LG108, Aftermath — The Battle of Diggen's Point

[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

[Hoid Slayer He/Him]

4 minutes ago, IcedOutPenguin said:

Me too

OMG guys don’t rep Penguin he’s at exactly 666 points

[Araris Valerian he/him]

47 minutes ago, Hoid Slayer said:

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.

Glad you had fun! Now that I have a taste for your elim play I'm going to be much more wary/less forgiving of you in the future . And of course, maybe we'll get to team up and do some murdering together in the future .

Don't feel bad about the activity, I think your team managed to muddle things enough that I could have exed both Joe and RBM without guessing your alignment. And honestly with Joe's distancing on RBM I might not have even gotten that far. I was seriously considering a swap to RBM but didn't because I didn't think anyone would follow. 

You voting TUH should probably have been a red flag for me, but honestly I kept reading you as "earnest but misguided villager" and that was overpowering any misgivings I had.

Edited October 13, 2025 by Araris Valerian

[The Unknown Medallion he/him]

Great job elims. Wish I could have been more active to hunt you down thoroughly. 

Thanks for running the game @Amanuensis, it was quite fun and the mechanics especially were excellent. My two cents is that a vote manip would have been interesting and that climbing up the ranks probably should have been doable through sheer actions, which I don't think it really was. PMing you with a roleplay thing also

~ 

Illi was falling. He had only truly fallen once, when he was younger. Climbing the ship's ropes on a bet, he had slipped and fallen to the deck. He didn't really remember hitting the deck.

He slammed against a vine growing from the blood, which tumbled him aside, which was kind of like hitting a rope on his way down, but he did not think hitting the spores was like hitting the deck. The deck, he thought, should have been hard and unyielding. The spores were not. After the first jolting impact knocked the breath out of him, they gave way, and he was sinking. 

He knew he was going to die. His sweat would activate the spores, or he'd try to breath and they'd get in his mouth. You could rejoin the One, a voice said, somewhere in his thoughts. He rejected it. He was not done, he still had more experiences to live out. He realized he was only barely sinking into the spores. He still had a few moments. He reached for his belt and grabbed a bottle of Roseite that was clipped to it. He brought it to his mouth. He had no tools, no way to choose its direction. He spit on it, and he imagined a cocoon around himself. He willed it to take that shape. It broke out of the bottle, but it expanded normally. He growled, then roared. You will obey me! he thought. 

And the spores did. They wrapped around him, pushing away the verdant. It worked. He was safe. He breathed desperately. Alive, he realized, but not safe. He would run out of air soon. He patted his belt. A single pouch of Zephyr spores. Enough for what, a day? He was dead.

The Voice returned, Excellent work, I think it is time for you to rejoin your kin. There was a sudden feeling of weightlessness, then a slam. The Roseite crumbled away as if silver had been poured on it. Shakily, Illi rose. He was surrounded by golden haired people.

He was surrounded by the Iriali.

Edited October 14, 2025 by The Unknown Hammerer

[Jo and the Bush all/any]

6 hours ago, Doc12 said:

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

It was great fun! It was also incredibly frustrating that I couldn't move votes off of myself onto Hoid. I knew he was an eliminator! I was giving his exact, genuine, eliminator reasons for why he did various things, and people kept saying an eliminator wouldn't do those things!

Also, how does everyone here feel about Hammering? Because I have Capital T Thoughts about Hammering that I am going to double post in the Discord and in here.

My thoughts on Hammering:

As a player and a Game master, I don’t like Hammering. 

When I’m a Game Master, it adds additional work and stress to rollover. If I know the Eliminators are planning on hammering, I have to ensure that my Turn Closing announcement is exactly scheduled, and I can’t easily start to work on writeup until I know things have settled. What if they mess up? What if a villager blocks it? Too many things are in flux. Plus it often feels like I, as the GM, have to aid the Eliminators in this matter. I have to warn them that I’m online, because if I don’t, I might ruin their plans by posting a minute early or late.

When I’m a villager, and the Eliminators hammer at the last minute, I’m scrambling to find a way to respond in the seconds left. This game is usually a game of careful, thought out analysis, played over several days to give people time to participate. 

When I’m an eliminator, as I was in Long Game 108, winning due to a last second hammer (Literally at 59 minutes 59 seconds) feels scummy. It doesn’t feel like a genius tactical maneuver, or a cunning deception, it just feels like the village tripped over their shoelaces and we stabbed them in the back.

What could be done about it?

Assuming the community, or GM’s as a whole, don’t want to ban it, but do agree to discourage it, how would this manifest?

In Mid-Range Game 74, I play tested an Anti-Hammering rule that added 15 minutes to a cycle if someone cast a vote in the last 15 minutes of a turn. It could extend the turn by up to 1 additional hour. It worked quite well, extending play several times. It worked for me as the GM because I chose my rollover time with that rule in mind, making sure that I would have plenty of time to use it if necessary. Not every GM will be able to use this rule.

Another possible rule I’m considering playtesting is a hidden rollover time. There will be a 20 minute range of times in which rollover can be posted. The range is known, but the minute is not. I would randomly determine it in advance each cycle. That is a rule that can be implemented by any GM, regardless of their time restraints.

The point being, unless the community is strongly in favor of Hammering, I don’t intend to participate in Hammering ever again, either as a GM or as an Eliminator. There are ways that determined GM’s can stop Hammering. There are ways that Eliminators can discourage it. I didn’t discourage it this time, because I’m a bit pressed for time IRL right now. (I type that sentence, fully knowing that I should be doing Homework instead of SE right now, but, meh.)

The Community’s thoughts on Hammering:

Am I alone in this? I know that Hammering has been around for a very long time. There is the Notorious LG15A, which was won on the first cycle by an Eliminator Hammer. (Special Win Condition) To my recollection, there has never been a serious debate or discussion about whether or not this tactic should be discouraged. All is fair in love and war and all that, but this is neither love nor war, and we want the community to be fun and encouraging to play in.

Should Hammering be discouraged? Dis-incentivised? Banned? Am I alone in disliking it? 

[Araris Valerian he/him]

1 hour ago, A Jo in the Bush said:

I was giving his exact, genuine, eliminator reasons for why he did various things, and people kept saying an eliminator wouldn't do those things!

And there I was, worried I was arguing too much with you

[Hoid Slayer He/Him]

18 hours ago, A Jo in the Bush said:

It was great fun! It was also incredibly frustrating that I couldn't move votes off of myself onto Hoid. I knew he was an eliminator! I was giving his exact, genuine, eliminator reasons for why he did various things, and people kept saying an eliminator wouldn't do those things!

Also, how does everyone here feel about Hammering? Because I have Capital T Thoughts about Hammering that I am going to double post in the Discord and in here.

My thoughts on Hammering:

As a player and a Game master, I don’t like Hammering. 

When I’m a Game Master, it adds additional work and stress to rollover. If I know the Eliminators are planning on hammering, I have to ensure that my Turn Closing announcement is exactly scheduled, and I can’t easily start to work on writeup until I know things have settled. What if they mess up? What if a villager blocks it? Too many things are in flux. Plus it often feels like I, as the GM, have to aid the Eliminators in this matter. I have to warn them that I’m online, because if I don’t, I might ruin their plans by posting a minute early or late.

When I’m a villager, and the Eliminators hammer at the last minute, I’m scrambling to find a way to respond in the seconds left. This game is usually a game of careful, thought out analysis, played over several days to give people time to participate. 

When I’m an eliminator, as I was in Long Game 108, winning due to a last second hammer (Literally at 59 minutes 59 seconds) feels scummy. It doesn’t feel like a genius tactical maneuver, or a cunning deception, it just feels like the village tripped over their shoelaces and we stabbed them in the back.

What could be done about it?

Assuming the community, or GM’s as a whole, don’t want to ban it, but do agree to discourage it, how would this manifest?

In Mid-Range Game 74, I play tested an Anti-Hammering rule that added 15 minutes to a cycle if someone cast a vote in the last 15 minutes of a turn. It could extend the turn by up to 1 additional hour. It worked quite well, extending play several times. It worked for me as the GM because I chose my rollover time with that rule in mind, making sure that I would have plenty of time to use it if necessary. Not every GM will be able to use this rule.

Another possible rule I’m considering playtesting is a hidden rollover time. There will be a 20 minute range of times in which rollover can be posted. The range is known, but the minute is not. I would randomly determine it in advance each cycle. That is a rule that can be implemented by any GM, regardless of their time restraints.

The point being, unless the community is strongly in favor of Hammering, I don’t intend to participate in Hammering ever again, either as a GM or as an Eliminator. There are ways that determined GM’s can stop Hammering. There are ways that Eliminators can discourage it. I didn’t discourage it this time, because I’m a bit pressed for time IRL right now. (I type that sentence, fully knowing that I should be doing Homework instead of SE right now, but, meh.)

The Community’s thoughts on Hammering:

Am I alone in this? I know that Hammering has been around for a very long time. There is the Notorious LG15A, which was won on the first cycle by an Eliminator Hammer. (Special Win Condition) To my recollection, there has never been a serious debate or discussion about whether or not this tactic should be discouraged. All is fair in love and war and all that, but this is neither love nor war, and we want the community to be fun and encouraging to play in.

Should Hammering be discouraged? Dis-incentivised? Banned? Am I alone in disliking it? 

I quite dislike the concept of hammering too, ironic as it is

I don’t think there’s really any good solution to it though other than maybe game mechanics, or just case-by-case situation analysis

I know that then I run a game, I’ll definitely implement an anti-hammering mechanic

But I think a lot of it comes down to human choice and judgement, while trying to make the game fun for everyone

[Hoid Slayer He/Him]

@Amanuensis how's the after action coming along?

Also

On 10/13/2025 at 5:18 PM, Hoid Slayer said:

OMG guys don’t rep Penguin he’s at exactly 666 points

Nooooo someone gave him one more rep point 

[STINK he/him]

Araris

[Doc12]

Oh, yeah. Armiel. Got thoroughly taken in by Shifter, but you tried your best, and that's all anyone can ask for!

Also where did the idea that I was some kind of mastermind during LG107 with my 'information network' even come from? I just talked at everyone and died night 2 

Re: Hammers - I've said it somewhere else - Hammers are a byproduct of elims being able to coordinate. Is it valid? Yes. Is it particularly fun when you're a villager with no real way to counter it? No? I liked the recent MR with the 15 minute extensions - a hammer formed during cycle 4, but because of the extension Aman and I were able to respond in time, which felt really good as a villager.

It seems silly to say to the elims "Hey you can hammer but could you be nice enough to at least do it half an hour to an hour before rollover so villagers have a chance?" I guess in the end its up to the elims sense of Honor (Who is dead, so...)

Edited October 16, 2025 by Doc12

[Hoid Slayer He/Him]

3 minutes ago, Doc12 said:

Oh, yeah. Armiel. Got thoroughly taken in by Shifter, but you tried your best, and that's all anyone can ask for!

Also where did the idea that I was some kind of mastermind during LG107 with my 'information network' even come from? I just talked at everyone and died night 2 

You're infamous, my friend 

[Jo and the Bush all/any]

16 hours ago, Doc12 said:

where did the idea that I was some kind of mastermind during LG107 with my 'information network' even come from? I just talked at everyone and died night 2 

Yea I didn't know any of that. I chose tonkill you because I knew you had survived erroneously to the very end of the most recent game I ran. It didn't feel rude to N1 you.

[Araris Valerian he/him]

Armiel

[STINK he/him]

Is no-one else voting to save our dear wounded Armiel here?

[Araris Valerian he/him]

They really want me to die and blow up all the food I guess.

[Hoid Slayer He/Him]

34 minutes ago, STINK said:

Is no-one else voting to save our dear wounded Armiel here?

I mean I don't see any way he dies today

Which is sad, cause I really wanted to fulfill that promise