Long Game 18: Holly and Iron

[Elbereth she/her]

As Varda came out of the inn, she broke into a half-run, still crying. She didn't know where she was running, only that she needed to get away.

She wasn't looking where she was going, so she was thrown to the ground when she crashed into someone else. He offered a hand up, and she took it. "Sorry," she managed to get out, before she pushed past him.

She stopped when she heard his voice. "Woah, there. Did I hurt you?"

"No," she said with difficulty, not turning around. What if he's just like Wilem, trying to take advantage of me? But she had to be at least polite. "I'm fine."

"You're obviously not fine," she heard him say.

"It's not your fault," Varda replied. "I'll be fine. I just- it's been a long day." It wasn't even noon yet, she noted wryly. She longed for night, to be able to see the stars, her stars. The sun was all well and good, but the stars were hers.

"I hope your day gets a bit brighter, and that the rest of your encounters aren't nearly so violent as ours was," said the man kindly but firmly. "Good day." She looked after him as he walked away. He seemed nice. But not very interested in talking.

At that point, a girl ran up, looking concerned. Varda tried to wipe the tears from her eyes, noticing briefly that the tears were sparkling slightly. Stop that, she thought at them.

"Are you guys okay?" the girl asked worriedly.

"Why do I keep getting asked that?" Varda asked, focusing on her irritation to drown out her tears. "Somehow I seem to be unintentionally telling the world that I need help! Well, I don't," she said, turning on the poor girl. "Don't try to trick me into thinking you're nice and generous and all that! I know what this world is like, and I don't want any part of it. I'm fine." Her anger dissipated in a rush, and she tried to push past the girl before she could could see Varda break into tears again.

---

Poor Varda. So cynical already. DC, I'd appreciate a shoulder to cry on. Apologies for giving Amari a line, Araris. Edit the line if you want, and I can fix it here.

OOC: I might not be able to be here to be back and forth super frequently, just as a heads up.

No problem. We'll finish this encounter up quickly, I guess. Your choice whether to let her push past or respond. I do need to get beyond the first day.

(Varda totally shoulda slapped that dude though Elbereth. )

I was waiting for a slap, myself.

Apologies. I was going to, but I forgot. But I'm not sure that it fits Varda at this point anyway. If she crosses paths with him again, though... And that way we can get past the first day of classes.

Aeaieis did hear. Unacceptable! How could a fellow Aturan, even one as despicable as Wilem, mistreat the Ainu Elbereth herself? He would have to lodge a complaint with the masters.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Yavanna woke and sat up in her divine bed. How dare that fool try to take advantage of her friend, even if only in a dream.

You're awesome, have I mentioned that lately? Seriously. :D

IMO, those without a PM to clanky seem more suspicious to me. As has been said previously, Clanky was most probably killed randomly. That being said, neither did I have a PM with Clanky.

Also, RP coming I a few hours. Anyone want to join me?

Sorry, but I seem to be occupied at the moment. We should RP together at some point, though.

EDIT: If Varda knew enough about the University (and wasn't busy crying), she would certainly lodge a complaint against Wilem. Sorry. (Not that sorry.)

Edited March 3, 2016 by Elbereth

[ostrichofevil he/him]

Aeaieis decided that he had to help.  Fortunately, he knew just what to do.  Exerting his willpower almost to the breaking point, he summoned a set of clothing within his dream and handed it to the poor Vala.

 

"Would this help?" he asked?

 

Sorry for the poor RP, but its the content that counts, right?

Edited March 3, 2016 by ostrichofevil

[Wonko the Sane he/him]

I'm worried about all these RP-inspired votes. This isn't a normal lynch scenario; votes, even those not contributing to the majority, can and will have a negative effect on players. Right now, with the Masters randomly assigning their discipline points, a single vote can bring a player to ruin.

[TheMightyLopen he/him]

..."Your turn," Corrin muttered to the other unfortunate soul who had garnered the ire of the Universities Masters. I wonder if there is an actual REASON he was brought here, he thought as he hurried away, ready to be away from the intimidation of having 9 figureheads of the University decide his punishment for something he himself had no idea about. Honestly, I can't understand what it was I could have done to receive such attention. I have been nothing but polite and patient with not only my teachers, and I believe I've gotten along with most of the other students as well, which is a wonder in and of itself, all things considered.

 

A few minutes later, still muttering to himself, he became aware of a girl stomping somewhat angrily in his direction. I remember her. I saw her at the library a few times last month, and we'd pass each other occasionally in hallways and such. Each time it seemed like she had a perpetual frown on her face. Well, every time she looked at me it seemed that way. What was her name? Ah well, I'm sure it's of no importance.

 

He stepped aside to let her pass, but she didn't continue on, but stopped as soon as she reached him. "Why were you not punished?!" she demanded. “I formally complained about you. Do they not think my complaints noteworthy? I mean, seriously! First you make a derogatory comment about people like me who can barely afford tuition and then the masters themselves ignore me? This is ridiculous! I ought to complain about this.” She continued on with how unfair everything was and such.

 

What?! She was the reason for me being brought On the Horns? Corrin thought, shocked that someone had filed a complaint about him. Him! A Noble! And for something he couldn't even recall doing!

 

The girl suddenly stopped.“Oh. By the way, I’m Pyra. You are Corrin and you annoy me. But then, everyone annoys me. I get annoyed rather easily. I’m like that. People in general are annoying. I just happened to decided to find you the most annoying though. You probably think i’m annoying too. Everyone is annoying so it makes sense that I would be annoying to everyone. Might explain things. Huh. Some people get annoyed about how much I talk and how negative I am. Do you agree? Do you believe I'm too negative? I am talking too much. I am speaking too much” she again stopped talking suddenly and looked away, beginning to tap one of her hands against her leg.

 

Corrin was silent for a moment. A bit taken back by the sudden accusations and then just as sudden the lack of anything at all. Am I supposed to apologize? She seems to be genuinely upset at me. I don't recall ever directly speaking to her though, besides a greeting now and then, but that was never returned. How long has she felt this way? I suppose diplomacy would be best in this situation, though I'm not in a particularly good mood right now.

 

"Listen, Pyra, was it? I apologize for any slight you feel I have directed towards you. Whatever it was I said that has caused you such distress, I am sure it was not meant to be malicious or belittling. Even so, I feel that coming directly to me with your complaints would have allowed us the chance to talk out our differences in a civilized manner, instead of causing me to be brought on the Horns! I am a man of Noble birth! I have a reputation to uphold, since I am representing my family as the eldest. I'm sure we have our differences, money, or the lack thereof, being one of them, but surely you can understand the importance of family!" Corrin said, sounding more than a little exasperated about the whole situation.

 

He sighed slightly, trying to calm his nerves. "You ask me if I think you're too negative, but I don't like to judge people based on such a small dose of interaction with them. If you'd like, we could have tea together sometime. Or dinner, or whatever you'd prefer. I'll pay of course," Corrin smirked just a bit, but just as quickly hid it and replaced it with as genuine of a smile as he could manage as she looked back at him. "So, what do you say? Let's just put this all behind us, shall we?"

 

-------

 

Burnt, it's up to you what you want to do.

 

Like Wonko just said, RP votes are weird. Do you actually want that person to get Discipline Points? Or are you just doing it strictly for the sake of RP. Because while RP is nice and fun, it doesn't really help us catch Skindancers. At all. I realize that might sound kinda hypocritical after I just did that RP, but I'm definitely gonna try to get some game stuff posted later tonight. I'm not promising anything, but I should have some time.

 

This lynch set-up is a little odd though, and I'm not really sure how to go about it. More on this later as well, hopefully.

[Elbereth she/her]

Sorry for the poor RP, but its the content that counts, right?

Unfortunately, not quite. You get tuition reductions for quality thread posts (so in-game comments, analysis, etc.) or for quality RP. Wilson defined that as at least three substantial paragraphs or the equivalent. That little bit doesn't really count, unfortunately. It does count for your PM:post ratio, though.

---

Varda blinked in shock at the clothes that had suddenly appeared in front of her as she pushed past the girl trying to be 'helpful'. "I..." Be careful, she warned herself. This is how you got in trouble last time. But she took the clothes anyway. Anything to get the dress from Wilem off, which she now suspected was somewhat immodest, and reminded her of him and his dishonorable methods. And these clothes were much longer, and even a beautiful midnight blue! "Thank you."

She looked at the person who'd given her the dress, which she was holding awkwardly. What was she supposed to do, change in front of everyone? "You! You knew about Manwë! Well, at least you know better than to take advantage of me the way Wilem did." She hoped for a moment that this one might be better, but then she remembered Wilem's dishonor. "You'll only try some other way." She almost turned away, but remembered courtesy at the last moment. "Thank you for the clothes."

She turned from him and went back past the girl, still watching in concern but obviously unsure what to do. Maybe she wouldn't be as bad, said a voice inside her, but she quashed it. Doesn't matter. I can't deal with this right now. None of it. "Leave me alone," she said, hearing a traitorous sob creep into her voice. "I'm fine. Just-" She couldn't finish the sentence. She started to walk away before her tears could show.

EDIT: DC and Ostrich, you're both still free to interrupt me leaving if you want to. Otherwise I'll just go cry in some trees or something.

Edited March 3, 2016 by Elbereth

[Araris Valerian he/him]

"I'll be fine. I just- it's been a long day."

 

Well, I can't force her to be happier, or to share her life with me. Actually, that would be kind of terrifying.

 

A stranger walked up, apparently having noticed the incident and asked if the girl Amari had knocked down was okay.

 

"Why do I keep getting asked that?" It seemed that the girl's day really was long already. "Somehow I seem to be unintentionally telling the world that I need help! Well, I don't," she said, turning on both of them. "Don't try to trick me into thinking you're nice and generous and all that! I know what this world is like, and I don't want any part of it. I'm fine."

 

She moved to go past Amari in her original direction, obviously not wanting any help.

 

Amari was relieved that he had an easy out of his conversation, and moved aside so she could leave. "I hope your day gets a bit brighter, and that the rest of your encounters aren't nearly so violent as ours was. Good day."

 

Bother. I could have spent that time reading...

 

Amari ignored the stranger that had come up to them and headed back towards Anker's.

 

Edit: Well, I just got RP ninja'd haha. Amari is a little absentminded, so I guess he just didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.

 

Also, I agree with Lopen on the lynch system being weird. Basically, our votes can serve to (kind of) roleblock people, and eventually keep them from participating in the University. But to actually win the game, we have to kill people, and I'll need to check up on how to do that, I know at least that you can hire assassins, so accumulating money is important for us to do. I'm probably going to spend my votes this cycle on inactives, if there are any by them time I get to it, although I also find the people with RP only votes to be worthy of complaint as well.

Edited March 3, 2016 by Araris Valerian

[Elbereth she/her]

Oops. I'll fix that continuity.

I'm worried about all these RP-inspired votes. This isn't a normal lynch scenario; votes, even those not contributing to the majority, can and will have a negative effect on players. Right now, with the Masters randomly assigning their discipline points, a single vote can bring a player to ruin.

Not exactly true. The only way a single vote can affect you at all is if 4 of the 9 NPC Masters randomly put DP on you, and you have no EP in any of those fields. Just a bit unlikely. And even that only leads to a roleblock, where most of the players won't even have roles next cycle. You have to get to 11 DP there's anything worse than a 3-turn roleblock, which isn't really that bad at the beginning of the game.

And it's not like there's been much else other than RP to vote on at this point.

[Wonko the Sane he/him]

Each Master has 5 DP. That means that there is 45 DP randomly floating around there, and you only need 4. Still seem unlikely?

 

It's not just a roleblock. It also blocks voting, visiting Imre, doing anything in Imre if you're already there, using any items, and (I assume) attempting to impress a Master. Getting lashed is like being kicked out of the game for a turn.

Edited March 3, 2016 by Wonko the Sane

[Elbereth she/her]

If half of the current players are voted on, DP distributed evenly would make about 4 DP per person. So if no one happes to have any DP in any field in which they get DP (which seems just a tad unlikely), then they would all be brought up on charges witha 10% chance of lashings. Which would be one player. Not too huge of a worry, I'd say.

It's really not like getting kicked out, though. That would be more like being in the Crockery for a turn. You can still talk in thread and PMs, which is the most important contribution anyway. And it's only one turn. Not even a full cycle. I don't think that's really much of an issue, particularly at this point in the game.

GMs, when you're lashed can you still vote? Can you impress a Master?

Edited because stupid coding.

Edited March 3, 2016 by Elbereth

[Wonko the Sane he/him]

Actually, the rules say cycle. I was assuming that cycle meant turn, because that was more lenient. Can we get a ruling on this, as well?

 

Also, I really can't see an individual's thread contributions as being nearly so critical at this stage as impressing Masters and gaining some village-boosting abilities. Can you honestly say that the conversation so far has accomplished enough to be called the most important part of the game? Obviously, later, discussion becomes paramount, but that's after we have something to discuss.

Edited March 3, 2016 by Wonko the Sane

[Elbereth she/her]

Hmm. I was just going off of what you said. Looking at the rules it's more confusing, because it says "X cycles" but then "1 turn" or "3 turns". So... Good question.

I mean. The conversation so far hasn't done much worth analysis, you're correct. (At least in thread. PMs have been slightly more productive.) But I still stand by my point that it's the most important thing a person can do regardless of where we are in the game. It's essentially like being roleless. You can still analyze and contribute. I would much rather have someone roleless but contributing regularly to the thread than someone who always uses actions and tries to get ahead but never says anything. Besides, by the time any lashings happen we will have something, at least, to discuss (i.e. elevations will have been released, and at least one person more will be insane), hopefully.

[Wonko the Sane he/him]

I don't know, personally, how much information is being passed around in PMs; my own have been somewhat minimal. So maybe you're right. I still say that if we have so little information that we are willing to make game decisions based on roleplay, we shouldn't make decisions that, however unlikely the scenario, might further slow the gaining of that vital information.

[Elbereth she/her]

I don't have too many PMs, but those I have are somewhat more productive than the thread. (Although that's not saying much.) And PM use will vary greatly, of course. (In both number and productivity. Looking at you, Burnt. Also Stink.) Maill and Kipper almost certainly have more PMs than I do, for instance. Others have less.

I will agree with that general principle, though. RP votes aren't usually very productive or useful. In that spirit, Stink. Maill. The tuition reduction isn't worth that much.

[Wonko the Sane he/him]

The tuition reduction also only applies for a single vote. The second doesn't count. So nobody should be voting twice unless they have a reason to do so (which is why I asked about Bridge Boy, who has, I think, voted for Maill four out of four times now).

Edited March 3, 2016 by Wonko the Sane

[little wilson she/her]

Lashes and voting/impressing Masters: I'm going to rule that yes, you can file complaints but you can't impress, since your resting in Medica and even the Master Physicker isn't around enough for you to impress.

It's turns. So half cycles. 1 month. The reason it says "x cycles" is because the 3 turns is a cycle and a half.

[Wonko the Sane he/him]

Okay, it's not as bad as it might have been, but losing a turn of EP still hurts in the advancement races. I think we should base our votes on speculation, at the very least.

[Burnt Spaghetti she/her]

Pyras thoughts were interrupted as Corin began to reply to her rant.

"Listen, Pyra, was it? I apologize for any slight you feel I have directed towards you. Whatever it was I said that has caused you such distress, I am sure it was not meant to be malicious or belittling. "

Pyras tapping ceased. She had not really considered that possibility. She merely found a reason to frown and latched onto it, maybe too firmly.

"Even so, " Corin continued, "I feel that coming directly to me with your complaints would have allowed us the chance to talk out our differences in a civilized manner, instead of causing me to be brought on the Horns!"

He had a point, but Pyra had been in an especially bad mood last month. The incident with the death and the stress of attending the academy when she knew no-one had gotten to her, making her rather stressed and grumpy. She had at least had begun to gain more confidence now that a month had passed. See? She actually confronted Corin personally this time. That's totally an improvement.

“I am a man of Noble birth! I have a reputation to uphold, since I am representing my family as the eldest. I'm sure we have our differences, money, or the lack thereof, being one of them, but surely you can understand the importance of family!" Corrin said in an exasperated tone. Pyra glanced down at her hands and nodded slightly. She understood.

He sighed softly before continuing. "You ask me if I think you're too negative, but I don't like to judge people based on such a small dose of interaction with them. If you'd like, we could have tea together sometime. Or dinner, or whatever you'd prefer. I'll pay of course,"

Pyra looked back at him with surprise. What??? Did he just...well...he seems genuine enough… she thought. But she was still a bit taken aback.

"So, what do you say? Let's just put this all behind us, shall we?"

Pyra opened her mouth to speak but then closed it again. She didn't know what she had been expecting to result from this conversation but it hadn't been that. She had not expected the recipient of her complaints to end up being nice. He had no right to go make her feel guilty. She frowned mildly, unsure how to react. “I...um… fine." She looked away with a slight frown.

[Mark IV he/him]

Marcos was walking back from class. Linguistics had been fun. They'd learnt the different conjugations of verbs in Siaru today. But, it would take yet 3-4 lectures to wrap his head around these forms.

So, with a head buzzing with ideas and confusion, Marcos walked back to The Golden Pony. On his way though, he found a book fallen on the ground. 'Property of Sev', the first page read. 'If found, return to owner of The Horse and Four'.

Marcos opened the book and browsed through the pages. It was rough book. Both in the sense that it was a bit worn out, and that it was a spare book used as spare paper.

No use wasting my time right now. This 'Sev' might not even be in his rooms I'll go later tonight. Perhaps then he'll be in.

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

There you go Wonko, I've given you an opening. You could do an RP about losing the book or something.

Edited March 3, 2016 by Mark IV

[TheMightyLopen he/him]

As Corrin had talked, he'd noticed the girl, Pyra, had seemed to calm down a little.

 

..."So what do you say? Let's just put this all behind us, shall we?"

 

Pyra opened her mouth as if she was gonna say something, but then closed it again. She frowned mildly. Is she still upset at me, even after all of that? Corrin thought to himself. Then she answered. “I...um… fine." She looked away with a slight frown. 

 

Thanks goodness. I have enough to worry about as it is. And who knows? Maybe she'll turn to actually be a reasonable person.

 

"Excellent!" Corrin exclaimed, a small bit of relief sounding in his voice. "I am quite busy at the moment, so it will have to wait until another time I'm afraid. We're sure to meet again sometime soon though, so until then, good day!" he said as he bowed slightly and began to walk away, already beginning to feel a little better for seemingly clearing up the issue. What I really need right now is a good night's sleep. I've had too many short nights trying to learn something about my family's curse, but to no avail. Being summoned by the Masters will make you feel like you've lost a few nights sleep as well. Thankfully I've got a nice room and a soft bed to sleep on. There definitely are perks to having money.

 

 

As Corrin finally reached his room at the inn, having eaten and bathed, he lay down to sleep and heard a strange noise coming from outside the inn. It sounds like some kind of music, but it's nothing that I'm familiar with. Ah well, it's somehow oddly relaxing, and for that I am grateful. Maybe I'll ask around tomorrow and figure out who it was that was playing the music and thank them. Yes, I think I'll do that. Tomorrow... he thought as he began to drift into sleep.

 

------

 

Danosaur, I don't know what inn you're staying at, but I figure it doesn't really matter. If you want, you could make our characters meet up next Term somehow. Corrin's gonna be asking around the inn to see if he can find you. (That is, if he doesn't go insane, in which case I'm not responsible for his actions.  )

 

Vote tally:

 

Mailliw(4): BB, BB, ostrich, Elbereth

STINK(2): Silverblade, Elbereth

Ostrich(1): Mailliw

BB(1): Mailliw

Thisismyusername(2): Kynedath, Haelbarde

Dowanx(1): Kynedath

Kynedath(1): Joe

Paranoid King(1): Lopen

Security guards(1): Paranoid King(they're just trying to do their jobs y'know  )

 

Elbereth, you didn't green out your original votes, so I think they still count.

 

PK, not really any reasoning for voting on you, except to lower my tuition.

 

Edit: Also, I've posted like 4 or 5 times this Month, but I haven't used PM's much, so I have like 7 or 8 messages to use, if anyone has anything worthwhile to talk about. I'm off to bed now though, so no responses for a while if you do make a PM with me.

Edited March 3, 2016 by TheMightyLopen

[Elithanathile he/him]

 

Why so much aggression for Maill, BB? Everyone else seems to be shooting in the dark, but doubling down on one person like that, surely you know something we don't?

 

I'm putting my obligatory tuition-reduction vote on Clanky, where I'm pretty sure it can't do much harm.

 

I'm being very RP focused this game, and since I don't have any real suspicions yet, let me put it this way. Both I and my character despise Wilem's guts. The MoA would kill him and leave him for the vultures in a heartbeat. But he can't, so he's trying to inconvenience him as much as possible instead, hopefully getting him expelled. If a skindancer is revealed, he'll focus on that as his priority, but right now, he just wants Wilem dead/insane/expelled/all three.

 

The tuition reduction also only applies for a single vote. The second doesn't count. So nobody should be voting twice unless they have a reason to do so (which is why I asked about Bridge Boy, who has, I think, voted for Maill four out of four times now).

Three out of four, thank you very much. The first round was when I was actually going on minor RP suspicions as well as the tuition reduction. Now he just wants Wilem dead, so the double-vote.

Edited March 3, 2016 by Bridge Boy

[Wonko the Sane he/him]

So you're leaving a double-vote on him, which raises his total vote count to four? RP is great, and half the fun of Elimination, but the key word there is half! When you are actively and aggressively pursuing negative repercussions for a player, as a result of what their character has done, I feel you may be taking it a tad far. You say your character would, if given the option, kill Wilem. Does that mean that if you had a kill power, you would use it, actually taking Maill out of the game?
 
You don't need to rely on game mechanics to take actions in roleplay. MoA wants to publicly decry Wilem? Have him get on a soap box and give a speech in some square. Want him dead? You don't need the game's permission to kill Maill; you can roleplay a poisoning attempt, or a knife in the dark, or a room fire, or anything you want! Please, don't make mechanical decisions with character-based motivations.
 
I realize that you probably want to put one vote down for tuition reduction. And since we have so little information, you'd likely be voting semi-randomly anyway, so RP seems like as good a reason as any to vote for someone. But you don't need to place both your votes, and you definitely shouldn't put them where they can do the most possible harm to one of the most active players currently playing! Please, reconsider your options, and react to Wilem in a different way.
 

---

 
Mark, I'm pretty sure Sev wouldn't miss a lost book if it had cost him 20 talents, much less if it was just a glorified spiral notebook. So if you don't mind, I'm going to modify the first page a little, to make things more interesting:
 
In fancy engraved letters, it reads "Property of Seventh Son Resterford".
 
Beneath that, a handwritten note reads,
 
Sev,
 
I know you're upset with your father and me for making you go to that school, but it's for your own good. I hope you don't let being mad keep you from making some new friends and having fun. I got you this journal so you can write things in it.
 
Love and kisses,
Mum

There. That might get his interest.

---

Where was it?

Where the SEVEN BLOODY CHANDRIAN was it?!?

 

Why, why, WHY hadn't he burned the thing the second he'd opened it? Sev continued ripping his way through his room, tossing his belongings aside, tearing furniture to pieces. At one point, a servant girl peeked into the room, but when she saw his expression, she gave a mousish squeak and ducked back out without saying anything.

 

Eventually, he settled down on an upturned armchair, his head in his hands. It wasn't here. The bloody thing wasn't BLOODY here. he threw a miraculously preserved crystal goblet against the wall, shattering it. He must have dropped the book somewhere around the University. And with the way these peasants dug through the mud and filth for scraps, there was no way it had remained undiscovered. Some filthy peasant had found Mother's accursed journal, and was even now leafing through its pages with their grimy little fingers.

 

Okay. He needed to take a step back. What was written in the journal? He couldn't recall writing anything incriminating, so there was that. There was Mother's inscription on the cover. Sev grimaced, but that could be dealt with. It really cast more shame on Mother than on him, anyway.

 

And... there was his name. No matter how he tried to avoid the thought, it was there. His full bloody name was engraved in big golden letters on the front page of the book, for all the world to see. He groaned. He was going to be a laughingstock.

 

Still, no sense dallying. Sev stood, and walked around the wreckage. He threw open his door, startling several gawkers who had been drawn by the commotion. Slamming the door behind him, he set out to find his stupid book.

Edited March 3, 2016 by Wonko the Sane

[Elithanathile he/him]

So you're leaving a double-vote on him, which raises his total vote count to four? RP is great, and half the fun of Elimination, but the key word there is half! When you are actively and aggressively pursuing negative repercussions for a player, as a result of what their character has done, I feel you may be taking it a tad far. You say your character would, if given the option, kill Wilem. Does that mean that if you had a kill power, you would use it, actually taking Maill out of the game?

 

You don't need to rely on game mechanics to take actions in roleplay. MoA wants to publicly decry Wilem? Have him get on a soap box and give a speech in some square. Want him dead? You don't need the game's permission to kill Maill; you can roleplay a poisoning attempt, or a knife in the dark, or a room fire, or anything you want! Please, don't make mechanical decisions with character-based motivations.

 

I realize that you probably want to put one vote down for tuition reduction. And since we have so little information, you'd likely be voting semi-randomly anyway, so RP seems like as good a reason as any to vote for someone. But you don't need to place both your votes, and you definitely shouldn't put them where they can do the most possible harm to one of the most active players currently playing! Please, reconsider your options, and react to Wilem in a different way.

If I had a kill power, would I use it on Wilem? If I could use it once a cycle, or something similar, and I didn't have any suspicions? In a heartbeat. I know I'm being biased and can't see the player for the RP, but I just want Wilem dead. I'd be happy to have Mailliw keep playing, but I want Wilem in a cold grave.

 

I don't really have anyone else to vote for, and I do have a goal here, as well as having no proof that Mailliw isn't a traitor. If anything, I am suspicious of him, due to the fact that his RP is super distracting, and might be used to hide his actions, so we pay more attention to Wilem than we do Mailliw.

 

Also, the MoA has been forbidden to reveal himself or kill anyone directly, so the whole assassination attempt/public slander is out.

[Mailliw73 he/him]

Bridge Boy, I kinda understand what you mean. I'm not against you voting RP wise, since I've done the same before, but desiring me dead so badly is really quite strange. You're putting two votes on me. For what reason? That my RP is distracting? What about the other 3.5 pages of RP? I'm kinda confused. At most, all I'm asking is that you take one of your votes off of me.

[Elbereth she/her]

Pyras thoughts were interrupted as Corin began to reply to her rant.

"Listen, Pyra, was it? I apologize for any slight you feel I have directed towards you. Whatever it was I said that has caused you such distress, I am sure it was not meant to be malicious or belittling. "

Pyras tapping ceased. She had not really considered that possibility. She merely found a reason to frown and latched onto it, maybe too firmly.

"Even so, " Corin continued, "I feel that coming directly to me with your complaints would have allowed us the chance to talk out our differences in a civilized manner, instead of causing me to be brought on the Horns!"

He had a point, but Pyra had been in an especially bad mood last month. The incident with the death and the stress of attending the academy when she knew no-one had gotten to her, making her rather stressed and grumpy. She had at least had begun to gain more confidence now that a month had passed. See? She actually confronted Corin personally this time. That's totally an improvement.

“I am a man of Noble birth! I have a reputation to uphold, since I am representing my family as the eldest. I'm sure we have our differences, money, or the lack thereof, being one of them, but surely you can understand the importance of family!" Corrin said in an exasperated tone. Pyra glanced down at her hands and nodded slightly. She understood.

He sighed softly before continuing. "You ask me if I think you're too negative, but I don't like to judge people based on such a small dose of interaction with them. If you'd like, we could have tea together sometime. Or dinner, or whatever you'd prefer. I'll pay of course,"

Pyra looked back at him with surprise. What??? Did he just...well...he seems genuine enough… she thought. But she was still a bit taken aback.

"So, what do you say? Let's just put this all behind us, shall we?"

Pyra opened her mouth to speak but then closed it again. She didn't know what she had been expecting to result from this conversation but it hadn't been that. She had not expected the recipient of her complaints to end up being nice. He had no right to go make her feel guilty. She frowned mildly, unsure how to react. “I...um… fine." She looked away with a slight frown.

  

I just wanted to say that "the incident with the death" is my favorite phrase now.

Elbereth, you didn't green out your original votes, so I think they still count.

Thank you for the reminder. Fixed.

I agree with Maill here. RP votes are okay if you don't have anything better. Killing him if you had the ability, just because of his RP? Not so much. If you didn't have anything stronger than that for a kill, I definitely wouldn't make a kill that cycle. And particularly with died-on-C1-three-times-in-a-row Maill. Just saying.

[Mailliw73 he/him]

GMs, do original votes have to be greened out?