Long Game 12: Shadows of Elantris

[Herowannabe]

Ten years ago, Elantris was first published fell. The gods of the majestic city withered into wretched creatures, reviled and despised by all. The city, which had once been the center of science, learning, peace, prosperity, and Elantrian Magics, was turned into a prison, and the Elantrians who had survived the upheaval were locked inside and left to bemoan their fate. Over time the city, like its inhabitants, withered and rotted.

Outside of Elantris, in the city of Kae, life had moved on. Merchants traded, pirates plundered, kings governed, priests taught, young couples fell in love, and… something darker was stirring. Seinalan knew this. As patriarch of the Korathi church he was kept well abreast of current events, and the reports he had been receiving lately had disturbed him.

The Jeskeri Mystery cults- once a minor nuisance in faraway kingdoms- had spread and gained foothold here in Kae, complete with maiden sacrifices, pronounced curses, and all the other vulgar pagan rites. If Seinalan’s reports were accurate, and he had every reason to believe they were, the cults had even infested the nobility and the wealthy elite of Kae! Seinalan hadn’t had a choice- he had come to the city to call the people to action, to root out and eliminate any cultists among them.

There was a knock at the door.

“You may enter,” Seinalan called. He looked himself over in the mirror. He tucked a loose strand of his luxurious blonde hair back in place then flashed his winning smile. Perfect.

The door opened to admit one of his attendants. “The people are gathered and awaiting your speech, your Holiness.”

“It is good,” Seinalan said, “You may lead the way.”

Seinalan followed his attendant through the corridors and stairwells until they reached the King’s court. The large room was packed full of people, mostly nobility and wealthy merchants, but with a fair number of commoners as well, all of them anxiously awaiting the word of their Patriarch.

Seinalan smiled at them- the same smile he had practiced in the mirror before. “People of Kae, Domi be praised!” He began, speaking loud enough that all in the room could hear him. “It is always a joy to my heart to see your faces and to be among you. But I fear the reason I have come is not a pleasant one. There is a darkness growing...”

He trailed off. Something felt wrong. His heart beat quickly, and he felt hot. He swallowed and tried to continue. “A darkness, growing among you. The Jesker-”

He broke off again, this time with a gasp. His heart was pounding now, he could hear it in his ears and his head throbbed along with its steady beat, and he felt… something.... pressing against him. It felt like something was trying to strangle him and tear him apart at the same time, from the inside. He staggered, clutching at the lectern for support. All throughout the room people gasped and cried out in shock, eyes wide with horror.

The chest of Seinalan’s magnificent robe was wet. He looked down and saw something dark starting to seep through the heavily embroidered cloth. It was blood. His blood. He fumbled at the ties of his robe. His hands were shaking, but he managed to loose them, and pulled his robe open. The skin of his chest had split open in a jagged, intricate pattern, as if some twisted calligraphist had used a filleting knife to carve an Aon into his flesh. But this was no Aonic symbol- the twisting patterns were those used by the Jeskeri Mystery cults. Even as Seinalan watched, a curving line split open, finishing the symbol, blood seeping from the wounds.

The room tilted, and Seinalan found himself lying on the floor, staring up at the terror-stricken faces of those who had rushed to his aid. One of his priests, kneeling over him, was speaking to him. It was hard to hear him- Seinalan realized that the room was filled with the sounds of screams and panicked shouting. He blinked his eyes, trying to clear his head.

“... is doing this?” the priest was asking.

“Jeskeri Mysteries…” he gasped, his voice barely more than a whisper. The beating of his heart was growing fainter now. Slowing.

“But… How?” the priest asked. “Where?”

“Close… Here… in the… palace. You… must… find...”

He trailed off. Speaking was so difficult. It made him tired, so very, very tired. He heard the sound of someone shouting in a commanding voice- the captain of the King’s guard? “Bar the doors! Nobody is to leave the palace until the culprits are found!”

It was getting harder to breath, and it took all his effort just to keep his eyes in focus. He blinked again, rolling his head back and forth. As he did he caught sight of the faces of those gathered around him. Priests, Kings, Dukes, and more, all looked on with horror and concern, except for one face. One was smiling.

Seinalan opened his mouth to accuse the figure, but was seized by a fit of racking, shuddering coughs. He lifted his hand instead- it was so heavy!- to point, but the smiling face turned and stepped back into the crowd.

Seinalan laid back, all his energy spent. He knew this was the end. His heart had slowed to almost nothing. He had no strength to move, to speak, even to breath. He looked up, past the people, to the light streaming through the stained glass window above. The light of Domi, beckoning him, telling him it was time to return home.

It was beautiful.

---

Day 1 begins! Patriarch Seinalan was killed by Jeskeri Cultists! It is up to you to find them and eliminate them!

If you have not done so recently, please go review the Rule Clarifications post- I have added a lot of things to it as people have been asking me questions- several of which deal with corner-case win conditions. And other things will likely be added to it as time goes on. If you have any further questions, please PM me and/or Tulir.

Day 1 will end in roughly 43 hours (apologies for the late start today), at 9:00pm on Sunday MDT.

Edited May 23, 2015 by Herowannabe

[Lightsworn Panda]

So, I assume the Dula/s has/have made their couples?

[Kasimir]

You wanted to see a palace, Kaian thought, glumly. The murder of the Shu-Korath Patriarch had taken all of them by surprise, and he'd just spent the past hour or so getting grilled by a palace guard. He'd carefully neglected to mention that he'd run away from a Shu-Dereth monastery and passed himself off as a simple traveller, off to see the world. For all that the Patriarch had been murdered by a Jeskeri Mystery cultist, Kaian knew that they wouldn't hesitate to hang the blame on an adherent of Shu-Dereth.
 
Even if he'd run away.
 
The ferret chattered at him. He'd never named it, he realised. He dug in his other pocket for some seeds and fed it. "We will see to it that your needs are taken care of," said a guard brusquely, to a noble's outrage. Kaian wondered if that extended to feeding his ferret.
 
He glanced across the room at where the other guests waited their turn for their interview with the guard. The captain of the King's Guard was nowhere to be seen. Kaian didn't know what he was up to. Maybe they were having collective hysterics about the Patriarch being killed under their watchful eye.
 
Could an assassin have done it?
 
He frowned. He hadn't been trained at Rathbore. They took only the very best. For all of that, though, he idly wondered if a Rathbore-trained assassin could've made such a kill.
 
A Jeskeri cultist did that, he reminded himself. The symbols were clear. They'd spoken about that in the monastery. Nothing to do with the ongoing holy war between the scions of Shu-Keseg.
 
The ferret chattered at him. "Sorry, friend," Kaian whispered, running his fingers through the silky fur. "I think we've got to save the seeds."
 
He'd wanted to see a palace. Look where that had gotten him.
 
-
 
Any particular reason why you're asking the obvious again, Jain? Pardon me, but the last time you did that overtly, you were an Eliminator in MR4. I have to confess that makes me wonder.

[Lightsworn Panda]

Hah, you got me good there, govn'r    

 

In all seriousness, I just wanted a public clarification. Because of the words:

 

 

 

Dula: You love to play matchmaker. At the beginning of the game, before the first cycle starts, you must choose two players, who then immediately form a bond of love (platonic or romantic) that transcends death (See the lovers, below). 

 

I was expecting something like a "Pre-Game" Cycle for the Dula, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

 

Edit: Made my slightly complex humor more understandable. 

Edited May 23, 2015 by Lightsworn Panda

[Haelbarde]

I guess I was expecting that the Dula's would have been the first players to have been contacted about their roles, so that they could give Hero their answer before the rest of the roles were sent out. 

 

 

Edrab had recieved an invitation to the Patriach's address. Maybe this'll be what I need to get over my Writer's Block. He wasn't convinced though. Still he, along with many others,  gathered in the King's Court. The time came, and the Patriach appeared.

 

"People of Kae, Domi be praised!” The began, his voice carrying well enough so that all could here him. “It is always a joy to my heart to see your faces and to be among you. But I fear the reason I have come is not a pleasant one. There is a darkness growing...”

 

The Patriach trailed off. He tried again. “A darkness, growing among you. The Jesker-”. This time he broke of with a gasp, jerking as his chest grew red. He slowly collapsed, and attendants and priests hurried to lend aid. Panic broke loose, but over top of the raucous, the chief guard's voice rang over, commanding the doors to be barred.

 

After the initial shock wore off, Edrab had a realization - this turn of events might be exactly what he had needed. There had been a murder, and the mystery and intrigue that was sure to follow would be the perfect subject for a new story. He got out his journal. He couldn't break straight into prose. It was neither the time nor the place for that. Better he keep a log of everything that happened, so that he could recount and then novelize the details at a later point. An added bonus would be that maybe his notes could help the investigation that was sure to follow. 

 

He turned to a new page. I need a title, I think. After a few moments, he thought of one he like - 'A Jeskeri Mystery'. He jotted it down, writing by it the day, and a brief summary of what had lead up to this point.  Now, to find us some cultists.

[the winter system]

(So, it turns out I'll probably be able to have a bit of time on, enough to get my basic thougths out. And I'm surprising even myself with the length of this paragraph. Maybe I'm improving)

I was thinking about, since we started on a day, the Debtors role. The point of not lynching anyone on day 1 is so that we don't kill someone with no need. The problem with that is the Debtors. The other day, I was thinking about it. If we lynch someone, we chose who dies. If we don't, we get a random person dead. It won't be the gyorn for certain, and I didn't think the GMs would give the cultists a counterproductive role. Or perhaps they do and they're trolls. (Of course they are and I'm probably wrong about this).

Of course, on the other hand, we could lynch an important role. So it's a guess.

Just putting my thoughts out there. What do you guys think?

[Haelbarde]

The way I see things is the Debtor's roll is not something we can't really manage. It's more about forcing them to vote (or not vote) when they'd really rather do the opposite. If they vote, and then it seems a tie is inevitable, it basically forces them to withdraw their vote and face the consequences. Alternatively, if they don't vote, and it ends up with a tie, they're basically forced to choose one of the tied votees and condemn them to death (and again, face the consequences).

[the winter system]

I meant that as a "Are we going to lynch someone or a Debtor? I want to lynch a someone not a Debtor." Because getting a Debtor killed doesn't give us much information.

[Haelbarde]

Ah. And so we come to the 'do we lynch on first cycle', to which I would say, 'probably', but then the question is then 'who', and to that I say 'I have no idea'. 

[Kasimir]

We're not going to get into a discussion about the distinction between a lynch discussion with an impending lynch, pure discussion, and a lynch itself. Not again. Right?

 

Edited because recalcitrant coding is recalcitrant.

Edited May 23, 2015 by Kasimir

[The Honey Badger]

I think the debtor is a good mechanic, because it forces us to decide. (I don't mean good like "oh, I love this mechanic", I mean that it serves the GM's purposes.

The problem is, is that this early in the game. We don't know who the cultists are, and we don't want to lynch innocent people. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hene Bata was increasingly distraught, who could he serve his, king appointed duty of being the assistant to the assistant elephant cleaner. He knew that the king would only trust a responsible and powerful noble such as him with such an important, vital task. But now that they were all catching cultists, how could he do his job? 'I know, he thought, I'll catch all the cultists and get back to work' He sat down on a pot and began to think, who did he know that had weird wind knives. He couldn't think of anybody. Aghhh, I must think harder.

 

Edit to Fix: spacing problems with the dashes, tricky little buggers

Edited May 23, 2015 by The Honey Badger

[Haelbarde]

Edit to Fix: spacing problems with the dashes, tricky little buggers

 

Hint: Use the [ hr ] tag without the spaces to put in a straight line like in my post/sig.

[The Honey Badger]

Thanks

[phattemer]

Well, I guess I agree with winter in that we do kinda need to lynch someone. I think there are multiple priests/warriors, so we can't go terribly wrong. Does anyone else think that one of the current Elantrians is probably a cultist? They could not be, but it seems to make sense to me.

[Elithanathile]

I want to join! Fair warning, this is my first time doing one of these, so I'm may be a liability to whichever team I'm on.

 

I am Lareshe, a Beggar that, until recently, lived in one of the other destroyed cities surrounding elantris. I survived by betraying my neighbor, and stealing whatever food I could get from travelers. I recently moved to Kae in hopes of finding a (slightly) more honest way of life. (I still have nightmares about a traveler that I killed once.) I am naturally suspicious of everyone, and am not above betraying people I know. I am skilled at sneaking around and pickpocketing, but have no learning whatsoever, being born in an abondoned city. I see an education as unnecessary, and shun reading or writing.

 

Does this qualify? (Also, any tips for playing would be highly appreciated.)

[little wilson]

I want to join! 

 

Sign ups for this particular game are actually closed since the game just started last night. Sorry! However, we should be having signups for another game--a Quick Fix--here in a week or two, so if you keep checking back, you'll be able to sign up for that if you'd like. You can also sign up as pinch hitter for this game, which means that if someone goes inactive, you might be called in to replace that person. Then you'd be able to play (but it would be using the established character with their alignment and role). If you'd like to do that, just PM Herowannabe or Tulir and they'll get you on that list.

 

And since apparently we forgot to lock this thread, I shall do that now.

[Bort]

Borter Clams ignored the snobs around him. All of them were twisting their faces at the fishy smell that lingered about him, but that wasn't his fault. His father was a fisherman, hence the name 'Clams', and so had he been until he left his home to seek his fortune in the capital. He had washed, but it took a while to get the stench of his former profession out of his skin.

 

He watched, stunned, by the sudden death of the Patriarch. Cultists? Here in Kae? Unbelieveable. He looked around at the other guests and saw shocked confusion on their faces too. Perhaps he should see what he could do to help. New to the city, gaining a bit of gratitude couldn't hurt.

[Herowannabe]

So, I assume the Dula/s has/have made their couples?

Yes. Thats' why signups ended a day before the game began, so that I could notify the Dula and give him/her time to choose the lovers. The lovers were notified at the same time they received their role PMs.

[Mailliw73]

I think we can't just let the Debtor die because we are unwilling to vote. It's very unlikely that a Cultist was assigned to be a Debtor right off the bat, since first day lynches have become more and more rare, we'd get a free kill right off the bat. That said, I don't know who to vote for. Let's get Meta in here.

[phattemer]

Why Meta? I appreciate you not being afraid to be the first one to vote, which immediately makes you a target, but killing a random experienced player doesn't really seem like a good idea. But then again, I don't want to lynch a new player either. I have no idea what I'm doing, do I.

[Kasimir]

I miss Ren :/
 
Ok. I know I said 'can u not' but I think this has to be done. I apologise especially to Hreo who has to see this all over again.
 
I think we have to distinguish between three things:
1. Lynch discussion [i.e. the discussion that goes on as we decide who is suspicious and who should be lynched, etc.]
2. Lynch kill [i.e. the actual information gleaned from someone being killed off and Hreo telling us about their role.]
3. Lynch discussion with the explicit intention to kill.
 
Let me explain why these are separate things. Let's say we kill Wyrm (sorry King, I just had to pick someone no one would be twitchy about in this game.) We find out he's a Jindo Warrior (lolnope). That's all the information we get from the lynch kill. (2.) Now, we may get more information from the lynch discussion: e.g. who was pushing hard for Wyrm's death? Who defended Wyrm? Who abstained? Who is advocating what? Notice that this information may not even be related to Wyrm or about Wyrm. So, the information obtained from a lynch discussion (1.) is separate from the information obtained from 2. but it may complement it. It is also clearly more expansive, and in a sense, less definite.
 
Well, what about 3.? I separate this because we can simply sit here right now and agree we will kill no one today and then discuss. Or we can sit here and discuss with the intention to discover a candidate who will be lynched. I think it is important to note I say, 'with the intention'. Why? Because our discussion can be oriented around/guided by an intention that ultimately gets overruled. There is nothing that stops us from deciding at the end of Day 1 that we don't really want to lynch anyone today after all.
 
But.
 
A. If we start out saying that we shan't lynch anyone today, the lynch discussion becomes toothless because the stakes are virtually nothing. No one has any reason to comply or to participate in the discussion. 
B. Beginning with a commitment to lynching does not mean this commitment is not or should not be defeasible.
C. This is an LG. I, at least, tend to be less uptight about lynching off the bat during an LG. If it were a QF, I would not at all stress the defeasibility of an intention to lynch and would rather we lynch right away.
D. ...Mislynches happen. I don't mean to be gung-ho about lynching. My point is that if they haven't stopped us in most previous games, I find it somewhat difficult to see why they should stop us now. [unless, of course, the suggestion is we wait a day or two and then lynch. But once again, I am a supporter of 3. I think this is a decision that must emerge from discussion rather than both pre-empting and precluding it.]
 

And now, for something completely different:

Has anyone noticed exactly how many possibilities for vote shenanigans there are here? And of a different sort than we're used to, too.

I'm going to wait to place my actual vote, but in the meanwhile, I'd like to poke Wilson. Let's hope my head doesn't get bitten off.

Edit: Y u no colour?!

Edited May 23, 2015 by Kasimir

[phattemer]

Well that makes sense. So, does anyone have a target for discussion about killing them?

[Kasimir]

This is just a quick post to note something:
 
While we are looking for Cultists, let's not lose sight of the other threat. This time, the Gyorn (and Odiv, once that fellow shows up) wins by converting everyone. Killing people off helps their objectives, sure, but unlike other conversion killers, they don't actually need to protect their converts, except for the Odiv.
 
The point I want to get to is that the conversions are a ticking time clock. For that reason, if it's not against the rules, I would like the request that whoever gets converted by the Gyorn post the names or at least the numbers of surviving converts during each Turn (particularly during the Day Turn.) It's important for us to know how many living converts there are: you guys are a clock ticking down to however many Turns it takes for the Gyorn to win. It's not a big deal yet, but I worry that if we ignore them for too long, it'll get harder to stop the Gyorn and his Robin. (See: decreasing number of players, increasing/increasing rate of conversions.) This is exactly how much time we have to find and root out the Cultists.

[Orlok Tsubodai]

Kasimir, I'm not actually that sure how worried we have to be about the gyon and odiv - If the Gyorn creates an early odiv we have a relatively small list of individuals who are suspect, and if he delays then the time pressure is minimal - and discovering the gyorn becomes increasingly easier the more individuals he converts - it shouldnt be difficult to work out who he is towards the end of the game

[little wilson]

I'm typically of the idea that it's the lynch discussion that is more important than the lynch itself, and if there's a very useful discussion that doesn't necessarily hinge around the death of one particular individual, it's not necessary to kill anyone. That's not often the case though. Normally the discussion (if there is discussion) is only fruitful is someone dies. That said, most useful lynch discussions don't happen on the first day. They happen when there's a little more information to be had, which, at the earliest, is Day 2 (unless the game starts on a Night, and even that's a little iffy). 

 

Still, I don't think trying to keep a debtor from dying is really something we can control, so there's not much point in discussing it. There are far too many vote manipulation roles out there, and with their powers being what they are, even if we have a 3-4 vote buffer, that could easily be swayed to someone else entirely or end up as a tie and a random debtor dies.

 

Personally, I wouldn't be torn up if a random debtor was lynched at the beginning. I'd much prefer that happen than a Jindo Warrior or Shu-Korath Priest.

 

Well, I guess I agree with winter in that we do kinda need to lynch someone. I think there are multiple priests/warriors, so we can't go terribly wrong. Does anyone else think that one of the current Elantrians is probably a cultist? They could not be, but it seems to make sense to me.

 

When you say "multiple priests/warriors," I get the feeling you mean more than two each. I highly doubt there's more than one Priest, though I suppose with this number of players, there could be two. I also rather doubt that there's more than two warriors. Normally, I'd say there would be 3 or more Warriors for a group this large; however, the Priest and the Warrior are the only guaranteed good roles in this game, and safe roles are notoriously problematic. I highly doubt there would be more than 3 or 4 in this game, and even that seems a little high. Regardless, this kind of complacent attitude in reference to our guaranteed good roles concerns me.

 

An Elantrian could be a cultist. Or there might not be a Cultist among them yet. I think it would make less sense for the Cultists to start out with an Elantrian that it would for them to start with a Debtor (since I can kind of see why a Debtor would make sense for the Cultists to start out with). Personally, I think targeting an Elantrian at this point would be unwise, despite there being only three of them, since I really doubt that there's a Cultist there. Furthermore, I think it would benefit the Cultists to try to target the Elantrians if they don't have one of their group in that number. Get the Citizens focused on a group that'll take 3 cycles to wipe out (since we'd be targeting the starting number)? While the Cultists can slide by and just kill at their leisure for the first 3 cycles? That's not a bad idea.

 

I think we can't just let the Debtor die because we are unwilling to vote. It's very unlikely that a Cultist was assigned to be a Debtor right off the bat, since first day lynches have become more and more rare, we'd get a free kill right off the bat. 

 

As I said just above, I think it's likely that there actually is a debtor among the Cultists. Probably only one, but there's still one. Why? Well, because one, with the vote manipulation roles, it's unlikely that there will be a tie even if it looks like there will be a tie. And two, because that's any easy way to try to kill off one of the dukes/duchesses. And three, they no doubt have two, possibly three vote manipulation roles, so it will be easy for them to steer things away from a tie and protect their debtor without showing their faces.

 

And now, for my vote. It will go on Sienene for now.

 

EDIT: And I just realized my first and third reasons for the debtor among the Cultist is the same. That's what I get for not proofreading. Ah, well. The point stands.