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Long Game 98: A Tale of Mists and Metals


Araris Valerian

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Just now, Kasimir said:

"And you, sir, are hostile to an honest businessman seeking to make his way in the world!" Karis shot back.

"MEAT PIES! ONLY THE BEST, MOST DELECTABLE MEAT PIES, DELICIOUS FRIENDS! PAY NO HEED TO THOSE WHO SLANDER THE JUICIEST, FLAKIEST MEAT PIES DROWNED IN A GENEROUS DOLLOP OF PEA SOUP! YOUR TICKET TO THE DAYS BEFORE THE DEEPNESS! MEAT PIES! GET YOURS TODAY, AND AT THESE PRICES? I'M CUTTING ME OWN THROAT!"

"Having a clearance sale?" He sighed, "I am not trying to shut down your business, but if you want it to continue, then we should probably stop the spiked."

Just now, Sart said:

Wendawa, please, stop your flapping! We are men, not birds! We cannot simply fly away from this trouble. We must act swiftly and decisively, if we are to have a chance at overcoming these Spiked.

Now then, I believe everyone but Jorrick @JNV has arrived here. I believe he was working on the construction site, which means Scarlet Octopus, @Aeoryi should have been the last to see them. What do you have to say for yourself?

"They are known for not being around very often. And besides, there are many people at a construction site. I don't exactly remember seeing him, but he isn't dead probably. We would know if that was the case."

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6 minutes ago, Sart said:

Wendawa, please, stop your flapping! We are men, not birds! We cannot simply fly away from this trouble. We must act swiftly and decisively, if we are to have a chance at overcoming these Spiked.

Now then, I believe everyone but Jorrick @JNV has arrived here. I believe he was working on the construction site, which means Scarlet Octopus, @Aeoryi should have been the last to see them. What do you have to say for yourself?

Something about Sirta's manner unsettled Karis.

There were legends of something called the Contribution Crusade. Karis supposed it was how people dealt with the Deepness in other parts. Still, there was something to it. Perhaps he was being jumpy, but for all Sirta talked about acting swiftly and decisively, he also seemed to do so carelessly. He'd thought that was something you could tell, in another, particularly of Sirta's profile. A small tell. A small sign of guilt, if you willed.

Was there genuine effort to find the Spiked? Or was Sirta simply looking for an easy mark?

Karis knew all about easy marks.

"GET YOUR MEAT PIES HERE, DELECTABLE MEAT PIES!" he called out again.

Edited to add:

To be sure, Violet was swift to counteraccuse Wendawa. It could be a sign of someone unused to the business of skulduggery, someone who'd failed to hold her nerve. Karis figured that wouldn't be uncharacteristic, if Violet were Spiked. Still, Violet could simply just be...raw. Another one he would keep an eye on.

Spiked were bad for the business of meat pies. Too much murder ruined people's appetites.

Edited by Kasimir
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6 minutes ago, Kasimir said:

Something about Sirta's manner unsettled Karis.

There were legends of something called the Contribution Crusade. Karis supposed it was how people dealt with the Deepness in other parts. Still, there was something to it. Perhaps he was being jumpy, but for all Sirta talked about acting swiftly and decisively, he also seemed to do so carelessly. He'd thought that was something you could tell, in another, particularly of Sirta's profile. A small tell. A small sign of guilt, if you willed.

Was there genuine effort to find the Spiked? Or was Sirta simply looking for an easy mark?

Karis knew all about easy marks.

"GET YOUR MEAT PIES HERE, DELECTABLE MEAT PIES!" he called out again.

Edited to add:

To be sure, Violet was swift to counteraccuse Wendawa. It could be a sign of someone unused to the business of skulduggery, someone who'd failed to hold her nerve. Karis figured that wouldn't be uncharacteristic, if Violet were Spiked. Still, Violet could simply just be...raw. Another one he would keep an eye on.

Spiked were bad for the business of meat pies. Too much murder ruined people's appetites.

"For how much do your pies cost, good sir?"

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3 minutes ago, Aeoryi said:

"Having a clearance sale?" He sighed, "I am not trying to shut down your business, but if you want it to continue, then we should probably stop the spiked."

"They are known for not being around very often. And besides, there are many people at a construction site. I don't exactly remember seeing him, but he isn't dead probably. We would know if that was the case."

"Gah! The man's a recluse?" That would make him easy prey for the Spiked, or worse, he could be one of them skulking in the night.
"Send a search party after him! If he's alive, we need an account of his movements. In the worst case, we'll find his corpse."

1 minute ago, Kasimir said:

Something about Sirta's manner unsettled Karis.

There were legends of something called the Contribution Crusade. Karis supposed it was how people dealt with the Deepness in other parts. Still, there was something to it. Perhaps he was being jumpy, but for all Sirta talked about acting swiftly and decisively, he also seemed to do so carelessly. He'd thought that was something you could tell, in another, particularly of Sirta's profile. A small tell. A small sign of guilt, if you willed.

Was there genuine effort to find the Spiked? Or was Sirta simply looking for an easy mark?

Karis knew all about easy marks.

"GET YOUR MEAT PIES HERE, DELECTABLE MEAT PIES!" he called out again.

Sirta turned towards his accuser. "Did you not see what Octopus was doing? He was sitting around, waiting for someone else to solve his problems. Gentlemen, we do not have that luxury. We are only seven strong, eight if Jorrick is found. We must have everyone actively participating, or we will be doomed. There can be no weak links among us. I have no fear that you will be participating, with your boisterous voice and aggressive opinions. I worry more about those who keep to the shadows, and let others debate themselves to death."

"To that end. REVIR! @Ravenclawjedi42 I see you skulking in the shadows! If you try to leave us high and dry after stealing our coin, you'll be the one on the gallows."

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20 minutes ago, Sart said:

Sirta turned towards his accuser. "Did you not see what Octopus was doing? He was sitting around, waiting for someone else to solve his problems. Gentlemen, we do not have that luxury. We are only seven strong, eight if Jorrick is found. We must have everyone actively participating, or we will be doomed. There can be no weak links among us. I have no fear that you will be participating, with your boisterous voice and aggressive opinions. I worry more about those who keep to the shadows, and let others debate themselves to death."

"Sirta," Karis said, darkly. "I know you. I am watching you. When those such as you turn to Darkness, you seek easy marks. You constantly move your accusations, waiting for someone to show up and speak, and that is sufficient for you. You do not care for Copper's Bend. You care only to look busy. You make accusations but they are the froth of whipped soup rather than the BEST PEA SOUP THIS SIDE OF THE SELLEN! What has Octopus said that is worthy of your retraction here? Nothing." He spat on the grass to the side. "I know a conman when I see one. I watch you, until someone ends me."

There were rumours this was exactly how Sirta behaved when his heart knew Evil. Karis did not doubt them.

Edited to add:

Seriously. What had Sirta done?

Octopus had accused Karis. Which Karis thought was plain unfair, speaking of which—"Three clips for the BEST MEAT PIES YOU'VE EVER HAD!" he cried out, and returned to the problem at hand.

Minutes after Octopus had accused Karis, Sirta struck.

Now, Karis could understand a genuine mistake. Somedays, he mistook meat pies for mince pies, which contained -99% less meat, even though some of his customers, Jahidi have mercy on their souls, seemed to prefer them.

And yet:

If Octopus had himself accused Karis, and was present, then what, for the love of Jahidi, were Sirta's accusations supposed to mean?

22 minutes ago, Sart said:

Sirta turned towards his accuser. "Did you not see what Octopus was doing? He was sitting around, waiting for someone else to solve his problems. Gentlemen, we do not have that luxury. We are only seven strong, eight if Jorrick is found. We must have everyone actively participating, or we will be doomed. There can be no weak links among us. I have no fear that you will be participating, with your boisterous voice and aggressive opinions. I worry more about those who keep to the shadows, and let others debate themselves to death."

There was no reasonable definition by which Octopus was keeping to the shadows. Karis suspected a ploy. Sirta's accusations seemed insincere, meant to keep up the pretence of business. The real question: was Sirta trying to distance from Octopus here?

"GET YOUR MEAT PIES HERE! DELECTABLE MEAT PIES, SMOTHERED IN THE THICKEST PEA SOUP TO EVER GRACE YOUR PLATE!"

Edited by Kasimir
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1 hour ago, Violet said:

"Hi. Why are you accusing me so quickly? Violent and Violet are very different, just so you know. Has The Deepness gotten into your mind so quickly? Wendawa?"

"When I point at you, three fingers point back. Plus yours makes four, which is a lot of pressure to bare. Bear? Barely any thought, I like you, Violet." 

1 hour ago, TheRavenHasLanded said:

revir is quiet.

"You're allowed to be loud. I like you too. A Spiked would be quite quiter." 

1 hour ago, Sart said:

Wendawa, please, stop your flapping! We are men, not birds! We cannot simply fly away from this trouble. We must act swiftly and decisively, if we are to have a chance at overcoming these Spiked.

Now then, I believe everyone but Jorrick @JNV has arrived here. I believe he was working on the construction site, which means Scarlet Octopus, @Aeoryi should have been the last to see them. What do you have to say for yourself?

"Some among us can fly, but clearly not me. All of us will die, perhaps starting with you? Looking so soon to see what's not there isn't searching for what is. What is this, Sirta?" 

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24 minutes ago, Archer said:

"When I point at you, three fingers point back. Plus yours makes four, which is a lot of pressure to bare. Bear? Barely any thought, I like you, Violet." 

"You're allowed to be loud. I like you too. A Spiked would be quite quiter." 

"Some among us can fly, but clearly not me. All of us will die, perhaps starting with you? Looking so soon to see what's not there isn't searching for what is. What is this, Sirta?" 

"being loud gives away my positions. im a theif"

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Jorrick moved their door back and forth slowly, listening to the hinges creak. Under ordinary circumstances, they would put some oil in there to stop the annoying screeching every time they entered or exited their home. Under these circumstances... It certainly couldn't hurt to have an extra warning system, especially when metal shipments had run dry. Couldn't rely on your neighbor to protect you when they were hoarding their metals for their own life, and couldn't blame them either. Mists knew Jorrick was doing the same with high-quality wood. 

Ah. They had missed the start of the mayor's announcement while staring at their door. They rushed off to the town square, arriving just in time to see Mayor Arwhin leaving. A shame. They'd wanted to discuss the details of the mayor's new rocking chair after the old one fell victim to The Incident. Still, they should probably discuss the unfortunate matter with the rest of the townsfolk. 

Somehow, despite living in this town for many years, they could barely put any name to a face. Or was it face to a name? Regardless, all they could see was a mob of people shouting things at each other. Revir was whispering with Scarlet, which had been outlawed recently after a series of tragic and hilarious misunderstandings stemming from the use of whispering resulted in The Incident. They should take care to avoid such behavior lest the mayor take action. The rest of them... 

The town featured many eccentric people, which was good for business but bad for identifying what behavior was a product of eccentricity and what behavior was a product of the dread power of Ruin. So many of these people could be playing up their personalities to make otherwise noteworthy behavior seem ordinary. They cleared their throat and stepped forward. "Listen, we'll never get anything done with all this racket. If anyone wishes to speak privately, I'd be happy to do so. Or if anyone wants to buy some woodwork. Business stops for nothing, as I'm sure the fellow with the pie cart can understand. By the way, I was not at the construction site, Sirta. I am a craftsman and an artisan, not a common laborer, and you would do well to remember that considering how many times I've had to fix the counter at the tavern after you emphatically stab it with a knife." 

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Karis scrawled down in his ledger. He winced internally, prayed to CLINK the goddess of coins for forgiveness, and then found a fresh page that wasn't full of transactions and accounts to add:

Quote

Wendawa / Sirta - Not S/S?
Octopus / Sirta - S/S?

Revir wasn't adding to those who were yelling accusations. Karis'd checked his cart all the same, just in case. The headless dead rat was still exactly where it was supposed to be. More importantly, so were his earnings.

He wasn't minded to be too harsh on Revir for it. But Revir did bear watching.

There was everyone else, of course, who'd blended in. The point wasn't to just yell any name, and see what Arwhin made of it, though for all Karis knew, Arwin enjoyed stabbing people for no particular reason and leaving the knife in. No, the way Karis saw it, the point was to bake all these ingredients into a DELECTABLE meat pie, and sell in CLINK's worship.

(Though Karis, it must be said, was religious only in the way a businessman was.)

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50 minutes ago, Ravenclawjedi42 said:

“I still wish that Revir would say more,” Dasenk said. “He is a thief, yet, he seems suspicious even for one. And openly stating his career while not responding to my allegations…I’m quite suspicious of this man.”

"i dont have anything to say in my defense, other than im a man put under desperate circumstances forced to break the law to keep myself alive."

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Wendawa was having trouble telling Revir and Dasenk apart. You wouldn't think their names were very similar, but Wendawa had never learned to spell. 

"Revir picked me for a pocket picking!" 

14 hours ago, TheRavenHasLanded said:

revir is quiet.

Yet Wendawa trusted them. Surely a true thief would have felt the need to be completely silent, or to blend in with some accusations of their own. They were in the murky middle. 

Their eyes flashed white, struck by a sudden vision. They saw Sirta, in alternate realities, crusading through crowds, pointing a knife at the shadows. Always the shadows, pressuring them to come to the light. They'd done the same today, but they didn't back it up with a real threat. 

"Their heart's not in it. Otherwise they'd have threatened Jorrick." Wendawa blinked. "Two black birds throwing stones, soon baked in a pie! Buh bye!" 

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At this current point in time, with just eight of them doing the asking, Karis reckoned that one way or another, if you made some key worst-case assumptions:

Quote

(1) 8 - 2
(2) 6 - 2
(3) 4 - 2
(4) 2 - 2

Assume everyone was just a regular person. None of those weird metal powers, which really unnerved Karis. Jahidi of the Grain was good enough for his pa, and he revered CLINK! the goddess of coin, who rapidly became KRONK!, the same sound made when you batted an aggressive customer over the head with a soup pan when they were being obnoxious. The goddess of coin had two faces, and her worshippers knew this.

Jahidi and CLINK! were known factors. These metals...were not. Karis didn't like them.

Anyway, they were doomed in four days, or by the fourth night, either way you sliced it. But this was conservative: it didn't reckon about what one did in the case of anyone who could take a hit, or stop the Spiked from killing. And what with certain talk lately about how the Sacred Numbers fell, maybe Wendarr just had a single partner. Karis didn't know, though. He reckoned if there was just one Spiked, the Spiked were probably jacked, as though they ate twenty meat pies in pea soup daily.

Way Karis saw it, maybe they had some protection on their side. One of those fancy metal people who pulled sharp stabby things away from nasty night attackers. Maybe one of those people who huffed pewter or whatever they called it, and then could shrug off an actual charge from a legionnaire from the fiery Western Empire. Thugs, he figured they called them. Better sounding name than Lurchers, anyhow.

They'd at least one of those Tineyes. Messages were being sent and delivered. Karis reckoned he should work on fliers advertising his meat pies, try to expand his business outreach. The best, most delicious meat pies this side of the Sellen, dunked in wholesome soup to remind you of your grandma.

Still, would be too much to expect if they had a Coinshot and a Seeker. Seemed to cut it really tight. If they existed, probably one of them were Spiked. Karis didn't rightly know. Figured this was the sort of thing you said now to hear what others had to think, because no one was doing much other than the suspicion pointy triangle finger, and it was the sort of thing you said and hoped for the best days later when all was revealed and you still had to stand on your feet and fight the Spiked.

No matter how everything looked like mudpies all the way down.

Edited to add:

Quote

(1) 8 - 2
(2) 6 - 2
(3) 4 - 2
(4) 2 - 2

Karis crossed out the numbers. Figured he shouldn't have taken Arwhin up on the offer of berry wine. Bother.

Quote

(1) 6 - 2
(2) 4 - 2
(3) 2 - 2

Three steps to being bloody out of business. Made the case for a Lurcher or a Thug more urgent, and Karis figured they'd probably be alright rather than Spiked. Still, he never wanted to make sweeping claims this early. Just offer food for thought.

Edited by Kasimir
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2 minutes ago, TheRavenHasLanded said:

revir sighs. no conclusions yet. accusing this early is wrong, and i dont have enough evidence. and people believe me to be dishonest, as i am in fact a thief... 

This man needs to learn how to wrap his true thoughts in his words

 

6 minutes ago, Kasimir said:

At this current point in time, with just eight of them doing the asking, Karis reckoned that one way or another, if you made some key worst-case assumptions:

Assume everyone was just a regular person. None of those weird metal powers, which really unnerved Karis. Jahidi of the Grain was good enough for his pa, and he revered CLINK! the goddess of coin, who rapidly became KRONK!, the same sound made when you batted an aggressive customer over the head with a soup pan when they were being obnoxious. The goddess of coin had two faces, and her worshippers knew this.

Jahidi and CLINK! were known factors. These metals...were not. Karis didn't like them.

Anyway, they were doomed in four days, or by the fourth night, either way you sliced it. But this was conservative: it didn't reckon about what one did in the case of anyone who could take a hit, or stop the Spiked from killing. And what with certain talk lately about how the Sacred Numbers fell, maybe Wendarr just had a single partner. Karis didn't know, though. He reckoned if there was just one Spiked, the Spiked were probably jacked, as though they ate twenty meat pies in pea soup daily.

Way Karis saw it, maybe they had some protection on their side. One of those fancy metal people who pulled sharp stabby things away from nasty night attackers. Maybe one of those people who huffed pewter or whatever they called it, and then could shrug off an actual charge from a legionnaire from the fiery Western Empire. Thugs, he figured they called them. Better sounding name than Lurchers, anyhow.

They'd at least one of those Tineyes. Messages were being sent and delivered. Karis reckoned he should work on fliers advertising his meat pies, try to expand his business outreach. The best, most delicious meat pies this side of the Sellen, dunked in wholesome soup to remind you of your grandma.

Still, would be too much to expect if they had a Coinshot and a Seeker. Seemed to cut it really tight. If they existed, probably one of them were Spiked. Karis didn't rightly know. Figured this was the sort of thing you said now to hear what others had to think, because no one was doing much other than the suspicion pointy triangle finger, and it was the sort of thing you said and hoped for the best days later when all was revealed and you still had to stand on your feet and fight the Spiked.

No matter how everything looked like mudpies all the way down.

Edited to add:

Karis crossed out the numbers. Figured he shouldn't have taken Arwhin up on the offer of berry wine. Bother.

Three steps to being bloody out of business. Made the case for a Lurcher or a Thug more urgent, and Karis figured they'd probably be alright rather than Spiked. Still, he never wanted to make sweeping claims this early. Just offer food for thought.

"The problem with Sirta and I both being spiked is that if we wanted to separate, we would mutually do it, rather than just Sirta. Rumor has it that Scarlet is really good at distancing in other games, whatever that means."

5 hours ago, Kasimir said:

Karis scrawled down in his ledger. He winced internally, prayed to CLINK the goddess of coins for forgiveness, and then found a fresh page that wasn't full of transactions and accounts to add:

Revir wasn't adding to those who were yelling accusations. Karis'd checked his cart all the same, just in case. The headless dead rat was still exactly where it was supposed to be. More importantly, so were his earnings.

He wasn't minded to be too harsh on Revir for it. But Revir did bear watching.

There was everyone else, of course, who'd blended in. The point wasn't to just yell any name, and see what Arwhin made of it, though for all Karis knew, Arwin enjoyed stabbing people for no particular reason and leaving the knife in. No, the way Karis saw it, the point was to bake all these ingredients into a DELECTABLE meat pie, and sell in CLINK's worship.

(Though Karis, it must be said, was religious only in the way a businessman was.)

 

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2 minutes ago, Aeoryi said:

"The problem with Sirta and I both being spiked is that if we wanted to separate, we would mutually do it, rather than just Sirta. Rumor has it that Scarlet is really good at distancing in other games, whatever that means."

Karis didn't find this claim convincing, just because it could be parlayed into a claim of greater distancing. You didn't change your spots. Applying sliding scale of doubt tactics sat in the same comfortable territory, the way the same burglar always took a dump outside Govan's house back in Kordel before stealing his finest homebrew. The way thieves always broke in the same way.

Edited to add: By lockpick, by crowbar. You had to make an effort to change your MO. The way he thought about it, styles of defending were less likely to change.

Edited by Kasimir
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revir was thinking along the same thoughts. but he still wasnt sure. this was life and death. if we were to win, we must start working carefully and look for clues where things are hidden. just like looking for traps. but almost better. he pickpockets a passerby by habit and walks off.

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12 minutes ago, Kasimir said:

Karis didn't find this claim convincing, just because it could be parlayed into a claim of greater distancing. You didn't change your spots. Applying sliding scale of doubt tactics sat in the same comfortable territory, the way the same burglar always took a dump outside Govan's house back in Kordel before stealing his finest homebrew. The way thieves always broke in the same way.

Scarlet personally thought that Karis was trying to grasp at straws.

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9 minutes ago, Aeoryi said:

Scarlet personally thought that Karis was trying to grasp at straws.

To put this terribly plainly, Karis scribbled it all down:

Quote

Scarlet seeks to invoke other lives as a defense of his wonderful distancing powers.

This doesn't work on two levels. First, Scarlet argues he would have argued extensively with Sirta had they been teammates seeking to distance. Arguing that you would have carried out a strategy a different way is going to cut thin ice if you yourself argue that you model your Spiked strategies after another Spiked.

Quote

I mean people are just going to vote me since E!aeo and v!aeo are so similar. I tried to make my playstyle different this game but unfortunately my normal playstyle just shines through which is better anyway

Yeah i was trying to copy someone from MR56 something the one TJ ran  who? 👀

Uhhh a player called Illwei I know Illwei yes, our playstyles clashed so this checks out 👀 👀 Illwei was really good though

Second, Scarlet argues he would distance better. Is this remotely true?

We can argue, if we appeal to past lives, that Scarlet had non-antagonistic interactions extensively with one known in dreams as Shay. But at the same time, Scarlet also bear-hugged the one known in dreams as Orotha. Scarlet's persistent tactics, as noted in correspondence, was to systematically defend Orotha by undermining attacks on Orotha, stating there was insufficient grounds of suspicion on Orotha based on kill MO. This sets an arbitrarily high standard of evidence for Orotha's guilt, even as Scarlet sought to perpetrate attacks on others, such as Death-daughter-Time.

This is a persistent strategy of defense. Arguing that Scarlet would only ever defend in the manner he did with Shay is bad faith and a poor argument. Dismissing attacks on him as reaching also demonstrates poor grasp of how he behaves as Spiked. Keep in mind this defense already fails on the first level because it insists you will do the same thing, and if you are known to change up your MO, then just as this attack cannot work, so too can you not help yourself to the defense you haven't behaved in this way before.

In conclusion, I would probably argue for a vote on Scarlet depending on how you read Scarlet's not-defense on Sirta, but I actually think it's more a connection defense, if anything, so between them, I'd rather accuse Sirta at this point.

He called bull fertiliser.

Edited to add:

Karis didn't think this needed explicit pointing out as another standard of evidence defense.

Edited by Kasimir
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35 minutes ago, Kasimir said:

To put this terribly plainly, Karis scribbled it all down:

He called bull fertiliser.

Edited to add:

Karis didn't think this needed explicit pointing out as another standard of evidence defense.

Scarlet had indeed forgotten that he'd left his vote on Jorrick. Unfortunately, while Karis had some good points, it would also be noted that in that past life, he had been fairly Village read and could afford to make things like that without seeming too suspicious. This game, it would seem as if it would be foolhardy to simply claim it wasn't distancing at such an early phase.

The terms of the vote in Scarlet's opinion wrote clearly, "Vote for who you want to die." Scarlet hadn't wanted anyone to die yet. 

Edited by Aeoryi
Changed Rules -> terms of the vote in Scarlet's opinion
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Violet didn't like what was going on. "Why are all the accusations flying onto Sirta? When have we allowed him to defend himself?" 

She wasn't going to attack anyone who couldn't defend themselves. To easy prey, for both normal and for spiked.

"I will still keep my vote on Wendawa, who's sudden dismissal of my case is not to be forgotten."

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