Mid-Range Game 24: Baleful Eye

[Mint11 she/her]

The idea of Crimsn being killed by the Cabal was brought up by Eternum's earlier post.

18 hours ago, Eternum said:

Now, I think that at least the Reckoners and Cabal have a faction kill. Crimsn was killed by an epic (Cabal obv(Also I'd like to mention that the GMs seem to be using jokes from the beginning of the game, because it seemed like Crimsn was killed by Lavalake )) and the previous attempt to kill them was a sniper attack, which screams Reckoner to me.

Which made sense to me, because the bit about water super-heating in the write up sounds like there were some Epic abilities involved. 

Thinking more about it though... If the Cabal is protecting Balelight and/or Balelight's followers, which would make sense given that both Reckoners and Malcontents may have reason to want them dead, and Crimsn was Balelight's daughter, it's more like that an Epic Malcontent killed her. Possibly an Epic Reckoner if the GMs are going for something a bit more nontraditional. I kind of doubt that there are Reckoners who are Epics though. This game is hard enough to piece together as it is without curveballs.

Then again...

Not sure if that would stop the GMs from throwing cureveballs. 

I'm going to throw Alv's question back at @Eternum and ask why they assumed that the Cabal killed Crimsn.

[Eternum he/him]

Well, first off, an Epic killed Roadwalker in the 2nd cycle.

Now, another Epic killed Crimsn.

There's also a hint in the writeup, I think. "If you don't bring me a suspect or kill them yourselves, someone in this city will die." (Emphasis mine)

This definitely doesn't talk about any other faction kills, or any kill roles. Balelight was talking to Stormwarden here, and nobody else, and since Lemon was Cabal, I suspect they do have a kill.

Edited August 27, 2017 by Eternum

[Elithanathile he/him]

And here we go.

A girl hurtled past Falchion and into the underground base, tumbling into a quick roll before ending up against a cupboard, her legs and arms sprawled out in a way that looked almost natural. “Sword-man. Knew we’d meet again, ya slontze.”

Was she a precog and had actually known they would meet again? Or was it just a turn of phrase? He filed it away for later, just in case.

“Seeing as you just accidentally saved my life, I suppose I don’t really want to kill you. So… Congratulations?”

Ah. So this is what they called a tsundere. Good to know. “That’s very nice, whoever you are. Now get out of my way.”

He dropped her into one of the safe houses a few blocks away, easy enough for her to stay at or escape as she felt she needed. Maybe he would go back and check up on her if he survived this.

Then, rain lashing at his face and wind buffeting any loose bits of clothing, Falchion stepped out into the wind, fifty feet above the ground. “Hi guys! Falchion’s back!”

His voice dropped, dead serious. “Now start running.”

The mass of people looked upwards, noticing him, before a figure that he recognized as tin-man grabbed the arm of his partner and started running. Oh good, he always knew he was a smart one. The rest seemed content to gape upwards at him. No wait. They were looking at something past him.

His gaze crawled up past his own height, settling on a woman who seemed to be hovering in air, long flowing robes flapping around her. A look of disdain on her face clear, looking down at everyone present as if they were ants already beneath her boot.

A smile crawled onto Falchion’s face as he laughed out, a short barking sound. “Ah, Balelight I presume?” His one eye glared up, taking her silence as agreement. “I think you and me need to have some words.”

An epic he didn’t recognize spoke up from behind the larger than life figure. “Our goddess has no need to speak to rabble like you! Bow down before-sssss”

His voice cut off into a wet hissing sound as his detached head fell to the ground several feet away from it’s original position, quickly followed by the rest of his body. A mass of salt that had been keeping him and several other epics afloat disintegrated, particles streaming to the ground alongside screaming epics.

Falchion kept smiling, having not moved an inch. “And here I was hoping you might have something interesting to say. No loss, though.” A claymore dropped into Falchion’s left hand while a small dagger was embraced by the right. “Your move, White Queen.”

 

Yeah, I added a bunch of stuff here that wasn't exactly in the writeup or other RP stuff, but I needed some cannon fodder for Serious!Falchion to take out, and wanted some more lore stuff for Balelight in general. Still don't know what her abilities are, but we'll go with Falchion not knowing either.

Your move, White Queen.

[Eternum he/him]

Sol smirked, looking up at Falchion.

"This isn't exactly chess, my friend. For starters," he said, then appeared on a rooftop next to Balelight and Falchion, followed by the loud crack of an object breaking the sound barrier, "It's not limited to black and white." Sol put his hands in his pockets, shrugging. "There's more than one faction in this fight. And... I'd like to point out that in chess, the white pieces move first. So watch your back."

(Does nobody get why his Epic name is Tachyon yet?)

Edited August 27, 2017 by Eternum

[Elithanathile he/him]

Because a tachyon is a particle that moves faster than light, thus denoting possible time travel through Einstein's theory of relativity?

My other guess is because it's a portmanteau of Tacked-On if you made him up on the spot. Or Talk-Yawn

[Eternum he/him]

*Time travel into the past. And/or the creation of a tachyonic antitelephone, which allows sending messages into the past, theoretically. But yeah. You got it.

Edited August 27, 2017 by Eternum

[Arinian]

Hey! So what is going here? Are we gonna lynch someone or random lynch again?

[Eternum he/him]

A random lynch sounds like a bad idea, honestly. ㅠ.ㅠ Who do we lynch tho?

Edited August 27, 2017 by Eternum

[Hemalurgic Headshot he/him]

I agree we need to lynch someone. In an absolutely selfish way, I don't want the small chance of being possibly killed. Thus we need to consider our options.

With so many different factions, each with their own win cons, the lynch is no longer so straightforward. I'm sure that any target any of us sets forward would be benefiting one or the others, it just matters which one you want to be benefited.

[Hemalurgic Headshot he/him]

1 minute ago, winter devotion said:

It does appear the loyal citizens want to lynch the reckoners based on the fact they're in red, and I'm willing to go along with that as it doesn't go against my win con. The cabal is a wild card we're only aware of now, so I'm not against lynching someone on suspicion of them being cabal. 

I understand your consideration. You left out the Malcontents, which seem to be the opponents of the cabal, but their win-con might have to do with the citizens as well.

Do you suggest we pick a faction and hit at it? Obviously that would garner a reaction from members of that faction.

[Eternum he/him]

Hm.. Idk. I'm not sure about lynching Mint. I don't wanna be at risk of a random lynch though.. I'll think about this, and vote a bit later, after I've looked through the thread again. Maybe I'll have something remotely solid by then.

[Eternum he/him]

*Sigh* Alright, I guess. Mint. This is more out of self-preservation than anything, really. I don't want the risk of the random lynch targeting me, as selfish as that sounds.

 

[Arinian]

I honestly don't have any problems with voting on Mint.

[Mark IV he/him]

In the interest of not allowing a (more) random lynch, Mint. 

 

Edited August 27, 2017 by Mark IV
A word

[Mint11 she/her]

3 hours ago, winter devotion said:

I guess I am. So, Cabal. I mentioned something about Mint seemed off. It's not a super solid suspicion, but I'd rather not be at risk of a random lynch. 

If it's just a minor suspicion, then it's not worth voting on me considering that I offer a means through which information can be shared in this game. Obviously I say this partly for self-preservation, but it's also a horrible move gameplay-wise. Unless you're part of a faction who has a lot of capability in terms of figuring out who's who. Are you guys really going to kill the only person who has come out with the ability to PM people?

In the interests of not dying, I'll also share my win con. It's for me and another player to survive until the end of the game.

... And there's only 20 minutes left until the end of the cycle. Sorry my lover, looks like we lost.

Before I go, if you guys are looking for a common target, the thieves seem to be the best choice.

[Elbereth she/her]

Cycle is closed! No PMing until the new cycle goes up, please. 

[Elbereth she/her]

MR24: Cycle 5 - Guns and Knives

It took a while for Cranium to abandon his Quantum Shooter for a smaller gun he stole from one of the corpses. There were rival epics to kill! He could always build another Quantum Shooter. He was, after all, a genius. 

He reached the fight just as Balelight was killing another Epic.

“Blathering irritates me. And as far as I can tell, the enemies to my rule have still not been found. Let this be a lesson to you all. Every time that you do not bring me a suspect or kill them yourselves, someone in this city will die. Perhaps many people. Do not test me.”

The Epic that was in Balelight's grip collapsed onto the ground. Cranium's head jerked left and right. All around him there was chaos. Who should he go after first? 

Starshatter spoke up from the edge of the fight. "Hey you! You seem suspicious." She pointed to Cranium. "I don't want Balelight killing me! I say we kill that guy." A chorus of agreement followed.

"Gah!" Cranium shouted, pointing his gun at Starshatter. Why was everyone going after him? There used to be a time where he could attempt murder in peace. But before he could do anything, time froze around him.

"It would be inconvenient if Balelight decided to kill me," Mark said. Cranium would've jumped if he could move. He didn't even notice this quiet man before. But it turned out the quiet man had quite a big weapon. One that he held up with no trouble at all, as if it was almost floating off the ground. Underneath it were circular objects that let out a faint glow. Mark fired his shot, and Cranium flew backwards as it hit, time suddenly restarting. He landed on the ground, and the air flew out of his lungs.

Huh. That was interesting. Anti-gravity mechanics on a weapon. I should add that to his Quantum Shooter, Cranium figured. He had never come across those before. Such a wonderful invention.

Maybe there was more inspiration to be found in the world that so cruelly accused him of being a mad man. Cranium thought that maybe he should roam around outside of his lab- and outside of his head- more often.

Then his eyes closed, and they did not open again.

---

“Balelight?” asked a girl. “It is an absolute pleasure to be of your acquaintance.”

Balelight ignored her after that. She wanted a report, not someone trying to get close to her for their own gain. 

After a moment’s indecision, she turned her eyes on the girl. She didn’t need any more power-hungry Epics hanging around. 

Unfortunately, the girl dove and disappeared through some sort of portal. Pity. I’ll have to deal with her later.

Her knife flew out at Balelight as the portal closed, and Balelight arched an eyebrow. Did the girl know nothing? The knife bounced off harmlessly, of course, and Balelight turned her attention to others. 

Out of another such portal, an Epic appeared, this one with only a single eye. It took him some time to notice her, floating above him as she was, but he seemed remarkably casual. 

She didn’t pay much heed to him, though, until he took out another minor Epic, one she’d had in her court for quite some time. 

Balelight smirked as he pulled out actual weapons, as if those would do anything to her. 

“Your move, White Queen.” She’d always liked that name. 

“You seem to have an interesting skillset. I will give you a choice, Epic. Run, now, and vanish into one of those portals, or serve me. I give you an hour to decide.”

“And if I run?” the Epic challenged.

“You die as soon as I lay eyes on you again,” Balelight said, smiling. 

“I trust that this situation,” she gestured to the mess of people below, “will be taken care of properly, and I shall be disappointed if I find that it is not.” 

With those words, she ascended back through her shaft of light. A disturbance would not sour her flying. 

---

Later...

Starshatter and Birdrider were flirting, as per usual, when Birdrider flinched. 

“Are you alright?” Starshatter asked.

Birdrider didn’t respond. Instead, she slowly, gently began tipping over, and crumpled to the ground. 

“Birdrider!” Only then did Starshatter see the bullet in the back of Birdrider’s head. 

“No,” Starshatter said numbly. “No. No.” She raised her hands, bringing the full force of her powers to bear. Lava began bubbling up all around her, turning the ground into a patchwork of molten rock and scorching heat.

This lasted until a second bullet took her between the eyes. 

---

Impulse ran, and ran, and ran. Someone had been coming with a knife, almost so close that he would’ve actually made it. But Impulse had noticed. 

The poor guy probably thinks I’m invisible and is still hunting for me, he laughed to himself. 

He passed shops and taverns, even cutting through a few so fast that no one even noticed the doors opening and closing. He passed between a couple dancing under Calamity’s light, shaking his head at them, and finally arrived in another alleyway. It was far from the previous one, and he started fiddling with one of his devices again in the quiet of being alone. 

The knife hit him in the back of the neck. But- but… His last thought flickered out. 

---

Winter Devotion has died! They were the Epic Lavalake, and a member of the Epic Cabal, with powers of Lava Summoning and Liquid Transmutation!
Flash has died! He was a Black Market Arms Dealer! with 2 Performance Enhancing Drugs and Sedatives! 
Mint was lynched! She was a Lover with a Mobile, a Video Recording Chip, and Handcuffs!

Vote Count
>Mint (3): Mark, Eternum, Arin

Cycle 5 has begun. You have 47 hours to send in actions and to vote. PMs are still being sent out. 

There, Balelight removed from the picture. Sorry for not responding last night - I was planning on it, but was unexpectedly busy all of yesterday.

All credit goes to Frozen Mint for her death writeup. Find a post of hers and give her some upvotes!

Player List:

1. [REDACTED] - Paranoid King, person who specializes in collecting relics.
2. Starshatter and Birdrider - Winter Devotion, star crossed Australian runaways. Epic Lavalake
3. Jon - Jondesu, amazing with computers but absolutely useless when it comes to talking to people Reckoners Demolitions Expert
4. Mark - Mark IV
5. Biff - Elenion, a street salesman in the wrong place at the wrong time
6. Sandra Kensington - Sami, weapons manufacturer with dark secret
7. Rashers - Majestic, a bacon-summoning Epic Hydroplane
8. Impulse - The Flash Black Market Arms Dealer
9. Shockwave - King Cole, Epic with a terrible singing voice
10. Matt - Shqueeves, orphan who never knew anything better
11. Anonymous - Alvron, The Collective will ensure you never know anything about him
12. Silver Feather - Roadwalker Malcontent
13. Tammy - Rebecca, the accidental daughter of Obliteration ()
14. Amy Scott - Brightness Radiant, out of place punster
15. Nameless Character I - Drake Marshall
16. Annabelle - Lemonelon, an "engineer" Epic Stormwarden
17. Sol - Eternum
18. Lightwood - RippleGylf
19. Outblack - Hemalurgic_Headshot
20. Falchion - Elithanathile
21. Cranium - Frozen Mint Lover
22. Annoan - Megasif
23. Nameless Character II - Ecthelion III
24. Pickle - asterion137, a small - time thief
25. Altea Meza - Crimsn_Wolf, a petite young drifter
26. Fess - Arinian

Edited August 27, 2017 by Seonid

[Hemalurgic Headshot he/him]

Lavalake exists?

This points more and more to Stoner existing...

 

But three kills? We know the lynch, but the other two seem to be from actions. If we can count the write-ups for anything, one was a gun and the other a knife. That might inform us, somehow, of how these people died.

I wonder if there is an actual mechanic behind this Falchion and Balelight exchange. 

[Mark IV he/him]

I have a sneaking suspicion that mint's lover has become an SK kind of a role now. 

Also, lavalake! The very first victim of a lava lake (pre game, I mean) turned out to be lavalake themself! This is rather exciting!

Anyways, I shall do some analysis of all this in a while. I must sleep now. 

 

Edited August 27, 2017 by Mark IV

[Seonid he/him]

The items held by the deceased have been edited into the write-up! 

[DrakeMarshall he/him]

Okay I gotta go, but:

Quote

And here we go.

A girl hurtled past Falchion and into the underground base, tumbling into a quick roll before ending up against a cupboard, her legs and arms sprawled out in a way that looked almost natural. “Sword-man. Knew we’d meet again, ya slontze.”

Was she a precog and had actually known they would meet again? Or was it just a turn of phrase? He filed it away for later, just in case.

“Seeing as you just accidentally saved my life, I suppose I don’t really want to kill you. So… Congratulations?”

Ah. So this is what they called a tsundere. Good to know. “That’s very nice, whoever you are. Now get out of my way.”

He dropped her into one of the safe houses a few blocks away, easy enough for her to stay at or escape as she felt she needed. Maybe he would go back and check up on her if he survived this.

Then, rain lashing at his face and wind buffeting any loose bits of clothing, Falchion stepped out into the wind, fifty feet above the ground. “Hi guys! Falchion’s back!”

His voice dropped, dead serious. “Now start running.”

The mass of people looked upwards, noticing him, before a figure that he recognized as tin-man grabbed the arm of his partner and started running. Oh good, he always knew he was a smart one. The rest seemed content to gape upwards at him. No wait. They were looking at something past him.

His gaze crawled up past his own height, settling on a woman who seemed to be hovering in air, long flowing robes flapping around her. A look of disdain on her face clear, looking down at everyone present as if they were ants already beneath her boot.

A smile crawled onto Falchion’s face as he laughed out, a short barking sound. “Ah, Balelight I presume?” His one eye glared up, taking her silence as agreement. “I think you and me need to have some words.”

An epic he didn’t recognize spoke up from behind the larger than life figure. “Our goddess has no need to speak to rabble like you! Bow down before-sssss”

His voice cut off into a wet hissing sound as his detached head fell to the ground several feet away from it’s original position, quickly followed by the rest of his body. A mass of salt that had been keeping him and several other epics afloat disintegrated, particles streaming to the ground alongside screaming epics.

Falchion kept smiling, having not moved an inch. “And here I was hoping you might have something interesting to say. No loss, though.” A claymore dropped into Falchion’s left hand while a small dagger was embraced by the right. “Your move, White Queen.”

 

Yeah, I added a bunch of stuff here that wasn't exactly in the writeup or other RP stuff, but I needed some cannon fodder for Serious!Falchion to take out, and wanted some more lore stuff for Balelight in general. Still don't know what her abilities are, but we'll go with Falchion not knowing either.

Your move, White Queen.

Tsundere? I mean, I'll let this go whatever way, and maybe it ends up there. But that's not actually why Aaliyah isn't trying to kill you.

Nobody should kill somebody who saves their life, if they can help it. Such behavior discourages other people from doing so.

Epics may be irrational about some things, but not self-preservation.

 

"That's very nice, whoever you are. Now get out of my way."

The ground opened up beneath Aaliyah. Well, a portal did, to be more specific.

"How dare yo-"

It was annoying, not being able to see that coming. No water in that sparking place.

She landed in a safehouse, of sorts.

"Well then."

Hopefully she would have a suitable means of dealing with mister sword enthusiast, if they met again.

But for now, she had an appointment to be at.

 

The safehouse had a heavy looking door, with a latch and a padlock.

A padlock? Seriously?

That was lucky, though, seeing as she didn't know much about locks. She grabbed a screw from what looked like some kind of rudimentary workshop, and jammed it in the lock. It opened.

She wandered out of the safehouse. Still in Mirialis, but she had no idea where. And, somehow in the last few hours, somebody had stolen her mobile.

Ah well. She'd figure out where she was soon enough.

[asterion137 he/him]

wow a lot of deaths this cycle although I can't say I'm surprised with the number of people dying every cycle

Edited August 27, 2017 by asterion137

[Eternum he/him]

I find it funny that Mint's items were a mobile, video recording chip and handcuffs *Wink wink nudge nudge*

But no, really. Dang. Cabal is taking quite a hit, 2 members dead already. I don't know how many members there are, but that can't be good for them. IDK if it's good for me, though, either.

Winter seemed to have been killed by a Reckoner, considering it was a sniper attack. The Reckoners seem to be a pretty big threat right now.

I'm not sure about Flash, though I do suspect it was an Epic kill.

Mint's writeup was great lmao, I love how they included the influence of everyone that voted on them.

I'd also like to apologize to Mint. I didn't see your roleclaim last cycle. And to Mint's counterpart, sorry for making you lose, I guess. Somebody said you probably turned into a SK-type role. Sounds plausible enough. I'd like it if you let me live a couple more cycles

I also have a sneaking feeling that some of us will probably join the Reckoners RP after this

[King Cole he/him]

Huh, it appears that I wasn't the same thing as Flash was. 

Edit:In the roles of people who are dead, it says that Frozen mint was also an arms dealer

Edited August 27, 2017 by King Cole

[Elenion he/him]

I agree with HH that Stoner is seeming more and more likely as a role. But if Stoner is the guy with all of the drugs, how did Flash get his hands on a stash that size? It's possible that Flash was the drug dealer, either that or the thief stole quite a bit from Flash but Flash never reported it.

I've got some time on my hands later today so I may be able to get some analysis in.