Mid-Range Game 17: Hic Sunt Leones

[Burnt Spaghetti she/her]

Tia blinked. Spartacus huh? Interesting. So that stray thought earlier had been right. “Oh! Huh. How fascinating! I had the strangest feeling that was your name.” She smiled widely and shook his hand, “My name's, well…. Haha that's an interesting story actually…. Um… I'm Tia. Well. Its technically short for Hestia you know. Buuuut apparently my name is really Vesta but i don't really like going by that right now. My mind's a little scrambled up right now, haha, with amnesia and all that soo…. I don't really remember being that Vesta person so I'm going by Tia instead! So yes. Call me Tia! As for the bird….” she laughed, “oh dear me.... that you would have to ask Tarna about. You see, we often like to do fun little pranks together so we brought a few things. I typically try to stick to simple, safe little things, so I'm getting out this pie i had filled with glitter to show Tarna and then? Then she pulls out a dead bird! I was surprised but she was so insistent that we used it that i felt like i just HAD to go along with it!  Buuuut i guess i didn't really think it through… didn't quite expect it to go the way it did, haha…. It was no fun in the end…. And that's sad. Pranks should be fun! Not sad… and oh.. I'm sorry i'm rambling aren't I? Whoops! Just getting carried away with the story, hahaha….” she smiled sheepishly. “So… yea. That's the story.”

[Arraenae]

Nobody has actually defended Bugsy very much. I accused Bugsy of being a Foresworn very early in the cycle, so any Foresworn buddies with normal activity levels should have seen it already. The lack of defense is weird, and almost enough for me to call off the duel.

There are several possible explantions:

1. Bugsy is Faithful and the Foresworn don't see fit to interfere with his lynch.

2. Bugsy is Foresworn and his buddies don't care enough about him to defend him and gain susupicion if we lynch him and find that he's a Foresworn.

3. Bugsy is Foresworn, but the Foresworn aren't coordinated enough to organize a defence for Bugsy, if they even know he's a Foresworn.

Also, if you say you will cheer for someone, please do it in the post that you promise future cheers in. You don't loose anything from putting a name in teal and retracting it if later you want to cheer for someone else. This will cut down on things such as promising a cheer but forgetting, not being availble due to IRL circumstances, forgetting what the proper colors are, etc.

[Jondesu he/him]

Rae, that makes a lot of sense, and I can't see option 2 or 3 being particularly likely.  I'm liking The Young Bard's idea more and more, since I always prefer getting rid of someone who's not participating and therefore mostly useless (and sometimes suspicious) in the first round of RL games, and going after Straw seems to be the most similar course.  I'd always go after the silent people in RL games if I don't have anything else to go on.

To that effect, I'm going to officially cheer The Young Bard (Gregor).

Edited October 14, 2016 by Jondesu

[Doc12]

Well, Rae, another reason could be that Bugsy is Forsworn, but he's in the spotlight now, and anyone who defends him is automatically viewed as a bit suspicious. The other Forsworn might not want to put themselves in the spotlight, so they have decided to bus Bugsy. That's how I'm seeing things right now. I do hope we're doing the right thing though, heh, because currently this is the strongest lead we have. 

Anyway, some final rp before I go to sleep. 

---

 

Spartacus blinked. “Amnesia,  eh?” he shook his head. “That is just. The worst.” This… this could mean that she was the same girl in the photos after all, only twenty years older… hm He was just about to ask how she was coping with it, when he realized Tia probably wasn't listening much to him, as she continued to babble a stream of words in an almost drunk manner. Heh.  She seemed dead on her feet.

Spartacus waited for her to finish, a slight smile tugging at the corners of his face at how the Tia continued to regale him with the story of the bird, finally finishing with a sheepish smile and “that's the story.”

She gave him a quizzical glance, and he realized she was waiting for his story.

He sucked in a  breath, then released it in a sigh. “I punched Tiberius because he lashed out at a faithful man. I punched Tiberius because indirectly, he has caused the death of one of his most loyal guards. I punched Tiberius because despite him being the arch governor… he needs to have someone clear his head every now and then.” a yawn escaped Tia, next to him.

Spartacus snorted, smiling softly.  “Cmon, I'll walk you to your room. Six hours until tomorrow's meeting? You'd better get some rest.”

---

 

Gnight guys! 

[Chaos he/him]

2 hours ago, Doctor12 said:

Also, I'm glad that some of the RP only characters have begun posting discussions too, such as Darkness, Stick and Jondesu. Hopefully more will follow. @Chaos, @Assassin in Burgundy, @jefrywlfersn, @Burnt Spaghetti... Still waiting for you to join in

@Straw, @livinglegend, please post before rollover.

Unfortunately I don't have time to do so. I have a great deal on my plate. (If I had time to RP as well, I have a truly insane backlog on MBI before I could branch out into new things.) This looks fun, though, and so I hope everyone has a blast.

[Wonko the Sane he/him]

@Chaos, he didn't mean to summon you. He was talking to my sister, @The_Lady_of_Chaos, who is actually in this game. 

[Magestar he/him]

Lucius stared as a glowing creature descended from the clouds, deafening everyone with it's voice.  It looked down, and thus it spoke;

'Hey guys, this looks cool and all, but sorry, but I don't have the time.  Have fun!'

And it ascended back into the clouds.  Lucius fainted.

---

 

Well, that was amusing. I spent a few minutes laughing just now.

Just to make sure someone gets this right.  @The_Lady_of_Chaos.  

Edited October 14, 2016 by Magestar

[Chaos he/him]

Oh  That makes more sense, haha. 

Still, have fun.

[The_Lady_of_Chaos she/her]

Sorry about that, my brother warned me when choosing my name, but i like this name, so i'lm going to keep it. Sorry if it gets confusing, lets just try and not be in the same game at the same time? 

[The_Lady_of_Chaos she/her]

2 hours ago, Doctor12 said:

 

Also, I'm glad that some of the RP only characters have begun posting discussions too, such as Darkness, Stick and Jondesu. Hopefully more will follow. @Chaos, @Assassin in Burgundy, @jefrywlfersn, @Burnt Spaghetti... Still waiting for you to join in

Sorry, i'm not much of a discussion person, and i really hate breaking character. Though like my character sheet states, I'm not much of a person for discussion and playing detective, but i'm much better when it's pms.

[Arraenae]

We should publicly post how much merit we have. It'll help us narrow down who the Foresworn with the ionblade could be, so we can have more information to choose who to roleblock, who to try to steal ionblades from, and who definitely hadn't been getting any ionblades.

Publicly sharing how much merit we have won't take the fun out of the game, because there is still room for the eliminators to manuever. If some's merit drops a huge amount, so could infer that they bought something or started a bunch of PMs (maybe both). However, we wouldn't know what items were purchased or who was PMed, which keeps the game from being too dictatorial -- you can't tell people to how to use their items if you don't know they have those items.

Keeping track of merit (before purchases) is relatively simple. However, it is tedious. If everybody took fifteen seconds to post how much merit they have, it would save multiple independent players from taking two hours to record everybody's merit -- two hours that could be better spend hunting Foresworn.

Additionally, posting how much merit you have will contribute to discussion, so it will earn you even more merit.

Of course, I won't ask you to do something I wouldn't do myself. As I said before, I currently have 11 merit. Regardless of whether or not we adopt this plan, I will post updates of how much merit I have each cycle. More information can only help the village.

We need to share with each other how much merit we have so we have a better chance of finding, blocking, and killing the Foresworn with the ionblade. 

[Stick. she/her]

Since I can't edit colors into my old posts for some reason: cheer against Bugsy

and yeah I have 8 merit at the moment #NothingToHide #NotForesworn

But you know, Rae, anyone can lie about their merit :-P 

[Wonko the Sane he/him]

I have 11 Merit.

Also, at Rae's insistence, I will put my intended vote on paper. So, Rae.

[Elbereth she/her]

Lumina stared at the grief-stricken Tiberius, slightly shocked. Is every authority figure I meet today going mad? But when Pliny told her to escort Tiberius, she obeyed, of course. It was her duty. 

She gently guided the stumbling Gold down the winding maze of passageways to his room, a much more decorated and extravagant portion of the palace than that in which she lived. Fortunately, she’d guarded him often enough to know where his rooms were, or she might’ve led him entirely in the wrong direction.

Finally, they reached the doorway to his rooms, where a Pink opened the door immediately and ushered Tiberius in, murmuring and comforting him already. 

Lumina watched the door close gratefully. Dealing with tears was not precisely her area of expertise. She turned, intending to head back to her room and clean the sword and sheath that were still stained with bird carcass. 

“Ho, Lumina,” she heard, seeing Nirgal walking towards her. She waved and fell in beside him. She didn’t smile, but she didn’t need to with him. They were friends of a sort. Or at least, he made an excellent sparring partner, upon occasion. Not precisely a challenge when it came to swordsmanship, but he was her match at least in kravat. 

“Well?” she asked simply. 

---

Hopefully I'll be able to post more game thoughts later (including thoughts on Merit; I'm not sure I agree it's a good idea and so would like to think on it a bit more before making my decision), but I can't promise to, unfortuantely. I've been a lot quieter this cycle, because of school and stuff. This weekend I'm most certainly going to be more active. 

If I don't manage to post again, see you on the other side of turnover, assuming I'm alive.  

[Straw he/him]

Due to RL I will not be playing in Sanerson Elimination for a bit.

[AliasSheep]

Nirgal chuckled and shook his head slightly.  

"I need explain myself when greeting a friend after a long time away?  You amuse still, Lumina.  And what bizarre escapades have you found yourself in over the past few years, eh?  Not killed any poor fools have you?"

Lumina had changed little since the Institution, as far as he could tell at least, though perhaps she had gained a little more skill in her martial arts - that was at least something he'd been able to... probably consistently best her at.  Bizarre how the mind blurs memories, for better of for worse.  He himself had been practicing a lot more recently - over on Io, there had been someone of reasonably similar skill to himself, and whenever not exhilerating in the speed of the skippers, he had taken the time to get to know them and of course, spar with them.  He definitely needed to arrange a spar with Lumina, for old time's sake (and a small amount of ego boosting - but not a lot) at the least.

[Elbereth she/her]

"I need explain myself when greeting a friend after a long time away?  You amuse still, Lumina," Nirgal responded in amusement.  Lumina inclined her head, acknowledging the point. He'd ignored the implicit question of what Sheep thought of the past few days. She wondered if that had been intentional. "And what bizarre escapades have you found yourself in over the past few years, eh?  Not killed any poor fools have you?"

"Not many, but all fools," she responded lightly, although only half-joking. They passed out of the ArchGovernor's portion of the palace and began heading towards the lancers' rooms. "You?"

[Assassin in Burgundy he/him]

I have 7 merit currently. I'll cheer for Rae. I'm cheering him just because that seems to be who everyone's going for and I'd like to prevent vote manipulation. 

Edited October 14, 2016 by Assassin in Burgundy

[Wonko the Sane he/him]

Type

(Color=teal)Rae(/color), with square brackets instead of parentheses.

[Dani she/her]

Danii had missed it. She had been hiding in the rest room, retrieving Breath from her Awakened Clothing, and had missed the spectacle of Tiberius' outburst. Had he really killed Kavax, as the people were saying? And then grieved over a parrot? Danii was suddenly very uneasy thinking this was the man she is supposed to serve and protect. 

Sigh

Anything to get back home. 

Danii started toward the medbay. She had to give it to these Martians, they certainly did have a knack for architecture; the interior of the building was no less mesmerizing than the exterior (which she had stood gawking at for quite some time). Those carvings and patterns, smooth edges and shard angles, those intricate-

Ow

She bumped into someone and almost fell, but regained her balance before making a fool out of herself.

"I'm sorry, sir, I didn't see you there..." She trailed off as she realized that it was Sanis. Colours, but Sanis terrified her. And he seemed irritated already, by the look on his face, eyes blazing with fury. Danii held her hands up, took a step back and apologized again before running off to the medbay, this time not letting the walls distract her. 

 

Edit- Oh and I have 8 merit.

Edited October 14, 2016 by Daniyah

[Darkness Ascendant he/him]

I'll just pokevote Living Legend. Cause I have no idea who to vote for tbh

[Amanuensis he/him]

Chapter 2 is now closed. Please refrain from sending PMs until the new Chapter is posted in approximately 2 hours.

[Amanuensis he/him]

Chapter 3 will close on Sunday, October 16th at 8PM EST! Chapter 4 will begin two hours later!

---

Chapter 3: An Heir Abandoned

---

Rather than sleep or lay with his wife, Tiberius spent the night carving a redwood coffin for his favored bird, Mickey. By the time news of Kavax's death reached his chamber, it was little more than a bowl with a lid, though that would do for now. Allowing his last tear to fall off the precipice of his chin, he clenched the bowl, lid, and a pair of nails in his mighty hands, and sealed it shut. Sullen, he laid the crude coffin at the bottom of Mickey's cage, then exited his chamber. Pliny waited in the hall, a nervous look on his face.

The two Golds did not talk as they descended towards the med bay, Tiberius lost in thought, Pliny too wary to say a word. Kavax's death was a message, of that much the ArchGovernor was certain, and it told him that not even the head of House Telemanus, the family sworn to protect his own since... well, forever... was not outside Nero au Augustus' power to destroy. If he had a weaker spine, he might have shivered, though this news only strengthen his resolve. His only regret was that his last interaction with his stalwart friend was him having to make an example of him. No one disrespected the ArchGovernor. Not even his closest allies. It was an important point to make, but still one he wished he could change, looking back. That was, at least, until he saw a large gathering of lancers outside the medbay, some looking in at the corpse sprawled inside, others gossiping among themselves, seemingly unaware of the tragedy that had just transpired.

So, they'll run when a girl screams, but not when their master, their ruler, calls for them? the ArchGovernor thought, fists tightening, golden eyes brimming with rage. One by one he looked upon their faces and, yes, even Gregor and Morsde were there... though Rylos was still nowhere to be seen. Could he be...? No, he couldn't be. Could he? Before he could consider it any further, Spartacus noticed his arrival and began to charge at him, shouting Tiberius' name as if he were a Telemanus plunging into battle.

Tiberius didn't even bother trying to dodge, dip, dive, duck or dodge. He knew his friends strength better than anyone else - the small Gold had a medical condition that weakened his bones and was much to proud to be Carved stronger - and knew the result would be punishment enough. On impact, Spartacus' hand shattered, the sheer resistance of force shoving his white knuckles out into the open through skin as soft as a Pink's. Luckily for him, he wouldn't have to go far for a Yellow to treat it.

Rather than answer him, Tiberius stared coldly into the man's eyes, knowing how uncomfortable the silence would make him, make everyone, as they watched the scene unfold. And then another peculiarly small Gold who's name he could not recall despite the sensation of familiarity that washed his mind when he glanced at her face stepped up, as if to intervene. A faint glow from his periphery drew his gaze to his feet... some kind of new tech developed by the Greens? he thought... and then Pliny was suddenly at his side, urging him to return to his chamber in case Kavax's killer was nearby. Nodding, Tiberius waited for the glow to disappear, and then walked off, leaving his tiny Chief Politico with the two equally tiny Golds.

Suspicion glinted in his eyes as he surveyed the crowd of lancers, though his words revealed little else but anger. "It's getting late, and the ArchGovernor expects you all in his War Room bright and early. If a single one of you does not show, there will be dire consequences this time. Is that clear?!" he yells, though no one answers. He looks at the wall where that stocky menace Sevro leans and shouts once more, "Is it!?"

"Registers," Sevro spits, indignation plain on his ugly, scarred face. Breathing deeply, Pliny takes one last look at the crowd.

"Bring Tiberius the head of whoever murdered the Friendly Giant, and I'll see to it that you're handsomely rewarded." With that, the fragile Gold departed at a hasty pace, presumably to catch up with his master.

As soon as he was gone, Nyanah, the woman standing beside Spartacus, spun towards Sevro with a pointed finger and an accusatory glance. "Where were you today?" she asks, golden eyes seeming to glow with fury.

"Slag off," Sevro returned, spiteful. "That's no ones business but my own."

"Oh? Not even the ArchGovernor's business? How is that anything but suspicious?"

Sevro just shrugged, then feeling an itch, rudely scratched at his crotch.

Horrified by the act, Nyanah reached into her cloak and pretended to draw a sword. Stormlight leaked from a sphere into her hand, coalescing into a sword of Bonded Investiture. Not quite as powerful as a Shardblade, but enough for what she needed to do. "On my honor and the honor of House Bellona, I challenge you, my good man, to a duel."

Laughing as if the woman had told the funniest joke in the world, Sevro clutched his gut as he tried to walk away. Before he could get far, five lancers stepped around him and formed a wall. "You people serious? I'm not going to duel this gorydamn Pixie."

"Have you no honor, Sevro?" Lumina asked, sad that she had to take a stand against her old friend, ArchPrimus of her year, and the Gold who led her to victory in the Institute, which now felt like a lifetime ago. "Golds never walk away from a fight."

"Well you know what, Lumina? This one's about to. I'm not going to answer to a crime I had nothing to do with."

Sanis' urging was less gentle. With a swift kick to the groin, followed by another to his chest, Sevro found himself on his back, surrounded by a ring of Golds. Desperate, he searched for an ally, but each of them looked at him with either blood thirst or indifference. Fine, if they want a gorydamn duel, then I'll give them a gorydamn duel. It's not like there's anyway I could lose to this weak Pixie, anyway. Rising to his feet, Sevro gripped the hilt of his razor and flicked his wrist.

Like a snake, his razor uncoiled from his forearm, then straightened into a thin blade.

Like a wolf, he pounced on the girl, swiping his arm at her exposed throat.

Like a fool, he stumbled to the side, one foot bound to the floor by light.

"I'm sorry," Nyanah whispered as she stepped behind him and then, with one stroke, cut off Sevro's head. "I'm so sorry," she mumbled as she watched the blood pool at her feet, refusing to look at his head as it rolled next to Lumina. "I'm so, so, so sorry. But I really, really, need to go home."

The next morning, not a single one of Tiberius' lancers were late to the meeting in the War Room. It was a large, domed chamber, the walls and ceiling displaying a digital map of the Solar System. At its very center, a long table with twenty-one seats, ten on each side and a throne at one end, was laid with intel about the Sons of Ares and Imperator Augustus, each seat filled save for the ArchGovernor's himself, though in Sevro's there only sat a severed head.

Tiberius never showed.

---

Bugsy6912 was Sevro au Bellona, a Forsworn lancer secretly working for Nero au Augustus. He was slain by Nyanah, who was cheered on by Lumina, Nirgal, Spartacus, Stick and Sanis. Sevro's whisperGem contained the following message:

Quote

 

And so dies Sevro, traitor of the Bellonas. Whoever brutally murdered Kavax last night is not part of us. In fact, we condemn his death as a side effect of Tiberus' brutality. We must ally to destroy him. 

This is a warning that I will only count cheers in the designated color, Teal, from now on.

---

Quicksilver's Coffers

• (2) holoCam(s) / holoBox(es), 10 Merit: Give your holoBox to another lancer and every action that you make or that is physically made against you will be recorded and relayed to them.
• (2) jamField(s), 15 Merit: Any device that is used within close proximity of you and another lancer you target is disabled (not destroyed). This can interfere with a Lunes research, but no other House ability.
• (2) stunFist(s), 20 Merit: Stun another lancer, preventing them from taking any further actions this Chapter. If your target is protected by a pulseShield they will not be stunned, although their pulseShield will be destroyed.
• (2) fleshMask(s), 25 Merit: Disguise yourself as another lancer, preventing any action that would be used against you at the cost of potentially becoming the target of an action that would target the lancer you disguise yourself as. Likewise, any further action you take will be observed as being executed by the lancer you impersonate.
• (2) ghostCloak(s), 25 Merit: Stealth yourself, causing any action that targets you to fail. In addition, you can stalk another lancer to discover the targets and actions they make, but you yourself are unable to take any more actions.
• (1) pulseShield(s), 30 Merit: Passively protects you from a single death (includes duels).
• (1) ionBlade(s): 40 Merit: A generic, energy-based weapon that's perfect for assassinations.

---

Dramatis Personae

1. Darkness Ascendant as Brown-Piercing
2. Daniyah as Danii
3. Doctor12 as Spartacus
4. Assassin in Burgundy as The Jackal
5. Magestar as Lucius
6. Wonko the Sane as Sanis
7. Jondesu as Quintus
8. AliasSheep as Nirgal
9. I_am_a_Stick as Stick
10. livinglegend as Rylos
11. Bugsy6912 as Sevro au Bellona
12. The_Lady_of_Chaos as Tenebrum
13. Elenion as Khazad
14. The Young Bard as Gregor
15. TheMightyLopen as Priam
16. Burnt Spaghetti as Tia
17. Arraenae as Nyanah
18. Elbereth as Lumina
19. Straw as Morsde
20. jefrywlfersn as Jefry

Edited October 17, 2016 by Amanuensis

[Elbereth she/her]

o.O Um. I'm going to have to go back and look at the past cycle much more carefully than before. I was a bit absorbed in school and wasn't paying as much attention as I ought. That lynch was weird, looking back on it... no one tried to defend Bugsy. No one. Maybe I'm misremembering, but... I would think that they would at least attempt to defend him before bussing him completely. The closest I can think is Bard suggesting Straw as an alternative, which I suppose makes me more suspicious of him, but I need to go back and check the timing on that, because I think that was fairly late in the cycle, far later than I would've expected a defense to come. I guess that implies to me that it was a very deliberate and planned lynch-the-eliminator-to-clear-the-others play. In which case we'll want to look at everyone who cheered for Bugsy pretty carefully. I'll try to get up a post about that... later. Or tomorrow. We'll see. 

Following up from the theory of deliberate bussing - that implies to me that the eliminator team is relatively large this game, which doesn't surprise me in the slightest given that there are multiple mechanics giving the village the edge (particularly the kill mechanic and the limited communication). Out of 20, 5 seems reasonable. Perhaps 5 plus a village Rath. So four, now, at a guess. 

Aman, will we be getting any kind of vote count in the writeups or will we have to figure them out ourselves? 

But hey. We got a Forsworn. So... yay for that, at least. 

[Amanuensis he/him]

2 minutes ago, Elbereth said:

o.O Um. I'm going to have to go back and look at the past cycle much more carefully than before. I was a bit absorbed in school and wasn't paying as much attention as I ought. That lynch was weird, looking back on it... no one tried to defend Bugsy. No one. Maybe I'm misremembering, but... I would think that they would at least attempt to defend him before bussing him completely. The closest I can think is Bard suggesting Straw as an alternative, which I suppose makes me more suspicious of him, but I need to go back and check the timing on that, because I think that was fairly late in the cycle, far later than I would've expected a defense to come. I guess that implies to me that it was a very deliberate and planned lynch-the-eliminator-to-clear-the-others play. In which case we'll want to look at everyone who cheered for Bugsy pretty carefully. I'll try to get up a post about that... later. Or tomorrow. We'll see. 

Following up from the theory of deliberate bussing - that implies to me that the eliminator team is relatively large this game, which doesn't surprise me in the slightest given that there are multiple mechanics giving the village the edge (particularly the kill mechanic and the limited communication). Out of 20, 5 seems reasonable. Perhaps 5 plus a village Rath. So four, now, at a guess. 

Aman, will we be getting any kind of vote count in the writeups or will we have to figure them out ourselves? 

But hey. We got a Forsworn. So... yay for that, at least. 

 

22 minutes ago, Amanuensis said:

Bugsy6912 was Sevro au Bellona, a Forsworn lancer secretly working for Nero au Augustus. He was slain by Nyanah, who was cheered on by Lumina, Nirgal, Spartacus, Stick and Sanis. Sevro's whisperGem contained the following message:

 

That's as much as you'll get

Edited October 15, 2016 by Amanuensis