Elenion

I don't think this is a good idea, @Alvron, because there are 2 elims (and a possible thief) among the 6. All an elim has to do is say "I know I'm village, so I don't want to die", and vote on one of the 3-4 villagers in the field, and we have a mislynch. I'd rather we stack up on one or two of the most promising targets. Vote tally: Alv (1): Drake Eternum (1): Jon Orlok (1): Len Monster (1): Alv

Wait... Alv, if you vote on yourself it will be a 3-way tie. Edit: scratch that, didn't see Drake's vote. It's already a 3 way tie.

There is not, other than bribes, but Alv practically worships the random number generator. He does things like this for adrenaline rush of possible death. No RP = no problem. Edit: I've seen the vote-tying strategy work in past games, but if I switch the tie will be between Eternum and Alv. I'd rather have the existing tire between Orlok and Eternum.

OK, so Orlok sending PMs is beyond dispute, as is their content. I'm still concerned, however, by my other points: the countering bandwagons, the correlation between Orlok's vote and Alv's, Orlok not having taken an item despite having a very high chance to do so and almost certainly putting in an order. I think most/all of us would agree that we need to lynch one of the 6 with no alibi. I've laid out my case for why Orlok should be our target, but I'm not dead-set on him. Does anyone have a player they'd rather lynch than Orlok, and if so, who and why?

Budgie's defense seems to hold up, at least from what I've seen of them, but I've been wrong about that sort of thing before. Eternum's I'm a little bit less certain on, but it's plausible. @orlok Noticeably absent from your post is an alibi for last cycle's action. When you put up your rebuttal I'd appreciate it if you claimed one. Can anyone else back up Orlok that he sent out PMs asking about Steel and Mac? I didn't get one.

I agree that scrutinizing Budgie and Eternum is a dead end at this point. It's possible that they didn't even put in actions. MonsterMetroid I have a tentative village read on because they assumed their own village-ness. Brightness can be hard to read, I've played enough games of Wolfia with her to know that much. I just had a thought: where's the thief? What tactical advantage would they gain from taking an item, when nearly every action of theirs needs to be a steal action? It's not nearly as certain as the others, but I think that the thief is in our group of 6 missing actions as well. Right now my suspicions are on Orlok, so I'll open voting on him this cycle. Orlok. Here are my reasons: 1. No action accounted for last cycle. If he had gone for one of the items that sold out, he would have had a 75%/87% chance of getting it, so the probability is against him missing an item. 2. Orlok pinged Alv to assist in the thread. Now this isn't inherently evil, but it raises my suspicions when Alv votes on Steel and Orlok later changes his vote to go with Alv's on Steel. That sounds to me like greater coordination than just an analysis request in PM. 3. Orlok took a lot of scrutiny last cycle, but then bandwagons suddenly appeared and discussion rocketed away from him. Could one of them (either one) have been an attempt by a teammate or two to save Orlok? 4. I could make a metagame argument here, but you can't really prove them or disprove them so I won't do it. Every time I do it just derails things from the actual lynch. There are my suspicions against

2/5 would be excellent, but unfortunately we aren't as sure of your alignment as you are. However, the way you took your village-ness for granted does give me a slight village read on you.

Hmmm, I think we have our first lead. See, village!Joe would have had no motivation to not take the map, because not taking the map would have hurt the village. Therefore, the sneaky person must have attempted to take the map so that Joe didn't get it. Since only an elim sneaky person would have wanted to deprive the village of the map, we can cross-reference the list of active players with the list of players who took items in order to see which active player wanted to deprive us of the map. In addition, a second eliminator would have had to have put in the elim kill, so we can narrow down a second eliminator from the actions taken as well. I was about to compile a list, but I just got ninja'd my MonsterMetroid who already did it. So it looks like among MonsterMetroid, BR, Orlok, Eternum, Alvron, and Budgie there are at least 2 elims that we can account for. Of those, I can remember posts from all but Budgie and Eternum, and a quick look at their profiles tells me that both of them were on during the last cycle. That's 2 elims among only 6 people, so let's do this!

"Wait," said Mr. Klenien, "are we allowed to have secret conversations [PMs]?" "Oh look, and there's Mya. What do you think we should do about the gun?" @BrightnessRadiant

@Caesura Mr. Klenien saw another face looking inside the tent, but they seemed content just to watch. "Out there, whomever you are, what do you think about these items?"

I object! (Also, I'm back. I got busy for a while but it's a little better now.)

I'll get out of character for a second and ask: @Sart If 2 Quick players and one normal "slow" player go for the gun, we know that it will cause a fight for the gun. Would the fight be guaranteed to kill the Slow player (because they have no chance of getting the gun), or will it have no chance of killing them (because they're too slow to fight for the gun)? The answer to this question will determine the optimal gun strategy for this game. If it's guaranteed to kill the slow player, only village quick players should go for the gun, and that will keep the body count down. If it has no chance of killing the slow player, at least 1 village slow player should go for the gun in case the elims don't have any quick players.

Mr. Klenien pushed his way through the supply tent's door. His slim frame cast a rather unimposing shadow into the tent. "I'm afraid that's all we have, Kadal. I'm as invested as the rest of us in getting home. Maybe more, because I've got a girl waiting for me." He took a second to flash the ring that he now wore on his fourth finger. He was far too happy about his recent engagement, but at least it meant that he spent less time complaining about his relationship woes. "Perhaps we should appoint someone to find more supplies. That way there is no tussle over the map. Perhaps someone who the enemies among us would not feel inclined to kill as they searched." Mr. Klenien paused as he saw the gun in the pile. "Now that, that's going to give us some trouble, and our enemies as well. They can't afford to lose people in a fight, but if they can get it then it would be very bad for us. I can't afford to risk my life for it--my darling would kill me--but somebody is going to have to do it."

I'm a little late to the party, but I'll sign up as Mr. Klenien.

I got a 1600 on my SAT test!

I've never played MAG, but I GM for EotE and DM for D&D so I always get a laugh out of role-playing stories. My favorite D&D quote actually comes from @Manukos: "Is there an orc brothel nearby?"

I really want to play this game--it sounds so interesting--but I don't really have the time to play well so I think I'll have to take a spec doc link.

*is actually a ginger* Are you really?

@Sony I'll include that with my GM notes, which should be up in a few hours. GM's Game Analysis: Alignments: Roles in the Game: Role Assignments: Secrets: Game Evolution Last item of business: For being the only one to use its power this game, @Straw will be able to keep the One Ring!

Cycle 7: The White City Blackens Another day, another mob. Again and again, the cycle had repeated. Every time, the number of those loyal to Gondor had lessened. Every time, the power of Mordor had grown. Every time, the situation had become more dire. A lookout’s horn blew from the top of one of the higher circles of the city. Its deep, sonorous sound echoed off of the walls of the stone city. The mob stopped, swords and spears dropping to their sides as they listened. All, that is, except for Straw--he was dead. “Orcs have crossed the River Anduin!” came the cry of the watchman, “To the walls! To the walls!” ******** “To the walls! To the walls!” Baranor, captain of the guards, heard the cry go up. He drew his sword and charged out of the white tower. He yelled a battle cry, “For Gondor! For the Steward! For the White Tree!” As he reached the seventh gate, he became conscious that something was wrong. In the archway, the gate stood open, with the bodies of two guards lying in a pool of blood. Baranor saw the handle of a knife protruding from the nearest one’s back. Suddenly, Brightness Radiant ran out of the guardhouse, blood on her chest. Baranor flinched. Her too? Then he realized something: she wasn’t running like she was injured. That was not her blood. Her eyes glinted, and she laughed. “Traitor!” Baranor screamed. Her throwing knife caught Baranor directly in the chest. ******** The mob of citizens of Minas Tirith rushed to the walls of the first circle and tentatively peeked over the crenellations. Encamped around the city’s main gate was a host of orcs, numbering in the hundreds. There weren’t enough to outnumber the Guards of the Citadel plus the city militia, but where were the Guards? They had certainly heard the alarm, but not one of them had been seen descending from the seventh circle. ******** Sony had followed the crowd to the walls, careful to ensure that he ended up in close proximity to the gate. He felt a touch on his arm, and he looked to his right to see Thaurdir standing next to him. How had he found him in such a large crowd? “Are you ready for the dawning of our new age?” Thaurdir said. Sony nodded, “Let’s light this place up.” Each drew from their pocket a vial glowing with orange light. Inside each burned a fire, a gift from Sauron himself. Flames of Angband, he had called them, magical fire of Melkor himself, more potent than any craft of the Numenorians. Sony and Thaurdir threw them against the gates of the city, and they exploded into infernal light. The flames, as if fueled by some dark hunger, spread across the gate like wildfire and began eating into it at an unnatural pace. ******** The sentry’s horn boomed again. “The main gate has been compromised!” the sentry’s voice drifted over the city, “Fall back behind the second wall!” Findecano Nenharma turned to Zunn the Mad, “We’ve been sabotaged!” “Flash. Shadow. Gliding sun slips.” Heralded by crashes of snapping wood and the groans of bending metal, the orcs smashed the already-burning wood with battering rams. Heedless of those they lost to their master’s flames, they hit the gates again and again. The mob of citizens ran to the second gate with every bit of strength and speed they had. Behind them, the main gate splintered and fell inwards. Most of the citizens escaped the orcs. Some didn’t. Behind the survivors, the second gate thudded shut, and the nearby houses were stripped of furniture to barricade the gate further. “We can’t keep up like this!” someone said. “What we need is a plan.” “Regroup!” “Where!? We need somebody who we can trust!” “Annatar’s forge! They’ve tried to kill him twice. He’s probably got weapons and armor. It’s the perfect location,” it was Mestiv that said this. Unknown to everyone, however, he did not have their best interests at heart. Everyone nodded in assent, leaving the gate and barricade behind to slow the orcs as much as possible. ******** The mob hammered on the door of Annatar’s forge. After what seemed like an eternity, the door opened, and Annatar stepped out. “What is wrong?” The crowd all spoke at once, then their voices gradually died off. On Annatar’s right hand was a thick gold ring. His hand tightened, and he began to grow. His clothes appeared to thicken, weaving themselves into smoky black armor. Annatar’s head, now fifteen feet above the ground, was covered in a black helm. In his hand now rested a massive mace, at least ten feet long, but that he hefted effortlessly. “FOOLS… HAVE YOU NOT REMEMBERED YOUR OWN HISTORIES? I HAVE USED THIS NAME AMONG YOUR PATHETIC RACE BEFORE, AND NOW YOU HAVE LED YOURSELF TO THE SAME UNDOING.” The voice was fair, but marred by a metallic quality to the speech. Doc charged Annatar--no, Sauron--but the mace swung, catching him in the chest and smashing him into the wall of Annatar’s forge. He did not rise. “IT IS NOT I, NOR THE ORCS, THAT WILL RAZE THIS CITY. NO, ITS FALL WILL BE FAR GREATER. MINAS ITHIL IS TWISTED TO MY WILL, BUT MINAS ANOR WILL BE NOTHING MORE THAN A HEAP OF ASH. Sauron raised his mace above his head, and the sky darkened as if all light had been sucked away. “WHERE ARE YOUR VALAR NOW, MEN OF THE WEST?” The mace fell, striking the ground. Stone shattered as a shockwave rippled out across the city. Those nearest to Sauron were blown backwards. The shaking stopped. The echoes of cracking stone echoed off of Mount Mindolluin and then fell silent. Seconds later, an answering rumble came. This time, it did not come from Sauron. It came from somewhere higher up in the city. The shaking intensified. The flanks of Mount Mindolluin split open, cracks zig-zagging down the mountain’s front and through the city. Walls crumbled and buildings shattered. The inside of the mountain shone with eerie light, painting the city with the reflections of infernal fire that painted the stone blood-red. A massive, shadowy foot fell on the White Tree, crushing it to kindling. A flaming sword decapitated the White Tower, sending blocks of masonry tumbling into the upper levels of the city. Gothmog, Lord of Balrogs, had come. Straw was lynched! He was a Gondor Noble! Doc was killed! He was a Gondor Scribe! The game is over! The Mordor faction have outnumbered the Gondorians and razed Minas Tirith! Vote Count Straw (6) Orlok (1) Player List 1. Lemonelon - Unspecified Politician 2. King Cole - Unspecified Scribe 3. Randuir - Randuir Noble 4. Jondesu - Findecano Nenharma Noble 5. Steeldancer - Twigeye Scribe 6. Sony - Sony Lieutenant of Mordor 7. Alvron - Zunn the Mad Outlaw 8. Asterion - Hobo Baggins Outlaw 9. Doc - Unspecified Scribe 10. Steph - Unspecified OUtlaw 11. Drake Marshall - The Marshall of Minas Tirith Gondor Politician 12. Manukos - Oakmus N Scribe 13. Darkness Ascendant - Mori lôm Nobleman 14. Sami - Jedal Snyders Steward of Gondor 15. Orlok Tsubodai - Annatar Politician 16. Mestiv - Unspecified Noble 17. Roadwalker - Silver Feather Outlaw 18. Straw - Straw Noble 19. Brightness Radiant - Unspecified Guardsman 20. Megasif - Megamir Politician The Might of Mordor The Halls of Mandos Noble Doc

Cycle 5: The Decimation and Smog The Marshall of Minas Tirith made his rounds as always. Many of the guards had been reassigned into the higher circles of the city, where security could be more easily concentrated, but still a few loyal guards patrolled the lower circles in an attempt to prevent total anarchy. It wasn’t going well. Another mob had assembled, this one killing Silver Feather. There was nothing that the Marshall, or anyone else, could have done. By the time they had been informed of the disturbance, Silver Feather had already been hanged from the wall of the second circle. The Marshall had ordered the body cut down. Corpses are bad for general morale. The Marshall’s next order of business was a strange one. Lord Khlenn--the new one, of course--had made a complaint of an offensive odor near the place where his brother had been murdered. Apparently someone had been hitting the pipe-weed pretty hard, but the scent of Old Toby hadn’t been smelled since. The Marshall had checked all of the usual places where intoxicating substances could be found. He’d arrested three people for possession of dangerous mushrooms, and a fourth for public intoxication: a halfling who couldn’t stop muttering “It comes in pints?” to himself. But still no pipe-weed. The Marshall was on his way back to the guard barracks when he smelled smoke. It wasn’t the kind of smoke he was looking for, unfortunately. This was the more mundane kind. He stopped, sniffing until he could determine the direction from which the smoke was coming. He finally determined that it was coming from the third ring of the city, floating down to him where he stood in the second ring. “Watch everyone who comes through this gate,” the Marshall said to the pair of men guarding the third gate, “I don’t want any unsavory characters getting through here.” The men saluted and the Marshall didn’t give them another thought. He wound his way through back streets and alleys, until he finally found what he had smelled earlier. Smoke and flame poured from the upper level of a two-story stone house. Not another murder! He charged up the stairs and flung the door open, momentum carrying the Marshall into the smoke-filled room. Nothing appeared to be burning, in this room at least, but smoke made visibility poor and stung his eyes. In an adjoining room, he could see a figure lying on the ground. Who is it? Who are they trying to kill, and did they succeed? The Marshall ran forward, ignoring the smoke stinging his eyes and suppressing a cough as he grabbed the figure and flipped it over, coming face to face with the visage of a woman that he did not know. The sound of a door closing and locking came from the other room. And the Marshall of Minas Tirith suddenly knew who the real target of the fire was. DEATH Roadwalker was lynched! They were an Outlaw loyal to Gondor! Drake Marshall was killed! They were a Gondor Politician! Cycle 5 has begun. You have 24 hours to send in actions and choose whom to lynch. Vote Count Roadwalker (3) Jondesu (2) Asterion (1) Manukos (1) Player List 1. Lemonelon - Unspecified Politician 2. King Cole - Unspecified Scribe 3. Randuir - Randuir 4. Jondesu - Findecano Nenharma 5. Steeldancer - Twigeye Scribe 6. Sony - Sony 7. Alvron - Zunn the Mad 8. Asterion - Hobo Baggins 9. Doc - Unspecified 10. Steph - Unspecified 11. Drake Marshall - The Marshall of Minas Tirith Gondor Politician 12. Manukos - Oakmus N 13. Darkness Ascendant - Mori lôm Nobleman 14. Sami - Jedal Snyders Steward of Gondor 15. Orlok Tsubodai - Annatar 16. Mestiv - Unspecified 17. Roadwalker - Silver Feather Outlaw 18. Straw - Straw 19. Brightness Radiant - Unspecified 20. Megasif - Megamir

And that's time! Write-up will be up in no time.

Over-kill and Under-kill: Twigeye was an ent. You wouldn't think that that would be so important, but it was. You see, there's a lot of xenophobia around in Minas Tirith right now. The Haradrim have always been suspected of associating with the Enemy, but apparently it now extends to ents as well. Twigeye learned this the hard way. He was doing nothing more sinister than walking down a street in the Third Circle when a window opened. "Hey! Quit eavesdropping!" "I wasn't dropping any eaves, honest!" said Twigeye, enjoying the subtle reference to the eaves of a forest. "Don't get hasty with me!" Nothing happened to Twigeye right then; nobody would dare mess with an ent while it was awake. But when night fell, and the city guard needed fuel for their watch-fires, he was the first to go. ******** Annatar awoke to a sinister voice. "I see you are recovered from our last meeting. Are you ready for us to finish what we started?" Annatar looked around, but his eyes weren't adjusted to the darkness. He could see nothing but an impenetrable cloud of blackness. "W...who are you?" "I am your deepest fear." "What, a tiny spider? I hate those." Annatar jested, still trying to adjust his eyes. The figure in the darkness laughed, but the sound was cut off. Thud! "Thank you!" Annatar said, as he heard someone dragging an unconscious body away.

Due to scheduling reasons, this cycle will be extended by 1 hour and 45 minutes until 5:00 MST.

3: The Return of the Steward Baranor, captain of the guards, jogged across the courtyard towards the Steward’s dining area. In doing so, he passed no fewer than eight guards. If someone is going to try to kill the Steward, they’re going to have one very bad time. He reached the outer door of the White Tower, where two guards stood at attention. “I must speak with the Steward immediately!” “Sir, we have orders that nobody can enter. The Steward must not be disturbed.” “This is more important than that, can’t you see?” The guards shuffled their feet, glancing at each other uncertainly. Neither seemed quite sure of what to say. “I’ll take personal responsibility,” Baranor said. The guards looked at each other. One shrugged. Then they both grasped hold of the doors and pulled. They did not open. Baranor frowned. He walked up to the doors and knocked loudly, but nobody answered. He knocked again, and finally a servant appeared at the door, his eyes bleary with the fatigue of the morning. “Where’s the Steward?” “I don’t know! I haven’t seen--” Baranor shoved him aside and stormed into the White Tower, heading directly for the Steward’s chambers. The servant tried to protest, but one look from Baranor silenced him. In his chambers, on his back laying on the floor with eyes wide open, was Jedal Snyders. No blood covered the floor, no injury marked his body. He had been slain by the hand of the Valar themselves. ******** Lemonelon was in trouble. He was a politician, but out of practice and it showed. What had started as a standard campaign speech about the recent goings-on in Minas Tirith had turned ugly, and what had formerly been ardent supporters had turned into a violent mob. Lemonelon had fled to the top of the wall of the second circle of the city, speaking desperately in an attempt to turn away the mob’s wrath. It was no use. A squad of guards was assembling, attempting to shove a path through the mob to come to his rescue, but the mob was simply too violent. As the guard watched, a thrown rock knocked Lemonelon off of the wall, a fall too high to survive. All they could do was retrieve the body. ******** Annatar labored away at his blacksmith’s shop, hard at work on a set of horseshoes. Horseshoes were certainly not the most glamorous item to be making, but they had their advantages. They did not attract thieves, as jewelry did, and they did not attract suspicion, as swords and armor were bound to do. Plus, there was always a demand for horseshoes down in Rohan, so they made for a steady income. Clang! Clang! Clang! The hammer fell. But its regular beat disguised the sound of footsteps on the roof of Annatar’s smithy. Annatar could only tell that something was wrong when his smithy suddenly began to fill with smoke from the forge. He’d dealt with plugged chimneys before, so he grabbed his metal ramrod and jammed it into the chimney to clear it. But instead of sending caked soot cascading down onto Annatar, the ramrod hit something metal. Something that obviously wasn’t supposed to be in the chimney. Annatar began to panic. This wasn’t a blacksmithing accident--someone was trying to kill him! He ran for the door of the smithy, but it was blocked. The lock was on the inside, of course, but something had been braced against the door on the other side, pinning it shut. Annatar rammed the door again and again, but the stout wood held. He’d made the hinges himself, so he knew they wouldn’t break. He silently cursed himself for the quality of his work. If he couldn’t get out, at least he could try to put out the flames. He shoved himself off away from the door, towards the center of the room, but was met with a wall of smoke. Eyes burning, he turned back, unable to even locate where his forge was. There was something unnatural about the smoke, too, because it was thicker and blacker than any that Annatar had ever seen. The assassin must have dropped something down the chimney before placing that metal block in there. Annatar felt his legs drop out from under him as he crumpled to the ground. His eyes closed to block out the smoke one last time. But then, he heard something. Annatar couldn’t stand, he couldn’t move, but he could still hear. “I think there’s someone in there! Get me an axe!” The sound of running feet, and the crash of an heavy object against the door. “Stand back!” THERE Four more crashes. IS The sound of splintering wood. ONLY The feeling of somebody throwing him over their shoulder as if he weighed little more than a box of horseshoes. ONE The feeling of plate armor underneath him. ESCAPE The smell of fresh air. Sami has died of inactivity! They were the Steward of Gondor. Lemonelon was lynched! They were a Politician. Orlok was attacked, but was saved! Vote Tally: Lemonelon (3) Orlok (1) Alvron (2) Cycle 4 has begun! You have about 23.5 hours to vote and send in actions. Player List 1. Lemonelon - Unspecified Politician 2. King Cole - Unspecified Scribe 3. Randuir - Randuir 4. Jondesu - Findecano Nenharma 5. Steeldancer - Twigeye 6. Sony - Sony 7. Alvron - Zunn the Mad 8. Asterion - Hobo Baggins 9. Doc - Unspecified 10. Steph - Unspecified 11. Drake Marshall - The Marshall of Minas Tirith 12. Manukos - Oakmus N 13. Darkness Ascendant - Mori lôm Nobleman 14. Sami - Jedal Snyders Steward of Gondor 15. Orlok Tsubodai - Annatar 16. Mestiv - Unspecified 17. Roadwalker - Silver Feather 18. Straw - Straw 19. Brightness Radiant - Unspecified 20. Megasif - Megamir