Seonid

@Drake Marshall, that is absolutely true, and a good call. I kept meaning to post, but I wanted to RP with Sheon Idris, who might is currently impersonating the king of Arelon. And then I let my pursuit of the best become the enemy of the good. Anyways, I'm here. I stand behind my idea of previous games, but I need to see if I can find a good lead. My inactive - lynching idea was always just something to do in the event of a lackluster d1 conversation. Mostly it was aimed at avoiding the unfortunate tendency to lynch the active players early and thus end up with a near-silent end game.

Well, I think it's time for the once-king of Arelon to return to his country. It's been a long time, and he still hasn't gotten Adonalsium put back together again. But regardless, this is Sheon Idris, signing up.

@Fifth Scholar note that your win con would not have been you hold unshattered shards, just all shards out of containment. Also, it wasn't game ending, so it was compatible with other win cons. But yes, very difficult, even more so given the state of the game as it turned out, not just in theory. Autonomy was probably too easy, and Ruin perhaps too hard. I like MMs proposed alteration to autonomy (outnumber all living players with you + your aspects).

Just for the curious, here were the win conditions for the remaining shards. Ruin - destroy all planets Honor - prevent 4 attacks between their ability and their windrunners Endowment - return 4 players Devotion - prevent 3 lynches Dominion - be the vessel of all shards out of containment Preservation - pick a player and keep them alive until the end of the game.

@Fifth Scholar The trigger for shardic conversion was two consecutive uses of the shardic ability. Failed actions as a result of an invalid target counted, but roleblocked actions didn't. @randuir If you had been converted, all of your shades would have flipped to your win con, and you would have had the goal of getting 11 players converted to your win con

Alright - the aftermath post is up! Everybody go upvote Rae for her brilliant work with all the writeups in this game, and I hope you all enjoyed yourselves!

Aftermath: Freedom? The mob formed outside of Everen’s dorm. Shovels and crowbars waved above their heads, accompanied by laser drills and plasma cutters. The crowd pulsed dangerously. A shield of black mist flickered to life, enclosing the dorm. “Storm you, you Ruin-holder!” someone yelled. “It’s all your fault!” As far as rallying cries went, it wasn’t the best. But the mob was in this for blood, and they didn’t care much whose blood it was. With a roar, they surged forth and attacked the dorm with everything they got. Shovels and crowbars slammed against the shield, while laser drills and plasma burned holes into it. A tomato sailed the mist, and disappeared. The mob fought and kicked and screamed and punched the surprisingly solid barrier of mist. But no matter what they did, they couldn’t get through. --------------------- A few miles away, Everen sat in a table booth, eating a bowl full of Scadrialan noodeln. It was cheap and greasy, slathered with a too-salty sauce, but he didn’t seem to mind. He shovelled it into his mouth with a greed unbecoming of his persona here, but what the hell, nobody was around to judge, and these were Scadrialan instant noodeln. Well, there was Elaria, who sat across from him with a small, lined notebook open in front of her. Unlike Everen, she hadn’t ordered anything. “You said you had important business here, yes?” Everen slurped his noodeln loudly. “Yup. Eating these noodles.” “What,” Elaria said flatly. “You said you had something important to do here.” “I did,” Everen said. “This might be one of the last opportunities to eat instant noodles here before it closes. You should order something.” Elaria pressed her hands to her forehead and sighed. “No,” she said. “I won’t.” Everen shook his head at her stubbornness, if she wanted to discriminate against the food here because of preconceived notions, well, that was her loss. He slurped the noodeln again. Then he pushed the bowl of noodles to the side, along with this one indulgence of childlike glee, and turned his face serious. Time for business. “Recovering from Jeral’s death will be tricky,” he said. “We don’t really have advantages, save an assortment of miscellaneous Investiture.” “Nope,” Elaria affirmed. She looked down at her notebook. “I got an interesting message lately, set up by Cultivation. We could use that to…” she continued speaking. Funny, wasn’t it, how people responded so differently to different masks on the same person. The same core inside, but expressed in very different ways. Elaria was comfortable with him as employer and co-conspirator, less so with him as a lover of terrible quality noodeln. Everen smiled at the thought of how she would have dealt with some of his other identities in the past. Another pair slid into the booth, Elereod and Willie. Willie looked uneasily at Elereod’s shadow, which pointed the wrong way. “Khrissala, old friend, good to see you here,” Everen said. “Hoid,” Elereod acknowledged. “Good to see you too.” Elaria and Willie glanced at each other in surprise, then away. “Have you thought about what I said?” asked Everen. Elereod shook his head. “Everybody who takes up a Shard goes power-hungry at some point, Hoid. I don’t see how it would be any different with the holder of Adonalsium.” He paused, and for a moment Hoid thought he could see her wistful face under the illusion. “I wish things could be different, but no. I can’t join you.” “A shame, then,” Everen said softly. “You’ll believe it when you see it.” The two friends and their co-conspirators chatted late into the evening. --------------------------------- Across a half dozen different worlds, Autonomy kicked in the door to multiple separate government offices. Golden light blazed blazed around its body, illuminating its surroundings all across the Cosmere. On Taldain, the aspect Trell stood the a small, carpeted room that was the office of the Chancellor of Taldain. “Ais T’kalla,” he said grandly, “let us talk.” Ais scrambled back from his desk. “Who -- who are you?” “I am Autonomy,” it said. It noticed Ais fumbling for a button and said, “Your police will not help you here. I have taken care of them.” “W-what do you want?” Ais asked. He tried to smooth the fear out of his face, but it was too little, too late. They both knew Autonomy had the upper hand. “What I want, Mr. Ais, is for you to forget about your proposal of a United Interplanetary Nation Conference. Remove it from consideration, permanently.” “No,” Sabid said, frowning. “That’s ridiculous.” Meanwhile, on another planet 9,373,000,000 kilometers away, Prime Minister Tetalin Sebinal of Hallandren echoed the same sentiment in a ruder form. Patji leaned forwards onto Tetalin’s desk. “You will do as I say, because you will not enjoy the consequences if you don’t.” Tetalin stared into the Patji’s eyes, a contrast to the blubbering Prime Minister of Teod. “Whatcha you gonna with me if I don’t?” he said. “Hell if I’m gonna do what some random fu--” Patji grabbed Tetalin by the wrist and shoved him into its pre-prepared simulation. Golden light exploded around them. People rioted in the streets of Hallandren. Food was hard to find now, ever since those golden walls of light had shut it off from the wider world. The dye trade was practically dead now, along with a half-dozen related industries. Sure, manufacturing had returned for a short while, but then prices had caught up and destroyed that advantage. Hallandren was truly autonomous now, and was suffering for it. --------------------------- A dozen lightyears away, President Therese Quinette of Elendel came out of the vision blinking. For someone who had just witnessed the possible economic destruction of her country, she looked surprisingly composed. “How do I know that you won’t impose these borders anyway even if I withdraw my support for UINC?” “I can control myself,” The Sand Lord said. “Cutting off all travel between countries may increase autonomy in the short term, but it would also plunge the Cosmere into anarchy. I’ll be satisfied getting rid of UINC before it can reduce your people’s freedom even more than it currently is.” “Why do you dislike the UINC so much?” Therese asked. “The UINC would become a chokehold on each nation,” The Sand Lord said. Its eyes grew distant as it looked into the Spiritual Realm. “It might start out as just a free trade area and customs union, but over the years it would become a byzantine bureaucracy governed from Silverlight. Your people do not want this.” “What if I modified the proposal?” Therese asked. “Perhaps if --” “No!” The Sand Lord boomed. Its hands glowed ominously. “I will not allow the UINC to exist, ever!” On the distant planet of Roshar, Jiamo looked down at the defeated looking Premier of Alethkar, Jezeriah Kholin. “Why even give me a choice?” Jezeriah asked. “If you’re Autonomy... you could just, I don’t know, puppet our mouths to decry the UINC publically.” Jiamo shook its head. “I cannot,” it said. “Just as my nature forces me to destroy the UINC, it forces me to give all sapient beings a choice if I wish to control them.” Its lips quirked. “It does not, however, stop me from heavily weighing the choice to one side.” “Fine,” Jezeriah said. He held his hands up in surrender. “I’ll announce tomorrow that I think the UINC is a terrible idea. Happy?” “Yes,” Jiamo said. It, and all of its other aspects, turned and left the offices, before disappearing in a flash of golden light. The Autonomy of future generations had been preserved. All was well in the world. It could take a well-deserved break before implementing its next plan to increase maximum freedom in the Cosmere. --------------------------- Finn Scholz sat at the head of the conference table, watching his audience. The remains of SilverPoly’s administration. So many of the seats were empty. “Ladies, gentlemen, and those who are neither,” he said. “Thank you for appointing me Interim Vice Chancellor.” He looked out across the weathered faces of his staff. “I mourn the losses of Ruin’s latest attack, especially the late Daton Rild. I wish we had time to properly commemorate them, but our priorities now must lie with the living, not the dead. We must reopen SilverPoly as soon as possible.” He took a deep breath. “When we do, we will not reopen the Shard Lab.” Raona Sheran opened her mouth in outrage. Finn silenced her with a hand. “The power of Adonalsium is not for humans to trifle with. Ruin’s attack would never have happened if we did not open up a lab to study it. Exposure inevitably builds corruption, even in the most well-meaning of researchers.” Finn thought back to Daton, incinerated in the attack, and his face hardened. “That is why we will permanently drop the Investiture Science, Invested Physics, and Realmatics majors from our degree offering. Thank you for understanding, and let us hope this never happens again.” --------------------- The game is over! Autonomy (Hemalurgic Headshot) has reached their win condition of creating an aspect on every world! Survival (TheYoungPyromancer) has reached their win condition of being the Vessel of the Shard of Survival and surviving until the end of the game. Cultivation (Arinian) has failed to reach their win condition of ending the game with all Shards unshattered. Odium (Joe) has failed to reach their win condition of Shattering all of the Shards. The remaining factions have also failed to reach their win conditions! Thanks for playing everybody. Look for a retrospective from me in the next few days meditating on what went wrong with the game, what went right, and what I thought about it all. Player List: Young Bard - Jeral Adonalsium's Chosen-aligned Researcher and the Vessel of Devotion! Arinian - Eilen Independent aligned Researcher; Vessel of Cultivation Eternum - Habrian 17th Shard aligned Researcher; Vessel of Honor Fifth Scholar - Darrel 17th Shard aligned Researcher; Vessel of Dominion randuir - Met 17th Shard aligned Researcher; Vessel of Ambition Steeldancer - Steeldancer and Eobard Thawne Returned Straw - Straw 17th Shard aligned Researcher; Vessel of Preservation Jondesu - Quintus 17th Shard aligned Researcher Droughtbringer - Ralar 17th Shard aligned Researcher! Devotary of Sponteneity - Reed Khrissala and the Vessel of Ruin livinglegend - Unnamed Character 3 17th Shard aligned Researcher; Vessel of Devotion (shattered) Orlok/A Joe in the Bush - Locke Tekiel Independent aligned Researcher; Vessel of Odium MonsterMetroid/RippleGylf - Willie Standard of Harmony-aligned Researcher Magestar - Moro 17th Shard aligned Researcher; Vessel of Preservation Hemalurgic_Headshot - Jiamo Independent aligned Researcher; Vessel of Autonomy Megasif - Mega 17th Shard aligned Researcher Sart - Sam Taswell 17th Shard aligned Researcher TheYoungPyromancer - Kelsier Independent aligned Researcher; Vessel of Preservation _Stick_ - Stick 17th Shard aligned Researcher; Vessel of Endowment shanerockes - Philepe De Pedro Von Leiderhuch Johnson III 17th Shard aligned Researcher Drake Marshall - Everen Hoid Elbereth - Elaria Adonalsium's Chosen-aligned Researcher Docs Cognitive Realm (Dead Doc) Spiritual Realm (Spec Doc) Adonalsium's Chosen Standard of Harmony Braize World Doc Taldain World Doc Nalthis World Doc Roshar World Doc Scadrial World Doc

Finally finished the narrative writeup of Journey Along the Anduin! Took a while, but it's done. Maybe I ought to post these in Creator's Corner? Dunno. It's kind of an odd edge case. On the one hand, it's storytelling/creative writing. On the other, the fact that I'm constrained by the game events makes it more blurry? Anyways, I'm rather happy with the way it turned out. So go ahead and take a look!

You have no idea... And that's a wrap, everbody! Game, set, match! Aftermath thread will be up when a writeup is finished.

Fixed the timer!

Sorry, the countdown should not be ending today. It should end at the same time saturday evening.

Day 5 - End of Days A figure walked down a narrow street, slowly picking his way through collapsed rubble and other debris. His head swung left and right, looking for signs of life. All the familiar landmarks were gone, and most of the buildings too, leaving a skyline that stretched on into the distance without interruption. For a city kid like Jeral, it was startlingly lonely; over the years he had come to enjoy the warm embrace of 50-story buildings on both sides of the street. Now, in this part of Silverlight at least, he was the tallest thing around, and he wasn’t sure he liked it. Even so, the desolation wasn’t enough to dampen his spirit. His bright blue hoodie made him stand out against the destruction -- the front side of the hoodie bearing an image of a stick with the words “I am not a fire” below, the backside an exhortation to read books by some Sandon Branderson. Against the burned remains, he almost glowed in the weak sunlight. “Hello, anybody there?” he called. “This is Silverlight search and rescue. If you need help just call for me!” Okay, maybe that wasn’t entirely true. Jeral wasn’t officially trained by the Silverlight-ESAR or anything. But with his powers, he didn’t need official training to help, no, the time for bureaucracy would come later, after all the people-saving had been done first. No response. “H-here…” a weak voice called. An arm extended from under a slab of concrete. “Uh, alright, stay where you are,” Jeral said. “I hope this works…” He tapped into the Shard he held. A forest green halo of light shone around his hands. Slowly, the slab of concrete lifted into the air. Then, the rubble under that rose up and away from the arm, uncovering a human body. The person underneath stood up. They were covered with so much dust that Jeral couldn’t make out their face, or their gender. Not that Jeral should be trying to slot this person into categories of male or female -- they could be non-binary too, right? “Thanks,” they said. “That...that was so Devoted of you.” Jeral shrugged uncomfortably at their choice of words. “Anyone would’ve done that if they could.” He looked at the other person. “Uh...would you mind keeping it a secret, that telekinesis thing? I’m not really supposed to have this Shard...” Then he smacked his forehead -- in the rush of helping someone he’d forgotten basic medical procedure. “Do you want me to send you to a hospital? I think I can teleport you, that would be faster than walking.” They waved off the question. “You know what I hate most about times like this?” they said, their voice suddenly venomous. “It’s bleeding-heart liberals like you who can’t keep their hands off of people in disasters.” Jeral started. “I, uh, what?” Dark red tendrils exploded out of the person and wrapped around Jeral. He kicked and struggled to escape, but it was futile. One particularly sharp-looking tendril crept towards his neck. “Why are you doing this?” he asked. “I told you,” Odium said. “I can’t stand people like you. Goodbye, Devotion.” Forest green light exploded, then faded away. -------------------------- Nearby, a man in a mistcloak strode through a hospital wing. The groans of the injured and dying swelled in his ears, a never-ending song of misery and pain. It reminded him of other times, back in a deep dark hole opened in the earth. But at least there were doctors here, even if their resources were stretched so far they were almost nonexistent. He paused by one hospital bed, where a patient looked back at him from under a mummy wrap of gauze and bandages. What little of her was exposed to the air looked raw and angry. With one hand, she clutched a silver necklace, the pendant of which was a spear. With the other, she reached ineffectually at him, trying to touch her Savior. “Yeah, I’m here,” Kelsier said quietly. “And no, you’re not hallucinating.” He covered her hands with his own, pressing something into her palms. An unkeyed goldmind. “Survive.” -------------------------- Ralar left the soup kitchen line with a steaming hot cup of noodles and a power bar. He sat down at a bench and picked up a plastic fork, eying his food. He grimaced. His noodles still were frozen in a square block, looking half-uncooked, and as for the power bar...well, it was Soulcasted. The less said about it, the better. Ralar shoveled the noodles into his mouth before he could regret it. He chewed furiously, trying to keep the still-hard noodles away from his tongue, and swallowed as fast as he could. Storms, it tasted just as bad as it looked. Ralar felt slightly betrayed -- even though he’d suspected it would be awful, he hadn’t expected that Scadrialan cup noodles could be ruined this much. Suddenly, Ralar gagged. His fork slipped out of his hand, letting a stream of noodles splash onto his pants. His face turned blue. A moment later, he collapsed onto the bench, completely and utterly dead. From a few benches away, the Vessel of Ruin got up and walked away, munching on a power bar innocently. So it could redirect its aggression into less flashy actions. That was good to know. -------------------------- Young Bard has been killed! He was an Adonalsium's Chosen-aligned Researcher and the Vessel of Devotion! Droughtbringer has been killed! He was a 17th Shard aligned Researcher and Vessel of Honor! Devotion has been Shattered! Honor has been released from containment! The Day will end in: Player List: Young Bard - Jeral Adonalsium's Chosen-aligned Researcher and the Vessel of Devotion! Arinian - Eilen Eternum - Habrian Fifth Scholar - Darrel randuir - Met Steeldancer - Steeldancer and Eobard Thawne Returned Straw - Straw 17th Shard aligned Researcher; Vessel of Preservation Jondesu - Quintus 17th Shard aligned Researcher Droughtbringer - Ralar 17th Shard aligned Researcher! Devotary of Sponteneity - Reed livinglegend - Unnamed Character 3 A Joe in the Bush - Locke Tekiel MonsterMetroid - Willie Magestar - Moro Hemalurgic_Headshot - Jiamo Megasif - Mega Sart - Sam Taswell TheYoungPyromancer - Kelsier _Stick_ - Stick shanerockes - Philepe De Pedro Von Leiderhuch Johnson III Drake Marshall - Everen Elbereth - Elaria The Sand Lord (Nalthis) Patji (Scadrial) Trell (Taldain)

Cycle is closed

You should definitely find one of Rae's random posts and upvote it...

Night 4 - Fear and Trembling BEAR News Silverlight Heavily Damaged by Shardic Attack By Mithra Helin Updated 12:46 AM The shard attack has so far killed at least 104 people who either died in the initial blast, were crushed by buildings, or died of later injuries -- a surprisingly low toll that experts say reflects swift action by first responders and volunteers. There was also luck: two minutes before the attack, 911 operator Llyra Henaira received an anonymous call warning that Ruin would attack Silverlight. Authorities are still trying to trace the source of this call. “We don’t know where it came from,” said Sabid B’dun, Chancellor of the Silverlight Associated Regions. “At the moment we suspect terrorist action.” Updated 1:23 AM The death toll is now at 396 people. The epicenter appears to be in Arastaderin Park, which is completely burned. Buildings within 0.5 km of the blast zone were vaporized. SilverPoly University suffered major damage to its classrooms and library. It will be closed until further notice. Updated 1:49 AM Sabid B’dun has declared martial law and a state of emergency. All residents of Silverlight are to report to the city hall at 3984 Finch Avenue. ------------------------ Two police officers in tactical gear barged into the still-smoking dorm room, guns held in front of them. “Is your name Quintus?” the tall one asked gruffly. “Yeah,” Quintus said. “What’s this about?” “Silverlight police,” the stout one said, flashing a badge. “You’re under arrest for suspicion of a Shard-based terrorist attack.” Shock spilled across Quintus’s face. “What? How? I haven’t done anything,” he said. “Martial law,” said the tall one. “Sorry, this is as much for your own protection as anyone else,” said the stout one. “Someone leaked your name and if we don’t act now a mob will probably come for your head. If you cooperate, this’ll be much easier for you.” Quintus looked between their twin MP5 submachine guns and sighed. He raised his hands over his head. “Do I even have a choice?” ---------------------- Jondesu was lynched! They were a 17th Shard aligned Researcher! Trell (aspect of Autonomy) has joined the game on Taldain! Vote Count: Eternum (4): Hemalurgic Headshot, Jondesu, livinglegend, Ripple Jondesu (5): Devotary, Drake Marshall, Fifth Scholar, Young Bard, Anonymous Ripple (3): Droughtbringer, Joe, TheYoungPyromancer Droughtbringer (1): shanerockes Fifth Scholar (1): Steeldancer Player List: Young Bard - Jeral Arinian - Eilen Eternum - Habrian Fifth Scholar - Darrel randuir - Met Steeldancer - Steeldancer and Eobard Thawne Returned Straw - Straw 17th Shard aligned Researcher; Vessel of Preservation Jondesu - Quintus 17th Shard aligned Researcher Droughtbringer - Ralar Devotary of Sponteneity - Reed livinglegend - Unnamed Character 3 A Joe in the Bush - Locke Tekiel MonsterMetroid - Willie Magestar - Moro Hemalurgic_Headshot - Jiamo Megasif - Mega Sart - Sam Taswell TheYoungPyromancer - Kelsier _Stick_ - Stick shanerockes - Philepe De Pedro Von Leiderhuch Johnson III Drake Marshall - Everen Elbereth - Elaria The Sand Lord (Nalthis) Patji (Scadrial) Trell (Taldain)

Also - @A Joe in the Bush - new docs are created whenever a player leaves a world. Players coming into a world will be granted access to the existing doc unless somebody has left.

Cycle closed!

Day Four - The Streets Like Molten Silver Shone “...but at least it’s better than a suspension,” Ninera said, cradling her right hand gingerly. She kept it hidden below the table, unwilling to let other people see the angry welts that crisscrossed her hand. From the other side of the booth, Ayara nodded sympathetically. “Storms, Nin, that’s awful. I alwasy thought Scholz was a cremhole, but I never thought he’d do that. It’s like ten levels of illegal.” She fell silent for a moment and let the background babbling in the tea shop fill in the gap. Then, suddenly, she turned businesslike. “Know what, I know some people who would love to take your case. Lemme see your hand.” “Alright,” Ninera said, reluctantly extending her hand. Ayara snapped a photo. “Who’re you sending this to?” Ninera asked. “You know the place I interned at in the summer?” “Cooley? Those guys?” “Oh yeah,” Ayara said. She grinned, a predatory, fanged thing. “Those guys. Betcha we can get Scholz fired in less than a month.” Whatever discomfort Ninera might have once felt at the idea of doing anything to the Deputy VC was wiped out by the memory of her caning. “Yeah, that would be good.” she said. “He deserves it.” “Anything for a friend, right?” Ayara’s smile morphed into something friendlier, infused with familiar warmth. At that moment, Ninera’s phone dinged. “Omigosh, is that Elias?” Ayara asked. “Why, did you set us up for a date…” Ninera began. Then she read the text. “...nights afire! We’re screwed!” -------------------------------- “Nine-one-one operator. What is your emergency?” The Vessel held the phone, shaking. “I -- I need help,” it said. “I -- I, I, I, I can’t --” “It’s alright. Don’t panic. Just describe the problem.” The Vessel gulped down a lungful of air. “I -- There’s going to be a, a, a, a -- Shard attack. R-ruin. Now.” “Okay. How do you know this?” “It’s, it’s going to destroy S-s-silverlight. All of it,” it said, no longer listening to the operator. All that mattered was getting the warning out while it still could. Black mist spewed from its body. “I’m sorry.” Then it crushed the phone with Shard-enhanced strength. ----------------------------- The air filled with screams. People ran every which way, like insects in a suddenly heated pot. Some of them fled indoors, while others took to the stairs in a race to the bottom floor. A chemistry professor held the door open to a musty storage basement, shooing students inside. A boy crouched against a brick wall with his hood on and hands over his neck, praying to the God Beyond. A young woman hid under a table with her best friend and texted, “I love you” to her parents. A reassuring hand squeeze; a last whispered, “we’ll be okay.” Building facades caught on fire. A millisecond later, a shockwave rolled through Silverlight. Wood walls crumpled like tissue paper. Windows blew open in a shower of glass. Steel shrieked and melted. Black smoke blossomed in the sky, an awful, beautiful, terrible testament to the power of Ruin. ---------------------------- The Vessel dropped to its knees, drained. Guilt lacerated its insides, accompanied by a swiftly fading euphoria. It hated itself for giving in. All-too-human eyes surveyed the damage. --------------------------- A charred body lay on the plains of Nalthis. A cognitive aspect, and a quickly fading spren were all that was left of that Nahel bond. But not today. The universe had greater purposes for the man who Danced on Steel. And Endowment came calling. Endowment awakened a bolt of its own, spearing the cognitive aspect of Steel back to the body. A divine breath entered him, and he heard Endowments voice. "I forsee a great death if you are not returned. You must not let the lightning be awakened. The spiritual aspect of Speed already exists, and it needs no speed force. If he awakens the lightning- and he will find a way- it will attach to him- and collapse his universe into our own. You are the only champion that can stop him. I have awakened you- you will LIVE!" KRACKA KABOOM! Steel awoke, surrounded by white plants, entirely drained of color. Life pounded within him. The whole world seemed brighter. And he felt the speed. It was more than ever before, he could feel the actual ideal of speed. This universe did not need a speed force. With investiture, it was not required. But already he was forgetting what had happened. But along came his spren- Phyl. She looked deathly pale. Instinctually, he funneled his investiture from a steelmind into his medallion, creating stormlight for her to revive upon. She breathed in relief. "Run. I will explain what's happening. Returned usually forget their previous lives, but I will remind you. If you just got returned, that means you have something important to do." Steel did not run promptly, but admired his body- even better looking than it had before. Evidently, being returned had some benefits. "Run!" Phyl urged. And so Steel ran. Faster than he ever had before. It seemed more... efficient now. Like he wasn't just combining compounded speed and abrasion. But like each step and slide was... well, faster. If the Cosmere needed him this badly, he better make use of it. To Hallendren. (Credit to Steeldancer for the write-up of his return) Nobody died! Steeldancer has been Returned! The day will end in: Player List: Young Bard - Jeral Arinian - Eilen Eternum - Habrian Fifth Scholar - Darrel randuir - Met Steeldancer - Steeldancer and Eobard Thawne Returned Straw - Straw 17th Shard aligned Researcher; Vessel of Preservation Jondesu - Quintus Droughtbringer - Ralar Devotary of Sponteneity - Reed livinglegend - Unnamed Character 3 A Joe in the Bush - Locke Tekiel MonsterMetroid - Willie Magestar - Moro Hemalurgic_Headshot - Jiamo Megasif - Mega Sart - Sam Taswell TheYoungPyromancer - Kelsier _Stick_ - Stick shanerockes - Philepe De Pedro Von Leiderhuch Johnson III Drake Marshall - Everen Elbereth - Elaria The Sand Lord (Nalthis) Patji (Scadrial)

Cycle closed!

Night Three - Unpreserved “Yesterday, someone was murdered by Odium’s power,” Finn said. “His name was Steeldancer, and he was an associate of our university, before dying of a Shard-induced electric shock.” Finn’s eyes roamed across the crowd, trying to see if the message had sunk in. Most of them just looked bored, as they had in the past few hearings. “HAVE YOU NO SHAME?” he burst out. “A man died because you couldn’t keep your hands off of the Shards! We had rules in place to prevent this, which you happily flouted with no regards for the consequences.” His hands twitched on the podium top. “In the past few days, you have conspired to impede this investigation and prevent our university from determining who stole the Shards. Thus, you are all culpable in Steeldancer’s death, and shall be punished immediately.” His voice rang throughout the auditorium. Some of his audience finally had the temerity to look guilty. Finn continued on. “Know that I am not without mercy. I am aware of the seductive nature of the Shards, and of how such power can corrupt you until it wields you instead of the other way around -- that is why they have been locked up for the past century. If Odium’s holder steps up now to return it to containment, I will only punish them with expulsion from this school and blacklisting from all associated groups.” “You have five minutes to declare your guilt,” he said. The students looked at each other uneasily. Murmurs swept throughout the room, full of hushed whispers and frantic faces whipping between Finn and each other. Several times, students rose from their chair, only to be pulled down by their peers. “Very well,” Finn said. “If you wish to protect a murderer in such a way, I have no choice but to punish you accordingly.” His face was hard. “I have a list of everyone who is a suspect in this investigation. When I call your name, you will be given a choice between an academic suspension for the rest of the semester or eight lashes of the cane. Anybody who tries to escape will have their sentence doubled.” He looked at the list. “Chanari Agraval, please stand up.” ------------------------ “Ninera Choi, what is your choice?” He mispronounced her name. At any other time, she would have been annoyed. But now, all Ninera could do was to slowly stand up and try to force her shoulders down. She bit her lip, desperately weighing her options. Oh nights, cane or suspension, cane or suspension, cane or suspension… Caning looked so painful, but a suspension would be on her record forever. Her parents would be so disappointed. She hadn’t even done anything with the Shards. “Miss Choi, what do you choose?” “Uh -- storm it, cane,” she said quickly, before she would lose her courage. “Come to the front,” the Deputy Vice Chancellor intoned. Ninera moved out of her row, bumping past people’s knees and feet agonizingly slowly. She almost tripped over someone’s backpack and flushed. Nights, everyone was looking at her. Better than a suspension, she told herself. A bead of sweat ran down her neck. Would it hurt? The thin, whippy rod didn’t look like much, but she’d heard the yelps. As she walked toward the stage, dread built in her, slowly coiling in her gut. Ninera mounted the steps slowly, wanting both to get it over with and drag it out so it would never happen. The harsh auditorium lights singled her out, separating her from the crowd. The Deputy VC’s eyes looked down on her coldly. Beside him stood a blank-faced aide, who held a long, thin rod about half her height. “Hold out your hand,” the Deputy VC said. Nights afire, she regretted her decision so so badly. But now that she’d made it, she couldn’t take it back. Ninera extended her right hand mutely and squeezed her eyes shut. “One.” It stung a little, but not that much. Not so bad yet, she thought. I can do this. “Two.” Storms! Ninera’s palm blazed with pain. Oh nights, now it hurt. “Three.” It was excruciating. Ninera bit back a yelp. It’s better than a suspension, she lectured herself fiercely. It has to be. “Four.” The pain spread up her right arm. Storm it, it hurt so bad. Ninera braced it with her left hand, praying to the Iridescent Tones. “Five.” She blinked back tears. Better than a suspension, she thought. She clung onto that thought desperately. “Six.” Nights afire, how many left? Ninera couldn’t think. Tears spilled down her face. “Seven.” Nothing could hurt this bad. Nothing. She should’ve chosen the suspension. “Eight.” Her whole right arm burned. She couldn’t take any more. She couldn’t. This wasn’t worth it. Her parents would’ve understood if she’d taken the suspension, right? Ninera sniffled, and kept her palm out, waiting for the next hit. She didn’t dare stop holding up her right hand long enough to wipe her face or nose. “Miss Choi, you are done. You may have some iodine.” What? Oh. It was done now. She was done. Ninera blinked dumbly as the aide handed her a cotton swab. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “What the storms is wrong with you?” Ninera snapped. “If you’re so sorry, why are you doing this?” His eyes dropped to the ground. “Miss Choi, you may go,” the Deputy VC said. ---------------------- “Jiamo, what is your choice?” “Um, I…” Jiamo cringed and looked around desperately. “I...I know who took the Shards, sir.” Finn’s eyes narrowed. “Oh?” Jiamo nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I do. It’s, um, Straw. He took Odium. Please… please don’t hurt me. Sir.” Darrel stood up. “Jiamo’s telling the truth! I saw it too.” “Jiamo has to be Hoid or Khriss in disguise,” said Straw. “That’s the only reason why he’d falsely accuse me like that.” Finn raised an eyebrow. “Preposterous. Hoid and Khriss disappeared over a century ago. Why would they come back now?” “I don’t know,” Straw said. “But Hoid’s supposed to be crazy. Khriss too. Besides, I know I can’t have Odium. All I have is Preservation.” Other students rose to their feet, adding to the accusation. Soon the auditorium was awash in voices arguing whether Jiamo or Straw was guilty, but in the clamor, it was impossible to hear any argument clearly. Finn smiled. He should have done this much earlier. All it had taken was a simple threat and a few demonstrations for the students’ loyalty to each other to crumble. “Straw, stand up. What do you have to say for yourself?” Oh, he was going to enjoy this. ----------------------- SilverPolyLeaks Release #1187 - To: Finn Scholz From: Daton Rild, Vice Chancellor Finn, what on earth are you doing down there! I've gotten a dozen calls in the last hour from furious parents claiming that you've threatened their children with some form of archaic corporal punishment! I want a full report on my desk within the hour, or else I'll have your resignation! Straw was lynched! They were a 17th Shard aligned Researcher and Vessel of Preservation! Vote Count: Straw (9): Devotary, Drake Marshall, Eternum, Fifth Scholar, Hemalurgic Headshot, Randuir, The Sand Lord, TheYoungPyromancer, Young Bard Hemalurgic Headshot (7): Elbereth, Joe, Jondesu, Magestar, Sart, shanerockes, Straw livinglegend (1): Megasif MonsterMetroid (1): Stick The night will last for: Player List: Young Bard - Jeral Arinian - Eilen Eternum - Habrian Fifth Scholar - Darrel randuir - Met Steeldancer - Steeldancer and Eobard Thawne 17th Shard aligned Researcher Straw - Straw 17th Shard aligned Researcher; Vessel of Preservation Jondesu - Quintus Droughtbringer - Ralar Devotary of Sponteneity - Reed livinglegend - Unnamed Character 3 A Joe in the Bush - Locke Tekiel MonsterMetroid - Willie Magestar - Moro Hemalurgic_Headshot - Jiamo Megasif - Mega Sart - Sam Taswell TheYoungPyromancer - Kelsier _Stick_ - Stick shanerockes - Philepe De Pedro Von Leiderhuch Johnson III Drake Marshall - Everen Elbereth - Elaria The Sand Lord (Nalthis) Patji (Scadrial)

This is true. The cycle is closed.

Vote Count: Hemalurgic Headshot (6): Elbereth, Joe, Jondesu, Sart, shanerockes, Straw Straw (6): Eternum, Fifth Scholar, Hemalurgic Headshot, Magestar, Randuir, TheYoungPyromancer livinglegend (2): Megasif, Young Bard Jondesu (1): Drake Marshall MonsterMetroid (1): Stick Sorry @Drake Marshall for missing your earlier vote.

Official Vote Count Straw (7): Eternum, Fifth Scholar, Hemalurgic Headshot, Magestar, Megasif, Randuir, TheYoungPyromancer Hemalurgic Headshot (4): Elbereth, Jondesu, Stick, Straw livinglegend (1): Young Bard

The rules are admittedly unclear on this point. Aspects of autonomy do not grant investiture, only full shards. Investiture is granted at the start of the round. Mistakes were made, and I forgot about a rule.

Correct