Long Game 18: Holly and Iron

[Mailliw73 he/him]

Were people not elevated?

[little wilson she/her]

I forgot to add that in, but it's in there now.

[Haelbarde he/him]

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Huh. Interesting - 6 elevations, but 9 fields. Either we got lots of doubling up, or lots of people went to the Imre. Or I guess people could have just not impressed Masters... guessing people doubled stuff up though.

Edited March 4, 2016 by Haelbarde

[Kynedath]

Acaelus sat with a book in his lap, not actually reading for once. Instead, he was listening to the Librarians talk about what was going on in the University. Not much of note, mostly just normal goings on for youth their age, bullying, snide comments, inappropriate actions from a man named Wilem. And much of the news was simply rumor, not actual events. The statistical likelihood of a girl falling from the sky onto the rooftop and surviving with no safety equipment was absurdly low.

However, there might be a possibility that there were glamours involved. That got Acaelus feeling excited about this particular piece of gossip. If he could get a closer look at the specimen, then he would be able to study the effects of magical illusions on social interactions between the subject and those around them. Acaelus had never really understood psychology or human interactions, so any opportunity he could get to study them, he took.

His mind made up, Acaelus stood with his book in his hand and strode out the library door. Granted some might call it slinking, but there could be aspect of his particular manner of motion that would allow . . . Oh goodness. There was no way to put a good spin on his habits. He needed to make at least one non-literature related friend in the University. Maybe then he wouldn't always be the social outcast.

Right then, Acaelus just happened to walk directly into the door that led outside. Managing to fall to his rear and open the door with the force of his collision, Acaelus found himself on the floor. From there, he could see outside the doors. The sight that greeted him was unnerving to say the least. Normally, Acaelus would stay at the library until it was dark and the sun had sunk deep below the horizon. Now, in full view, it blinded him with it's radiance. Of course he had seen the sun before, but never had he seen it with so many people around him. The full courtyard was alive with people. That made Acaelus nervous. He stared at the sun, unable to move towards the crowd. Eventually, someone noticed him and came walking up to him. They didn't seem familiar, but then again, the sun was still blindingly bright.

This is my pathetic plea for someone to help Acaelus with his anti-person problem. I need someone to help develop his character and for more human interaction rather than just internal musings. So if someone wouldn't mind, I think that I need an RP partner please.

Edited March 4, 2016 by Kynedath

[TheMightyLopen he/him]

Lucky siblings, getting elevated. Araris, you don't happen to be related to DeathClutch do you? 

[little wilson she/her]

Huh. Interesting - 6 elevations, but 9 fields. Either we got lots of doubling up, or lots of people went to the Imre. Or I guess people could have just not impressed Masters... guessing people doubled stuff up though.

 

People in Imre can still be elevated. They just can't impress a Master. But if they've already impressed a Master, they could be elevated whilst they are in Imre.

 

There are a number of ways that a Master might not elevate (and this applies to both NPC Masters and PC Masters). One is that no one has EP with that Master so they have no one to elevate. The other is that multiple Masters attempt to elevate the same student. That student will be elevated with the Master he has the most EP with, and the other Master will be left with no one to elevate. He does not get to go back and choose another student to elevate because he already picked one. The student just didn't choose to go with him.

[dowanx]

It looks like only one person went insane so it is probably safe to assume that was a skindancer attack.  I didn't have any communication with him last cycle, but it might be useful to try to figure out what happened.

 

On another note, I have done some thinking about how exactly are we suppose to catch and kill the skindancers.  

 

In normal SE games we can gather a lot of information by watching who votes for who, who defends who etc.  Once the lynch target dies we can review that information and try to see patterns or catch individuals in lies.  

 

In this game however the lynch doesn't kill, but does tuition increase and role block.

 

I originally thought a good strategy might be to go heavy into Rhetoric & Logic.  This would let me basically drown who I think is suspicious in complaints and hopefully knock them out of the university causing them to be less of a threat.  After seeing how much RP is happening and how easily you can lower your tuition from RP (which isn't a bad thing I am enjoying reading it) I realized this wasn't going to work.  

 

Role blocking is helpful, but doesn't actually help us kill them.

 

So I went to the rules and found the different kill actions (if I miss any please let me know)

 

Naming

Assassins

Upgraded Momments

 

I don't know how reliable Naming will be because not only do they have to get the right name, the more names they collect and use the higher their IP which then lands them in the crockery which does us no good. Let me be clear we do need to go for Naming... we just need to realize it is going to be unreliable.

 

None of this works as good as information gathering as the old school lynch. That got me thinking lets turn the assassin into a lynch... So for this cycle I want to hold a "lynch".  I am going to travel to Imre and hire the first assassin I can (if there isn't one this cycle I will wait for the next) for whoever wins my lynch vote.  So guys whoever you think is a skindancer place that vote in Orange.

 

If you guys think this is a bad idea please let me know, but we are 3 cycles in and have had very little discussion.

[dowanx]

I just thought of this, but if an assassin isn't available quickly I will just put a death contract out on whoever we all agree on.  Which should in affect work the same way although I would prefer an assassin.

[Mailliw73 he/him]

Dow, unless you're already in Imre, you won't be able to get there until next month as you have to send in the order to go to Imre the turn before you want to go there. 

[Elbereth she/her]

This is my pathetic plea for someone to help Acaelus with his anti-person problem. I need someone to help develop his character and for more human interaction rather than just internal musings. So if someone wouldn't mind, I think that I need an RP partner please.

I'd be happy with that, no problem, as soon as I finish up with DC/Touka. Particularly since Maill is no longer a RP partner.

DC, how much more RP are you planning on doing? Because I can skip to "we're friends and Varda's been here for a while" at any point. I'm fine with more RP as long as you're good with it, though.

It looks like only one person went insane so it is probably safe to assume that was a skindancer attack. I didn't have any communication with him last cycle, but it might be useful to try to figure out what happened.

Probably safe? How else would Ostrich have died, exactly? No one else had actions at that point.

Unless there are sabotages for sale in Imre. Anyone who went have input on that? But even then there would have been two sabotages, not only one. So it was very certainly the Skindancers.

I also had no communication with Ostrich beyond the thread. I'm curious why the thread title is 'Music of the Ainu", though. Might be better to wait until the writeup's up for a RP, DC.

Edited March 4, 2016 by Elbereth

[Danosaur he/him]

It looks like only one person went insane so it is probably safe to assume that was a skindancer attack.  I didn't have any communication with him last cycle, but it might be useful to try to figure out what happened.

 

So I was looking through the rules, it appears that every turn for the insanity role a D10 is used, but you need a roll of 12 to go insane. This would mean everyone who goes insane was sabotaged by skindancers, unless they have been elevated twice or once if they also stay in the mews.

[Elbereth she/her]

Or if they're sabotaged (EDIT: sabotaged by someone other than the eliminators, I mean). But that can't have happened yet, either.

Edited March 4, 2016 by Elbereth

[Silverblade5 he/him]

It looks like only one person went insane so it is probably safe to assume that was a skindancer attack. I didn't have any communication with him last cycle, but it might be useful to try to figure out what happened.

On another note, I have done some thinking about how exactly are we suppose to catch and kill the skindancers.

In normal SE games we can gather a lot of information by watching who votes for who, who defends who etc. Once the lynch target dies we can review that information and try to see patterns or catch individuals in lies.

In this game however the lynch doesn't kill, but does tuition increase and role block.

I originally thought a good strategy might be to go heavy into Rhetoric & Logic. This would let me basically drown who I think is suspicious in complaints and hopefully knock them out of the university causing them to be less of a threat. After seeing how much RP is happening and how easily you can lower your tuition from RP (which isn't a bad thing I am enjoying reading it) I realized this wasn't going to work.

Role blocking is helpful, but doesn't actually help us kill them.

So I went to the rules and found the different kill actions (if I miss any please let me know)

Naming

Assassins

Upgraded Momments

I don't know how reliable Naming will be because not only do they have to get the right name, the more names they collect and use the higher their IP which then lands them in the crockery which does us no good. Let me be clear we do need to go for Naming... we just need to realize it is going to be unreliable.

None of this works as good as information gathering as the old school lynch. That got me thinking lets turn the assassin into a lynch... So for this cycle I want to hold a "lynch". I am going to travel to Imre and hire the first assassin I can (if there isn't one this cycle I will wait for the next) for whoever wins my lynch vote. So guys whoever you think is a skindancer place that vote in Orange.

If you guys think this is a bad idea please let me know, but we are 3 cycles in and have had very little discussion.

I was planning on doing something similar. Anything I can do to assist?

[Wonko the Sane he/him]

Before we can start trying to get rid of the Skindancers, we need a sound strategy for identifying them. This game hasn't got any Seeker roles (except Namers, because they can apparently do anything), so we're gonna need to get creative. I've been thinking about some about identification methods, and I've come up with a couple tricks.

 

First, Linguistic Analysis can be a very powerful tool for confirming Villagers. Being able to tell when someone is lying is useful, but being able to tell when they're telling the truth can be far more incredible. When I first saw this ability, I thought to myself, 'okay, I'll just tell an obvious lie every turn, and they'll never be able to tell'. But what if I didn't?

 

From this point forward, I intend to make it a point to tell only the truth -- and every turn, I will publicly make the claim that I am not a Skindancer. I encourage you all to do the same. Now, as soon as a player gains Linguistic Analysis, all they need do is check me once, and they will have ironclad proof of my identity.

 

Fae Lore can be similarly used, if set up properly. Anyone with Fae Lore can ask another player to use an ability that will be clearly visible, like purchasing and using couriers. Then, the Archivist in question uses Fae Lore. If the tested player is able to act anyway, they are clean, because Fae Lore only affects Skindancers.

 

Lastly, I'd like to note that with nahlrout, using a plum bob becomes risk free.

 

That's what I've got. This game's a tricky one, but it's not impossible to start forming trust circles. That's something we desperately need to do, because a lot of these abilities are far less useful if no one knows about them.

 

Oh, and before I forget: I am not a Skindancer.

Edited March 4, 2016 by Wonko the Sane

[Kynedath]

Elbereth, you are probably the one person that I don't want to RP with. It's nothing personal, but you have been hopping from player to player like the mayfly man. An RP is a story. Not an encounter. I'd rather you just commit to Rping with DC for a bit. Sorry.

Anyone else want to take up the mantle of the silhouette?

[Danosaur he/him]

First, Linguistic Analysis can be a very powerful tool for confirming Villagers. Being able to tell when someone is lying is useful, but being able to tell when they're telling the truth can be far more incredible. When I first saw this ability, I thought to myself, 'okay, I'll just tell an obvious lie every turn, and they'll never be able to tell'. But what if I didn't?

From this point forward, I intend to make it a point to tell only the truth -- and every turn, I will publicly make the claim that I am not a Skindancer. I encourage you all to do the same. Now, as soon as a player gains Linguistic Analysis, all they need do is check me once, and they will have ironclad proof of my identity.

Fae Lore can be similarly used, if set up properly. Anyone with Fae Lore can ask another player to use an ability that will be clearly visible, like purchasing and using couriers. Then, the Archivist in question uses Fae Lore. If the tested player is able to act anyway, they are clean, because Fae Lore only affects Skindancers.

So I think you are on to something with this. However many actions there is no way to confirm who took them. If you try to verify someone's identity with a check action for a skindancer they could instead have a teammate complete the check action. This would make it appear that the action completed even though the suspected player was actually blocked by fae lore. In order to make sure the action can actually verify student of skindancer the action must be player specific.

EDIT:

By the way I am not a skindancer

Edited March 4, 2016 by Danosaur

[Wonko the Sane he/him]

Hm. You may be right. Blast. Well, I'm just grasping at straws anyway.

 

I think my Linguistic Analysis confirmation is sound, though.

 

We just really need to find ways to start to trust each other. We're much stronger as a collective.

[Paranoid King he/him]

Delta strode up to the front desk of the library. The security eyed him warily, but, noting the large homemade badge he wore, (I am an e'lir, so don't cross me,) made no moves to grab him. He intended to get into the library whatever it took, and it seemed that being elevated would speed that process along somewhat. "I'm looking for a book," he firmly stated. The librarian looked up, recognizing him. She met his gaze for a moment before speaking.

"No highlighters. I see that you've managed to impress someone, but you're not impressing me that easily. Guards, search him, and keep his pack in custody. If you find anything remotely resembling food, throw him out."

"What? You can't do that! I'm an e'lir now, practically the head master's assistant! I'm one of the most important people in this school!"

The librarian rolled her eyes. "You said you were looking for a book? Try this one." Opening a drawer, she pulled out a pamphlet and tossed it to him. He grabbed it, scanning the cover. The title read, A beginner's guide to the university. For idiots. Nothing out of the ordinary there. "Page 4," the librarian said, returning to her book. Opening the book to page 4, he began reading.

E'lir: the lowest of the low, these pupils have just started to see beyond the obvious. Although they have only begun to learn, they have ascended enought to be known as E'lir, which means "wise one", and definitely not anything else. Delta looked up. The librarian was watching him again, a smile on her face.

"You realize that, as an e'lir, you have no actual authority, right? As such, if I chose to order you out of my library, you would have no way to fight back. A new title doesn't mean anything to me."

Was that so? Would she be singing the same tune when he became a master? He'd wipe that smirk off of her face, sure enough. Delta spun and stalked out on the library.

Edit: also, I am not a skindancer

Edited March 4, 2016 by Paranoid King

[little wilson she/her]

Important note: Looking through the spreadsheet, I noticed an error had been made on one of the Masters' DP, and Touka/DeathClutch was supposed to have one more DP than it was showing he had on The Horns tab (yes, the spreadsheet has many tabs. Anyone who knows me and spreadsheets should not be surprised by this fact ). This one DP gave him enough to put him On the Horns. However, the charges were dropped. I've edited this into the results part of the writeup. The rest of the writeup is coming. Later today. Probably. I had a busy night last night and won't have free time enough to write something up until later tonight.

 

Also, the turn's title has changed. We were going to go with Ostrich's vague connection to the Silmarillion and Elbereth, but nothing came to us, and I like the current idea I have far better, so this title is more fitting. We'll save the Ainur title for Elbereth.

[Elbereth she/her]

Elbereth, you are probably the one person that I don't want to RP with. It's nothing personal, but you have been hopping from player to player like the mayfly man. An RP is a story. Not an encounter. I'd rather you just commit to Rping with DC for a bit. Sorry.

Anyone else want to take up the mantle of the silhouette?

No problem. Yeah, I noticed that I was doing that too. I think it's partly because of the particular story I'm telling, and partly because I don't want to force someone to RP with me when they don't want to do as much as I do. (And I couldn't really avoid separating from Wilem. It was basically inevitable.) And the time-format of this particular game makes RPing a good deal more difficult, particularly telling an actual story like I tried to do in AG2. (Of course, it helped that I started with a pre-existing relationship in that one.)

Also, the turn's title has changed. We were going to go with Ostrich's vague connection to the Silmarillion and Elbereth, but nothing came to us, and I like the current idea I have far better, so this title is more fitting. We'll save the Ainur title for Elbereth.

Um... Yay?

Also, I just realized that how long this game is going to be, because of the win cons and the limits on kills. The shortest way I can imagine the game ending is the Skindancers managing to become Masters of all nine fields eventually. As opposed to either all of them being expelled and then also sabotaged, or all of them being killed by assassins, or everyone going to the Crockery and then being killed once we're in there. Any way we do this, this game is going to be very long. Not only the most complicated game ever, but also very possibly the longest! (Actually. I don't know what the longest game has ever been. Was it AG2, maybe?)

Edited March 5, 2016 by Elbereth

[Elithanathile he/him]

The MoA had been called before the horns. He wasn't quite sure why, as they didn't even know he existed, but he decided to go anyway. It would seem that many had made complaints against him, which was odd, because they didn't know he existed either. In all, this was a very odd situation, and he suspected that skindancers were aware of his involvement, and wanted him removed.

 

He walked into the large chamber where the masters waited, a long cloak covering his body and face to continue hiding his identity. He would wipe the encounter from their minds afterwards, of course, but the less they knew, the less he would have to erase. And thus less chance of brain damage. The majority of these masters were still necessary, after all.

 

One, the master of Arithmatics, cleared his throat and began. "You have been called here in response to several complaints we have received, stating that you..." The short master adjusted his glasses, and looked at a sheaf of papers in his hand. "...Dislike another student, and have made death threats against him. What do you have to say in your defense."

 

The MoA stood still for a few moments, and then spoke. "Does it also include in those papers the fact that I had also clarified that I had no way to do so, and even if I did, I would be unable to?"

 

The master of artifice spoke up, responding to the question. "No, they did not, but that does not reduce the gravity of making a death threat against another student. What had he done that was so awful?"

 

"He had discovered a girl upon a roof who was without clothes for some reason, possibly after being robbed. He approached her, talked with her for a short while, giving her a dress, one that was not fit for a child to wear, might I add, and then attempted to take her to his room for... less savory activities. When she discovered his intentions and resisted, he attempted to force her to, saying it was the price for the dress and for talking to him. He only stopped when she fled."

 

The masters collectively blinked. "And why didn't you stop him, if you found his actions so despicable?" The master of Rhetoric and Logic questioned.

 

"As I previously stated, I was unable to do anything to him, stop him, kill him, anything besides make empty threats with no way of carrying them out that were somehow known, even though I never stated them. I am only allowed to be here due to an attempt to obey the laws of this university, and even then, the danger will be removed after I am gone." The MoA answered. "So what is my punishment for doing nothing? I am prepared to publicly apologize for not stepping in, even if it was past my capabilities, but I will not apologize or retract my statements pertaining to Wilem."

 

The masters discussed among themselves for a short while, then seemed to reach a consensus. The master of sympathy spoke. "You are required to make a public apology, but for what, we will leave to you. That will be all for your punishment."

 

The MoA thought he heard a continuation, and questioned it. "Is there anything else that you needed me for, besides the matter of my punishment?"

 

The masters seemed to shuffle in their seats for a moment, apparently uncomfortable with the subject. After a moment of this, the master of naming spake cheerfully for the first time. "You're being elevate to an E'lir. They're all awkward, because this hasn't really happened before, and they are decided uncomfortable with elevating someone at the same time that they punish him. It shows either favoritism, or being slightly insane. Which they aren't. That's just me. Nobody else is allowed to be insane while I'm here." He began to cackle mildly under his breath.

 

The MoA cocked an eyebrow at that, and inwardly snorted. He had been an El'the before the incident, and so the elevation didn't mean much to him, but at least it was official, and he should be able to have slightly more leeway when it came to it. He bowed deeply. "I thank the masters for this great honor, and promise to use the benefits that come with the station for the good of the university." After this, he turned on his heel and left the roof.

 

The masters waited waited a moment after he left, before they began talking with each other once more. "This was a very peculiar situation. We have no record of him in our books, and nobody knows where he came from."

 

"And then we have the matters of the complaints, where every complaint made stated what he had done to be deserving of punishment, but not a single one could say how they knew, or in what situation. They claimed they just... knew, and submitted the complaint."

 

"We have no confirmed sightings of this figure, and nobody knows what he actually looks like, but apparently, he has done things that warrant his elevation, occurrences that are shown in our records, but we have no proof that they actually happened."

 

"All in all, I think we can agree he is a most curious individual, and we should keep a further eye on him."

 

The masters nodded their agreement, and then one word, the volume of a whisper, but with the force of a hurricane, entered their minds. "Erase." The masters, except for the master of naming, froze for a moment, and then seemed to wake up, and began a conversation about what other students were worthy of elevation. The master of naming just smiled to himself. This should be a very interesting year.

 

Public apology to be in another post.

[Mailliw73 he/him]

Wilem had spent last term messing around too much to have actually been promoted to E'lir. Still, he was jealous of those who did. An Edema Ruh, above him? This University had its priorities mixed up. And that Akasha was promoted when he had been following Wil everywhere, earning himself a number of complaints? How wrong!

 

Wil had seen Varda a couple of times around campus. She was looking better than ever with her gilden hair and eyes of jade. Kraem, but WIl wished he hadn't screwed that one up, even if the girl was naive. Wil heard Sev standing in the courtyard, proclaiming his plans to catch the Skindancers. Stupid Vintish, Wil thought. He'd find the Skindancers on his own, without giving any of the attention to Sev or his countrymen. Aturans were more elevated than the Vintish. 

 

Wil went into the Stacks to find the reports on the Skindancer sightings and signs. Most of it was fantasy kraem that would be utterly useless, but there was the occasional report on fae lore that pointed to potential signs of skindancers. Wil smiled. He'd catch these fae himself. 

 

Edit: For the next three turns or so, I'll be less active, as it'll be Spring Break for me and I'll be going out of town. After I post signups for MR12 later today, my activity will be falling quite a bit. If you have anything specific to ask me, please PM me.

Edited March 4, 2016 by Mailliw73

[Elithanathile he/him]

The MoA felt a shudder coarse through his body, as though he'd just had a subconscious urge to kill someone. He guessed where it came from, but carried on with his preparations.

[STINK he/him]

Sadly, it seems I wasn't good enough for the Talent Pipes

[Burnt Spaghetti she/her]

(sorry for late reply)

“Excellent!”

Well, at least Corrin seemed content with her response even though she had thought she sounded rather unenthusiastic about it.

"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.

Pyra watched him leave in silence. His attitude had surprised her. He definitely seemed much more gentlemanly than the assumed him to be. Perhaps she needed to spend some time rethinking her rants and correcting them… she sighed and walked back to where she was staying.

When the next term begun, Pyra again took up residence underneath a tree, once again writing and doodling in her notebook, humming softly as she did so. This time though, there were less angry rants and more calculations to do with her finances. She barely managed to pay for the last tuition fee, and now, she realized it was going to be even harder to pay for the next fee. She didn’t even have two full talents. She was definitely going to need to attempt to get the talent pipes soon as that was likely the only way she would be able to keep paying for tuition.