Long Game 2: The Devil's Den

[Metacognition]

Night 1 (Poisoning the Well)

 

After many pales faces and even more vomitting, the crew finally worked up the nerve to get Modeft down. Dyring did his best to keep the ale flowing, partially to help people take their minds off of the events and partially to pad his pockets. Modeft hadn’t gotten around to paying him for last night and now it looked like he never would.

 

As they were wrapping Modeft’s body up for Lam to dispose of, something shiny caught Wes’s eye in Modeft’s inner pocket. With skilled hands, he snatched it up just as Aspren finished rolling him into a tarp. He climbed up to his perch, still clutching it tightly. He didn’t want anyone else to see it yet in case it was indeed valuable.

 

Unfortunately, when he opened his fist, he found a capsule of some form, nothing special about it other than the fact that it had been polished to a shine. Still, whatever inside might be worth something so he pried it open. He frowned when he pulled out a couple of sheets of paper. That was definitely not the kind of prize he was after. He almost burned the pages then and there, until he spotted his name at the top of the first page.

 

Wes, it read. Quit being a dolt and get out of the rafters. Get the rest of these papers to Aspren or I’m haunting you for eternity.

 

Wes just about fell off his perch in shock, but barely caught himself. Thinking about it, the note might just be on to something. He shimmied down and went to find Aspren.

-----------

“If you’re reading this, then I’ve been killed,” Aspren read. He had gathered everyone back together after finding out what was in the note. “My guess is that it was an Inquisitor. If you haven’t figured it out by now, our job was to take them out and they likely got to me before we finished the job.

 

“But this one will not get away. You see, I’ve poisoned you all. A poison so potent that it will even take down a Thug eventually. It was in the air during our first night, so even our spike-headed scum has been infected. A delaying elixer is in the water at the bar and I’ve made sure to it that each of you has been getting a dose. What this means is that my killer can’t go far without dying themselves. So here’s your new job. Kill them for me. Only then will I reveal the location of the antidote to you. They have to be hidden amongst you. Root them out and butcher them. May the Survivor bless you.”

 

The crowd was shocked into silence. Some of them had been planning on fleeing during the night. Now it looked like they were all in it till the end.

 

“Wait,” said Maxill. “If he’s dead, how is he going to get us the antidote after we kill the… Inquisitor?”

 

“This is Modeft,” Aether stated. “He always finds a way. It’s like he’s guided by the Survivor himself!”

 

“Well then we had better get started,” Ffnord said. “Who’s it going to be?”

“I’m too pretty to die!” Gamon complained.

 

Luckily, cooler heads prevailed. Everyone decided they needed more information to go off of before they could just start chopping people’s heads off. After all, they were thieves; not murderers.

 

Just as everyone was calming down and getting ready to discuss how they should proceed, after a cooling round of water for everyone, Peng, who had been mostly silent jerked straight. There was a fire in his eyes and his hands kept curling themselves into fists.

 

“I’m tired of talking! I don’t know about the rest of you, but I want whoever did this dead! Maybe this is the Inquisitor who got my parents, maybe not, but I’m not about to let another chance slip by to kill one of their ilk! That’s why I’m a Mistborn and you’re all going to listen to me!”

 

He met every eye in the room and surprisingly, many people seemed moved by his speech. Eddy tried to start a round of applause, but he kept missing his hands.

 

“Now here’s what I think we should do,” Peng said. They started planning as night fell around them.

 

Modeft’s spirit just smacked himself in his ethereal head. “Avenge me already, you lazy, no-good, miscreants! I swear, I’ve never seen a more cowardly lot!”

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

Day 1 ends with no deaths! For shame on all of you for being reasonable!

Night 1 begins and will last for 36 hours. I’m not that far behind for it to make much difference. If you have any night orders, send them in. If you decide not to use your night action, send me a PM saying as much! (Seriously, I didn’t hear from anyone during the day round and no one used their powers….)

 

Vote Count

 

Kill No One - 27 (Gamon, Barty, Windrunner, Wes, Shimbles, Ridge, Vron, Kukri, Aether, Aonar, Cessie, Herwynbe, Dyring, Eddy, Ffnord, Quiller, Maxill, Wilson, Peng, Shiv, Lam, Grave, Lucy, Aspren, Seran, Weiry, Digits)

No Votes - 2 (Mathieu,  Roban)

Edited January 29, 2014 by Metacognition

[Mailliw73]

The Rioter didn't use their power? Or are you lying when you said no one used their power?

[Claincy]

Wes, it read. Quit being a dolt and get out of the rafters. Get the rest of these papers to Aspren or I’m haunting you for eternity.

XD

Nice write up. You somehow managed to do well even without us killing anyone

 

Never fear Modeft for I am trying! Thou shalt soon be avenged......you, um, totally also wanted vengeance on the half of the crew that we will likely slaughter before we find the inquisitor right? ....right?

[Metacognition]

Q&A time!

 

Meta, what would happen if the person being Lurched was Coinshot and targeted by the Inquisitor/a second Coinshot? Would they die?

 

If they were just a Regular Crew Member, they would die. A thug would survive, but they'd be down one life. All night actions happen simultaneously, so even if something like that happened and I wrote it a certain way, that wouldn't mean it couldn't have happened the other way. In those cases, I'd pick the order that made for the most fun write up. You can get an idea of how this works in the Day 4 write up from the first game. 

The inquisitors spiking powers greatly intrigue me. I wonder what happens if they spike two coinshots together.  Can the new spiked coinshot kill two people a night or only one?  What about thugs, can they survive a double powered coinshot? A smoker/seeker would be a good combo too. So many questions, so few to experiment upon.

 

I am not the inquisitor. Just voicing some thoughts I would have as an alchemist Please don't lynch me tomorrow  

 

Edit: spelling

 

Anyone converted by the Inquisitor loses their allomantic abilities in favor of the one they are being spiked with. This means that if they fail that roll and don't gain the ability, someone could go from being a Misting to being a regular Spiked villain.

 

On top of this, I want to address a misconception that I think you guys are working from about the Inquisitor's Ruin-granted abilities. The Inquisitor has access to all of their powers at any given time. They can only use one of them per turn, but they can use any of them. They are not like the Mistborn. That should help you all sleep well tonight! 

 

Another question Meta. What happens if two lurches lurch at the same time? Does the lurched get ripped in half or does it cancel each other out allowing the coinshot to kill their target?

Then the only way to kill such a person would be to have 3 people try to kill that person, 4 if it's a Thug! One Lurcher would cancel one attempt, then the second Lurcher would cancel another. If only one attempt were made on a person, then one of the Lurcher's actions just wouldn't be used.

 

 

 

Also, I don't know what you're talking about, Mailliw. I know I can count, I just know I can! Sorry, Calculus has killed my brain. Fixed 

Edited January 29, 2014 by Metacognition

[bartbug]

Woo! Got a little The Westing House vibe. Well! Good Night! (Both game time and real time).

Once again, thanks, Meta.

[Gamma Fiend]

"So that despicable bastard actually poisoned us?" Gamon asked incredulously. "I don't know about you, but I think that's taking it a little too far! I can understand wanting to catch these shady iron eyes, but... really?"

Gamon was fuming. He was honestly too handsome to go out in this fashion. To die with all of these unfortunate looking group of people.

That's it. He decided. I'm going to kill this spiky sonnuva call-girl. That was the only way he could figure out how to save his good looks.
Have you ever seen a dead body? Absolutely disgusting!

[Peng the Just]

Drew coins hot. Working on target.

[Alvron]

"Poison me will he.  I don't think so!"  Vron spluttered. 

 

Storming over to the bar, he grabbed several empty wine bottles and filled them with the laced water.  Raising his gaze to the rafters Vron yelled "You're going to have to do better than this Modeft.  You can't kill an alchemist with a slow poison.  I'll have a cure before the nights out."

 

Slamming the door open he proceeded to his room to begin his analysis of the water and its delaying effect.

 

 Great write up Meta. 

[Herowannabe]

Drew coins hot. Working on target.

It would be best if you did not disclose your target to the public, I think. We would not want your plans disrupted by an over-zealous lurcher, or, even worse, by the inquisitor.

[Edgedancer]

"Is th alcohol pozend tu? If so cürse ya Modfet, alcool is sacbed, I ell ya."

[Awesomeness Summoned]

The day's events had left Wes with a confusing set of emotions. A dead body was never a good outcome for a crew but pinching from that body right under the noses of nearly thirty experienced thieves was no small feat. It was probably one of his proudest moments to date. Finding only paper contained within the capsule was, to put it mildly, a let down. The contents of that letter, in turn, left him with serious doubts about his decision to join this little venture.

 

Modeft knew he might die and didn't do anything to stop it? He poisoned us just so we would carry out his vengeance for him? Wes thought he'd know the man better.

 

Wait! He bet all our lives on the assumption I would steel from his corpse? Well... okay, yeah, that was a pretty safe bet. Guess the man had me pegged.

 

He trusted me with that letter and believed I'd get it to Aspren? That was a humbling thought and forced Wes to reassess his doubts.

 

Modeft was the best crew leader he'd had the fortune to work with. Every job had a plan within a plan that managed to account for even the smallest component going wrong. Though he wasn't a believer in The Survivor's divinity, Wes respected the man's legacy. Kelsier had recognized that personal sacrifices were sometimes necessary to accomplish something great. Whatever ultimate goal Modeft had assembled so large a crew for must have been important enough to risk his own death. Wes would have to trust it was worth that sacrifice and that Modeft had set things in motion for success despite the inquisitor's presence. He'd make sure Modeft's death wasn't in vain.

 

But first, he had to survive the night. 

[Robot Aztec]

Oh no poison in the air maybe i should have expected that roban thurght after all the new vodcka with all the bublbes was called HOOK IN THE NECK but it seem like a funny neme and not poison this is his greatest failure as bartend and even graeter faling thenthat eh would be serving WATEr to everyone and a real baretender never stoop so lalow as round of waters for the ohouse

[Swimmingly]

Shimble was gulping down water by the pint. He was terrified.

Lord Ruler, Survivor, Ja and Trell, he thought, Please don't let me die from this. It's working already. Oh gods above and below, it's working already.

He slumped, utterly sober. He'd already vomited into the street twice.

Things were actually looking up. And now I can't even leave this wretched place because of the twice-damned steeleyed freak, that thrice-damned Modeft, and his a thousand thousand-times damned riddles and poisons and antidotes. The bastard knew I'd help his brother with the contracts. He's denying me business just to spite me!

There were, of course, other options.

Lord Olivier, for instance - the funder of several previous missions, Shimble wondered whether he would have been the client or a collaborator for the previous mission. The blueblood would hardly deign speak to the skaa milling about him.

Shimble could help with that, get some transactions rolling and maintain some veneer of propriety.

With a healthy fee skimmed off the top, of course.

Edited January 29, 2014 by Swimmingly

[Gamma Fiend]

Eh, crap. Just a quick thought: At night the Inquisitor gets to pick someone to kill, but then if he has any extra powers does he get to use those as well?
Like seeking, smoking... or I dunno... Coinshot?

Cause if so, we better hope there are two Lurchers out there somewhere

[Swimmingly]

Peng's a coinshot tonight. There's the Inquisitor, plus 1-4 coinshots. Anywhere from 0-7 people may die tonight.

[Grayv]

The Ja must have placed me here to test my faith, Grave thought, I will prove myself.

"Inquisitors and Poisons!", Grave exclaimed, rising from the chair he sat in when he first saw the body. It had taken him a while to get over the site of his first corpse. "By the Ja this is horrible. I have faith that The Ja will protect me, but I also know that He chooses when it is our time to go. I say that we should stick together when we go out, as this will hopefully deter this evil inquisitor. But on the off chance that it doesn't, and he targets someone within the group, then hopefully someone within the group will see this inquisitor's face. I have great faith that we can solve this mystery without any more death. Praise the Ja!"

[Kurkistan]

Okay, some general common-sense directives to make sure everything goes smoothly:

 

-Smoker: Don't Smoke anyone; but please don't smoke Peng. Please.

-Seeker: Seek Peng.

-Lurcher: Lurch Peng

-Coinshot: Don't Coinshoot Peng

-Peng (if he's telling the truth): Tell some smallish set of people, at the very least, who you intend to Coinshoot.

 

If everyone plays along, we'll have this settled by the time the night is out.

 

And I must reiterate my earlier directive:

 

No one vouch for or use their powers on the directions of Peng. Seeker Seek Peng and Lurcher Lurch Peng , obviously, but if you're anything else and he asks you to do something for him—like Coinshoot X or Smoke Peng, for example—do not do it. In fact, immediately post here on the board and tell us that he asked you that, since that means he's almost certainly an Inquisitor. (Or you are, but at least it'll be one of the two ).

Edited January 29, 2014 by Kurkistan

[Peng the Just]

I have told four people my target for tonight, but have not yet finalized it with meta.

 

EDIT: considering a different plan.

EDIT 2: new plan adopted. I'm giving suspects an opportunity to defend themselves

Edited January 29, 2014 by jasonpenguin

[dyring]

Pity you can´t overpower smoking with two seekers like you can lurching.

 

If peng is smoked tonight, we know the inq can smoke(thou it might be peng who is the inq still then) Cause surely noone is fool enough to smoke him, like someone *cough* helped the spiked in last game. Not really any way to justify to ask for being smoked, so should be inpossible. Still, all info is good info.

 

Tonight and tomorrow we know its still just the inq. Tomorrow night someone may be converted(if someone dies tonight, wich seems likely

[WeiryWriter]

Poison, I knew Modeft was mad... But poison? Weiry shook his head.  It could be a clever lie to force us to avenge him but who would want to chance it?

 

Weiry continued to listen to the conversations, staying mostly out of it.  He perked up a little at Kukri's suggestions, Those are some good ideas, let's see if anyone follows them...

[Shivertongue]

Poison? This was a new development. Shiv hadn't known poison could be aeros- aeroli- put into the air. As one part of his mind - which, he would be the first to admit, was not scientifically-inclined - wondered how such a thing was possible, which the other part tried to remember if he'd actually drank any water. Antidotes were so confusing. The last time he'd been poisoned, it'd been the good old-fashioned way - with steel, in his right thigh.

 

Worst. First date. Ever.

 

Sitting down at the bar, he lifted a finger, catching the bartender's attention. Without even asking, he was delivered a glass of water, which he gulped down.  "Wasing as drunking on the have," he said, pushing the empty glass back to the man.

 

"Give me something alcoholic this time."

 

Shiv wasn't entirely sure what was going on. That little guy, whats-his-face - Shiv really needed to start learning some names - claimed to be a Mistborn, which was pretty cool. He didn't envy the boy, of course, nor did he envy anyone with Allomancy. A couple of years ago, having any kind of powers made you a target. Do anything un-skaalike, and people took notice. Shiv had made his living by not being noticed unless he wanted to be. That may have been backfiring since his arrival in Urteau; for some reason, he couldn't think of a single person who had replied to a thing he'd said. It was as though they didn't understand basic language...

 

Being unnoticed was one thing. Being ignored was another.

 

"Lefting the lone," he sighed, glancing to either side of where he sat. "Having the have of the waiting. Knowing the have of revel in right..."

 

"Alone, as always."

 

"Soooo boring. One of these people has to know how to have a good time around here..."

 

Straightening his back, he poured back his whiskey and slammed the glass down on the bar. Spinning on his stool, he pointed a finger at the first person he saw. "Having of name not of the knowing!" He declared, rising to his feet and flashing his crooked grin. "Mighting the not, having point as having cast, final having of breath under darking - having not as the wanting, wanting is of the HAVING! Wanting of revel and riot, riding on right of road not ridden! Coming to wanting?"

 

"Hey, you, with the face!"

 

"So, by vote or by spike, this might be our last night alive - why are we wasting time here, when all the fun is out THERE. I want to go have all the wrong kinds of fun for all the right reasons. You in?"

 

By the way, that invitation is for anyone. Shiv is bored of just sitting around, and bored of having no one to talk to. Doesn't matter if your character understands Shiv or not, Shiv wants to have fun.

[Gamma Fiend]

"wasing the having of fun?" asked Gamon, who happened to be sitting next to the incoherent Shiv. He didn't really understand this eastern slang, but it sounded fun enough. He remembered when he used to spend time in the east, he would have girls always coming up to him and asking him questions that sounded like nonsense.

Maybe they were trying to actually tell me something.... probably how good looking I was. So what is this creature trying to tell me?

"Wasing the wanting of mischief and having of drink?" He held out a cup towards Shiv, hoping he actually offered him a drink and didn't insult him or anything.
 

 

[princess]

As Cessie heard the news of poision, she couldn't help but think of her mother.  One of her usual arguments when hearing that Cessie was going on an adventure was to cry "But you might be poisioned!"  It appeared her mother was correct.

 

As she watched the people around her panic, it took all of her self control (and years of training on how a lady should behave) to not break into tears.  And everyone was speaking about an inquisitor.  She didn't have the natural fear that many of those in the theiving crew did, since she had been raised her entire life around them.  However, she also knew of other nobles who had been caught in the wrong building when a raid had been completed, and as a result had been killed by associasion.

 

All she wanted was to use a little bit of her family's money and finally have an adventure without having to worry about her parents dragging her back into the life of boring endless balls and her father trying to figure out which man would give him the most money for her hand in marriage.  Now though...

 

She was pulled from her wollowing by a young man jumping up on a table and shouting in an almost unintelligable cant.  It took her a moment before she realized she could actually understand him.  One of her first forms of rebellion had been to learn to speak it when she was twelve and could still pass as a boy.

 

"Quit for the loudness from the lungs with the pleasing warmth," she said, pointing to him.  "Get with the cooling fix, speaking for the fun."

 

"Kindly stop yelling", and "Grab me a drink and we'll talk about partying"

Edited January 29, 2014 by princess

[Herowannabe]

Herwynbe, for his part, looks less distraught at the news of the poison than he does at the sight of Cessie fraternizing with the obviously disreputable Shiv.

He keeps his mouth shut though.

[bartbug]

Barty moves in to speak, hoping for any interaction beyond the confines of his own mind.

He halts as if a wall has dropped into existence in front of him.

"What in the-" he curses.

Beetle chuckles. I'm sorry. Are we not good enough for you?

Chiming in, Aether leers. Are my LISTS not enough either?

Barty scowls. "Come on. Of course you two are not good enough for me. You're not real. Just a story."

 

A new voice steps in. What do you mean, two of us? Last I checked, there were four. Mat and I are just having a little trouble, that's all. He should be here soon. And even more importantly, what do you mean, just a story! Everything is stories. There is nothing that's not a story, and the stories that we tell ourselves our of the utmost importance! 

Beetle grins wide, child exuberance shining malevolently through the gaps in his teeth. Clancy!

The storyteller spreads his arms out dramatically. I'm here. Let's see what we can do.

 

So! The original Spiked are coming back! But what are they here for? Could it be... redemption?

Or not. They weren't that morally adept to begin with. But they sure will try.