Long Game 108: A Tale of Rats and Spores

[The Unknown Character he/him]

I'm pretty dang convinced on a v!Hoid world, and I find it interesting that Jo wants to push the least confirmed elim suspect. I'm not budging.

Wait wtf

???

Spreadsheet eye slip?

[Amanuensis he/him]

Yeah... I forgot to factor in something really sorry about that

Edited October 13, 2025 by Amanuensis

[Araris Valerian he/him]

2 minutes ago, The Unknown Hammerer said:

I'm pretty dang convinced on a v!Hoid world, and I find it interesting that Jo wants to push the least confirmed elim suspect. I'm not budging.

I mean, if Hoid is village and Joe is village then the elims should have won already, since that means 2 elims voted to save v!Hoid. Technically it’s a possibility but I’m not seriously considering it. Thus both e!Joe and v!Joe would vote for Hoid today.

[Amanuensis he/him]

12 minutes ago, The Unknown Hammerer said:

Spreadsheet eye slip?

More so this game has a lot of moving parts and I've been trying to get the turnovers up as fast as I can, so I missed a critical detail

Edited October 12, 2025 by Amanuensis

[CoderDrag0n8 He/They]

31 minutes ago, Amanuensis said:

Not confirming or denying anything, but Exe/MCK come at the end of OoA, so someone being executed could pop off a last minute pot

Double post but...

CoderDrag0n8 isn't actually Wounded... my bad everyone

Just over 7 hours remain in the day to vote

24 minutes ago, Hoid Slayer said:

Wait

What?

23 minutes ago, The Unknown Hammerer said:

I'm pretty dang convinced on a v!Hoid world, and I find it interesting that Jo wants to push the least confirmed elim suspect. I'm not budging.

Wait wtf

???

Spreadsheet eye slip?

Aman explained in a PM that i shouldn't of gotten wounded because I studied

[Hoid Slayer He/Him]

3 minutes ago, CoderDrag0n8 said:

Aman explained in a PM that i shouldn't of gotten wounded because I studied

I’m sorry but this sentence out of context just seems so randomly funny to me

@A Jo in the Bush RP? *puppy eyes*

[Amanuensis he/him]

1 hour ago, Hoid Slayer said:

I’m sorry but this sentence out of context just seems so randomly funny to me

@A Jo in the Bush RP? *puppy eyes*

Stay in school, kids. It's good for your health.

(This is not confirmation btw, Coder can say what he wants about our PM but I cannot confirm the specific reason)

Edited October 12, 2025 by Amanuensis

[RoyalBeeMage he/him]

Something about TUH has rubbed me the wrong way. Also I feel that hoidslayer is looking a lot more village about now.

[Araris Valerian he/him]

18 minutes ago, RoyalBeeMage said:

Something about TUH has rubbed me the wrong way. Also I feel that hoidslayer is looking a lot more village about now.

We have something like 99% confidence that either Joe or Hoid is elim, based on the healing votes last turn. So if you think Hoid is village, you should vote for Joe, and if you think Joe is village, you should vote for Hoid. I don’t think anyone else is a realistic candidate for today. There’s a small chance that the elims fumbled a win by having 2 of them vote to save Hoid, which is the only reason I can think of to justify voting for anyone else.

[Hoid Slayer He/Him]

1 hour ago, RoyalBeeMage said:

Something about TUH has rubbed me the wrong way. Also I feel that hoidslayer is looking a lot more village about now.

I really don’t like this post from Bee

It’s making me look at him as the third elim - the only weird part is why he’s saving me

Is this some weird move to come across as village while not voting Jo?

[Amanuensis he/him]

(Sorry I'm late, it's been a day)
45 minutes remain in the Day to vote and submit actions.

• (3) A Jo in the Bush: Araris Valerian, CoderDrag0n8, Hoid Slayer, 
• (1) Hoid Slayer: A Jo in the Bush, 
• (1) The Unknown Hammerer: RoyalBeeMage, 

Edited October 13, 2025 by Amanuensis

[Araris Valerian he/him]

Honestly, with this level of activity, we very well could be in the world where the elims fumbled healing Hoid during the night. Then the elims would be something like STINK, RBM, TUH. Whatever.

[Hoid Slayer He/Him]

Shifter stood over Emmett, heart racing. Sweat running. Blade at the sailor's neck. He could end it. Right here, right now. In this moment that stretched forever. For once in his life, Shifter saw a crack in the cycle. A break. All he had to do was slit the novice's neck. And he would be free. Free to be.. himself. To be Shifter, this forged persona he had grown to love. To escape the forces pulling him in the other direction. It was tempting. For a second, he almost did it. For a second, fate doubted.

Then his eyes met Emmett's, and they nodded. In a split second, Shifter swung Void - and pointed it at Illi. In a split second, fate fell, crushing, devastating. There was no escaping the cycle. Shifter was weak, and when his gaze fell upon the innocent, it was the Forsaken Son in control. It had always been. Tears streamed down his face as he prepared to deliver the fatal blow. He would avenge the Midnight Sorceress.

He would avenge his mother.

[Jo and the Bush all/any]

Emmett still didn’t understand what was happening. There had been a plan, acting had been involved, but now it seemed that Shifter was betraying them. Was this part of it, or some strange betrayal of all they had worked for?

The Vengeance they had crafted for the loss of the Frostmaiden, the Mistress of the Cold Night. The Midnight Sorceress.

Shifter met their eyes, sword at their throat, a question unasked. Emmett didn’t understand, but they nodded at him.

And Shifter turned away, sword swinging. Emmett jumped up after, sword swung low in the opposite direction. Shifter would take the apprentices, but Emmett wanted the Crew, the ones who had fought and banished the holy Matron.

The Unknown Hammerer.

[Amanuensis he/him]

The Day is now Jover. This one might take me a bit longer.

If it's late for you and you're tired, I recommend you come back in the morning.

[Amanuensis he/him]

The Midnight Cultists have won. Congratulations to @Hoid Slayer, @RoyalBeeMage, and @A Jo in the Bush for your narrow sweep.
GG everyone o7

LG108, Aftermath — The Battle of Diggen's Point

Helmsmaster Salay had the wheel.

All day she’d watched the line of Diggen’s Point sit on the horizon like a dangled promise. At dusk the Seethe had stalled—one long breath that didn’t return. The ship sagged into the pause and every worry on board got louder.

Unknown hulls ringed the Point. Not local rigs. Not their paint. At night, Ann had taken the glass and seen shapes slipping from ship to ship, then ashore. No flags shown. No lights called. Nothing she could name, only the feeling of hands setting pieces where the board could not see.

As soon as the Seethe began again, Salay’s answer was simple. “More Zephyr."

Quartermaster Fort acted without pause. Experienced sprouters hauled the bellows up to the weather rail and potted them hard—Zephyr rounds cracking inside canvas socks, clean air punching the sails. The masts answered with a pleased thrum. The helm caught it. Salay set her feet and let the ship tell her what it wanted.

The wind they made wanted more. Fine. She gave it more.

“Store Report?"

“High but not infinite,” he wrote on his slate, lips tight. “Won't last forever.”

“Trading weeks for minutes,” Salay said. "Such is the cost of answers. Justice."

He was on the same page. He did not need to say what he surmised—Midnight on their decks, Midnights on those strangers, time turning against them. Salay, Ann, and him... they all had an idea of what this all meant.

Salay counted the Seethe's pulses like heartbeats. The plain ahead was all rippling greens, the Point a black thumbprint under cloud.

“Trim!” she called. “Two hands on the leech. Keep the canvas dry. If a drop goes where it shouldn’t, you shout.”

The deck moved like they’d practiced it a hundred times, likely because they had. Old crew on the night watch were stone underfoot. The new recruits who were left stayed apart, bickering amongst themselves. Better than getting in the way.

A gull tried the air and wheeled off fast. Even birds knew better to get close.

Fort came back up. “Ann’s below. She’s looking for Master Illi and Master Rane.”

Salay kept her eyes forward. “Report when she’s done.”

He hesitated. “If she doesn’t find them—”

“She’ll find what matters.” Salay tasted copper and didn’t spit. “We have no choice but to keep moving.”

Fort absorbed that and didn’t respond again until the bell marked the next quarter. “Zephyr holding. Minimal wear on the canvas. We can press harder.”

“Do it.”

The bellows boomed. Sails snapped to a fuller belly. The deck leaned. The wheel spoke to Salay in a steady hum she trusted more than voices.

She watched the Point grow. The unknown vessels sharpened into shapes: three cutters, a barge with too many men on deck, a sloop sitting wrong in the water. Not blockade. Not welcome party. Something in between, waiting to be called what it was.

The Seethe bloomed. A strong lift, like a narrow exhale. The rig groaned. Every head on deck tilted the same half inch. Salay eased the wheel and kept them greedy but not foolish.

“Hold your water,” she said to the clouds. “Not yet.”

Footsteps hit the ladder. Ann came up with three in her wake: Armiel, bandaged to the elbow and gray around the mouth; Sozan, eyes blank but steady; Roberto, silent and clutching his cup like a relic. They took the leeward side of the quarterdeck and stayed there without being told.

Ann met Salay’s eye and shook her head once. The rest were killed or the killers, who could still be loose on the ship.

Salay nodded. There was no time for grief. Rane, Illi... she would mourn them later, when she made sure there would be no one else to mourn.

“Fort,” she said. “Signal the Point. ‘Rat’s Tale inbound. Urgent audience with the Duke and Duchess.’ Add ‘Midnight concerns.’”

Fort was already chalking. Down on the main, a Sunlight pot popped in the signal box. The mirror flashed their message across the green.

The Seethe came back in a thin, mean run, like a thread pulled tight. The ship took it with a low groan. Salay fed the wheel just enough to ride the line. The Point swelled into walls and cranes and men who didn’t wave.

“Hands to stations,” she called. “We go straight to the inner pier. No milling. No chatter.”

Zephyr bellows fired again—one-two—then stopped per her hand. Coast in now. Don’t announce more than you must. Let the green carry you the last span.

Ropes were thrown. Bolts clanged. The hull kissed wood. The ship settled with a proud little shiver.

Salay took her palms from the wheel. They were dry. Good.

“Ann. Fort,” she said, already moving. “With me. Survivors to our shadow. We walk to the Duke and Duchess, and we don’t stop for anything that doesn’t wear their seal.”

She looked once at the strangers on the neighboring decks and once at the green plain beyond, flat as a lie. Then she set her shoulders and led her ship ashore.

Hopefully they were not too late.

(NOTE: I am still working on another scene, but I am a slow writer and feel bad for delaying this much already. At the very least, feel free to talk about the game. I will also be preparing an After Action Report of what worked and what didn't work soon.)

---

• (3) The Unknown Hammerer: RoyalBeeMage, Hoid Slayer, A Jo in the Bush, 
• (2) A Jo in the Bush: Araris Valerian, CoderDrag0n8,

---

Master Illi (The Unknown Hammerer) was executed by the Midnight Cultists. He was a Royal Loyalist.

Novice Armiel (Araris Valerian) has been Wounded. They will die at the end of the AFTERMATH unless 6/12 Players  vote  to heal him.

---

Player List

1. @Araris Valerian — Armiel — Novice — Royal Loyalist
2. @Belandrius Ohhmar — thOmmAs — Apprentice — Royal Loyalist
3. @The Unknown Hammerer — Illi — Master — Royal Loyalist
4. @TwinStorm — Rane — Master — Royal Loyalist
5. @CoderDrag0n8 — Sozar — Apprentice — Royal Loyalist
6. @ThatOneWorldhopper — Fuejrheisjjeirjeujdjeuuduwii — Novice — Royal Loyalist
7. @RoyalBeeMage — William Thorne — Apprentice — Midnight Cultist
8. @Hoid Slayer — Shifter — Novice — Midnight Cultist
9. @IcedOutPenguin — Itenii — Novice — Royal Loyalist
10. @A Jo in the Bush — Emmett — Novice — Midnight Cultist
11. @Doc12 — Braid — Novice — Royal Loyalist
12. @STINK — Roberto — Apprentice — Royal Loyalist

Edited October 13, 2025 by Amanuensis

[Hoid Slayer He/Him]

Buahahahahaha!

Longer post incoming once I get home

@Amanuensis, can we get the docs?

[CoderDrag0n8 He/They]

gosh

hoid slayer, you played well

Araris

[TwinStorm He/Him]

good game y'all, congrats and well played to @A Jo in the Bush @Hoid Slayer @RoyalBeeMage, tho I will admit a certain satisfaction to having figured you out right before I died.  I was the one who wounded you Hoid btw. 

Thanks @Amanuensis for running the game

I wish there had been more time to utilize elements of the game rules like crimson and XP but thats the way the cookie crumbled

Edited October 13, 2025 by TwinStorm

[Araris Valerian he/him]

I totally missed Joe's vote switch, so I was rather confused when Aman sent me a PM about the aftermath. That led to me thinking we were in the "incompetent elims accidentally saved v!Hoid" world.

I feel less bad about losing given the 2 inactive villagers meant that no amount of analysis could pull off a win. Props to Hoid for pocketing me (I'm a sucker for new players that look like they're trying to solve), to Joe for very nearly convincing me that you were village, and to RBM for escaping notice. 

Thanks @Amanuensis for running this, I had a lot of fun!

Edit: Sadly for me, the village probably would have been better off if I'd gotten exed instead of TwinStorm on D3

Armiel clung to the railing of The Rat's Tale for support, breathing raggedly. He'd been moving the food supplies on deck in preparation for disembarking when the attack had come, slashing open his arm to the bone. Armiel didn't really know anything about medicine, but he was pretty sure he'd die if he didn't get some kind of treatment immediately. 

"While Fort may be literally the only person who is a worse cook than me, everyone on this ship can agree that if you can eat it, I can burn it. This pot here, on top of all the food? It's full of Sunlight Spores, a dozen times as many as I used to burn our first breakfast. And I've got some Zephyr Spores mixed in to blast the ashes across the sporesea."

Armiel grimaced at the pain of talking, shifted the hand staunching his bleeding, and continued.

"All I ask is to be allowed to join the captain and the other officers."

Edited October 13, 2025 by Araris Valerian

[CoderDrag0n8 He/They]

Sozar took out his Rosite pot.

He had been planning to use it, but never got the chance.

All he knew is that it was all a lie, and nothing mattered anymore.

He protected himself, then curled into a ball to shield himself. He just couldn't take this.

[Doc12]

I died so early so I don't feel bad at all

Hoid Slayer and Joe fighting was very funny to watch when I learned the truth. 

[Amanuensis he/him]

1 hour ago, Hoid Slayer said:

@Amanuensis, can we get the docs?

I will have them in the After Action, once I finish the write up

1 hour ago, TwinStorm said:

I wish there had been more time to utilize elements of the game rules like crimson and XP but thats the way the cookie crumbled

Saaame. I think when I first conceived the game, both myself and the forum were in a higher state of activity. Had things gone a bit different or better, had we had more players, I think we'd have seen a lot more interesting things happen. But I will talk about this more in the Aftermath, as well as note some things I think need to be changed to bring out what makes this ruleset unique / fun more easily.

Edited October 13, 2025 by Amanuensis

[Hoid Slayer He/Him]

Shifter pulled Void out of Illi's corpse, and smiled. The Master had fought well. But not well enough. He looked around the storage hold, where Illi had fled. On the port wall, verdant spores spilled in from where the wood had been shattered from Shifter's Crimson attack on Armiel. Shifter had wanted to kill the novice, but he had barely escaped. Oh well. His death would come in time. More important was the sudden shudder that rocked the ship, indicating their arrival in port.

Shifter looked around at his partners; Emmett and William. The time for their facade was done. In the city, bells began to ring. The massacre had begun. By now, their allies in Diggen's Point had launched their attack on the home of the Duke and Duchess.

"Emmett; take the boat. Kill any you can. William; make sure reinforcements don't show up."

"And you?" William asked. Shifter grinned, and looked down at his hands soaked in blood.

"I have a promise to fulfill." Blade brandished, hood down, Shifter stalked up to the main deck of the boat. And set out to kill Armiel.

...

Two Months Later

The Midnight King - the man previously known as Shifter, the Mage Slayer, the Forsaken Son - sat high upon his throne.

And plotted to make all the seas his own.

---

Alright!

This was one of the tensest - and funnest - SE games I've played! So naturally, there's a lot of people to thank. Primary among them, @Amanuensis. The rules were a little complicated, but other than that, this game was absolutely incredible, so thank you. Thanks as well to my GOATed teammates @A Jo in the Bush and @RoyalBeeMage. There were some tight spots there, but we managed to pull it together in the end - although I do feel bad that the village lost from inactivity. Shoutout to @Araris Valerian for really trying, even when surrounded by elims.

Also

38 minutes ago, Doc12 said:

I died so early so I don't feel bad at all

Hoid Slayer and Joe fighting was very funny to watch when I learned the truth. 

When did you learn?

Also sorry 'bout that 

3 minutes ago, Amanuensis said:

I will have them in the After Action, once I finish the write up

Okay

3 minutes ago, Amanuensis said:

Saaame. I think when I first conceived the game, both myself and the forum were in a higher state of activity. Had things gone a bit different or better, had we had more players, I think we'd have seen a lot more interesting things happen. But I will talk about this more in the Aftermath, as well as note some things I think need to be changed to bring out what makes this ruleset unique / fun more easily.

Yeah...

We just grazed the tip of the iceberg

[IcedOutPenguin He/Him]

1 hour ago, Doc12 said:

I died so early so I don't feel bad at all

Me too