Quick Fix Game 54: The Smoking Mirror

[Mat]

You're still assuming I'm confirmed elim, are you just pretending to not have heard me?  It's one thing to comment on my original post and disagree, and another to ignore it's existence entirely. I can't even do anything with your analysis because it hinges on me being evil, which I'm not, and a conclusion that I'm not even sure how you reached in the first place.

[Szeth_Pancakes]

VC that may or may not be accurate depending on how thoroughly I feel like reading through the thread:

Steel (4): Mat, Szeth, Araris, Danex

Mat (2): Ash, TUO

[Mat]

1 minute ago, Szeth_Pancakes said:

VC that may or may not be accurate depending on how thoroughly I feel like reading through the thread:

Steel (4): Mat, Szeth, Araris, Danex

Mat (2): Ash, TUO

Wait wait wait here's some math

There's 8 people alive. Presumably, 3 of them are evil.

6 people have voted. That means that at least one of the people who have currently voted is an elim. I know it's not me, and if Steel's a dead end then it's probably Ash or TUO. Maybe both.

This likely isn't a very helpful way of looking at things but it's something random I noticed :P.

[The Unknown Ajah]

4 hours ago, Matrim's Dice said:

? Is it just me or is this very contradictory- “I think Archer’s belief in Mat being conf elim isn’t true in the slightest” translates to I don’t read Mat elim, doesn’t it? :P. And then you’re voting me.

The part about me being the Tineye doesn’t actually change the reasoning, it just adds to the point.

It means you are in no way confirmed elim (wow, I said that weirdly), but I still think it's likely you're elim. 

We have enough votes on Steel to consolidate I believe (I'm on the page in which Mat said this, so I can't check the vc), so I'm staying on Mat for now.

[Steeldancer]

I'm going to have to vote Matrim just to increase the chances of us not losing. 

Edited July 19, 2021 by Steeldancer

[Mat]

We're doomed aren't we, Steel basically has to be evil.

[Steeldancer]

1 minute ago, Matrim's Dice said:

We're doomed aren't we, Steel basically has to be evil.

Except I'm not. And we're going to lose here in an hour. 
(Granted I never got a PM, so I don't actually know that I'm village, I'm just assuming here). 

Edited July 19, 2021 by Steeldancer

[Mat]

10 minutes ago, Steeldancer said:

Except I'm not. And we're going to lose here in an hour. 
(Granted I never got a PM, so I don't actually know that I'm village, I'm just assuming here). 

I didn't either, meaning I couldn't rant to Kas this game and I had to check what an Idrian was when Kas said 'If you haven't received a PM, you're Idrian'

Like logically I knew it meant village but I also couldn't remember :P.

^All that should be treated as NAI. Thank you.

The fact that this exe is a lot more split makes me think that you're probably evil, but if this was v/v then that's sad.

[Kasimir]

1 minute ago, Matrim's Dice said:

I didn't either, meaning I couldn't rant to Kas this game and I had to check what an Idrian was when Kas said 'If you haven't received a PM, you're Idrian'

Huh. Interesting. Mat's ranting is entertaining but I can neither confirm nor deny whether he's been doing it this game.

You have fifty minutes left to finalise your votes and action!

[Kasimir]

12 hours ago, Matrim's Dice said:

I get a cookie when the game is over if one of those is accurate

Noted.

Cycle closed! No more vote changes or actions will be accepted!

[Kasimir]

QF54: Day Four - Heart of Darkness

Back in the days of the Manywar, before the Idrian royal family fled T’Telir for their highland exile, before Kalad the Usurper wrested control of the throne, the Pahn Unity stood against old  Hanald.

Over the course of the war, Pahn Kahl rangers ambushed squads of captured Idrian soldiers; they were stripped of equipment and released into the wilderness to fend for themselves. We call them the Taken. Most of them died. The deep jungle of Hallendren is unforgiving to the unprepared, and especially not to those who aren’t trained trackers.

Before the Chedesh ships arrived, the Pahn Kahl were a loose confederation of fishing villages and jungle encampments. They worshipped their own gods, but we know little enough about those. Some say they revered the storms of the Inner Sea; others that they venerated the swollen headwaters of the Serpent. 

They gave their worst offenders to the jungle, then, the same way they dealt with the Taken during the Manywar. Jungle justice, the Pahn Kahl call it. Sometimes, some crimes are too horrendous to be punished by the frailties and foibles of mere men.

Sometimes, a holy man or a devout person simply walks out of the encampment and into the jungle instead. The Pahn Kahl say that that person has been called by the jungle, as though the jungle were a living, breathing being.

But is it not? We have been in this jungle for days now. We have cut our way through ferns, hacked past tangles of vines and thorns, fended off predators in the night. I cannot shake the feeling that as we journey ever further inwards, following the trail signs left by the Hallendren, we are also travelling steadily into the dark heart of this wilderness.

Is it so strange to think that, in their uneasy truce with the jungle, the Pahn Kahl may have taken to venerating it?

 

 

The days were a misery of trudging through mud, and hacking their way slowly through the undergrowth. The Hallendren trail beckoned temptingly, but Kalsin made the decision to go off-trail but keep the trail in sight. The last thing they wanted was to be ambushed by arriving Hallendren troops or by anyone who worked the dye fields.

Wryn at least agreed with his judgement. “Surprise is our only advantage,” the captain said, as they consulted the map yet again. “If the Hallendren know we’re coming, all of this will be for nothing.”

“Don’t they?” Kalsin asked.

Wryn let out a long breath in a sigh. “We have to hope, don’t we?”

Gatemaker had been right, but a search of the expedition’s packs found an interesting variety of contraband—Kalsin was no stranger to the sorts of things soldiers could squirrel out into the field— but no sign of Lifeless blasphemies. The squirrel that Gatemaker had shot must’ve been a desperation move. It gave him a little hope that their coming had been kept secret for now.

“If we attack and there are Hallendren spies still among us, they will move against us. You must know this. The dye fields are too important to Hallendren to allow us to put them to the torch like this.”

“Yeah,” said Wryn.

“Got a plan for that then?”

Wryn sighed. “I’m working on it, alright?”

“Work faster.”

“That’s my line, not yours.”

The current plan called for striking the dye fields, hard and fast, under the cover of darkness. They had enough men to split the force, or so Kalsin hoped. If there were no more Hallendren spies among them. If they did not lose more of the squad. 

If the dye fields were not heavily guarded. Kalsin couldn’t imagine that they would not be. But perhaps the Hallendren trusted secrecy more than guards or Lifeless.

There was, in the end, only one way to find out. It was one of many reasons why Kalsin was on this expedition. There were others, of course. Who was he to put himself before so many others?

But in the end, he had taken up the sword because it would have been selfishness to remain at the monastery when Idris faced the threat of Hallendren aggression, and he had joined the expedition because they needed trackers and because, in the end, Wryn was leading it.

If it was to end in a storm of fire, Kalsin thought, it was a place they should all reach together.

Enough of their company had felt the same way: most of them had volunteered for this expedition. Wryn had selected some of the best, and sent the rest on their way. Geren was dead now. So was Variel. Falfen had been killed by one of the Hallendren spies.

Kalsin wondered how many of them would return to Idris and prayed to Austre to watch over them.

Keep them safe, he thought, because surely it was pride, too, to beg for his own life. Take me if that be your will, but let the rest of them return to Idris in safety and peace.

There was no answer and he brushed aside an overhanging frond, hacked through yet another cluster of vines, and strode deeper into the dark heart of the Hallendren jungle.

 

 

Kalsin did not have words for it when he first saw it.

The trees parted, at last, and he stumbled past the slashed vegetation and into a wide clearing. He understood then why they called it the Smoking Mirror. The lake was clear, and still, but a faint, insubstantial vapour rose from its surface, as though it was smoke.

“The Smoking Mirror,” Wryn breathed.

On the other side of the lake, he could see the outline of simple dormitories, and what must be the Hallendren dye fields beyond. Shapes in the distance toiled in the fields, but Kalsin could not yet make out any sign of guards.

“I’m going to scout the area,” he said. They needed to know more than they currently did about the dye fields if they intended to strike at nightfall.

“Take Derrick with you,” Wryn replied. He didn’t tell Kalsin to be careful, the same way Kalsin didn’t tell Wryn how to do his job. 

Kalsin nodded.

“All right,” he said. “But he’d best be quiet.”

 

 

Derrick was quiet enough. Kalsin wondered about him. They didn’t seem to know enough about Derrick, but the soldier moved with a competence that suggested he was not completely at a loss when it came to operating within this sort of terrain.

They worked their way around the slice of the lake, keeping close to the treeline where possible. Kalsin wondered at the crystalline purity of the waters. What fed this lake? And why was it smoking? He didn’t know. He wondered if Austre had to do with it, for surely the Lord of Colours had a hand in such things.

When they reached the rough wooden outlines of the dormitories, Kalsin tapped Derrick on the shoulder. “Split up,” he instructed. “I’ll scout the dye fields. You keep an eye out for any sign of Hallendren military presence. Guards, Lifeless. Stay out of sight, and don’t engage. Meet back at the lake in an hour.” He glanced briefly at the position of the sun in the sky, confirming his assessment.

And then he faded into the shadows, as best as he could, slinking towards the dye fields to assess the best way to approach the target.

 

 

They called him Steel, because he was solid and dependable as the soldier’s steel. Right now though, Steel felt only a deep and abiding worry. The Hallendren spies were among them. That much was clear. He shot a wary look at Fadrian. Supposed to be an old veteran, that scarred man, but Steel’d only heard whispers that Fadrian’d survived because he had no fear of leaving his own squadmates to die if it came down to it.

And then there was Taidon. Steel wasn’t sure he believed a single word of it. How did a farmer conveniently survive the deaths of a supposed Hallendren spy and two decent soldiers? He knew Geren, knew Falfen. Neither of them were easy prey. He couldn’t see how a simple farmer killed a Hallendren who’d gotten the better of them.

The captain seemed to buy Taidon’s story, which only made matters worse. Steel didn’t like the idea of going behind the captain’s back, but Wryn had only disagreed firmly when Steel took the captain aside and suggested that something wasn’t right about Taidon.

“He’s been through the wringer, that’s all,” Wryn opined. “Right now, I need everyone on task, and this means preparing for tonight’s raid on the dye fields.” His gaze drifted in the direction of the lake, where the lieutenant had gone.

Everyone knew that Kalsin had served longest under Wryn. Steel supposed it gave you a kind of sixth sense for what the other man was doing. He’d been that way with a few, though they were back in Bevalis. Or maybe they were guarding the passes, now. 

Everything depended on the success of this mission, and the fact Taidon was getting away with that unlikely story of his was galling.

They called him Steel, because he was solid and dependable as the soldier’s steel, and Steel resolved to do what had to be done. Even if it was the unthinkable.

He drew his sword and moved in on Taidon, moving quietly from behind.

Except that someone, Steel couldn’t have said who, not in that moment, shouted a warning, and Taidon turned, and—

And then there was the sharp song of a bow and he felt the impact of the arrow, as though he’d been struck. He staggered back, a little.

He forced his fingers to tighten about his sword hilt. No. He had to see to the mission. He had to make sure the Hallendren spy was dead.

“Get back!” and then Steel realised it was the lieutenant, shouting, grim-faced. When had he returned?

“I can explain,” Steel wanted to say, but the bow sang again and the breath left him, then, all at once. 

He collapsed to the grassy earth.

He had failed, Steel thought. He had failed.

 

 

“Derrick is dead,” Kalsin reported. “The dye fields are lightly guarded, but he went down before I could get to him. I shot the two guards who found him, and hid them in some brush. It won’t be long before they come looking for them, probably around nightfall. We have to strike tonight, or it’ll all be for nothing.”

Wryn grunted. “Not ideal, but we’ll have to make do.”

“What about Steel?”

Wryn frowned. “I don’t think he was in the pay of Hallendren,” he said, at last. “There was no sign of irregularity in his pack, and you know Steel.”

Kalsin did. It was why he’d asked. 

“I think he just got it into his head that Taidon was working for Hallendren, and the more he thought about it, the more he got himself worked up about it, until he felt he had to act, and then there was no stopping him.”

Except Kalsin had. Permanently.

Gatemaker’s bow felt disapproving, as though he’d put it to ill use. But Steel was trying to kill Taidon, and Kalsin had shot to kill. He hadn’t drawn a bow in a while but his muscles remembered, all the same.

“It was a good shot,” Wryn said.

Kalsin made a face. “I was an archer before I was a swordsman. You know this. It shouldn’t be surprising.”

“I suppose so. Even so. You saw the shot you needed to, and you took it. Nothing else.”

Kalsin sighed. “I know,” he said. “It doesn’t mean I don’t regret it.”

Regret has no place in war, he could remember one of the drillmasters in the Idrian army saying. Perhaps, thought Kalsin, but they would have to live with what they’d done, on this mission.

If they survived. If they walked away.

They would have to live with it, and Kalsin did not know if that weight could be borne.

 

 

“I don’t know if it is a dream, or a memory of a dream. The trees draw closer and closer. And at the centre, at the beating heart of the jungle...I see only darkness.”

“I’ll add that to the record, your Grace.”

 

 

Steeldancer was executed! He was an Idrian Soldier!

Ash fell from the sky was killed! He was an Idrian Soldier!

Quote

Steel (4): Mat, Szeth, Danex, Araris
Mat (3): TUO, Ash, Steel

The cycle has begun! It will end at 2300hrs SGT (GMT+8) on the 20th July!

Edited July 19, 2021 by Kasimir

[Kasimir]

Rule Clarifications:

Spoiler

Really???

Player List:

Spoiler

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

 

[Araris Valerian]

Well, I guess we lose then. Unless we get lucky 3 times in a row. Elims gotta be either Mat, Szeth, Danex, or TUO, Szeth, Danex. So I guess we should all jump on Danex or Szeth. And of course village!Mat believes that if those two are evil then I am as well, which won’t help things. I’ll let someone else work out how things make sense if I’m elim.

Oh yeah, Archer isn’t voting, apparently. So I guess we just flat-out lose, since I think he has to be village at this point. Whatever. I’ll vote Danex. And this is why we needed more discussion D1 and D2. We didn’t really have anything to go off of last cycle. Partly my bad, since I’m not used to QF games, but I’m only one person here.

[Szeth_Pancakes]

Steel (4): Mat, Szeth, Danex, Araris
Mat (3): TUO, Ash, Steel

Archer abstained from voting.

So here's my thoughts:

One of the elims (at least) must be voting off of Steel, since they probably don't want to be tied to that. Since Ash and Steel are dead, that has to be either TUO or Archer (or both). I'm reading Archer fairly village-y right now for his usual analysis-filled posts, so I'll go with TUO for now.

I'm really scared though. One more cycle without catching an elim, and it's game over. We need to think very carefully about who we exe today.

Edited July 19, 2021 by Szeth_Pancakes

[Archer]

Well that's unfortunate. I had initially planned on voting yesterday, but after I slept on it, Mat had me convinced he was village. Or at least convinced enough that I thought there was a better than zero chance that the elims had written Steel off and were bussing or had gone all in on Mat already and the five votes on Steel were all villagers. 

I gotta do a thread reread because after watching the last few rounds of the LG I promised myself I'd be sure to do that in these situations because sometimes the answers are right there. Just gut right now I'd say my elim team guess is Szeth, Mat and... clearing TUO for voting on Mat alongside two villagers. So it's one of Danex or Araris. Given Araris' vote they're probably not e/e. Let's start by sharing our elim team guesses. Shouldn't be hard because there's only five people living who aren't you. This game is still winnable so let's proceed as if we have a shot and work from there 

[Araris Valerian]

21 minutes ago, Szeth_Pancakes said:

One of the elims (at least) must be voting off of Steel, since they probably don't want to be tied to that. Since Ash and Steel are dead, that has to be either TUO or Archer (or both). I'm reading Archer fairly village-y right now for his usual analysis-filled posts, so I'll go with TUO for now.

But one of you and/or Danex is significantly more likely to be an elim than TUO is. And your are implicitly assuming that the elims didn't want the 7/8 chance to win from 3 tied votes, but would instead prefer to hide.

A third possibility for a team that I didn't think of is that if last cycle was v/v, then Archer could be elim. But I don't think that changes either you or Danex being the most likely elims.

[Mat]

WHO THE HECK IS IT THEN xD

Szeth

The fact that Ash was killed makes me think they are trying to frame me

Elim team guesses? I’ll go with Szeth and Dannex and Archer

[Kasimir]

1 minute ago, Matrim's Dice said:

WHO THE HECK IS IT THEN xD

I can confirm there is actually an Elim team in this game and it's not just Wyrm telling me who he wants smited. Smote? Smought? Eh whatever.

[Wyrmhero]

5 minutes ago, Kasimir said:

I can confirm there is actually an Elim team in this game and it's not just Wyrm telling me who he wants smited.

And I can confirm that Kas and I have made rules for a game with a mechanic where I get to arbitrarily kill players. Is that this game? Who knows!

5 minutes ago, Kasimir said:

Smought?

 

 

Edited July 19, 2021 by Wyrmhero

[Araris Valerian]

6 minutes ago, Kasimir said:

I can confirm there is actually an Elim team in this game and it's not just Wyrm telling me who he wants smited. Smote? Smought? Eh whatever.

I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have lasted this long if that was the case .

[The Unknown Ajah]

Yep, there's two pretty much guaranteed elims being Szeth and Dannex, I'll vote Szeth  since they voted on me. Mat is likely the last elim, but we can wait to discuss me and Mat until after we exe Szeth and Dannex.

[Szeth_Pancakes]

14 minutes ago, The Unknown Order said:

Yep, there's two pretty much guaranteed elims being Szeth and Dannex, I'll vote Szeth  since they voted on me. Mat is likely the last elim, but we can wait to discuss me and Mat until after we exe Szeth and Dannex.

Here - I’ll vote Danex (TUO). My reasoning is the same as everyone else who’s voted Danex. I still think one of TUO and Archer is elim, but we can figure that out after we knock out a more likely elim.

[The Unknown Ajah]

Well, I'll now unvote Szeth in the interests of consolidating the vote on Dannex.

[Kasimir]

You have an hour left to rollover!

[Mat]

There is an elim voting on Dannex. I know this because I am village and there are three votes on Dannex.

If you are village please switch to Szeth.