Doc12

Thistle and friends! In order: Amora, Ap, Lili, Thistle, Zymni, Cindra, Kieran

I am proud to admit I have solved the first password puzzle - going to a different subforum I was unaware of is a hell of a jump and I'm not ashamed to admit I would not have gotten that without help Additionally, I've filled in the sudoku words, and now I have four sets of four letters that I'm assuming is some sort of cipher. Archer, you make my brain hurt, but I admit I had fun doing the sudoku As to your second point, I don't see how Ashbringer can be helpful here - if the premise is that we don't trust Hael to accurately relay what Drake might be saying, how are we trusting him to relay what Ash is saying?

I actually got a "find his password" riddle with a bunch of words. Archer told me to read every third word, which gave me a phrase, which he just said in thread today references Alleyverse. And today I got a grid-based puzzle I have no idea where to begin with. I think me solving a riddle-based caeser cipher gave Archer unreasonably high expectations of my cryptologist skills xD

For me, its very convenient that today, the day when you were the suggested exe by Ash, Mist, and a few others, you come up with a target within the dead pool. I do think there's an elim in the dead pool, but its a distraction. See, if you're elim, that means Twinstorm isn't, which means today is LyLo for us. Which gives you a great incentive to give us another target. I don't necessarily disbelieve you could have captain, just that you're trying to distract us from what was going to be your exe today. The thing about Archer being postman is interesting - i havent' solved the cipher he gave me, but if that does spell out his claim, then you saying Archer is postman doesn't necessarily verify anything.

@The Unknown Medallion @Wahrheitswächter Haelbarde

I was very sad I couldn't be Postmaster the whole game Also apologies for getting your character's gender wrong. Also your character is a horrible person, and Thistle's coverign Lili's ears and throwing a rock at Ouae.

I am still interested in hearing your opinion on who we should focus on targeting. I agree that the elim who died l2 is the likely person. Not sure how helpful it is to have the thread agree on who we want to be targeted, even if IKYK headaches can be fun. Stiill, you suggested publicly solving, who do you have in mind?

Nice claim I'm sure our benevolent GM decided you were very special and bent the rules of not being able to obtain the same mask you got last loop just for you.

Kieran just... looked at Thistle. Looked them up and down, at their hands, which were holding a hastily assembled bouquet of potentially-spirit-warding-incense, back to his own hand, gripping a well-used sword. To his credit, he tried to school his features into a semblance of sympathy, but Thistle had already deflated. "Yeah, yeah. I... I get it." Thistle stepped away. Goddess forbid Thistle actually tried to do something brave, for once in their useless life. Did they need a weapon? Even Cindra had picked up a knife. Thistle had... garden shears and a pruning knife, but they hadn't thought to bring those. Then they heard sniffling, again, the sound that had broken their heart in the Spider House. Lili was crying. Ouae was clearly trying his best to soothe the girl, but clearly had no idea what to do around children. Not that Thistle themself had much experience, but... "Lili?" They asked, kneeling to be at the girl's eye level. "How can I... how can I help you?" The child looked at her with big sad eyes, which was so familiar to how Zymni could look. Thistle whirled to check that Zymni was still visible - there, trying to pester Ap. Alright. Thistle offered the child a hug, Lili stepped into their arms, burying her face in their chest. Thistle's heart broke all over again. Suddenly, all the suppressed pain of the past (6? 7?) days threatened to overwhelm them, and they had to try so hard to not burst out crying too. Lili didn't need that. "You want to go home, don't you?" Thistle murmured, stroking her back. They felt the child nod. Well... perhaps this was something Thistle could actually do? "Cindra? Zymni? Would you... could you help me take Lili back to Zora Hall? Perhaps she'll be safe there while the fighters make a plan for the Temple or the Fortress?" @Wonko the Sane @Burnt Spaghetti (Is Cindra evil? I'm choosing to believe Cindra is actually still Thistle's friend )

A ghost ship. Clearly Hylia had thrown her hands up and abandoned Termina for good. Ghosts. It wasn't even like they were Poes - Poes were scary, but they could be hit and even captured. Poes didn't take prisoners, corrall them in a fortress and drive big Poe ships... The Happy Mask Salesman was still talking. Something about 'holding lives loosely' in the context of the loop. Thistle wanted to throw a rock at him. Amora would have tried to save those lives, because Amora was good and courageous and kind. Thistle was a frightened, shivering mess. Thistle looked to Ap, who was staring over the water at the ghost ship. "You... don't happen to have a Ghost mask, do you? Or a Mask that lets you hit ghosts?" They asked the Happy Mask Salesman, who simply smiled mysteriously and entirely unhelpfully. Thistle blew out a breath. Checked their bags. Sage. Lavender. Rosemary. They had no idea what worked on these Gerudo Ghosts. But Goddess, Thistle owed it to Amora's memory... if they died... they'd just wake up in bed again, and everyone would be alive... "Hold your lives loosely" They murmured, staring at the Happy Mask Salesman. Then, they went to Kieran. "I want to go help those people. Will you?"

Okay, so that answers a big question. Second question, does the fact that elims let us exe Twinstorm without a fight mean something? Or are we in a world where there was one active elim other than Burnt who realized they couldn't stop the Twin exe from happening? The only other side trains last cycle was Burnt on Mist and Wonko on me, but Wonko also changed their vote to Twin end of cycle. But e!Wonko doesn't fit into the team I had been making. I was around at rollover waiting to see if there would be any attempt to switch from Twin, but I guess elims were too cucco to do anything. Hael is probably v! if Twin was e! but I see the logic in checking. @Archer So who are your suggestions for blocks tonight? I'd suggest blocking you or TJ since you two are most closely linked to Coco/Burnt. Also using every third word got me a phrase and a date, I think? @Burnt Spaghetti Flower crowns are for nice people, not liars and murderers I'm glad I didn't let sediment get in the way of instincts Edit: Forgot my pings, not that I think it matters anymore

Thistle came out of the Spider House holding the hand of a little Zora child. The Spider House was... well-named. Skulltulas in every corner, creaking and rattling sounds echoing through the entire place, and then... soft crying. They'd found the little Zora hiding in the library, and coaxed her out with some sweets that they had for Zymni. Now they just needed to get her to someone responsible. "Has anyone seen Coliver?" Thistle asked, scanning the party. "Little one might feel safer seeing another Zora." Confused looks and shrugs. A murmur of worry. Kieran tightened his grip on his sword. Thistle frowned. "Oh." They weren't the only one with lost people... Glancing around, they caught sight of Ouae. He was a bit eccentric, but they noticed the child brighten upon spotting him too. "Oaue?" Thistle called, taking the child over. "This little one says she saw Gerudo ghost pirates, and she's really frightened. Do you think you can take care of her? Put some food in her belly?" Gerudo Ghost Pirates... As far as Thistle knew, the Gerudo were all in the Ikana. Flying, see-through Gerudo pirates? Shaking their head, they went back to Kieran, figuring he was the best person to report this to. @Mistfallen Soldier @Archer ----------- I got postmaster loop 1. Bunny was the logical second choice if I was going for more rupees. I did not bid for masks D1. Ash asked me to get Keaton N1, something I cannot prove I have until tomorrow.

I mean, I knew about the tie mechanic then, pretty sure someone called me out loop 1 when I tried to create a tie and someone - Mist, probably - reminded me that there were no ties in this game. As to tempo, I personally felt that D3s of both loops were fairly low tempo, just because of how many players were still active. L2D3 had Coco kind of leading most of the day. I even tried shaking it up by proposing a counterwagon on Stick, which I suppose Burnt and Archer took me up on end of day. Was that more of the response you expected to see? I'm not arguing per se that Hael is evil, I suppose I was more trying to understand how firm your belief was, when my impression of Hael is that he's here sometimes and has not contributed that much in terms of social reads and all that. And I understand both you and Araris saying not to bank on Coco being evil. If Coco is village, then my solve of Coco/Burnt/Twin/Archer doesn't make sense. I'm just starting my solve from Burnt being evil. Coco being also e! makes the Scents Gambit make sense to me. From that, Twinstorm/Hael is the third, and I'm assuming one in the dead pool, which to me is Archer.

Ah, yes, I quoted you because I agreed with your argument that any attempt to save Burnt and Coco would have been seen as suspicious when Drake was wondering why there was no resistance to potentially a wealthy e/e wagon. I meant to incorporate your quote into my post but I forgot..

I have some questions about your assertions. Firstly, I tried looking for your reasons that Hael is village, and from what i can gather it is because TUM and Hael were allowed to tie D3A, and you think elims wouldn't have let that happen because losing one elim then would have lost them the loop. I don't think that's as strong a reason as you think it is, because it wasn't truly a tie, as the rupee count if the elims were keeping track was the deciding factor. Hael wasn't in as much danger as he seemed. I initially dismissed Hael for the same reasons I dismissed Twin/Hoid, in that they just weren't active enough to really read, but from the two Hael has been more active and present. I still think Twin/Hoid is more possible, I just question your confidence. Secondly, on whether I bussed Burnt. As you observed, I kept my vote on Burnt when she was tied with Dive. In the night, I went through the vote switches and wanted to vote Burnt again, so I was surprised in the morning when everyone seemed to have move on. I tried to restart the vote but it just wasn't gaining any traction. You could see it as bussing, but my vote has been consistent with my analyses. Lastly, there wasn't really a resistance to Burnt/Coco wagon. I'd point out there's also been very little attempt at counterwagon today. If Burnt and Coco were both e! and one of the elims is Twin, then its probable that the remaining elim was forced to let it happen. What about the option where they're e/e? Archer and TJ can't both be elim. Again, everyone was so aboard with voting Coco last loop I'm now surprised that people are considering that she might be village now. In my view, Coco being e! is what explains Burnt accusing Mist. Coco was in danger of being voted out two days last loop - both times, Archer voted last minute to ensure Coco lived. I would have wanted Coco exed this cycle regardless to see why Archer kept defending her, but then Burnt's claim changed the conversation temporarily. The fact that Burnt could also have bought Stone doesn't change the attempt to draw attention to herself, so that's why I'm sticking with my e/e theory. =o= Thistle had never been to the Great Bay. It had always sounded like an idyllic place. Bright sun, cool waves, fine sand. Funny how even the bright sunlight couldn't stop the abandoned beach from sending a shiver down their spine. They'd caught up with the party late last night - Cindra had doubled back to check on them, a fact that Thistle was grateful for. They didn't remember much of the trek. Just one foot in front of the other, again and again and again, a numb, mindless cycle as they tried not to process what might have happened. She was gone. Could Thistle plead with Ap? Something had obviously gone very, very wrong already if this loop had no Amora in it. Amora was their fighter, the person that checked on each of them and threw herself into danger alongside Kieran. Surely they could... try again? They'd almost steeled themselves to ask, but the Happy Mask Salesman had been watching Thistle with shrewd eyes, eyes that said he knew exactly what they were thinking. A slight, imperceptible shake of the head, and Thistle had fallen back into the line. Great Bay. They'd be looking for another Temple, another Giant, another Mask. Because they were just going to put themselves in danger over and over. Thistle looked dully over the sights. They whistled at Zymni. "Stay with the group, alright? Don't wander off alone." They.... They wanted to be alone. And so they volunteered to check the Spider's House. Bugs and spiders were a part of nature. They didn't scare Thistle. And if they died? Well. They'll see Amora in the next loop.

Do not know, and also I'd just like to know the right way anyway I think I feel pretty comfortable that Burnt is evil more than Mist. Drake pointed out something that I agreed with, in that for someone who caught an elim, Burnt let it go way too easily while Mist was fighting her. The Coco thing I'm now confused about. I thought the whole reason people pivoted to Coco last cycle was because TJ thought e! Burnt/Mist were drawing attention so e!Coco could buy a mask. It made the Scents claim gambit make sense. How does V!Coco fit into this? My elim team right now is Coco/Burnt/Archer/Hael or Twin, based on how Coco and Archer are paired, and the way that the Burnt/Mist debate takes our attention off the quieter players. If v!Coco, then what was the point of Burnt outing herself?

Sorry, trying to understand your switch here. You're hypothesizing two worlds, one where Mist is e! and Coco and Burnt are village, and one where Mist is v! and Coco and Burnt are evil? So I'm being voted on because you think I'm e/e with Burnt, but vDoc/eCoco (or other way round)? Also @Archer I got your caesar cipher last loop but I'm stumped on this one Can I have a clue on how to even start

I can see why you might think that, honestly. What it came down to was me being excited that there was a mechanical way to prove my innocence, which isn't common in games like this. Also fair, I didn't consider that one could dodge the tests by not equipping Stone til day 3. So... good point, this round might prove nothing about the Stone holder after all. I don't know, I didn't go for it, saw no point in lying about that. Still don't have it its either Burnt or Mistfallen. Yeah as Wahr pointed out I thought we were assuming e!Burnt and e!Coco, if the plan yesterday was for Burnt/Mist to be the center of attention while Coco could have gone for Stone. I suppose it is different if they're both e! and Burnt could also have afforded Stone the whole time. I didn't understand why Burnt/Mist would out themselves unless it was just to draw attention away from Coco who was under fire most of L2. If you assume V!Coco and e!Burnt, who are your other elims rich enough to buy Stone? It's just Mist and me in that category. I'm going to start the vote on Twin because I agree that Burnt and Mistfallen shouldn't be the top two trains of the day, and I don't want to be a train either

Actually, this was suggested last night and not even by me. And sure, the Bremen can cancel one of our votes, but also the stone person will still have all votes on them missing?

I can say I got it, but won't be able to prove it until D3 with the test Ash suggested as I have to spend the day equipping it. Also didn't he instruct you not to announce it anyways?

Ookay that was wild. Ash with that last minute essay was spicy. Like sriracha. Not going to announce anything I can't prove yet. Also got a whole bunch of PMs like Mist. Guess everyone was sending test PMs lol. @The Unknown Medallion @Haelbarde ...Ping right back at you? Seconded xD I assume that was Archer. I'm going to have to spend a while on that. ---- Are we still doing the thing where Burnt Mist and I put a single vote on each other? I know Ash said he wants to leave us 3 alone but that's also a good way to check for Stone, no? It's probably more reliable than PMs at any rate. Mistfallen (stone mask purposes)

I think Ash wants to steal my mask to prove it So he wants to kill you and steal my mask - are we sure we want him as mayor EDIT: I mean in Ash we Trust! No complaints against our great mayor also @Burnt Spaghetti I wasn't expecting anyone to come after Thistle

Bossy. I like it

She wasn't coming. When midnight came, Thistle had stopped walking, motioning to everyone else to go ahead without her. They'd sat themselves on a rock by the roadside, and waited. A few of their friends had given Thistle looks, and Cindra had offered to stay with them, but Thistle had promised to catch up. The Moon leered down, still comfortably high in the sky, painting everything silver. The footsteps of their companions began to fade. Just the silence of the field, punctuated by crickets and the swishing of wind through grass. Clock Town was named for its big clock. Some said its ringing could be heard for miles. Thistle wondered if even now, the bell was striking. They couldn't hear it. Did the Clock Tower even survive the bombs? Thistle waited, and waited, and waited. They didn't know for how long. Was it quick? Just... a white flash? Or did she get trapped under debris and was choking on smoke? Or did the cultists get her in the end? Did they kill her? or just capture and torture her? Thistle's fists were balled so hard their fingernails drew blood. Where was she? ...What did she want to say? Their body was stiff and cold. They didn't cry. Not yet. That would probably come later. Now, Thistle just... stood. Cast one last, empty look towards the horizon, and moved to catch up with the rest. -------- @coco.pudding

Alright. I am a little confused with how the OoA works in terms of voting, but if equip comes before exe, then the vote on the person with Stone will not appear on the writeup, yes? That's pretty solid to me.