Arraenae

Not a book, but a web serial. I won't link to it here because parts of it wouldn't meet the Shard's standards for cleanliness -- mentions of suicide, servere chaacter bullying, gore, and death. If you want to find it, just search up "worm web serial".

I've been thinking of contributing a character to this refugee group. Probably a vanilla who is an avid reader and recognizes the things happening in the world from an epic about people with superpowers...called Worm, of course, were you expecting something else? She's going to have a lot of theories about what's happening where the broad strokes are sort of right but a lot of the details are incredibly wrong, and wants to go to Canada where the author lives to confront him about what he knows. The only issue is that it'll contain spoilers for pretty much the whole ending of Worm. Some of the main differences between the Reckonerverse and Worm:

I feel like that might would be more fitting with Ati, if Dragonsteel ever showcases him. We know that Ati used to be a kind, caring person, and we all saw how that turned out. I don't think Sanderson would do the same thing with Rayse.

Perhaps this isn't the best place to put it, but I felt like it should be said somewhere. I survived MR29, putting an end to my 15 game long deathstreak. The Dodo Award is up for grabs now. (Technically, if you don't count broken games like LG15a or LG21, this is the first game I've ever survived, so my deathstreak is really 22 games long. But some people would say counting that way is cheating.)

I think this really depends on how much money you have, because the biggest issue with gaining more Breath seems to be buying it. Sure, you wouldn't be able to get a Breath from everybody in the population, but you don't need the Breath of the entire population, just a few hundred to be a powerful Awakener. To get about to the level of a Returned, you only need 5,000 Breaths, which is probably only a small fraction of a city the size of Hallandren.

Spikeless keep on marching onHead down till the work is doneWaiting on the morning sunSpikeless keep on marching onHands in the lab, ears in the mobLabour on that midnight jobListening for that angel choirYou got nowhere to run You wanna taste a drink of that promise land Take that vial out of your handsCareful Vron you got dreamers plansBut it gets hard to standSpikeless keep on marching onHead down till the work is doneWaiting on the morning sunSpikeless keep on marching on

Welcome @Burnt Spaghetti to LG46!

Yay for @Elandera and @manukos! The rest of you players, shame on you for your inactivity. Pretty sure Alv's said more game-related content in the spec doc than some of you at this point, and he's winning in the daily fashions. Come on, you definitely can do better than that!

You did Honorable mention to Steel for helping!

Sharders? Do you want to join some mafia? Come on, let's go and play! I never see you anymore Come to the Shard It's like you've gone away We used to play so often And now we don't I wish you would tell me why! Do you want to find the spiked ones? We don't have to be village Go away now Rae Okay, bye Do you want to find the spiked ones? Or troll ev'ryone who signed up? I think some company is overdue I've started talking in Discord to find what's up! (Hang in there, Lexi) It gets a little lonely All these empty threads Just watching the hours tick by (tick-tock tick-tock tick-tock tick-tock) Sharders, please I know you're in there People are asking where you've been They say, "have fun" and I'm trying to I'm right out here for you Just say something We only have each other It's just you and me What are we gonna do? Do you want to catched the spiked ones? (Okay yay)

Alenta's foot flew toward Alev's head, and the world went black. "Whatcha here for, girl?" the recruitment officer asked. He was tall, with a crisp Caeldish uniform, and an utterly bored look on his face. Alev steeled herself. "I want to join the army," she said. "You?" he said, peering at her intently. "What's the likes of you doing, wanting to join the army?" "I need the money," Alev said. What she did not say was, "to send my sister to the University in my place." She was rather proud at herself for smoothing the anger from her face. She'd had a lot of practice, by now. "Are you sure?" the officer said. One eyebrow drifted up ever so slightly. Alev hesitated. Before her she saw two gruelling months of bootcamp, sore muscles that became sorer every morning when she woke up, spear drills where she jabbed the air before her and yelled "kill!" She saw an arrow slicing through the air and into her knee, leaving a wound that would force her to seek other ways to make money. She saw a troupe caught between the machinations of the Chandrian and the Sithe. She saw blood, and she saw death. Alev opened her mouth to say no to the recruitment officer, to walk away embarrassed but at least unharmed. But she saw other things, too. She saw Mirac painstakingly teaching Yusef how to play Tak. She saw Snip -- handsome, clever, kind Snip -- who would introduce her to his troupe when she thought her knee injury had destroyed her forever. She saw a mischievous girl who wouldn't stay put, and a shadow of a boy with the voice of an angel. She saw herself, laughing as she juggled three flashing machetes, the wind frolicking around her clothes. She saw joy, and she saw companionship. "Well?" the recruitment officer said. "You changing your mind, girl?" "No," said Alev. "Count me in." By the time Alev woke up, the last of the demons were dead. I had a lot of fun this game. As you can probably see, I was the Namer. I used a one time pad in my first two messages do I could prove my identity to players. The key for the first message is IAMARRAENAE and the key for the second is IBLAMEDRAKEMARSHALFORTHIS. The third message I sent only to Eternum, confirming what he said inthread about usig a OTP. Then, the fourth cycle I sent a poem to prove I wasn't dead, along with a music video for "Liar Liar" to Eternum after he said he hadn't received a message at all. The fifth message would've been a call to all Monks out there to see if Alv really was Orlok's Monk contact.

@Devotary of Spontaneity, congrats, during the last cycle you made me paranoid that the Sithe all had secret win cons or something. I spent a good ten minutes staring accusingly at their role descriptions in the rules, trying to see if they all possessed secrets. @Wonko the Sane, thank you for thinkingg I was the Cthaeh? TBH, when you asked me, I was really considering trolling you and claiming that. The smiley face was a compromise between my desire to troll and my realization that I didn't have the energy to do it well at the time. @Drake Marshall and @randuir, thanks for running the game. I had a lot of fun in it

I think Roshar would be unable to hold any sort of territory in Scadrial at all. Allomancy is pretty much made for guerrilla warfare -- Soothers and Rioters can easily spread paranoia, Tineyes can act as scouts, Coinshots can wreck havoc from afar and jump away, etc. That's not even counting Feruchemy or the South Scadrians. Even if Roshar could conquer Scadrial, they can't keep it, not if their soldiers keep running away screaming from emotional Allomancy every time they come of of the perpendicularly into Scadrial. At best, Roshar can lock themselves into a grinding war of attrition, but they won't win.

Alev looked at Marne, then Gaskana, then back again to Marne. As each of them monologued imploringly to the troupe, she slowly backed into the press of the crowd, then ran once she was clear of the throng. Alev ignored the throbbing pain in her right knee -- she could deal with that later. She rushed into her tent and threw herself in, searching among her paltry collection of things. Her hand closed around a long, thin package, wrapped up with a layer of sackcloth. Alev hastily unwrapped it and removed the sheathe, to reveal a long, pristine spear. The spearhead gleamed copper. Copper’s good against Namers, Azlin had written when Alev was discharged for her knee injury. Don’t hurt yourself with this. Alev gripped the spear in both hands. It felt right, comfortable. Months of spear drills flashed back into her mind, and she accepted them, trusting her body to guide her right even when her mind had done its best to forget. Alev snuck back to the campfire. When her troupemates saw her, they scrambled to get out of the way, leaving her a clear path to walk through to Marne and Gaskana. Alev leveled the spear at them. After a moment’s hesitation, she swung it towards the thing that had once been Marne. “What the **** is going on?” she demanded. “Are you Sithe planning on killing us afterwards?” @Fifth Scholar @Devotary of Spontaneity

Bodies littered the ground, broken and bleeding. Some of them in Commonwealth uniforms, others in Caeldish ones. The coppery tang of blood filled the air. Mirac cradled Yusef, begging him to survive so that they could play one more game...just one more game of Tak, and Yusef could pull all the clever gambits he wanted and crush Mirac just this once... Alev looked away. She woke up drenched in cold sweat, just in time to hear the wind carrying a soft gasp that sounded like Yusef's last breath. Alev was intimately familiar with that sound, now. But Yusef was long dead -- gone, zapped, kicked the bucket. Alev might have problems, but she hadn't imagined that sound, had she? She bolted out of the tent. And stumbled upon Neris's dead body.

Readslist: Assuming 4 or 5 elims at the start of the game, which means 2 or 3 are left. Eternum as Enerin - village. He took his vote off of Steel C1, which pushed Elandera closer to lynch majority at rollover. I feel this is less likely to be the action of an elim, although it could've been a calculated risk to gain trust. He also voted on Wonko C2. Then he voted on Wonko C3, before the reveal. Again, could've been a calculated risk, but I feel like he's probably just a villager, especially since it happened thrice. Droughtbringer as Pyra Mainiak - village, because he claimed Xino as his lover and his vote was moved to Elandera C1. Devotary of Spontaneity as Gaskana - neutral. Which is almost kinda suspicious. After going through the entire thread and reading their posts, I have no opinion on them whatsoever. Walin as Nelden Dastardly - slightly village. His actions line up with his Jester claim. It's possible that the vote manips were done by a Scraeling Master teammate though, so he's not cleared. Fifth Scholar as Marne - slightly village. I've gotten a good read from him in PM interactions. Snipexe as Snip - village, my lover. Alvron as Laon - most definitely absolutely elim, cannot possibly be village aligned. On a more serious note, village read, because he was the first person to vote on Wonko C3, before Orlok outed him. Megasif as Mega - slightly elim. Very silent. Needs to talk more. Xinoehp512 as Reyalp Nwoknu - village, because of the lover claim. I think I am here as Itiah II - slight elim read. He's been mostly silent this game, and his post here feels super exaggerated. It gives me a bad tone read. Arraenae as Alev - village. For obvious reasons. Bort as Master Ash - neutral. Which is almost kinda suspicious. After going through the entire thread and reading his posts, I have no opinion on them whatsoever. Cadmium Compounder as Deric Watar - slightly elim. He broke a tie between Bard, Aonar, and Wonko by voting on Wonko, but that was very early in the cycle, so it doesn't mean as much. Interestingly, before dying, Bard said he was suspicious of Cadcom, but could only explain it next cycle. Then Bard died. I know that I haven't put the Cthaeh in there at all, but I have no idea who they could be, so I've left them out. I Think I Am Here, you have a grand total of two posts this game, and they're only responses to potential danger for you. @I think I am here., why shouldn't I lynch you?

I actually disagree with that. Drought's vote was moved to Elandera and helped create a tie. Drought's lover didn't prioritize Elandera's survival, which highly suggests that Drought's lover, and by extension Drought, isn't an elim. If Drought is village, then he has no reason to lie about who his lover is to save Xino. Therefore, if Xino was the one who manipulated Drought's vote D1 and Drought isn't pulling any weird gambits, they should both be village. (Assuming that they haven't converted to the Cthaeh win con.)

@Walin, why did you vote on Arinian last cycle? And how do you stop a hammer by adding to the lynch train?

*grumbles Arinian. *files a mental note to take a closer look at Xino and Drought later

Xino. Why jump on me in particular? If you get me wrong, you knock down two villagers, not just one.

Apologies for my lack of activity, I have a lot of things to finish for school by tomorrow. I'll try to place a vote by the end of the cycle, but I can't guarentee it. If I have time, I'll look at who started counter lynches against Wonko C2.

Alev marched Neris all the way back to camp, keeping a firm grip on her hand to prevent any tricks. Alev relaxed her grip once the tents came in sight again, but tightened it when she felt Neris pulling away. Why can’t Neris just follow orders? Alev grumbled to herself. Chances were that if Alev wasn’t careful, she’d just go back to that tree. Disobedient little child, just like Locke. The thought of him gave Alev an idea, and she brightened. Children liked playing with each other, right? Finally, they arrived at the perimeter of camp. “Stay here,” Alev said sternly. Then she approached Emre, who happened to be sitting nearby. Despite his age -- his hair was completely white, even his eyebrows -- he was the best singer they had. “Heya Emre. Where’s Locke?” she asked. “I’m gonna get him and Neris to guard each other.” “Could you repeat that name?” Emre asked. “I don’t think I heard that right.” “You know, Locke,” Alev said more loudly. “Where is he?” “Who?” Emre said. Alev huffed. Emre must be having one of his forgetful spells. “Locke. Your grand-nephew. Small, cheeky, likes eavesdropping?” He blinked in incomprehension. “I...I have a grand-nephew?” Demonsin, he was absolutely useless. Alev went to find the next person. “Where’s Locke?” she called to Berat. “A lock? Dunno, I don’t have one,” he said. “Locke the kid, not a lock and key lock,” Alev said testily. “Have you seen him?” “...I don’t know who that is,” Berat said. His eyes held that same cloudy look of incomprehension. “********!” Alev said. “I don’t have time for your jokes.” This was getting weird, and she didn’t like that. Had Neris put them up to this somehow? She whirled away and found Merta, Locke’s aunt, gathering firewood. “Where the **** is Locke?” Alev yelled. “Can you calm down a little?” Merta said. “I...don’t know that name.” “Yes you do! Don’t **** with me! Where the hell is Locke?” Alev demanded. Merta backed up a few steps. Her arms trembled a little. “I don’t know who you’re looking for,” she said. Alev threw her hands into the air. “Loke! You know, little kid, likes sneaking around, voice of an angel,” she said. She gestured with her hands. “He’s about this tall, kinda short, red hair…” she paused. Try as she might, she couldn’t remember his face to well. And was his hair truly red, or did it only look like that when the sun struck it from the right angle? “Hazel eyes. Or green. You know.” God, she thought she was familiar with her troupemates. She’d lived with them for six years now, she ought to know everyone’s face. Merta’s eyes looked strangely cloudy. “Are...are you sure you know him?” she asked gently. “Maybe just a lack of sleep?” Her voice grew more confident, convinced of her new theory. “Everybody knows you’ve been having nightmares Alev, we all hear you thrashing at night. It’s no shame if they’ve confused you a little, you know, mixed you up --” “That’s my business and has nothing to do with this,” Alev snapped. “I did not ****ing make up Loke!” She frowned a little. “Oak. Bloke. Whatever.” After all, she remembered catching him eavesdropping by the fire a couple of nights ago. With only the flickering light of the campfire to see by, she’d mistaken his small form for something else, something much more dangerous. And she heard them singing every day at the crack of dawn learning new songs -- there had been such a kerfluffle when they’d sang “Chandrian, Chandrian.” And yet...the more Alev tried to remember details, the harder it was to retrieve them. It was like trying to hold a cloud and seeing wisps of it trailing out of her fingers. Was she really sure it had been Lan who’d been eavesdropping? It seemed far more characteristic of Neris, really. Maybe Merta was right. Maybe the sleep deprivation was getting to Alev. “Sorry for yelling at you,” Alev said sheepishly. “Guess I was just in a bad mood.” “That’s quite alright,” Merta said. “Did you find what you were looking for?” Alev hefted the heavy padlock in her hands with a grim smile. “Oh yeah. Gonna see if threatening to chain Neris with this makes her any more obedient.”

Result of Encanis's unblockable kill?

I didn't get a Namer message this cycle.