Mid-Range Game 72: A Breath of Fresh Air

[Ashbringer he/him]

MR72 Cycle 3: Quandary

Another week passed. 

Genda had found some extra volunteers for aid, ones unwilling to even consider giving up their own Breath, but who were willing to travel to nearby towns in search of those who were. There had to be foreign Hallendrens around her somewhere, and they could be bought if they could only be found. In the meantime, Genda, Kanirah, and Starkeeper looked again toward the trade arrangements, trying to ignore the incoming deadline.

But the deadline came all the same. Starkeeper put on a stronger showing, but she was still clearly ill as Kanirah reiterated his speech to the gathered volunteers. But something else was off. The crowd was harder, still listening but clearly with other emotions at hand. Genda stood coughing as the assembly whispered. They were discontent. All the Idrians were.

"At least one of them is a Drab, right?" Kanirah asked Carmine that night. "But they're still here?"

"Genda and Starkeeper didn't want it to be obvious who did something so anathema," Carmine replied. "What I hear, Starkeeper didn't even get a look at whoever gave her the Breath, just stayed turned around and gave a thank you."

"Wait, so we don't even know who it was?" Carmine said.

"Heh. Starkeeper knows. Lifesense can be a pain even for us Drabs sometimes, if it's clear your not showing up despite being right there. But she's being quiet about who. She's got more respect for... for what it costs them," Carmine trailed off. There was a bit unspoken there, in those words.

More respect than you.

Kanirah opened his mouth to object when suddenly a scream sounded from the hall below. Carmine was up in a flash, only to nearly be barreled over by an aquamarine blur as Starkeeper ran to the central court. Kanirah huffed behind to see a slightly-familiar scene - several of the assembled volunteer diplomats surrounding a figure they'd suspected of being an assassin. But while Stick had been dragged away in chains, someone had broken Gandor's neck.

"Why?!" Starkeeper exclaimed. "Why would you do that!"

Kanirah cursed. Another volunteer priest dead, another potential Breath gone... and Gandor had been allied with Izmir to a certain degree, despite walking opposite paths of life. He certainly didn't look like he'd been an assassin after all.

 

Someone walked up behind Starkeeper that night, put their hand on her shoulder, and said the words they'd been told. Starkeeper felt their life-prescence fade as the Breath flowed, strengthening her. But the figure did not walk away.

"I... I think there's someone dead in the hallway." 

 

- - -

TheRavenHasLanded was executed! They were an Idrian Diplomat!

|TJ| was killed! They were an Idrian Diplomat!

Starkeeper was given a Breath!*

 

Vote Count:

• TheRavenHasLanded (5): |TJ|, The Unknown Flame, BridgeBoi, The Wandering Wizard, Hoid Slayer
• The Wandering Wizard (2): KelsierApologist, TheRavenHasLanded
• ruler of the mists (1): STINK
• STINK (1): ruler of the mists

 

Cycle 3 has begun! There will be an execution this cycle.

@TwinStorm is being warned for inactivity! Please post this cycle or you will be replaced by a pinch hitter.

The cycle will close on April 14th at 10:00 PM PST, in about 47 hours.

 

Player List:

Spoiler

Players:

1. |TJ| - Idrian Diplomat
2. @The Unknown Flame
3. @TwinStorm
4. @KelsierApologist- Elidyr
5. @BridgeBoi - Timmy
6. Kasimir - Izmir - Idrian Diplomat
7. @The Wandering Wizard
8. @ruler of the mists
9. TheRavenHasLanded - Gandor - Idrian Diplomat
10. Stick. - Idrian Diplomat
11. @STINK - Simon
12. @Hoid Slayer - Evinir

Pinch Hitters:

1. @Aeternum
2. @Illwei
3. @Ookla the Arbiter

Spectators:

1. @Terrisman

*Starkeeper was also given a Breath last cycle, I just decided to mark it explicitly instead of just in the writeup.

Edited April 14, 2025 by Ashbringer

[OoklaApologist She/her]

I really think this kill was intended to frame me

more to come

[Hoid Slayer He/Him]

6 hours ago, Ashbringer said:

MR72 Cycle 3: Quandary

Another week passed. 

Genda had found some extra volunteers for aid, ones unwilling to even consider giving up their own Breath, but who were willing to travel to nearby towns in search of those who were. There had to be foreign Hallendrens around her somewhere, and they could be bought if they could only be found. In the meantime, Genda, Kanirah, and Starkeeper looked again toward the trade arrangements, trying to ignore the incoming deadline.

But the deadline came all the same. Starkeeper put on a stronger showing, but she was still clearly ill as Kanirah reiterated his speech to the gathered volunteers. But something else was off. The crowd was harder, still listening but clearly with other emotions at hand.

"At least one of them is a Drab, right?" Kanirah asked Carmine that night. "But they're still here?"

"Genda and Starkeeper didn't want it to be obvious who did something so anathema," Carmine replied. "What I hear, Starkeeper didn't even get a look at whoever gave her the Breath, just stayed turned around and gave a thank you."

"Wait, so we don't even know who it was?" Carmine said.

"Heh. Starkeeper knows. Lifesense can be a pain even for us Drabs sometimes, if it's clear your not showing up despite being right there. But she's being quiet about who. She's got more respect for... for what it costs them," Carmine trailed off. There was a bit unspoken there, in those words.

More respect than you.

Kanirah opened his mouth to object when suddenly a scream sounded from the hall below. Carmine was up in a flash, only to nearly be barreled over by an aquamarine blur as Starkeeper ran to the central court. Kanirah huffed behind to see a slightly-familiar scene - several of the assembled volunteer diplomats surrounding a figure they'd suspected of being an assassin. But while Stick had been dragged away in chains, someone had broken Gandor's neck.

"Why?!" Starkeeper exclaimed. "Why would you do that!"

Kanirah cursed. Another volunteer priest dead, another potential Breath gone... and Gandor had been allied with Izmir to a certain degree, despite walking opposite paths of life. He certainly didn't look like he'd been an assassin after all.

 

Someone walked up behind Starkeeper that night, put their hand on her shoulder, and said the words they'd been told. Starkeeper felt their life-prescence fade as the Breath flowed, strengthening her. But the figure did not walk away.

"I... I think there's someone dead in the hallway." 

 

- - -

TheRavenHasLanded was executed! They were an Idrian Diplomat!

|TJ| was killed! They were an Idrian Diplomat!

Starkeeper was given a Breath!*

 

Vote Count:

• TheRavenHasLanded (5): |TJ|, The Unknown Flame, BridgeBoi, The Wandering Wizard, Hoid Slayer
• The Wandering Wizard (2): KelsierApologist, TheRavenHasLanded
• ruler of the mists (1): STINK
• STINK (1): ruler of the mists

 

Cycle 3 has begun! There will be an execution this cycle.

@TwinStorm is being warned for inactivity! Please post this cycle or you will be replaced by a pinch hitter.

The cycle will close on April 14th at 10:00 PM PST, in about 47 hours.

 

Player List:

  Reveal hidden contents

Players:

1. |TJ| - Idrian Diplomat
2. @The Unknown Flame
3. @TwinStorm
4. @KelsierApologist- Elidyr
5. @BridgeBoi - Timmy
6. Kasimir - Izmir - Idrian Diplomat
7. @The Wandering Wizard
8. @ruler of the mists
9. TheRavenHasLanded - Gandor - Idrian Diplomat
10. Stick. - Idrian Diplomat
11. @STINK - Simon
12. @Hoid Slayer - Evinir

Pinch Hitters:

1. @Aeternum
2. @Illwei
3. @Ookla the Arbiter

Spectators:

1. @Terrisman

*Starkeeper was also given a Breath last cycle, I just decided to mark it explicitly instead of just in the writeup.

When Evinir walked into the conference room the next day, it was not with a feeling of resolve but one of fear. A fear fueled by multiple reasons. The first was Gandor. Evinir had been confident in his stance against Gandor; and yet, it was not the priest's innocence that worried him as much as his death. Evinir had never supported that Gandor be executed; now, whatever he knew was lost. Forever. Additionally, the event showed that despite their calm appearance, the Assembly was quick to turn to violence - the tool of the enemy.

And then, of course, there was the matter of TeeJay. Another assassination. This time, Evinir didn't think it came from someone the older diplomat was targeting; it was public knowledge that TeeJay was one of the most experienced investigators in the Assembly. But regardless of the cause of his death, at this rate, it was only a matter of time before Evinir himself became a target. And that gave him fear indeed.

Evinir shoved such thoughts out of his mind. His sole target had to be taking down Izmir and TeeJay's killers, before they could strike again. It was time to explore a different angle. Evinir had no time to waste. For this could very well be his last time in this room.

...

Okay, this is not good. This is REALLY not good. I felt confident about Raven, and hoped we could then incriminate Wiz due to all the support he were giving them. And while I still see Wiz as sus, I can't quite use that argument anymore. Instead, I'm going to go with someone we haven't seen enough scrutiny on so far but who has definitely been acting a little suspicious.

Ruler of the Mists

We don't have a lot of time to weed out the elims; in fact, we practically need to get one this round to stand a chance. So I want to see a post from everyone giving some sort of reasoning, not just an unexplained vote or an "I agree".

Speaking of time, let's calculate:

We have only 5-6 villagers left and there are still 2-3 elims (I don't actually know how many, just guessing). Let''s assume there are three elims, so only five of us are players. It will take us minimum three turns to take out all three elims. In that time, three villagers will die so there will only be two left by the end. The problem is breath.

Me, TUF, and Polly are drabs. That leaves five people who can give their breath. Dead people cannot give their breath. Assuming two people give their breath every cycle and a different person is killed by the elims, AND an elim is executed, AND the person we execute still has breath, then...

*does mental calculations*

C4 we will have 6 players, 2 elims, and only 1 person with breath left, cause the other four either gave it up, got assassinated, or got executed. Yeah. That's not good.

Let's switch up the stats a little. Let's assume the villager assassinated and elim executed are both drabs.

C4 we will have 6 players, 2 elims, and 3 people with breaths left. Okay, we can work with that. If the pattern continues, then:

C5 we will have 4 players, 1 elim, and 1 person with breath left. Here, even if the person killed by the elims is the one with breath, Kanirah can holster and we take out the elim.

So that's a solution that works. But again, it relies on the elims killing only drabs, which frankly, I don't see them doing. So if anyone's got any ideas about this, I'm happy to hear them. 

[TwinStorm He/Him]

sorry I've been busy recently

who was TJ accusing?

[Hoid Slayer He/Him]

1 minute ago, TwinStorm said:

sorry I've been busy recently

who was TJ accusing?

Uh, I think basically Raven and Wiz (they were both acting a little suspicious, and Wiz was defending Raven a little too much). But since Raven is apparently innocent, we're at a bit of a crossroads.

[OoklaApologist She/her]

2 hours ago, TwinStorm said:

sorry I've been busy recently

who was TJ accusing?

Me, raven. He was neutral towards wiz, i think. He said C1 that if he died we should look at kas and tuf.

[OoklaApologist She/her]

@TwinStorm, @ruler of the mists, and, I know you just had back-to-back games, but @BridgeBoi, can I hear some more from you three? Specifically, what do you think about the kill, and who are you the most suspicious of right now?

[Hoid Slayer He/Him]

9 minutes ago, KelsierApologist said:

@TwinStorm, @ruler of the mists, and, I know you just had back-to-back games, but @BridgeBoi, can I hear some more from you three? Specifically, what do you think about the kill, and who are you the most suspicious of right now?

Same here. I feel like at this stage, we really need to get a comprehensive view of the options. For now, my vote is staying on Ruler cause of their seemingly random votes in previous cycles, plus Bridgeboi and TwinStorm warned they might be a little inactive.

[OoklaApologist She/her]

Votes:

Spoiler

C1:

• Stick. (4): |TJ,| The Unknown Flame, KelsierApologist, Hoid Slayer 
• |TJ| (2): Kasimir, Stick.
• KelsierApologist (1): The Wandering Wizard

C2:

• TheRavenHasLanded (5): |TJ|, The Unknown Flame, BridgeBoi, The Wandering Wizard, Hoid Slayer
• The Wandering Wizard (2): KelsierApologist, TheRavenHasLanded
• ruler of the mists (1): STINK
• STINK (1): ruler of the mists

These votes are odd in a lot of ways. In C1, trains were v/v, but only seven people voted. BB, you have an excuse, and stormy was just regular inactive, but everyone else (@STINK and@ruler of the mists) can you explain why you didn’t vote?

ninja’d by hoid slayer

[The Wandering Wizard he/him]

Personally I believe that the kills likely indicate E!TUF though I have been made aware that I don't remember his kill meta too well.

Anyways we really need to start hearing the proof of the hero  

[TwinStorm He/Him]

1 hour ago, KelsierApologist said:

@TwinStorm, @ruler of the mists, and, I know you just had back-to-back games, but @BridgeBoi, can I hear some more from you three? Specifically, what do you think about the kill, and who are you the most suspicious of right now?

I don't really have reason to trust anyone rn, but I think a TJ kill makes me think it's a veteran player, which narrows it down significantly. TUF for rn but that could easily change

[Hoid Slayer He/Him]

14 minutes ago, TwinStorm said:

I don't really have reason to trust anyone rn, but I think a TJ kill makes me think it's a veteran player, which narrows it down significantly. TUF for rn but that could easily change

Well, it wasn't hard to tell from his behavior for anyone to tell that TJ was the most in-control player in the game. However, you are right that the elim is killing strategically. However, I just don't see any more evidence from TUF. If anything, he seems a little quiet, and hasn't really acted aggressive at all so far.

For the people who have participated in games with him before: is TUF normally more active?

[OoklaApologist She/her]

3 minutes ago, Hoid Slayer said:

Well, it wasn't hard to tell from his behavior for anyone to tell that TJ was the most in-control player in the game. However, you are right that the elim is killing strategically. However, I just don't see any more evidence from TUF. If anything, he seems a little quiet, and hasn't really acted aggressive at all so far.

For the people who have participated in games with him before: is TUF normally more active?

In the games I’ve been in, yes, but I hesitate to tie activity to any particular alignment. That rarely goes the way people want.

[Hoid Slayer He/Him]

32 minutes ago, KelsierApologist said:

In the games I’ve been in, yes, but I hesitate to tie activity to any particular alignment. That rarely goes the way people want.

Yes, but then again, how are you supposed to find suspects if you DON’T attribute activity to any particular alignment?

Honestly, I kind of see you being an elim because of all this avoiding conflict. Yes, we understand that nothing is definitive, but we also have to be assertive at times. This sounds a little like an elim trying to save themselves from judgement over badly constructed attacks.

Main suspects for me right now are: Ruler, Polly

Also keeping an eye on: Wiz, Stink

@STINK what are your thoughts here?

Edited April 13, 2025 by Hoid Slayer

[Hoid Slayer He/Him]

Okay everyone

This thread has gone essentially quiet

Can we please get some opinions here?

[Ashbringer he/him]

~22 hours remain!

[STINK he/him]

Polly

What's up gamers I had a fun little weekend there but it is now Monday and you know what that means it's Monday-Murder-Someone 

Polly is being way too 'I wanna live' for me right now let alone anything else which as village you wanna live sure but like if ya die you wanna die having helped out the village not just being like no I died so by now it's just huh

Slayer gets good vibe points for being active congrats seriously keep up the good work

@BridgeBoi @ruler of the mists

How's it going you two did you also happen to have a fun weekend over wherever yous lot are?

[Hoid Slayer He/Him]

Still need to hear more from @The Unknown Flame

Evinir returned from lunch break early, eager to finally sift through the stack of notes Elidyr had given him. (OOC: I'm referencing Polly's post earlier about the voting habits from past cycles.) From this evidence, hopefully they would be able to identify, once a traitor was revealed, the other traitors simply by the way their support leaned. And so he got to work.

To begin with, it seemed that Wiz and Elidyr were often at odds with each other, despite both being seemingly quite suspect in Evinir's mind. This meant that either this was a trick to get the Embassy to not suspect them, or only one of them was a traitor. For now, Evinir's support went behind Elidyr.

Yesterday, Simon and Ruler had exchanged a set of attacks that also interested Evinir. Once again, it could be a ploy, but it could also be the result of an elim getting defensive and attacking as retaliation. Although looking back... both votes lacked substantial evidence, although Simon's did come first. Additionally, even though he didn't provide any concrete evidence, Evinir couldn't exactly incriminate Simon from this as he, too, found Ruler suspicious.

Both days so far, TUF had gotten behind the leading train, also with very limited evidence. Bridgeboi had done so as well, but only on the second day.

And finally, there was the evidence form today to consider. Simon was opposing Elidyr; something Evinir could get behind. Of course, Evinir couldn't forget the tenuous alliance he had made with Elydir the previous day to pressure more quiet diplomats, and so while he found Elydir most suspicious for now, he had to attack others as well. In particular, one man whose level of activity had plummeted in the last day. It was time to look into TUF.

...

Okay, that's basically my thoughts analyzing that. Using this, my main order, from most to least suspicious, is:

1. Polly (sorry, but what you're doing here seems like trying to take control of the game without really lobbying evidenced attacks)

2. Ruler (sus in their few posts, need to hear more)

3. Wiz (still sus from last cycle, but will probably move spots down in Polly is revealed as an elim)

4. Stinko (yup, I know saying "something feels off" is bad evidence, but genuinely, something feels off. Plus, if Polly, Wiz, and Stink are all elims, then Wiz and Stink might be bussing)

5. TUF (at this point, I don't really find these people sus, but we seriously need to hear more and I'm willing to go through with this train if that's what it takes)

6. TwinStorm (don't like how he just appeared, voted, left)

7. Bridgeboi (honestly, I can't think of anything to incriminate him other than inactivity)

On Breaths, let's choose after we decide who to exe.

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

sorry I was on vacation

but I think that stink is sus other than that i think kelsierapolagist suspicious

[Hoid Slayer He/Him]

11 minutes ago, ruler of the mists said:

sorry I was on vacation

but I think that stink is sus other than that i think kelsierapolagist suspicious

How do you defend yourself and your past votes?

What about Stink makes you suspicious?

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

Perhaps beacause i dont speak  much, my timezone is pretty akward and its my first game.

 

And other than that i do not know.

 

I am willing to give my breath this round.

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

Because stink voted me last round

[Hoid Slayer He/Him]

48 minutes ago, ruler of the mists said:

Because stink voted me last round

See, I don’t think that’s a very strong argument.

If it’s true, then you’re prioritizing your own well-being over that of the group as a whole.

[BridgeBoi]

Sorry y'all IRL issues have prevented me from posting. 

Welp if we don't kill an elim this turn, we are pretty much screwed. With 2 elims we are 6-2 meaning we have roughly two misexes left. With 3 elims, 5-3 meaning 1 misexe left 

Ugh the Raven being innocent pretty much screwed up my reads. My Stink elim read was based on him being e/e with Raven. So that's toast. I still think Stink might be elim but he's not my top target. 

Vill: Hoid Slayer - being vocal and has decent reads. Has a couple reads I disagree with.  

Twinstorm - Hasn't done anything suspicious, is most just inactive, could be elim, but not priotity target

Weird: Polly - pushed for activity but also has acted slightly suspicious on certain things. Don't like his nonconfrontal style but that could just be Polly.

Stink - Stink has good vibes. Could be an elim but I got to stay loyal to fellow blues.

Ruler - does have some sus posts but I honestly think that is just new player jitters. Not my top target, I would say 50-50

TUF - Honestly I don't know. Haven't really been paying attention to him, need more info

Elim: Wiz - too jumpy with his votes, hopped on Raven train and jumped off at last second, just the sort of thing I think an elim would do   

[Hoid Slayer He/Him]

Okay, cycle’s almost over and so far we have three possible trains:

Wiz: proposed by Bridgeboi

Polly: proposed by Stink

TUF: Proposed TwinStorm and, well, me

Honestly, I’m not super strict about the TUF train, and I’m willing to jump onto either of the other two trains. I find it unlikely it’s both of them though, and right now I’m leaning more on Polly

Can we seriously get more perspectives here? We still haven’t heard from @The Wandering Wizard and @The Unknown Flame

Let’s try and get everyone to vote here, please? @KelsierApologist @ruler of the mists

TUF, remember you have the most votes so far from me and TwinStorm.

Bridgeboi, in response to your post, if we don’t get an elim this round and there’re three elims, 2 villas will die, so it will actually be down to three v three. Plus there’s the issue of breath

@STINK and @BridgeBoi, since you both seem to be safe this cycle, can you give up your breaths?