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Long Game 79/Anonymous Game 10: The Rhythm of Freedom


Steeldancer

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LG79/AN10: The Rhythm of Freedom
The Rosharian sun set on the horizon, and the first moon was about to rise. Thane hummed to the rhythm of determination as he worked the soil. He had been assigned by the Fused to make food for the army. Thane was okay with that, as he didn't necessarily want to be fighting the Heralds and Knights Radiant. They scared him. But so did the Fused. 
Thane wiped his brow and looked up as the stars began to come out. It would be time to meet with the others here in a few minutes. 
---
"We must escape Odium," Pavli whispered fiercly to the Rhythm of Hope. "Only if we run, and abandon our forms, can we escape him and his Fused. I want freedom, like the humans have. Some humans choose to follow Honor, and some choose to follow Odium. Why are we enslaved to Odium, and our ancestors?"
Balik sang the rhythm of Anxiety. "They will hunt us down, and kill us. They will not let us go. How can we escape without them knowing?"
Thane watched the others argue. They had started meeting a few months ago, and they were of the same mind. They needed to escape Odium. He was one of the farmers, but several others here were actively fighting. The main fighting had moved away from here in Valhav over more towards Alethela, but that didn't change that there was a chance of the humans attacking any time. They had realized that the Fused and Odium would see them all dead in the effort to destroy the humans. And this group had decided not to put up with it anymore. 
"We can go to Natanatan. It will be far away from the fighting, far away from Odium. But we will need to leave behind our forms, and run" Thane offered to the group. 
"How will we get there," asked a femalen near him. 
Pavli sang to Consideration. "There is a mountain pass nearby. We can cross through there, then walk through Alethela. We will need food and water."
Moirin, the eldest of the group hadn't said anything so far, but now stood up. Everyone stopped talking. She was the defacto leader of this small group of rebels. Yes, Thane thought, we are rebels aren't we? Fighting against Odium. Fleeing from their gods. 
"We've been discussing leaving for all this time. It is only a matter of time before the Fused find out. We must leave now. Gather your things. Get provisions from the fields. And grab some gemstones in case we need forms. We will all enter dullform to cut Odium off from our gemhearts." Moirin sung the Rhythm of Longing. "If we escape, we can live our lives like the humans do. Free to choose what we want." 
And just like that, it was decided. The group dispersed to go and gather the needed supplies. They would leave that night, before the third moon set. 

---

Abaram sat in a small hut, thinking to herself. The insanity was close at hand, but she managed to keep it away. If she died again, she would probably lose whatever thought she still had. She started as a knock sounded on the door. 
Her spy entered, solidifying from the Smokeform he had just been. 
"They are leaving tonight, my lady," he said to the Rhythm of Subservience. "Shall we destroy them all?"
She had known that some of the singers in the village wanted to leave, escape from their lives. She had hoped they would give up, but it seemed they were determined. 
"No, we will not," Abaram said to the Rhythm of Command. She smiled. "We will join them."
The malen appeared suitably confused, so Abaram elaborated. "I am Mavset-Im. Gather a few of my servants. We will join them, and attempt to cajole them into returning. And if they will not, then we will destroy them from within. They will realize there is no escape from Odium."
The malen's eyes widened at the audacious plan. He rushed out to go gather a few individuals. 
Abaram sat back down, and sighed. Hopefully this would entertain her for a bit. Fighting the Heralds was tiring. 
---
Welcome to Rhythm of Freedom, the first Singer game! This is an anonymous game, so DO NOT SIGN UP IN THREAD. Just throw me a PM that you want to sign up. Signups will end one week from today, at 10 AM EDT, on the 19th. You can also choose to sign up as a pinch hitter, and any additional players beyond the max of 30 accounts will be pinch hitters as well. @Araris Valerian will be the IM. 
It'll be fun to GM again. Please have fun as well! Rules are below. 
Basic rules. 

Spoiler

Village: Singer Rebels
Elims: One Fused, and Odiums Agents.

Everyone, other than the Fused, starts off as a dullform singer. Every cycle a highstorm will roll through during the night. During the day of that cycle, you may request a spren trapped in a gemstone from a limited number. During the high storm, you may then use an action to change forms to that type. Depending on what kind of spren you bond, you will gain a different kind of form, which will serve as your role. The gemstones available from the start of the game will be provided in the writeup. In the event of gems being requested beyond their supply, RNG will be used to give it, with priority given to those not currently in a form, and to villagers. Not following restrictions will cause a return to dull form for not following the thought process of the spren.
When a gemstone is used, that spren cannot be recovered. Generic forms will start off with enough gems for half of everyone to be that role.
The Servants of Odium will have additional gems at their disposal, containing Voidspren with different abilities.
The different roles have different thoughts and Rhythms assigned to them. As such, being in a role will provide one ability, and one drawback. 


Dullform. The form the singers start off in. Dullform has no benefits or drawbacks.

Mateform. A generic form. When using mateform, you will be assigned a random, but permanent PM with another person with Mateform.  You cannot vote for the person who you are in a PM with. After becoming a mate with someone, you keep the PM permanently, as "once mates."

Warform. Can tank a kill (including lynch) one time in the game. Cannot be recovered by gaining warform again. Must vote every day turn.
 

Artform. Can make a picture, or text to be added to the write up anonymously. Has to provide one RP post of 100 words minimum every cycle. 
 

Scholarform: can research a form in order to make an additional gemstone of that type, which can be given away. Each form can only be researched once per game. Must provide at least one post above 150 words per day turn.
 

Nimbleform: a generic form. You may take an additional action once per cycle. When in nimbleform, you may only have 1 gemstone at a time.

Workform: is a generic form. Passively removes one vote on yourself. In workform, you cannot be the only one to vote on whoever you vote on (you can, but you'll lose your form and return to dullform)
 

Mediationform: Your vote counts as 2. You must provide a reason and accusation in tandem with their votes. (For example, I accuse Steel of being the eliminator, because he hates cats!)  
 

Regal roles
Putting on a regal form makes you a Servant of Odium.
All servants of Odium will have a document to conspire in, where information about the Voidspren available will be provided.
Any servant of Odium may submit an action to kill a person during the night.
 

Stormform: use an action once per cycle to cancel a person’s action. Must vote every day turn.

Smokeform: use an action once per cycle to follow a person and see what action they take. Cannot make any PMs. 

Decayform: use an action each night turn to destroy a gemstone that someone has. (This action will take place after forms are acquired). Must take an action every night turn.

Mavset-Im: The Fused, and the leader of the expedition to destroy the singer rebels. With the surge of illumination, they are indifferentiable from another singer. Once per game, they may alter the eliminator kill to leave their current body, and replace any singer in the game with themselves. This kill is unblockable. When this occurs, their original body will die. However, after dying and being reborn, the Fused will become insane and will no longer be able to communicate in PMs. (as in, can be in them, but can’t say anything in them)

Generic actions (1 given action each turn)
Take spren gemstone (day)
Make a PM (lasts one cycle, can have up to 4 people in it)
Use spren gemstone (night)
Give away a gemstone
 

Lynch mechanics:
Vote during the day turn, you also have the option of voting for a “No Vote”. Person with the highest vote count will be killed. No one dies if it’s a tied vote. 


OoA day: lynch, take gemstone, give away gemstone, make a PM, loss of forms
OoA night: Elim kill, stormform, smokeform, make a PM, Use gemstone, Decay, give away gemstone, loss of forms

Quick Links

Player List 

Spoiler

To be added later


Player count: 18/30 

Edited by Elandera
update
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Reserved for rule clarifications and the like. If needed, I will add an activity filter, but I'm hoping I won't need one. 
ALSO DON'T SIGN UP IN THREAD. 
I will also make a spec doc for those who desire that. 

I just thought of a rule clarification. When a person dies, their unused gemstones will return to the village pile. Elim unused gemstones will return to their stash. 
It's time for another rule clarification. In the rules, I say villagers get priority over elims for getting gems. This is not an absolute thing, I was working out the details yesterday. Essentially villagers get a higher percent chance of getting a gem than an elim does. I have yet to 100% settle on what that percentage is, but it is higher than what an elim gets. 
Meanwhile, a roleless person gets absolute priority before people with roles. Hope that makes sense. 

Edited by Steeldancer
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As of right now, we currently have 15 players. I'd like the game to have at least 20 players, but at this rate it doesn't seem like that should be too much of an issue. Anyway, 15 players means there's only 15 spots left. Make sure you sign up (not in thread, of course) before the rest of the spots get snatched up! I will probably say something again when we hit 20 and 25, just so people are aware. Signups will still close on Monday. 

Edited by Steeldancer
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Day 1: Flight to the Mountain Pass
The small group of Singers fled before the light of Mishim faded from the sky. They had prepared some maps. Their goal was to get to the mountain pass that would lead into Alethela before the next highstorm hit. 
Thane could hardly think in dullform. Nobody really talked as they headed across the flatlands of Velhav. He missed the rhythms. But there had been no other choice in order to prevent Odium from still having a grasp on their gemhearts. But they had brought spren with them so that once the next highstorm hit, they would be able to think again. 
Thane looked at the singers around him, counting in his head. Almost 25 adults, plus their children. He frowned. Something was wrong with that. Were there that many who had agreed to go with them? 
He wasn't sure, it was hard to think, hard to remember, hard to feel. But he trudged up to Moirin, who somehow was still leading the group, even in dullform. Her wisdom seemed to pierce through even the fog of dullform. 
"Did you notice how many of us there are? I think there are more than we started with," he said slowly. He couldn't speak any faster than that. 
Moirin hummed quietly. "Indeed. There are traitors among us. They will try to turn us back."
It seemed escape was not going to be so easy. He tried to think about the situation more, but he kept losing his train of thought. He would wait to solve things until he got a form again. 
---
Abaram trudged underneath a cloak alongside the rebels. She felt a small thrill at the idea of killing them slowly, breaking their hope. How dare they try and escape Odium, after all? Odium was God. There was no escape from God. Her servants and her had already made some plans before they had taken dullform. Currently, she was using Illumination to look like just another dullform. There was no way they would notice her specifically while their brains were muddled by the lack of thought. How foolish, she thought to the Rhythm of Derision, to try to escape Odium by becoming stupid. 
---
Welcome to Rhythm of Freedom! This turn will end in about 47 hours, on 7/21/21 at 10:00 AM EDT. Please remember to only comment on the thread using your anonymous account. I know people make mistakes, and the mods will hopefully fix any of them, but I'd rather keep that to a minimum because it spoils the fun. Reminder the voting rules are Among Us styled, and I think that's about it. Have fun! (Also remember to let me know if you can't get in your account). Oh, and I forgot to remind you. Please include me in all PMs. You can create them yourselves, but I need to be able to keep track of actions. Even better, let me know when you're making a PM so it's easier. Also feel free to clean up the old PMs, because I never bothered to do that. 
Village Gemstones

Spoiler

Nimbleform Gem- 9
Workform Gem- 9
Mateform Gem- 9
Warform Gem- 3
Artform Gem- 6
Scholarform Gem- 2
Mediationform Gem-2


Player List

Spoiler

1. Amber Vulture
2. Amethyst Scorpion
3. Azure Mouse
4. Charcoal Hyena
5. Chartreuse Penguin
6. Coral Swan
7. Cream Tuatara
8. Emerald Falcon
9. Fuchsia 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. Plum Rhinoceros

 

Edited by Steeldancer
forgot the gemstones
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One of the ones on this account was 

Quote

Salutations, fellow denizen of this land of beads.
I hope you will converse with me so that we might find leads.

And I have to say, I'm quite impressed.

 

 

Talking strategy,  I think we should try to have as many of us as possible take the  Scholarform and the Mateform. 

Mateform will give us all messages that we can use throughout the game which will benefit us and Scholarform will give us more options in the late game. I believe that we will want to try and get that done before we need to so that we aren't racing the clock in the future. 

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Dullform: Standered form, nothing more to say

Mateform: Good, if a bit iffy, as you cannot vote on the person who you are in a PM with. That could lead to problems if you say, think they are a eliminator, and it will also make it harder to find eliminators because they could use the excuse of not voting on someone because they are in mateform.

Warform: Being able to tank a lynch is always a little risky so I'm nervous about that. Tanking a kill is decent though could lead to a WGG. 

Artform: Aka RP form. Mostly for asthetic, but if you like RP go right ahead.

Scholarform: Useful. Do it.

Nimbleform: Taking a aditional action could be useful but only if you really need to be able to take that action. Otherwise, meh.

Workform: Removing a vote on yourself might be nice, but also feels slightly iffy, so we'll see. 
 

Mediationform: Having a vote count as two... useful but also potentially dangerous.

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To the person that had this account before me: I did not appreciate logging in to 83 notifications because you followed the SE forum. The PMs were interesting, though. Apparently, this anon is the former Vessel of Odium.

@Steeldancer, does a used gemstone count as a gemstone for the purposes of nimbleform? If you enter mateform, take another form, and go back to mateform, do you get another PM? Do accusations have to be framed as "I accuse" for the purposes of meditationform? What counts as an action?

Mateform seems the superior initial form as its effect is permanent. Warform seems a good option to take but not use until the late game. Artform, while good for conveying information, seems somewhat useless before that point. Scholarform is quite good when gemstone reserves run low. Nimbleform is only useful when the action economy becomes scarce, which I don't see a reason for. Workform seems a bit selfish. Meditationform seems valuable, particularly since someone surviving the lynch tends to give the prosecutor tunnel vision. No roles allow for scanning of the role itself (merely the action), so I plan to act in a manner that implies the potential existence of any role in future cycles.

 

Echelon trudged along, trying to find the Rhythms. Dullform was thick and slow, and the Rhythms seemed so far away. They had brought gems, but he couldn't use one until they got far enough from Odium. There were enemies nearby. They had been followed. Nowhere was safe. Even worse, Mavset-Im could conquer a body. No one could be trusted. No one was safe. But they would be free. That was worth it. Any price was worth the chance. Even death. Especially death. In death, they would be free. In life, they would be hunted. There is always a way out.

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9 minutes ago, Chartreuse Penguin said:

Artform: Aka RP form. Mostly for asthetic, but if you like RP go right ahead.

Said as though some players on the forum won't jump on the chance to RP whether they have a role dedicated to it or not. I'm going to laugh if Ash is playing and takes Artform.

9 minutes ago, Chartreuse Penguin said:

Nimbleform: Taking a aditional action could be useful but only if you really need to be able to take that action. Otherwise, meh.

Sending a PM is an action. An additional action could be an extra PM which isn't too shabby either. Despite being an old curmudgeon, I'm generally a fan of being able to communicate.

Whoever who had this account before me used a lot of PMs, I like you already. CBA to read so deleted them aaaaaalll.

I haven't ever seen a no lynch option on this forum, but I don't want to open the 'to lynch or not to lynch' can of worms. I think I will vote today however. Plum Rhino, I choose you!

I have been informed that I am contractually obligated to RP so have at ye:

Atticus had nightmares. Bad nightmares. He trudged along with the others.

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1 hour ago, Amber Vulture said:

Hey, I enjoyed reading the old PMs! Shoutout to Plum Rhinoceros who opened one with:

I like to be concise, so allow me to be frank. 

 

Hi, my name's Frank. 

Actually, my name's Ethid. I don't much like conversing, but I'll do my best.

To be honest, I didn't as much as glance at the old PMs belonging to this account, though there were many. Maybe I'll have to do that later.

5 minutes ago, Opal Lion said:

I haven't ever seen a no lynch option on this forum, but I don't want to open the 'to lynch or not to lynch' can of worms. I think I will vote today however. Plum Rhino, I choose you!

Personally, I would like to avoid using the no exe option at all if we can. I will vote. Coral Swan was evil the last time these accounts were used, so why not give that a shot?

If there is a reason other than simple RNG for your vote, do tell. Though I'd be surprised if there was.

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Hello everyone!

Here are my initial thoughts:

The elim team is probably 5 people - 19/4 = 4.75, and a 4-person team would probably lead to a ridiculously easy village game.

Mateform seems a bit dangerous, but not dangerous enough as to completely throw the game. With 15 villagers, most of which are hopefully active *ahem*, we have more than enough votes to override most mateform restrictions.

If the elims get their hands on some of the Warform gemstones (there are only four of them, including the one hypothetically gained with Scholarform) later in the game, then that's pretty bad news for us. I doubt we need to worry about that now, but it's something to keep in mind for the future.

If you have no other form you want to take, Artform is a good one. It's just fun :P

We shouldn't take Scholarform until we have a plan for which two gemstones we want to have more of. This is a tricky decision, and one we shouldn't take lightly.

Nimbleform is useful under some very specific circumstances.

We don't want the elims getting their hands on Workform or Mediationform. Those could be dangerous.

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27 minutes ago, Chartreuse Penguin said:


Warform: Being able to tank a lynch is always a little risky so I'm nervous about that. Tanking a kill is decent though could lead to a WGG. 

Workform: Removing a vote on yourself might be nice, but also feels slightly iffy, so we'll see. 

Mediationform: Having a vote count as two... useful but also potentially dangerous.

Iffy... risky... dangerous... What do you have against empowering the good guys, Penguin? 

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9 minutes ago, Melon Dingo said:

We shouldn't take Scholarform until we have a plan for which two gemstones we want to have more of. This is a tricky decision, and one we shouldn't take lightly.

And leave the elims- who I'm sure have a very good idea which gemstones they want- to snatch them both from under our noses? I don't think so.

Edit: Those who are PM happy should be careful- making one uses an action, rendering the creator unable to take a gemstone.

Edited by Plum Rhinoceros
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24 minutes ago, Fuchsia Ostrich said:

To the person that had this account before me: I did not appreciate logging in to 83 notifications because you followed the SE forum. The PMs were interesting, though. Apparently, this anon is the former Vessel of Odium.

@Steeldancer, does a used gemstone count as a gemstone for the purposes of nimbleform? If you enter mateform, take another form, and go back to mateform, do you get another PM? Do accusations have to be framed as "I accuse" for the purposes of meditationform? What counts as an action?

Mateform seems the superior initial form as its effect is permanent. Warform seems a good option to take but not use until the late game. Artform, while good for conveying information, seems somewhat useless before that point. Scholarform is quite good when gemstone reserves run low. Nimbleform is only useful when the action economy becomes scarce, which I don't see a reason for. Workform seems a bit selfish. Meditationform seems valuable, particularly since someone surviving the lynch tends to give the prosecutor tunnel vision. No roles allow for scanning of the role itself (merely the action), so I plan to act in a manner that implies the potential existence of any role in future cycles.

 

Echelon trudged along, trying to find the Rhythms. Dullform was thick and slow, and the Rhythms seemed so far away. They had brought gems, but he couldn't use one until they got far enough from Odium. There were enemies nearby. They had been followed. Nowhere was safe. Even worse, Mavset-Im could conquer a body. No one could be trusted. No one was safe. But they would be free. That was worth it. Any price was worth the chance. Even death. Especially death. In death, they would be free. In life, they would be hunted. There is always a way out.

When a gemstone is used, it disappears, so no. 

If you get mateform a second time, you will get an additional PM. 

The "I accuse" is more of an example. Basically you just need to state that you think they're evil or something, you can't just vote them with no context. Does that make sense? 

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17 minutes ago, Chartreuse Penguin said:

I'm more concerned about them falling into elim hands?

The way you worded it seemed like you wanted to dissuade good guys from taking them by casting the gems as innately suspicious. Both you and Dingo framed them as threats, not opportunities. 

My instinct with the gems is to prioritize requesting the ones the baddies are most likely to covet first, like Warform, to keep them out of their hands and to give our side the most power ups possible. That's the best strategy, right? 

Also, our side gets priority selection, so why don't we all just pick the same gem and whoever is successful is probably good. 

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Excuse me while I read the rules for the first time now

Before I begin, just require a few rules clarifications from Steel

1. Scholarform: Are the additional gemstones absolutely required to be given away or can the user save it for later cycles to change to a form themself?

2. Decayform: will the user be targeting the type of gemstone or just a player without knowing what type of gemstone they may have?

3. Mavset-Im: will the use of this form be announced in the writeup?

4. Elim kill: the rules say any elim can submit the kill, but does the kill count as an action?

5. Scholarform again: can a player use this to research a regal form and in turn, create a brand new elim?

6. PMs last a cycle - does that entail that if I am to start a PM on a night turn, it'll end when the night turn ends? Or will it last till the end of the day turn, making it a full cycle?

I wish I'd read Rhythm of War - the flavour went right over my head

1 hour ago, Charcoal Hyena said:

Talking strategy,  I think we should try to have as many of us as possible take the  Scholarform and the Mateform. 

I agree that we should go for the Scholarform - with only two gems in that form, the elims will probably try to go for it, and it's fairly useful too. As for Mateform, I assume that your PM mate will be randomly assigned to you. If that's the case, it's possible that if two elims go for this form, they might just end up with a completely useless PM with each other. As such I assume that only one elim will be going for this form (if any at all); because of the permanent nature of this form's ability, it's perfect for long-term pocketing purposes. I'd be vary. 

What's interesting is that the village gets priority over the gemstones...it certainly makes sense given that the elims get a whole additional, cooler, set of gemstones to choose from. Nevertheless, I wonder if we can use this priority mechanism to somehow single out elims? I don't see a straightforward way of going about it though, so I'll just leave it be for now but it seemed like an interesting thought so I thought I'd mention it here. 

1 hour ago, Opal Lion said:

I have been informed that I am contractually obligated to RP so have at ye:

Wait, are you admitting to be going for Artform? :P 

There are new posts in the thread I have yet to read, but I am very afraid of the "show X new replies" button as it has previously robbed me of my unfinished posts, so I'll post this first and then read the new posts.

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11 minutes ago, Amber Vulture said:

The way you worded it seemed like you wanted to dissuade good guys from taking them by casting the gems as innately suspicious. Both you and Dingo framed them as threats, not opportunities. 

My instinct with the gems is to prioritize requesting the ones the baddies are most likely to covet first, like Warform, to keep them out of their hands and to give our side the most power ups possible. That's the best strategy, right? 

Also, our side gets priority selection, so why don't we all just pick the same gem and whoever is successful is probably good. 

Wouldn't this require revealing what form we went for, reveal who has powers and who doesn't, and require us all to actually agree on something? 

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14 minutes ago, Magenta Albatross said:

Wait, are you admitting to be going for Artform? :P 

Mate, do ye know what a pain it was to get that RP out? I'd rather cut me good arm off and type with me leftie than have to deal with bloody Artform. Thank the gods no one can force another player into a form in this game...

I might be a wee bit tired but I swear I read Amber Vulture as Araris Valerian at first and had a few moments of "Da heck do ye mean Araris is playing this game as himself?"

1 hour ago, Plum Rhinoceros said:

If there is a reason other than simple RNG for your vote, do tell. Though I'd be surprised if there was.

Dunno, I didn't eat dinner and you looked tasty I guess omnomnomnomnom

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