Anniversary Game 9/Anonymous Game 13: Rebuilding Tyrian Falls

[Devotary of Spontaneity]

Finale: Hope Prevails

“We will slay you all.”

Afandor felt his metal vials rip free, pulling painfully at his broken bones. Ignoring the pain for the moment, he pushed himself up and turned to watch what was happening.

Avil was surrounded, blood dripping down his clothing. Yet he stood strong. Wood creaked as he gripped his axe with an unnatural strength, ready to fell anyone who approached. Then he turned.

Two metal spikes jutted through what used to be his eye sockets. Avil was no longer a simple resident of Tyrian Falls. He had become a Steel Inquisitor—one of Ruin’s own puppets.

Afandor Pushed off a coin. Pain screamed through his body, but he pushed through. When he was upright, he balanced on one leg, using the scattered metal around Scimon Tlagg’s last stand to keep him stable. No matter the pain, he would not go down without more of a fight.

He only hoped Oleinda was safe.

Then he spotted her. She stood at the edges of the crowd surrounding Avil, a hardness to the way she held herself. Afandor groaned and said a silent prayer to whatever gods might listen, begging for her to be protected. To be saved.

~~~

Oleinda burned copper, hoping against hope that it was enough to protect those around her. It wasn’t much, but it was an edge they may hold if Avil could burn brass.

She had heard his voice. Heard him fighting with Afandor. And then she heard the other voices. Whispers and movements in the night. She hadn’t needed to go for help. It was already there. The people of Tyrian had finally joined together, found the final threat to their city, and had gathered against it. And she would stand with them.

So Oleinda had turned around. Returned just in time to hear Afandor fall, to hear Onidsen confront Avil. And then to hear Avil drive metal into his own body.

She shuddered as she faced him, listening to his yells. We will slay you all. It was no longer Avil. Not fully. There was something else controlling him.

And then he attacked.

~~~

Linaan was the first to react. Finally, an enemy that could be fought head-on with no concerns of innocence. With Oleinda at her back protecting her from any soothing, she dug her claws into the ground and sprung at Avil’s unprotected side, teeth poised to crush his neck.

Avil alone might have fallen, but Ruin was not so easily fooled. “You can do better than that. Release your inhibitions. Kill me.”

In one smooth motion, he pivoted around his left foot and swung his axe two-handed at Linaan. She flinched instinctively; no weapon could kill her but fear of those obsidian axes and the people who carried them had been etched deep.

She was right to dodge back, for at the last second Avil switched to a one-handed grip, the extended reach allowing him to lop off her front left paw with pewter-enhanced strength. Landing awkwardly on three legs, Linnan hissed and regrew a paw from pure muscle and fat and began to prowl around in a circle, searching for openings. Before she took more than a few steps, Avil lost interest and charged at the group of villagers who had dispersed to regain their lost metal.

~~~

Luciel was the first target, having advanced towards danger as thugs were wont to do. Avail swung his axe down for a decapitation strike only for it to lodge deep in Sidor’s upraised shield. Snarling, he wrenched the axe free, shield coming with it as Sidor abandoned her shield for a glass dagger, sliding it between Avil’s rib spikes.

The wound caused no apparent harm to Avil as he flared pewter. It drew both his and Ruin’s attention as he freed his axe from the shield and swung at Sidor with all his might. She blocked by sliding her left hand up the haft of her own axe and stepping in, trying to shove Avil backwards. Mere human strength was no match for the power of pewter, but Avil was so focused on Sidor that he didn’t notice Luciel crashing into his side. Avil stumbled, and by the time he regained his footing, Luciel was already crunching down on the pewter vial he’d snatched from Avil’s robes.

“Mighty fine trick Guy had there. You’ll have to thank him for me in the next life,” Luciel said, taking a fighting stance. “Now s’much fun as being Luciel is, I don’t reckon I was much good as sheriff. Beatin’ down unruly bar patrons? That I can do. How much pewter ya got left?”

Avail declined to answer and disengaged from the melee, turning his sights on Onidsen, WitLees, and Char Treuce, clustered together to take cover in the latter’s dwindling coppercloud. Smoking proved no protection against the enhanced ironpull that ripped through them, targeting not their vials but the very metal within their bodies.

~~~

As Avil hurtled towards their combined greater masses, axe at the ready, WitLees stepped in the way. Obsidian cleaved effortlessly through muscle and sinew and bone as WitLees fell to the ground in two pieces, bleeding not blood but Horneater White. 

“Turned out I still had a couple bottles left of the stuff! I’ve been looking to make a change recently, and going out in an explosion is a fitting sendoff to this body.”

Avil tried to avoid the spreading alcohol, but he was too slow. WitLees had already melted down to his base form and wrapped himself around his legs, holding him in place. Avail resisted, but the loss of his spare pewter vial and his untreated injuries meant he couldn’t afford to flare pewter again. Ruin let him struggle alone and slowly but surely Avil began to break free, but too late, for Char Treuce had already grabbed a torch.

“No more running. Don Quixote would stay and fight, and so shall I.” He charged right at Avil, who screamed out in desperation. Pewter was being used to keep himself standing. Brass would not pierce the coppercloud that Char Treuce still emitted. Tin could only make his onrushing death more apparent. Iron would only hasten the end. He had just managed to kick away a piece of WitLees when the torch hit Horneater White.

At the last second, WitLees stretched out his body into a semicircular cylinder, shielding Char Treuce from the full force of the explosion. He still went flying backwards, unconscious before he hit the ground. Bits and pieces of WitLees’s body scattered through the air as Avil took one staggering step forward and collapsed halfway through, body barely holding itself together. 

~~~

Both he and Ruin still had one card left to play. With Char Treuce unconscious, his coppercloud vanished and a blanket soothing once more surged through the village square, deadening the emotions of everyone outside Oleinda’s range.

Linaan was not affected as she rushed forwards to end the battle once and for all, but Ruin’s words filled her mind. 

“No matter how often you change bodies, no matter what form you take, you belong to me. I am the deepest and most essential version of you. My voice reflects your true desires, the actions you long to take, barely restrained by your facade of humanity. You WILL serve by my side, daughter. Kill them all, and become the monster you were always meant to be.”

Linaan cackled as she continued her charge, the high pitched sound forcing its way out of her mangled vocal cords. “All these centuries and you still understand nothing. You prey on my deepest fears, yet you cannot comprehend my desires. I am a monster, red in tooth and claw. I have never been human, and hate pretending to be one. None of that prevents me from caring about other people. I will oppose you for the rest of my life, no, the rest of yours. For the woman I love, for a community that accepts me, for a world not ruled by bloodline or metallic arts, where everyone is given the resources they need to live a fulfilling life.”

Speaking back to Ruin provoked no response, as always, but across the square, more movement took place. 

~~~

A flaring heat burned inside Oleinda as she burned copper. Her vials were gone, but she had a large enough store. She listened to the sounds of the fight, doing her best to stay out of the way. And then someone’s hands were on her. Oleinda screamed.

“It’s me.” Pain laced each of Afandor’s words. “This way.” Then he lifted her off the ground and pulled her to his chest.

“What are you doing?” She couldn’t keep the panic out of her voice. She couldn’t leave. Not yet.

“Keep burning. I’m getting you closer.”

“You’re hurt.”

Afandor grunted. “I’m fine. We need to finish this.”

Just out of range, Sidor and Sidor’ struggled against the blanket soothing. “Former High Prelan Ferac lauded lack of emotion as the highest virtue. [He was convinced that in its absence lay pure efficiency.] He mapped out as many details of human emotion in his test subjects as he could think of. [All in the name of an empire built on cruelty.] In all his experiments, he never considered himself as a biased observer. [His beliefs stripped of emotion, he took for truth.] His conclusions that the empire was necessary were wrong. [Not just for neglecting  the value of emotional judgements, but for considering what was best for a man the empire was made for to be what was best for everyone.] Feelings are an important tool for relating to others. [But even without emotion, we are able to care.]

With halting, jerky movements that became smoother with every step,she picked up her shield and moved into the coppercloud. From there, it was easy to direct a badly injured Afandor and Oleinda in his arms into range of Onidsen, who had paused hovering over his fallen coins, mind assaulted by waves of nothingness. He snapped to attention as the coppercloud enveloped him and reached down for the coins, but hesitated. “I don’t need these.” 

He turned to face Avil, who was trying and failing to stand up, his body too badly damaged for Ruin to control. He gazed up at the approaching form of Onidsen, the man beneath the Shard reasserting control for the last moments of his life. Onidsen embraced him, his hands looping around Avil’s neck to grab hold of the spikes that jutted from his eyes.

Selig sind die Toten

Ja, der Geist spricht, daß sie ruhen

Selig sind die Toten

He stepped backwards, pulling the iron spikes with him. The final Spiked fell to the ground, free at last.

~~~

The morning air bit at Oleinda’s exposed skin. Afandor shuffled up beside her, a strange pattern to his footsteps. Step. Thump-step. His leg had been bound and as much as she’d tried, he wouldn’t stop walking on it. At least she’d convinced him to use a crutch.

“Are you sure about this?” he asked as he stopped beside her.

“No, but Tyrian has nothing left for me.” Oleinda chewed her lip as she listened to the town come to life. It was too quiet. Too still. Even as the work began to clean up after the night’s battle, there was not enough life in the wind. But there was a hint of something else drifting through on that cold breeze.

Hope.

As the world changed around them, she knew the people of Tyrian would keep the flame of hope burning inside, flaring stronger than any metal. She wanted to be with them, rebuild with them, but no. They would have no use for her.

Afandor rested his hand on her shoulder. “Are you ready?”

She took a deep breath, trying to settle her nerves. This was her last chance. After one last brush of her fingers across the doorframe, she stepped into the street. “Yes.”

---

Thus ends another season of Sanderson Elimination! The AG is officially over, and the village succeeds again! Congratulations to all of you who helped keep the curse away.

The winners of the three Non-Sanderson Game passes for this year are:

Madagascar - Amethyst Scorpion
Kasimir - Salmon Meerkas
biplet - Azure Mouse

We want to thank each of you for participating in the Anniversary Game! We look forward to another year of Sanderson Elimination and all the future games to stab, plot against, and RP.

Player Identities:

Spoiler

1. @Amethyst Scorpion Madagascar

2. @Azure Mouse Biplet

3. @Charcoal Hyena Shining Silhouette/DrakeMarshal

4. @Chartreuse Penguin Tani

5. @Coral Swan Fifth Scholar

6. @Cream Tuatara Matrim's Dice

7. @Emerald Falcon TJ

8. @Fuchsia Ostrich JNV

9. @Indigo Weasel Steeldancer

10. @Ivory Dragonfly Szeth's Pancakes

11. @Magenta Albatross Illwei/StrikerEZ

12. @Mauve Crocodile Archer

13. @Melon Dingo Ashbringer

14. @Mint Heron Young Bard

15. @Onyx Flamingo Araris Valerian

16. @Opal Lion The Known Novel

17. @Sunburst Toucan Stick

18. @Pearl Chameleon The Wandering Wizard

19. @Plum Rhinoceros Amanuensis

20. @Saffron Iguana The Bookwyrm

21. @Sage Kangaroo Sart

22. @Salmon Meerkat Kasimir

23. @Sapphire Elephant  Haelbarde

Spreadsheet

Edited January 29, 2023 by Elandera

[Amanuensis]

Kas and Stick, you trolls

[Elandera]

Thanks to everyone for making a great game. I will get to some thoughts later, but first, a re-announcement.

As a reminder, we are looking for more players to join our team of mods! If you are interested in helping keep SE running smoothly, please message one of the current mods to let us know of your interest.

[Mat]

11 minutes ago, Amanuensis said:

Kas and Stick, you trolls

Please tell me you didn't still think Toucan was Wyrm xD

I definitely didn't think they were Stick, though. So good job there. TJ, too-- did not see that at all. Glad I guessed Shining right, though.

[StrikerEZ]

Kas. You monster. You had me convinced Swan was Seonid.

[Mat]

4 minutes ago, StrikerEZ said:

Kas. You monster. You had me convinced Swan was Seonid.

You're not alone in that, don't worry >>

[Kasimir]

9 minutes ago, StrikerEZ said:

Kas. You monster. You had me convinced Swan was Seonid.

Some Meerkats just want to watch Tyrian burn.

Or at least, to lie extensively and compulsively about the identity of pretty much every player just for kicks  

[Mat]

2 minutes ago, Kasimir said:

Some Meerkats just want to watch Tyrian burn.

Or at least, to lie extensively and compulsively about the identity of pretty much every player just for kicks  

Since when have you ever wanted Tyrian to burn xD

[Kasimir]

2 minutes ago, Matrim's Dice said:

Since when have you ever wanted Tyrian to burn xD

I channel my destructive impulses into trolling and compulsively lying to Elims rather than killing Villagers and razing Tyrian to the ground?  

[StrikerEZ]

23 minutes ago, Kasimir said:

Some Meerkats just want to watch Tyrian burn.

Or at least, to lie extensively and compulsively about the identity of pretty much every player just for kicks  

You know what. That’s perfectly valid. 

Also I forgot to mention: it’s pretty neat that I got to be Magenta Albatross again. That was my first anonymous account.

Also I haven’t even congratulated my fiancé @Biplet about getting one of the non-Sanderson passes!!

EDIT: Forgot to, you know, actually say congratulations. So congratulations babe!

Edited January 29, 2023 by StrikerEZ

[Steeldancer]

Stick I hate you  how dare you pull that on me. I was so, completely fooled. 

At least fifth was honest eventually about his identity, though I was hoping he really was Seonid. 

Edit, oh and it case it wasn't clear, I'm back! I took a break for a few months but for the foreseeable future I should be active in SE again. This game was my........ Well it wasn't triumphant but it definitely was a return. 

Edited January 29, 2023 by Steeldancer

[Biplet]

35 minutes ago, StrikerEZ said:

Also I haven’t even congratulated my fiancé @Biplet about getting one of the non-Sanderson passes!!

EDIT: Forgot to, you know, actually say congratulations. So congratulations babe!

Thanks!!! (Insert more insufferable newly engaged conversation here <3)

[|TJ|]

Kas collecting passes like - 

Spoiler

And I had Stick as one of my guesses for Toucan. But then Kas told the account was a 'he' -.-

[Kasimir]

28 minutes ago, Biplet said:

Thanks!!! (Insert more insufferable newly engaged conversation here <3)

Congrats as well!

23 minutes ago, |TJ| said:

Kas collecting passes like - 

  Reveal hidden contents

And I had Stick as one of my guesses for Toucan. But then Kas told the account was a 'he' -.-

Spoiler

 

[Stick.]

Hehe looks like I was spot on about most identifies in the elim doc table >:) 

Warning - disturbing content:

Spoiler

LG85 - Converted Elim

MR58 - Village

LG86 - Elim

QF61 - Village

LG89 - Elim

MR60 - Elim

LG90 - Village

LG91 - Elim

QF64 - Village

AG9 - Elim

My last ten non faction games ._. it has truly just been awful 

Yeah I tried extra hard to hide my identify >:) Was awake and posting at ungodly hours, RPing, not spamming the thread, not using emojis and not PMing actively. The Sunburst Toucan playstyle was a fun experiment but it didn’t really suit me, and didn’t particularly help the elim game. Probably never using this playstyle again. Glad to see it paid off though cuz no one knew who I was!  But also thanks Kas for actively trolling the dead doc xD

1 hour ago, Steeldancer said:

Stick I hate you  how dare you pull that on me. I was so, completely fooled. 

At least fifth was honest eventually about his identity, though I was hoping he really was Seonid. 

Edit, oh and it case it wasn't clear, I'm back! I took a break for a few months but for the foreseeable future I should be active in SE again. This game was my........ Well it wasn't triumphant but it definitely was a return. 

It was fun though wasnt it 

[Ashbringer]

Well, my goal this game was to not pull a Dingo again, and at least I managed that 

Despite being Dingo again. And then pinging Meerkas immediately and becoming very confused about everything.

[The Unknown Ajah]

3 hours ago, Devotary of Spontaneity said:

The winners of the three Non-Sanderson Game passes for this year are:

Madagascar - Amethyst Scorpion
Kasimir - Salmon Meerkas
biplet - Azure Mouse

Didn't we do away with Non-Sanderson passes? Aren't we just limited to every five games?

[Ashbringer]

Just now, The Known Novel said:

Didn't we do away with Non-Sanderson passes? Aren't we just limited to every five games?

You can use a Pass to bypass the five-game limit, iirc.

[Steeldancer]

26 minutes ago, _Stick_ said:

Hehe looks like I was spot on about most identifies in the elim doc table >:) 

Warning - disturbing content:

  Reveal hidden contents

LG85 - Converted Elim

MR58 - Village

LG86 - Elim

QF61 - Village

LG89 - Elim

MR60 - Elim

LG90 - Village

LG91 - Elim

QF64 - Village

AG9 - Elim

My last ten non faction games ._. it has truly just been awful 

Yeah I tried extra hard to hide my identify >:) Was awake and posting at ungodly hours, RPing, not spamming the thread, not using emojis and not PMing actively. The Sunburst Toucan playstyle was a fun experiment but it didn’t really suit me, and didn’t particularly help the elim game. Probably never using this playstyle again. Glad to see it paid off though cuz no one knew who I was!  But also thanks Kas for actively trolling the dead doc xD

It was fun though wasnt it 

If by fun, you mean I've become even more paranoid, than yes. 
I have to ask, why? What made you come up with that insane idea, and why me? You clearly didn't claim to everyone. I'm just still at a complete loss. I mean, I won't argue, it worked, but it worked because I thought it was so insane an idea that an elim would never actually do it. 

[Stick.]

2 minutes ago, Steeldancer said:

If by fun, you mean I've become even more paranoid, than yes. 
I have to ask, why? What made you come up with that insane idea, and why me? You clearly didn't claim to everyone. I'm just still at a complete loss. I mean, I won't argue, it worked, but it worked because I thought it was so insane an idea that an elim would never actually do it. 

The criteria was that it had to be someone people vaguely suspected (so that the ‘gambit’ made sense to the villagers) who also already shared a PM with me (to make the mistake look plausible). You fit the criteria  And as for the why, it was simply to gain village cred because we suspected Kas would let the network know before dying. 

[Kasimir]

45 minutes ago, _Stick_ said:

The Sunburst Toucan playstyle was a fun experiment but it didn’t really suit me,

Now you know how I felt sitting on the sidelines as the Security Officer...

[The Wandering Wizard]

13 hours ago, Kasimir said:

Some Meerkats just want to watch Tyrian burn.

Or at least, to lie extensively and compulsively about the identity of pretty much every player just for kicks  

I believed you about Swan and Flamingo. XD

And thank you Devo for the explosive dearh!

[StrikerEZ]

11 hours ago, Kasimir said:

Now you know how I felt sitting on the sidelines as the Security Officer...

Are you talking about when I made you Thief?

[Kasimir]

1 minute ago, StrikerEZ said:

Are you talking about when I made you Thief?

Sir, I was a respectable security officer doing my damnedest to stop the bloodthirsty mobs on the Survivor from murdering each other by confiscating their highly valuable and also dangerous weapons! >:( 

[StrikerEZ]

55 minutes ago, Kasimir said:

Sir, I was a respectable security officer doing my damnedest to stop the bloodthirsty mobs on the Survivor from murdering each other by confiscating their highly valuable and also dangerous weapons! >:( 

Uh huh. Totally not a dirty thief abusing his authority.