Fifth Scholar

I will grab a spot...

...as a spectator. (Sorry Steel, school is gonna kill me if I try to juggle this, even as a PH. The AG nearly did me in and it was an LG I was barely engaging with  But I can't miss my bro's games for anything)

23 hours ago, JNV said:

Holy Ruin Destroyer of Worlds and Elims who didnt really destroy any elims out

Holy Ruin, 

Destroying worlds all across time:

His end? Survivors arise,

Survivors end his time across all worlds, 

Destroying ruin wholly.

28 minutes ago, Kasimir said:

Fair. Yeah, WS lags as the red-headed stepchild.

I think WS gets red-headed stepchild vibes because it is the only role without a RB, RD, or means of preventing/dodging them. Not a fan of messing with Transportation because it isn’t bad to start and in a v!Elsecaller world, will already give Elims a massive headache from Third Ideal and up. Cohesion isn’t bad either, but doesn’t necessarily pair well with Transportation which is why I think the best way to go about fixing WS is to give them something good for Fourth Ideal. Also possible to allow Transportation to shield against the Exe as well, but in that case I might make it less of a passive.

Blood in covered hands,

The killer, a Knight by birth:

To die she goes. She dies

To birth by night a killer,

The hands covered in blood.

- Ketek written by Callar, to commemorate the passing of Taliat and the end of the threat of the traitors

---

MR66 is over! Devotary of Spontaneity (Taliat) self-immolated, but was also executed and killed. She was a Traitorous Knight Elsecaller of the Fifth Ideal!

The LOYAL KNIGHTS RADIANT are victorious.

Links:

Player List:

Reduced GM thoughts because the last few days have been a bit of a mess:

1. I don't regret the balance, significantly. Village had a lot of firepower, especially late-game, but it was justified considering Devo jumped from Second to Fifth Ideal in one cycle and all the other elims had opportunities to do similarly. And there was a funny PtV which was there for her even with the way things shook out mechanically. More specific distro thoughts are in dead doc, but the only choice I really regret was Village Skybreaker 2. I feel that with the way the game went, the village could have been fine with an Elsecaller or even a DB of their own, considering how much protection power I loaded onto the elim team. But the roleblock and kill potential made it a little nasty - I thought people would read evil into that power combination but good job on y'all for not making assumptions.

2. Action system was a bit of a mess. Having the stacking of 4LW>Abrasion>Tension>Gravitation/Illumination/Transformation/4SW before ordinary people even get to take actions was a little head-wrenching. That said, I think it still worked, with Tension being unexpectedly helpful late-game. Turns out that's what happens when you don't brutally slaughter Smokers  Take that, all those who derided Bondsmiths and Stonewards! 

3. Both teams fought well and are strong and wise and I am very proud of them.

4. If you need a pinch-hitter for RL reasons, please tell your GM sooner rather than later. We'll get it done (as evidenced by my airlifting Aman in the middle of C1 so y'all could kill him ). And if we don't have one and you can't keep up with the game, don't overburden yourself. Talk to the IM or GM briefly and then dip. We'll sort out what needs to be done. Take care of yourselves first.

5. I'd love to rerun this with some minor fixes (changing a few Knight-specific Ideal progressions (RIP Bondsmiths), cooler 4th ideal powers for some roles (thinking Willshaper and Elsecaller in particular)). Would love your thoughts on how you as players felt the Ideal system worked and whether you felt incentivised to keep progressing.

6. Sorry for being more absent as a GM than I usually am. Would have loved to engage more with all your wonderful RP and plotting but sadly RL hit me hard unexpectedly and it was really all I could do to keep the show going.

Thank you all for playing. See/murder you in the next one  

The cycle, and the game, is over. Thank you all tremendously for playing. Allow me about 48 hours for an aftermath thread (I want to pre-write my GM thoughts and such or they simply won't happen), and in the meantime enjoy the writing of @Kasimir, which has been inserted into the opening post of this cycle, and shower him with upvotes and praise.  

Callar stared at the blank slate of stone, and sucked in Stormlight.

It raged through him, fury and light and life. Every Radiant Callar'd ever talked to described the feeling of Stormlight infusing you in a different way. To Callar, he felt as though he wanted to leap, dance, to laugh and move. The storm swept through him, filling him to the brim with energy, and he placed his hand to the slate and let it ripple, as though it were made of simple cloth.

Rough figures—he was short on time and didn't fancy himself enough of a sculptor, for all the work he'd spent on Aradon's grave—slowly shaped themselves in the stone. As though he was revealing what was already there, Callar thought.

Images—memories, crusted with the pain of the past few days—swam through his mind, and his Surges gave life to them in stone. Jenel, sitting cross-legged, listening to their spren. Phil Swift, leaping into combat, sword in hand. Here, Aradon, weaving intricate images out of light; finer, blurred strokes in the stone possible only through Cohesion suggested something that wasn't quite real, such as the outline of a honorspren. To his side, another blurring of lines for the patterns of his Cryptic, Spark. Gen-ku, listening patiently as the vague images of two squadmates appeared to argue: Death-daughter-Time on the one side, and Bailis on the other.

Callar bowed his head.

This one was the freshest, the most recent loss.

Keleran emerged through the blank surface of the stone. Face resolute, with the steel Callar had seen in him in recent days. Ellublade grounded at his feet as he stood at parade rest.

Unmoveable.

Exactly as a Stoneward should be

-

"Report," Callar said.

Galatar drew in a deep breath, and tried to keep the accusation out of his voice. "Keleran is dead. Sir. I figured Orotha and Wit should be separated for a while—TBD is guarding the accused."

"Saffron," Callar grunted. Keleran'd said something about Saffron having admitted to being affiliated with the traitors, though containing a Dustbringer was no easy task. Fortunately, Keleran seemed to have had a plan.

"He admitted it, sir," Galatar said, looking Callar directly in the eyes. "Are we to send her away, then? For investigation?"

Callar nodded. "He'll be escorted under guard for further investigation—which should be quick, given what you've said. A complement of independent Skybreakers, affiliated with Gen-ku, are arriving shortly from Urithiru. The Blackthorn will pass sentence."

"Sir," Galatar said, hotly, in spite of himself. "Saffron's friends murdered Keleran." Old friend, he found himself thinking, you saw this, didn't you? Keleran'd talked about this, when they went over the plan.

"I'm sorry," Keleran had said at last. His lips pressed together in frustration or distaste. He spread the plans out further on the stone. "I don't have the resources to protect you." His gaze went distant, and for a moment, he seemed to be someplace else. "You know what Callar always says in tactics class?"

"Know your conditions of victory," Galatar said. The memory came swift; he'd always been the better of the two of them at studies. Still, he thought, it'd never been about which of them was better. They worked well together, so Callar'd kept pairing them off for exercises and manuevers.

Keleran nodded. Ellu slipped down from his shoulder and turned into a tiny pebble at the edge of the plan.

"We win if TBD lives," he said, simply. "Which means TBD must live. No matter the cost."

He looked over at his spren, and they seemed to exchange a moment of silent communication. Keleran steeled his shoulders. "TBD is an experienced Skybreaker. I've listed out the most likely co-conspirators, but I imagine he'll use his own judgement. We need him, or we won't be able to stop what they're planning. The Lashings are invaluable, here."

"No matter the cost," Galatar repeated, slowly.

"I'm sorry," Keleran said. "I have to protect TBD."

Galatar looked at the rest of the detail. Meant to escort Saffron to Callar as the latest accused, so a search could be conducted. The flaw in the plan was immediately obvious: everyone was protecting someone else.

Except Galatar.

And that Galatar absolutely did not trust the Elsecaller who was set to be covering Keleran.

It should be me, he thought, fiercely. After all those exercises. After all those maneuvers, even if he couldn't summon his spren as a Shardblade. Even if he'd spoken so painfully few Oaths.

Keleran shook his head. "You can't," he said, and the gentleness and understanding seemed to cut deeper than a Shardblade. "You can't summon a Blade or Plate, Galatar. Which is why you can't be tasked there."

"And Orotha can?" 

Keleran said, "So she claims."

"Someone knifed Kel," Galatar said, flatly. Back in the captain's office, reporting to Callar. Jarred abruptly out of memory by Callar's hand waving in front of his face. "Pretty much betting it had to be Saffron's friends, sir. He didn't run, because he was guarding TBD and he didn't want to let them past him. I think it had to be someone's Blade, because it went right through like butter."

Or so he thought. It'd all happened so fast, Galatar struggled to process it. Living one moment. Dead the next. Keleran shouting for him to make sure TBD was fine.

Storming idiot.

And Galatar had no Shards. And Galatar had taken too long to suck in Stormlight, and to stick them to the ground with Adhesion, by which point the damage had been done.

And now his friend was dead.

"Sir," he said, when Callar said nothing, but hadn't dismissed him. "Permission to speak?"

Callar waved him on, absently. Galatar wondered if he felt the loss at all, even of a fellow Stoneward. His face was impassive.

"It was your storming job sir, if you'll excuse the profanities," Galatar said, bluntly. "You're our Captain. Not Keleran. Kel kept saying it was what Stonewards did, about how you've got to be there. We needed you. You weren't there. We had him. And he tried so storming hard to be enough because you weren't there."

The words hung in the air, a sharpness, an accusation, hurled into the brightness of the morning light. He could not take them back.

"Galatar," Callar said.

Galatar supposed he was in for it now.

"Dismissed." Which sounded very much like an icy 'get out.' Galatar supposed he'd deserved that.

"Sir," Galatar said, before he left. "We're your squad. People are dying. Every single day. Yesterday, it was Kel. Who knows who it'll be tomorrow? We need you."

He left, closing the office door behind him.

-

"Callar."

Head bowed in grief, Callar took a moment to respond. Days of losing member after member of his squad, to infighting and to argument. He had been busy. There were reports to address, other patrols that needed to be diverted to account for the fact his squad was sequestered and not at full strength.

And then Madilan had insisted he work on his own training, his own Surges.

Now, Madilan called him, as Callar grieved silently for those Knights he had lost, and the ones that might be lost still.

"Callar!"

Callar composed himself, drawing himself together with the ferocious discipline that had seen the Blackthorn install him as squad captain. "Yes?" he wanted to know.

"The Bondsmith is right," Madilan stated. His spren was never one for mincing words, one way or another. So very different from Ellu. Something about the difference between whatever peakspren Madilan was and Kasiden peakspren from the east. "They are your squad, Callar. You must be there for them, especially now."

So he had sworn.

He felt the weight of his Oaths, and the burden of command.

I am the first into battle, and the last to leave it. I will not surrender those under my command. I will never abandon a companion, though I will honour sacrifice freely given.

"One moment," he said, and words swam up through the stone, hewn roughly. 

The missing members of his squad stared at him, their gazes blank and stone-wrought. Callar did not know if it was in accusation.

I WILL STAND WITH MY ALLIES. THEY ARE MY STRENGTH, JUST AS I AM THEIR STRENGTH. 

WE RISE TOGETHER.

Callar looked at the words for a last, long moment.

"Let us go," he said, to Madilan. There was to be a reckoning, then.

-

"I spent so much of my time at Jah Keved worrying that I wasn't good enough to be a Stoneward, that Ellu had made a mistake. Then I spent the time worrying that I wasn't good enough for my squadmates. Ellu says I'm being an idiot. They needed me. I was there. The rest is dust and sand."

—Small infused topaz, found in storage box 29-267-3c of the Jah Keved campaign fought under the Blackthorn's Coalition.

All credit to the amazing @Kasimir

---

Aeoryi (Saffron Iguana) was executed! She was a Traitorous Knight Dustbringer of the Second Ideal!

Vote Count

Aeoryi (5): Aeoryi, Kasimir, Devotary of Spontaneity, |TJ|, STINK

Raven (0): Wit

Kasimir (Keleran) was killed by the traitors! He was a Loyal Knight Radiant Stoneward of the Fourth Ideal!

Cycle Five has begun! It will end in 46 hours on Tuesday 14 November at 9:00 PM EST.

I apologise for being a bad GM this game (long rollovers/response times, clerical errors, lack of clear OoA at times). Will have more to say on this once/if the game ends but I probably shouldn't have tried an MR of this complexity without help given my shift schedule. Sorry y'all. Taking a short sabbatical from the Shard for the next ~24 hours, so that I can hopefully get myself in order. The Ideal mistake was just one of several things weighing on me a bit. 

There is an Exe today.

Good luck!

Player List:

1. Aeoryi as Saffron Iguana Dustbringer

2. Amanuensis/Experience as Gen-ku Skybreaker

3. Ravenclawjedi42 as Death-daughter-Time Edgedancer

4. |TJ| as Galatar 

5. Ashbringer as Bailis Willshaper

6. Matrim’s Dice as Shay Edgedancer

7. Archer as Phil Swift Windrunner

8. Kasimir as Keleran Stoneward

9. STINK as TBD

10. Araris Valerian as Aradon Lightweaver

11. JNV Truthwatcher

12. Psiti?tēebe?t

13. Devotary of Spontaneity as Taliat/Orotha and Iolea

That is the cycle!

This cycle will close in roughly 19 minutes at the hour. There is a chance I will not be on exactly at 9:00; the cycle will close at that time regardless.  

GM panic announcement: a player who swore an Ideal C1 was accidentally not informed of this >> Results PMs got scrambled and I hurt myself in my confusion >>;;; Please forgive and carry on but note that there has been a discrepancy and I am talking with Wilson about it >> 

Shay looked at the ring of Blades surrounding her. She raised an eyebrow, staring down Keleran, whose face looked to be carved out of something older and harder than the stone to which his visage usually drew comparisons. “All this, Captain Junior? For little old me?”

The Stoneward made no reply, other than the line of his lips growing thinner, if possible. Callar lurked behind him, Phil Swift under his arm. When the two of them had begun to argue again at the beginning, the actual captain had snapped. Hence Keleran being summoned, and the ring of Blades, and now the eerie silence which fell over the training ground in Jah Keved. The air itself was poised.

A distant rumble broke the sky. As if in a prearranged signal, the ring closed, and a thin wailing scream saw the end of Shay. His eyes, though, rather than going dead as with most Blade kills, burnt with a fiery red light. The pile of Radiants shivered at their menace. And then, from nowhere, as it seemed, in the confusion, two more flashes came out. The first, a hidden blade silently slipped between the ribs of a Truthwatcher, who fell over Keleran, coughing out his life’s blood on the cold stone. And the second, a blinding haze of fire. Callar yelped in pain as his side was singed, but there was no hope for Phil Swift. No Adhesion could save the Windrunner, and the cry of his spren was drowned only by Callar’s own yell of anguish as the Stoneward finally broke, clenching and unclenching his hands, eyes darting wildly around his diminished squad.

“What in the Ten Essences,” he intoned slowly, “is happening?”

---

Apologies for an abbreviated writeup, it’s late and I need to call people and send results and stuff >>

Matrim’s Dice (Shay) was executed to thunderous applause! He was a Traitorous Knight Edgedancer of the Second Ideal!

Matrim’s Dice (8): Aeoryi, Wit, Archer, |TJ|, JNV, Kasimir, STINK, Devotary of Spontaneity

Aeoryi (0): Matrim’s Dice

Archer (Phil Swift) was killed by the Surge of Division! He was a Loyal Knight Radiant Windrunner of the Third Ideal!

JNV was killed by traitors and was a Loyal Knight Radiant Truthwatcher of the First Ideal!

Stoneward messages:

Cycle Four has begun! It will end in about 47 hours, at 9:00 PM EST on Sunday 12 November.

There is an Exe today.

Please remember semi-open PM rules.

Player List:

1. Aeoryi as Saffron Iguana

2. Amanuensis/Experience as Gen-ku Skybreaker

3. Ravenclawjedi42 as Death-daughter-Time Edgedancer

4. |TJ| as Galatar 

5. Ashbringer as Bailis Willshaper

6. Matrim’s Dice as Shay Edgedancer

7. Archer as Phil Swift Windrunner

8. Kasimir as Keleran

9. STINK as TBD

10. Araris Valerian as Aradon Lightweaver

11. JNV Truthwatcher

12. Psiti?tēebe?t

13. Devotary of Spontaneity as Taliat/Orotha and Iolea

Good luck!

The cycle is over! 

1 minute ago, Kasimir said:

@Fifth Scholar- Are kills that fail for the following reasons publicly announced:

A. Victim was untargetable.
B. Killer was roleblocked.
C. Target survived with Transportation.
D. Victim was protected.

Specifically, I'm asking about which types of survival cases are announced.

None of these failures will be publicly announced. Only successful kills are reported in the writeup.

Aradon’s grave was cut into the living stone.

Callar had always appreciated a proper funeral. Mourning was a duty to the living, a necessary and solemn one, and though it was rarely pleasant to take up, he had always shouldered it with equanimity. So when he had seen Aradon’s corpse outside their camp, his face mangled in its last expression of agony, his illusions of windspren and soaring figures in the air themselves put to flight, and only his eyes left glaring up, pleadingly, at the heavens, two forces had moved within Callar.

The first produced what was before him. A stone figure was cut into the rock outcropping under which they had laid Aradon, a farmer’s face peeking out of it, hands poised midair with fine filaments of thin stone, so brittle as to resemble mist, protruding from them. A stone honourspren sat upon his shoulder, and behind him, hands folded, the hooded form of a Cryptid. Callar was not an artist. The hands, in particular, were a little suspicious. But it was right in the midst of the mess to take the time for reflection and grief. And as if it were ordained by the Stormfather himself, Callar saw little lavis outcroppings already springing up around the feet of the sculpture. Rest well, friend, he thought, and then bring me also to rest.

The second force was one of immense frustration and a desire to act. The squad, of course, was cowed, and seemingly as lost as ever. Though still distant, he knew they were once again ‘deliberating’ at his request. The last man they had handed over, one of their best Skybreakers…Callar shuddered to think what Honour, if he still lived, would have thought of that trial. Then again, today’s would scarcely be better. He looked as he saw the Radiants approaching him, dragging two people in front of them. He tilted his head.

“Swift again? Really? Are you looking to pick fights?” 

“No sir,” Keleran volunteered. His fellow Stoneward had taken a more vocal turn recently, seemingly driven by the death of Aradon to come out of his shell a bit more. Callar approved. He liked the man, and saw a lot of potential in him. But as ever, he might become his own worst enemy if he kept being driven in on himself. He remembered his times like that. Stonewards needed endurance, but not all could endure. Keleran, however, seemed to have new steel in him as he continued. “Sir, well, our investigations got a bit muddled again, but it ended up being between Swift and Bailis. And though I hate to accuse anyone on the squad…” He trailed off again. Storms, Callar understood. How did you go about deciding which of your squadmates would betray you? All with the knowledge that some would?

Swift chimed in. “It’s not me, sir. But if you’d like, I could Adhere him to the ground. Light or no light! I’m not particular. I think–”

Callar cut them off, glancing around the group of Knights. “That will do. Where are Death-daughter-time and the one styling himself a Wit? Have they nothing to say in this debate?”

“Wit would not commit,” Taliat said, impassive as ever. “As for Death-daughter-time…she was not present with us in deliberation, and we found it odd, until we found her, or at least, what was left, by her bedroll. She’s charred. It seems one of the Surgebinders may have…taken matters into his own hands.”

Callar collapsed. Another one gone. And no real way of knowing her allegiance. He would have to keep going, though. “Search her belongings, then. And search Bailis’ too. He’s coming with the Skybreakers that the Blackthorn is sending tomorrow.” He smiled grimly at the aghast look on his face. “It’s not execution, but the squad doesn’t trust you. I’ll let the Kholins’ mercy deal with you. It will at least exceed that of the more impulsive among you.” His rebuke issued, he turned, not heeding the discomfort and shifting of the Radiants behind him. Bringt auch mich zu Ruh, he repeated, seeing Aradon’s face again, and he fell asleep in front of the sad small statue.

---

Ashbringer was court-martialed and removed! He was a Loyal Knight Radiant Willshaper of the First Ideal!

Vote Count: 

Ashbringer (5): Kasimir, Archer, Aeoryi, Matrim’s Dice, STINK

Archer (3): Devotary of Spontaneity, Ashbringer, JNV, |TJ|

Ravenclawjedi42 is gone, reduced to ashes. She was a Loyal Knight Radiant Edgedancer of the First Ideal!

Stoneward messages:

Quote

However, this valorous visitation of a bygone vexation stands vivified, and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin vanguarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition! 

Cycle Three has begun! It will end in a little over 46 hours, at 9:00 PM EST on Friday 10 November.

Result PMs are going out after the writeup; sorry about the delay. Ash and Raven, please don't post, you're dead  

There is an Exe today.

Please remember semi-open PM rules.

Player List:

Good luck!

The cycle is closed! Stand by for C3 (and be aware it may take a while ). 

CYCLE TWO: WÄRE DIESER KNIGHT EIN ÜBELTÄTER

It was late evening by the time Callar returned to the rest of the squad, tired, dishevelled. His spren, Madilan, had insisted on time for his seclusion, to be able to practise his own Surges and powers for a while, and let the rest of the Radiants have some discussion without the watchful eye of their leader glaring down. What Callar found, however, suggested that his eye would perhaps be needed. Knights were scattered about the field, muttering in small groups, and a heated debate was beginning to rage in the centre. He sighed, finding Phil Swift and Shay once again in the thick of it. Yet it did not seem to concern them especially closely.

“That man!” Swift pointed at Gen-ku dramatically. “He wasn’t here with us on the field when you all summoned us, except for a moment. And now he slinks back here, and he looks and sounds completely different. Where could he have been off to? Shadesmar, maybe, or some other place where these traitors are convening?” A low chorus of voices muttered a vague assent. Gen-ku himself shrugged, seeming not to care to refute the accusation. Another group looked darkly at Shay, who stood by, but said little more. 

TO BE CONTINUED (Aradon deserves a beautiful and poetic death but it's now 2 hours past and I'm dead tired and you all need results too >>)

---

Amanuensis was court-martialed and removed! He was a Loyal Knight Radiant Skybreaker of the First Ideal. 

Vote Count (OFFICIAL (I think -_-)):

Amanuensis (6): Amanuensis, Kasimir, Ravenclawjedi42, Psiti?tēebe?t, Archer, JNV

Psiti?tēebe?t (2): Aeoryi, Ashbringer, Devotary of Spontaneity

JNV (1): Matrim’s Dice

Matrim’s Dice (1): Araris Valerian

Araris Valerian (Aradon) was killed by traitors! He was a Loyal Knight Radiant Lightweaver of the First Ideal.

Stoneward messages:

Quote

The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous.

Cycle Two has begun! It will end in about 46 hours, on Wednesday 8 November at 9:00 PM Eastern Standard Time (EST).

|TJ| is on warning for inactivity. If he does not post this cycle, he will be smitten by the Everstorm or be replaced by a pinch-hitter.

There is an Exe today.

Please remember semi-open PM rules.

I have a lot of rule clarifications to post, probably, and maybe a few to catch up on. Given the demands of my work schedule, I am not reading private PMs until I have the time to do so, so PMing me directly with rules questions or tagging me in-thread is your best avenue for a speedy response. I will also be checking RP Ideal progress tomorrow night, most likely, but it’s not an immediate concern because none of you can level up from it till next cycle anyway  

Result PMs should be out.

If you’ve ever co-GMed with me, I am infinitely grateful for your labours and I’m sorry if I didn't thank you enough at the time I forgot how much harder it is alone… 

Player List:

Good luck!

1 minute ago, Aeoryi said:

Aeoryi

Because I can

Waiiitttt sorrrrrrryyyyy fiffftttthhhh

 

Cycle is closed! The next player to change his vote will be smitten by the Everstorm.

Please welcome @Amanuensis who is pinch-hitting for @Experience!

Callar looked with bleak resignation at the Knights under his charge. His meeting with the Blackthorn had been…fruitful, but hardly encouraging. There was little inside him that relished the task before him when the Orders had been working together. Now that he knew dissension was springing from within their own ranks?

He felt empty.

His eyes flitted from one group of Radiants to the next, all flirting with their new powers and talking in hushed tones between their training. Kholin had thought it best that the soldiers knew the truth of the situation as well. Callar didn’t disagree, but looking at some of the Knights, he did wonder how much use any of them would be with the information. Keleran? Couldn’t barely be bothered to talk with his spren, let alone his squadmates. Orotha had her head too wrapped up in glyphs and theories of justice, and her contempt for the Radiant orders was a stumbling block. Most of the squad he simply couldn’t tell enough about; two hadn’t even bothered giving him names. Little wonder that Odium could press hard against such an unwieldy group. He briefly considered confiding in Aradon or Bailis, two slightly older Knights who seemed to have some form of head on their shoulders, but thought better of it. They were suspects too. Storms, if he’d read the Blackthorn right, he himself wasn’t out of scrutiny. What use were Oaths and Intent in the midst of the paranoia?

A sharper cry from the training Radiants broke his reverie. Phil Swift, sword in hand, was standing over a swearing Shay, who was clutching his arm. Callar strode over to the bickering pair. 

“…nearly cut my arm off, you cremling! Go find a whitespine next time you want to dice me up like that!”

“Sorry, sorry, thought you’d get your guard up…here, no need to waste Stormlight, I’ve got just the thing for that wound.” He smiled sheepishly, holding a bottle of some strange substance. A glistening drop fell from it and landed on an actual cremling inching along the cracked ground. It froze immediately, tiny limbs vainly waving before they too calcified. Shay’s eyes grew even wider. “Get that away from me!” He saw Callar coming over. “Sir, help, he’s trying to murder me!”

Callar furrowed his brow, silencing the objections rising on Swift’s lips with a raised hand. “I think he could have done that in other ways, Shay. But yes, he should be more careful. We will use actual Stormlight to heal, but we ought to be cautious with it.” He sighed. It was a training accident; common, of course, but the whole squad was on edge now with the news. They would have to sort it out somehow. And preferably sooner. He closed his eyes, breathing deeply, and raised his voice above the chatter of the squadron.

“You have one hour to get into formation on the field. Then we’re having a talk among ourselves. Hopefully the first of many. And no one is exempt.” He took an especially long glance at the pair of nameless Knights they still had. “We will uphold our Oaths. We will perform as the Blackthorn expects of us. Or we will die in our attempt.”

---

Callar has called a convocation! He is a Loyal Stoneward Captain.

Cycle One has begun! It will end forty-nine hours from the close of signups and a little bit less than that from the posting of this topic, at 9:00 PM Eastern Standard Time on Monday 6 November 2023. Note that the Daylight Savings switch may trip up any non-Americans who do not abide by century-old German nonsense. I still expect orders to be in before then zu aller Zeit.

Remember that PMs are semi-open. You may open one permanent PM per cycle. Please include me in all PMs.

Role PMs should be out. If you still do not see yours, please contact me. Thank you for your patience. Note that I did not copy Order-specific Ideal triggers into the PMs, so you may want to revisit the rules to refresh yourselves on those.

The IM for this game is @little wilson. Feel free to direct any concerns you have her way.

There is an Exe today.

Player List:

Good luck! 

Signups are closed! Distro will be finalised, and then the show will go on the road. Look for role PMs within the next hour or so, and the Cycle One thread shortly thereafter. Good luck to all!

24 minutes ago, Aeoryi said:

1. Does the ideal count of a player show up when they were exe'd?

2. Can an Elim block the Elim kill to progress an ideal?

3. Are passive action slots a thing this game? In tyrian, if a spiked thug submits the Elim kill, their extra life is surpressed for the cycle. Is this in the game similarly?

1. Killed players will have their Order and Ideal progression revealed.

2. Yes.

3. All passive abilities are true passives and never require action submissions or action slots. So extra lives always work. (I think they always work in normal Tyrian too but it could be a weird Meta holdover that I don’t observe )

Quote

 

I'm unsure if wit signed up. Did he?

I have him as playing so I hope so  

You have FEWER THAN EIGHT HOURS REMAINING to destroy my carefully balanced game by signing up

(please do, I like distro fiddling )

8 hours ago, ΨιτιsτηεΒέsτ said:

Is this still open? I want to get in on Sanderson Elimination, but keep missing the signups.

Yep! Signups are open through Saturday, when the game will start. Welcome! (and this is probably a better intro than Alice blackout…)

On 10/28/2023 at 7:46 PM, Violet said:

I'm going to take the spec doc (due to inactivity probably making people hate me in this game) after being killed immediately by sart in the last game I played?

Do feel free to spectate if you think your schedule won’t permit you to sufficiently engage with the game, but if not, we’re certainly all grateful to have you join again (and will hopefully show a bit more mercy ). SE is a bit cruel and someone always dies a bit early, but as Araris says, murder is the highest form of praise around here  

9 hours ago, Whysper said:

I'm really interested in playing this. The theme and mechanics sound great. However, not sure whether I can start playing. Please put me down as a possible pinch hitter for now. Thanks!

Will do! Thanks for your interest, and you have a week to mull it all over if you’d like  

7 hours ago, Araris Valerian said:

I’m in as Aradon, who was a lavis farmer before he swore the first Ideal.

Edit: This is contingent on me not being the IM for this game.

I’ll throw Aradon in even if you do IM  

4 minutes ago, |TJ| said:

Hey hey, been a couple of months. Sign me up as Galatar! 

Welcome back! Also, congrats on lining this up  

Quote