Mid-Range Game 72: A Breath of Fresh Air

[Stick. she/her]

51 minutes ago, The Unknown Flame said:

What is it with you guys and making acronyms unnecessary complicated? 

You guys probably saw exlo and thought W(e)B(etter)E(xe)C(rrectly)R(ight)N(ow)O(r)E(lse)T(he)E(lims)W(ill)W(in)

true...

above player is TWTBAW  

[Kasimir he/him]

1 minute ago, Stick. said:

above player is TWTBAW  

WINNING  A  PROMOTION  IS  NOT  WORTH  YOUR  SOUL

Pic unrelated.

Spoiler

 

[Stick. she/her]

Villagers:
Stick (villagery mech suggestion)
Hoid Slayer (their vote on me is likely from a villa - @Hoid Slayer could u maybe confirm in the thread once uve send in ur breath action order? )

maaaaaybe wizard (for blatantly lurking and not trying to look villagery at all but don't quote me on this one)
TUF (TWTBAW)

[Kasimir he/him]

4 minutes ago, Stick. said:

(TWTBAW)

TWTBAW is a lie they tell children.

If it quacks like a duck it is a duck. If it is a blasphemer, it is a blasphemer!

Can I get a TUF vote y'all 

[Stick. she/her]

1 minute ago, Kasimir said:

TWTBAW is a lie they tell children.

If it quacks like a duck it is a duck. If it is a blasphemer, it is a blasphemer!

Can I get a TUF vote y'all 

sure, im very weak minded, pliable, and manipulatable 

The Unknown Flame

 

& you can join the ranks of the village kas 

[STINK he/him]

Does no one else see the humour in TUF - whose name is an acronym - complaining about acronyms like

Not that they're wrong about the acronyms please tone it down everyone I wanna read English preferably  

[Kasimir he/him]

2 minutes ago, STINK said:

Does no one else see the humour in TUF - whose name is an acronym - complaining about acronyms like

Not that they're wrong about the acronyms please tone it down everyone I wanna read English preferably  

Spoiler

 

[The Unknown Medallion he/him]

1 hour ago, Kasimir said:

The latest Hallendren demands had sent a chill through the entire embassy, and it was not the crisp mountain wind. Izmir knew what that chill was. No one had felt at ease when Regent Genda had first announced that the blasphemous Hallendren would be allowed to dispatch one of their soulsucking leeches to Idris to handle the latest round of peace negotiations.

A hard peace to barter, Izmir thought, when they had only a single coin that the Hallendren would accept.

"My negotiations will not fail," Regent Genda said, with more certainty than she'd displayed when talking to the Hallendren. Izmir supposed talking to blasphemers and heretics had that effect on people. "I need you. Idris needs you."

If only she was asking of them anything else other than their souls.

One of the assembled staff, Stick, had started asking for volunteers. Izmir hid a thin smile. He was no stranger to the politicking and gamesmanship, even in the heart of Idris. He was tempted to think a little better of Stick for it, though it wasn't something he would stand by. You didn't make it as one of the top Idrian diplomats without the ability to hide what you were really thinking behind a poisoned smile while offering Hallendren enough they didn't feel offended. [OOC: Probably willing to V!lean Stick a tiny bit, unhappy about this. If you pay attention to what she's doing, the reason is obvious, wouldn't stand by this firmly especially in the long run because Stick is Stick and I'm not gonna ride or die D1 read her.]

He still felt Gandor was probably not trying to sabotage the negotiations, though no one had asked him for his own opinion. There was a certain artlessness to flailing about, accusing Simon in public of trying to—to what, corrupt him into abandoning Austre and betraying Idris by the cunning use of handwritten notes? Izmir snorted, and paged shut his notebook. No. Gandor was inexperienced enough (at least to someone like Izmir, who'd been serving Idris for decades and for all of that, gotten stuck in the same Colours-cursed job for all that time. Mid-level diplomatic attaché, with no real prospects for advancement or promotion. No one gave him the interesting work.) There was a chance that someone like him might struggle to fabricate accusations, might wind up going for something as peculiar as what he eventually had. But Izmir rather thought that Gandor's accusations rang of sincerity. He would probably be happy to rethink Gandor by the third day or so of this impasse. In contrast, Elidyr, who was volunteering at about the same time as Gandor, because damning their souls apparently didn't bother either of them...he had his doubts about Elidyr. Was she too quick, too ready to commit a sin? [OOC: Weak V!read on Raven, I think the whole "why ya tryna PM me, sus" thing reads more sincere Villager suspicion than "inexperienced Elim trying to do fake-arse suspicions", will rethink or presumably get a better read on Raven or whatnot by C3. I'll add that I can see an E!Polly here to Raven's V. I'll need to see more from Polly to make a better assessment, but weak E on Polly.]

There wasn't really much to go off, but he wanted to think Simon was, on the whole, not the sort of guy who would stab one of the Hallendren. Simon just seemed ready to hang out and have a good time, and Izmir tiredly wondered how Simon felt so secure about his career prospects, let alone the ongoing diplomatic incident. Or crisis, depending on your point of view. [OOC: What it says on the tin. Most unsupported V!read on STINK ever, like his vibes, guy's here to chill in the thread, will rethink later but it's C1 y'all I'm not gonna overdo this.]

He wanted to believe that the unknown diplomat was above board, but frankly, suspected he was probably festooned with knives and wondered if anyone else was going to accuse him as well. [OOC: TUN looks Evil af and honestly I'm curious if anyone's gonna join this vote  ]

He wanted to think Evinir was probably fine. Something about the way Evinir was pressuring Stick seemed okay to him, but he'd seen that playbook before and didn't want to over-prognosticate. Sometimes, an overly-enthusiastic young diplomat seeking to climb the ranks and betray Idris while they were at it, they did that, they pushed too hard and too fast, and Izmir wasn't sure which way the knife cut this time. But...no, if they forced him to write the attestation, right here and now, he would probably say he thought Evinir was just on the level. [OOC: See my comments previously about how a certain profile of new Elim likes to make those bold pushes against confident, thread-strong Villagers. I could see this being what's going on with Hoid and don't want to consider him ride or die Village C1, but for the moment I can kind of squint and just ascribe the V read. I sort of actually had a negative reflexive read to Stick initially, and my instinct is this kind of pushback is a bit more likely to come from a V mindset.]

Well, at least with Gandor, Evinir, and Elidyr all jumping to offer their souls for Starkeeper's dinner, Izmir supposed he was safe for the moment. Safe from deciding if a man's soul was worth his career.

Austre, he didn't want to be forced to choose. Damn the Hallendren and their godless ways!

????????

What did I do?

[Kasimir he/him]

2 minutes ago, The Unknown Flame said:

????????

What did I do?

Didn't like your opening, if I'm being honest. Felt very hard-mech-centric.

[The Unknown Medallion he/him]

10 minutes ago, Kasimir said:

Didn't like your opening, if I'm being honest. Felt very hard-mech-centric.

Is that supposed to be e!indicative for me???

[Kasimir he/him]

8 minutes ago, The Unknown Flame said:

Is that supposed to be e!indicative for me???

I'm asking people to vote on you, aren't I?

Edited to add:

@The Unknown Flame - What's your take on the thread now?

Edited April 10, 2025 by Kasimir

[Ookla de los Cuervos he/him]

Gandor stretched lazily. He was a simple priest, but he had a secret: he had no idea what he was doing. He was completely winging this. Still, he squinted his eyes suspiciously at the gathered. In recent times, he had received notes from two different priests, both seemed suspicious to him. In his past, he had been fooled terribly by a man passing notes to him. He shook his head, clearing his head of the suspicions that plagued him. he had several theories. 

He had a fair amount of trust in Izimir. He had interacted with his type in the past, highly intellectual and analytical. He grit his teeth despite himself. In this world, you couldnt easily trust anyone. However, an odd gut feeling overtook his sensibilities. he had a very very strong feeling that Izimir wasn't an assassin. (OOC: As far as I'm aware, Kas is V, and I can't see him as anything else. Granted, I've never seen E!Kas, but I'm willing to bet this isn't it)

Simon, he wasn't sure. In the past, he had been tricked by notes being passed. He was simply being cautious. He narrowed his eyes at the man from across the room. (OOC: Basically a vibe check I guess? Its just the last time this happened I had been pocketed pretty hard. Very Slight E!lean)

Elidyr was an odd conundrum. He had recieved a note from him, for whatever reason. Gandor knew that he himself was a weak link, so he found it suspicious that they both noted him. He shook his head. His paranoia must be kicking in. (OOC: Yes, I got a PM from Polly. Yes, i found it a little weird. very slightly E!lean. I dont wanna be pocketed again :P) 

As for the others, he needed to wrack his brain for his memories. he snapped his small notebook closed. When he thought of something, he'd write it down and share with the crowd. 

[The Unknown Medallion he/him]

1 hour ago, Kasimir said:

I'm asking people to vote on you, aren't I?

Edited to add:

@The Unknown Flame - What's your take on the thread now?

Yeah, but what in the world makes you think mech is e!indicative for me?

I don't have too many opinions. I don't like Stick following you so easily. None of the Breath discussion really pinged me. 

[Ashbringer he/him]

12 hours to go!

 

Vote Count:

• The Unknown Flame (2): Kasimir, Stick.
• Stick. (2): STINK, Hoid Slayer
• Kasimir (1): |TJ|
• Hoid Slayer (1): The Wandering Wizard

 

Let me know if I missed any votes.

Also, no >2 player PMs! Just reminding people of that for no particular reason.

[Ookla de los Cuervos he/him]

After PMing with STINK for a bit, I am now almost certain that they're V, they just here to chill. Still wary though. 

STINK

[OoklaApologist She/her]

42 minutes ago, Ashbringer said:

Also, no >2 player PMs! Just reminding people of that for no particular reason.

Facepalms in wanting to make a PM with the elims from last game

[The Unknown Medallion he/him]

40 minutes ago, KelsierApologist said:

Facepalms in wanting to make a PM with the elims from last game

And this game too, eh?

[OoklaApologist She/her]

11 minutes ago, The Unknown Flame said:

And this game too, eh?

Is that a confession 

[STINK he/him]

Oh yeah Stick

Turns out they're gonna convert to the side of penne pasta so vote no longer required I guess

[The Wandering Wizard he/him]

What about the Spaghetti monster? 

[Kasimir he/him]

22 minutes ago, The Unknown Flame said:

And this game too, eh?

Me, not really liking this because flashbacks to E!TUN from LG90.

1 hour ago, Ashbringer said:

12 hours to go!

 

Vote Count:

• The Unknown Flame (2): Kasimir, Stick.
• Stick. (2): STINK, Hoid Slayer
• Kasimir (1): |TJ|
• Hoid Slayer (1): The Wandering Wizard

 

Let me know if I missed any votes.

Also, no >2 player PMs! Just reminding people of that for no particular reason.

Don't super like this votestate. Hoid looks Village to me for now, I'm willing to accept V!Stick for the moment, though with STINK unvoting, this is less of an issue. I do think Hoid is misreading Stick, but feel the way Hoid is framing his argument on balance probably comes from a Village mindset compared to an Elim mindset.

I'm maybe 60-40 on V!TUN right now: I liked this post because it felt very improvisory and I didn't see E!TUN just thinking aloud in the thread. I think either way you read the post (I read it as TUN arguing for a single Breath per cycle, Stick read it as as many Breaths as possible), it just comes off as weirdly bad in a way I don't think an Elim wants.

Pushed him hard to see if I could get a better reaction out of him that's more readable than this weird squishy state but he's apparently thinking this is a reaction test, and his response wasn't what I fully consider V!TUN parameters, so I'm calling it a wash for now. TUN.

I don't like TWTBAW and we'll probably need to relook TUN but he can be a C2/C3 problem. Recognise that a whole class of forum mafia players are screaming in my head that you don't do TWTBAW you just exe the Elim, but oh well, Stick's doing it too so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

So current tentative/weak V!reads:

<Stick, STINK, TUN, Hoid, Raven>

Not fully sure how I'd parse Raven's post rn. I'm ok leaving it.

Leaves me with:

<Ruler, BridgeBoi, TJ, Stormy, Wiz, Polly.>

Feelsbad to vote for Ruler or BridgeBoi given first game but I guess our player pool is the way it is. If forced I'd kinda want to say I think Stormy's opening post here feels a tad more V than E, compared to his last game, but I don't feel that strong about it. 

Honestly would be ok with a TJ vote here, but IDK if he's just busy or what and it #feelsbad to C1 bhai. 

Low key think Polly is Evil, but Polly is giving Breath here (this isn't a "giving Breath therefore Village" deal, just a pragmatic one. Tbh I'm wondering if we should just, like, get someone else to do it and exe Polly.) Acknowledge Polly is playing a bit differently as well and hanging back quite a bit which isn't reassuring for how my reads are turning out.

Mmm. I'll put some pressure on BridgeBoi for now.

@|TJ| - Sorry bhai, gotta say this. I've seen you be able to get into a game despite being a bit crunched on time. I know you've had busy/low-presence V games like the KR one, and I'm hoping to be able to see something a bit more indicative from you because I may very well feel compelled to switch to you or Polly when I wake up properly in a couple hours, depending on the thread state.

Edited to add:

I kinda know why Stick is slightly V!reading Wiz and I'm hanging off Wiz a bit in respect to that but I also don't super feel apathy arguments for being Village are great and on principle I'm preferring to downgrade that a bit.

[The Wandering Wizard he/him]

Hoid Slayer

I had mostly voted them to welcome them as is sometimes tradition  

Hmmm I'll toss a vote onto TwinStorm for now

[ruler of the mists He/His/the survivor of the pit]

I the ruler of the mists confer my vote upon (drummroll).....

Stick

[Ashbringer he/him]

2 minutes ago, ruler of the mists said:

I the ruler of the mists confer my vote upon (drummroll).....

Stick

One thing - make sure to vote a player you color the name in Red (and then Green if you wish to unvote).

[Ookla de los Cuervos he/him]

55 minutes ago, Kasimir said:

Me, not really liking this because flashbacks to E!TUN from LG90.

Don't super like this votestate. Hoid looks Village to me for now, I'm willing to accept V!Stick for the moment, though with STINK unvoting, this is less of an issue. I do think Hoid is misreading Stick, but feel the way Hoid is framing his argument on balance probably comes from a Village mindset compared to an Elim mindset.

I'm maybe 60-40 on V!TUN right now: I liked this post because it felt very improvisory and I didn't see E!TUN just thinking aloud in the thread. I think either way you read the post (I read it as TUN arguing for a single Breath per cycle, Stick read it as as many Breaths as possible), it just comes off as weirdly bad in a way I don't think an Elim wants.

Pushed him hard to see if I could get a better reaction out of him that's more readable than this weird squishy state but he's apparently thinking this is a reaction test, and his response wasn't what I fully consider V!TUN parameters, so I'm calling it a wash for now. TUN.

I don't like TWTBAW and we'll probably need to relook TUN but he can be a C2/C3 problem. Recognise that a whole class of forum mafia players are screaming in my head that you don't do TWTBAW you just exe the Elim, but oh well, Stick's doing it too so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

So current tentative/weak V!reads:

<Stick, STINK, TUN, Hoid, Raven>

Not fully sure how I'd parse Raven's post rn. I'm ok leaving it.

Leaves me with:

<Ruler, BridgeBoi, TJ, Stormy, Wiz, Polly.>

Feelsbad to vote for Ruler or BridgeBoi given first game but I guess our player pool is the way it is. If forced I'd kinda want to say I think Stormy's opening post here feels a tad more V than E, compared to his last game, but I don't feel that strong about it. 

Honestly would be ok with a TJ vote here, but IDK if he's just busy or what and it #feelsbad to C1 bhai. 

Low key think Polly is Evil, but Polly is giving Breath here (this isn't a "giving Breath therefore Village" deal, just a pragmatic one. Tbh I'm wondering if we should just, like, get someone else to do it and exe Polly.) Acknowledge Polly is playing a bit differently as well and hanging back quite a bit which isn't reassuring for how my reads are turning out.

Mmm. I'll put some pressure on BridgeBoi for now.

@|TJ| - Sorry bhai, gotta say this. I've seen you be able to get into a game despite being a bit crunched on time. I know you've had busy/low-presence V games like the KR one, and I'm hoping to be able to see something a bit more indicative from you because I may very well feel compelled to switch to you or Polly when I wake up properly in a couple hours, depending on the thread state.

Edited to add:

I kinda know why Stick is slightly V!reading Wiz and I'm hanging off Wiz a bit in respect to that but I also don't super feel apathy arguments for being Village are great and on principle I'm preferring to downgrade that a bit.

Just trying to share my reads, something I've been notoriously bad at in the past