The Puppeteers of the Dark Alley

[Leyrann]

Recently, there has been quite a bit of activity around here. The Canton of Combat, the Liebrary, TUBA, the Sticknaughts, the Sons of War and the Ghostbloods were all founded at most a few months ago, and a number of rules were put in place to allow more regular interaction between guilds, as well as Mediators to enforce these rules. Additionally, the Dark Alley removed themselves from the RP, claiming they were too powerful due to the use of Hemalurgy (which, I will say, I consider a fair reason).

But that’s only the visible things. Because under the surface, much is happening that is not easily apparent.

First of all, the Canton of Combat and the Liebrary. The Canton is more or less openly affiliated with the Dark Alley. It’s leader, Nohadon, is a member of the Dark Alley, and as the thread of the Canton of Combat shows, Hemalurgy sees frequent use. The Liebrary is said to be independent. However, it’s leader Kidpen is a member of the Dark Alley, and so is one of their most active members, The Forgetful Archivist.

This alone already lends the Dark Alley a lot of power despite not participating in the RP. But it doesn’t stop here.

I Think I am Here (who will henceforth be referred to as “Itiah”) has created the Sons of War, who have the explicit goal of sparking a guild war. A few days after founding the SoW, he contacted me in a personal message. From this conversation, I gained the knowledge that MacThorstenson might still be affiliated to the Dark Alley. Of course, this is not the most trustworthy source, which is why I did not act on this. I did discuss this with other people, however, and we noticed that The Forgetful Archivist and Kidpen (as well as MacThorstenson himself) had recently viewed Itiah’s profile, which could be an indication one of them, or even more of them, could be related to the Sons of War, either by being contacted or even by initiating this activity.

The MacThorstenson story does not stop here, however. On top of his suspicious activities in intro threads, where he still advocated the Dark Alley despite supposedly being unbiased, he has been found to be active in PM conversations between members of the Dark Alley (screenshot below), which suspiciously also include Kidpen.

Lastly, consider the mediators. The ones wo signed up are Nohadon (DA affiliated), MacThorstenson (supposedly neutral but secretly DA affiliated), Kidpen, Grey Knight (aka Potato, who claimed he was affiliated only with the Canton of Combat, but is shown to be affiliated with the Dark Alley through the same PM that incriminates MacThorstenson), ElephantEarwax (DA affiliated), Tineyed Navigator, Mraize, Gancho Libre and Snipexe. First of all, notice how these are either DA affiliated or part of the Ghostbloods or Sticks (who are neutral by default).

It could not mean much, the Dark Alley is big, of course. But consider this. There are three conceivable ways that a roleplaying guild disappears. The first is though going inactive. The second is through joining another guild (typically the Dark Alley). The last one is through all members dying in roleplaying, either directly or through causing one of the first two.

With TUBA being so directly opposed to the Dark Alley and having such a close-knit and active core, the first two options are unlikely to happen. The third?

The Dark Alley may control the forces that stimulate a guild war. Even if they do not, they will support it. They control two of the four guilds that would fight in the guild war – the Liebrary and the Canton of Combat. And then we get to the scary part. Because who leads the combat if we get a guild war? Exactly. The mediators, who in large number (including their “Unbiased” leader MacThorstenson) are affiliated with the Dark Alley.

This war, obviously, would lead with TUBA – and, depending on their affiliation, the Ghostbloods – losing, perhaps even being exterminated. And the Dark Alley is once again in full control.

Now, even if this is simply a coincidence, and not intentional on the DA’s part (which, I have to say, I doubt), I think it clearly shows how the Dark Alley has far too much comparative power, and therefore TUBA will not participate in a possible war, as we cannot reasonably be expected to trust the neutrality of the Dark Alley and the members who are affiliated with it, and we would like to exist for longer than a few months, thank you very much.

On behalf of TUBA,
Leyrann

Spoiler

(note that more proof can be provided if needed)

---

Also some out of universe comments. I am a long time member (7 years this summer) of a social group on Dragonmount (the largest Wheel of Time fansite). There are a total of eight social groups on that site, even five years after the release of the last book. Each of these social groups has their own subforum, with again several subforums of themselves – my own social group, for example, has a total of 10 subforums, though several of them are restricted to certain ranks only. Though activity is, obviously, dwindling with the lack of new content, several of these subforums are still active, and in my first few years, when there was a steady influx of new members, all of them were active.

I hope for the 17thshard to someday arrive at this point as well, with a sizable, healthy social group community that can become a “home” on the internet like Dragonmount became my home. Right now, however, this is not possible, because any guild that forms is immediately gobbled up by the DA one way or another. I hope for TUBA to be the first guild to remain active without ties to the DA, and I hope for more guilds to spawn eventually (perhaps, depending on their alignment, the Ghostbloods can be another one), from which such a community can grow, but this does require the DA to take a step back, as right now their presence is so overwhelming it’s suffocating.

 

[Voidus]

Just to respond to the out of character comments,
Personally I think the issue that has happened with many social guilds previously and will likely to happen to TUBA as well, is that they define themselves by the DA, don't create a group whose sole purpose (whatever any members may say) is to be against the DA.
Guilds like the Newcago court were interesting, and the Reckoners RP pretty much became it's own social group for several years, although one centralized around an RP. Because they weren't about trying to be better than or opposed to the DA, or anything about the DA, they were their own thing and that's why they stuck around for a while.

I'd suggest a rebranding exercise if anyone wants to create a lasting social group, don't try to be the group that brings down the DA or the other bakery that's way better than the DA because you don't use hemalurgy. It's been done before and it didn't last any of the other times people tried it.

[Leyrann]

7 minutes ago, Voidus said:

I'd suggest a rebranding exercise if anyone wants to create a lasting social group, don't try to be the group that brings down the DA or the other bakery that's way better than the DA because you don't use hemalurgy. It's been done before and it didn't last any of the other times people tried it.

This was indeed something I had been considering as well, though of course it's up to TUBA as a whole. I had some ideas for that which I will discuss with them.

[Voidus]

But honestly, I would love some new guilds to come up that we could interact with in a meaningful way, backstabbing spying and assassination is all well and good but it gets a bit stale sometimes. Worst-case, create a new guild about something new and just be in both.
I miss the inter-guild parties.

[The Forgetful Archivist]

I second everything Voidus has said, new guilds are fun.

49 minutes ago, Leyrann said:

The Forgetful Archivist and Kidpen (as well as MacThorstenson himself) had recently viewed Itiah’s profile, which could be an indication one of them, or even more of them, could be related to the Sons of War, either by being contacted or even by initiating this activity.

Well duh, the Sharder advocating war is one of the sons of war, big surprise.

49 minutes ago, Leyrann said:

PM conversations between members of the Dark Alley (screenshot below), which suspiciously also include Kidpen.

You so cleverly infiltrated my Revenge PM, it isn't necessarily DA just people who want to take a crack at TUBA

49 minutes ago, Leyrann said:

The MacThorstenson story does not stop here, however. On top of his suspicious activities in intro threads, where he still advocated the Dark Alley despite supposedly being unbiased, he has been found to be active in PM conversations

He is in a lot of these PM's because he is the Unbiased one, he keeps an eye on stuff to make sure we aren't being unfair, besides most of the DA exists (to my understanding) in a meta-alleyverse so If Mac is so inclined he can be affiliated with classical DA while being separate from the plebian Alleyverse.

And your informant did a terrible job of infiltrating Alley 125 very little of this is actually new or relevant

Edited April 25, 2018 by The Forgetful Archivist

[I think I am here.]

Ok, so let's be honest here. Your right that it wasn't a trustworthy source, because believe it or not I made a mistake, as I forgot @MacThorstenson had recently left the DA to be an unbiased. I was so used to seeing the hemalurgic cookies under his name, that I forgot. I know, shocking.

But here's the thing: I can't even remember if I'm here or not (hence my existential crisis of a name), and generally I'm a pretty forgetful person (could really do with a few copperminds). If you see, I am in no way affiliated with the DA, so truthfully, I would have no idea whether Mac would be a part of it, save for my prior experience seeing his signature (which I am aware has now changed, though I didn't know that before).

So, yeah. Thought I'd bring attention to that. I kinda forgot. Sorry for the inconvenience Leyrann! Oh yeah, and as for viewing my profile, what can I say? If a random guy starts advocating a mass guild war, wouldn't you want to know who he is?

[Leyrann]

There's a reason why we also considered the option you weren't controlled by the DA; we had no proof on that, only possible hints. The truth is that the DA would not need to control you. In fact, I think a guild war would (prior to this post) have happened even without the Sons of War even existing. When I signed up with the SoW, I indeed did not feel any loyalty, but that does not mean my entire sign-up was a lie; as I did, at that point, want a guild war, and I doubt I was alone in that.

[Voidus]

Also, side note: The puppeteers of the Dark Alley is actually a thing, we have two master pupeteers who put on puppet shows once a week. Last week they did an amazing caricature of the founding of TUBA. It was hilarious.

They are also spiked with enough Zinc and Brass Allomancy to rival a Lerasium Mistborn using Duralumin so they are also great at manipulating people.

[Kidpen]

7 hours ago, Leyrann said:

First of all, the Canton of Combat and the Liebrary. The Canton is more or less openly affiliated with the Dark Alley. It’s leader, Nohadon, is a member of the Dark Alley, and as the thread of the Canton of Combat shows, Hemalurgy sees frequent use. The Liebrary is said to be independent. However, it’s leader Kidpen is a member of the Dark Alley, and so is one of their most active members, The Forgetful Archivist.

I Think I am Here (who will henceforth be referred to as “Itiah”) has created the Sons of War, who have the explicit goal of sparking a guild war. A few days after founding the SoW, he contacted me in a personal message. From this conversation, I gained the knowledge that MacThorstenson might still be affiliated to the Dark Alley. Of course, this is not the most trustworthy source, which is why I did not act on this. I did discuss this with other people, however, and we noticed that The Forgetful Archivist and Kidpen (as well as MacThorstenson himself) had recently viewed Itiah’s profile, which could be an indication one of them, or even more of them, could be related to the Sons of War, either by being contacted or even by initiating this activity.

The MacThorstenson story does not stop here, however. On top of his suspicious activities in intro threads, where he still advocated the Dark Alley despite supposedly being unbiased, he has been found to be active in PM conversations between members of the Dark Alley (screenshot below), which suspiciously also include Kidpen.

 

 

Liebrary thoughts: I am affiliated with the Liebrary and the DA. The Liebrary is neutral (except we are actually friends with the GB's). I consider my affiliations to be different from the Liebraries.

I'll let you know about the Sons of War.

Yes, I am in that thingy. I am a member of the DA. The Liebrary always comes first for me, but I am an active member of the DA. It's too hard to recruit for the Liebrary cause not enough people have read Alcatraz. So I recruit for the DA.

[Ink]

Notice it's mostly DA members trying to dissuade? That's not suspicious...

[Kidpen]

1 minute ago, Quell said:

Notice it's mostly DA members trying to dissuade? That's not suspicious...

It's mostly DA members who were accused.

[Gancho Libre]

Dunno, @Leyrann why my name is up there. I'm neutral. I'm not doing anything.

However, just for the record, Mac has been on almost all of the chats; he is unbiased so now he can participate a lot more. I've seen him everywhere. 

[Voidus]

7 minutes ago, Quell said:

Notice it's mostly DA members trying to dissuade? That's not suspicious...

Dissuade what? Your guild from dying? That is suspicious that more people in TUBA aren't concerned about that, maybe you have some moles?

[Lord Meeker]

This information is indeed revelatory. This raises many questions for the future of many guilds, as for me and mine, the Ghostbloods, do not want any influence from the DA and its inducted guilds nor that of TUBA. We do not want to be enlisted in either the DA or TUBA ranks, as we believe in neither cause. At this moment consider the Ghostbloods disbanded. Please remove all Ghostblood related material from your signatures. All future assassinations, information leaks, infiltration, torture of non-Ghostblood members, Ransom of non-Ghostblood members, disappearances, and spying are no longer to be carried out by us. In turn, the following mentioned above are no longer our responsibility, agenda or a necessity. We no longer willingly add more blood to our hands. I encourage all former members to either join the Dark Ally or The Underground Bakery Association. I have taken upon myself a sacred quest and duty, I have uncovered things that must remain a secret lest the end of the Alleyverse occurs. Farewell friends and enemies alike, I bid thee farewell.

Rhazien Voyld-En’ryn, known also as Mraize

 

[Kidpen]

1 minute ago, Mraize said:

This information is indeed revelatory. This raises many questions for the future of many guilds, as for me and mine, the Ghostbloods, do not want any influence from the DA and its inducted guilds nor that of TUBA. We do not want to be enlisted in either the DA or TUBA ranks, as we believe in neither cause. At this moment consider the Ghostbloods disbanded. Please remove all Ghostblood related material from your signatures. All future assassinations, information leaks, infiltration, torture of non-Ghostblood members, Ransom of non-Ghostblood members, disappearances, and spying are no longer to be carried out by us. In turn, the following mentioned above are no longer our responsibility, agenda or a necessity. We no longer willingly add more blood to our hands. I encourage all former members to either join the Dark Ally or The Underground Bakery Association. I have taken upon myself a sacred quest and duty, I have uncovered things that must remain a secret lest the end of the Alleyverse occurs. Farewell friends and enemies alike, I bid thee farewell.

Rhazien Voyld-En’ryn, known also as Mraize

 

Shoot. You were the Liebaries only friend.

But now all of the GB's should join us.

[Lord Meeker]

Just now, Kidpen said:

Shoot. You were the Liebaries only friend.

But now all of the GB's should join us.

All members are up for grabs.

[Kidpen]

1 minute ago, Mraize said:

All members are up for grabs.

*grabs all the members with voidstormers lenses*

Edited April 25, 2018 by Kidpen

[Leyrann]

12 minutes ago, Gancho Libre said:

Dunno, @Leyrann why my name is up there. I'm neutral. I'm not doing anything.

However, just for the record, Mac has been on almost all of the chats; he is unbiased so now he can participate a lot more. I've seen him everywhere. 

You signed up as mediator, one of the few not a member of the Dark Alley.

[Gancho Libre]

well, now I'm not a ghostblood either.

[Blazenella]

Let it be know that the Ghostbloods will NOT end, although the Ghostbloods you knew is now dead.

[Kidpen]

2 minutes ago, Blazenella said:

Let it be know that the Ghostbloods will NOT end, although the Ghostbloods you knew is now dead.

Shoot.

[Gancho Libre]

ouch.