StrikerEZ he/him Posted June 20, 2025 Posted June 20, 2025 15 minutes ago, Hoid Slayer said: That... logic didn't make sense to Kéamen. The Spiked already didn't know who was to be protected. This made no sense. "Let me add some more of my thoughts then," Var said. "I suspect the Spiked have a seeker. Copper was a smoker, I am a smoker, and Madiane is a smoker. Copper was village, I know I am village, and I am 99% sure Madiane is village. Why would there be so many village smokers without a Spiked seeker? Anyway, they already know a few people's roles already. We can only hope and pray that they don't already know the identity of our Lurcher. So, they're likely looking at whoever they don't already know the role of to figure out if they're a lurcher. If we have everyone 'choose' someone to protect, the Spiked have to try and game out which of their lurcher suspects is actually the lurcher, then have to figure out whether or not the person they decide upon is bluffing or not, and if they are bluffing, who they're actually going to protect. It just creates more mindgames for the Spiked to have to work through instead of them just picking randomly." 14 minutes ago, A Jo in the Bush said: "No, i'd want you dead so that you stop weaseling out of executions. Twice now it's happened. If I were spiked, i'd kill you. I'm not, so I'll vote you instead." "I don't think this logic holds up, Jox," Var said. "There's really no reason for the Spiked to want someone who's weaseled their way out of the execution dead. More often than not, someone who has avoided execution, especially if it happens multiple times, ends up executed eventually. That's essentially a free execution for the Spiked, one not on one of their own. The only reason the Spiked would want me dead so bad is if I'm on the right path somewhere. But they wouldn't want to kill me to implicate themselves in my death. Which makes me think I'm right about you and Mil."
Araris Valerian he/him Posted June 21, 2025 Author Posted June 21, 2025 (edited) Day 5: The Black Wraith Skaa across the empire whispered stories of mistwraiths, creatures of the night that would steal the soul of those who ventured out in the mists. Allomancers and most nobles knew better, but in Blackkeep even they gave some credence to the horror stories about the Black Wraith. It wasn't uncommon for a fisherman's net to be suddenly dragged to the depths, and any foolish enough to try and protect their catch would be pulled below as well. Sometimes partial skeletons of the dead would wash ashore a mere few days after someone had gone missing on the lake; far too quickly for natural decomposition. Of course, Antari Erlington knew that was all nonsense. There was only one mystery in Blackkeep, himself. But, well, a niggling feeling about the stories never really left the back of his mind. So that night, Antari left the town through the eastern gate. He was a familiar face to the guards by now, and though they were slightly concerned about the late hour of his departure, Antari was let out without too much fuss. He held a small lantern, enough to see as far as one could in the mists without totally ruining his night vision, and headed for the docks. The cool mist felt soothing on his skin, which was still damaged in several places from the torturing he'd undergone just a few days back, and Antari reveled in the freedom of being outside and safe. Well, safe relative to where he'd been before. He took a seat on one of the pilings at the end of the dark, watching the mists swirl above the gentle waves of the lake. "Huh. Didn't think anyone would be out here tonight." Antari started to turn at the familiar voice, then felt a *shove* from behind and tumbled into the cool water of the lake. He surfaced, gasping for breath. "Hey! What in the Lord Ruler's..." His voice cut off, both in shock at the face he saw up behind where he'd been perched on the docks, and at the feeling of something alive tugging at his leg. Antari spun about in the water and froze as he saw a creature rising up into the shallows, translucent skin revealing the bones of fish, horses, dogs, and... people. An eerily human-like hand was just barely visible in the lantern-light reaching out of the water toward his throat. Antari thrashed in the water and yelled for help, but the creature tightened its grip on his leg and began to drag him out into the deeper waters of the lake. The only witness on the docks sat and watched until the last ripples in the lake faded, leaving sign of neither Antari nor the creature that had taken him. Then they turned to walk leisurely back toward the town. Antari @ThatOneWorldhopper was a Village Vanilla! Day 5 has begun and will end at 10 PM Pacific Time on Sunday, June 22nd. PMs are Open! Player List: Spoiler Jox - young, thoughtful, flour-covered Baker's Apprentice @A Jo in the Bush Copper Stopper/Tin Al - copper stopping Copper Stopper/stone-cold killer Mob Boss Village Smoker Mil Veriel - resourceful Wandering Scavenger @KaladinsSenseOfHumorSpren Josha - well-meaning, wimpy Wizard @TwinStorm Lijal - distrustful and shy Urchin Village Vanilla Lipitor - pompous, bratty Folk Hero Village Vanilla Teal - awesome 10-Year Old Village Coinshot Astrid Lefflame - no-nonsense Watchman Village Vanilla Kéamen Wither - a secret-seeking Skaa Spy @Hoid Slayer John Derrick/AraRaash - Scout and Cartographer/Worldhopping Kandra Village Vanilla Keldorn - cynical, lamed Soldier and Investigator @Kasimir Fox - silent Wanderer Village Soother Antari Erlington - mysterious Mystery Village Vanilla Var - confused but diligent Latrine Cleaner @StrikerEZ Madiane - unstable, forgetful Latrine Cleaner @Biplet Edited June 21, 2025 by Araris Valerian 1
Kasimir he/him Posted June 21, 2025 Posted June 21, 2025 "Var for now," Keldorn accused, stating the obvious. "However, with Antari dead and the koloss almost upon us, we cannot afford another error. I'm going to go over the events of the past few days again before making up my mind for good." He would also need to get some sleep. He was running on empty at this point. He looked over the empty market square, and shook his head. "No more ties," Keldorn said, quietly resolved, although he did not know who would hear his words. "It's do or die, now."
Jo and the Bush all/any Posted June 21, 2025 Posted June 21, 2025 Jox stumbled into the town square, vaguely confused to still be alive. He looked around for Keamen. @Hoid Slayer "Kéamen Wither! What the heck was with all those lies you were spouting off in my bedroom last night?! Nothing you said made me believe you're not one of the Spiked alongside Var!"
TwinStorm He/Him Posted June 21, 2025 Posted June 21, 2025 Keamen had lied. That concerned Josha, who had trusted him mildly. Regardless, right now he had to focus on his priorities. "Var," he said quietly, echoing everyone's unspoken thoughts. "For two days now you have weaseled out of execution, wasting village time. We can't afford another escape by you scum."
Hoid Slayer He/Him Posted June 21, 2025 Posted June 21, 2025 Kéamen sighed. He was going to explain everything, later. Now, he needed to sleep after staying up all night.
Jo and the Bush all/any Posted June 21, 2025 Posted June 21, 2025 "Josha, @TwinStorm, did Kéamen come to your house in the night, claiming to be a Mistborn, looking for a Seeker or Lurcher? Because he came to my house saying the same thing. I told him that if I was a seeker, Antari was the only person I knew he shouldn't kill, because he was a Villager, and if I was a Lurcher, I would protect Kéamen. I am neither of those things, but Antari died. It is why I am now more certain than ever that Kéamen is spiked."
TwinStorm He/Him Posted June 21, 2025 Posted June 21, 2025 (edited) 17 minutes ago, A Jo in the Bush said: "Josha, @TwinStorm, did Kéamen come to your house in the night, claiming to be a Mistborn, looking for a Seeker or Lurcher? Because he came to my house saying the same thing. I told him that if I was a seeker, Antari was the only person I knew he shouldn't kill, because he was a Villager, and if I was a Lurcher, I would protect Kéamen. I am neither of those things, but Antari died. It is why I am now more certain than ever that Kéamen is spiked." "He came to me in the night, saying the same thing. As neither of those, I wasn't much help to him. I agree with you, since Antari previously suspected Keamen, and much of his previous behavior seems erratic." Edited June 21, 2025 by TwinStorm
Hoid Slayer He/Him Posted June 21, 2025 Posted June 21, 2025 As the sun rose, Kéamen finally walked back into the market square. Even from the distance, he could already hear the clamoring of the others. The accusations, uniting against him. Telling him his plot had failed. As he stepped into the square, he reached into his coat pockets and let fall the allomantic vials he had held there. One by one, they clattered against the tiled floor, drawing the attention of the others. One by one, their eyes trained on him. For a second, he just stood there, drained. Then he spoke. ”Last night, I reached out to nearly all of you with a similar message. I claimed I was a Mistborn, and needed a Seeker or Lurcher. The first part was a lie. I am no Mistborn, merely a Tineye. The idea was to bait the kill of the Spiked. If the Spiked thought I was a hostile Mistborn, they should have tried to kill me. If I was able to before that, make contact with a Lurcher and convince them to save me, then the Spiked kill would have been nullified this round, putting us back in a decent position. Clearly, that didn’t work out.” Kéamen’s heart raced and he forced his tone to remain cool. All he told was the truth, yet he knew how odd it must sound to the others. “As I am clearly not dead,” he gestured up and down at himself, “I see two options for what happened. First, it is possible that the Spiked Mistborn, if there is one, got their hands on some Brass and tried to Soothe me to incapacitate me for now. In retrospect, I should have tried to leave a message last night, just to test for that possibility. Sadly, I took no action yesterday. So no, I most definitely did not kill Antari.” Kéamen nodded to Jox. “The second possibility for why I am not dead is that the Spiked saw through my plan to bait their kill, or someone told them. The only people I revealed the truth of my plan to were Keldorn and Jox; the first out of trust, the second out of desperation.” He nodded to the two men. “If news of my plan did indeed get to the Spiked, then one of them is almost surely a member of our enemy. “Of the two, I find Jox more suspicious. First, his recent hard turn against Var (whose own alignment I will address later) can be seen as a way to distance himself from the other man in preparation for his eventual fall. Additionally, his telling me specifically not to kill Antari could mean two things; either he is a Seeker, or it is an attempt to frame me. Finally, I just generally distrust Jox more. Although,” he noted, turning to Keldorn, “it is a view I am beginning to revise.” ”As for Var, I continue to feel confident he is Spiked - and Madiane with him. Allow me to explain. First, let us analyze the votes from yesterday. We ended in a deadlock of three on three, Var against Madiane. I see no fault in Var’s logic of voting Madiane in self-preservation. But it should have been easy for the Spiked to push a misexecution on either of these trains. Take, for example, the train on Var. It consisted of me and two others. So, at the maximum, two Spiked were on that train, meaning a third could have joined to tip it. If they wanted to save Var and kill someone else, on the other hand, they should have easily been able to take out Madiane instead. Maybe the Spiked are just victims of bad communication, but it looks to me like the Spiked were trying to save both Var and Madiane. Additionally, I know Madiane received - and never responded to - my message at roughly the same time Var publicly warned for people fishing for Lurcher or Seekers - despite him being the only one I sent no message to - possibly indicating it got to him anyway. Var also told me he trusted Madiane the most, although, if the Spiked are [Var, Madiane, Jox], then it’s oddly incongruent with Var’s approach to Jox. Finally, Josha was heavily insistent in our private messages that I kill Madiane. @TwinStorm, if you’re a Seeker, this would be a great time to reveal it.” Kéamen let out a deep breath. That was a lot. Standing before the crowd ogling him, he knew he was going to get mixed responses from his statement. And he couldn’t blame them; what he had attempted was insane, even foolhardy. But he could only hope it had been worth it. He had new trails to follow. ”In conclusion, for now, my suspicions lie on a Spiked team of [Var, Madiane], with the final member potentially being in [Jox, Keldorn].” The square was silent in the echo of Kéamen’s speech. He took a slight step back and spread his arms, chest heaving. His secrets, held closely for so long, were now out in the world, theirs to prick and prod. He was tired of bearing them. Nothing could stand in their way anymore from finding the Spiked. And so Kéamen opened himself to any questions, hoping he had been clear with his thoughts. The quest to save Blackkeep had consumed his life in the past week. All he wanted now was to win.
TwinStorm He/Him Posted June 21, 2025 Posted June 21, 2025 1 hour ago, Hoid Slayer said: As the sun rose, Kéamen finally walked back into the market square. Even from the distance, he could already hear the clamoring of the others. The accusations, uniting against him. Telling him his plot had failed. As he stepped into the square, he reached into his coat pockets and let fall the allomantic vials he had held there. One by one, they clattered against the tiled floor, drawing the attention of the others. One by one, their eyes trained on him. For a second, he just stood there, drained. Then he spoke. ”Last night, I reached out to nearly all of you with a similar message. I claimed I was a Mistborn, and needed a Seeker or Lurcher. The first part was a lie. I am no Mistborn, merely a Tineye. The idea was to bait the kill of the Spiked. If the Spiked thought I was a hostile Mistborn, they should have tried to kill me. If I was able to before that, make contact with a Lurcher and convince them to save me, then the Spiked kill would have been nullified this round, putting us back in a decent position. Clearly, that didn’t work out.” Kéamen’s heart raced and he forced his tone to remain cool. All he told was the truth, yet he knew how odd it must sound to the others. “As I am clearly not dead,” he gestured up and down at himself, “I see two options for what happened. First, it is possible that the Spiked Mistborn, if there is one, got their hands on some Brass and tried to Soothe me to incapacitate me for now. In retrospect, I should have tried to leave a message last night, just to test for that possibility. Sadly, I took no action yesterday. So no, I most definitely did not kill Antari.” Kéamen nodded to Jox. “The second possibility for why I am not dead is that the Spiked saw through my plan to bait their kill, or someone told them. The only people I revealed the truth of my plan to were Keldorn and Jox; the first out of trust, the second out of desperation.” He nodded to the two men. “If news of my plan did indeed get to the Spiked, then one of them is almost surely a member of our enemy. “Of the two, I find Jox more suspicious. First, his recent hard turn against Var (whose own alignment I will address later) can be seen as a way to distance himself from the other man in preparation for his eventual fall. Additionally, his telling me specifically not to kill Antari could mean two things; either he is a Seeker, or it is an attempt to frame me. Finally, I just generally distrust Jox more. Although,” he noted, turning to Keldorn, “it is a view I am beginning to revise.” ”As for Var, I continue to feel confident he is Spiked - and Madiane with him. Allow me to explain. First, let us analyze the votes from yesterday. We ended in a deadlock of three on three, Var against Madiane. I see no fault in Var’s logic of voting Madiane in self-preservation. But it should have been easy for the Spiked to push a misexecution on either of these trains. Take, for example, the train on Var. It consisted of me and two others. So, at the maximum, two Spiked were on that train, meaning a third could have joined to tip it. If they wanted to save Var and kill someone else, on the other hand, they should have easily been able to take out Madiane instead. Maybe the Spiked are just victims of bad communication, but it looks to me like the Spiked were trying to save both Var and Madiane. Additionally, I know Madiane received - and never responded to - my message at roughly the same time Var publicly warned for people fishing for Lurcher or Seekers - despite him being the only one I sent no message to - possibly indicating it got to him anyway. Var also told me he trusted Madiane the most, although, if the Spiked are [Var, Madiane, Jox], then it’s oddly incongruent with Var’s approach to Jox. Finally, Josha was heavily insistent in our private messages that I kill Madiane. @TwinStorm, if you’re a Seeker, this would be a great time to reveal it.” Kéamen let out a deep breath. That was a lot. Standing before the crowd ogling him, he knew he was going to get mixed responses from his statement. And he couldn’t blame them; what he had attempted was insane, even foolhardy. But he could only hope it had been worth it. He had new trails to follow. ”In conclusion, for now, my suspicions lie on a Spiked team of [Var, Madiane], with the final member potentially being in [Jox, Keldorn].” The square was silent in the echo of Kéamen’s speech. He took a slight step back and spread his arms, chest heaving. His secrets, held closely for so long, were now out in the world, theirs to prick and prod. He was tired of bearing them. Nothing could stand in their way anymore from finding the Spiked. And so Kéamen opened himself to any questions, hoping he had been clear with his thoughts. The quest to save Blackkeep had consumed his life in the past week. All he wanted now was to win. Josha nodded. He agreed with some of what he said, though he didn't want to completely disregard the idea of Keamen killing Antari as a Mistborn. It made sense for the Spiked to have a Mistborn. However, he believed in the Spiked team of Var and Madiane, which is something he had pushed for, as Keamen had said. Right now though, Var needed to die, then he could worry about the rest of the Spiked later.
StrikerEZ he/him Posted June 21, 2025 Posted June 21, 2025 “Man,” Var said. “I really am going out here, aren’t I?” Var sat down, head in his hands. How had it come to this? The Spirit had sent him here of course, presumably to stop the coming disaster of the Koloss attack and the Spiked incursion, but Var had failed every step of the way. He had the entire village turned against him, likely spurred on by the Spiked. He could analyze the votes, analyze the notes of what everyone had said, but for what purpose? Would anyone believe him? It was worth a shot. ”I can’t do it right now,” Var said, “as I have to get back to work. But know that I will be analyzing the votes and everyone still alive to try and decide who the Spiked are. If I die, as is likely the case, and the village somehow survives the night, maybe that information will be useful to you all. For now, I have crem to clean up.”
Hoid Slayer He/Him Posted June 21, 2025 Posted June 21, 2025 2 hours ago, StrikerEZ said: “Man,” Var said. “I really am going out here, aren’t I?” Var sat down, head in his hands. How had it come to this? The Spirit had sent him here of course, presumably to stop the coming disaster of the Koloss attack and the Spiked incursion, but Var had failed every step of the way. He had the entire village turned against him, likely spurred on by the Spiked. He could analyze the votes, analyze the notes of what everyone had said, but for what purpose? Would anyone believe him? It was worth a shot. ”I can’t do it right now,” Var said, “as I have to get back to work. But know that I will be analyzing the votes and everyone still alive to try and decide who the Spiked are. If I die, as is likely the case, and the village somehow survives the night, maybe that information will be useful to you all. For now, I have crem to clean up.” Kéamen nodded. Even though he distrusted Var, he still wanted to hear what the man had to say.
Biplet she/her Posted June 22, 2025 Posted June 22, 2025 7 hours ago, Hoid Slayer said: ”As for Var, I continue to feel confident he is Spiked - and Madiane with him. "Hold on, you think I'm with Var?" Madiane couldn't comprehend that. "I'm the one who outed his abilities to the rest of the town in an effort to get him caught. I don't understand how that looks like I'm working with him?" She shook her head. Bizarre. "I was also approached by Keamen last night and did not know how to respond. I chose to think about my answer for a bit, instead of jumping the gun. By the time I remembered to say something back, the clock had struck." She worried her lip. "I have said time and time again that things get away from me." Var. There is no other option.
Kasimir he/him Posted June 22, 2025 Posted June 22, 2025 Keldorn was poring over the reports from his informants, his own scribbled notes about the events that had taken place in the market square over the last several days. So many things, he thought, rubbing at his eyes in weariness. So little time. The first thing that weighed on him was the deepening sense that Var was one of the Spiked they were looking for. The considerations, he felt, had not particularly shifted. When he went back through his notes of the third day, Fox's objections stood out starkly to Keldorn. Perhaps he'd been too blind to see, then. How often it was, Keldorn thought, that we saw what we wanted to, than what was truly there. It was a failing on his part as an investigator. In any case, Fox had pointed out that Var more strongly accused Mil, and yet, Var had chosen to push a case on Jox. He stared at the paper, the scribbled lines tracking what Var had said seeming to taunt him. Quote All of that meant they had to execute a Spiked today. And continue to execute a Spiked every day afterwards lest things get too dangerous again. [...] Assuming I am correct about their being a Spiked voter on myself, that means Mil is Spiked. Based on my analysis of the first day’s votes, Mil is Spiked in a world where Jox is also Spiked. [...] ”I had already suspected Mil a fair amount. I feel my analysis is reasonable, and can see how Jox’s behavior in that first day could have been with the intent of privately searching for allomancers dangerous to the Spiked’s cause. Which leaves me accusing Mil, Jox, and Lipitor as being Spiked. There is a chance there is a fourth wild card that I missed in my analysis, but I put forward the motion that we vote for one of my three suspects. My vote today shall be for Jox, as I feel his alignment would give us the most information. [...] If Mil, based off Var's analysis, was the most suspicious, then given Var'd advocated it was essential they execute a Spiked that day, he should have advocated for whoever he was most confident was Spiked, rather than whoever he thought was the most informative. The time to gather information was not when the knife was at your throat. That was the time to act in confidence, following from what you were most certain of. It was extremely difficult to look at Var's words and to not feel as though the shift from accusing Mil to voting on Jox didn't make sense given Var's own attitudes about the urgency of the day, to the point Var had called on everyone to show up on the market square to avert disaster. When Fox had called Var on this, Var's response was a retaliatory accusation on Fox, claiming that Fox had been reaching to accuse him and twisting his words. This, Keldorn felt, seemed particularly like something he'd seen before. Sometimes, guilty men immediately lashed out and counter-accused their accusers. Then, Var'd twice asked Keldorn privately at night after the identity of the Village Lurcher. That was something that left Keldorn feeling uncomfortable. He understood the relevance of Smoking, but was increasingly wary of Var's interest in a potential Lurcher. The following day, Var had accused Kéamen of having been a Spiked Mistborn who killed Teal the second day, when Fox had already claimed a Soothe on Kéamen. When Var'd been reminded that Kéamen could not have shot Teal, due to having been Soothed, Var'd acknowledged his accusations of Kéamen lacked basis but had left his vote on Kéamen. (Although Keldorn did not think leaving an accusation in place was itself problematic, he did feel it fed into the sense that Var's behaviour on that day had been fairly lacklustre: he'd dropped an accusation, with the vote being left in place, Mil, whom Var'd already demonstrated a blindspot towards had joined him in voting Kéamen, and then that pair of accusations had simply stuck around. It felt more as though the Kéamen votes had served the function of countering the Var accusations than anything else.) In response to the accusations, Var'd simply chosen to vanish, only to appear at the very last second of sunset to vote on Madiane to save himself. While Keldorn disagreed with Jox that self-preservation was a Village action, he also felt that Var's lack of interest in engaging with the market square and choice to hammer demonstrated he wasn't particularly interested in helping the Village investigate, but was interested only in naked survival and denying information to the Village (via non-engagement.) This didn't strike Keldorn as actions emerging from the mindset of a villager of Blackkeep. Var'd claimed he would attempt his own analysis to guide the Village. Keldorn was fine with this; he was always of the view that he was open to persuasion until the sun dipped below the horizon. In most sensible worlds, Keldorn felt that Var was just Spiked here. The leading candidate for Var's teammate, in Keldorn's eyes, was probably Mil. This was both in light of Var finding a convoluted way of avoiding voting on Mil to accuse Jox, and Mil voting with Var on Kéamen once Var had accumulated two votes. In addition, while Var had opened yesterday with a vote on Mil, that vote had very quickly shifted to Kéamen, which made Keldorn feel the vote had been done for distancing purposes, but hadn't sincere commitment to it. In terms of candidates for the third teammate, Keldorn felt the most likely was just Josha, by process of elimination. The next bracket upwards contained <Madiane, Jox>. He felt as though in a world where Jox was Spiked, unless something had gone terribly wrong, Jox should have voted on Kéamen to force the execution, with a Village loss resulting in most worlds. (Executing Kéamen here brought their numbers to four against three, they killed Antari in the night (conservative assumption), and then deadlocked the Village at three to three into a loss to the koloss the following night.) Another consideration in favour of Jox being a Villager was that it was just strange here for Var to have contrived a reason to vote for one teammate over another. Unless Jox was actually a Thug, or a Spiked Mistborn with a pewter vial, Keldorn supposed. Jox also had a reaction to Kéamen's ploy that felt fairly authentic to Keldorn. However, he accepted he was not easily able to let go of Jox's claim that voting for a tie would soft-clear Var. For this reason, Keldorn had left Jox within that bracket as a soft suspicion. Madiane did in fact have a vote backing Var's push on Fox that Keldorn was concerned about. Keldorn's issues with considering Madiane to be Var's teammate boiled down to both Madiane's push on Var (arguably once Var had been a lock; however, Madiane had been the third voter on Var yesterday, which endangered Var. Voting on someone else such as Kéamen would have easily led to a misexecution and a potential Spiked victory.) This deserved Village credit in Keldorn's eyes. Finally, there was Kéamen. Keldorn supposed he owed an explanation as to why he'd so far repeatedly stated that voting Kéamen would have been a misexecution. Simply put, he felt that since Var had picked Kéamen as his chosen counter-accusation, it was a fairly straight-forward inference that Kéamen was least likely to be teamed with Var. Counter-accusing another Spiked would be counter-productive, and the presence of Mil backing Var up made Keldorn feel a little more sure of this. In most worlds, Var was Spiked, and Keldorn's primary candidates for his teammates were <Mil, Josha.> He felt that <Madiane, Jox> were possibilities, but would not look into them until the primary pool was cleared. However, Keldorn felt compelled to consult the possibility of the worlds in which Var was not Spiked, if only for the purposes of due dilligence. In that world, he would have to redo his analyses of the voting, but the primary thought that came to mind was he would probably need to re-evaluate on Kéamen. Kéamen's voting record had not been particularly good, with Kéamen voting to tie things up on the first day (an inconsistency with his views on pressure voting, in Keldorn's eyes) and with Kéamen following the majority on the second and third day (foiled as he'd scrawled his vote on a missive instead of announcing it in the market square) but not actually committing to his votes. While Keldorn really appreciated that Kéamen had come back to life yesterday, in a world where Var was in fact a Villager, Keldorn would probably wonder if that surge in energy was motivated by the nearness of Blackkeep's defeat. In truth, Kéamen had some factors going for him. He'd claimed Mistborn to Keldorn privately during the day, only to retract and claim it was a test when Keldorn immediately suspected he was the Spiked Mistborn who'd done for Teal out of paranoia even though he also knew in most worlds, it was fairly unlikely. But Keldorn was wary of how Kéamen had shifted from wanting to draw the Spiked kill to give the Lurcher an easy target to protect (he liked the proactiveness) to trying to bait a claim from the Lurcher, insisting that the plan would fail in any world the Lurcher did not claim to him. That felt more like Lurcher fishing to Keldorn, and he didn't like it, particularly since at this point, a significant chunk of Blackkeep's defenses rested on the ability of the Village Lurcher (if one existed, Keldorn was no longer so sure he had faith) to successfully make an interception. It thus seemed to Keldorn that the Spiked would be particularly invested in denying the Lurcher. This was as best as Keldorn had for the moment. He hoped Mil [ @KaladinsSenseOfHumorSpren ] had not gotten lost in the crowds filling the market square. Keldorn did feel that Var was their best shot of taking down a Spiked, and despite his own doubts about Mil, they needed everyone casting an accusation, or the Spiked could either hammer or deadlock them. "No more mistakes," Keldorn said quietly, one last time. It was the best he could do. 2
Hoid Slayer He/Him Posted June 22, 2025 Posted June 22, 2025 “No more mistakes.” Kéamen gripped his notes tightly as he strolled into the market square for what was almost surely one of his last times. He had been almost surely he would die last night. But he had survived. He had been given a second chance. He could not afford to waste it. It seemed the entire village had converged on Var, with little opposition. That didn’t particularly concern Kéamen. If Var were Spiked, then his peers likely recognized that he was a lost cause. A sacrifice, so that others may continue to draw breath. Kéamen shut his eyes. Why was it always about survival? Why could it not be about good? What worried him more was that nearly half the people in power were his enemies. Four villagers; three Spiked. The votes, as they stood, fell on: Var (5): Keldorn, Kéamen, Madiane, Josha, Jox Two people had yet to vote. @KaladinsSenseOfHumorSpren@StrikerEZ If the Spiked were able to organize themselves well tonight, then they would be able to force a misexecution or at least a tie unless every villager voted for the same execution. That execution, of course, being Var. A sacrifice so others may continue to draw breath.
KaladinsSenseOfHumourSpren He/Him Posted June 22, 2025 Posted June 22, 2025 6 hours ago, Kasimir said: Keldorn was poring over the reports from his informants, his own scribbled notes about the events that had taken place in the market square over the last several days. So many things, he thought, rubbing at his eyes in weariness. So little time. The first thing that weighed on him was the deepening sense that Var was one of the Spiked they were looking for. The considerations, he felt, had not particularly shifted. When he went back through his notes of the third day, Fox's objections stood out starkly to Keldorn. Perhaps he'd been too blind to see, then. How often it was, Keldorn thought, that we saw what we wanted to, than what was truly there. It was a failing on his part as an investigator. In any case, Fox had pointed out that Var more strongly accused Mil, and yet, Var had chosen to push a case on Jox. He stared at the paper, the scribbled lines tracking what Var had said seeming to taunt him. If Mil, based off Var's analysis, was the most suspicious, then given Var'd advocated it was essential they execute a Spiked that day, he should have advocated for whoever he was most confident was Spiked, rather than whoever he thought was the most informative. The time to gather information was not when the knife was at your throat. That was the time to act in confidence, following from what you were most certain of. It was extremely difficult to look at Var's words and to not feel as though the shift from accusing Mil to voting on Jox didn't make sense given Var's own attitudes about the urgency of the day, to the point Var had called on everyone to show up on the market square to avert disaster. When Fox had called Var on this, Var's response was a retaliatory accusation on Fox, claiming that Fox had been reaching to accuse him and twisting his words. This, Keldorn felt, seemed particularly like something he'd seen before. Sometimes, guilty men immediately lashed out and counter-accused their accusers. Then, Var'd twice asked Keldorn privately at night after the identity of the Village Lurcher. That was something that left Keldorn feeling uncomfortable. He understood the relevance of Smoking, but was increasingly wary of Var's interest in a potential Lurcher. The following day, Var had accused Kéamen of having been a Spiked Mistborn who killed Teal the second day, when Fox had already claimed a Soothe on Kéamen. When Var'd been reminded that Kéamen could not have shot Teal, due to having been Soothed, Var'd acknowledged his accusations of Kéamen lacked basis but had left his vote on Kéamen. (Although Keldorn did not think leaving an accusation in place was itself problematic, he did feel it fed into the sense that Var's behaviour on that day had been fairly lacklustre: he'd dropped an accusation, with the vote being left in place, Mil, whom Var'd already demonstrated a blindspot towards had joined him in voting Kéamen, and then that pair of accusations had simply stuck around. It felt more as though the Kéamen votes had served the function of countering the Var accusations than anything else.) In response to the accusations, Var'd simply chosen to vanish, only to appear at the very last second of sunset to vote on Madiane to save himself. While Keldorn disagreed with Jox that self-preservation was a Village action, he also felt that Var's lack of interest in engaging with the market square and choice to hammer demonstrated he wasn't particularly interested in helping the Village investigate, but was interested only in naked survival and denying information to the Village (via non-engagement.) This didn't strike Keldorn as actions emerging from the mindset of a villager of Blackkeep. Var'd claimed he would attempt his own analysis to guide the Village. Keldorn was fine with this; he was always of the view that he was open to persuasion until the sun dipped below the horizon. In most sensible worlds, Keldorn felt that Var was just Spiked here. The leading candidate for Var's teammate, in Keldorn's eyes, was probably Mil. This was both in light of Var finding a convoluted way of avoiding voting on Mil to accuse Jox, and Mil voting with Var on Kéamen once Var had accumulated two votes. In addition, while Var had opened yesterday with a vote on Mil, that vote had very quickly shifted to Kéamen, which made Keldorn feel the vote had been done for distancing purposes, but hadn't sincere commitment to it. In terms of candidates for the third teammate, Keldorn felt the most likely was just Josha, by process of elimination. The next bracket upwards contained <Madiane, Jox>. He felt as though in a world where Jox was Spiked, unless something had gone terribly wrong, Jox should have voted on Kéamen to force the execution, with a Village loss resulting in most worlds. (Executing Kéamen here brought their numbers to four against three, they killed Antari in the night (conservative assumption), and then deadlocked the Village at three to three into a loss to the koloss the following night.) Another consideration in favour of Jox being a Villager was that it was just strange here for Var to have contrived a reason to vote for one teammate over another. Unless Jox was actually a Thug, or a Spiked Mistborn with a pewter vial, Keldorn supposed. Jox also had a reaction to Kéamen's ploy that felt fairly authentic to Keldorn. However, he accepted he was not easily able to let go of Jox's claim that voting for a tie would soft-clear Var. For this reason, Keldorn had left Jox within that bracket as a soft suspicion. Madiane did in fact have a vote backing Var's push on Fox that Keldorn was concerned about. Keldorn's issues with considering Madiane to be Var's teammate boiled down to both Madiane's push on Var (arguably once Var had been a lock; however, Madiane had been the third voter on Var yesterday, which endangered Var. Voting on someone else such as Kéamen would have easily led to a misexecution and a potential Spiked victory.) This deserved Village credit in Keldorn's eyes. Finally, there was Kéamen. Keldorn supposed he owed an explanation as to why he'd so far repeatedly stated that voting Kéamen would have been a misexecution. Simply put, he felt that since Var had picked Kéamen as his chosen counter-accusation, it was a fairly straight-forward inference that Kéamen was least likely to be teamed with Var. Counter-accusing another Spiked would be counter-productive, and the presence of Mil backing Var up made Keldorn feel a little more sure of this. In most worlds, Var was Spiked, and Keldorn's primary candidates for his teammates were <Mil, Josha.> He felt that <Madiane, Jox> were possibilities, but would not look into them until the primary pool was cleared. However, Keldorn felt compelled to consult the possibility of the worlds in which Var was not Spiked, if only for the purposes of due dilligence. In that world, he would have to redo his analyses of the voting, but the primary thought that came to mind was he would probably need to re-evaluate on Kéamen. Kéamen's voting record had not been particularly good, with Kéamen voting to tie things up on the first day (an inconsistency with his views on pressure voting, in Keldorn's eyes) and with Kéamen following the majority on the second and third day (foiled as he'd scrawled his vote on a missive instead of announcing it in the market square) but not actually committing to his votes. While Keldorn really appreciated that Kéamen had come back to life yesterday, in a world where Var was in fact a Villager, Keldorn would probably wonder if that surge in energy was motivated by the nearness of Blackkeep's defeat. In truth, Kéamen had some factors going for him. He'd claimed Mistborn to Keldorn privately during the day, only to retract and claim it was a test when Keldorn immediately suspected he was the Spiked Mistborn who'd done for Teal out of paranoia even though he also knew in most worlds, it was fairly unlikely. But Keldorn was wary of how Kéamen had shifted from wanting to draw the Spiked kill to give the Lurcher an easy target to protect (he liked the proactiveness) to trying to bait a claim from the Lurcher, insisting that the plan would fail in any world the Lurcher did not claim to him. That felt more like Lurcher fishing to Keldorn, and he didn't like it, particularly since at this point, a significant chunk of Blackkeep's defenses rested on the ability of the Village Lurcher (if one existed, Keldorn was no longer so sure he had faith) to successfully make an interception. It thus seemed to Keldorn that the Spiked would be particularly invested in denying the Lurcher. This was as best as Keldorn had for the moment. He hoped Mil [ @KaladinsSenseOfHumorSpren ] had not gotten lost in the crowds filling the market square. Keldorn did feel that Var was their best shot of taking down a Spiked, and despite his own doubts about Mil, they needed everyone casting an accusation, or the Spiked could either hammer or deadlock them. "No more mistakes," Keldorn said quietly, one last time. It was the best he could do. 1 hour ago, Hoid Slayer said: “No more mistakes.” Kéamen gripped his notes tightly as he strolled into the market square for what was almost surely one of his last times. He had been almost surely he would die last night. But he had survived. He had been given a second chance. He could not afford to waste it. It seemed the entire village had converged on Var, with little opposition. That didn’t particularly concern Kéamen. If Var were Spiked, then his peers likely recognized that he was a lost cause. A sacrifice, so that others may continue to draw breath. Kéamen shut his eyes. Why was it always about survival? Why could it not be about good? What worried him more was that nearly half the people in power were his enemies. Four villagers; three Spiked. The votes, as they stood, fell on: Var (5): Keldorn, Kéamen, Madiane, Josha, Jox Two people had yet to vote. @KaladinsSenseOfHumorSpren@StrikerEZ If the Spiked were able to organize themselves well tonight, then they would be able to force a misexecution or at least a tie unless every villager voted for the same execution. That execution, of course, being Var. A sacrifice so others may continue to draw breath. Mil understood. Var.
StrikerEZ he/him Posted June 22, 2025 Posted June 22, 2025 (edited) Quote Day One: Lijal (4): Var, Madiane, Fox, Mil Astrid (3): Keldorn, Kéamen, Jox Jox (1): Copper Stopper Fox (1): Lijal Antari (1): John Derrick No vote: Josha, Lipitor, Teal, Astrid, Antari Day Two: John Derrick/AraRaash (5): Jox, Josha, Keldorn, Fox, Var Var (2): Mil, Teal No vote: John Derrick, Astrid, Antari, Madiane, Kéamen, Lipitor Day Three: Fox (3): Madiane, Var, Jox Mil (2): Keldorn, Fox Jox (1): Mil Var (1): Antari No vote: Josha, Kéamen, Lipitor Day Four: Var (3): Madiane, Antari, Kéamen Madianne (3): Var, Jox, Josha Antari (1): Keldorn Kéamen (1): Mil Var sat there, staring at the scrawled notes he had made. Not much had changed since the last time he had stared at the votes like this. He spent ages staring at the votes, hoping to make sense of patterns. If there even were any to see. He was feeling sick, both from the pressure and just physically. It was making it hard to think. But he kept going back to the first day’s votes. He was certain that a Spiked must have been voted on that day. There were so many votes that day, why else would the Spiked have gotten involved if a Spiked was not potentially on the line? Once again, just based on numbers and potentially faulty reasoning, Var was back to feeling like Jox was Spiked. He was certain of it now. Not much else made any sense to him. And his head hurt too damn much to feel up to reading the records of what was said. He doubted it would help anyway, not with the entire village voting for him. 6 of the suspects included. Half of them had to be Spiked, but he couldn’t decide which. Not like it mattered anyway. Var would be dead by sunset. Granted, it would not be the first time. It still hurt every time though. And he had grown attached to this city. Spirits curse him, he had. This always happened, didn’t it? He tried to avoid getting involved, keep his head low, but the Spirit sent him to places that needed help. And he was a helper at heart. He had just failed this time. He would die, and unless the villagers could stop the Spiked from killing overnight, the Spiked would take over the city. What was the point in trying? So Var let the village know his thoughts, accused Jox as his only decent lead, and sat in the market square to await his execution. Edited June 22, 2025 by StrikerEZ Fixed a typo
Hoid Slayer He/Him Posted June 23, 2025 Posted June 23, 2025 Kéamen watched from the shadows. He felt an odd sense of unnerve as the day waned. He wasn’t doubting the exe on Var; the man was the most suspicious, and nothing odd seemed to be happening. Rather, there was an odd sense that, indeed, nothing was happening. Kéamen supposed it made sense. After yesterday’s draw and the chaos of last night, they were basically repeating the previous day. But it was still odd. The day lacked much of the fanfare, the sense of suspense, of trembling fate as the previous one. Perhaps because the town felt as if they had gone through all this already. Yet Kéamen trembled. The Spiked had likely seen there was nothing they could do to flip the votes. One way or another, Var would go quietly tonight. His secrets would die with him. Would anyone tell his story? Slowly, Kéamen stepped out of the shadows, and began to walk. Kéamen had abandoned the life of secrets in a room not far from here, only a few days ago. He still didn't know whether that change was for better or for worse. He didn’t even know if he would live past tonight. But Kéamen Wither was done with secrets. It was time to find the truth. So he walked up to Var, joining the man in the center of the market square. And took out a scrap of paper and a pen.
Araris Valerian he/him Posted June 23, 2025 Author Posted June 23, 2025 The game is over! I’m not going to be able to get the aftermath up tonight, expect it sometime tomorrow. 1
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