A grand party; the lavish, sprawling sort you normally see in Elendel. He scrawls invitation after invitation, sometimes adding names from name cards he barely recalls receiving at some function or other. Perhaps an Elendel ball. Perhaps a weekend in Tathingdwel, with an optional hunting excursion. Perhaps a house party in Wyllion, with a detour to the Sea of Yomend for a boating trip.

Talbot Oswin is sparing no expense. Since when has he?

The remedied invitations leave the Oswin manor, Breezehome, travelling on by the railway and courier post. 

And that’s where you come in.

Spoiler

 

MR43: Death Comes As The End (aka a Scadrian murderparty)

“Life was not a matter of safety — it must be hazarded to win the game.” —Death Comes As The End, Agatha Christie

To tell you the truth, I should’ve never accepted the invitation.

And neither should you. Bit too late for that now, though.

If House Oswin had gathered and collectively decided to produce the greatest waste of space, the most useless person ever since the Catacendre—then they couldn’t really have done any worse than Talbot Oswin. Talbot Oswin; flirt, rake, dabbler, wastrel. Throws the best parties, though. Guess it must be nice to never run out of Mam’s cash. Mam was a Heron, see. Born rolling in the money, as they say.

‘Course, all of that’s besides the point. Talbot Oswin now, he’s dead. Never thought a berk could bleed out that much. The more you know. Shame about the carpet though. And the wine.

Thing is, someone iced Talbot Oswin.

And with the manor locked tighter than a gixie’s purse, we’re shut in here with them as did it. 

You’d best be finding them soon, Chief. ‘Cause Talbot Oswin? He didn’t just fall onto a knife now, did he? He was helped. Takes a certain coldness to cut a man’s throat as he’s lying there, helpless, like a trussed pig.

That sort of scum? They’re as like to strike again.
 

General Rules:

Spoiler

1. This game is a partial blackout MR game, with cycles lasting 48 hours. The game will start at 2300hrs, GMT+8, and subsequent cycles will end at 2200hrs, giving me one hour to work on the rollover. However, the first cycle is 24 hours, and will feature no deaths [=no kill, no lynch.] While the mechanics have been tested, there is no guarantee that they will be perfectly balanced, as the core mechanic is chance-based. Please play at your own risk.

2. PMs will not be allowed, apart from exceptions such as room PMs and the Eliminator PM.

3. As this game is a MR, consistent activity (not necessarily a high level of activity!) is expected from players. Players who neither post nor take actions for two cycles in a row will be automatically killed by the filter. 

4. There are two votes conducted publicly in the thread: the lynch and the room you will inhabit for the ‘Night.’ (This is not a separate turn and is largely just for flavour.) Lynch votes must be in red, whereas room votes must be in orange. Please use green for retractions and clearly indicate them. I cannot guarantee I will catch an unclear retraction.

5. There is no minimum vote for the lynch, and in the event of a tie, I will flip a coin or roll the appropriate die until someone dies.

6. A list of cosmetic roles has been appended. Players may choose to play a cosmetic role (which comes with a RP requirement.) This should be clearly indicated on sign-up to prevent doubling up of cosmetic roles. Conflicts will be resolved on a first-come, first-served basis. Players may also generate their own cosmetic role and should articulate the RP requirement clearly to the GM for approval.

7. This is a RP-heavy game. (That is to say, RP is heavily encouraged, even though I do not require RP from everyone, much less huge long well-developed paragraphs with character arcs.) While I will not discriminate against players who don’t enjoy RPing and am endeavouring to make this game accessible to all playstyles, it is worth noting that this game may not particularly excite you if you are not especially keen on RPing.

8. Write-ups will be minimally informative. At this point, the only thing the write-up will announce accurately are the roles and alignment of the deceased. In addition, the write-up should not be regarded as an accurate guide to what actually happened. I intend to take full creative liberties and will not be held responsible for any confusion, false assumptions, or damages resulting from treating the write-up like the Holy Word of Wyrm.

9. Please @ me for clarificatory questions in thread, and bold them so I will pick them out. For clarificatory questions in PM and doc, please bold them. While I will do my best to get to all questions in a timely manner, my priority will be to address rule clarifications asked in the stipulated manner. (This also guarantees I won’t derp and miss them.)

10. Please do keep in mind that standard Etiquette and Fair Play rules apply during this game. Thank you.

11. This is the known Order of Actions:

-Rooms
-Kills / Lynch
-Searching

Win Conditions:

Spoiler

• The Guests win when all Killers are eliminated.
• The Killers win when they lynch the secretary [e.g. outnumber the Guests.]

The Manor:

Spoiler

Talbot Oswin’s manor is on the outskirts of Bilming—a short carriage ride away from the railway station. Harmony forfend that some of his guests might be forced to walk from the railway, along the cobbled street, and up the hill, until they reach the wrought manor gate. Breezehome, as the manor is named, does in fact permit a view of the Sea of Yomend below. Often, the windows are open for the sea breeze to enter.

The manor is painted a striking, cheery blue on white plaster: you’ve never quite seen the like before. At the gate, the secretary—a lady with ice-blue eyes and a thick ledger—pages through until she finds your name and scribbles next to it. From the manor-house, you can already hear the sounds of music and laughter.

She closes the gate behind you. The lock clicks shut; a strangely final sound.

“Go on then, right up to the house,” she says. Are you the last of the guests? Possibly, you think. The train out of Elendel had been unfortunately delayed. You don’t explain yourself to the secretary, though. “Mind the rosemary!” she calls out after you, as you head up to the house, along the winding garden path.
 

Rooms:

Spoiler

Each room will be placed into a PM group together for the cycle. Players will not begin in a room. Actions and targeting will generally not be restricted by room. Players who do not select a room will be randomly assigned to one. The manor has the following rooms accessible:

• Growlery
• Study
• Kitchen
• Lounge
• Garden

 

 

Roles:

Spoiler

Guests: You came here to have a good time and now you feel so attacked! Hang tough, buddy. You’ll make it through this, yet.

Killers: No, not the band! You’re a proper, stone-cold killer. After all, murdering your host after a good party? Cold. Downright cold. Unfortunately, the stubborn secretary has mobilised the staff and sealed the mansion off while waiting for the constables to arrive. You’d kill her, but you’d risk the rest of the guests overpowering you lot. Tough life.

• What’s A Little Murder Between Friends?: Killers gotta kill. Each cycle, the faction kill ability passes to the next active Killer in a fixed sequence. While there are no Eliminator docs for this game, the designated Killer may send one PM to their teammates to solicit advice or opinions on the kill. Their teammates are allowed one reply each. Note that player activity will be defined the same as in the case of the inactivity filter.

Both Guests and Killers may Search the rooms they are located in to locate useful items and secrets. Searching takes up your single action slot for the cycle. Killers who are utilising the kill may not Search.
 

Cosmetic Roles:

Spoiler

Apothecary: As it is, you do a fair trade as an apothecary, and you’ve mixed a number of salves and tinctures and herbal teas for Talbot Oswin. Your hobby, however, has always been botany, and you’ve dabbled a little with labelling and sketching out the specimens in Bilming’s tiny, fledgling museum. You were promised access to some of the rarer specimens Talbot had collected in a fit of whimsy… Every cycle, you should mention in your RP at least one plant of interest.

Artist: You’ve been commissioned to produce some of the pieces that hang in the townhouses and manors of nobles, and you can proudly identify one of your works hanging in Talbot Oswin’s study. He paid you far too much for it, really, but you aren’t going to complain—this starving artist gig got stale after the first half-hour. You wouldn’t give it up for the world, even so. Every cycle, you should be artistically inspired by at least one object or person of interest.

Blue-Blooded: You can trace your ancestry to the esteemed luminaries of the Founding, and you are rightfully proud of it. You are a scion of a noble House, and while you may be rubbing shoulders with your social inferiors at Talbot Oswin's house party, you nevertheless impress upon your social inferiors what a great honour it is to drink wine with their betters. Every cycle, you should arrogantly flaunt your status or sneer at at least one player.

Devout Pathian: You were one of Talbot Oswin’s uni friends. Wild parties and debauchery was your life, until one day...Well, it sounds trite, but you ran into a Faceless Immortal and your life changed. Thank Harmony, you straightened out your life and sobered up. You wouldn’t necessarily have accepted the invite but...well, it was Tal. What was there to be said? Every cycle, you should include in your RP at least one reference to your newfound faith. This need not involve proselytising to other players.

Former Flame: You and Tal used to be...close. Intimates, even. Of course, you’re over him now. Didn’t stop you from accepting the invitation, of course. Maybe you were in the area, anyway. Maybe it was just for old times’ sake. After all, you parted on good terms. Didn’t you? It’s over now. Every cycle, you should include in your RP at least one reference to your shared past.

Noble Cousin: You’re not that close to Talbot, thankfully. You are, however, in Bilming and bored out of your skull, and also your aunt insisted that you pay a visit to your Cousin Talbot, and so here you are. What’s a down-on-their-luck noble to do? At least you’ll be fed well and kept in good style while you lodge with Cousin Talbot, and there are certainly worse people to be acquainted with… You are certainly proud enough of your House. Every cycle, you should make at least one reference to being an Oswin, or being related to them.

Retired Lawman: More at home in the Roughs than civilised society, you might be a strange character at a house party but Talbot Oswin has always been a strange sort, and—well, he apparently likes you enough to invite you. Or is suitably grateful. You’re never really quite sure which it is. Every cycle, you should include in your RP at least one social faux pas.

Socialite: You are the most interesting man/woman/being in Elendel, and you are certain that everyone knows this. You get invited to the best parties, and hear all the gossip. It takes a great deal to lure you down to a small house party near Bilming, but truth be told, things have gotten just a tad scandalous back in Elendel and you need to lie low for a time… Every cycle, you should share gossip with at least two other players in your RP.

Thief: You left Elendel a hair’s breadth ahead of the constables, but a stolen invitation sitting in the pocket of the coat you ‘borrowed’ has led you to the house party in Bilming while you wait for the heat to die down. Still, you’ve got a great feeling about this. Surely there are some things that will not be missed… Every cycle, you should attempt to steal something, or actually steal something in your RP.

University Chum: You were close with Talbot Oswin during your uni days, and that’s probably the main reason you scored an invite to this party. Still, you’ve certainly had a wild past where Tal was involved, and you have all the stories to prove it. Every cycle, you should share at least one embarrassing or wild story from your uni days with Talbot in your RP.

Worldhopper: You were not born on Scadrial. What are you doing at a small house party thrown by a minor (in the grand scheme of things) noble?! You blend in well enough, but you do make the occasional slip-up. Every cycle, you should drop at least one expression or turn of phrase that makes it evident you do not originate from Scadrial.

 

Sign-ups have opened and will remain open until 5th July, 2200hrs, GMT+8. (Same as any normal rollover for this game.) The IM for this game will be @Fifth Scholar. As indicated in the rules, I'd like to draw your attention to two other things:

1. The current win-con requires the Killers to lynch the Secretary. They may choose to do so by outnumbering the guests. They may not. (This is under discussion and if there is a change, I will inform you all before the game starts, and once again on C1.)

2. This is a partial blackout game, though you really don't have to be Hercule Poirot to figure out what's going on underneath the hood. But again, I make no promises whether this is balanced because RNGesus sometimes desires sorrow and suffering. Play at your own risk.

3. The third thing, because I apparently have a worse memory than the Spanish Inquisition - sign-up RP is fine, but please don't RP yourselves at the party yet, as the party hasn't started  Thank you!

 

Quicklinks

Spoiler

Cycle One - Appointment with Death
Cycle Two - A Pale Horse
Cycle Three - Towards Zero
Cycle Four - The Blue Geranium
Cycle Five - The House of Lurking Death
Aftermath - While the Light Lasts

 

Edited July 25, 2021 by Elandera
quicklinks

[Kasimir]

Rule Clarifications:

Spoiler

1. Pinch-hitters will only be available upon request if there are pinch-hitters. If you go inactive without saying anything to the GM and IM, then the filter will take effect after two consecutive cycles. 

2. Role and alignment are both revealed upon death.

3. What can you do on Cycle One? You can talk to each other  You won't be in any rooms but that doesn't mean you can't search: in the known Order of Actions (#11), Rooms come before Searching in terms of priority, so at the end of Cycle One, assuming you send in a room vote, you can move into a room and Search it. 

4. Voting for rooms will work like QF6, except I won't be enforcing a hard limit on how many people there are in a room. All people who voted for a specific room will generally (*mild PAFO here) go into the specific room.

5. With regard to whether there are actions other than searching: I mean, if you're a Killer with the kill, you can kill instead. Or explain to your teammates in that one PM that yeah sorry, I chose to search instead of kill  But okay, more seriously, PAFO.

Player List:

Spoiler

1. TJ Shade playing as Loqlaw Mora, thief.
2. Gears playing as Augusta Christine, a popular mystery author and noblewoman.
3. Orlok Tsubodai playing as Locke Tekiel, an Elendel banker.
4. StrikerEZ playing as Variel Ulring, former flame, and a quiet man who spent some time at the same university as Talbot while studying the histories of pre-Catacendre Scadrial.
5. Eternum playing as Aiden Ostlin, Talbot Oswin's very bored noble cousin.
6. Mist playing as Lumen, a retired lawman.
7. Elbereth playing as El, apothecary.
8. Vapor playing as Vapor, a blue-blooded young woman.
9. Araris Valerian playing as Ookla the Curmudgeonly, the now ancient Lord Heron and all-around old guy.
10. Lord_Silberfarben playing as Lord Nahr Silberfarben, a noble taken with the trendy idea of being a mafia GM!
11. Burnt Spaghetti playing as Amber "Squirrel" Ghetti, a young budding artist under the impression she's been commissioned.
12. MysticLotus playing as Sophia, a naturalist/forest ranger.
13. The_Truthwatcher playing as Watcher, a fellow classmate of Talbot who helped him once, and a pre-Catacendre history buff.
14. xinoehp512
15. Lahilt playing as Thaill, a worldhopper.
16. DrakeMarshall playing as Zachary Holcomb, renowed gossip and socialite.
17. A Windrunner playing as Sian Rohung, who found the invitation by the roadside and is stocking up on food.
18. Devotary of Spontaneity playing as Beral, a devout Pathian whose greatest wish is to serve Harmony forever as a Faceless Immortal.

Spectator List:

Spoiler

1. Straw
2. Elandera

Pinch-Hitter List:

Spoiler

1. Matrim's Dice
2. Ashbringer

 

Edited July 5, 2020 by Kasimir

[|TJ|]

Claiming the Thief. 

Signing up as my favorite thief, Loqlaw Mora. 

[Kasimir]

This has to be the shortest record ever for a rule clarification because I'd meant to say this then legit derped. Let's hope this is not a bad omen for the game, shall we?  

Sign-up RP is fine, but please do not RP the party yet, as the party has not yet started  Thanks!

Edited June 28, 2020 by Kasimir

[Gears]

I would like to sign up as Augusta Christine, a popular mystery author and noblewoman. I love the eponymous book. 

[Orlok Tsubodai]

I'd like to sign up as Locke Tekiel. Happy (and indeed would prefer) to be randomly allocated a cosmetic role.

[Kasimir]

4 minutes ago, Gears said:

I would like to sign up as Augusta Christine, a popular mystery author and noblewoman. I love the eponymous book. 

It's a great book! Welcome aboard! Could you just clarify: when you say noblewoman, are you intending to take on a cosmetic role? (It's okay if you don't want to do one - I just need to know how to indicate what's left for other people.)

3 minutes ago, Orlok Tsubodai said:

I'd like to sign up as Locke Tekiel. Happy (and indeed would prefer) to be randomly allocated a cosmetic role.

Fantastic; you're a banker from Elendel. Figure out some banker thing to do every cycle, please: that works for me.  (Honestly, if you want me to give you a more specific RP requirement, I can too.)

[Gears]

1 minute ago, Kasimir said:

It's a great book! Welcome aboard! Could you just clarify: when you say noblewoman, are you intending to take on a cosmetic role? (It's okay if you don't want to do one - I just need to know how to indicate what's left for other people.)

Go ahead and assign me a random one that preferably aligns with the idea of an author.

[Kasimir]

1 minute ago, Gears said:

Go ahead and assign me a random one that preferably aligns with the idea of an author.

How about this: you take a custom author cosmetic role, since that's what your character is. Do something author-related, e.g. plotting a story, scribbling down ideas, or writing about your fellow guests once each cycle. (Non-exhaustive. Author-related is good enough.)

[Ashbringer]

Umm, I may play this. It sounds cool but very complicated and RP-heavy when I'll be on vacation the first few days. I suppose I could pinch-hit safely, but I'll have to think about it.

[Mat]

It's disappointing my schedule doesn't permit this . I'll take a spec doc, though, maybe a possible pinch-hitter, if needed.

[StrikerEZ]

I'm definitely signing up, and I'm taking the Former Flame role. @Kasimir Before I decide on the character, is our fine Talbot Oswin at all amenable to having a fling with a man?

[Straw]

Can I get a spec doc link?

@Araris Valerian when this game was put in game creation, you asked to be pinged when it was run.

[Elandera]

I will also take a spec doc, please!

[Kasimir]

16 minutes ago, StrikerEZ said:

I'm definitely signing up, and I'm taking the Former Flame role. @Kasimir Before I decide on the character, is our fine Talbot Oswin at all amenable to having a fling with a man?

Yes, and I think the real question you should be asking is:

How depraved is your character willing to get?  *waggles eyebrows suggestively*

Hi mods please don't arrest me, I'm not requiring Striker Kalebane, the Terror of GMs, and the Shield of the Lynch to post anything at all that would violate PG-9 family friendly rules for the Former Flame  

Everyone else: Added to spec doc list; @Matrim's Dice, putting you temporarily with pinch-hitters but if there is no need, you'll be relocated to the spec doc.

[Eternum]

I love this. I love everything about this. Signing up as Aiden Ostlin. Would love to have a random cosmetic role.

[Gears]

28 minutes ago, Kasimir said:

How about this: you take a custom author cosmetic role, since that's what your character is. Do something author-related, e.g. plotting a story, scribbling down ideas, or writing about your fellow guests once each cycle. (Non-exhaustive. Author-related is good enough.)

Sounds great! I look forward to linking my fellow guests to the Christie Literature Universe.

[Kasimir]

2 minutes ago, Eternum said:

I love this. I love everything about this. Signing up as Aiden Ostlin. Would love to have a random cosmetic role.

Welcome aboard as Talbot Oswin's very bored noble cousin  (See role for reference.)

Edited to add: Just make a reference to being related to the Oswins and you're good!

Edited June 28, 2020 by Kasimir

[Eternum]

3 minutes ago, Kasimir said:

Welcome aboard as Talbot Oswin's very bored noble cousin  (See role for reference.)

Edited to add: Just make a reference to being related to the Oswins and you're good!

Fantastic. Gives me an idea, too.

[Mist]

I'll be Retired Lawman Lumen.

[Kasimir]

Fantastic

So, just to clarify the role of pinch-hitters as I realise I didn't do so:

Pinch-hitters will only be available upon request if there are pinch-hitters. If you go inactive without saying anything to the GM and IM, then the inactivity filter will take effect after two consecutive cycles. (RL understandably happens, so if you have an issue, please communicate it! Would prefer to not have to use The Filter.)

[Elbereth]

24 minutes ago, Kasimir said:

Yes, and I think the real question you should be asking is:

How depraved is your character willing to get?  *waggles eyebrows suggestively*

Hi mods please don't arrest me, I'm not requiring Striker Kalebane, the Terror of GMs, and the Shield of the Lynch to post anything at all that would violate PG-9 family friendly rules for the Former Flame  

Thank you for that clarification I was indeed going to say something until I read it  

 

Signing up as uhhh

...actually y'know what, I'm just going to sign up as El in honor of Kassien's apprentice in AG2, and I'll take the Apothecary role. 

[+Lotus]

I'm interested in signing up, but the last game took up a decent amount of time where I should have been studying.

So, I'll think about it. I would like to do some more role-playing though!

[Kasimir]

Ahem. Clarification time!

When I say that roles will be revealed on death, I actually mean role and alignment >>;;; this is why i shouldn't assume imma shuffle out in shame now...

[StrikerEZ]

38 minutes ago, Kasimir said:

Yes, and I think the real question you should be asking is:

How depraved is your character willing to get?  *waggles eyebrows suggestively*

Oooo, okay, I'm going to have a lot of fun with this. I'll be signing up as Variel Ulring, a quiet man who spent some time at the same university as Talbot while studying the histories of pre-Catacendre Scadrial.

45 minutes ago, Kasimir said:

Hi mods please don't arrest me, I'm not requiring Striker Kalebane, the Terror of GMs, and the Shield of the Lynch to post anything at all that would violate PG-9 family friendly rules for the Former Flame