DrakeMarshall

Granted. They now exist in real life. In fact, you can even have one. Your bane is that you are no longer a continent away from me. I've got a spike with your name on it. I wish to know the nature of Cusicesh, the Protector.

Granted. The watermelons grow, and grow... And spread, and spread, and spread... Because these watermelons have the most effective self-proliferation mechanism known to the plant kingdom, they swiftly spread over the entire world. The world now has a bountiful supply of delicious watermelons. Your bane is that this new strain of watermelon is carnivorous. Also, since this strain is not native to any particular location, it quickly out-competes the vast majority of other plant species, causing mass extinction. I wish for the ability to manipulate how strongly both fear and pain effect me, with precision.

tfw I call out two of the remaining three elims right before getting lynched on "gut reads" anyway, well played elims, because more than half of you survived to the end it looks like apparently the survivor wasn't on the job during this game

Granted. You have the ability to make trees spontaneously drop all their leaves. In exchange you are now colorblind. I wish for a man that makes me tacos.

Granted. You receive a paradoxical box. It is highly paradoxical, and highly... boxical? Anyway, it is everything you hoped it would be. You're bane is that the nightwatcher smites you with a terrible pun. Enjoy your parabox. I wish for a good idea for what I should wish for next time.

I mean... I don't think my theory made a single claim about the radiants. The radiants are a natural result of honor investing, and yes, inspired by the heralds (but still basically something that unintentionally occurred). My theory addresses the heralds, not the radiants. The Oathpact, as I understand it, refers only to the situation the heralds were in where they came to Roshar every desolation and fought, then suffered torture in the in-between times.

PM Aman to spend your honor on a specific spren. Your odds at bonding one are kinda low though since I think most are bonded already.

I sort of expected that. Now its in the willshaper's hands. Choose wisely. (or as wisely as you can because I get the feeling we're both innocent...)

Hm... I don't really see a reason to execute quiver to be honest. It'd be nice if quiver turned out to be an elim I guess, but I sorta doubt they are an elim, and we don't really get much info off that lynch either way. So I'm not going to add my vote to make it 10. Quiver can sit tight in jail for now, unless a vote manip changes things which is very possible. Also, El, I'm fine with you voting on me, but to be honest you coulda found better reasons. I mean, if you don't like me freely giving strategies to the elims, doesn't that already imply that I'm town, otherwise I'd give the strategies in the elim doc? Jondesu's conjecture that I'm giving throwaway ideas from the elim doc is actually logical. Yours doesn't make much sense to me. And, on that topic, you've tied up the vote. I personally don't much like the idea of wasting one of our lynches with a tie. So I can choose between myself and Alv getting voted up. I'm less certain of Alv's innocence then my own (obviously), so I'll be switching my vote from Rae to Alvron. Sorry Alv. I don't really hardly suspect Alv atm, but, like I said, I suspect myself even less. Also, I'd kinda appreciate if everyone else gave their opinions on this whole me/Rae argument. I've been accusing Rae for a while and now Rae wants to accuse me back. It's taken up a lot of the discussion over the cycles. So people should weigh in on the issue in the event that one of us turns out to be elim, no? It gives the town information. Also, if all y'alls basically think I'm just being crazy accusing Rae, maybe I'll back off. Also, Doc, if you want, we can continue our RP discussion next cycle?

...and I can do a bit of posting now that we got an extension! So, first of all... I got an RP to continue Hithon gave Uther a confused frown. "I'm afraid I don't know who you mean." Oh really... "Well in that ca-" Hithon's hand shot out suddenly, grabbing Uther's wrist in a vicelike grip. He ran his fingers along the wrist, wiping off the thin coating that concealed the tattoo. Three diamonds, the mark of the Ghostbloods. Hithon clearly recognized the insignia. I knew it! The whole blind act is a load of crem. Hithon looked worried... "What do you want, Uther?" So he knows my real name, knows our mark, and uses the standard tools of a Ghostblood assassin. Why don't I recognize him? Is he new? "What is a Ghostblood doing among the Initiates?" That's what I'm trying to ask you, by the Almighty. Could he really not be working for them, just like me? Or does he simply recognize me, and refuses to reveal any information about Ghostblood operations to a potential traitor? Time to change tactics. "Who taught you?" That was safer ground. Whether or not he's working for Thaidakar, with that vial, he must have at least started training under one of our ranks. @Doc12 And now, analysis. It looks like the two people I accused are both voting on me I'm not sure that really makes them too suspicious, because I have admittedly been playing a bit recklessly and that may result in suspicions against me, but I still get a laugh out of it since they're basically voting on me for voting on them. As for suspects... Storms, I promised I would look back on Alv's posts and I haven't. I'll give my take on that issue next cycle I swear. Sorry 'bout that. As for Arinian... The more I think about it, the more I wonder about if an elim would have more reason to want edgedancer than a town would. But I still mostly trust him, for now... Or, hrm, maybe not quite trust, but I'm against a lynch at any rate. Hm... For now, I could probably get behind tossing anarchist in jail I guess. Unless someone has a compelling suspicion, I'd be okay to contribution crusade this cycle. And, of course, Rae, I'm still watching you closely As for spren... It looks like maybe all but one spren is bonded right now? (correct me if I counted wrong on that). That means things should get a bit more interesting soon I would imagine... Yeah maybe some dustbringer kills, but also maybe some other interesting things... I hope truthwatcher is town. Also note that, since people can compete to gain any role they want, a wounded gazelle gambit isn't exactly impossible for elims to play. Just bond trustspren. I'm also a little worried that elims haven't murdered anyone yet. I probably shouldn't complain about there being no deaths... It just feels off. It isn't what we're used to. I'd guess they're either investigating everyone or trying to all bond spren (@Jondesu, if you can think of some third possibility you believe I am deliberately omitting please let me know )... The danger I guess is that we are left at a slower start since people don't die very much, and then maybe the elims kill more than 1 target a night once they focus completely on killing, giving us less time to react. Also, what is the deal with not being able to do more than 1 functional mention in each post? Some people have this issue; others don't. Anyone know how that works by any chance? Looking forward to whatever Aman cooks up the next cycle EDIT: ...and I got an interrogation vote tally up. Let me know if I missed anyone's vote, people. Alvron (3)- Arinian, Hemalurgic Headshot, TheMightyLopen Drake Marshall (2)- Jondesu, Arraenae Arinian (1)- Doc12 Darkness Ascendant (1)- Randuir TheMightyLopen (1)- Magestar The Lazy Anarchist (0)- Drake Marshall Arraenae (1)- Drake Marshall Also I changed my mind about voting on an inactive. Voting that was stupid of me we need to get this game storming well started. Anarchist. I'll be stubborn I guess. Rae, you know all my reasons. I doubt my vote matters unless I chose to bandwagon on Alv (which I won't be doing). But let it be known that I still suspect you, and that I don't particularly care if you try to get me lynched in retaliation for my trying to get you lynched.

Speaking of inactives, I might not be able to post very much tomorrow since I'll be traveling... Might as well warn in advance.

Uther walked the halls the heralds once walked. It was evening, and the inhabited regions of the tower were bustling with activity. Urithiru hadn't looked like this since the shadowdays... Many of the other initiates were heading to pub seb, including Hithon. Uther took note of this, but decided to wait before making his way there. Uther wandered the lower floors of Urithiru. He needed some time to think... He slowly wove his way through the crowd, going nowhere in particular. "Why are you afraid?" a female voice asked, directly behind Uther. Uther spun around. He was surrounded by people, but none of them seemed to be looking at him. Nobody was standing right behind him... Again. Uther froze. His eyes snapped back to a man in the crowd... Scarred across the face, lip to chin. Violet eyes surveying the crowd with the faintest hint of disdain. Dressed like a high ranking lighteyes. Strolling through the crowded halls of Urithiru, here was Mraize. Uther's mentor. He hadn't noticed Uther. He was moving with purpose towards the Kholin district in the tower. Without pausing to consider, Uther checked his pockets, then, as if he just realized he had forgotten something, turned back towards the Kholin district, tailing Mraize. He did his best to maintain the facade of an absentminded initiate, continuing wandering through the crowd. I was right. Storm it, but I was. The Ghostbloods are involved in the murders. And Mraize was an expert at this game. Even in a crowd, it would be difficult to follow the man for long without being noticed. Do not hesitate, you will only stick out. The hunter does not betray itself. Mraize's own advice. Now it was to be tested as never before. Seconds passed as eternities. Mraize was indeed traveling to the Kholin district, where all the initiates were quartered. Uther followed with an unconcerned look pasted on his face, as if heading back to his room to fetch something. Mraize showed a paper to one of Dalinar's guards, and they let him pass. When Uther reached the guards, they admitted him with a glance at his initiate's uniform. Then Mraize strolled past the hallway where many of the initiates would still be resting. With little else to do, Uther walked into his room, waited about a minute, then exited. Mraize was, of coarse, nowhere in sight. Normally, Uther would have followed after a target, relying on stealth now that he had no reasonable excuse to be tailing them. With Mraize, he wouldn't take that risk. Damnation. It would have been foolish to follow him after passing the initiates' block, but damnation... What are the Ghostbloods playing at? Only one lead remained. Perhaps it was time to pay pub seb a visit, as Brightlord Dalinar had suggested. Pub seb was full to bursting, and loud even for a pub. Tables of initiates were swiftly forming, although Uther ignored that for the time being. Hithon was sitting alone in a table near the edge of the pub, tending his cup and seemingly lost in thought. Perfect. It would be nigh impossible to eavesdrop on the table. How best to go about this... Uther seated himself at Hithon's table unannounced. "I confess, I did not recognize you. I wasn't aware that Thaidakar had sent anyone other than myself." @Doc12

I will try to make this theory brief, but... Basically, Honor is splintered. And usually a splintered shard doesn't really put up much resistance against another shard, since its power is all scattered. I predict that Tanavast knew he would be splintered, and anticipating this, set up the Oathpact (Tanavast was notoriously bad at predicting the future, but he was also friends with Cultivation, who may have one of the most powerful future sights of any shard). Even after he was dead, and no shardholder could mobilize the powers of Honor to fight Odium... The heralds and radiants (both wielding splinters of honor) are able to channel Honor's investiture against Odium after Honor's death. I'm not sure precisely what rules are keeping Odium stuck in the Oathpact, but I am guessing Tanavast understood that by continuing to resist Odium after death, he would contain Odium on the Roshar system. Maybe Odium just really hates Honor, and Odium's shard intent does not permit Rayse to focus on other targets while Honor is still mounting resistance? The basic gist of what I'm saying isn't particularly remarkable, but... What I am trying to emphasize here is that I would bet the primary purpose of the Oathpact was to appoint some humans to wield Honor's splintered power, so that Honor could still be a threat after the shard was splintered. Tanavast knew in advance that he was going to die, so he granted 10 people godlike powers, so that they could keep on carrying out his agenda after death. People can still obviously draw on the powers of the shard of Devotion. Magic systems like AonDor and Surgebinding spring up naturally when a shard invests on a planet. But Devotion doesn't have 10 heralds. She didn't know in advance that Odium was going to kill her, or else she might have considered creating a Lord Ruler like being (or multiple ones, in Honor's case) to watch over Sel after her death.

I didn't say I'm suspecting you for this, I said that my opinion is unchanged. Storms man, I'm waiting to cast my vote this cycle as well. I am fully aware that there are solid excuses to wait. I want more time to think about it before I just vote on you again, too. But I am going to pay attention to the way you give commentary and votes, and that includes pointing out the possibility that you are hesitating on that vote to dodge attention. And, lets be fair. The only two options aren't mindlessly tunneling and waiting until the very end of the cycle to cast a vote. It is possible to place a well thought out and reasoned vote at the very start of a cycle. It is also possible to place a mindless vote on someone at the very end of a cycle. I understand you probably don't appreciate me giving a running commentary about how each of your successive actions are potentially suspect. But, well, they are potentially suspect. It's not any one thing, but over and over again I look at things you are doing, and find myself wondering if they have elim motives. I'm quite sorry if I'm wrong about you... But don't expect me to keep quiet if I see something that could be suspicious. Voicing suspicions is literally a villager's only job, unless they bond a spren. I thank you for taking the time to respond to my suspicions. This kind of discussion is probably useful for giving the town information.

I mean, we've only wasted one cycle on the actual interrogation (and there was nobody else in jail to execute anyways, so the execution vote wasn't exactly wasted). But... I do sort of wonder about why you didn't just say you could survive the execution. You seemed pretty noncommittal in defending yourself, and I wondered about that... I guess you knew that you could just escape. But why not just tell us in advance? I don't really see what motivation an elim would have to not reveal this information, to be honest... Seems like a strange call to make whether you are town or elim. But still, I want to know your reasoning for not giving a warning. Also... Got me thinking... You know what would be a dangerous strategy for elims to try? Have someone heap up a bunch of honor so that they can maintain a bond for a long time while being jailed, then become an edgedancer... Then deliberately draw everyone's attention and try to get lynched. Survive it a bunch of times and distract the town for a while, all the while letting the other elims bus by tunnelling on their ally from the very start. As a late-game strategy, it could potentially be pretty devastating. I don't think we have any evidence to suggest that Arin's edgedancer stunt is an example of this particular strategy... But nevertheless, it's worth watching out for that trick. If its occurred to me, there's a pretty good chance its occurred to the elims, who have probably thought about elim strategies a lot more. I had said I was waiting to vote until after I reviewed some older posts. While this was completely true, I was also waiting to see if you would vote to interrogate Arinian now that he escaped. So... On one hand, I suppose I shouldn't complain too loudly when you stop doing the thing I accused you of. On the other hand, I'd probably have trusted you more if you kept on going after Arinian, defying my accusation. It is quite possible you are a village who is genuinely wondering if Arinian is guilty or not. It is also possible you are an eliminator trying to avoid suspicion. My opinion of you isn't really changed one way or another from this turn of events. Now, lets try for part 1 of my RP this cycle. Uther sat on the bed in his quarters, taking a moment to recover from the hectic day. He couldn't shake the picture of all those voidbringers, amassed at the top of the chasm, thunder crackling on their arms and a terrible mantra of death on their lips. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw a pair of glowing red ones glaring back at him. Uther remembered their shouts of fury when he deflected their arcs of thunder, throw by throw. He remembered the sinking feeling he felt when he realized they were surrounded at the top of the spire, and his relief when reinforcements arrived. By some miracle, no initiates had died. Again. That was my first glimpse of the enemy... The ones who usher desolation. And yet... The voidbringers aren't the only ones trying to destroy the Knights Radiant while they are still weak. The Ghostbloods. They are doing something here. Whats more, they are one of the few factions on the face of Roshar that are powerful enough to attack the Knights Radiant. Uther got up, restless. So much to be done. Uther had to investigate for possible Ghostblood involvement, see if he could get in contact with the escaped initiate, Aronium, probably check out the scene at pub seb, since many other initiates would congregate there, and maybe try to hunt up a copy of that book, Words of Radiance. A lot had happened in the last few hours, but it was only just beginning.

First of all, Aman your write ups are making this game amazing. Also, I may have been keeping a list of things to RP once we got some down time. I'm looking forward to this cycle. Second of all. Arinian! You're alive! Yes, I voted to execute you. Sorry about that; you can see my reasons for doing so in the last cycle's posts. But I am going to say from the start that I decidedly do not support jailing him again. I'm having trouble articulating why, but I actually trust Arinian more than most of the other players. I actually kind of hope he manages to get the edgedancer bond again. Although... It does seem convenient that the earliest active lynched turned out to have edgedancer. Just out of curiosity, were you saving up honor and decided to invest it in edgedancer once it became apparent that you were being voted on? I don't think this is particularly suspicious behavior but I would definitely be interested to hear your explanation on that one. Third. Quiver. First of all, examining the vote. I didn't agree with using up another vote on an inactive this early in the game. But there were some solid reasons behind the lynch I suppose. I don't really fault the first votes on quiver that much. I would, however, guess that one of the later votes on quiver was cast by an elim. If quiver was innocent, anyway. In regard to executing quiver... Well I was against executing sheep because I thought it was very unlikely for sheep to be an elim, and as a town it was marginally worth keeping sheep alive in jail. But some of you have actually voiced some suspicions that sheep was an elim. I'm not really sure how much stock I put in the accusation though... I'll need to think about it a bit more before I decide if executing quiver makes sense. And finally. The interrogation vote. I still suspect Rae, but again, I want to review some old posts and think before I cast this vote. I particularly want to review Alv's posts in previous cycles to see if the suspicions leveled against him are justified or not. My next post will probably be a pretty big block of RP. No time for that now though.

That's why I asked Aman to review the votes. I have no recollection of voting to execute sheep and vocally argued against that execution. I did vote on jailing sheep though. There were some good reasons to do that... No good reasons to execute that I could see.

I recognize that it is quite plausible that you are innocent, but if you don't mind my saying, you're still at the top of my list. Also note that if I'm an elim, it means you probably aren't an elim, and if you're an elim, it means I'm probably not one. Those kind of dichotomies tend to be created when people try to get each other lynched. Oh, also, I believe I've made my reasons for voting to execute Arinian known. I kinda wish it was a vote on someone other than Arinian though, since my read of him is actually kinda village-y. ...and a little bit more RP now maybe. Also, @Amanuensis I'd just like to double check before the cycle ends that the voting tallies you had for me were intentional? Last cycle, I don't think I voted on sheep's execution, and I had changed my interrogation vote from Jondesu to Rae... The wall of stormwater crashed into Uther. It was cold. Thankfully, Uther's head was still above the water level... For now. The chasm was rapidly filling up with water. The vines he had latched onto shuddered, stretched, and threatened to pull free of the chasm wall. Nevertheless, they held. They had probably weathered highstorms, and this was not quite a highstorm. Once the initial force of the water's impact was passed, Uther started climbing up the vines frantically to avoid being submerged. The vines didn't reach anywhere close to the top of the chasm, but they should keep him from drowning. The water was still flowing dangerously fast around Uther. The current of the flood is moving towards the spire... I must be storming insane... But my best chance is probably to swim it. Uther unclasped his sword and let it fall to the bottom of the river that was now coursing through the chasm. Then he let go of the vines.

Have some commentary. The more people voice their opinions, the more information we will have. I understand and agree with the necessity of executing Arin... (although if I had the choice I'd rather we execute someone else because my read of Arin is leaning on village) But if you don't mind... Could you elaborate slightly on your reasons for voting Alv? Alv has been kind of flying under my radar so far, which kind of worries me. I definitely need to review his posts. You raise a very good point. However, while elims might be able to block a 75% pardon vote, I doubt they would be willing to. Everyone who didn't vote to pardon would be at least somewhat suspect, and I can't imagine why an elim would think its worth it to expose themselves just to keep one innocent in jail. So I'm keeping my vote on Rae. But I absolutely agree that the validity of that vote will depend on the outcome of Arin's execution. I'd be willing to jail quiver at some point, just by merit of being inactive. But I want to wait until we have real information that we can contemplate for two cycles before I waste a vote on an inactive. It is possible that the bandwagon on Arin was a ploy to save quiver (though by no means certain)... But even if that is the case, it isn't a bad idea to pursue one of the more suspicious votes on Arin, since that's probably still one of the elims. If someone wants to scan me, go ahead. I don't see it as much of a risk for me to reveal that right now I don't have a spren, and I'd be willing to confirm that to the truthwatcher. You probably shouldn't take me for my word on this, since if I did have a bond I'd probably be saying something very similar to what I am saying right now. Anyways... I would also recommend that whoever gets stoneward protect the least suspicious individuals on that list. Honorable who have a high probability of being radiants are a pretty natural target for elims. I was going to add some RP here but my computer's about to die so I'll post it a bit later today.

...And I've found the time to RP! Hooray. Disclaimer: it's probably going to be long since I'm catching up on 2 days worth of RP. Through their combined efforts, the chasmfiend was finished. Uther successfully made his way to the severed leg he had sighted and stabbed his still poison-coated blade into the open wound. The chasmfiend, already failing and attacked from many directions, barely reacted, letting out a sort of strangled bellow. We're going to kill the beast... And I haven't seen any casualties yet, though there have been close calls... Uther looked up. Damnation. Several tons of dying chasmfiend was rolling over on top of him, blotting out the rays of sun filtering down the chasm walls. And the creature's back was, of coarse, covered in razor sharp spikes. Uther started running... No. Won't make it in time. Need to avoid the spikes... Uther threw himself on the ground in a spot that he guessed wouldn't be pierced by a spike. I haven't been on the best terms with the Almighty, but if there was ever a time to pray it would be now... An instant before the chasmfiend fell, he saw Hithon, still disassembling one of the chasmfiend's legs with those daggers of his. "Hithon get down!" Then the chasmfiend landed on them with a crash. ...I'm alive. Uther was protected between two spikes; a dark little nook underneath the creature's body. What in damnation did I sign myself up for... He couldn't see what had become of Hithon... He crawled over to where he had seen the man standing. Don't be dead. Your not storming dying on me this close to pulling through this mess. He saw Hithon's crumpled form, sheltered in the crook of two of the fiend's ridges. Breathing. That's a good sign. I guess he managed to hit the ground in time... And not impaled by a spike, to boot. Hithon had a nasty looking cut on the back of his head, but this quickly mended when Uther brought the last of his scavenged spheres near. We need to get out from under... Uther grabbed hold of the still unconscious Hithon and started crawling along the ridge, towards the light... Something lifted the chasmfiend's corpse. Light streamed down from the top of the chasm, and Uther saw four of Captain Kaladin's squires holding it. Everyone had made it. Storms. That was incredible. That doesn't mean it was a good idea, mister Windrunner... The initiates were all talking about the recent fight. Uther participated as much as could be expected of him, but was preoccupied with thoughts about the initiates' path to radiancy... And the murderer that seemed intent on stopping it. As Uther thought, and observed the others... He noticed he wasn't the only one on edge about the murder. Many of the initiates looked either worried or suspicious. Paranoia was already setting in for some of them. It didn't take long for the tension to boil over. In a matter of seconds, it seemed like a ring of initiates had formed around Aronium, all of them giving accusations against him. That doesn't feel right... Surely they can't be serious; those accusations are almost laughable. Apparently Captain Kaladin didn't feel that way, since he ended up immobilizing the man with some surgebinding trick and having him taken back to Urithiru. Uther narrowed his eyes. There was something off about that whole turn of events... Sure, some of the participants might just be in mob mentality... But it felt too coordinated, and the first accusations were too weak to warrant such a reaction against Aronium... Who looked like they were trying too hard to get Aronium detained... Ralaani. Seemed like a decent enough initiate to me, but I will definitely have to keep an eye on that one when we get back to Urithiru. Captain storming Kaladin looked anxious for some reason. Maybe it's all this suspicion among the initiates... Or maybe because the world is ending... Lots to be anxious about, really. “Voidbringers!” an initiate shouted, pointing up to the top of the chasm. Uther's head snapped up. There, assembled in a terrifying host. A legion of crimson eyes, chanting to a terrible, violent rhythm, arms crackling with red lightning. At the fore stood a full shardbearer. Twin red stars shone ominously from its faceplate, and a tempest of blood red thunderbolts crackled around the suit of perfectly formed shardplate. The vanguard of damnation itself. And so... These are the enemy. These are the ones who I must face. My life was spared so I could fight them. And right now, it doesn't matter. We are storming well dead. We barely beat that chasmfiend on full stormlight... This doesn't even compare. Kaladin started to glow brightly. He addressed them: “Initiates, behind me! Rock, take them to the Spire and up to the Oathgate. Teft, Drehy! Protect their rear and their flanks! Try to prevent as many of the Parshendi from reaching them as you can! And Initiates… watch each other’s backs. There’s no guarantee that the scouts will report this in time to do us any good, so don’t hope for reinforcements. Just get to the Oathgate as fast as you can. I’ll meet you there.” Then he took off towards the pack of voidbringers. Bolts of red lightning cut through the air towards Kaladin. Mist condensed in his hand. He deflected them with a faintly glowing, silver... Shard-shield? The spren that followed Uther was emitting a painfully bright glow and making a strange, dissonant humming. We need to get back to Urithiru. NOW. “Wounded and non-combatants to the front!” He shouted. “Everyone else, form up behind them. Stay together, cover each other’s backs and don’t charge of alone.” Good advice, that. Uther moved towards the back of the pack, sword ready. He hoped mundane things like swords and poison could hurt these monstrosities. Inevitably, their demonic assailants started slipping past Kaladin. They're after us, not him. Uther was tempted to be impressed. This was a tactically sound attack. Kill all the future radiants before they were fully dangerous radiants, while they were exposed and worn down by a chasmfiend. Storms... Uther stopped dead in his retreat. A single voidbringer had slipped through, and the twin pits of braize fixed in its eyes were glaring at him. A deep hatred was written across its face, but also a challenge. It recited a faint but threatening chant. Tiny bands of red thunder were building up along its arms. He had seen the ominous red arcs of power before and knew what they meant. If Uther kept running, he would most likely take a thunderbolt to the back. He turned around and faced the nightmare, sword raised wardingly. He sucked in the last of his stormlight, not even enough to give him a visible glow. Uther thought he saw anticipation in the creature's face. Uther swung. There was a red flash as an arc of energy connected with Uther's sword. Pain. He was on the ground, muscles spasming in protest, his weapon discarded beside him. Smoke curled up from Uther's shoulder. All his stormlight was gone. The demon stood over him, preparing to finish Uther off with another bolt of red lightning. Without any stormlight, Uther had no doubt the next bolt would kill him. He snatched the knife from his belt and stabbed it towards the voidbringer in one fluid motion. Another arc of red lightning connected with the knife in a blinding flash... But it was too late. The knife had already left Uther's hand, and after spinning once around lodged itself in the voidbringers throat. Not falling for that trick twice. This time, it was the voidbringer who was spasming on the chasm floor, as the poison quickly took effect. Well, apparently mundane weapons do hurt them. Uther forced himself back on his feet, retrieved both his fallen sword and the knife in the voidbringer's corpse, and started jogging back to catch up with the main group. If a pack of those horrors caught him separated from the main group of initiates... A bolt of lightning arced towards Uther as he retreated... Then struck the ground in front of him. Not very accurate, then. A pair of voidbringers were advancing on Uther. He ran the last few meters to join the main group. The pair hung back once he was no longer alone, wary of exposing themselves to such a large group until others came. It started raining. Well, a refreshing rain is welcome at this point... The voidbringers glowed a baleful red in the twilight of the cloud-blanketed chasms. More and more of them were breaking through past Kaladin, advancing on the initiates like a hungry wolf pack. Suddenly, one of the more reckless voidbringers darted out towards Uther, who was still relatively exposed at the very back of the group of initiates. Uther waited. He saw the telltale arcs of energy crackling around the creature, building up, building up... Uther threw his knife on the floor at the charging voidbringer's feet. Moments later, a thunderbolt flew from the voidbringer and arced straight into the ground in front of it, hitting the metal dagger. The fury on the creature's face was momentarily mixed with confusion. Then it was replaced by pain as Uther cut it down with his sword. I can't keep this up for very long... The rain was hammering down on them, harder then ever. I've never been in the chasms during a rain... Probably because... Oh storms. Probably because of the flooding. Uther heard the roaring in the distance before he saw it. A river of flood water sweeping through the chasms. A voice shouted in the storm and chaos, "Run, for all you have! RUN!" Almighty... You've got to be joking. Just our storming luck. Without any stormlight and at the back of the initiates, Uther didn't stand any chance outrunning the flood waters. He leaped up along the side of the chasm and latched on to a tangle of vines along the wall. They sagged under his weight but held up. Uther managed to climb a few meters before the waters hit. On the bright side, at least the voidbringers might be forced to retreat... Uther wrapped the vines around his arms to brace for the initial impact of the flood. It's been a long day...

So Arinian told Doc told me that while in jail Arinian can't open up new PMs, only talk on existing ones. Point is, if you want to have a reasonably trustworthy communication with everyone else while imprisoned... I highly recommend that you maintain at least 2 PMs with free players at all times. That way nobody will be stuck unable to communicate with everyone else if they get jailed. I'll try to do some RP... Probably tomorrow. My available time and what part of the game I choose to focus on both vary significantly (which is why I'm loving these 3 day long cycles).

While you lodge a completely valid counter-argument about my remark about your activity... You should probably understand that the meat of my reasoning had absolutely nothing to do with your activity, or a lack thereof. Obviously people have RL things sometimes. I'm not demanding immediate response time. My main reason for voting to execute Arinian is that I think we should go through with this lynch, despite (and perhaps especially because of) its questionable origins. I say I am calling y'alls bluff because I didn't particularly support the Arinian lynch, but I'm nevertheless the first one calling for his execution. This was most certainly not addressed specifically at you, or your lack of response. I was simply noting that nobody had yet expressed a desire to go through with the lynch, and I intended to change that. It would indeed be unreasonable if I voted to execute Arinian simply because you did not reply soon enough. That really was not why I voted how I did however. I apologize if this was previously unclear. As for my vote on you... My main reason for voting to interrogate you is that I found your vote on Arinian suspicious last cycle. You may take all the time you like to respond to that vote; the cycle is plenty long. Well... This was what I was concerned about. I don't like the town thinking of their lynch as not real, just because it takes two votes instead of one. I suppose I see your point in holding off on executing Arinian... But I also believe that an interrogation vote at least needs to contain a reasonable expectation for an execution. If the town refuses to ever kill people, it'll be pretty hard to ever move past gut reads for the basis of our voting. Sure we can win without ever using the execution... But that will mean our voting will be all but random. It sorta turns the game into a giant coin toss. If you want to wait until the elims start killing people for the town to make their first execution... I can respect that. But when I'm hearing arguments that go along the lines of "I'm not sure if the lynch means anything"... Well perhaps you understand why I am voting to execute Arinian.

First of all, while my vote last cycle didn't amount to much, I still have all the reasons I listed last cycle to vote on Rae. Second of all... I am still pretty suspicious of the whole Arinian bandwagon. And yet, to be honest, we still need to carry out a real lynch for the town. Furthermore, all of you who voted on sketchy grounds are now silent when asked what to do with him. I'm calling your bluff. Arinian. If Arinian is innocent I will be even more suspicious of the folks who voted on him, and if not... Well then I guess I was wrong, and I will promptly stop trying to accuse Rae. Third of all... Arinian, if I'm reading the rules correctly, you can still PM. Now... If my read is correct... That means you can PM me with anything you want to tell everyone, and I can relay that information in paraphrase to the rest of the group. And since you can still view this thread... You'll know if I lied about what you said, and can PM someone else to warn them in the event that I lied. Feel free to communicate to the group at large using this method. If this is an exploit of the rules, @Amanuensis feel free to change the rules to prevent it. Also... If someone wants me to accuse me of trying to focus all discussion on Arinian... Yes. I am 100% guilty of that. I am trying to make it so that when Arinian is properly lynched, we will have talked about the lynch enough that we have some useful information. Encouraging discussion on a lynch is a great way to maximize the amount of info we get out of the lynch. Also... While I'm talking about potential exploit strategies... What is to keep us from arbitrarily jailing everyone but one person (using random selection to eliminate the risk of manipulation or poor judgement), and relying on probability to dictate that the last free person probably isn't an elim? I wouldn't support that tactic simply because it sounds like no fun at all, but still... Wouldn't that let the town turn this all into a simple probability game, with the odds in their favor? Also I will post RP later... This will be... Interesting. Way to take it to a new level.

Well, it looks like you weren't lying when you said you would top the chasmfiend... Anyways, I don't believe I ever voted to execute sheep, and I had changed my vote on Jondesu to Rae. Just checking, is the current tally intentional? I will find time to give more in-depth comments later. Also, can I just say I told you so with the whole sheep execution?

I look forward to it. Although I do have some plans for the next down time the initiates get. Don't let that stop you though; I'm sure I can work them in before or after the scenes you set up if need be. Anyways... Voting. This is kinda hard since we don't really have any useful info. Imo it's a lot easier to talk your way out of something suspicious then it is to figure out who's actually evil. I don't think I've actually won a SE game yet But I digress. What I wanted to say is that I don't really like the direction the Arinian lynch has headed. Some of the votes seemed legit, but for some the reasoning just seemed a little odd... If Arinian turns out to be innocent, I'd bet a handful of firemarks that one of those middle votes on the bandwagon was cast by an elim. So... My new top suspect is probably Rae. There are some good reasons to vote on Arin, but the one you keep bringing up frankly isn't one of them. It just feels like you are looking for an excuse to kill him... And it looks like you heaping on that questionable reason did start a bandwagon, which is what an elim would want. Also, SilverDragon and Lopen, I'm also calling you out both for bandwagoning. I don't really suspect you guys too too much though; there are good reasons to vote Arin... I just wish you would say them when you voted, because that kind of info is good for the town. I realize I've changed my vote around a bit this cycle... But that's maybe kinda the point of all this. There's plenty of new information to be had in a three day cycle, and as you all keep talking, my suspicions change. Jondesu was mostly a gut read and as a general rule I would rather vote someone for a solid reason. Also I still don't support lynching sheep. Sheep could be an elim, but I find it improbable. And, for now at least, there is very little damage that sheep could do, even if the elims are relaying orders through sheep like I'm pretty sure Aman said is possible. And if sheep isn't an elim, then they make a convenient meat shield for the town victory condition. I don't really blame you guys for voting to execute sheep however... There are some solid reasons to choose that way, I just happen to disagree with them. Also, the chasmfiend appears to be awake. And so does Uther. Uther collapsed, his wounds and lack of stormlight catching up to him. Spots danced in front of his vision, and the puncture through one side of his gut and out the other hurt like braize. His vision faded to blackness... ... Through the haze of sleep, Uther heard shouting... "Breath, man, breath! Don't let Captain storming Kaladin have the pleasure of watching you die." Everything hurt. He didn't understand what was going on for a moment. To clear his mind, he instinctively sucked in a bit of stormlight, a habit Uther had quickly developed. The light did indeed make Uther feel more alert, and he realized that he was lying on the floor bleeding out, with critical chasm-fiend induced puncture wounds. Then the stormlight vanished, spent on healing a fraction of the injuries. Uther sucked down more stormlight... His injuries were healing and his blood supply replenishing. He opened his eyes. Kintas was standing over him with a look of concern. "Storms that was close... Thank you." Kintas helped Uther on his feet and led him further back, away from the struggle. "I probably would have died if it weren't for your help. That greatshell's a right vicious one." Kintas nodded, then jogged back to the battle site to see to other wounded. If it weren't for the other initiates' support, most of us on the front lines would be out for the count by now... The stormlight Uther had inhaled was enough to heal him back to health. The last of it leaked out as he exhaled. He examined the chasmfiend. Storms. It looks like we may be beating it. The chasmfiend could barely stand. Sareth and the man who had refused to give his name were both beating it over the head with staves, which, surprisingly, seemed to be making some headway on that thick carapace. Uther considered going in to help finish it off... I don't have any stormlight left... Storm it, I'm going to see this through. I didn't come out here to sit and relax while people risk their lives to finish off our trial. And plus, that bastard chasmfiend took my sword. He ran towards the downed chasmfiend. On the way he noticed a dead Alethi soldier caught in the tangle of vines on the floor, one of Aladar's. Maybe he had a few spheres on him? Uther relieved the corpse of it's stormlight. In less desperate times, he might have felt bad for robbing a corpse. Uther saw his sword lying in a groove the fiend's claws had excavated, just a few paces from the fresh bloodstain on the rock where Uther had been impaled. He scooped the still generously poisoned weapon up. It'll take a pretty massive dose to knock out a chasmfiend for good, but this should certainly be enough to keep wearing it down... He ran towards one of the already-disabled legs to insert the blade into the open wound. I don't think I'll continue my RP on the fight any further. At the beginning of this cycle, Aman said And I for one would rather read Aman's death scene that involves everyone's efforts, particularly if he had been wanting to write it. I've stated more or less what Uther/Teresh will be doing towards the end and I'll let that be that.