Long Game 49/Anonymous Game 3: Window to the Past

[Sapphire Elephant]

None of the other servants had wanted to approach the body, so when an imperious Brightlord went to them and ordered someone clean up the mess, they'd all squeaked and come up with inventively long lists of other tasks they had to do first -- all except for Szeth. And that was why he was mopping the hallway. Even though there hadn't been any blood. Or hacked off pieces of flesh. Or ash from the dead man's eyes. The body itself had already been carried away by the guards. The hallway smelled just as fragrant as it had before, with a hint of violet rockbud perfume wafting through the air. The stone floor, blasphemous as it was, glinted a polished white. There was no reason for it to be cleaned, other than to protect Alethi sensibilities.

Szeth slowed his mopping as a thought occurred to him. Shouldn't he be preserving the scene of the crime, so as to not wipe away any evidence? Any potential murder here would threaten his masters too. The man ordering him had not been his master. A slight frown creased Szeth's face. The Parshendi had ordered him to make the party function smoothly by helping the servants, and the man had clearly been attempting to order the servants around. Perhaps he could analyze the evidence himself, before wiping it away?

Szeth grimaced. No. No! His honor screamed at him to carry out the order faithfully, even if it was counterproductive to his other orders. He was Truthless. He would obey. He would not question his masters, their orders, or their orders-by-proxy, even if those orders-by-proxy contradicted with his masters' orders. For if he took one step onto that slippery slope, he would soon slide away into not carrying out his punishment as Truthless at all, and where would he be then?

Szeth sighed, and started scrubbing at it viciously with his mop. He would make this hallway even cleaner than it had been before, just to satisfy his honor. Even if it didn't make sense to follow the Brightlord's orders at all.

Edited September 25, 2018 by SE_Szeth

[Indigo Weasel]

'Just how many people are interested in that orb?' Ivory wondered. 'Do they know what it is, or are they just trying to get their hands on something that looks valuable because of greed?'

Something was definitely off about the behavior of these humans. He could understand it if they where just after it for the pretty gem, but they wouldn't murder anyone over it. Or at least, they wouldn't murder another 'Brightlord' over it. If they knew what it did, they wouldn't be falling over themselves to get their hands on it, they'd be looking for a way to seal it away safely for all eternity.

'Unless someone has lied tot hem about what it could do. I wonder...'

[Fuchsia Ostrich]

10 hours ago, SE_Klade said:

Klade looked about, staring at the party guests. Was this merely for personal gain, or was it to disrupt the treaty between the Parshendi and the humans? Fortunately, Jasnah seemed to be interested in them. He walked over to her and said, "Greetings, Brightness. I hope you are well."

10 hours ago, SE_Venli said:

Venli followed Klade's lead and walked over to Jasnah, hoping to join the conversation.

As Klade began speaking with Jasnah, Venli approached as well. "Klade, Venli, I am doing well. I hope you can see past this crazy night, as Alethi politics are about more than just murder and espionage. We actually do have a very complex, versatile political system, that is usually very stable. Surely in your people's history there are examples of contentions and strife among the ruling class?"

 

[Charcoal Hyena]

On 9/24/2018 at 1:51 AM, SE_Darkness said:

Nale steps forward, considering. One dead, and Jasnah Kholin accused. The inkspren, currently, was in the corner, but as of yet, has said nothing. Curious. Nale looked toward @SE_Navani_Kholin, who also had not yet spoken. Perhaps, Inkspren, I can find a way to test where your allegiances lie.

"Let us consider this!" Nale bellowed. "If we want to find out who killed this gentleman here, we must find out who stood to gain."

Very few appeared to be listening to him, though he carried on anyway.

"Does anyone know who this man was, or why he was here? That is the easiest way to find out who might have stood to benefit from his death."

 

“It appears no one new this man Ambassador Nale, but the fact you tried to find the murderer immediately makes one suspicious.” 

[little wilson she/her]

20 hours ago, SE_Elhokar_Kholin said:

Beats me. @Orlok Tsubodai, @little wilson, What do you think of this?

What you do is up to you, so I'm indifferent. Now, if you're asking if we'll help you keep track of this, absolutely not. We've got quite enough complication already with this game. Don't need more, thank you very much.

[Oxblood Beagle]

Ash watched the other guests react to the brightlord's death. She debated whether to join in or not.

[Opal Lion]

Beggar woke up from the porch feeling extremely lightheaded. The makeshift winesack lay empty on the floor besides him. Surely he had not drunk all forty bottles? No, if he had, the evidence would have been scattered on the floor. Instead, all the bottles were gone, presumably taken by other thirsty beggars. He tried to stand up and failed, collapsing back to the floor. He'd certainly managed to drink plenty of wine before passing out. Beggar wondered how much time had passed. It wasn't light outside yet, so hopefully he hadn't missed the entire feast. Grabbing his disheveled cloak, Beggar began to crawl towards the main hall, hoping he'd be able to stand up soon and figure out what had happened during his nap.

[Magenta Albatross]

Huh. This party just gets weirder and weirder.

[Orlok Tsubodai he/him]

This cycle is now over. Please bear with me whilst I organise rollover.

[Orlok Tsubodai he/him]

LG49/AN3: Hour 4.5 - A Flash of Light

 

The drink tray was empty. Finally. Apparently the way to get lighteyes to drink was to have a dead body appear. Imagine that. Thara worked her way through the feast hall, heading toward the corridor leading to the kitchen. After replenishing her supply of drinks (all colors, but especially violet, since there was a dead body in the hall), Thara left the kitchen. She would've liked to sit down, maybe rest her feet for a few minutes, but she knew she'd be scolded for doing so if she were caught. Prolly let go. Or cast out. She was still traumatized from the lighteyes booting that other servant out if the room.

 

She'd just barely made it into the feast hall when three things happened. First, someone threw something at one of the other guests. Second, someone else knocked the item out of the air. Third, that person ran straight into Thara and her newly replenished tray of drinks. Which she spilled. All over herself.

 

I should've stayed in the kitchen.

 

---

An anonymous message has been discovered:

 

“You murdered an ambassador. More murders will follow. You expect to get away. I call to the others - do not let this murder go unexamined. Find the murderer. Thaidakar must be avenged.”

 

---

 

Jasnah was attacked and protected!

 

No one was ostracised!

 

Vote count:

Nale: (1)

This turn will end at 11pm BST on the 27th November.

[Fuchsia Ostrich]

Well, I was protected! If my protector could reach out to me in PM, that would be muchly appreciated. Also, If my attacker could do the same, that'd be great! But for some reason, I don't think my attacker will reach out to me. 

Also, if there is any type of hint in the write-up, it suggests that I was not attacked by a shardbow. Because the object was thrown. Also, I'm offended to be referred to as a guest, when the dinner is being held in my family's house. But rarely are there hints in the write-up. So that's probably not it. 

[Sage Kangaroo]

Klade glanced over at the guests. Wait... Was Jasnah just attacked? He attuned the Rhythm of Curiosity subconsciously, but forced himself to attune Peace instead. No point in getting riled up over an averted crisis. He walked over to Jasnah. "Are you alright, Brightness?"

[Saffron Iguana]

Venli attuned the rhythm of irritation. "I wonder why someone would attack you? You were just saying that Alethi politics is sophisticated and not all about violence, but then you were attacked! Are all Alethi like this?"

[Mauve Crocodile]

Adolin rushed over to Jasnah. A hurled projectile had been targeting her, and he needed to make sure his cousin was safe. Taking one glance at Jasnah’s extremely irritated face, Adolin decided to change tack. Veering away from her, he instead knelt by the collapsed heap where the servant girl, and her shattered bottles of wine, lay. Neither the man who had intercepted the missile headed for Jasnah, nor the servant, seemed to be injured other than an odd bruise or scrape, which was welcome news.  He glanced at the shattered tray of wines. “Well, better here than in Father’s hands,” he muttered, shaking his head ruefully. 

[Ivory Dragonfly]

New round, new items:

shardbow: 14 spheres

infused spheres: 3 spheres each

To be honest, I'm surprised someone was attacked again. I kinda thought the killer would finish their win condition and stop. So either they have to kill 2 people or it's a different person this time around.

My money's on it being the same killer, because my win conditions have asked me to do 2 similar things so far. Probably gonna action spy on someone tonight to try and catch them.

@SE_Adolin_Kholin, you voted on Jasnah last cycle, then retracted your vote because she didn't have a shardblade. Can you explain more fully your reasons for doing so?

[Melon Dingo]

Two attempted deaths in two nights is very concerning. Anyone have any leads about who could be responsible?

[Fuchsia Ostrich]

Responding to Klade and Venli, Jasnah decided it was time to explain more about the Alethi people, their history, culture and religion. She explained how her father had united the 10 highprinces through conquest, but had since turned away from conquest to a more diplomatic approach, how he seemed to be very interested in not only the parshendi, but the advances of many types of fabrials, and how he was constantly discussing such things with the other highprinces and the ardents. She explained how the Vorin culture believed that the better you fulfilled your mission here, the more likely it was that you would be able to keep fighting in the tranqueline halls.

"... I know that there are people at work here, who do not want the unity of Alethi and parshendi, or parshendi with any people for that sake, but our goal is to overcome them, and hopefully create a more stable nation. Tell me a bit of your history, and beliefs."

[Oxblood Beagle]

Ash turned in surprise as the missile was caught. What was that?

[Fuchsia Ostrich]

17 hours ago, SE_Elhokar_Kholin said:

@SE_Adolin_Kholin, you voted on Jasnah last cycle, then retracted your vote because she didn't have a shardblade. Can you explain more fully your reasons for doing so?

We had been planning to cooperate on an action. During rollover, it was initially missed, and so he thought I had been lying about something major about myself. So he voted on me. After a little bit, we figured it out, so he removed his vote, because the mistake was resolved. The shardblade was in there just for RP/LOTR purposes. 

17 hours ago, SE_Elhokar_Kholin said:

My money's on it being the same killer, because my win conditions have asked me to do 2 similar things so far. Probably gonna action spy on someone tonight to try and catch them.

The anonymous message suggests that it may be someone else attempting to find out who the first killer was, and is trying to kill them now. At first I thought that meant the killer was different, but That can't be because, unless the person has 2 actions, they can't send an anonymous message, and an attack at me. So I agree, it's either the same killer, but now we're going to have 2 running around, OR, it's a different killer, and we're going to have 3 killers running around now. Either way, scary. 

[Emerald Falcon]

Ialai was concerned by recent events. An ambassador getting killed was unusual, but not unbelievable given the congregation of Rosharans. Not every country was at peace with each other, and some might use a night like this to further their own goals.

An attack on a Brightlady, however, in the very same hour as the first murder... that raised some questions.

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I was surprised at how blood-free the first few rounds were, actually. Given that the attack on Jasnah failed, I’d expect more murders to follow - if not multiple, given the AM. A new phase of the game probably begun.

 

[Indigo Weasel]

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I've been thinking about the attacks. Thaidakar was a member of the Ghostbloods, providing a motive there for any of the sons of honor to try to off him (IIRC those organizations didn't get along). Alternatively, either Nale or an unidentified Skybreaker initiate decided to do him in as the leader of th ghostbloods is clearly guilty enough.

The attack on Jasnah I've got more trouble placing. I don't think the Kholin/Sadeas feud was big enough at this time to warrant outright murder attempts, and she's not quite high profile enough at this point in time to warrant general attention.

How likely would it be that we've got a common serial killer, (IE: kill indiscriminately) as opposed to people needing to off other people for their personal goals?

 

[Magenta Albatross]

Well this sure is a killer party 

Rather uncivilized and direct to murder somebody during a party, though. Very un-Alethi.

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Also, I am inclined to guess that seeing as somebody knew ahead of time that Jasnah was in danger, this is not an indiscriminate attack.

I am actually kind of wondering if somebody had a win condition to “protect somebody from an attack” and they literally staged an attack to meet that condition. Except that if this were true, it wouldn’t explain why they are keeping any of that a secret.

 

[Plum Rhinoceros]

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Quick general PSA that Kelek is now a different Kelek from the previous Kelek. More Kelek to come after Kelek reads all the posts.

 

[Emerald Falcon]

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Welcome, Kelek 2.0. 

Nale seems to have a motive for one or both of the attacks. That’s not an accusation, but it warrants further investigation.

And from what I’ve heard, the protection was entirely random - they weren’t aware of the attack beforehand.

 

[Opal Lion]

1 hour ago, SE_Aesudan_Kholin said:

I am actually kind of wondering if somebody had a win condition to “protect somebody from an attack” and they literally staged an attack to meet that condition. Except that if this were true, it wouldn’t explain why they are keeping any of that a secret.

I have had a win condition to protect someone from attack. For several turns, I tried to stage on attack against myself, but it never worked because the plan required the help of five or six people at once. As of now, I am no longer looking to get myself attacked. I have also heard that the protection was random, not part of a staged attack.

Beggar was feeling better now. His particular condition meant that he would never be able to drown his pain in alcohol, but it did let him ignore many of the physical disadvantages of inebriation. He was able to stand up and walk again, and trekked the familiar path to the Feast Hall. The lighteyes were discussing the identity of the person who dared attack Princess Jasnah, but Beggar's mind had not yet recovered to the point where he could contribute meaningfully to the investigation. A simpler task was at hand; replacing all the bottles of wine he had recently lost.