Doc12

Verna sits in the middle of the grand staircase, shuffling Brax's deck of cards. Variel stalked the grand hall, searching for traces of the gun they believed Monopoly had held. Liam was nowhere to be seen, having darted off into the depth of the house. The night was almost over. Dawn drew near, and with it the house unlocking. What a disappointment the house had been. No revelations. No invitations into the unearthly. No escape from the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, the heartaches and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to. Just a parade of people she had grown close to, dying one after another, victim after victim. Faces flashing in her memory. Proud, ashamed, terrified, gone. "Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil! - Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore, Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted- On this home by Horror haunted- tell me truly, I implore- Is there- is there balm in Gilead? - tell me- tell me, I implore!" Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore." From the deck, she drew her final card. A golden, ornate Key. She almost laughed. Yes. A Key. In a matter of hours the house would unlock, and she would walk out of it a different woman. She had come in yearning for so much. She would leave with her spirits crushed. Even in the most eldritch and inhuman of places, human selfishness and death permeated all. "How can you be so sure you'll survive?" Variel asked. "Liam might shoot any of us." From her pockets, Verna drew out a tiny, delicate glass butterfly. "A gift." She smiled sadly. "Some generosity, whether from the butler himself, or the house acting through him. It will shield me from a single shot. You see? I'm meant to survive this night, no matter what." "I'd forgotten about the gift," Variel murmured. "Well, take heart," Verna said softly. "Hero at heart, are you not? You too will live on, your soul pure and untouched, even if your body dies tonight. Not all have been so privileged." Variel scoffed. "I'd very much prefer to stay alive, hero's soul or not." "I am not sure." Verna said. "I might leave the house tomorrow. But I do believe some part of me will remain trapped here... forever, along with all the people I've lost." So saying, she stood. "I am going to find a bedchamber to spend my last night in the house in comfort..." She tipped her head towards Variel. "Care to join me?"

In her travels, Verna comes across the wine cellar. So, shrugging, she hauls a case of some very aged wine - vintages, she assumes. She normally doesn't drink. First she pours out a libation for those who are gone. A brief moment of hesitation on whether K could handle a libation of alcohol, before shrugging and pouring some anyways. Kid deserved a taste. Idly, she draws a card from Brax's every dwindling deck. Three hooded figures sharing a ball of yarn, needles, and scissors. The Fates. Appropriate. Pouring a glass for each still surviving member, she raises her glass again. "Night is almost upon us, my friends. The House itself counts down the day. Now is the traditional time for the killer to confess their sins, it would be very helpful if one of you do so now."

Pack it up everyone the human has been found let's execute him and call it a day

Well. I don't have the gun, and I believe Striker when he says he doesn't have it. Conure wasn't active all of last night so if he had the gun he would have died. And Qian actually did follow me, I got confirmation. ___/Mippo You were PMing me right up to rollover about who you were going to follow, I'm sorry, but I don't believe you forgot to submit an action

@Qianweilian said he would follow me (Qian can you confirm) You'll have to find someone else willing to be followed and clear you. Maybe @Conure1243? I'd say Striker but he's been known to mess with results on purpose

@Araris Valerian Can someone get the hero role twice? I didn't get hero or gun. Obligatory if you're hero, let us know so we can rule you out of having the gun. I'm okay to follow someone or search for item. -------------------- Verna continued to cradle K after she passed, stroking the girl's hair softly. She'd cleaned up the blood, closed the girl's eyes so she looked like she was merely sleeping. "Make sure my yo-yos are well cared for," K had said. Verna picked up the toys. A plastic one with flashing lights. A steel one that had spikes on the rim. One that looked wooden. And a bone - oh. That was the skull she had gifted K, fitted with an axle and string. Fascinating child. Verna attached the bone and steel yo-yos to her belt like ancient charms. The others had scattered to the corners of the house. Of course, the gun was nowhere to be found. Damned thing had latched on to a new victim. If she left the body here, the house would take care of it. Verna would probably find the graveyard again in her wanderings, and in it find a new, small memorial to one gone too soon... She didn't want to leave the child to the house. A dare. Foolish child... She picked K's body up. Heavy, but manageable. As the others remaining in the house explored and schemed, they may come across a woman veiled all in black, carrying the corpse of a child barely 13, wandering through the house, searching for a place to lay her down.

"It's quiet." K. Tims and Variel stood glaring across from each other, accusations hanging frozen in the air. Liam, Randal, and Monopoly had chosen their side, standing with Variel. Technically, Verna had too. Oh Tims... The child protested her innocence. Far too late for the others to be convinced. Verna saw fear creep onto the girl's face. So young... The house took and took. Brax, the magician, noble and conflicted, admitting to his sin. Patrick, a moment of weakness overcoming his principles before he gave himself up. Mabel, Taloned, untarnished, yet gone all the same. And now Tims, the Sage. Verna had not come into the house to make friends. Yet she had grown close to some. Killers and victims. Ultimate, all victims sacrificed to the house. Looking at Variel, Verna drew a card from Brax's deck. An old, wizened man, staring deeply into a crystal ball. The Vizier. She nodded to herself. The Vizier had seen through the veil, made his pronouncement. And she would follow. She had to. She walked over to Tims' side. Sat herself down. "I wish you had not used the weapon, child." ... "I understand why. Perhaps I would have, in your place. But oh, you are still so young. Why did you come into this house?" ... She sighed. "I will stay with you. You may divest yourself of your guilt. Or you may stay silent, if you like." She offered a small smile. "Either way, I will stay by you. You will not be alone."

It's me! I'm doing the writing! My favorite part of these games is the rp anyways so now I can just chill and write things! Everyone please list your name, cytoverse species, and, if you'd like, your job on the station. The more details you give me, the more I can incorporate your characters into the writeups!

No, not Miss "I'm flattered you think I have the gun" Fallen? Striker, extremely impressed that you happened to use your fabrial on the killer. If true, extremely funny that Miss Fallen called you out for lying about using your action on her. I'd have just kept quiet. Miss Fallen, any response?

Hm. Annoying. Ver was going to use his fabrial on Mippo. @StrikerEZ @Miss Fallen I assume the misunderstanding was between you two? Is that resolved now? My thought last night was probably that Mippo or Qian would be my votes today. Conure was pretty willing to go along with the following plan. @Qianweilian Can you confirm if you were followed last night? Actions claimed so far Mippo - item but lost Fallen - follow mippo but lost Striker - fabrial on fallen Qian - found boot (claimed to me in pm) Conure - follow Qian (unconfirmed) Doc - follow Ver (unconfirmed) Striker and Fallen would clear each other. Qian could clear Conure. I think unless Qian has different information, Mippo/___ is my vote today.

Alright, so currently people who have agreed to follow. I will be following @Verdance @Miss Fallen will be following @___ @Conure1243 will be following @Qianweilian Striker will follow someone? Qian and Mippo, are you following anyone? Ver is following me? (Ver you really don't have to follow anyone you're hard cleared)

Alright, so unless anyone counter-claims that they had the gun, or someone else says they got the hero role, Ver is telling the truth and is the only one who cannot have the gun tonight. I am willing to follow. I will follow @Miss Fallen EDIT: I have decided to follow @Verdance instead since they're hard-cleared. Miss Fallen can follow me if she wants me to confirm her. @Qianweilian @Conure1243 @___ are you guys willing to follow people tonight? ---------------- The house had shifted again. The library led to the kitchen last night. Tonight Verna found herself stepping from a quiet reading room smelling of old books and leather to fresh earth and damp. She reckoned she was still in the middle of the house. The graveyard was walled on all sides but open to the sky, only one other exit, littered with faded gravestones. Fitting. Verna traced the stones, looking to see if she could trace the long-faded names. She traced what could have been 'Madeline' on one. Then, suddenly, the fresh graves. Warren. Archie. Brax. Luminair. Patrick. Mabel. Even Talisin, who had perished but hours ago. No time to dig a grave or carve an epitaph. And yet here their names were, carved in stone, fresh mounds of earth. She vividly remembered giving Brax a final kiss in the Study. She'd intended to return once she'd found somewhere to keep the body, but she'd never been able to find the Study again. Evidently the house took care of it. Was this its measure of honor? Or was this the house's trophy room? She touched Mabel's gravestone. Poor, brave, Mabel. She'd proven herself the strongest out of all of them. Where Brax and Patrick had succumbed to the darkness of the house, she had stood strong and never lost herself. They had been victims. She had rejected that false strength and with her sacrifice denied the house its entertainment. Thank Heaven! the crisis -- The danger is past, And the lingering illness Is over at last -- And the fever called "Living" Is conquered at last. Verna did her best, but her poetry was of little comfort. What happened to the dead that die within the house? Do they rest? Do those who used the gun, whose souls the house had sunk hooks into, remain themselves? The graveyard had no roof. Still Verna could not see the stars. Clouds. Was the sky even real from within the house? She had explored the upstairs, and she did not remember an opening in the middle of the house where one from the ground floor could see the sky. Still. Wherever Mabel had gone. Verna hoped she could see the stars. (Poem is For Annie, by Edgar Allan Poe)

Alright, a couple things Why are you saying it's random, then saying Akimiko actually did have it? 1) we won't know if Akimiko actually had the gun unless someone new got the hero role. If someone did, please let us know, that helps rule mippo and striker out of having the gun. 2) if you had the gun in the day and escaped the exe, also let us know. You are ruled out of having the gun tonight, and you won't be able to get it for the next cycle either. Free clear! 3) I'm down for the following plan, it's that or look for shoes again, but I know striker and ver both claimed having items and will probably want to do other things.

Today's exe will be weird because its essentially going to be random. We've got nothing to go on. No reason to vote on Fallen, but no reason not to vote on her either. Activity level wise, Akimiko has been pretty much absent. I assumed she was confused about not being able to have the gun as she didn't vote as she did not pay attention to last night's events. Everyone else's activity seems... consistent with the past few days? I like Ver from PM interactions this day. Haven't had any PM interactions today with Striker or Fallen so haven't noticed anything different yet. Qian's here. Mippo and Conure haven't posted. They haven't joined the exe in the past couple days either. Striker seems a little more active than before, but that started last night so it's not indicative of anything. Honestly, I'm fine with exeing a less active player if we're just going random. Akimiko has said she's busy and shouldn't be in this game anyway, so I'm fine with giving her an out while we don't have anything to go on.

(Chronologically takes place before Verna runs to the chapel) Verna had found Mabel sitting against a wall in a disused corridor. Without waiting for an invitation, she sat herself next to the woman. Mabel jerked up, some expression on her face - was that... guilt? Verna leaned back, not saying anything for several moments. Beside her, Mabel fidgeted with something. "You could have said something," Verna said, finally. Mabel opened her mouth, closed it. Verna shook her head. "Prepared to die to save a friend consumed...That is rare, and heartbreaking. I do not regret Patrick's death, but I see the toll it took on you. It should not had been asked of you." Mabel smiled, weakly. Verna reached into her pocket, drew the deck of cards. "Draw one, my dear?" Mabel took the card, tucked it away, and scurried off. Verna didn't see what she had drawn. Verna watched her leave. It was a sad truth of the world that even the most innocent will eventually shatter. Verna leaned back against the wall, closed her eyes. It wasn't a new realization, that she might die in this house. Verna had expected it when she walked through those doors. The darkness, the madness... that was beautiful too, in its own way. It was just... That bright star, clouded by shadow and fear... Verna shook her head, looked up at a potted plant. Smoke rising behind it. She turned back around, closed her eyes. ______________________________ So yeah, Star confessed that she had the gun to me. For a game based on Betrayal, there sure is a lot of loyalty going around and not a lot of backstabbing. I told her that she could shoot me, and I wouldn't tell anyone before I died, but if she did not, then I would tell everyone tomorrow, and let her make that choice. So. It's a surprisingly thematic game, huh? All three holders of the Gun dying in regret, only Star choosing not to shoot it even though she wasn't designated a Hero. Star, you're a hero in my heart, no matter what Araris or Coco might tell you A well played game to you, and can't wait to play with you more in the future!

Verna glided through the beautiful, lightless corridors of the house, her skirts scarcely making a sound. Lo! ’t is a gala night Within the lonesome latter years! An angel throng, bewinged, bedight In veils, and drowned in tears, Sit in a theatre, to see A play of hopes and fears, While the orchestra breathes fitfully The music of the spheres. Ballrooms and kitchens, chapels and gardens. Bedrooms connecting to dining halls, kitchens connecting to libraries. No human mind had plotted out this house. The house had put itself together, knowing only rooms but nothing about human sensibilities. A house shattered into fragments and put back together by itself. She walked and walked, sometimes running into the others, but mostly alone. Mimes, in the form of God on high, Mutter and mumble low, And hither and thither fly— Mere puppets they, who come and go At bidding of vast formless things That shift the scenery to and fro, Flapping from out their Condor wings Invisible Wo! Brax, eyes closed in ecstasy interposed with eyes closed in eternal sleep. Patrick, riling the assembled into a mob shouting her name. Patrick, crying as he pulled out the smoking gun, and dropped it. Verna stepped from a dying garden into a charred room. From an abandoned laboratory to the graveyard. Still she did not find the room she sought. But see, amid the mimic rout, A crawling shape intrude! A blood-red thing that writhes from out The scenic solitude! It writhes!—it writhes!—with mortal pangs The mimes become its food, And seraphs sob at vermin fangs In human gore imbued. Paranoia and terror. Madness and despair. The human condition she'd thought she'd left behind when she entered these doors. Finally. she stepped from a trophy room full of gaudy, unreadable plaques and faded awards to a room that was nothing but sets of pews and a small lectern. The chapel. She thought of her childhood, lonely and shunned. Of the high hopes and crushing disappointments of her youth. Of learning of a place beyond mortal ken, where the eldritch would supersede the mortal, where instead of the grimy, dirty fears of the human condition, there would be something else, something new. She had sought an escape from the world. The world kept intruding into the house. Verna sank down to the floor, leaning against the cold stone walls, reciting the last lines to herself. Out—out are the lights—out all! And, over each quivering form, The curtain, a funeral pall, Comes down with the rush of a storm, While the angels, all pallid and wan, Uprising, unveiling, affirm That the play is the tragedy, “Man,” And its hero, the Conqueror Worm. (Conquerer Worm, Edgar Allan Poe) ---------------------------- Okay, so. There's to be no coordination then. No announcing who we're going to follow, no carefully laid plans. Just a free for all? I suppose I'll hunt for items tonight. If anyone wants to follow me, declare it, and I will confirm you if we're both alive in the morning. @Miss Fallen what are your plans?

Remember! If you're the hero, you've already won, and you can really help us narrow down who might have the gun! So Striker is a lying liar who lies. Good to know I'm not the hero, and I swear that I don't have a gun. It's very fortunate for us that the gunners keep admitting they have the gun right before they die, as otherwise we wouldn't have any way of knowing we were even on the right track. So five suspects, and four people who cannot have the gun (Akimiko, Conure, Qian, Mippo) We could do the following plan again, but one suspect would not have a cleared player to follow, and Striker has already said he's not doing that anyway. I want to say it's still a good idea, even though I was the only player this plan actually cleared and everyone still suspected me anyway? I'm still willing to follow someone to have my action accounted for. I've got nothing else to do, and the chances for getting an item isn't high.

I guess the lesson to take here is always believe Star

I still think it's unlikely that Star was roleblocked, as no one has admitted to it, and roleblocking a suspect makes no sense when we all agreed to follow the plan. The missing link here is @Akimikoisthecutest everyone else I've talked to has denied the roleblock. But there is a chance that Star is telling the truth, and after all this, I'm willing to give her that chance. At the end of the day, and this may just be me being fantastically gullible, I want to believe Star. I believed her last round and she was telling the truth, and I want to believe her this round as well. Also, having just experienced being tunneled on for no reason, I'm a lot more sympathetic to her right now There is a world where we're all wrong. Maybe Mist lied about it being scenario 2 just to mess with us. Maybe Mint did have the gun, in which case all of our discussion today has been for nothing. But right now the votes are still on the same pool as last night. So Fizz9 as the only other suspect. Doc12 (2): Fizz, Star, Star (1): Miss Fallen Fizz (2): Verdance, Doc

Ugh. @StrikerEZ @Qianweilian care to weigh in? It looks like me, the one player who actually fulfilled the plan put forth last night and cannot have had the gun, is somehow the one who is most suspicious to everyone.

Fallen confirmed I followed her last night. So Fizz thinks that I 1) convinced some other player to follow Fallen 2) found a player who admitted they had roleblock and convinced them to block Star 3) shot Mint And none of those 2 players who I allegedly threatened are willing to confess this. Star's voting me because she has to to save herself Mippo's voting me because...?

Mist and Miss are one letter off, give me a break I was calling Fallen Miss from last game. I am just kind of in shock that you think I'm capable of making not 1, but 2 players do what I'm asking Again. Your theory requires me to get one player to follow Miss Fallen. And to find another player with roleblock that can block Star. Both of whom do not immediately turn me in for the chance to get the gun/be a hero. Let's talk about points of verification. The reason I am voting on Star instead of you is because You getting lost - no one can verify this except the GM, who will not. 0 way to verify Star getting roleblocked - one person can claim they roleblocked Star, which will verify that she told the truth, at which point I will not suspect her anymore. 1 way to verify. Me with that plan - there would be 2 players who can at any point say this is what I did. Your plan requires two players to be silent this whole time about this plan when at any point they could have accused me. 2 potential people to verify. Why haven't these two players confessed yet? They have nothing to gain from hiding me? Your theory is even more easily verified than my theory. All that needs to happen is for 1 or both of these hypothetical village traitors to confess. They would face 0 repercussions because I won't have the gun next turn, and they get the chance to be hero/have the gun by voting on me. My theory requires one person to verify that they blocked Star. Also very simple, and the fact that no one has claimed that except potentially Akimiko who just hasn't seemed active makes me suspicious that she made it up because I had told her last round that if I roleblocked her and she had the gun, she would die, which gave her the idea of claiming roleblock to prove she couldn't have had the gun.

Fizz. I just had a thought that completely disproves this theory. One action per turn. If I had roleblocked someone, then I couldn't have shot someone. And I would be dead. Unless you now think I got 1 player to follow Miss and a 2nd player to roleblock Star so I could shoot Mint?

Deep sigh Agreed. We had a simple, decisive way to account for everyone's actions last night. Therefore, there should be no reason anyone roleblocked any of us last night. I do have a roleblock, I have already admitted as much to you, Fizz, and Mint. But I did not use it because Fallen convinced me her plan was sound. No one should have interfered with the plan, and to be honest, I don't think anyone did. Your theory requires that I convince either Miss to lie for me, when she has already been suspicious of me last two rounds, or for me to convince someone else to take my place, a request that I have no way to force someone to do or trust that they'll keep secret? Let's actually look at this. If I asked you to follow Fallen for me, would you have? Fizz says I could have threatened to kill you/promised not to kill you. But I have no way of actually making you do what I asked, you could just have not followed Fallen and I wouldn't have known until this morning. And you would have announced what I did last night and exed me. So that's a terrible plan from all angles. I am voting on you, Star, because you and Fizz have actions that are unaccounted for. I cannot verify that Fizz got lost. That's a 1/5 chance of happening. I can verify if someone roleblocked you if someone claims/doesn't claim. I am voting on what is able to be verified, not theories that require a lot of other players to make work.

Sigh. Any activity is good activity, I suppose? What you're saying implies a level of coordination that I'm not sure can be achieved in a single elim mode. 1) What benefit does Fallen have to lie for me? She was the one suspicious of me last turn. 2) Who could I have convinced to follow Fallen in my stead that would not immediately have accused me of lying? I'm fine with you voting on me, if you can answer these questions. Why am I voting for Star instead of you? I pushed aside your action in favor of Star because getting lost was an action that could happen on your own. Getting roleblocked isn't. There's no way to verify if you actually got lost. There is a very simple way to verify if Star got roleblocked, which is for the person who blocked them to say so. Same question for Star - Who could I have gotten to follow Fallen for me, or why would Fallen lie for me? ...Why? Also didn't understand your vote on Qian either. There is a chance for people to find clues outside of the current scenario, if you read the rules. Sure, you can vote on me, but can you not understand my logic here? I'm using the same logic I used last turn, which is between Fizz getting lost and Star getting roleblocked, which is more likely to be a lie, and which can be verified?