Long Game 87: Choose Your Own Manywar

[Kasimir he/him]

Kirilas flipped the sign on the cafe door so it read CLOSED.

Dusk was falling on T'Telir. In the distance, he could see flames. The world seemed to have gotten itself into a great hurry these days, with the Manywar raging on. Kirilas wasn't even sure he knew why they were fighting anymore. He stacked empty mugs—washed clean, and dried—and gazed at the emptiness of his cafe. The scent of baked pastries and hot tea still lingered in the air.

Inside T'Telir, they could still cling to the illusion of peace and abundance.

But prices were rising. And some of those who came to his cafe were missing limbs, wounded. And some whispered of foreign infiltrators who had come to destroy the heart of Hallendren from the inside. 

Kirilas steeped the leaves in the hot water, and inhaled the fresh scent of hot tea. A spiced night blend, with an aftertaste of berries. Meant to induce a sense of pleasant sleepiness, something to take the edge off his nerves. 

He knew her, the one they'd taken away.

He'd felt something was wrong, felt it to the marrow of his bones. He knew Elandera, had talked to her, and they'd briefly toyed with the idea of attending some of those meetings. Kirilas felt as though almost anything balanced on the knife-edge of treason these days.

He'd said as much, to the king's soldiers who had come. He wasn't a fool. This wasn't the T'Telir of his boyhood, the city of colours, of laughter. This was a grimmer, darker T'Telir, and he felt the shadow of the executioner's blade hang over his head as he answered their questions. No, he didn't know of any foreign infiltrators. Of course, as a loyal citizen, he would bring word to the king's spymaster immediately. Hadn't he always known it was his duty?

And then: Elandera.

She had been asking, ever so carefully, after some of the investigations that were happening, and something deep in Kirilas felt that something wasn't quite right, and now he wondered if the war had twisted them all, had made it so that right was wrong and wrong was right, and which was was which, he didn't know anymore.

They'd executed her, for having fallen in with the revolutionaries.

They'd toyed with it, both of them. He'd walked close to the shadow of death today, felt the executioner's sword kiss his neck and then draw back. She'd attended the meetings, the ones that you only knew about in whispers. And he had stayed home, quietly, tending to his cafe.

And she was dead, now. And he was alive. And perhaps he had played some small role in her death.

Kirilas left the cup before the empty chair at the empty table; a place for friends dead and gone, and went to sleep.

---

The cafe may be closed but my PMs are open for casual banter with anyone who would like a cup of hot tea and a pastry!

[Araris Valerian he/him]

2 hours ago, Archer said:

Hey Araris, does your wincon have to do with your voting? You seemed weirdly committed to voting Mat yesterday. 

I should be able to figure out factions/alliances based on JNV's list, but that might be a task for later. 

I'm not entirely sure what analysis I'm supposed to be doing right now, so PM me if you want to talk shop

Sort of? But I would say that I was mostly being stubborn because there wasn’t really a good reason to not vote Mat. I also might have forgotten that Breath is distributed among the people who successfully vote someone out.

[Clanky he/him]

Wow, looks like I missed a lot at the end of last cycle. Sorry I wasn't too active I shouldn't drop off for two days anymore in this game.

So Mat is claiming that the followers of edgli are purely defensive and have no contradictory win conditions with any of the known factions? It seems like it could be reasonable. I have no idea what the distribution of roles is like. If all 5 scholars are in the game and other returned then that's a lot of people available for them to complete the win condition. I would think that at least their would have to be something else to it then. Unless one of the other secret factions win conditions is to kill all returned and they have a night kill. But like, I think Kas, said, there's easy ways around that with the double lives and protection action

On 7/9/2022 at 6:34 PM, Matrim's Dice said:

When have I ever fake claimed something simple  Take my Vin claim, TUN’s QF, Ash’s honorblade LG— none of those were remotely simple. Cause it’s more fun to make it complicated  

Mat mentioned having a history of making claims in some other games. I wasn't in those games so can someone who was around for that maybe summarize/ give a bit more info about how these claims went? Were they lies to cover being an elim or what?

[Mat he/him]

6 minutes ago, Clanky said:

So Mat is claiming that the followers of edgli are purely defensive and have no contradictory win conditions with any of the known factions? It seems like it could be reasonable.

Technically I don’t know that we have no contradictory wincons with other factions but that is my working assumption. One of the reasons I think this works is that it allows us to mess with any other faction or align with any other faction, which is a pretty fun dynamic  Some level of unpredictability is good, and that’s us! :D. (But seriously, I won’t just like aimlessly float around in thread, I’ll find alliances [accepting applications from all factions; PM me] and play the game, don’t worry :P.)

9 minutes ago, Clanky said:

Mat mentioned having a history of making claims in some other games. I wasn't in those games so can someone who was around for that maybe summarize/ give a bit more info about how these claims went? Were they lies to cover being an elim or what?

I tend to claim if I don’t see another way out of a bad situation regardless of alignment, but the examples I specifically cited there where lies to cover up being an elim or otherwise.

The Vin one was a multi elim faction game where I claimed the village power role in an extremely complicated fashion, hoping to draw out the real Vin before I died. It wasn’t really intended to save me. Unfortunately my lengthy explanation was found to have flaws and Vin never claimed, and that was that.

The QF was fairly recent, and I really shouldn’t have gotten away with what I did. I was RBd submitting the elim kill and somehow convinced the thread to kill the RBer (using a lot of made-up and rather confusing explanations that slid past everyone) but then somehow didn’t die the next turn, due to more on-the-spot made-up explanations. I bet that game would be entertaining to read knowing I’m evil :P. It was the QF before the most recent one, ran by TUN. But this one I actually got away with.

The Honorblade LG was forever ago, and I was a neutral role who had to collect a specific item to win. This one I didn’t lie about alignment, just was very vague about my role and lied about the intentions behind my actions. I convinced people to do things I wanted them to do in PMs, that sort of thing. I won in this game as well.

The point of bringing this up was to basically say that e!me or whatever you think I am in the case that I’m lying wouldn’t make something up as simple as I did. It’s not in character for me at all  I think most people are past the point of assuming my faction is hostile, but I can’t really do anything about people who think I’m just hiding one small thing.

Idk if this was useful but it was fun to write about old games either way  

[Steeldancer he/him]

Uh, turn ends in 20 minutes! Or, I guess, 17 minutes but ya know

[The Unknown Medallion he/him]

1 minute ago, Steeldancer said:

Uh, turn ends in 20 minutes! Or, I guess, 17 minutes but ya know

16?

[Ashbringer he/him]

11!

[Steeldancer he/him]

Alrighty enough shenanigans, you know the drill! No PMs until the day goes up, all that. 

[Steeldancer he/him]

LG87: Day Two - The Death of a... Scholar? 
With the discovery of a new, cheaper lifeless command, the scholars were understandably excited that night. They spent the whole time they should have been sleeping poking and prodding at the body, noting that as far as they could tell, it was just as functional as a normal lifeless, which usually cost around 50 breath. 
One scholar, named Yallacero, was particularly fascinated by the lifeless, and stayed up even later than the other scholars to continue to study it. 
And so, no one was there when the lifeless killed Yallacero. It was found holding a sword over his bloody body the next morning, completely unresponsive. 
It seemed to have been given a command to kill Yallacero, and then had its security phrase changed. And no one knew who had done it. 
With the new discoveries, breath became a premium item in Hallendren. All went out to purchase as much breath as they had coin to acquire. For this "Biochromatic breath" that all people had one of could truly do amazing things when had in large enough quantities. 
~~~
Fifth Scholar died! He was a Royalist Hawk Royal, with the First Heightening. 
The Day has begun! It will end in about 47 hours, at 10 PM EDT 7/12/2022. 
Known Commands: 

Spoiler

Lifeless Creation: "Awaken to my Breath, serve my needs, live at my Command and my word. (Security phrase)." 1 breath + available dead person. Can be given 3 possible instructions and a security phrase. The instructions are Revenge (will strike back at a player that attacks the owner, destroying the lifeless in the process), Grab [item], (can be directed to a specific player + specific item to steal that awakened item. This item cannot be used without the 8th heightening. Or that player dying.) or Follow [Player], which will reveal the actions a player took that night. Lifeless cannot be roleblocked after being given instructions, but the creation/ instruction process can be roleblocked. Lifeless may be reinstructed for an action. Only those with the security phrase may use the lifeless, even after its original master dies. 
Grab [item, player]: 20 breath: allows you to grab a specified awakened item (can be identified by the command) from the targeted player. Is a one use item. 
Hold [item] - 10 breath: targets an item you have, and keeps it from being Grabbed. One time use, but item remains held until Hold item is removed.

Player List

Spoiler

1. Matrim's Dice- Samuel
2. The Unknown Novel- Dedarriel
3. HOID WANTS INSTANT NOODLES- Larinias
4. Ashbringer- Clem
5. Archer
6. The Wandering Wizard- Ormutag
7. Araris Valerian- Hadrani Pereniod
8. Fifth Scholar- Yallacero Royalist Hawk Royal
9. Kasimir- Kirilas
10. Young Bard- Linish
11. Stick
12. Xinoehp512
13. Elandera Revolutionary Citizen
14. Sart- Arthas
15. Clanky- Ancy
16. Luckspren- Lelea Pendrose
17. JNV- Kalomi

 

[Archer he/him]

Clarification question, are all five Scholars in this game? Feel free to PAFO, @Steeldancer

Royalist Royal is the best role. XD. 

This cycle is probably going to result in a hammer that isn't explained well in thread, so in the meantime, would anyone like to burn some bridges to make the targeting process easier? How about those stinky secret factions, huh :3 

[Steeldancer he/him]

Just now, Archer said:

Clarification question, are all five Scholars in this game? Feel free to PAFO, @Steeldancer

Royalist Royal is the best role. XD. 

This cycle is probably going to result in a hammer that isn't explained well in thread, so in the meantime, would anyone like to burn some bridges to make the targeting process easier? How about those stinky secret factions, huh :3 

I've already PAFO'd that question, and I'll PAFO it again. 

[Archer he/him]

2 minutes ago, Steeldancer said:

I've already PAFO'd that question, and I'll PAFO it again. 

Okay other important question, how's your leg. Did the cat gnaw through it or did you survive 

[Steeldancer he/him]

4 minutes ago, Archer said:

Okay other important question, how's your leg. Did the cat gnaw through it or did you survive 

Thanks for asking! My leg is fine, tho my arm has a large set of scratches on it that haven't healed yet. 
Someone else is taking care of it now, as I'm at the beach with my family. Thus the beach related tags I've been including on each turn. The waves were nice and big today. 

[Kasimir he/him]

Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum Fifth.

Today, the cafe on the corner of the street was closed. Their goals had never been aligned. Yallacero was too fond of this war, this chaos, this lying, this...this senseless killing, Kirilas thought. But you grieved with all your being when a brother died, and they had seen eye to eye on enough, and had fought together on battlefields long forgotten.

Today, though, Kirilas baked. And baked.

A cup of tea sat in front of an empty table. For friends gone now into the dark.

A Lifeless, they said. But Kirilas knew better. Someone like Yallacero, he wouldn't have been taken by surprise just like that. If the security phrase was changed, then they had a strong Awakener. Maybe even treachery. 

It didn't matter that he'd never approved of Yallacero's means. The way Kirilas saw it, Yallacero had been murdered by someone who wanted royals dead. Yallacero had been private about his connection to the royal family, but perhaps someone had found out. Was it an unguarded moment, when he'd let his secret slip? Surely Yallacero knew better. And yet, he was staring at incontrovertible evidence that Yallacero had been killed for who he was. Who he was descended from. 

This made it Kirilas's problem. And even if it hadn't been, Yallacero was a brother in all but blood. They thought him a coward, for hiding in his cafe. They claimed he would switch his allegiances at the drop of a hat, as long as a faction approached him with the right incentive.

Kirilas didn't care about all of that.

Yallacero was dead.

He baked, and he baked.

Sharp cookies. Edgy cookies, shaped like spikes, like sharp points of cruel hard death.

Kirilas baked, and baked, and thought of death and blood and vengeance.

The scent of freshly-baked cookies drifted through the cafe.

---

Today's menu involves vengeance cookies! PM me if you're a Royalist, and we can sort out this shabla business together  Or PM me if you want a cup of hot tea and a vengeance cookie! (Sorry, only vengeance cookies on the menu.) The cafe may be closed, but for you, I'll make an exception

[Araris Valerian he/him]

TUN

[Kasimir he/him]

TUN

[Mat he/him]

Feels like I'm missing something

[Kasimir he/him]

10 minutes ago, Matrim's Dice said:

Feels like I'm missing something

In honour of Fifth, who has joined the Force:

Spoiler

 

[Araris Valerian he/him]

14 minutes ago, Matrim's Dice said:

Feels like I'm missing something

Yeah, TUN is in my faction and claimed Infiltrator to me, since he believed my claim of Cowardly Elite and thought I would be fine jumping ship (which I wouldn't do, even if I was a CE). And Kas is my PM bro.

[Kasimir he/him]

45 minutes ago, Araris Valerian said:

Yeah, TUN is in my faction and claimed Infiltrator to me, since he believed my claim of Cowardly Elite and thought I would be fine jumping ship (which I wouldn't do, even if I was a CE). And Kas is my PM bro.

I stand with my PM bro and my Elite bro. Just because it says cowardly in the role doesn't mean we are cowards or will betray at the turn of a hat!

An Infiltrator who kills Royals is of concern to Royalists of any avian stripe. We can kill each other later on. The Infils are our biggest problem.

Solidarity with Araris.

Edited July 11, 2022 by Kasimir
Needs plurals, they won't stop at just one Royal!

[The Unknown Medallion he/him]

Here’s where things really stand. The original Hawks were Me, Fifth, Araris, and Kas. Kas is lying to you if he says he’s a Dove. The Infiltrators knew Fifth was a Royal from the Hawk doc because I am a Hawk Infiltrator. We also know that Araris and Kas are cowardly elites, so they can change factions at their leisure. Killing Fifth freed them of the obligation to stay Hawks, allowing them to join another faction so that more people could ultimately win. Unfortunately, they don't like winning it appears. But we can give them one last chance. The only people left that need to die for the game to end are the members of the Doves, and any Royals. We have received GM confirmation that the Revs and Infiltrators are not hostile factions, so they can win together. We trust that the secret factions have non-adversarial win conditions. We invite everyone to make the most mutually beneficial kill choice today, which is killing Ashbringer the Dove

[Stick. she/her]

Wow

Also the missing GM of LG31 has returned?? Hi Conquestor it's been five years

[Araris Valerian he/him]

17 minutes ago, The Unknown Novel said:

Here’s where things really stand. The original Hawks were Me, Fifth, Araris, and Kas. Kas is lying to you if he says he’s a Dove. The Infiltrators knew Fifth was a Royal from the Hawk doc because I am a Hawk Infiltrator. We also know that Araris and Kas are cowardly elites, so they can change factions at their leisure. Killing Fifth freed them of the obligation to stay Hawks, allowing them to join another faction so that more people could ultimately win. Unfortunately, they don't like winning it appears. But we can give them one last chance. The only people left that need to die for the game to end are the members of the Doves, and any Royals. We have received GM confirmation that the Revs and Infiltrators are not hostile factions, so they can win together. We trust that the secret factions have non-adversarial win conditions. We invite everyone to make the most mutually beneficial kill choice today, which is killing Ashbringer the Dove

We should definitely be putting our trust in the faction that the rules specifically call out as being functionally elims. Definitely no way that could ever go wrong for anyone.

[Kasimir he/him]

39 minutes ago, The Unknown Novel said:

Unfortunately, they don't like winning it appears.

Seems like some people think we put winning over principle, what can I say 11

You killed Fifth. We're basically going to kill you, end of.

@Doves: I've said as much to your teammates, but the point stands. The balance of this game is utterly fed and I'm not sorry to say that openly to Devo or to Steel. Yes, players have a limited perspective, I'll be happy to be proven wrong.

But look at where the balance of incentives are. Players have every incentive to go Infil-Rev-Neutrals alliance. There is no way in hell the Infils and Revs make for an uncomfortable alliance, the 'neutrals' are scared as s*it about the Elim kill, and dgaf either way, and the Hawks and Doves cannot win together. This means there is zero fing player incentive for a Hawks-Doves alliance. There's a powerful bias towards an Infil-Rev-Neutrals alliance baked into the fing DNA of this game. What the f is the counterweight to this for any fing Primary Faction?

I challenge you to show it to me. Go ahead, I'll wait.

Doves. Get this straight.

TUN approached us and asked us to jump ship and lynch @Luckspren. Guess they've changed their target right now. We said no because we have principles and we're not going to 'win' over getting rid of the damn Infil who killed our Royal.

Our best hope right here, and right now is if we join forces and lynch TUN. You have a numeric advantage over us, so that part of your wincon is locked down for the moment. You don't have to kill Infils but given that TUN basically is gunning for you guys and you can't win with the Infils or Revs, we're your current best shot at winning. We both need to keep at least one Royal alive, and we're aware of another Royal whom we are protecting as best as we can. If you sit by and let the Elims whittle down your numbers, you lose because you will surrender lynch control. Then you have nothing to stop them from lynching you with impunity - all the Infil-Rev-Neutral alliance has to do is to log in every day, lynch the next Dove or suspected Royal, and call it a day, and log out. Maybe trade some horses on the side if they feel this game is too boring for them 11

Fun game, isn't it?

How do you think you're going to win?

The only, narrow path to victory I can see right here and right now is a Dove-Hawk alliance. We can worry about our wincons later, but there is an existential threat against our factions, and together, we may have the votes we need to swing this. And if we somehow don't have the votes now, we'd never have the votes anyway, so sorry but then we're both f-ed because Fifth died and that's beyond our control.

Neutrals, I don't actually really care. If you want to put your faith in how committed the Revs and the Infils are to helping you win when any faction who hasn't fulfilled wincon is left out in the cold when a Primary Faction fulfills wincon, be my guest. I'm not gonna say I'll be sorry if you guys get left out at the end, and if you are even slightly worried this is a possible outcome, maybe you'd like to ask yourself who will help you by then. 'Cause we're gonna be too dead to care. [Edited to add: D'you think the other neutrals will care about helping you? Or will they just go "screw that, I've got mine."]

I'll note there's only a few players in this game who have a history of purposefully delaying a win and even offering to tank a lynch to win with all neutrals. Gonna also point out, if this is a bit too pointed, that Archer thought this was a bad play from Team Roshar in AG7  

A few players, I said? Well, one player offered to take a lynch to make sure we could win with all the neutrals and get the timing just right.

And that player is me.

Edited July 11, 2022 by Kasimir

[Araris Valerian he/him]

At the very least, depending on how many people are willing to vote this cycle, we can force the hand of the Infiltrators. I'm sure everyone would like to know who in their faction actually doesn't care a whit about their win condition. There's no long-term commitment here.