Quick Fix 66: Full River Red

[The Unknown Ajah]

Gaovaris put his hand to the metal handle. Luckily, it was shaded from the burning sun, so it was cool to the touch. He turned it and opened the door, releasing a cacophony of creaks and groans. "You really need to get that door replaced, Sergeant."

"Ah, Gaovaris, hello to you too. And I talked to a carpenter about it, he said to oil it and wait until it fell off to fix it, which I seem to recall is-"

"Exactly what you said, yes, yes, but that's not why I'm here."

Sergeant Fraotona waited expectantly. He waited some more. "...And you're here, why?"

"Some rich twerp bumped into me on the way in. Tweaked a nerve or something, and demanded a duel."

"A… duel? He challenged a guardsman to a duel?"

"I never said he was intelligent. 'The mind breeds money, but money breeds stupidity.' I came in here to tell you I'd be busy for a short time today."

"When and where is it?"

"About eight minutes from now in the practice grounds."

"OK," he said, shaking his head, "I'll see you in a bit then." The sergeant chuckled to himself as Gaovaris walked away.

He walked out the door and began the trek to the practice grounds.

Edited May 24, 2023 by The Known Novel

[Kasimir]

Warning @Son_of_Hoid for inactivity. If you do not post within this cycle, you will be removed or replaced.

[Fifth Scholar]

Rambleton, Ripling mused, had been an interesting poet. But he had known very little of poetry. He was saddened that their contest of wits would not take place as scheduled, because Ripling had ideas about poetry, borne from his training, but also from his experience of the world and his knowledge of the Emperor. And Ripling had concluded that true poetry was in order.

Free verse, such as Rambleton had practiced, might well consist of so many ramblings. But poetry was different. There was so much instability and chaos in the world surrounding them, so much that was uncertain, so many structures that were inartfully construed and so many actions hastily thrust out into the void of life. And so there was nothing poetic about “spontaneity,” nothing even truly authentic about the wild gestures of language which the modernists worshipped. It was mere conformity to the natural state, conformity to the convention of thoughtlessness and disorder which even now bore down upon the empire like a vast thundercloud. To miss the mark was normal, commonplace: for a poet to find a form, to compress his language and his thought into it, and to hit the exact patterns and stresses and rhyme it demanded, that was the rare and exceptional thing. For every sonnet and haiku and villanelle and long-form epic in blank verse to have been penned, it required ingenuity, the poet brushing past a hundred impulses to simplify, to let the language guide him instead: yet, all the greats instead chose mastery for themselves, and bent language to their will. 

Ripling sat, hands poised over the sheet of paper. He had been asked to write a simple couplet for Rambleton and Randen, but the words would not come off his pen. He instead scrawled an emendation to an earlier quote:

When beggars die, there are no comets seen,

Yet noble death may outlive noble sheen.

---

I think looking in the pool of [TJ, Devo, Alpha] might be interesting. Also, @Archer, would you like to share anything with the class?

[Archer]

53 minutes ago, Fifth Scholar said:

I think looking in the pool of [TJ, Devo, Alpha] might be interesting. Also, @Archer, would you like to share anything with the class?

At work right now, but no, no results from my end

Can everyone explain why they voted how they did? 

I voted Alpha from their sus PMing with me. I called that shot to a few people. Devo might be the only surviving one though. 

[Archer]

I believe that Alpha is village. I spent our PM pointing out the ways they were scummy sounding, and suggested they talk to Wiz as a potential PM buddy. When they did, Wiz told them the two of us were suspicious of them, which should have undermined my musing about voting Szeth or TJ in their mind. I don't see e!Alpha having enough confidence in their position that they would throw away a vote onto Fifth. The elims should have expected that they would need a three vote wagon to get Alpha through safely, or more likely, two two vote CWs to give them a 60% chance at least. Unless someone pledged to vote Fifth to Alpha, then bailed, Alpha looks village to me.

[Fifth Scholar]

1 hour ago, Archer said:

At work right now, but no, no results from my end

Can everyone explain why they voted how they did? 

I voted Alpha from their sus PMing with me. I called that shot to a few people. Devo might be the only surviving one though. 

No results. So did you try to spend your SP? You told me you would. In that case, whoever outbid Archer, care to share results? 

I voted on gut, pretty much. 

[Archer]

12 minutes ago, Fifth Scholar said:

No results. So did you try to spend your SP? You told me you would. In that case, whoever outbid Archer, care to share results? 

I voted on gut, pretty much. 

Why would I ever lie to you?  

I was aware of two bidders, Szeth among them. Hopefully the other one got the result. 

Howndo you feel about my Alpha take? What do you think about how the votes went down in general, Fifth? 

[Fifth Scholar]

3 minutes ago, Archer said:

Why would I ever lie to you?  

That’s a pretty decent question, considering the village is already at a disadvantage for coordinating how we plan to use our SP. 

I think the Elims didn’t vote together, so TJ/Devo aren’t a team. Of the three living people that landed on wagons with more than one participant, I suspect Devo the most, followed by you and then TJ. And while I’m not privy to all the PMs, I’m not discounting Alpha for his vote on me.

[Devotary of Spontaneity]

6 hours ago, Fifth Scholar said:

Also, @Archer, would you like to share anything with the class?

I think the Elims didn’t vote together, so TJ/Devo aren’t a team. Of the three living people that landed on wagons with more than one participant, I suspect Devo the most, followed by you and then TJ.

"Why only select Georg?" Right accused. "I count Jiang with full favor, with Gaovaris and Krow at one less. Any of them could have won, as could the dear departed Randen. If any of those individuals know anything they should choose to wait until more accusations can be thrown around."

"It is true that Georg and I knew we were likely not alone in our accusations. I judge it unlikely that Fletcher noticed my intentions, announced late as they were. Do you believe futility a virtue? Surely, one who truly cared for matters of guilt would ensure their suspect's death. Screaming into a void accomplishes little save confusion."

5 hours ago, Archer said:

Can everyone explain why they voted how they did? 

I voted Alpha from their sus PMing with me. I called that shot to a few people. Devo might be the only surviving one though. 

With two (presumably) loyal soldiers dead, Left and Right had to stick together. "Did Georg say anything about Mallard, my little enantiomer?" Left whispered.

"His top suspect," Right whispered back. For death, certainly, for investigation, perhaps. Why did you kill Randen?"

"Randen sought the captain's favor with no clear plans for using it," Left spoke to the crowd. "He cleared Georg for reasons said soldier could not explain, and declined to talk to me in private. He also had an accuser already, so my calling for his death had a higher chance of success."

[JNV]

Lieutenant Jiang Zhangrong did not flinch as Randen's blood hit the floor. Others did, which reflected poorly on their discipline. Or their fear. It was almost a shame. Randen had been a decent enough fellow once you got past the cards and the anger issues. Or maybe that was sentiment talking now that Randen was no longer alive to remind them of why they had disliked him. The blood was beginning to dry, Perhaps it could serve as a reminder to those who were less dedicated to the cause. Rambleton was a mildly unusual choice of kill. Not the most vocal soldier, nor one with the Captain's favor in abundance. But then again, not one to draw the eyes of the crowd. Still, it was information that could be used.

They were fortunate enough to be granted use of the Captain's ring in the moments between hours, though they would not share the information publicly to avoid the knives of the Loyalists. Perhaps in private, if any soldiers chose to approach them. Those who sought the knowledge of who had been searched would be noted for later examination. Over-eagerness was indicative, perhaps, of some dissident mission. Best to keep such information close to the chest. 

[xinoehp512]

8 hours ago, Kasimir said:

Kezin drew his sword. A single, sharp stroke, textbook-perfect. Turned his head aside from the spray of blood.

Krow watched the blood fall without flinching. He'd seen it before, too many times to count. Too many times to care anymore.

And yet he couldn't help but stare at the Imperial lidan card peeking out of the pocket of the now-perished Randen. Had it really been only an hour since Mallard and that young fool had sat down to play cards? They'd seemed so calm, so carefree, in the face of death.

He had been so young. So much life to live. And now he would never get the chance. 

Krow bowed slightly, respectfully, and turned away. With nothing to go on, the captain had been forced to grasp at straws- to execute a soldier for playing cards, of all things. It showed how desperate Discovery had become, that they were ready to spill blood for such a small infraction as that. Krow couldn't say he was surprised, exactly, but it was a sobering reminder. If they could not find the traitors, how many more would die unjustly?

13 minutes ago, JNV said:

Lieutenant Jiang Zhangrong did not flinch as Randen's blood hit the floor. Others did, which reflected poorly on their discipline. Or their fear. It was almost a shame. Randen had been a decent enough fellow once you got past the cards and the anger issues. Or maybe that was sentiment talking now that Randen was no longer alive to remind them of why they had disliked him. The blood was beginning to dry, Perhaps it could serve as a reminder to those who were less dedicated to the cause. Rambleton was a mildly unusual choice of kill. Not the most vocal soldier, nor one with the Captain's favor in abundance. But then again, not one to draw the eyes of the crowd. Still, it was information that could be used.

They were fortunate enough to be granted use of the Captain's ring in the moments between hours, though they would not share the information publicly to avoid the knives of the Loyalists. Perhaps in private, if any soldiers chose to approach them. Those who sought the knowledge of who had been searched would be noted for later examination. Over-eagerness was indicative, perhaps, of some dissident mission. Best to keep such information close to the chest. 

So he didn't find anything, Krow thought to himself. It made sense. Obviously if he'd found damning evidence, he would have said so immediately. Searching and finding nothing didn't prove as much- it was far more likely that the spies had been able to hide evidence even from the lieutenant's prying eyes than that an innocent person would have falsely incriminating evidence. Still, it was good information to know- perhaps it could help save another innocent from being executed. He'd have to speak to the Lieutenant privately.

[Archer]

48 minutes ago, Devotary of Spontaneity said:

"Why only select Georg?"

I did notice that. 

And thank you for confirming I called that Alpha shot because most of my planning was with Wiz and Szeth 

39 minutes ago, JNV said:

They were fortunate enough to be granted use of the Captain's ring in the moments between hours, though they would not share the information publicly to avoid the knives of the Loyalists. Perhaps in private, if any soldiers chose to approach them. Those who sought the knowledge of who had been searched would be noted for later examination. Over-eagerness was indicative, perhaps, of some dissident mission. Best to keep such information close to the chest. 

I appreciate you not claiming the target's identity immediately, but now aren't you a prime NK target?

20 minutes ago, xinoehp512 said:

So he didn't find anything, Krow thought to himself.

I concur. But this does raise the question of aren't the elims more likely to conceal their members as villagers than to use the Ring offensively? They have the option of straight up lying about a scan that they successfully bid on, so that has offensive potential. Meanwhile you don't need to guess which villager will be scanned if you're playing defense, and the payoffs are higher. So green scans are actually less conclusive than red ones, imo

Edit: I'll add to Fifth's with a ceremonial Devo vote 

Edited May 24, 2023 by Archer

[The Unknown Ajah]

I find it interesting that JNV has claimed success but not who he scanned, that seems counterproductive. @JNV, have you at least told people in PMs?

Gaovaris nodded at the men he passed. He knew all of them. Most of them he knew quite well. He had been a guard for a decade now, these were his friends and comrades. It comforted him that these would be the men who watched him whoop some rich fop bloody.

It wasn't far to the training grounds. He arrived after only a minute or so of walking. It had training dummies over various sizes and states of dress encircling a more open sandy arena with clear marked boundaries. That was where the duel would take place. Tradition said it would be to the first blood three out of five times. The codes of honor said, 'To the death is wasteful, to touch is childish, to blood is inaccurate, but a man cut thrice is no victor.'

Gaovaris readied himself, going through a series of stretches while lightly jogging around the perimeter of the circle. First he stretched his arms, shoulders and biceps mostly, then he rolled his neck, then he did leg kicks to stretch his hamstrings. He finished running with only a few minutes until the time he had determined for the duel. He donned some simple leather and grabbed the simple arming sword and buckler that were traditionally used in duels

[Devotary of Spontaneity]

Two soldiers joined the Svordish ambassador in death within a single hour. The investigation was proceeding far faster than Kurishina could be informed. She'd only be satisfied with a full report once the matter was satisfactorily dealt with. Even in the midst of Discovery's compound far from Heritage's power base, the consequences of displeasing her would be ... unpleasant. Wuzhi had accepted that they'd need to remain in her favor even while working for him, but his protection only extended so far. He wouldn't lift a finger to prevent her and Right from being slaughtered by his own soldiers. That was fine. She'd never really been able to count on anyone besides Right before. The two of them could circumvent any obstacle and neutralize any hostiles.

2 hours ago, Archer said:

I appreciate you not claiming the target's identity immediately, but now aren't you a prime NK target?

"Our lieutenant is not as much at extreme risk, " Right stepped in. "As one of three individuals closest to the captain's favor, it's only reasonable for them to have received the ring, but this is no guarantee of loyalty. Would you imagine a traitor pretending Randen earned the ring before his death? No, for you suggest traitors seek to conceal other traitors. Then do you suggest killing the captain's favorite would intimidate future winners into silence? Members of Wuzhi's guard should be willing to die for our victory."

[JNV]

1 hour ago, The Known Novel said:

I find it interesting that JNV has claimed success but not who he scanned, that seems counterproductive. @JNV, have you at least told people in PMs?

Lieutenant Jiang Zhangrong pivoted to face Gaovaris. "If you want to know what I know, then speak to me in private. I will be the judge of whether you deserve to know. Or do you want the only person I can trust stabbed and left to die in some dark corner of this compound?" They did not remain to hear an answer. Time slipped by, and they had little to show for it. 

As they reviewed their notes, they found themselves with mixed feelings. That duck wrangler seemed so relaxed and uncaring considering the circumstances, and the Yuen sympathizer seemed to have so many words without too much of substance. They did somewhat appreciate the farmer's approach to the situation, with questions and answers in abundance. Left and Right were trusted of the emperor, but they were traitors to one faction. They had shown nothing to provoke doubt, but it was best to be wary. Though it pained them to even think it, Ripling was... somewhat moving in the quality of his words. Though there was a lingering malcontent, their poetry was very nearly good. However, they were not in the habit of being moved by pretty words, and they would not start now.

They sighed, rubbing at their eyes. How much of their suspicion was merely instinctual bias drawn to the forefront by paranoia? How much was rational, if any? How much could they trust themself?

[The Unknown Ajah]

1 minute ago, JNV said:

Lieutenant Jiang Zhangrong pivoted to face Gaovaris. "If you want to know what I know, then speak to me in private. I will be the judge of whether you deserve to know. Or do you want the only person I can trust stabbed and left to die in some dark corner of this compound?" They did not remain to hear an answer. Time slipped by, and they had little to show for it. 

As they reviewed their notes, they found themselves with mixed feelings. That duck wrangler seemed so relaxed and uncaring considering the circumstances, and the Yuen sympathizer seemed to have so many words without too much of substance. They did somewhat appreciate the farmer's approach to the situation, with questions and answers in abundance. Left and Right were trusted of the emperor, but they were traitors to one faction. They had shown nothing to provoke doubt, but it was best to be wary. Though it pained them to even think it, Ripling was... somewhat moving in the quality of his words. Though there was a lingering malcontent, their poetry was very nearly good. However, they were not in the habit of being moved by pretty words, and they would not start now.

They sighed, rubbing at their eyes. How much of their suspicion was merely instinctual bias drawn to the forefront by paranoia? How much was rational, if any? How much could they trust themself?

I wasn't asking what you found, merely commenting on your lack of comment. Nor was I asking who you had told, merely whether you had. I assumed you did, but wished to make certain. 

He twirled the sword experimentally, then moved through a few guard stances. Yes, Gaovaris felt quite good today. 

A few moments after the time had passed, he wondered if the man would arrive at all. Maybe he was too cowardly to fight a guardsman. Or maybe he was just late. Someone, Gaovaris forgot who, had said, 'Lateness of arrival speaks of lateness of thoughts.'

He paced some more, finally, five minutes after the time he had designated in his earlier conversation, he walked back to the weapon rack. He replaced the sword, and was about to hang up the shield when he heard the voice of the merchant. 

"What do you think you're doing? I seem to recall challenging you to a duel." 

Gaovaris drew his sword back off the rack and turned to look at the man. He looked much the same, except with a new shirt and companion. Gaovaris frowned upon seeing the newcomer. 

He was a great hulking brute of a man, covered in studded leather armor with several weapons hanging in various places about his belt, back, and legs.

"This is my champion Ki. Ki, meet the guardsman who needs to look where he's going."

Gaovaris sighed. This was going to be more complicated than he had thought.

[The Unknown Ajah]

I'm posting this before I go to bed, hopefully will have time for one more tomorrow. 

Electing a champion for a duel was technically allowed, but it was rarely done. It was seen as a coward's way out, especially since duels to the death had virtually been eliminated. Apparently this man didn't fear the loss of his reputation. Gaovaris' father had once said, "fear a fearless man."

Gaovaris rolled his shoulders, then stepped into the middle of the circle. "If you are too scared to fight me yourself, I won't object, but your man needs to take off that armor only light leathers are allowed in duels." The Ki complied without looking to the merchant. Gaovaris settled into a simple guard. 

The man looked at the merchant, then walked over to stand in front of Gaovaris. He gave a grim nod, then also settled into a guard. "Count us down," Gaovaris said to the merchant. 

"One," his whiny voice said. Goodness, Gaovaris did not like that voice. "...Two," he called, stepping out of the bounds of the circle, "and… three!"

Gaovaris swung his sword forward tentatively, a cautious attack to gage his opponents skill and aggression. Ki immediately batted the sword away and attacked, lunging forward. Gaovaris was forced to dance away from the blow. His opponent was even more skilled than he had feared. This was going to be a difficult fight.

[|TJ|]

Fletcher had definitely not seen Left (or Right?)'s intention to accuse Randen. And he believed unless there was another potential member of the Yuen in trouble, then Yuen!Left/Right would not double up to stand out as one of the accusers. 

He tried to remember if there were any obvious suspected party in trouble in the first hour but none came to his mind. He recalled Randen voting on Krow but that's it. Perhaps he wasn't paying attention, but unless Left or Right are teamed up together with Krow, he was willing to believe Left/Right were village for now. Especially if they accused Randen after Fletcher had stated it publicly he would do so. (tldr - leaning mild village on Devotary)

"If someone else was heavily accused in the first hour, could any of you inform me?" he yelled at the crowd.

He remembered another important thing from his travels far and wide. 

"If the group of suspected party is quite small, then the guilty party always hides by making singular mild accusations. We need to look at players trying to fit in."

(In games with small number of players, elims usually vote in side-trains in the initial cycles. I had no idea how to phrase as RP, that's the best I could do :P) Also @Fifth Scholar here because I'm confused why he's narrowing his choices to only players in the main train.

He pondered over the remaining suspects and he wasn't really sure whom he suspected. He was busy the other day and had missed all the discussion about accusations. Of course he had a device to record all the talks in his vicinity. He would go over those later and make a decision, hopefully before the end of the hour. However, he did suspect the people who were accusing Left and Right this cycle. It would be very easy for the Yuen to stay out of the spotlight in the first hour and then accuse someone who voted to kill the removed party. 

---

Kas, I've greyed out the non-RP bits for you. 

11 hours ago, Archer said:

I voted Alpha from their sus PMing with me.

Anything particular in PMs or just gut?

10 hours ago, Archer said:

I believe that Alpha is village. I spent our PM pointing out the ways they were scummy sounding, and suggested they talk to Wiz as a potential PM buddy. When they did, Wiz told them the two of us were suspicious of them, which should have undermined my musing about voting Szeth or TJ in their mind. I don't see e!Alpha having enough confidence in their position that they would throw away a vote onto Fifth. The elims should have expected that they would need a three vote wagon to get Alpha through safely, or more likely, two two vote CWs to give them a 60% chance at least. Unless someone pledged to vote Fifth to Alpha, then bailed, Alpha looks village to me.

Reading this as village, pretty solid logic and nothing nefarious in this, especially since he's backtracking from e!Alpha. I don't believe it's the same as his distancing from Mat in the last game, different situations. Mat and Archer were already under pressure at the point and discussing with Wiz to vote on on a teammate would be a very unnecessary bus. I'm inclined to agree with the read as well, though perhaps not as strongly as Archer as I was not privy to the discussion. 

[Kasimir]

2 minutes ago, |TJ| said:

Kas, I've greyed out the non-RP bits for you. 

ilu u r best bro <3

[Archer]

6 hours ago, |TJ| said:

Anything particular in PMs or just gut?

Just some phrases. "I'm a villager," was said, which I never trust. And they were checking their PMs constantly even when they hadn't recieved responses. They claimed boredom and adrenaline from last game, I accused them of of having nervousness from being an elim currently. 

Speaking of phrasing, TJ and Devo are connected by a shared vote, but it's worth bringing up that Devo made an interesting slip in our PM. I gave them a list of players including TJ, and they said something like, "I'll put TKN on the radar." I feel like they'd subconsciously latch onto elim teammate!TJ's name and not accidentally write it as TKN. 

Still, Szeth was going for the Ring, so it was a good chance to ruin that result for us if you exe them. 

Been thinking about the kill. I don't think Wiz had max SP. They were active in PMs, they were active in thread, but it's a fairly mid presence. I considered it as a sign of e!Alpha, but I feel like you shoot me instead, it both gets rid of an Alpha voter and is more likely to ruin a Ring result. 

[Fifth Scholar]

6 hours ago, |TJ| said:

"If someone else was heavily accused in the first hour, could any of you inform me?" he yelled at the crowd.

He remembered another important thing from his travels far and wide. 

"If the group of suspected party is quite small, then the guilty party always hides by making singular mild accusations. We need to look at players trying to fit in."

Ripling looked curiously at the man who had spoken. 

“Ill might a hart, lamed, fare among the strays,

True is the heart and fair which ever stays

Unto his word and his dear ruler true;

A pack of deer the leopard never knew.”

He pivoted away, musing that he had perhaps been too idle in private conversation.

So it was the lieutenant who had received the favour of the captain. As befit such a subsidiary authority, however, he did not choose to be frank with the results of his investigation, but rather kept his thoughts to himself. Ripling saw no use in a supplication to either he or the captain—it was sufficient to know if others knew the information as well, so that it would not perish with the lieutenant were he to meet an early demise. Unlike the Emperor, the immortality of such men was not assured. Nor, he thought wryly, was their loyalty. Even those he told would have to be wary about being taken in by the insidious factions. 

As for the others, while the soldiery seemed busy, they had yet to make any significant leads. While Ripling still looked with suspicion at the ones calling themselves Left and Right, they were at least trying to marshal the guards into doing something. The same went for the old man, Gregg. He did note that Krow had accepted the lieutenant’s word quite readily, and wondered if the man had something to gain by choosing to lay low in such a manner. And, of course, several soldiers simply napped the hours away. It was distasteful behaviour, of course, but the hand of the Captain, guided by the Emperor, would sort them out soon enough. Nonetheless, he aimed a kick at a few of them, hoping for some kind of response. (@Son_of_Hoid @TheAlpha929)

[JNV]

2 minutes ago, Fifth Scholar said:

And, of course, several soldiers simply napped the hours away. It was distasteful behaviour, of course, but the hand of the Captain, guided by the Emperor, would sort them out soon enough. Nonetheless, he aimed a kick at a few of them, hoping for some kind of response. (@Son_of_Hoid @TheAlpha929)

"I find it somewhat noteworthy that Mallard immediately solicited me for the information I gained with the use of the signet ring, as though they had been avidly paying attention to the goings-on, but made no effort to announce their presence or offer thoughts." The Lieutenant frowned, studying the sleeping body of the new recruit. "Ultimately, we cannot gather information about someone who appears to be in a coma. Let the Captain take care of him." Mallard's non-presence was rather strange considering the threat to their life in the hour before. Simple disappearance from fear, or something much more sinister?

Zhangrong glanced over their notes, written in a private cipher. The conversations of the previous hour, private meetings, and their own thoughts piled together to drive men to madness. They had some suspicions and some trusts, but they knew themself well enough to recognize that those opinions were built on an unsteady foundation. An instinctive distaste for ducks, a slight fondness for a specific variety of poetry, appreciation of those who took charge. None of those traits were inherent to either side, but it was what they thought, and fighting belief was like fighting the tide. They would push forward, for good or for ill.

[The Paradoxical Phenomenon]

4 minutes ago, JNV said:

"I find it somewhat noteworthy that Mallard immediately solicited me for the information I gained with the use of the signet ring, as though they had been avidly paying attention to the goings-on, but made no effort to announce their presence or offer thoughts." The Lieutenant frowned, studying the sleeping body of the new recruit. "Ultimately, we cannot gather information about someone who appears to be in a coma. Let the Captain take care of him." Mallard's non-presence was rather strange considering the threat to their life in the hour before. Simple disappearance from fear, or something much more sinister?

Well, I have been “avidly paying attention to the goings-on,” because I’ve been more active in PMs, where I don’t really feel bad for not RPing. I’m sorry to everyone who does, but I strongly dislike RPing for some reason. I’m going to try to be more active in the thread, and I’m going to try to do some more RP, but I’m struggling to get fully invested in the game. That’s probably because it’s only Cycle 2.

4 minutes ago, JNV said:

Zhangrong glanced over their notes, written in a private cipher. The conversations of the previous hour, private meetings, and their own thoughts piled together to drive men to madness. They had some suspicions and some trusts, but they knew themself well enough to recognize that those opinions were built on an unsteady foundation. An instinctive distaste for ducks, a slight fondness for a specific variety of poetry, appreciation of those who took charge. None of those traits were inherent to either side, but it was what they thought, and fighting belief was like fighting the tide. They would push forward, for good or for ill.

I too have “an instinctive distaste for ducks,” why else do you think I spent the better part of my life beating them up? I, instead of speaking like a duck wrangler is beneath me, decided to get my hands dirty for once in my worthless life and do something about it. [that was my character (who can apparently read minds) speaking. @everyone is there any good reason that y’all are sus of me beyond 1) I’ve not been super active or helpful yet, or 2) Archer said I was sus in the PM? I honestly can’t remember why I thought it would be a good idea to say “I’m a villager,” but I did so…]

[JNV]

49 minutes ago, TheAlpha929 said:

@everyone is there any good reason that y’all are sus of me beyond 1) I’ve not been super active or helpful yet, or 2) Archer said I was sus in the PM? I honestly can’t remember why I thought it would be a good idea to say “I’m a villager,” but I did so…

"Mallard, you ask why anyone would be suspicious of you while listing the reasons why people are rightfully suspicious of you. Your lack of fervor for the empire is in and of itself a concern, even if you are not a traitor. How are we to distinguish the truly wicked from those who simply do not care if you give us nothing to distinguish yourself? Your motives and beliefs are opaque." Lieutenant Jiang Zhangrong sighed. "Furthermore, your obsession with seeming like a true Discovery Soldier in the eyes of others rather than wanting to be a true Discovery Soldier in your own heart is disconcerting at best."

Zhangrong quietly wished that they could linger at the fringes until the hour concluded, but they had to be present enough to earn the Captain's favor. They'd already used up their goodwill in the first hour, and they would need all the goodwill they could muster as the night went on. To be second was to be scrutinized by friend and foe alike. There was still time, but little of it, and treachery like a noose strangled the good and the wicked. In the end, when weighed against the empire, every soldier was expendable. Even the second.

[The Paradoxical Phenomenon]

14 minutes ago, JNV said:

"Mallard, you ask why anyone would be suspicious of you while listing the reasons why people are rightfully suspicious of you. Your lack of fervor for the empire is in and of itself a concern, even if you are not a traitor. How are we to distinguish the truly wicked from those who simply do not care if you give us nothing to distinguish yourself? Your motives and beliefs are opaque." Lieutenant Jiang Zhangrong sighed. "Furthermore, your obsession with seeming like a true Discovery Soldier in the eyes of others rather than wanting to be a true Discovery Soldier in your own heart is disconcerting at best."

Zhangrong quietly wished that they could linger at the fringes until the hour concluded, but they had to be present enough to earn the Captain's favor. They'd already used up their goodwill in the first hour, and they would need all the goodwill they could muster as the night went on. To be second was to be scrutinized by friend and foe alike. There was still time, but little of it, and treachery like a noose strangled the good and the wicked. In the end, when weighed against the empire, every soldier was expendable. Even the second.

The snotty lieutenant was beginning to get on Mallard’s nerves. “Who’s to say you are true Discovery Soldier? You could be traitor scum just as easily as I!” Mallard was tired of people thinking she didn’t want to help. She had thoughts that she just didn’t know how to phrase. Everyone else in the group made her skin crawl. Except for Randen. He was dead now. Dead, killed right beside her, blood spilled onto her clothes. She had knelt there, done nothing.

“You got the captain’s Signet,” she said, “yet you won’t reveal the information publicly. You play kiss-up to the captain, you’re the perfect soldier, that rarely shows emotion. What are you hiding, lieutenant?”

Mallard understood that her words, in the end, would get her killed. But she didn’t give a duck anymore. She had brushed with death, and she would do it again, no doubt. One day, she thought, I’ll be killed, and they’ll know me for what I am. A useless waste of blood. When they killed her they’d regret it. I will make them.

Randen… Rambleton… we will avenge you. I promise. Even if I lose my life in the process, we will find the traitors, and make them pay. But first, I will make them scream.

Perhaps, one day, I’ll finally be able to get them to regret ruining the lives of so many…