Mid-Range Game 32: The Blight Encroaches

[Furamirionind They/Any/All]

Just now, Elandera said:

He did pick Aman. 

Also, why did you try to get Mr Doctor to claim Green Man? Were you hoping he was an elim that would falsely claim?

Well... yeah, kind of. : )

HH was confirmed not Rand at that point I think, so there was still no proof that the green man was active... There was 2 parts to it, 1 I wanted to not sound like I knew who the green man was... I may have failed, but that was the attempt... and 2, I assumed if the elims knew who the Green Man was, that would be their first target. Joe and Sart weren't super active in-thread, so I was hoping that in an attempt to save their life, an elim would claim green man, gambling on one of those 2 being the green man (assuming they weren't elims). It was really late in the cycle I think, and there wasn't much chance of them surviving anyway, so I don't think taking a gamble like that would really hurt from the elim's perspective.

In retrospect, it was probably a bit transparent, but I was at work when I wrote it, and likely didn't think it through to the best of my ability.

[Mark IV he/him]

19 minutes ago, Amanuensis said:

Oh nice! We anticipated that and chose you because we thought it would be fun if we could convince the village you were Aginor and lost your life to Rand.

Yeah. I was sort of expecting you guys to do that. But then you'd have no elim kill to show for except for the one you did one me. Which would have cleared me to an extent. Although then there's the whole IKYK where the elims decided to not attack so elim!Mark could make that argument. Eh. 

Edit: Yeah. Steel didn't target me (I'm guessing he was Rand? Can't remember). So, yeah. 

Edited December 21, 2018 by Mark IV

[Karnatheon he/him]

Steel was Rand yes. He was in Moiraine's circle with me. So there were no elims in the Circe doc.

[DeTess she/her]

Okay, so which elim was the other one in the fielders doc? I think it'd have to have been cadcom, as it wasn't Sart and it didn't really seem like Aman.

And I'm pretty sure I called Aman being Padan Fain. Or at least I almost asked the GM's how much Irony had played a role in determining who was who.

And you'd think I'd have learned by now that being 2nd or so on an elim lynch doesn't mean someone was confirmed good, and from the initial list of suspects for the false fielder only Furami and cadcom where left...

Edit: oops, hadn't read correctly, apparently Aman wasn't Padan Fain after all. That'd have been so beautifully ironic given his RP though...

Edited December 21, 2018 by randuir

[Furamirionind They/Any/All]

I found it so funny that everyone (including me) still referred to Steel as Rand, even though it was confirmed by him being protected last night. As the only way to be protected then was through the green man. I mean, I was just hoping that the elims didn't catch that detail... But I have literally know idea why they wouldn't lol.

Also, in the early game, I was so convinced Karn was Mat based purely on a question posed in the rules clarifications:

Quote

I believe Mat is restricted to making a single PM per night to only one person, and that the GMs should be included in it?

I analysed this question in my GM PM, with a question attached to try to get confirmation it was Karn who asked this... I got the confirmation, and the redirect back to the post in thread where Karn asked this publicly. Lol.
I really wanted to start talking in PMs, so I was trying to figure out who Mat was at that point... But if there was a Mat, I am betting it was STINK/Joe...

[Elandera she/her]

7 minutes ago, randuir said:

Okay, so which elim was the other one in the fielders doc? I think it'd have to have been cadcom, as it wasn't Sart and it didn't really seem like Aman.

And I'm pretty sure I called Aman being Padan Fain. Or at least I almost asked the GM's how much Irony had played a role in determining who was who.

And you'd think I'd have learned by now that being 2nd or so on an elim lynch doesn't eman someone was confirmed good, and from the itnitial list of suspects for the false fielder only Furami and cadcom where left...

Edit: oops, hadn't read correctly, apparently Aman wasn't Padan Fain after all. That'd have been so beautifully ironic given his RP though...

CadCom was your fellow Fielder. It's why I smiled/cringed every time I saw you write that CadCom was village.  

Fifth did consider bringing the Padan Fain role into play (it was never really on the table) just for the irony of giving it to Aman once he rolled to be an elim.

[DeTess she/her]

But yeah, apart from some frustration aimed at myself for clearing some people too quickly and not taking my list for possible false-fielders to it's conclusion, I'd like to say that both sides played pretty well this game

Edited December 21, 2018 by randuir

[Karnatheon he/him]

So, there wasn't a Mat right? Or were they just that inactive/not using their ability?

[Elandera she/her]

1 minute ago, Karnatheon said:

So, there wasn't a Mat right? Or were they just that inactive/not using their ability?

I need to save some secrets for the final write-up post.  You'll find out then.

[Furamirionind They/Any/All]

Lol, probably for the best.  Already people have revealed half of their roles and strategies this game... I can't wait!

[Karnatheon he/him]

3 minutes ago, Elandera said:

I need to save some secrets for the final write-up post.  You'll find out then.

Fair enough.

15 minutes ago, Furamirionind said:

I found it so funny that everyone (including me) still referred to Steel as Rand, even though it was confirmed by him being protected last night. As the only way to be protected then was through the green man. I mean, I was just hoping that the elims didn't catch that detail... But I have literally know idea why they wouldn't lol.

Also, in the early game, I was so convinced Karn was Mat based purely on a question posed in the rules clarifications:

I analysed this question in my GM PM, with a question attached to try to get confirmation it was Karn who asked this... I got the confirmation, and the redirect back to the post in thread where Karn asked this publicly. Lol.
I really wanted to start talking in PMs, so I was trying to figure out who Mat was at that point... But if there was a Mat, I am betting it was STINK/Joe...

Also, if I had been Mat, I would have asked the Gms this via PM. Since I wasn't Mat, I wanted to know, and wanted everyone else to know too, just so we were all on the same page.

[Furamirionind They/Any/All]

3 minutes ago, Karnatheon said:

Also, if I had been Mat, I would have asked the Gms this via PM. Since I wasn't Mat, I wanted to know, and wanted everyone else to know too, just so we were all on the same page.

Yeah, I didn't see your question in-thread though... So when I saw in in the clarification, I thought it happened in a PM. Once I learned it was in-thread, I stopped thinking you were Mat... I was making the assumption you would have one of the unique roles though. : )

Though now that I know your actual role, it makes sense why that was given to you over a different one, as this is your first SE game I think. Granted, I don't think you played this as if it was your first.

Edited December 21, 2018 by Furamirionind

[Karnatheon he/him]

Just now, Furamirionind said:

Yeah, I didn't see your question in-thread though... So when I saw in in the clarification, I thought it happened in a PM. Once I learned it was in-thread, I stopped thinking you were Mat... I was making the assumption you would have one of the unique roles though. : )

Though now that I know your actual role, it makes sense why that was given to you over a different one, as this is your first SE game I think. Granted, you didn't play this as if it was your first.

That makes more sense.

It was my first SE game yes. And thanks for what I assume to be a compliment. I had a lot of fun with this honestly. Hopefully next time I'll get a role that can do something more impactful! There was very minimal discussion in Moiraine's Circle since we didn't know if we could trust each other. Though once Lan died I think I managed to mostly convince Steel I was village, and we actually talked about some stuff.

[Steeldancer he/him]

Ironically I attacked Aman...

[CadCom he/him]

So, aman and Mark both would have lost a life, and you could have claimed that you had attacked whoever you wanted at first, just to gauge people's reactions, which means you would have caught Aman, and had potential to catch more. 

Fortunately, we still had a total of 5 lives among the elims. Either way, this was a fun game. Thank you fifth, and elandera for running this game. 

Once the official write up comes, I'll provide more feedback on the game. 

And Rand, I would have my Koloss heads with Honey Mustard. Every time. I love honey mustard! **insert reference to Edmonds fielder doc**

Edited December 22, 2018 by Cadmium Compounder

[Elandera she/her]

8 hours ago, Cadmium Compounder said:

So, aman and Mark both would have lost a life

Only Mark would have lost a life. Channeling, unfortunately, would only work on Forsaken (Aginor and Balthalmel).

[Steeldancer he/him]

Huh. I honestly think the village was a little underpowered this game. We only ended up having the ability to go through with 6 lynches, giving us 1 lynch to be wrong. The eliminators had 5 lives out of 20 players, and they were REALLY powerful with the Blight, a ton of creatures and stuff, and a variety of abilties and stuff. I was fairly limited in what I could do, both in that my kill only took a single life from Forsaken and only a single life from the creepers and creatures. I'm supposed to be the Dragon Reborn, and I couldn't hardly stop anything! While I think it was absolutely still possible for the village to win this game, a combination of inactivity/invisibility on the elims part, and then large numbers of creatures wiping us out just made this game perhaps a bit too difficult. 
However, despite my complaints and my inactivity until what turned out to be the end of this game, I still enjoyed this. And I was on to you, Aman. A reread of everything was making me extremely suspicious of you. Too bad you weren't Aginor, though, I was guessing that Aginor would most likely be hidden in the Fal Dara doc. 

[Fifth Scholar he/him]

The dwindling party huddled around a small cooking fire, rubbing their hands from the cold in silence. Behind them, the broken fortifications of earth announced the Blight’s presence here, its foul tendrils slowly creeping towards the camp the nine remaining men of the expedition had set up. Cookpots and other items previously carried in bundles on each man’s back were now hanging from the horses’ saddles, their riderless forms an ominous guard against the terrors that came with the setting of the sun. Strange creatures that Moiraine Sedai had testified came from a Forsaken, Aginor, who she believed was among them. Each man shivered at the thought. It was bad enough to contemplate the Forsaken loose to begin with, but the idea that they were within the camp itself was terrifying to the nine that remained—who could face a Forsaken in open combat? Or in any way, for that matter? And there was the matter of the Blight itself. How long before their entire camp—and the Eye with it—was breached? The Green Man’s fortifications were gone, and the Eye itself undefended.

A gentle breeze stirred the half-rotted treetops and flared the fire to a sudden brightness. The flash of light clearly illuminated the face of one Brendan Vallerune. The gleeman had come along, ostensibly to be at the center of new stories being woven by the Pattern, but everybody in the camp knew his attachment to the boys from Emond’s Field. Seeing the morose looks they were casting at the ground, he stood up slowly. Procuring a knife from beneath his sleeve, he tossed it up, deftly catching it by the handle as it dropped. A second and third followed, the knives seemingly issuing from thin air, rather than whatever compartments the gleeman had beneath his patched cloak. As the fourth and fifth knives were added to the circle, their juggling motion enrapturing Rand and Mat, Vallerune suddenly pivoted. As quickly as they had entered the circle, all five knives spun out, heading straight for Nikel Fain.

And stopped, a hair's breadth from his neck.

The knives collided, but none fell to the ground. Or touched Fain, for that matter. Rand’s skin prickled, feeling an unknown power being used, and sudden intakes of breath were audible around the circle, hands flying to sword and dagger hilts. Mat clutched his ruby-hilted dagger from Shadar Logoth, looking ready to jump at any man who moved. For his part, Vallerune’s face was stark white, gazing at Fain in amazement. He forced out words, though. “That man...the sorcerer...whatever he is, he is Padan’s Fain son, and a he’s a Darkfriend just as his father!”

Lars stood, facing Nikel. “Do you deny this charge, my fellow warrior?”

Fain smiled. Drawing himself up to his full height, his eyes shone in the dull firelight, his hand going to his sword-hilt with a speed that shocked Rand. His voice was thick, slurred, but mocking all the same. “So, it seems one of you ragged lot has the capacity to think,” he sneered. “It is, however, far too late. I have come with the Blight to destroy this place—and all of you who dare defy the Great Lord of the Dark.”

The fire blazed up, its flames reaching above the heads of the company. Through them raced five daggers, guided by flows of Air deftly woven. When the flames plummeted to mere glowing coals, plunging the open land into darkness, Brendan Vallerune was dead, five daggers embedded in him before he hit the hard turf. As Lars shouted something, and the sound of a drawn sword was heard, Rand was halfway up the steep hill, heading for the Eye. The last hope against whatever faced them now. The din of clashing swords behind him lent wings to his feet.

---

Lars had no time to think. Upon hearing Fain’s pronouncement, his sword flew out of its sheath, and he jumped at the Darkfriend with the energy of desperation. Fain seemed surprised, and he was slow to react, pivoting towards Lars with the tip of his sword. Lars’ sword slid off the edge of Fain’s, but the Warrior’s momentum sent his bulk crashing into the other man. The two tumbled in a heap, swords useless as the pair rolled across the coals of the fire. Fain yelped, being crushed between Lars and heat, but managed to extricate himself, rising with startled and pained gasps. His coat was burnt from the flames, and his ribs were likely broken from Lars slamming into him, but he would live. Grimly, he set his feet, prepared to take the Warrior on. Why hadn’t “Miumpounder” channelled to interfere yet? He shook his head. He could not afford to let such thoughts distract him. He had defeated too many foes conventionally to begin relying on channellers now.

Advancing with sword-tip forward, still coughing up blood—his ribs were definitely broken—Fain launched into a series of attacks, flowing from one form to the next. Unlike others, he had never bothered to set to memory all the stances and attacks the men of the Borderlands used. But he intuited his way through them. A slow, momentum-building series of slashes was met with quick thrusts from Fain, halting the assault bearing down on him. He countered with a sweep under Lars’ legs, which he parried before Fain could take his legs off, then a two-handed overhand blow that swept to the side at the last second, which Fain barely saw in time to block. Driven back in a circle, he quickly stabbed at Lars’ arm, drawing blood. Snarling, the man leapt forward again, a relentless assault that drove Fain back towards the fire, slowly but inexorably. Lars was clearly the superior swordsman, and Fain was bleeding in a dozen places where his sword had grazed him. The Warrior’s sword appeared to his eyes as a circling wheel of light, one he could only counter, not drive away. Thrust, parry, slash, one flowing into the next, and with a mesmerising fluidity Fain managed to ward them off. He could feel his limbs growing tired, though. It was time for a change in tactics.

When Lars disengaged for a brief moment, a momentary pause that served only as an opportunity for him to regroup and execute a final attack, Fain flung himself backward, using every remaining scrap of energy to vault himself over the fire. Switching his sword to his right hand only, still exhausted but set with a grim determination to finish Lars, he re-engaged. The warrior’s two-handed stroke easily batted aside Fain’s sword, and rose again for a killing blow. However, Fain had not been idle. With his free left hand, he whipped his sheath out of his belt, connecting it with the side of Lars’ head. Falling, dazed, he never saw Fain’s sword dart, impaling the middle of his chest as his own sword dropped from numb fingers.

He never saw anything again.

---

Evelyn faced the shadow across from the fire. She had never imagined that the Aiel, who had sent her across the Dragonwall to seek out He Who Comes With the Dawn, would have placed her in a situation as horrid as this. She had found the Car’a’carn—along with Shadowrunners and Aes Sedai, of course—but she had no way of protecting him. Worse, those others who had been planted in “Emond’s Field,” the absurd name these wetlanders had given their hold in the forests and mountains, were apparently seeking to sabotage the efforts of the Car’a’carn to eliminate Shadowspawn, an offence Evelyn could not countenance. However, her place was not to directly interfere in affairs, having broken her spears and renounced her status as a Maiden years ago. As such, she chose to avoid confrontation. Sticking to the shadows and waiting to see the true countenance of the man across from her, his face cloaked in shadow, seemed a wiser course of action in an excursion in which everything else seemed to have gone wrong when direct action had been taken.

Suppressing a wince as the fool gleeman arose, no doubt to perform one of his simple juggling tricks, Evelyn resigned herself to another night of speaking with the Shadowrunner across from her. She was befuddled; why was she not killed by the Shadow’s forces for knowing one of their number? She leaned over the fire, speaking softly to her unknown companion. “Why am I not finished yet?” she muttered, readying flows of Air to immobilise him with saidar.

A wolfish grin spread across the man’s mouth, lit by the uneven light of the fire. “Because you posed no threat, even when we needed concealment. But the time for concealment is past. I am trusted, and you…you will be dead.”

The fire suddenly roared, and the bulky man’s face was illumined: Miumpounder, the cobbler from Emond’s Field. A man she had suspected, but never thought—well, who ever did think their closest companions were Shadowrunners? As the gleeman’s daggers flew back towards him, guided by the hand of the man facing her, Evelyn no longer looked to see if Vallerune was dead. A male channeler, potentially a Forsaken, faced her. Her flows of Air became Spirit, and she slid a shield between Miumpounder and the One Power. Utter shock registered on his face for one brief, beautiful second. “Aiel wilder channellers?” he stammered, sounding more like a statement than a question, and then Evelyn felt her shield shattered as if a giant hammer had smashed into it.

Recoiling from her shock, she screamed, without shame; for who could face the Forsaken alone? The Car’a’carn had wisely fled, but another figure seemed to draw near to her. Keisa—a Borderlander—had changed somehow. Was changing, into an enormous living tree, its leaves and branches enfolding Miumpounder, who was crushed within the viselike grip of the...Green Man? That was the wetlanders’ name for him, and he had somehow been Keisa the entire time? Evelyn shook her head in wonderment, but had little time to waste. The Forsaken—Aginor, judging by the twisted features—was trapped, and she would take advantage while she could. Scrabbling for her belt knife, she drew it, then froze at a snuffling behind her.

One of Aginor’s immense, twisted creatures snarled at her with open teeth, and almost seemed to be...sniffing? The Forsaken gurgled, no doubt a command to attack, but the beast was still for the time being, unable to decipher his master’s instructions through the chokehold the Green Man maintained. Backing up slowly, as she would with a wolf or bear, Evelyn set her knife in its sheath in the ground. The Creature seemed to turn, looking away, and Aginor’s face became purple with fury, or perhaps simply lack of breath. His finger squirmed out from the mass of leaves, and pointed directly at Evelyn. A flash of light, and she frowned. Nothing seemed changed about her. She rubbed her hands, and started in surprise. They were...slick...with some sweet-smelling liquid, yellow in colour, that she realised now coated her entire skin. Honey? The Creature turned, its eyes suddenly intrigued, and sniffed the air. Evelyn froze. Slowly, excruciatingly so, the beast turned towards her.

And lunged.

---

The Green Man averted his eyes as the Wise Woman was consumed, turning them instead to Aginor, an ancient foe, who finally lay trapped within his arms. Slowly—the man’s entire channelling and physical efforts went towards resistance—he began to choke the Forsaken, his roots and shoots and vines forming an ever-contracting noose about his neck. Aginor squirmed helplessly, unable to halt Nature. The forces that held back the Blight would kill this agent of it. Triumphantly holding up his prisoner, like an offering to the Creator, the squirming of his prey an exhilaration, the Green Man did not notice a tickling sensation touch his ankle. He noticed, but did not take heed, when it enveloped his leg. He would not care about the Blight, which had crept up on his domain, until its Creepers had devoured him, setting Aginor down on a bed of rotted leaves as his throat began to work again, desperately gasping for air. The Green Man’s corpse was quickly devoured by the poisonous flora, a longstanding enemy killed at last, and the Blight swept over the remaining distance to the Eye.

A bush in the corner seemed oddly resistant to the Blight, Creepers and tendrils dying as they approached it. Aginor had gone up to the Eye, but Shirley U. Jest, the final Friend of the Dark, went over to investigate it. Primarily responsible for allowing the Blight to overrun the Eye, Jest would not tolerate any outposts enduring the Shadow’s advance. Strolling through a carpet of rotted vegetation, Jest smiled mirthlessly when he saw the bush clearly. Joseph stood there, sandwiched within the bush’s central branches, frantically hacking away at the advancing Blight with his belt knife. Jest strolled up, and delivered a solid kick to Joseph’s hand, knocking the knife clean out. Leaving a terrified man to be torn apart by the poison of the Great Lord’s touch, he strolled away, seeking the Eye. All the Friends of the Dark would see the Dragon destroyed there, and eliminate their final obstacle in seizing the world for the Great Lord. Inside, flashes of light announced al’Thor’s presence, and Jest quickened his step. Nikel Fain did as well, beside him. Neither wished to miss the end of their last enemy.

---

Rand gasped, out of breath, as he stumbled into the cavern of the Eye. Had he not already been winded, the sight would have taken his breath away, but as it was, he stood for a moment in numb admiration, gazing at the reservoir of saidin with wonderment. The crystals, though half-dimmed, still cast an eerie yet beautiful light in the shadowy cavern. Power-wrought, no doubt, yet that was not what drew his eye. The liquid within the well, clear yet seeming to swirl and mingle reflections, was the essence of the male half of the True Source. An immense source of power with the capacity to enable its channeller to achieve greatness—or to overwhelm and consume him. Moiraine had cautioned him that seizing saidin would not be easy, and that she could not teach him to use it. Well, she could not teach him to do anything now, and his friends were endangered, perhaps dead. The sounds of conflict and screaming had died down, leaving a dead silence that seemed to be filled with soft footsteps and rustling, damp leaves.

With revulsion, Rand saw a man mount the hill, his face scarred and warped beyond mortal recognition, flanked by Nikel Fain and Shirley Jest. Desperately, unwillingly, gladly, for the first time in months, he formed the Flame and the Void. As his emotions burned away, the light filling the Void seemed to be stronger than usual. Rand hesitated one last time. He had never before consciously seized the Source, never tried to touch the tainted One Power that had driven the Dragon and his Hundred Companions raving mad. But, as he reminded himself, he had no choice in the matter. Reaching into the light, he discovered it was actually two lights; one, the saidin he knew, glory and life besides sickness and midden, and the second a new source, untainted and immense, yet not unending like the first. Yet it was clean. Desperately, he reached for it.

And found his way blocked.

On the far end of the cavern, Aginor smiled with triumph, his skin seeming to glow as he drew in the saidin, even as he used some to block Rand off from the Source. Secure in the Void, Rand scrabbled for tainted saidin, his mind floundering against the slick barrier which cut him off from the Source. Growling, he seized his sword, whipping it out of its sheath and lunging towards Aginor.

Bright white fire, brighter than the sun, sprang from the Forsaken’s hands. Even as they averted their eyes, the purple afterimage still seared into the eyes of Jest and Fain, and the midnight sky became as day. The bar of white fire continued, stretched back through the Pattern even as it groaned with the thread of a ta’veren being burnt out further and further back. Still onwards it burnt, back, back. Gone was al’Thor in Caemlyn, Rand climbing a palace wall. Gone him in Shadar Logoth, Mordeth visited by two ta’veren and not three. Gone Emond’s Field at Bel Tine, gone his years as a sheepherder, all gone, until the saidin at the well was used up and Rand al’Thor was naught but a memory, and the Pattern groaned with the burning of his thread. The designs of the Wheel, of the Creator, were foiled. A new vessel would need to be chosen. Many leagues hence, a boy named Olver had his past rewritten, the ripples across the Pattern destroying even as they attempted to compensate for its central ta’veren being removed. A new vessel for Lews Therin Telamon has been selected. Yet the repercussions were great, and the Shadow triumphed even as the Blight burned away the Eye, ever closer to Shai’tan being unleashed on the world. Without a proper Dragon to face him. Aginor laughed from the Spine of the World, uncaring of his vision burned away by the brightness of his balefire, uncaring of anything save his future status as Nae’blis. Two other Darkfriends stood with him, exulting in their triumph, and only waiting their recognition from the Great Lord. The trio made its way away from the ruined Eye, picking through Creepers to report their triumph to the Pit of Doom in Shayol Ghul. And for once, no spikes would brush their heads descending.

 

---

MR32 is over! 

Mark IV was attacked, but survived. However, as the Blight’s triumph was numerically certain, the forces of the Shadow have achieved both primary and secondary win conditions. 

My thoughts on this game can be found in TL;DR form in the spec doc, which is linked below, but I intend to make a very thorough post covering balance in a few days after the holiday craze at my house has subsided. Speaking of which, that’s why this aftermath took two Ages of the Wheel to get done. Sorry about that. I hope it was worth the wait. 

I’d like to thank all of you for playing, as I’m incredibly grateful to each of you that volunteered your time to try this crazy experiment of a game out.  

Docs: 

Outside of Time

Servants of the Great Lord

Warriors of Fal Dara

Emond’s Fielders

Moiraine’s Circle

[master spreadsheet to come in a bit]

Final Playerlist: 

1. Steeldancer (Ookla the Positive) as Ookla the Positive, an orphan with a cheery outlook on life.
Rand al’Thor, Moiraine’s Circle

2. randuir as Evelyn, an Aiel Wise Woman and well-wisherEmond’s Fielder

3. Karnatheon (Ookla the Ring) as Brendan Vallerune, a gleeman totally unrelated to Jeordwyn Moiraine’s Circle
4. Cadmium Compounder (Ookla the Duck) as Miumpounder, a cobbler with an abiding hatred of Altarans Aginor, Emond’s Fielder

5. xinoehp512 (Ookla the Phoenix) as Alkoo, a reclusive Ogier tucked away in encyclopaedias Roleless

6. Amanuensis as Nikel Fain, a man hell-bent on killing his father (totally normal)Hardy Fal Dara Warrior

7. Droughtbringer as Month-Long Drought, a prickly old noblewoman who only eats dried fruit Roleless
8. Rathmaskal as Jeordwyn Dormond, an Illianer gleeman who juggles knives through his enemies Lan Moiraine’s Circle

9. Devotary of Spontaneity (Ookla the Heretical) as Rhodin, a countercultural Aiel whose views are about to go mainstreamPerrin Aybara, Emond’s Fielder

10. Young Bard (Ookla the Unprepared) as Jancey, a reluctant soldier who signed up to obey his father’s will Warrior of Fal Dara

11. Mark IV as Lars, an inquisitive young nobleman Hardy Fal Dara Warrior

12. Snipexe (Ookla the Sceptical) as Exepins, a scribe who will eventually admit to the superiority of British spellings Hardy Fal Dara Warrior

13. Furamirionind as Keisa, a grizzled veteran of the Borderland Wars, with a scar on his forehead to show for it Green Man

14. Hemalurgic Headshot (Ookla of the East) as Skern Mundy, a man from the East with many skills Roleless

15. Ark1002 (Ookla the Dragon Reborn) as Shifting Shadows, a shifty, shadowy Wolfbrother Emond’s Fielder; Fal Dara Warrior
16. A Joe in the Bush as Joseph, a man who has mastered the art of squeezing into very small spaces in bushes Roleless

17. MetaTerminal (Ookla the Cited) as Elak Dehlin, a merchant with severe paranoia about the One Power Moiraine’s Circle

18. BrightnessRadiant as Fifi Balthamel

19. Mr Doctor as Antor Vadenfort, a Illianer Warder without an Aes Sedai Moiraine

20. Sart as Shirley U. Jest, a Cairhienen noblewoman who takes life far too seriously Agent of the Blight

Edited December 24, 2018 by Fifth Scholar

[Amanuensis he/him]

Just want to say again, good job everyone. Villagers and eliminators alike played very well. I wish I could have been more active in the beginning so people would have had a better chance of figuring out my alignment and killing me. For that, I'm sorry.

Also thank you Fifth Scholar and Elandera for running this game! You two both deserve a round of applause.

[Elandera she/her]

Thank you Fifth for running the game and allowing me to be your (over-eager) co-GM! Also, thanks to everyone who participated. It was a great game!

A big congratulations to the Darkfriends. CadCom and Aman, in particular, for doing so well at not only staying hidden but becoming fairly trusted among the village. I was increasingly amazed at how CadCom's vote on BR made such a difference in how he was viewed for the remainder of the game.

Thanks to our pinch-hitters, who helped keep the activity up a bit. Personally, I don't think inactivity was a major problem, though a lack of defense actions contributed to the Blight's quick advance. Again, thanks to the elims for taking activity into consideration while choosing your targets.

This was my first time co-GMing, so it was fun to view the game from a different aspect than before. I think it will actually help me in future games.  

(edit: Amazing ending write-up, by the way.)

Edited December 24, 2018 by Elandera

[Karnatheon he/him]

Good game everyone. Thank you Fifth and Elandera for all your hard work in running this game, and I totally understand that it took a little bit longer due to the holidays. Thanks everyone for asking it a great first game for me. Looking forward to reading the docs and getting some insights into things.

[Furamirionind They/Any/All]

Quote from the Emond's Fielder doc:

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Furami, get your traitorous blue font back in here!

*cough* HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA *cough* I was your patron or something... I haven't read the whole book yet, but I assume we are linked somehow as our powers were in this game... : )
I would also like to point out that I am allergic to honey mustard... So... Yeah... : )

Reading the Emonds fielder doc pains me... Rand, you knew who it was the whole time, you just second guessed yourself... lol.

Hmm... Interesting quote from the elim doc:

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Padan Fain:  Furamirionind

Umm... I can assure you, I wasn't an elim. xD

I would also like to point out this AMAZING quote from one of the writeups:

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A Brief Eulogy For the Fourth and Fifth Rings

Author: The Green Man

“…”

Please thank the Green Man for his extensive commentary on this matter. We’ll see him at the Sixth Ring! Hey, at least that first nasty-looking creature bounced off the wall he set up trying to kill one of those Eastern people.

I asked Fifth about this, as ellipses are generally considered one of my "tells", and it was just a coincidence.  However, reading this was so funny for me.

I would also like to clarify what I meant by the line:

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Also, I would like to thank Lan for ther action last night.

I was not using back channels. I forgot that the elims had a roleblock action, and thought I must have been roleblocked by Moiraine. This was me trying to communicate with Moiraine telling them I was a role-d villager. They may or may not have believed me, but I was trying to communicate that. I specified Lan because they were connected via PMs, and the misspelling of "ther" was intentional. I was trying to say "her" to reference Moiraine, but make it more believable to people I was talking about Lan.

I want to thank Fifth and Elandera for running such an enjoyable game. I am learning that I love games with complex rulesets. (you all better hope I never end up creating one of these games)     : )

EDIT: If I was to learn 1 thing from this game, I shouldn't trust my own analysis... Granted, I suspect this isn't the best idea... Maybe I should analyse this concept a bit more...

Edited December 24, 2018 by Furamirionind

[DeTess she/her]

6 hours ago, Furamirionind said:

EDIT: If I was to learn 1 thing from this game, I shouldn't trust my own analysis... Granted, I suspect this isn't the best idea... Maybe I should analyse this concept a bit more...

Nah, you should trust your own analysis, even if you get it wrong a lot, because without it you've got almost nothing to hold on to in this game. Never trust the analysis of anyone else though, especially those that are very analytical like Aman or me, as we can easily be evil or completely wrong. 

I'd also like to apologize for you for the extreme amounts of suspicion and paranoia I had for you. Especially in the late game I'd narrowed the false fielder down to you or CadCom, and my gut was certain it was you. On the other hand, going after BR was also partly based on recommendations from my gut, so I guess it wasn't completely wrong.

From the spec doc:

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I thought I had randuir.elim figured out...dang. (After reading through a bit of the thread that I missed...I know I have the knowledge from this doc already, but I’m seeing more of the warning signs I saw in those first couple games...so that’s good for me in future games at least

So yeah, now you know all those warning signs are completely useless and shouldn't be heeded 

Anyway, Good game everyone, and thanks to Fith and Elandera for running it!

[Hemalurgic Headshot he/him]

Quite a fun game, here! Though for much of it I felt like a watcher looking in, constrained by my role, it was still enjoyable and the writeups were superb!

Fifth, consider my debt of an MR paid .

[Rathmaskal he/him]

Thanks Fifth and Elandera for the game.  Wish I would have been more active - I did manage to keep my defense actions going, but I was out of town for a decent part of the game (including when I was killed) so darn.  I do think this was ever-so-slightly skewed toward the elim team, but it definitely wasn't unwinnable with a completely active player set.  (basically, the blight encroachment in this version of the game I believe allowed for one mislynch...tough to win that one)  But I believe Fifth already has some ideas on how to tweak the game.

Overall, though, great job to the elims.  I didn't have a read on CadCom at all...Aman was neutral and Sart...always tough to read a pinch hitter :/