Long Game 18: Holly and Iron

[Danosaur]

Um. Is that three elevations to Master I see? And nothing else? Right then.

That is what my notes say

 

---

EDIT:

 

I am not a skindancer

Edited March 21, 2016 by Danosaur

[Wonko the Sane]

Oh, right, I am not a Skindancer.

[Araris Valerian]

Somewhere, Amari had found a soapbox, and decided that if he needed to apologize publicly, he might give at least an attempt at humor. He was going to be way too embarrassed as it was. He set up the box in a courtyard, then stepped upon it to read his carefully prepared speech.

 

"Fellow students! Today, we celebrate the eleventy-first apology! I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like all of you more than half of what you probably deserve."

 

The only other occupant of the courtyard, a crow, cawed at him as if in disdain, and then left. They said the apology needed to be public. Well, anyone could hear this if they wanted to. Not my fault they didn't show up.

 

"I am here today to apologize for two offenses, the first of which you are likely to forgive, although the second is unfortunately something of an ongoing situation. Firstly, I would like to apologize for refusing to care for Wilem in the Medica. I was approached by him, and he anticipated death, asking for help. I honestly might have given him attention, but in the end his behavior to the fine female scholars among us was so deplorable that I refused him aid, which led to his death. Of course, this is presuming that my skills would have been up to the task, which is a matter of some dispute."

 

Amari cleared his throat, and then continued. "The second matter is a bit graver. I have been noticeably absent from the efforts to seek out skindancers in the recent months. My only excuse, that of classes, is a poor one, for if the University falls, what classes will I take? But if I fail my classes, the University will no longer be open to me regardless. So that iss my dilemma, and I can say that I have been given leave by my instructors to take leave of my classes for the next week to more fully investigate this matter, and attempt to put the University back together in whatever means I can. Good day to you all. Oh, and I am not a skindancer."

 

Amari stepped off of his soapbox, and then turned with a start as he heard enthusiastic clapping from behind himself. His face flushed red as he realized that someone had actually heard his apology, and he quickly bolted off towards his room in the Mews.

Edited March 21, 2016 by Araris Valerian

[TheMightyLopen]

And now you know why I didn't want you to vote on me Elbereth!   I am a Master now! Woohoo! Do you think I should say what I'm the Master of? That way I can assign my Students the abilities they want. Although since I'M the Master I can choose what I think is best. 

 

Danosaur, mind posting an update on the elevations? My notes are a bit behind.

[Haelbarde]

So, were people in communication with Mail at all? 

 

I am not a skindancer

[Elbereth]

Just a thought.

It occurs to me that besides the current Analyst, the Masters are high priority targets for scans. Dano has been scanned, but not Lopen or Hael, as far as I remember.

Yes, yes, congrats, Lopen. How nice for you.

[TheMightyLopen]

Just a thought.

It occurs to me that besides the current Analyst, the Masters are high priority targets for scans. Dano has been scanned, but not Lopen or Hael, as far as I remember.

Yes, yes, congrats, Lopen. How nice for you.

 

What what? I was the first to be scanned my dear Student. Scanned as an honest "not a Skindancer." Hael was supposedly scanned as lying once but Wonko had told them(the Analyst) he was lying and they had a mental lapse and forgot to change their order or something like that.

 

That's Master Lopen to you. 

[Wonko the Sane]

Lopen was one of the first scans, and due to an incident with Bridge Boy, he has actually been confirmed independently of the Analyst's alignment. Of all the players remaining, I consider his alignment the most certain.

[Clanky]

Yep the masters will be at the forefront of players that should be scanned. If the old analyst is a Skindancer then Danosaur/lopen may also need to be scanned again. Personally I consider him cleared for his part in discovering maill but I can understand if people want him scanned again.

[Wonko the Sane]

Bridge Boy spied on the PM in which the Analyst announced themselves to Lopen. The existence of that PM means they are almost certainly not both Skindancers; There's no way they could have predicted the spying, and that sort of pantomime would be rather strange. So even if the Analyst is evil, Lopen is more or less confirmed.

[Elbereth]

I did PM Maill consistently during the first couple of cycles this game. Relevant parts:

1. When I mentioned trust for Kynedath and my reasoning (a Skindancer would presumably know that he's a Skindancer, not a Skincrawler, he tried to cast a little bit of supsicion there. Not a ton, though, so don't read too much into that.

2. There was a weird formatting thing for a quote, which he passed off as copying and pasting between PMs. I'm not sure that's actually what it was at this point, but it's a bit late for that. That said, there was someone else who did the same thing... I'll have to see if I can find what PM that was.

3. He asked me which field I was promoted in, during T3M1. I provided him with an answer, and together we asked most other people. Since I shared my answers with him, and he shared some things with me (their truth is debatable, of course), I should probably share them with the thread, since the Eliminators are already aware of them. So:

Wonko studied in Archives and Naming. Hael elevated in Arithmetics. Dow studied in Archives, Linguistics, and Naming.

That was it. I didn't tell him much either, to be fair, since I never finished asking everyone I was supposed to.

This is the point at which I am a tired traveling idiot (which should totally have been my title while I was still traveling, but unfortunately I didn't

think of it until just now). Lopen told me that he'd told Maill where he'd elevated. I was a bit confused, because Maill had never mentioned it to me. But instead of following up on that and accusing Maill, I instead forgot about it and didn't look at Maill again. Oops...

What what? I was the first to be scanned my dear Student. Scanned as an honest "not a Skindancer." Hael was supposedly scanned as lying once but Wonko had told them(the Analyst) he was lying and they had a mental lapse and forgot to change their order or something like that.

 

That's Master Lopen to you. 

I apologize. I completely forgot.

...

  

Bridge Boy spied on the PM in which the Analyst announced themselves to Lopen. The existence of that PM means they are almost certainly not both Skindancers; There's no way they could have predicted the spying, and that sort of pantomime would be rather strange. So even if the Analyst is evil, Lopen is more or less confirmed.

Did he spy on Lopen or the Analyst? If he spied on the Analyst, it's totally plausible. If he spied on Lopen, obviously they're not both Skindancers.

[Danosaur]

Here are the updated notes, let me know if I missed anything,

 

Vintish:

Clanky - Was Insane. Student. No elevations and cannot be elevated.

STINK – elevated once. Expelled

Wonko - Elevated thrice. (Scanned)

 

Aturans:

Lopen - Master. (scanned.)

Mailliw - Elevated twice. Skindancer

Ostrichofevil - Insane

BB

Neodymium

Silverblade

 

Yllish:

DC – (Insane) Elevated three times.

Araris - Elevated twice.

Dowanx - Elevated once. Expelled

PK

Mark

Weaving Webs(Sasuke)

 

Cealdish:

Kynedath - Elevated three times. Insane.

Haelbarde - Master.

Only Joe - Elevated once. Expelled

Firemuffin - Elevated thrice.

Danosaur - Master. (Scanned)

Kipper

Mashadar Mistborn

 

Edema Ruh:

Elbereth: Elevated three times. (Scanned)

Burnt - Elevated twice.

[Clanky]

Unfortunately the last shipment headed to the Apothecary in Imre was stolen by rogue mercenaries leading to them being sold out of everything.

 

 

Bridge Boy spied on the PM in which the Analyst announced themselves to Lopen. The existence of that PM means they are almost certainly not both Skindancers; There's no way they could have predicted the spying, and that sort of pantomime would be rather strange. So even if the Analyst is evil, Lopen is more or less confirmed.

How much was in the PM? Was there enough talk for it not to just be a token PM specifically for this possible outcome? 

[TheMightyLopen]

Thanks Dano!

 

Clanky, there was more than just the one PM where they told me I'd been scanned, but I don't know if that can be confirmed since BB is dead now. Apparently BB was in close contact with Wonko and so Wonko may know more details about that specific PM than just the simple fact that the Analyst told me I was scanned.

 

Edit: Oh, and Elby, I believe he spied on me when that PM happened. I think that's what Wonko told me.

Edited March 21, 2016 by TheMightyLopen

[Wonko the Sane]

STORMING MERCENARIES!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Unfortunately, BB isn't here to discuss that. But remember, Lopen was the very first scan; the analyst was out of the public eye at that point, and there was absolutely no reason to suspect spies. If you were a Skindancer, do you think you would have gone to all the trouble of faking that PM?

 

Elbereth, I don't know -- BB tended to keep information to himself -- but I also don't see how which one was targeted makes a difference. My evidence for Lopen's innocence is that this PM existed at all.

Edited March 21, 2016 by Wonko the Sane

[Elbereth]

Ohh. I was basing my thoughts off of a false premise. I couldn't remember what happened to BB, so I presumed he was insane and we didn't know his alignment. He is a dead student, so the point isn't that Lopen and BB can't both be eliminators. It's that Lopen and the Analyst can't be eliminators. Probably. That does make sense to me.

Do we have any results for the Analyst scans?

[Clanky]

I didn't say it was likely just possible. I actually trust Lopen probably among the top three of everyone in the game. I just don't like to ever put anything past the eliminators. They're always trying to sneak something past you.

[Wonko the Sane]

I don't know. I'm still waiting for reports from both the Analyst and the Counteranalyst.

[Elbereth]

No rush. Actually, I probably shouldn't even have asked that question. Every timestamp gives an indication who the Analyst can't be. So waiting 24 hours before posting any results is actually probably best.

[TheMightyLopen]

Right now, my suspects for Skindancers are:

 

DeathClutch(Insane E'lir Alchemist < that's a theory backed up by some pretty good facts),

Haelbarde(lied in the thread about something other than the I am not a Skindancer phrase, so a scan on him wouldn't be very helpful, plus, I don't know, he hasn't done very much?)

STINK(Clanky's theory that I still need to look over a little more and think about)

 

I personally think Clanky, Wonko and Elbereth are all Students. I'm more confident about Clanky and Wonko than I am about Elbereth.

 

I also think Kynedath and ostrich are as well, though I'm not totally certain.

 

So there's FireMuffin(I can't really decide about him. Gut suspicion.)

Araris(not much to say about him. Gut trust.)

Dowanx(I'd guess Student based off of what I remember of his posts because I got the feeling he was a Student, but I could be wrong 'cause my gut isn't too reliable)

Only Joe(I'd guess Student for him as well, based off of the fact that Mailliw got him expelled, as well as the fact that he had a lot of EP in Archives, which I don't think a fellow Skindancer would do. Didn't STINK say he'd put some in Archives as well? That makes me less suspicious of him. I wasn't ever really suspicious of him before Clanky put forth his theory, but like I said, I need to go over that again a little more closely)

Danosaur(he's a player I've actually been a little suspicious of for a while, but then he got *cleared* by the Analyst) 

Burnt(hard to say. We actually haven't been PM'ing as much as we usually do, which is sorta surprising, but she was a poor Edema Ruh for a long while and then I was gone on a trip for a few days, so that's a little understandable).

 

Okay, since Mailliw was only elevated in Archives, it seems as if he was the designated Skindancer for that field. Based off of that fact, the other players who have put quite a bit of EP there seem a lot less suspicious. So Araris, Joe, Wonko and STINK. I think they all had a good amount of EP stashed in Archives.

[Wonko the Sane]

Storms... The Analyst failed her test. She had already confirmed the Counteranalyst, so there's no questioning it:

 

Burnt Spaghetti, Analyst extraordinaire, is a Skindancer.

 

A full summary of all secrets I have kept for her is coming.

[Wonko the Sane]

Here is the entirety of our PM correspondence. I've left no secrets out, because everything here is already known by the Skindancers anyway.

 

 

T3:M1

 

She contacted me, told me she was an Analyst, and said that she had scanned myself and Lopen.

 

I offered to try and help her with her monetary situation, gave her a Bloodless, and offered to be her public face.

 

I encouraged her to scan Bridge Boy.

 

She reminded me that she was in Imre, and could not scan anyone that turn.

 

I later asked if she would go along with Kynedath's plan to cross-confirm with BB.

 

She agreed to let me tell BB her name.

 

 

T3:M2

 

I told her that I had learned the Name of the Wind, and said I would probably start off with PM spying.

 

She told me that she had won her Talent Pipes.

 

 

T4:M1

 

She told me her scan that turn had been BB; unfortunate, as he had died that turn.

 

I recommended Elbereth, DC, Maill, and Stink as possible scan targets, and singled out Elbereth and Maill as my favorites.

 

She told me that she had already been considering El and Maill, and decided that it would be El.

 

I told her that I thought Maill was a more likely Skindancer, but that clearing El could be more useful, as El was an El'the at the time. I also informed her that Lopen had been considering flat-out killing Maill, so her scan might be wasted there.

 

 

T4:M2

 

She told me that she had cleared Elbereth. She also said that she had acquired the linguistic PM spying ability. She asked whether I thought we should tell Clanky her identity, because there was hardly any need to scan him, and because he was growing suspicious of her.

 

I agreed, and told her to go ahead and talk to Clanky. I informed her that I had been elevated in Naming again, and learned the Name of Bone. I also told her that Mailliw had apparently said absolutely nothing in PMs that turn, and recommended him as her next check.

 

As she had not yet contacted Clanky, I informed her that I was going to.

 

She told me that with her new elevation, she could now scan two people per turn. She and Lopen had apparently been talking, though, and had decided that it might be a good idea to only reveal one each turn, so that she had a backup list in case she went to Imre or got roleblocked. She said that her scans for that turn were going to be Firemuffin and either Haelbarde or Danosaur.

 

I asked her why she had chosen those targets.

 

She said that they were Lopen's suggestions, and that he preferred Danosaur, but Haelbarde would suffice if Dan didn't post the key phrase.

 

 

T5:M1

 

She told me she had scanned Firemuffin and Danosaur, and found no lies, and said she planned on scanning Maill and Hael that turn.

 

I replied with 'Fantastic News': Muffin had informed me that he was now a Linguistic Analyst. I told her I was going to give him her name to facilitate a scan, and that I was going to publicize her confirmation of Danosaur, for now.

 

I contacted her, saying that Haelbarde had told me that he had lied about his elevations that round, and she needed to abort the scan.

 

I urged her to post the key phrase to allow Muffin to scan her (she didn't). I also informed her that I was, at Clanky's suggestion, going to attack Maill that night.

 

 

T5:M2

 

I told her the reason Maill hadn't died was that Bone wasn't strong enough, and asked how her scans had gone.

 

She told me that she had failed to change her scan from Hael, so that had been wasted, and that her other scan had been redirected from Maill to Danosaur. She apologized for failing to post the key phrase, citing IRL health issues of headaches and recurring nightmares. As a side note, my best wishes go out to you, but I feel that it seriously damages the game when you use things like that to cover in-game subterfuge. I really, really want to be able to trust someone when they tell me something like that. She told me that she had once again been elevated in Linguistics, gaining the ability to keep her PMs from being spied on. And with the new elevation, she would be able to scan an additional player.

 

 

T6:M1

 

She told me that her scans had been Maill, Hael, and Clanky. She said that she didn't get to know whether Maill, the dead player, had lied, but that Hael and Clanky were both liars.

 

 

And we're caught up. I haven't really given this much thought, and I don't know who to trust right now. Hopefully you guys can make something of this.

[Haelbarde]

Seriously, sis. You're always evil when I'm playing...

So now that we have a Skindancer, what do we do with it? Expel them and then wait for Clanky to buy an assassin?

[Burnt Spaghetti]

I solemnly promise to be totally honest for as long as I am alive and able to talk. So come at me muffin.

 

 

 

She told me that she had failed to change her scan from Hael, so that had been wasted, and that her other scan had been redirected from Maill to Danosaur. She apologized for failing to post the key phrase, citing IRL health issues of headaches and recurring nightmares. As a side note, my best wishes go out to you, but I feel that it seriously damages the game when you use things like that to cover in-game subterfuge. I really, really want to be able to trust someone when they tell me something like that. She told me that she had once again been elevated in Linguistics, gaining the ability to keep her PMs from being spied on. And with the new elevation, she would be able to scan an additional player.

 

 

That was totally legit. I was in no mood to have to deal with my linguist duties (or with people) so just didn't turn up for the reasons I had stated in the pms. So that was actually true. I didn't reply/read/post cause of those reasons which is what the pm said. If you had checked the times that i was on, you would have noticed that i was indeed not on for most of that turn.

Otherwise I honestly probably would have responded. May not have said the phrase, but would have still likely responded to pms.

 

 

So the people i may or may not have scanned:

Lopen

Wonko

Elbereth

Firemuffin

Danosaur

Maill

Hael

Clanky

 

One or two of them may have actually been the truth 

 

I have never scanned a skindancer.

 

Though I may have been doing the sabotage.... 

 

 

 

Seriously, sis. You're always evil when I'm playing...

So now that we have a Skindancer, what do we do with it? Expel them and then wait for Clanky to buy an assassin?

 

Huh. This is true.

 

Let me live and talk so you can weasel info out of me and then get muffin to check to see if i'm lying?

 

 

 

Also i need a new avatar... I made this one after my first evil game and never had a reason to change it. I need an eviller one.

[Elbereth]

I really want to read the Skindancer doc now. What in the name of sanity made them use Burnt as the fake scanner again?

Though, to be fair, my first thought when Wonko told me she was a Skindancer was "the Skindancers wouldn't have been dumb enough to have her do that again, would they?". So I guess it helped. But still...