Quick Fix Game 54: The Smoking Mirror

[Archer he/him]

It certainly feels like I should vote here.

Hm

Spoiler

 

[Kasimir he/him]

Doing this feels like timing a hammer but I've never hammered, unless you count MR38, and that was sort of a reverse hammer

Cycle closed!

[Kasimir he/him]

QF54: Aftermath - The Fires of War

I don’t know what King Dedelin will do. I don’t know if it was enough, for what he had planned.

We succeeded, but at what cost? It wasn’t anything near the daring raid we’d all envisioned. Only a desperate one, with help and betrayal both from unexpected quarters, on a night of fire and blood. Maybe Austre was looking out for us, that night.

And then there was you, Wryn.

I guess you won’t remember any of this, but we lost you, too.

 

 

At moonrise, the remnants of the Idrian squad crouched about the map that Kalsin had scratched into the dirt with a stick, peering at it. The results of the day’s scouting seemed painfully inadequate, in the wan light of Rrendos.

Derrick had died for this, Kalsin thought. Gatemaker and Geren had died for this. If they didn’t make good on it, what were their sacrifices for?

“Expect a lightly armed presence,” Wryn said, nodding to Kalsin. “The priority is to put the fields to the torch, as many as you can. You remember where we made camp two nights ago?”

A chorus of quiet ‘yes’-es echoed around the map. “Good,” Wryn said. “Fallback point is at the abandoned camp site.” He drew in a deep breath. “Austre watch over you, and guide your arm. I don’t want any heroics. I want the fields torched, and I want as many of you alive as possible. Leave the packhorses behind; a man on a horse is a target out there. I’m going to divide the squad into two teams. The objective is to strike hard and fast. Kalsin will take his team past the dormitories and into the fields. My team will make our way past the other side of the lake. This should cause enough confusion that the Hallendren guards won’t be able to anticipate where to respond.”

He looked at the squad. “Any questions?”

“What about the Hallendren spies, sir?” Pancakes asked.

“If you have a way to identify the spies,” Wryn said, dryly, “Maybe you should have shared it a few days ago.” He looked at each of them in turn, his eyes hard. “Any more questions?”

No one said anything.

It hadn’t been a bad question, Kalsin thought. He’d talked it over with Wryn earlier, but they just didn’t have any answer. Striking this night would force the hand of the Hallendren spies. The more they tarried, this close to the dye fields, the more chances they gave the spies to ruin the mission. 

You fought bears sometimes, in the Idrian highlands. When you had to. Whether with spear or bow, the trick was always to get the bear before it mauled you with its paws, a task harder than it sounded. If the spies struck while they were attacking, they’d just have to improvise and deal with them then. There was no real alternative.

Kalsin just didn’t like that plan very much.

 

 

Dexan grazed on a tussock of grass. 

The horse had been lashed to the nearby trees, in the event the teams needed to make a swift escape, with the other packhorses. 

A shadow fell over Dexan.

“Goodnight, boy,” Jacques Noir whispered. A sword rose, and a sword fell, and the dying cries of a stricken horse were swallowed up by the darkness of death.

 

 

Wryn and his team advanced around the slice of the lake.

He watched the vapour rise in quiet awe. It reminded him of that day in the safehouse; of Breath, moving from one Hallendren Awakener to another.

“Ware!” someone shouted. “Idrians are attacking! Ward the dye fields!”

Wryn cursed, and spun about. It was Jacques Noir; already, Taidon levelled his spear at the man. “Shut up,” Taidon spat. “Traitor.”

“You’re under attack!” Jacques continued to call out. His sword was already in his hand.

He’d kept the squad close, and Jacques presumably had no ability to sneak off and warn the Hallendren. But he’d brought their spy back to the fold, and now Jacques had no compunctions rousing the guards.

Wryn, though, had planned for this. It was why he’d intended to strike in two teams, as hard and fast as they could, under the cover of darkness. The neat rows of the dye fields stretched ahead of them, if only they could reach them before the Hallendren did.

“Shut up!” Taidon shouted. A mistake, his hesitation. Perhaps it was different, killing in cold blood. Wryn had seen that shortcoming, had dismissed it. Now they all paid for it.

Jacques beat aside the spear with the flat of his sword and stabbed. His sword went point-first through Taidon’s throat. The farmer gurgled as he fell to his knees, and Jacques wrested the spear from him, staring down Wryn.

“Sorry,” he said, casually, “But I’ll get in trouble if you reach those dye fields. You know how it is. Hallendren! The Idrians are attacking!”

The doors to the Hallendren barracks slammed open, then, and Wryn knew that they were in for it. He cursed quietly, and drew his sword.

 

 

“Lieutenant,” Pancakes hissed, as they hid in the shadow of the dormitory. “What if the Hallendren spies are with us?”

“You know the captain’s answer to that, Pancakes,” Kalsin said, exasperated. He leaned forward a little, trying to gauge when the Hallendren patrol would move on. The dormitories were closely watched. He hadn’t expected that. Did the Hallendren expect a fight?

There was an explosion of noise and the Hallendren barracks on the far end of the clearing came to life, guardsmen clattering out. Flares lit up the night.

“Austre,” Kalsin swore. The spies had been with Wryn all along.

The need to flat out run, to try to save the stricken squad, warred with the knowledge that Wryn would sacrifice him if he needed to, that the integrity of the mission mattered more than one Idrian captain, no matter who he was.

He ground his teeth together. There was only one direction they could go, and that was forwards. “We go on,” he told the rest of his team. Vincer nodded, tightly. Fadrian shrugged. Pancakes looked worried, strangely hesitant.

Maybe it was Austre who warned him. Kalsin stepped forward, and turned around. Something felt wrong. Something seemed—maybe it was how furtive Pancakes had seemed. And then Kalsin heard the sound of drawn steel.

Both of them, at once.

Vincer fell, run through by Pancakes’s sword. And Fadrian advanced on Kalsin, his blade glinting in the light of Rrendos.

Well, then, Kalsin thought. He was a good swordsman, but Fadrian had always been the best of the company. And there was Pancakes, which meant two against one.

It was over, really, but Kalsin would be damned if he didn’t at least put up a fight.

 

 

Sword against spear wasn’t much of a fight. 

Wryn knew that. He was pragmatic enough to understand how this would play out. Jacques would toy with him and Edrab, using the greater range of his spear to take them out.

So he wasn’t interested in taking this fight. Jacques was, in the end, a distraction. The arriving Hallendren guards were a distraction. Taking the fight here and now would result in their deaths and a failed mission. And all they really needed was to burn the dye fields down.

“Run for the dye fields!” he shouted.

Edrab got the message and they both pelted off in the direction of the dye fields, hoping against hope that they could reach them. He heard Edrab’s cry of pain—thrown spear or arrow, Wryn didn’t know. But he kept running.

 

 

As Fadrian pressed him, Kalsin retreated.

Pancakes was down for the count. Vincer, it seemed, had managed to club Pancakes over the head, so at least Kalsin wasn’t having to fend off two opponents at once. Not against one such as Fadrian. Superior speed and reflexes confounded Kalsin’s attempts to attack, so instead, he kept backing away.

Fadrian didn’t talk, didn’t boast. He wasn’t that sort of person. The scarred veteran was the sort you easily forgot about, until his blade was in your spine. He just advanced, his eyes intent. 

He let Fadrian push him on, towards the dye fields.

Fadrian had gotten the better of him in the first couple of exchanges. Fadrian was better. That was all. Kalsin was bleeding from wounds to the arm and leg. Fadrian meant to slow him down and kill him, probably. A strategy Kalsin would’ve played himself, if he thought the other swordsman could give him enough trouble. He supposed he should appreciate that show of respect from the Hallendren spy.

He beat aside a thrust from Fadrian and riposted, but Fadrian was already stepping aside to deliver a wicked cut at Kalsin’s side.

Kalsin dodged into the dye field, trampling flowers underfoot.

“Oops,” Kalsin said.

Fadrian’s eyes narrowed. “You’re making it harder,” he said, merely.

“I know.”

A shape loomed up behind Fadrian and Kalsin stared, even as a shadow brained Fadrian over the head with a rock and the man went down. Kalsin didn’t think he was dead, just out cold. He wasn’t going to check though.

“What?” Kalsin managed.

“You’re not one of theirs, aren’t you?” the shadow said. He stepped forward, and Kalsin realised he was young, barely a man. And he was Pahn Kahl, and his hands showed the calluses and stains of hard labour in the dye fields.

“What do you mean?”

“Hallendren,” the young man said.

Kalsin shook his head.

“Good,” the Pahn Kahl said, his eyes flinty. “Burn it all down for me.”

“Why?”

“You think I chose to work these fields?” the Pahn Kahl wanted to know.

Kalsin didn’t need to think about it. He nodded. “I’ll do it, then.”

“Good,” the Pahn Kahl hissed, and there was a fire in those dark eyes.

“But won’t you get into trouble?”

The Pahn Kahl smiled crookedly. “And who will they say did it? Pahn Kahl? Or a group of rebellious Idrians?”

Kalsin had to concede the point. He pulled out the oil-soaked bundle of rags and dry tinder and flung it to the ground. He pulled out flint and struck it, again and again, working with urgency. 

A spark caught, and the Pahn Kahl blew on it, causing it to catch. They both darted back as the flames grew, and began to spread.

“What’s your name?” Kalsin asked. Courtesy, he supposed. He didn’t expect to see the Pahn Kahl ever again. 

“Vahr,” said the Pahn Kahl. “My name is Vahr.”

 

 

The fields were already ablaze as they arrived, Wryn supporting Edrab, who had been shot in the leg by a Hallendren arrow.

“Let go of me,” Edrab ground out. “I can walk.”

“No,” Wryn said, firmly. “You can’t.” 

They both knew Edrab was lying.

Kalsin was already there, bloodied and his face grim, though his expression lightened as he saw them. He nocked an arrow to his bow, wincing as the flames brushed his fingers, and then he released. 

It was mesmerising, almost. The arrow flew, the flames all but gone, in a bright arc. It hit the dye field, and suddenly, fire blossomed where it had fallen. How many arrows had Kalsin already shot? There were small fires everywhere. Wryn just didn’t know if that was enough.

“We need to get out of here,” Wryn said, still supporting Edrab.

“But is it enough?” Kalsin wanted to know, echoing the direction of Wryn’s thoughts.

Wryn shook his head. “Doesn’t matter, enough is enough. We need to get out now, or we won’t make it. Edrab’s hit.”

“Leave me,” Edrab said.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Kalsin said, sharply. 

“No,” Wryn said, at the same time. But he was thinking about it.

Edrab sensed his hesitation, perhaps. “I’ll keep burning what I can. And I’m not letting them take me alive. If we all go now, I’ll only slow you down. And if I keep setting fire to the fields, I might slow them down enough to give you a window to escape. Better one than three.”

A terrible thought, wasn’t it?

But Wryn was a captain, and he was used to making hard, bad decisions.

“It’s been an honour. Austre watch you.”

“Shut up and go,” Edrab said. He took the bow and quiver from Kalsin. “Don’t make me regret this.”

Fire roared around them, and Wryn felt the heat, tight and uncomfortable against his skin. He turned away.

 

 

“And then?”

The Idrian who called himself Kalsin looked terribly tired and haunted. Wryn thought he understood. It was barely all he could do to keep putting one foot in front of the other, to keep walking. He wondered what sort of reserves Kalsin was drawing on, what sort of steel was in that man, to keep going.

Kalsin shrugged. “And then we made it out,” he said. “And we left Edrab to die. Most of their forces were still putting out fires, and I trust he sold his life as dearly as any of us might have, in his shoes. But Jacques was waiting for us, by the lake.”

It should have raised some flicker of familiarity. But try as he might, Wryn remembered nothing at all. Not even an echo.

“You called out,” Kalsin said. “You startled him. You saw him first; I was careless. He was about to kill me. And then he ran you through instead. And you saved my life again.”

He swallowed. “I hate this, you understand? Everything about this goes against what I know, what I believe in. But damn you, you saved my life again, without thinking, and Austre curse me for it, because I should take you back to Idris, even if you’d die on me on the way.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that there’s a Hallendren logging camp, just down this road,” Kalsin said. They’d been travelling for days and days, with Kalsin consulting his map. Wryn had felt useless, out of his element. Now he knew what Kalsin had been aiming for. “Go down the road. They’ll find you and take care of you.”

“And you?”

Kalsin’s mouth tilted in a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “I’m going back.” He placed a hand on Wryn’s shoulder. “Don’t tell them anything of this. Promise me this, at least.”

“Well, I’m not sure how you expect me to tell them something I don’t actually remember,” Wryn pointed out.

For a brief moment, Kalsin chuckled, before he stopped short. “True,” he said. “Well then, you saved my life, you bastard, so now I’m saving yours, Austre forgive me. My life to yours. My Breath become Yours.”

And then life, glorious life, flooded into him, in an ecstasy of colour, and he was alive again.

 

 

“This one,” Firebearer said, slowly. He drew short at the painting, frowning at it. Ever since word got out, it seemed all the art he was required to look at was done in an impressionistic style, depicting brooding jungle scenes.

Something about this one. It caught the eye, drew it in. There was the Hallendren jungle, a looming, heavy presence. But there seemed to be a smudge there; as though it was a lone figure. Part of Firebearer imagined it was a swordsman, walking alone into the murky heart of the wilderness. Perhaps he was resigned, and embracing the darkness. Or perhaps he was defying it.

He did not know.

“Shall I add this one to your personal collection, your Grace?” Hera asked.

“Yes,” Firebearer said, absently. “Please do, Hera.”

 

 

Kalsin unbuckled his sword. Let it drop, still-scabbarded, to the grassy earth.

He was tired. He did not know if he had done the right thing. And now he was done with war, done with sacrifices, done with killing. He unslung Gatemaker’s bow next, left it as though it was an offering.

Pushing aside an overhanging palm frond, he strode forward, into the shadowed heart of the jungle, and let the verdant darkness swallow him completely.

 

 

Danex was executed! He was an Idrian Soldier!

TUO was killed! He was an Idrian Soldier!

The Hallendren Spies have won the game!

Thoughts to follow later. Thanks for playing! It was a pleasure to GM you even if I spent a lot of time complaining to Wyrm about self-inflicted write-up pain  

Dossiers:

Spoiler

• Hallendren Spies Doc
• Dead Doc
• Mastersheet

Player List:

Spoiler

1. @Matrim's Dice as Taidon, a humble farmer - Idrian Soldier
2. @The Unknown Order as Vincer, duralumin compounder - Idrian Soldier
3. @StrikerEZ as TBC - Idrian Soldier
4. @Ashbringer as Faleast and AraRaash - Idrian Soldier
5. @Steeldanceras Steel - Idrian Soldier
6. @Liranil as TBC - Idrian Soldier
7. @Archer as Jacques Noir - Hallendren Spy
8. @Szeth_Pancakes as Pancakes - Hallendren Spy
9. @Danex as Dexan, an expedition packhorse - Idrian Soldier
10. @Devotary of Spontaneity as Gatemaker, an Idrian agent with a mysterious past - Idrian Soldier
11. @Araris Valerian as Fadrian - Hallendren Spy
12. @Aureole as Auri, aspiring artist, emphasis aspiring - Idrian Soldier

 

Edited July 20, 2021 by Kasimir

[Steeldancer he/him]

Blegh I knew Araris was evil. 
Also for the record, Devotary, I completely did not realize that you were referencing my LG79 ruleset when you said I hate cats. The reason that's in there is because it's explicitly untrue and mostly a joke. Even as I write this, I am cuddling with my cat. 
Or, sitting next to her anyway. 
It was fun playing a vanilla game, even though forgetting about it kind of killed me. Kasimir's writeups are freaking massive. 

[Mat he/him]

Yeahhh we stood no chance. I tried to get Archer and Szeth killed though, so I guess  I’m glad about that :/ Two out of three isn’t bad. But well played elims.

Edit:

Quote

One thing to note is that when Mat is an elim, he gets very abrasive. (A good measure of that is how many :P. emoticons he uses. If there are quite a few, it’s likely he’s village.)

I laughed a lot at this thanks  

I actually have just generally been trying to use less of those. A lot of the time I’ll draft a post and then take out about half so that’s interesting you find that the indicator.

Edited July 20, 2021 by Matrim's Dice

[Szeth Pancakes he/they]

8 minutes ago, Matrim's Dice said:

Yeahhh we stood no chance. I tried to get Archer and Szeth killed though, so I guess  I’m glad about that :/ Two out of three isn’t bad. But well played elims.

Thanks! I think this was a good first elim game. A spotless victory (even though I was one of the top suspects the entire game).

[Araris Valerian he/him]

23 minutes ago, Steeldancer said:

Blegh I knew Araris was evil.

What gave me away? I feel like I played similar to my usual self, except perhaps that I didn't try hard enough to disrupt things when they were going nicely.

[StrikerEZ he/him]

Definitely forgot this game had started on the day it did. I caught up on the thread a little slower than I would’ve if I’d remembered rollover was about 20 minutes away.

Why’d you guys decide to kill me?

[Mat he/him]

6 minutes ago, Araris Valerian said:

What gave me away? I feel like I played similar to my usual self, except perhaps that I didn't try hard enough to disrupt things when they were going nicely.

These days, your usual self is most of the time an elim  

[Archer he/him]

32 minutes ago, Matrim's Dice said:

Yeahhh we stood no chance. I tried to get Archer and Szeth killed though, so I guess  I’m glad about that :/ Two out of three isn’t bad. But well played elims.

That's why you didn't die. I was terrified killing you would lead to people voting people you'd voted on. Which was mostly elims. 

13 minutes ago, StrikerEZ said:

Definitely forgot this game had started on the day it did. I caught up on the thread a little slower than I would’ve if I’d remembered rollover was about 20 minutes away.

Why’d you guys decide to kill me?

Personally, I figured you were a reliable vote once you did get on, so while it was low info, it made sense to kill you to move towards greater thread control. 

 

Weeeeeee. That whole game was a rush. Thanks for running it, overlords. I am very sorry to everyone I manipulated or sussed in bad faith. I genuinely felt awful for enjoying being evil so much. 

Did anyone else have PMs? I've been making less of them in recent games when I've had less time to spare, but I wasn't sure if there was a lot going on behind the scenes or a little. 

Also, not voting is an elim tell confirmed. Next time someone doesn't want to vote, point to this game and sus 'em for me.

[Mat he/him]

1 minute ago, Archer said:

That's why you didn't die. I was terrified killing you would lead to people voting people you'd voted on. Which was mostly elims. 

I appreciate it, if only because this is the first village game I have ever survived that wasn't anonymous or where I subbed in C7

1 minute ago, Archer said:

Did anyone else have PMs? I've been making less of them in recent games when I've had less time to spare, but I wasn't sure if there was a lot going on behind the scenes or a little. 

I PMd Dannex at like 30 minutes till game end, telling him to vote for Szeth :P.

[Aureole]

Even though we didn't win, I can feel satisfied that I was right about Szeth_Pancakes, though I did not suspect the others. I will now read the docs. See you after that's done.

 

[Araris Valerian he/him]

53 minutes ago, StrikerEZ said:

Why’d you guys decide to kill me?

I wanted to take out the more vocal villagers early on so we could sweep things up later. In LGs that makes for a boring late game, but it seems like a good play in a QF.

49 minutes ago, Matrim's Dice said:

These days, your usual self is most of the time an elim

Yeah, that is true, although not my fault. I think the GMs have it out for me having it out for everyone . This is the second streak of 4 elim games I've had in the last 8 months or so, and I'm now curious what my overall percentage of elim games is.

[Kasimir he/him]

Post-Mortem/AAR:

-Little extra to be said. This is essentially a vanilla game and standard distro demands a three Elim team. Given standard Village performance in QFs and especially vanilla QFs, I feel as though a two Elim team might be possible but I think that would tilt the difficulty against them a bit too much. Ultimately, as Devo said in the dead doc, it's just hard to balance for twelve or eleven players. 

-Village gave up a vast advantage by being low discussion early on, enabling Team Evil to grab thread control with more ease than they should have had. @Archer— in answer to your question, apart from Mat's PM to Danex, you were in all PMs. That's how little communication was going on.

-While inactivity filters can unduly penalise the Village, I feel as though there was little justification for four pinch-hitters in a QF of this size, and it's often difficult to ensure timely replacement in a QF anyway. 

-I don't really want to have to talk about this, but as was apparent in the dead doc and Elim doc, I became aware early on that a banned player was participating in this game under an alt. It shouldn't be the GM's responsibility to vet every player participating but I will say for any prospective GM going forward who might find themselves in this same position that it is helpful to talk to your IM to ensure compliance on the GMing end, especially if you have been given cause for concern. 

Edited July 20, 2021 by Kasimir

[Steeldancer he/him]

3 hours ago, Araris Valerian said:

What gave me away? I feel like I played similar to my usual self, except perhaps that I didn't try hard enough to disrupt things when they were going nicely.

Your voting patterns is what convinced me you were evil. 

[Araris Valerian he/him]

Oh yeah, @Kasimir, I like Fadrian's role in your writeup! Feels like a fitting way for things to turn out for him .

[Kasimir he/him]

8 hours ago, Araris Valerian said:

Oh yeah, @Kasimir, I like Fadrian's role in your writeup! Feels like a fitting way for things to turn out for him .

Cheers, glad it worked for you, Araris  

[Elandera she/her]

Another game to close! Congratulations to the Hallandren Spies! Idrian is as good as conquered. Thanks to Kasimir for a wonderful game, and of course to everyone who participated!

As always, if anyone would like to try their hand at running a game, please get ahold of Wilson, Devotary of Spontaneity, Elbereth, Araris Valerian, or myself, or post in the GM Signups & Discussion Thread. Not only will we get you added to the list, but we'd also be more than willing to help out in any way we can. 

You can also ask questions and get some hints and feedback from everyone in our Art of Game Creation thread. With all the games that we've run so far, we have plenty of experienced GMs that can help you refine any game you're thinking about. If you would rather keep some detail secret, or are self-conscious about posting in thread (there's really no need to be; while we do slaughter each other, we are very polite about it), then I'm sure one of our fantastic committee members (Amanuensis, STINK, Sart, Fifth Scholar, Straw, Haelbarde, and Young Bard) would be more than willing to help you out in private.

Thanks again to everyone that played, and we look forward to killing seeing you in future games!