Arrae

That was all? Joon was surprisingly disappointed at the coldness in Ellira's answer. She didn't even seem to pretend to be mourning Hannul, as would be polite, which was slightly offputting. Still, she was an extremely pretty girl. Joon gazed at her soft green eyes, so innocent and guileless. For a moment, head and heart fought -- but only for a moment, and head quickly won out. (Just not the right head.) He took Ellira's hand and kissed it. "Glad to hear it, milady. Do you want to go to the kitchens? I hear that there could be supplies there that we can scrounge." Left unsaid was that they would be alone in there. Very, very alone. Up to @Elbereth and others to see how successful Joon is in this. Also, very slight innuendo hidden in white-text. Hightlight at your own risk.

I agree with El. Rath. That is all.

Can I get a why on this? Last cycle you said you thought I was village...

@Burnt Spaghetti, I'm waffling over whether I want to say Elandera or not. I've been going after her for a while, but nobody's defended her, which makes me think that she might be a villager who the elims are happy to leave as a distraction >.> Plus the fact that Alv voted with her...

Congrats, Kas!

No summary of reactions to Venture's lynch because there isn't very much I think that can be said about it that hasn't been said by the C2 Alv summary of reactions. Venture is innocent, which makes everybody on the Alv lynchtrain C2 look even better. Will note, Elandera was one of the people voting on Venture C2, though she placed her vote first. Alv had a number of single vote lynchtrains to use to try to even things out, not sure if he would've voted for a teammate or not and it's Alv so I don't even want to guess. Somewhat suspicious of El and Devotary for their votes on people other than Alv C2. It's possible that they placed it as elims who didn't want to obviously commit to saving a teammate or in bussing him. Edit: okay, El's thing about Elandera has convinced me. She really hasn't received much defense, especially when one elim is already down. Also, thought about Alv's stuff now even though I really shouldn't >.> Really don't like it. Retracting vote now.

Sorry for not posting here, I just met with El IRL for the first time ever. Initial impression: I'm annoyed the elims killed Itiah. It almost seems like the elims are murdering every single player who is trusted or is doing things that will prove they are trustworthy. Elandera to see if we can get that lynch off this turn. By the way, @Rathmaskal, while I'm happy to see someone else voting on her, do you mind elaborating on what exactly made you think she's suspicious?

"That won't be needed," Joon said. He strode off into the room without a second glance. He confidently shouldered his way through the throng, to the other side of the room. Ellira sat near one of the bodies, her face a mask of shock. She didn't look like she'd been hurt, thankfully, but something seemed off. Something... At that moment, several pieces clicked together in Joon's mind. The high-necked dress. Her wide eyed stare at the dead body. The way she had positively fled from him. Her courtship with Hannul, barely a week ago. Joon had been such an idiot. He had to try to fix his mistake. He knelt in front of Ellira. "I am such an idiot. You never were interested in me, were you?" Joon said. His mind flashed back to his first sight of Ellira, when she and Hannul had been walking on the streets together. To Hannul's assassination. "You're still mourning Hannul, and you were too polite to tell me otherwise." It all made sense. The more conservative style of dress -- because she didn't want to date. The staring at the body -- another reminder of the mortality that had stolen her lover. The fleeing -- because Joon had been thoughtless enough to make a move on a grieving girl. Joon looked up into Ellira's face, waiting to see her response. @Elbereth Joon's gotten...a little bit smarter? Maybe?

Unfortunately, I'm going to have to stand by my reasoning of this cycle too. Unless things change drastically, I'm probably keeping my vote on you, sorry. Joon came out of the bathroom looking -- and feeling -- much better. His hair was slicked upwards, his face looked brighter, and most importantly, his pants were clean. He walked out with a spring in his step, feeling the cosmetics kit in his pocket rustle around. It was his secret weapon, and in times like these, it was exactly what he needed. When he was like this, Joon could actually do something. First, to find Ellira. In the panic of the moment, Joon had neglected her, leaving the defenseless maiden to navigate this den of vipers alone. That simply would not do. Two people working together here would have a much better chance than just one. Joon looked into the main gathering, but there were so many different people that it was difficult to see any identifying features. They clustered in the center, talking around what seemed to be even more bodies. Joon approached a teenaged girl standing to the side. She was thin and scrawny, and her oversized jumper was dirty, the mark of a street kid. "Have you seen Ellira? Pretty girl, green eyes, navy blue dress?" @Burnt Spaghetti

What did you do in C2?

Summary of the Alv lynchtrain C2: Had suspicions and voted: Stink (joke vote), Wilson (village), Itiah (broke 3 way tie to put Alv ahead), Venture Had suspicions: Rae (mentioned he ignored Striker lynch) Unsure: El Defended: Elandera, Devotary (also voted on Bard to create a 3 way tie) Ignored it completely: Burnt (didn't ignore it, but summarized C2 without giving an opinion on Alv), Xino, Bard, Rath Summary of the Alv lynchtrain C1: Had suspicions and voted: Wilson (village, joke vote), Striker (village, self preservation) Had suspicions: Unsure: Defended: Elandera (said none of the lynchtrains, which includes Alv's, seemed to have any merit), Bard (asked to let Alv live because he would've died early in QF40a and said he'd prefer a Striker lynch to an Alv one) Ignored it completely: Itiah, Xino, Burnt, Rath, El, Rae, Stink, Venture, Devotary Interestingly, C1, a vote was pulled off of Alv, but C2, no vote was pulled off, even though it could've tied Alv and Venture. Assuming that the C1 manip was done by an elim and that they were online to see the end of C2, that means that they were more okay with letting Alv die than having a 50-50 chance for Alv or Venture to die. Were they committed to a bussing? Or is it possible that Venture is an elim, too? This gets complicated by the fact that Alv voted on Venture. Not quite sure what to make of this, so if someone else could take a look at that, that would be great. I'm suspicious of Elandera. For two cycles in a row, Elandera has defended Alv, however slightly. Considering that Alv's an elim, that looks bad. @Elandera, what do you have to say for yourself? Other suspicions include Bard and Venture. C1, Bard asked to let Alv live a little longer because of his early death in QF40a, while at the same time saying he'd rather lynch Striker. Someone else pointed out that Alv and Striker both would've died early in QF40a, so defending Alv and wanting to kill Striker for it was faulty reasoning. For Venture, the reason why has been listed above. I think Itiah is village, based on the timing of his Alv vote. He broke the 3 way tie that Devotary set up, when he could've voted on anybody else. Doesn't seem like something an elim would do.

@Elbereth, I said that my suspicion list is everybody who ignored the Striker lynch, and the people there haven't exactly said much before or afterwards... Will post more next cycle when it's not 1 AM in the morning.

The nerve of that man! Accusing Joon of being a murderer! At least the others in the room had sided with Joon, even if they had decided to show it by pushing Roashina into the path of the mystery assassins outside. The desperation in their faces, the thud of crossbow bolts...well, Joon didn't think he was getting out anytime soon. Father had been right, all those years ago. Joon was not ready for politics. Joon miserably slunk back to his corner table and slouched in his chair, trying to make himself as unworthy of notice as possible. Ellira was long gone, probably to that other spot that she mentioned. She was a brave one, that girl with the sparkling green eyes and luscious hair. He couldn't bring himself to follow her. Rancorus shouting sounded from the middle of the room. Joon tried to block it out. He picked up his teacup with shaking hands and forced himself to focus on that instead. Liquid wobbled precariously at the brim. Slowly, carefully, he brought it to his lips. The tea was room temperature, now that it had been left alone for so long, but something about the overpowering sweetness of the honey accented with the bitterness of the tea calmed him. His worries about the rest of the world fell away. Some time later, Joon grounded himself back into reality. The situation with Roashina had made it clear that Joon wouldn't survive this without making some new friends. To do that, he had to look presentable. He ran his fingers through his hair, combing the front part to curl just the way that girls liked it. Then he smoothed out the wrinkles in his shirt. "Server," Joon snapped out. "I need a clean pair of pants, now." I was told that someone had drugged Joon with dream honey. Whoever it was, shame on you!

Summary of reactions to the Striker lynch: Had suspicions and voted: El, Rae, Tess (village) Had suspicions: Rath (kind of more a callout with nothing else attached to it) Defended: Bard, Venture (by proxy, voted on Rath), Elandera (directly and by proxy, attacking El) Itiah (directly and by proxy, voting on El) Ignored it completely: Xino, Burnt, Alv, Stink, Devotary, Wilson Tess is obviously village and I know that I'm village, so the Striker lynch was mostly (if not completely) villagers attacking villagers. Seems like the type of thing that elims might be content to let run on its own, so right now I'm mostly interested in the people who didn't comment on the Striker lynch at all. @little wilson, @Devotary of Spontaneity, @STINK, @Alvron, @Burnt Spaghetti, @xinoehp512, what do you think happened with the Striker lynch? Who in it, if anyone, seems suspicious?

Bold of you, to assume that Joon has protective instincts. Bolder of you still to assume I can RP them "I don't think they want to kill you," Joon said. He moved closer to hug Ellira, then reconsidered his pants and stepped back. "I think we walked into the wrong place at the wrong time. We should be safe if we hide from the crossfire." Joon looked around and grimaced. The entire teahouse was bristling with tension, and some of the patrons had even started accusing each other. There was only one option. Normally, Joon would never be so crass, but desperate times made for desperate measures. "Milady, would you like to accompany me to the bathroom? I'm sure we can find a way to pass the time while we wait."

@StrikerEZ, you voted on me first, so you should've removed it first

Hmm. Actually, El, I agree with your vote. Assuming a completely random distribution with no GM handpicks, Itiah-Tess is as likely as Itah-Wilson, Bard-Tess, or even Burnt-Alv. It's the type of mistake that an overeager player could make, as a villager seeking to contribute or an elim seeking to appear to contribute. Overall, Striker feels like he's trying too hard now. He's overreacting to things, especially here: Also, he voted on me, and didn't retract it immediately after I responded, so I'm feeling a little salty

It depends on if the GM wants to make things completely different from the first time. There's been at least one game where the rerun was done in a way that everybody got exactly the same roles as before (and this turned into a mess because somebody figured it out, too). El, you should know exactly what I'm talking about. Let's try not to metagame who's village or not based on the fact that this is a rerun, yeah? Seems like the sort of thing that can be potentially problematic if we look into it too deeply. I'd prefer to catch people on the merits of what they've said and done, not how Kas and Hael decided to redistribute things.

I don't have anywhere better to place my vote now, and we need discussion, so I might as well be belligerent about that Give me your thoughts on El and I might take this vote off.

Ellira said something. Joon couldn't make it out. All that he was aware of was the body in the middle of the teahouse, sightless, staring, dead. A fly lazily looped around the face. A choked whimper. A sinking icy sensation in the gut. An accompanying warm one in the pants. Of in the distance, someone screamed. And screamed. And screamed. A feminine tenor, perhaps. Or a masculine one with a voice crack. The body looked different from other ones seen before. Not like the prettied, dressed up ones in a funeral. A fly lazily looped around a face, he had never seen that before, not with his own eyes, in his own head. An echo, from long ago. "Do you know what you are playing at, boy? You are not ready for this! If I ever see you in the Frozen Moon again I'll give you five lashes, you hear me? Leave!" Then a little 13 year old boy had shamefacedly left the teahouse, forgetting all about the meeting and the secret documents he had seen there, forgetting about politics, forgetting about trying to emulate his father. Until now. Joon proffered his hand to Ellira. "We -- let's get out of here," he said. He motioned to the door with his other hand. Striker. Have a stab back. Now, tell me, how do I know you're not an elim?

"No, it didn't," Joon admitted. "I wanted to return it earlier, but you're a hard one to catch, Ellira. I had to ask around a bit to find you." A lot of asking, actually. Plus some tailing. There weren't a lot of green-eyed people around here, but somehow Joon had been pointed to three false leads before finding the right green-eyed girl. "What I heard interested me. Going to the Frozen Moon? It's dangerous; my father told me that he'd give me five lashes if he ever caught me here." Joon sipped at his tea to buy himself some time. Now for the plunge. "You're an adventurous one, Ellira. I like that in a girl."

Joon fished out a hairpin from his pocket and presented it to Ellira. It was a beautiful thing, long and thin, with a Svordish rose at the end. He handed it over carefully -- the point was wickedly sharp, and had drawn blood when Joon first picked it up. "You dropped this a few days ago. I thought that you might want it back," he said. "Your hair is lovely, by the way." So was the rest of her. Joon quickly glanced downwards, then back at her face. Ellira wore a high-necked dress that hung around the base of her throat, and closed in an elegant swoop a few inches down. It was a few years out of style, but charming nonetheless. The server returned to place two cups of tea on the table. Joon nudged one towards Ellira. "Have you ever had honey black tea before? You should try it, it's good."

A cheery young man passed through the doors of the Frozen Moon. He wore a fashionable suit and new shoes that added to his already moderate height. That, combined with the easy smile he wore, was enough to make many girls whisper excitedly when he passed. Word on the street said that Joon was a handsome man, and he knew it. His eyes slid around the teahouse with a careless ease. Joon had never had to learn to search the shadows, to evaluate paths of escape and create plausible deniabilty, to find spies in the dark, so he didn't bother. He found what he was looking for soon enough anyways. Ellira, the girl with the glass-green eyes and pretty collarbones, sat in a corner table, talking to a server. Joon slid into the seat across from her. "Two cups of chilled black tea, added honey if you have any," he told the server. Then he switched his attention to the girl in front of him. "Hey. I've seen you a few times before. Ellira, isn't it? I'm Joon." @Elbereth

As the person who proposed the "vote before it's almost rollover" thing, I'm doing a terrible job, aren't I... I think Bugsy got the Coolest Ledger? It showed up in Gaea's black market after he was lynched, and no one died that cycle. I feel a little better about Fifth after rereading his response, so I won't vote for him.

I picked you as a lynch target last cycle because my policy is that if I don't have actual suspects, then I'll start going after those who've been flying under the radar/have been in the golden zone of posting enough not to be inactive, but not enough to show real stances.