LG108: A Tale of Rats and Spores

[IcedOutPenguin He/Him]

Yay! We get to poke people to see how they react now!

TwinStorm

[Belandrius Ohhmar He/Him]

I will also vote TwinStorm

[The Unknown Medallion he/him]

I'm tired

Talk to you tomorrow

[CoderDrag0n8 He/They]

Robert

I have light sus on him

[Amanuensis he/him]

I have posted the write-up. Y'all are free to RP how you wish throughout the day, based on the rumors of what happened. My head cannon is that y'all are the ones that start the exe rather than the leadership, once accusations start getting thrown around.

Oh also please go upvote one of Doc's posts, as he was the one who wrote the first scene

[RoyalBeeMage he/him]

2 hours ago, Belandrius Ohhmar said:

I will also vote TwinStorm

2 hours ago, IcedOutPenguin said:

Yay! We get to poke people to see how they react now!

TwinStorm

what's y'all's reasoning for twinstorm? they didnt seem all that sus yesterday

[Belandrius Ohhmar He/Him]

7 minutes ago, RoyalBeeMage said:

what's y'all's reasoning for twinstorm? they didnt seem all that sus yesterday

I didn't find anyone suspicious and wanted to gain some allies so I voted with Iced.

[Araris Valerian he/him]

I think the Doc kill suggests that someone from LG 107 is an elim. Notably, in that game Doc had active PMs with most players, and it seems plausible that an elim who had played that game would be concerned about him building a similar information network in this game. Only 4 players are in this game that played 107: Twinstorm, TUO, myself, and TOW.

I'd probably lean toward TOW being the sort of person to kill Doc.

Edited October 8, 2025 by Araris Valerian

[RoyalBeeMage he/him]

7 minutes ago, Araris Valerian said:

 think the Doc kill suggests that someone from LG 107 is an elim. Notably, in that game Doc had active PMs with most players, and it seems plausible that an elim who had played that game would be concerned about him building a similar information network in this game. Only 4 players are in this game that played 107: Twinstorm, TUO, myself, and TOW.

I'd probably lean toward TOW being the sort of person to kill Doc.

by that same reasoning would you not be more inclided to go twinstorm simply to jump on the bandwagon that is slowly forming?

[Araris Valerian he/him]

1 hour ago, RoyalBeeMage said:

by that same reasoning would you not be more inclided to go twinstorm simply to jump on the bandwagon that is slowly forming?

Yeah, I’m mildly suspicious of TwinStorm as well. But people went after TwinStorm pretty hard in that same game for bad reasons, and getting exed repeatedly at the start of games just isn’t very fun, especially if you haven’t done much to deserve it. At least during our first exe we have the leeway to take things like that into consideration when deciding who to vote out.

Not to mention, at least early on, it’s not a bad idea to propose a bunch of exe candidates. That make it more likely that we end up pressuring an elim.

I’m excluding TUO based on a hunch, but it’s really just a gut feeling. Somehow despite the number of games we’ve played together I don’t have a great feel for his playstyle.

5 hours ago, Hoid Slayer said:

Knot a pretty sight indeed

Well, at least I now get to do this:

Araris Valerian

Somebody’s getting 3/4 rations for breakfast today.  

[Jo and the Bush all/any]

11 hours ago, Amanuensis said:

Ann had said earlier this morning that they would teach Midnight tricks and Roseite shields later in the journey, once they had proven themselves. Braid was going to surprise them by mastering one on the first night. 

The pot, on close examination, was a fairly simple device. She had sketched similar designs, trying to reverse-engineer her Master’s far more advanced canisters. The principle remained the same. Water, a measure of Zephyr, and a second spore canister. 

Carefully, she began pouring the small pouch of Roseite spores, counting the seconds in her head.

>snip<

Braid sucked in a deep breath. With her left hand, she reached into her pocket and broke the first of her Master’s gifts - the spanreed - a tool from another world. That would let Him know she didn’t expect to come back. With her right, she took out the second gift, a pot full of Crimson spores. 

“Alright monster,” She snarled. “Let’s do this.”

Braid (Doc12) has been found dead in her cabin. She was a Royal Loyalist.

Day Two Quartermaster's Spore Storeroom

• ~ Zephyr Charges
• 3 Verdant Charges
• 1  Crimson Charge
• 1  Sunlight Charge
• 1  Roseite Charge
• 3 Midnight Charges
• 1  Novice Roseite Pot
• 1  Apprentice Crimson Pot

So, if Doc wrote the first scene of Braid creating a Roseite pot, then we can predict that they successfully got the Roseite Charge yesterday. There was enough Crimson Charges available that Doc's RP could be lying, and they instead took a risk and made a Crimson Pot. They would have had to luckily get two Crimson charges, and then luckily not fail making it. But I'm pretty sure you can only prepare one pot a night, and even if I'm wrong and you can prepare multiple with 1 Prepare action, Doc shouldn't have had enough charges to make two pots. (AC Pot requires 2 Crim, 1 Zeph, NR Pot requires 1 Rose, 1 Zeph, 5 charges total) This brings me to my conclusions and observations.

#1: Doc12 started with an Apprentice Crimson Pot.

#2: None of you have mentioned that.

While it's obviously possible for people to overlook details like that, it seems weird to me that no one has mentioned it yet. How many of you weren't surprised because you started with items as well? This is going to make it difficult to impossible to eventually track all actions. 

I'm going to toss a vote on Coder Dragon for now. Their reaction specifically to the lack of Writeup originally feels kinda disappointed in a, hmm, I don't know how to phrase this. It feel like Coder woke up Christmas morning and didn't get the present he was expecting? Like, he was excited to read about Doc dying, because he had a hand in the killing, and is now sad that he didn't get to read himself being really cool.

Vote Count:
Araris Valerian (1): Hoid Slayer
Twin Storm (2): Iced Out Penguin, Belandrius Ohhmar
STINK (1): Coder Dragon
That One Worldhopper (1): Araris Valerian
Coder Dragon (1):  A Jo in the Bush

[TwinStorm He/Him]

11 hours ago, IcedOutPenguin said:

Yay! We get to poke people to see how they react now!

TwinStorm

You've had two full days (while a day and a night) to poke people, albeit not through voting, and see their reactions. This feels weak to me, especially given how you make sure to clarify it is a poke vote, three "days" into the game. That feels incredibly e!leaning, wanting to start a random train in the name of a poke vote, when poke votes are not necessary and arguably harm the village.

11 hours ago, Belandrius Ohhmar said:

I will also vote TwinStorm

Oh? Reasoning? Being the next vote after a weak vote with no evidence feels a lot like someone's trying to start a train against me. You're new, so I'll give you a pass for rn, and just ask for reasoning. Same goes for Penguin. 

53 minutes ago, A Jo in the Bush said:

So, if Doc wrote the first scene of Braid creating a Roseite pot, then we can predict that they successfully got the Roseite Charge yesterday. There was enough Crimson Charges available that Doc's RP could be lying, and they instead took a risk and made a Crimson Pot. They would have had to luckily get two Crimson charges, and then luckily not fail making it. But I'm pretty sure you can only prepare one pot a night, and even if I'm wrong and you can prepare multiple with 1 Prepare action, Doc shouldn't have had enough charges to make two pots. (AC Pot requires 2 Crim, 1 Zeph, NR Pot requires 1 Rose, 1 Zeph, 5 charges total) This brings me to my conclusions and observations.

#1: Doc12 started with an Apprentice Crimson Pot.

#2: None of you have mentioned that.

While it's obviously possible for people to overlook details like that, it seems weird to me that no one has mentioned it yet. How many of you weren't surprised because you started with items as well? This is going to make it difficult to impossible to eventually track all actions. 

I'm going to toss a vote on Coder Dragon for now. Their reaction specifically to the lack of Writeup originally feels kinda disappointed in a, hmm, I don't know how to phrase this. It feel like Coder woke up Christmas morning and didn't get the present he was expecting? Like, he was excited to read about Doc dying, because he had a hand in the killing, and is now sad that he didn't get to read himself being really cool.

Vote Count:
Araris Valerian (1): Hoid Slayer
Twin Storm (2): Iced Out Penguin, Belandrius Ohhmar
STINK (1): Coder Dragon
That One Worldhopper (1): Araris Valerian
Coder Dragon (1):  A Jo in the Bush

Jo, I get your idea on Coder, but it feels weak. Your reason makes sense logically, but I don't think Coder wanting to RP is e!indicative at all. He's one of the more active RPers in this game, and having a writeup to play off of, RP style, is always important. I personally think your making a mountain out of a mole hill, tho I'm curious to see Coder's response.

Coder, I trust personally, simply because he gave me a zephyr spore. That in it of itself does not mean anything, but would e!coder give me a zephyr spore over a teammate? I don't think so. This isn't a strong read or anything, just something that inclines me to look favorably at him.

[IcedOutPenguin He/Him]

Itenii looked around at the people on the ship. He didn't trust any of them.

[TwinStorm He/Him]

2 minutes ago, IcedOutPenguin said:

Itenii looked around at the people on the ship. He didn't trust any of them.

can u respond to why you voted me pls?

[CoderDrag0n8 He/They]

2 hours ago, A Jo in the Bush said:

So, if Doc wrote the first scene of Braid creating a Roseite pot, then we can predict that they successfully got the Roseite Charge yesterday. There was enough Crimson Charges available that Doc's RP could be lying, and they instead took a risk and made a Crimson Pot. They would have had to luckily get two Crimson charges, and then luckily not fail making it. But I'm pretty sure you can only prepare one pot a night, and even if I'm wrong and you can prepare multiple with 1 Prepare action, Doc shouldn't have had enough charges to make two pots. (AC Pot requires 2 Crim, 1 Zeph, NR Pot requires 1 Rose, 1 Zeph, 5 charges total) This brings me to my conclusions and observations.

#1: Doc12 started with an Apprentice Crimson Pot.

#2: None of you have mentioned that.

While it's obviously possible for people to overlook details like that, it seems weird to me that no one has mentioned it yet. How many of you weren't surprised because you started with items as well? This is going to make it difficult to impossible to eventually track all actions. 

I'm going to toss a vote on Coder Dragon for now. Their reaction specifically to the lack of Writeup originally feels kinda disappointed in a, hmm, I don't know how to phrase this. It feel like Coder woke up Christmas morning and didn't get the present he was expecting? Like, he was excited to read about Doc dying, because he had a hand in the killing, and is now sad that he didn't get to read himself being really cool.

Vote Count:
Araris Valerian (1): Hoid Slayer
Twin Storm (2): Iced Out Penguin, Belandrius Ohhmar
STINK (1): Coder Dragon
That One Worldhopper (1): Araris Valerian
Coder Dragon (1):  A Jo in the Bush

I just wanted to RP T^T

I can see your reasoning, but RP and Lore has always been important to me. In my second game, I RPed a reason for why my character would be a good guy (he was not so much of a good guy) even when it gave me a lot of suspicion. For those who have played games with me know that RP is fairly important to me, and this game it will be more important (the XP thing)

oh and I didn't even connect those dots with the Crimson pots

but maybe someone gave it to her?

1 hour ago, TwinStorm said:

You've had two full days (while a day and a night) to poke people, albeit not through voting, and see their reactions. This feels weak to me, especially given how you make sure to clarify it is a poke vote, three "days" into the game. That feels incredibly e!leaning, wanting to start a random train in the name of a poke vote, when poke votes are not necessary and arguably harm the village.

Oh? Reasoning? Being the next vote after a weak vote with no evidence feels a lot like someone's trying to start a train against me. You're new, so I'll give you a pass for rn, and just ask for reasoning. Same goes for Penguin. 

Jo, I get your idea on Coder, but it feels weak. Your reason makes sense logically, but I don't think Coder wanting to RP is e!indicative at all. He's one of the more active RPers in this game, and having a writeup to play off of, RP style, is always important. I personally think your making a mountain out of a mole hill, tho I'm curious to see Coder's response.

Coder, I trust personally, simply because he gave me a zephyr spore. That in it of itself does not mean anything, but would e!coder give me a zephyr spore over a teammate? I don't think so. This isn't a strong read or anything, just something that inclines me to look favorably at him.

Thank you.

Yeah i just wanted to RP not see someone die

I personally think that the elims killed Braid to stir up suspicion, since she just told everyone who she hated, but I dont think that is actually enough to kill someone for, so I am susing everyone Braid was on good terms with

14 hours ago, Amanuensis said:

Braid’s hands were trembling. Unacceptable. 

Braid took a deep breath, another. Stilled herself. Roseite was not one of the spores that would kill you instantly, but being incautious around one spore meant death sooner or later. She ran through her preparations again. Water in a sealed flask. A silver knife in her belt. She’d locked her door, chased out the vermin. 

Ann had said earlier this morning that they would teach Midnight tricks and Roseite shields later in the journey, once they had proven themselves. Braid was going to surprise them by mastering one on the first night. 

The pot, on close examination, was a fairly simple device. She had sketched similar designs, trying to reverse-engineer her Master’s far more advanced canisters. The principle remained the same. Water, a measure of Zephyr, and a second spore canister. 

Carefully, she began pouring the small pouch of Roseite spores, counting the seconds in her head.

Then something black and oily reached from behind her head and clamped onto her nose and mouth.

She screamed soundlessly, trying to turn, but whatever held her was strong, and hadn’t made a single sound to alert her, and oh Moon of menace it was Midnight Essence, someone was trying to murder her, and already a second black limb was coming around her throat- 

Desperate, she grabbed the silver knife by her belt and stabbed blindly backwards. The creature made no sound, but its grip slackened enough that she tore herself out of its grip, spinning out of its reach and catching her first real glimpse of a Midnight Essence Familiar. Slick, reflective, faceless. It advanced. 

Thinking quickly, she grabbed the dregs of her Roseite, slammed them on the ground between them, and splashed them with her blood. As they made contact, a thin sheet of pink crystals emerged, but stopped at waist height. Too little spores. Not enough control.The Familiar smashed its way through the crystals with little effort.

Braid sucked in a deep breath. With her left hand, she reached into her pocket and broke the first of her Master’s gifts - the spanreed - a tool from another world. That would let Him know she didn’t expect to come back. With her right, she took out the second gift, a pot full of Crimson spores. 

“Alright monster,” She snarled. “Let’s do this.”

...

Dawn found the ship thin with quiet—the kind that comes after a hard night and before the bell. Lines hummed faintly against the pier posts; gulls sat in a patient ring on the storeroom roof, all beaks shut. On the main deck, recruits were already gathering. One never came.

They gathered in Braid’s cabin: Helsmaster Salay, Quartermaster Fort, Armsmaster Ann. The door had been barred from within; Fort had to lift the hinge pins to get them in. He’d set them back by reflex before any of them spoke.

Braid hung from the lower deck beam, toes a hand’s width off the boards. Her hair—long, thick, woven for beauty and habit both—had been made into its own noose and taken the weight. Her cup lay upright on the desk, lid dogged tight. The porthole dogs were set. The bolt on the door was slid home on the inside.

Ann’s hand went to the bell at her collar and stopped short. “Charlie (the Better) stays out,” she said to no one and everyone, and shut the rat in the passage with a click of her bootheel. She crossed the room slow, goggles pushed up, revolver heavy and unnecessary at her hip.

Fort was already at work in the way he worked best: eyes moving, making notes on his slate he didn’t need to look at. The bite marks were plain even in the gray light—neat little crescents and paired scrapes up her forearms, over one shoulder, along her ribs where the shirt had been torn. The wood beneath her feet was dusted in dead spores, a gray film that clung to the grain in the boards and caked along the hinge seam where the door met the jamb.

Ann touched the dust with the back of her knuckle, then with a dry cloth. The smear it made was the color of old ash.

Salay’s face didn’t change, which on her was the same thing as grief. She stepped beneath the beam and lifted the weight by palm and forearm long enough for Fort to cut the hair. Together they lowered Braid to a blanket and covered her to the collarbone.

“Locked,” Fort typed, slow and deliberate. “Bar on. Porthole dogs set. No broken seam. No sign of a pot thrown from outside. No spilled water.”

“Plenty used,” Ann said softly, eyes moving over the desk, the bunk, the places water hides. Condensation ring on the inside of the porthole glass. A damp mark on the bunkpost that had dried to a tide line. “But nothing left.”

Salay crouched by Braid’s hands. The crescents were too small for a grown rat and too many to be one animal besides; each mark had that oddly tidy, almost imitated look you get when the world pretends it’s something it isn’t.

They each arrived at the same thought, the way sailors feel the same swell under different boots.

“Midnight,” Salay said.

Fort rose and looked to the bolt and back, to the porthole’s dogged lugs, to the gray dreck caked along the keyway like flour in a lock. He turned the slate around. "No other explanation."

“It's the only thing that fits,” Ann agreed. “The mark work—mimic-teeth, mimic-claws. Not animal. Not Charlie.” She said it before anyone thought to say it to her. “Then—Cultists?” The word tasted like iron.

Salay rubbed the heel of her hand over her brow, then over the deck beam where the hair had bitten a groove. Her thumb came away gray. She looked at it for a long breath, then wiped it on her trouser seam like a promise that would not wipe clean.

“We shouldn't jump to conclusions,” she said at last. “Not at suspects. Not at each other. We tell the crew what we found, but we don't want to cause a panic, or a mutiny, on our first day at sea. We’ve not had to make one of our own walk the plank in... a long while. I would rather not start again today, if we can help it.”

Fort stumbled upon a couple of loose pots, fully prepared, and pocketed them. "No sense in wasting Braid's hard work," he wrote with a grim expression.

Ann fidgeted with the lacquered case. “I’ll stand a double watch at the Stores and the armory. I doubt they'd use our spores for this, but just in case, we should be cautious..."

Salay set her palm on the pillow where Braid’s head lay exactly once; or maybe not, judging by the state of her desk... “We carry her fast to Diggen’s Point,” she said. Her voice was level again. “Our destination doesn’t change. The Duke and Duchess are expecting us.”

Salay nodded, already seeing the course line in her head, the Seethe’s next pulse, the timing of the bells. “We tell the crew what we must and no more: that we’re grieving, that we’re vigilant, that no one opens a door without a witness, and that this ship’s business continues. Fort, post it. Ann, with me after; I want eyes on every shadowy corner.”

Ann reached into the passage, and Charlie (the Better) slipped in under her arm and onto her shoulder, quivering with the room’s unsettled air. She laid two fingers against his back to still him.

They stood a last moment together by the corpse. Guilt sat with them like another officer—uninvited, unarguable.

Then Salay straightened. “For now, we need to get her down and to the medbay,” she said, not unkindly. “As for the truth, we’ll find that while we sail."

RP! Yay!

---

Sozar was stunned. Someone-Someone died? He had barely even known her...

I mean, she didn't like him, and he didn't really like her in return.

He knew she was planning to play with dangerous, dangerous, things

maybe even thinking of murder...

But-Death?

Even for one who might of planned it themselves, it is to harsh of a punishment.

Sozar couldn't get over this. He didn't know who to trust.

For now, all he could trust is his Master.

And hope his Master trusts him.

[IcedOutPenguin He/Him]

2 hours ago, TwinStorm said:

can u respond to why you voted me pls?

I wanted to see how you reacted.

[TwinStorm He/Him]

22 minutes ago, IcedOutPenguin said:

I wanted to see how you reacted.

Surely, by the third day you'd have gotten some feel for the playing board, and wouldn't need poke votes? 

--

Rane sighed, trembling, clutching the gun between his fingers. Murder. Murder by creatures of Midnight Essence, no less. She had seemed so eager, so ready to learn . . . and she had died for it. Now others stood, pointing fingers, shouting, demanding justice. Rane would have none of it. She was dead. It was all useless anyway.

He stood up, to grab a sip of water, nearly forgetting the spores in his cabin. He cursed silently. This murder had affected him in more ways than one. But maybe .  . . maybe he could find the murderer, and seek justice. It was a faint hope, but worth it. Maybe he could try. And that's all that mattered.

[IcedOutPenguin He/Him]

Just now, TwinStorm said:

Surely, by the third day you'd have gotten some feel for the playing board, and wouldn't need poke votes? 

 

I'd say my poke vote was very enlightening

[TwinStorm He/Him]

1 minute ago, IcedOutPenguin said:

I'd say my poke vote was very enlightening

Oh really? Of what?

If you're village, quit being cryptic and giving us solid answers. Its not helping in any way to retain information.

[IcedOutPenguin He/Him]

1 minute ago, TwinStorm said:

Oh really? Of what?

If you're village, quit being cryptic and giving us solid answers. Its not helping in any way to retain information.

I'm not being cryptic. I'm being blunt.

It has shown me that you got really defensive about a bus forming, maybe. That is something I've seen Elims do a lot is get really defensive at small pokes, especially from me. So I am E!leaning on you, as well as Bel oh, his hop on my vote seems odd.

[TwinStorm He/Him]

2 minutes ago, IcedOutPenguin said:

I'm not being cryptic. I'm being blunt.

It has shown me that you got really defensive about a bus forming, maybe. That is something I've seen Elims do a lot is get really defensive at small pokes, especially from me. So I am E!leaning on you, as well as Bel oh, his hop on my vote seems odd.

okay, first answer me this question. We've had two days to interact. Is it logical for a player with that time to poke vote in the 3rd day?

[IcedOutPenguin He/Him]

Just now, TwinStorm said:

okay, first answer me this question. We've had two days to interact. Is it logical for a player with that time to poke vote in the 3rd day?

Yes

[Araris Valerian he/him]

In some ways this is kinda D1. Like I said before, any reads folks got from the actual D1 wouldn't be based on much. I am curious to hear what other folks think about the Doc kill though, because that is one solid piece of info we have to go on.

[STINK he/him]

Heyo folks Roberto will grace this thread with his lovely presence some time tomorrow but I am not inactive 'cause I know that's everyone's greatest fear right now is that I cannot grace you lot with Roberto's presence. And yes, I'm just gonna keep using grace apparently.

And yeah poke votes are already a whole thing I'm like eugh don't wanna get in that mess but yeah someone's dead you can't go around poking anymore they're dead! 

Imagine me saying that like really emotional

[CoderDrag0n8 He/They]

2 hours ago, Araris Valerian said:

In some ways this is kinda D1. Like I said before, any reads folks got from the actual D1 wouldn't be based on much. I am curious to hear what other folks think about the Doc kill though, because that is one solid piece of info we have to go on.

Like I said, I think that the elims thought that a Doc kill could route sus onto people who Doc said was her 'rival' but I don't think it is actually substantial enough for someone to kill over being a 'rival'