Fifth Scholar

My issue with the codes is more that they’re a means of communication which reward people with effort and time. While the second is random, Eliminators tend to have more of the first, and can pool their brains in a doc to help crack codes; as such, you really shouldn’t be saying anything in a code you’re not comfortable sharing with the entire group, and since the people who will actually bother to crack codes are usually evil, you might as well share what you have to say with the village as well. I’m not opposed to their use if they’re being used for a bit of fun, but if people are passing information along them, I will oppose that. I think it was quiet just from times of day shifting. People tend to be on in the morning a bit less (though you’re correct that a lot of people, myself included, have retreated to PMs). What information are you trying to look for as you “observe?” I’m a staunch supporter of the D1 lynch, and believe the best way to observe information is to create it with lynch discussion. As such, Kynedath. We need more votes than God King’s poke on Elandera anyway, particularly since that vote seems somewhat illegitimate given that its target has already provided two thoughtful posts. I’m not in favour of revealing PM contacts. Keep in mind the Eliminator factions might not know roles, but they might strategically split up PMs they regard as active by converting or killing people in chains to prevent potential coordination. Keeping village communication together, even if we can’t trust the people we’re talking to, is important to me, and I’d rather not lose that. (Thank you for creating actual discussion, by the way, Joe.) suppresses desire to vote for Striker D1 for not voting I’m not going to try to rehash the old D1 lynch debate, but tl;dr we should at least pretend that we’re having one to generate good discussion, even if we decide later we’d rather not kill people. Letting the Eliminators pick targets freely during the Night is mostly a waste of a cycle, and getting analysis off the ground always requires a lynch, even if we don’t necessarily want one or think it’ll work. It’ll also revitalise a discussion which is going somewhat in circles right now because nobody’s actually being accused of anything.

Karjakin frowned. “Not something you see too often,” he muttered to himself. With a start, he realised he could be describing the situation around him just as well as the one on his screen. Either way, he figured, the best solution was to impose normalcy. He would meet the oddities of the situation with a principled response. He walked up to one of his fellow tourists. “What do you know about Coolidge?” he asked. “All I’ve heard about him is his strong economic record as president; why would anyone care about the man now—or, perhaps, why would the man now suddenly re-emerge?” @The_God_King A stab in the dark is often a dangerous tool, but fine for now, I suppose. RNG votes are somewhat distasteful to me on principle, but I understand why people use them. I will call you out if this vote becomes a permanent fixture for no apparent reason, though Who made the cipher? Caesar made the cipher! Not quoting Xino’s post because it’s long and I need sleep but I’d note in addition to his mostly excellent analysis that there are a lot of roleblocks and redirects flying around, and I would encourage those who have them to use them intentionally and prudently. Messing with action systems “just because” has more potential to hurt the village, because it’s uncoordinated to begin with and profits off of reliable information, and throwing a wrench at random into things hurts both the reliability of information and the coordination of village power roles; unless you strongly suspect someone, I’d be careful with these.

Karjakin sighed, looking up from the memo he was typing on his phone to see the flood of tourists around him pressing into the White House. Another crowd I’m forced to be a part of, he thought begrudgingly, returning to his memo with a vengeance. A few furiously typed lines and the press of a button, and it was off, skirting through digital space to his superiors. He was done for the moment as well, and caught the eye of another tourist in the crowd, who looked back significantly. Ah, right. He opened his messages, quickly sent “Best by test, of course,” and swiped two squares forward on his virtual board. Now he should be free of obligations, and could perhaps think of something besides his upcoming meeting with the Secretary of Defence. A bleep from his email sent that notion packing. A press release from the chief of staff? Three of those went out an hour, it seemed. Why should he care? He began reading, then frowned. Unusual incidents? This is not our work, whatever the stereotypes may be. He would have to speak with the embassy about this if he could. A president, even a dead one, was not a force he wanted to tackle alone.

It’s been a while and I need to jump back into SE while I have the time, so I’ll sign up as Sergey Karjakin, Russian ambassador and secret advisor to the Secretary of Defence. I too have not read Alcatraz, but that’s no excuse for not giving El and Wilson more of a headache more fun with writeups! So I have a flavour addition to the game. The Thirtieth President: The specter of Calvin Coolidge haunts the White House. Once per phase, a d4 is rolled and one of the following writeup consequences results: 1: Coolidge randomly interrupts both a random one-on-one and a random group PM with cryptic commentary. 2: Coolidge terrifies a random player out of his wits. 3: Coolidge participates in a murder, lynch, conversion, or other writeup-significant event. 4: GM discretion (but it can’t be nothing ).

Rath

Quite disappointing you’re choosing to comply with Xino’s lies, as with everyone else. No chance that you’re feeling Disputational today?

I must admit, being an outed and confirmed villager is quite a nice feeling

Oops, guess I killed Xino accidentally. No hurt feelings? Especially since he was evil? I dunno, can you really trust Xino? Seems a tad suspicious to me. Confirmed good does not equal confirmed right, but confirmed evil certainly does not give anyone credibility! /shrugs diffidently Only an Eliminator deals in absolutes. Sad to see such blatant prejudice against all those not buying into Xino’s honeyed lies. Perhaps I could, Zillah. I’m glad you’re keeping an open mind, so I’ll lay out my case here: 1) Araris is my fellow villager. I know this because of a secret village doc Elandera put together called the Disputers, which has him and a friend of ours named Rath in it. Unlike Xino, I’m going public with this so that people can fact-check us. As you can see, we’ve been hard at work rooting out the entrenched DDF Elims among us, and they’re nearly all out of the way. I suspect you’re one of the last few. 2) Xino is not my fellow villager. As @Araris Valerian justly points out, he flipped Elim. I performed a last-minute hammer to ensure the Elims wouldn’t be on in time to use vote manipulation to save their teammate, and since it worked, I don’t see why you’re taking issue with it. Falsely accusing somebody in an explicitly village doc was an immediate red flag on his part; not really sure why he tried that.

Xino Araris

I mean, I’ve done similar as a villager to try to avoid tipping my hand. The weird thing was the timing—sacrificing one’s anonymity to kill an elim is a very worthwhile trade—but it is understandable if he was afraid he’d be killed before the info got out. For this to be a true hammer, though, you’d have to expect me to be in on it, which is not an impossible leap of logic but is also harder to assume than just Araris and Abstrusity being evil, which, incidentally, is the explanation I’m going with because it doesn’t condemn me

Very tl;dr version Xino PMed me anonymously with an accusation against Araris, expecting me to post in to the thread I was busy and couldn’t post about it, and further distrusted it slightly because it was anonymous, so he posted about it instead just as I was getting on to make my post I posted confirming that he had made this allegation to me before in PM

As for Xino having caught two eliminators, that’s absolutely wonderful if true, and potentially concerning if false; an elim!Xino waiting until the last second to reveal these claims and force a mislynch, then hammer next cycle could be very effective. That said, I’ve maintained a consistent trust of him, and a distrust of Araris and Abstrusity, so I’m going to believe him in this contest of credibility. If that costs us the game, I’ll take responsibility, but really you all should be blamed for putting the fate of the village in the hands of a distracted semiactive to begin with, whether we come out of this on top or not I’ll try to post my thoughts on everyone else, but they’ll obviously be coloured by all of this recent discussion. @Araris Valerian @AbstrusityCan you offer any defence to Xino’s claims? It does seem as though you are planning to kill one of the only remaining roled villagers, and your interactions smell of distancing.

A combination of work, tiredness, and D&D prevented me from posting until this unholy hour of the night, but I feel obligated to get a post in. First, someone sent me an anonymous message which I really wish they’d just explicitly say in thread if it’s true, but its uncorroborated nature makes me wary. If the person in question, who presumably knows about this, could Radio me, that would be great so we can get confirmation behind your claim. Easiest thing for me to do with so little time left is just give my rundown on everyone, and respond to others’ posts if I have time. Nevermind Xino just posted @xinoehp512, Araris Valerian. Thank you for revealing yourself—next time, please state this in-thread earlier for a quicker resolution. We probably should have lynched him yesterday, or last cycle, and my inability to get on the Shard for any significant period of time reduced the effectiveness of your contact.

Sorry for my lowered activity; one (hopefully) lengthier post a day is probably all I’ll be getting in for the foreseeable future. My Araris vote is clearly going nowhere, and he’s been giving reasonable explanations for the issues I’ve pressed him on, and has generally contributed a lot to discussion; while this doesn’t eliminate my prior suspicion, I’d rather keep a highly active Araris around, both because he’s normally killed early and because it allows him to build up AI, analyseable content. I’ll confess to not knowing the lynch dynamics here terribly well, but if Rath’s count is to be trusted, the Elkanah/Kidpen/Abstrusity trío popping up again in exactly the same format is creeping me out. As I’d like to investigate the possibility that they’re coordinating this, as well as the chance that Kidpen and Abstrusity are concentrating their votes as a deliberate tactic to avoid needing to cast around for new targets, Kidpen, in part to head off the strange Elkanah counterwagon of which I’m still not entirely sure of the origin. (I know I know, I’ve been voting for just Kidpen and Araris the whole game too, etc etc. I’ll look into more people when I have the time, which is not now ) This, for the record, is why we do have D1 lynches; it gets the initial confusion and floundering out of the way and lets us start focusing on interactions sooner. It’s also why I distrust both you and Kidpen: the Coda lynch provided almost no discussion or alignment indicative information, which has paralysed our analysis (though I’d argue there’s enough out there for those with time to do something with). Can you elaborate on this, @Kynedath? You make two separate claims in support of your argument, but don’t explain them fully; why is their voting not of use to the Elims, and what are the reasons they might have voted on Coda? edit: ninja’d by Araris. Yes, you should definitely join in the murder and become pyscopathic lynchers with the rest of us

Hmph. 18 hours into the cycle and no significant lynch discussion. I’m a bit under the weather, so this post will be short so I can get some rest. Araris Valerian, mind explaining your vote on Xino a bit more? @StrikerEZ I’d still like elaboration for your vote on me, as well as some thoughts from you on Kidpen and Abstrusity. I find the synthesis of @Kidpen, @Abstrusity and @Elkanah on the Coda wagon to be an interesting one. As @The_God_King has rightfully pointed out, it sprang out of almost nowhere at the end of the cycle as a train on an inactive. I still have my eye on Kidpen, but the fact that he and Abstrusity both voted on Coda gives me pause; that’s either blatant elim coordination, or I’ll need to rethink my distrust of one or both of them. @everyone else not posting or voting, please get on and contribute. We’re nearly halfway through the cycle and have almost nothing to show for it. If I had more time and energy I’d comb through Kidpen and Abstrusity’s posts last cycle to re-evaluate them, so perhaps someone else motivated (or multiple someones) could give their opinions?

Oops, I did miss that. For many of the same reasons as mentioned in my section on Kidpen, I’m not necessarily a huge fan of votes on inactives, as they tend to sink discussion, but that’s a fair choice for C1; I did it myself earlier because I didn’t like my prospects with any of the active players at the time. Just don’t be afraid to jump into the fray and accuse someone more active later; we don’t bite if you accuse us, at least normally, and we do eventually run out of our stock of lurkers to lynch

3) Might have been my comment on being wary of Elkanah for asking for information publicly, but more wary of Araris’ poke on him for it? My point was that Elims try not to draw attention, not that they don’t gather information publicly at all, and so Araris condemning Elkanah for what I would perceive as a more village move looked like a quick jump on an easy target. 4) Wouldn’t mind you elaborating on this a bit, specifically since you’ve voted for me based on this now and I’m not sure how I ought to defend myself. Nevertheless, Striker, as you’ve certainly contributed enough to discussion. I think the problem you’re running into is the generally poor nature of D1 voting; for instance, while Araris’ vote on Elkanah would be something I’d vote on him for in, say, C4, in the light of the limited data we have for analysis during the first turn, I’m more inclined to let it slide, as it’s votes like that which get discussion rolling (even if, as previously mentioned, I don’t necessarily agree with him), which is ultimately helpful for the village. Hmm. Xino is one of my stronger village reads, so I’m not entirely sure I like either of your posts now. A good point that people should be voting, though I’d point out that if I was voting based on minor suspicion and not poke-voting then you’d be up for the lynch. @StrikerEZ While I do understand if you don’t have time this cycle, I’d appreciate later elaboration on your suspicion. I’d again like elaboration here, as your final paragraph is (no offence) maddeningly vague, and I’m left with little reason for why you’re voting on Striker and suspecting me besides gut. We’ve both put out enough content that you could probably find something specifically suspicious about each of us, so this justification annoys me slightly. Though you do raise good points on the code stuff; I personally don’t have the time or interest to decipher it, and am generally of the opinion that if something is important enough to be shared with the whole thread, it should be comprehensible by all of the players and not only those with hours of their life dedicated to codebreaking. Well, apparently posting once a day is not going to be enough to keep on top of everything. Not that it’ll stop me from trying. I picked out the stuff I found noteworthy (or at least response-worthy) and replied above. (Sorry this paragraph was originally at the top of my post then multiquoting moved it ) I should note that after seeing more of both Kidpen and Abstrusity, I’m feeling worse about both, but feel much more comfortable condemning Kidpen on the basis of the tone of this post: Which seems...less than genuine, and might be a case of me reading the sarcasm poorly over text, but it seems like a way of seeming to contribute while not actually doing so. His subsequent vote on Coda is a safe place to park his vote, an inactive, and adds little to the effort to find the Eliminators. While Abstrusity’s reticence to vote does irk me, he is at least being honest about it, something I’d consider village (though it’d be nice to see a vote from him, along with the others who haven’t added theirs yet). Out of the more frequent posters, I’d suspect Kidpen the most, followed by Striker and Araris. Finally, while I do realise my vote fragments the lynch even further, I hope more options will help undecideds choose where to cast their votes. The thread seems fine with the current status quo (the Striker lynch) and isn’t pushing against it too much, a small point in his favour, so I hope to broaden the lynch pool a bit (even if that gets me killed ) and get more discussion on the active posters that aren’t Elkanah and Striker.

Hello, checking in! I’ve stuck my head in a few times here earlier today and didn’t have enough time to make a full post, but with the discussion that’s been started, I should certainly have enough material to do so now. Fair warning right now that I have not read Skyward, so if I do RP, it’ll be for that sweet sweet money, and not because I have any remote idea of how the setting works Going through some stuff in order, here are my impressions: Kidpen’s chain of interaction with @Abstrusity looks odd to me; the “random” poke vote is something that tends to irk me, as I don’t see it as advancing discussion, and it’s often a vehicle for Eliminator distancing and a cheap way of getting interaction in-thread. Slight suspicion of Kidpen already for this post. I would like to re-emphasise what Xino has said here, all of which are excellent points, with the addition that the best use of the Citizen’s vote is to break ties and should be used for maximum effect in close votes. If the Citizen is available around rollover, or close to it, that would be best to both use the role to its full effect and to avoid needlessly exposing it. One key difference is that the vote removal is anonymous, which is more useful but also more dangerous; I’d expect one of each of these on each side, as the concealed nature of the vote manipulation makes it a good fit for the Elims, while the village just tends to have more roles to counterbalance Team Evil. Either way, I’d be wary of anyone claiming or using the Pilot role too flagrantly. While I share your concern over Elkanah’s question, it should also be noted that villagers tend to be less risk-averse than Eliminators, and I wouldn’t expect an elim!Elkanah to blatantly ask for people’s roles. I’m a little curious why you thought this was immediately suspicious; Elims generally want to keep a hold on information, not share it, as that’s their most significant advantage. It looks like you’re jumping on Elkanah for a relatively NAI comment, so I’m curious why you sent one of your trademarked “stab votes” his way. You do make a good point about the Eliminators likely getting a pistol, but that’s not necessarily something we can afford to worry about; unless they began with a ridiculous amount of currency, and assuming a three-man team, it’d be hard for them to get it by next cycle without forgoing the faction kill to pass the chits and buy the gun, so we probably don’t have to worry about the extra kill until C4 at the earliest, by which time I hope at least one of the Elims is already dead. Well, an Eliminator doesn’t have to tell anybody that they have this role, but otherwise yes, this is a helpful idea. Mind elaborating on what you mean here, @The_God_King? Mmm. Not a huge fan of this idea; it surrenders information to the Elims if they’re dispersed in the playerlist, allows them coordination if they’re clumped, is dependent on 100% activity and compliance, and doesn’t create much public discussion. I’d rather have people with chits use their action to pass them to people they actually trust, or just save them to buy items. The plan also seems a bit mayor-y, and I’d rather that people have control over their actions. If we’re careful with our lynches and actions, one gun falling into Eliminator hands shouldn’t decide the game. Both Elkanah and the Elkanah wagon feel off to me, I’d rather not get Araris killed D1 again even though I didn’t like his post, and I want to hear back from Kidpen and Abstrusity before looking more into their votes. I also have vague village reads on Kynedath and Xino, the two other main contributors to discussion, and would like to get Sart’s reply before judging him for his strategy. As such: No mercy, Striker. (Once you get the chance, please do check in. This is just my version of a placeholder vote as I wait for people to meaningfully respond to the thread again so I can form better opinions.)

It’s been too long since I’ve actually played and not just GMed, so even though I’m unfamiliar with the setting, I’ll try to make the time for this one, especially with the interesting ruleset. Please sign me up as Warrin, callsign Scrivener.

El has a writeup started, but is at D&D right now, and she should post it separately to get the upvotes she deserves once she’s done. Voting has concluded! The winners of the three non-Sanderson passes you have voted for are Emerald Falcon/Arraenae, Magenta Albatross/StrikerEZ, and Violet Axolotl/Burnt Spaghetti. Final Player List: 1. Amber Vulture: Jashi, Stormwarden Devotary of Spontaneity 2. Amethyst Scorpion: Jesh, Lost Axehound Elandera 3. Chartreuse Penguin: Taladir, Gambler Mailliw73 4. Coral Swan: Germaine, Scholar Sart 5. Cream Tuatara: Dfyan, Scholar Haelbarde 6. Emerald Falcon: Sein, Inquisitive Arraenae 7. Indigo Weasel: Adhom Inem, Ardent Straw 8. Ivory Dragonfly: Krask, Conspiracy Theorist Hemalurgic Headshot 9. Magenta Albatross: Jonan Wikim, Lost Axehound (Gren) StrikerEZ 10. Mauve Crocodile: Sernes, Paranoid Scout Araris Valerian 11. Mint Heron: Sam, Once a Darkeyes Coda 12. Onyx Flamingo: Kir, Kleptomaniac Scout Dalinar Kholin 13. Opal Lion: Tnaidar, Scout xinoehp512 14. Pearl Chameleon: Purrl, Adolin’s Former Girlfriend Rathmaskal 15. Plum Rhinoceros: Logalog, Scholar _Stick_ 16. Quartz Zebra: Arauna Khadal, Adolin’s Former Girlfriend Lumgol 17. Saffron Iguana: Merinira, Scout DeTess 18. Sage Kangaroo: Gilglin, Ardent (Devotary of the Mind) Snipexe 19. Salmon Meerkat: Cadamum, Ghostblood Recruit Cadmium Compounder 20. Scarlet Octopus: Max Mercury, Past Lives A Joe in the Bush 21. Sunburst Toucan: Tafud, Slightly Crazy STINK/Kasimir 22. Taupe Gecko: Brana, Scholar Young Bard 23. Turqoise Gorilla: Bomer, Gambler Elkanah 24. Violet Axolotl: Adi, Anxious Burnt Spaghetti Please sign out of your anonymous accounts, and use your regular ones to post in here. The mods will be going through and resetting all the passwords throughout this week. Thank you once again to everyone for playing. This was among my favourite games to GM; part of that was certainly thanks to the invaluable help of @Elbereth, whose beautiful spreadsheet made GM errors next to impossible (though she still couldn’t make it idiot-proof enough for me ), and who was a tremendous help early in the game when I was too busy drowning in relatives to deal with crises like moderator anon accounts. But this game was great mostly thanks to all of you, who took our trolling in stride and took the writeups and prompting El and I gave you and turned them into wonderful RP of your own. I’ll make an acknowledgements and reflection post later in the week about all of that and more, but right now I need to go to bed, and in any case you all deserve a chance to talk to each other as yourselves. Oh, and for those of you who caught the whitetext and captions earlier, yes, the aftermath writeup is based roughly on the 1812 Overture. Or at least it will be once El puts the final piece into the puzzle. Right now it’s only reflective of about the first 11 minutes.

Voting is over! Expect results to be posted in about a day, as El works to finish her writeup, or I l’ll cobble something together if she’s unable to. Thanks to everyone again for playing!

Sure, here you go. 1. Amber Vulture: Jashi, Stormwarden2. Amethyst Scorpion: Jesh, Lost Axehound3. Chartreuse Penguin: Taladir, Gambler4. Coral Swan: Germaine, Scholar5. Cream Tuatara: Dfyan, Scholar6. Emerald Falcon: Sein, Inquisitive7. Indigo Weasel: Adhom Inem, Ardent8. Ivory Dragonfly: Krask, Conspiracy Theorist9. Magenta Albatross: Jonan Wikim, Lost Axehound (Gren)10. Mauve Crocodile: Sernes, Paranoid Scout11. Mint Heron: Sam, Once a Darkeyes12. Onyx Flamingo: Kir, Kleptomaniac Scout13. Opal Lion: Tnaidar, Scout14. Pearl Chameleon: Purrl, Adolin’s Former Girlfriend15. Plum Rhinoceros: Logalog, Scholar16. Quartz Zebra: Arauna Khadal, Adolin’s Former Girlfriend17. Saffron Iguana: Merinira, Scout18. Sage Kangaroo: Gilglin, Ardent (Devotary of the Mind)19. Salmon Meerkat: Cadamum, Ghostblood Recruit20. Scarlet Octopus: Max Mercury, Past Lives21. Sunburst Toucan: Tafud, Slightly Crazy22. Taupe Gecko: Brana, Scholar23. Turqoise Gorilla: Bomer, Gambler24. Violet Axolotl: Adi, Anxious

Brightness Kareana sat with her head between her hands, muttering quietly to herself. So few remained after the bloodshed of the recent nights, with the Radiants taking matters into their own hands, failing more often than not. Now there were three senior Radiants left besides her; a far cry from the twenty-four she had started with, and populated with at least one traitor. She figured that she would be dead already if more than one of them had been working with Odium, yet the clandestine murders at night continued, Kir stabbed in his sleep, so the scouting party was by no means free of evil influences. The Breakaway seemed to be shielded against Re-Shephir’s shadows, or at least they had not ventured into her domain yet, so one of Cadamum, Adi or Adhom Inem was still responsible for the murders. Kareana frowned. It would not be too difficult to kill all three. She had blackbane in her bag, and the Radiants were notorious tea drinkers. It would be a simple matter of slipping some into everyone’s portion, guaranteeing she was the only one left after the mess the scouting party had been. A few now-terrified scribes and mostly terrified soldiers remained, and they had the data Dalinar wanted. If she were able to expunge the remaining lackey of Odium and get Radiant reinforcements from properly vetted men, it would be a step in the right direction. Yet Adi and Cadamum were experienced Radiants, and Adhom Inem showed good potential; besides, she could hardly call herself honourable by avoiding a difficult decision by condemning the innocent with the guilty. And explaining what had happened to Dalinar would be...difficult. Approaching footsteps clicked on the stone tiles, and Kareana lifted her head in time to see Adi trotting towards her, the same furrowed look of concentration and anxiety on her brow which she had had since the expedition began. Of the three senior Radiants, she trusted Adi the most; she had admitted to leaving a long glyph message in the rock the night Gilglin was murdered, and judging by its length and location she had done little else at the time; besides, she had a general air of honesty about her. The grooves of thought in her forehead were plowed particularly deep, though, and Kareana’s caring instincts took over. “What’s the matter, child?” she asked, sidling up next to her and studying her face. She was distraught, and it came through in her speech, which became scattered and broken. “I just know—later today—I’ll have to choose between—Cadamum and Adhom for who’s going to die—and I could end up picking the wrong one and dooming the world. What if I got it wrong, Brightness? Would I be reviled for—for what I did? How can we get out of this mess?” Kareana took Adi’s shoulders in a firm grip, but trembled internally. She had been thinking of how she was going to approach the situation, but what about the near-child upon which she was allowing their fate to be hung? She was shortsighted, at times. But she could not be here. “Listen, Adi. Your decision today, be it right or wrong, will not cause anyone to despise you, and if it does, that’s a reflection on them and not you. The Almighty won’t let us doom the world, and he’ll watch over you no matter how you choose. We came up here knowing there would be risk, yes?” Adi nodded tearfully. “Well, we’ve had to take those risks, and you’ve already won your share of them. You took it when you helped condemn Merinira. Almighty willing, the risk will be equally in our favour tomorrow. But even if it isn’t, we’ll still take it. Strength before weakness, child.” That straightened her up. Drying her tears, Adi nodded at Kareana. “Well, thank you, Brightness,” she said, pausing awkwardly as Kareana inclined her head in acknowledgement. Her voice trailed off. “Well...I’m going to find the other two now, if you’ll excuse me.” “Of course,” Kareana said softly. Watching the child make a bumbling retreat, she suddenly smiled. It was high time she took her own advice. She had been a bystander in the fighting amongst her Radiants for too long. Starting now, that would change. Grabbing a conventional broadsword and latching it to her belt, and taking one of the half-Shards from her pack which Dalinar had set up, she tailed the girl at a distance. This time, she would ensure that the aftermath of a decision would be strictly under her control. On the forty-fourth floor, Adhom Inem glared over the fire at Cadamum. He knew the man had to be the final Sympathiser to Odium. The girl was too innocent to have been going around murdering people, especially given that she had spent the night carving a message into a rock wall—what self-respecting murderer did that? Yet the four Radiant squires with them made the question of dispatching the man a much trickier one. Cadamum would be expecting the Surge of Division, and Adhom doubted an arrow or knife would be quick enough to pierce his defences, based on watching him fight in the past. Adhom gritted his teeth. He had to find a way to get at him! Yet there seemed to be no chink in his armour, at least in a public setting like this one. Lunging over the fire would certainly be effective if the two were alone, but the squires could easily arrest his progress if they had to. And perhaps it was best that the squires were there, or he’d have been dead a long time ago. Cadamum certainly hadn’t backed away from murder before, and with so few of them left now... A pair of running footsteps sounded in the hallway. Cadamum pivoted to face the door, giving Adhom a clear view of his exposed back. Yet two of the squires were watching him with eyes that radiated warning. For the first time, he felt seriously discomfited. Were they also with Odium? Or was the paranoid atmosphere of Urithiru simply seeping into his bones? Either way, he had cause for concern. The pattering stopped, and Adi appeared in the doorway, looking more concerned than usual. Understandably so, of course; she did not have the clarity afforded to him by the situation. However, he had come prepared to convince her, and immediately began launching into his explanation. Cadamum’s hands were creeping towards an array of daggers at his belt, and so he made it as quick as possible, trying to look Adi in the eye while keeping the other eye trained on the traitor's hands. It wasn’t easy, and the skeptical glances from Adi made it even more difficult. As he pled that Cadamum had been unable to prove he had not murdered, she finally silenced his explanations with a wave of her hand. Adhom felt sick. Was he being left to die? “If you don’t believe me,” he shouted, feeling a sudden burst of passion, who do you trust? Him?” He jabbed in the direction of Cadamum’s back with his knife. Adi bit her lip, blood trickling down her cheek. Suddenly, she snapped too. “I don’t trust either of you!” she yelled, drawing her knives. “You two sort this out! I can’t...I’m not condemning either of you!” Adhom’s heart sank. Not the answer he needed to hear. For his part, Cadamum grinned. “Suit yourself,” he said, and released the dagger in his hand. Adi yelped, jumping out of the doorway into the main hall as the dagger whizzed past her head. The four squires stirred, but the two Adhom had noted earlier were far faster, sinking their blades into the others. They died almost silently, their screams cut off by the steel sliding into their lungs. Looking up, he saw both Cadamum and his squires facing him. He was a powerful Radiant, but not that powerful. He would simply have to see how many of Odium’s scum he could take with him. Whirling, he went for Cadamum’s head, Lashing himself to the opposite wall for additional unexpected momentum. The Ghostblood seemed taken aback, barely moving himself out of the way of the oncoming blade, and Adhom felt a hint of satisfaction as the edge of his sword skirted along the other man’s shoulder, drawing blood. The satisfaction was short-lived, however, as Cadamum’s own sword came with impressive speed at his own head. Too disoriented from the Lashing to effectively move, it hit true, and Adi’s quickly retreating figure was the only Loyal Radiant remaining in the expedition. Adi flew down the hallway as fast as her legs could carry her, away from whatever Cadamum and his men were doing in there. Adhom Inem was likely already dead, and she was the only one left who could warn Kareana and get her to stop their threat before it was too late. Internally, she berated herself for her stupidity. How difficult could it have been to just choose? But you had to go and choose the wrong person, and doom us all! Kareana would be furious when she heard what had happened. Or perhaps she’d be understanding. It could be hard to tell with that woman, at times, but right now she was the Radiants’ best hope. As she turned a corner, still sprinting doggedly, a silhouette jumped into her vision from behind the wall, and she screamed, awkwardly braking but still slamming into the mail-plated Kareana and falling to the paving-stones. The brightlady was taken aback, but maintained her footing, pulling Adi to her feet. “You gave me a fright there, child. What’s the matter?” Too exhausted to cry at the memory, Adi related her tale. Kareana’s lips tightened as she related the betrayal of the squires, and she sighed at Adhom’s death. “There was nothing you could have done by staying, Adi, though I wish things had gone otherwise. It’s too late to berate ourselves for our blunders at this point, and our best hope is isolating the squires and killing them, then dealing with Cadamum. Do you figure the three are still on the forty-fourth floor?” “Probably,” Adi replied, wiping the blood from where it had run down her cheek and turning down the passage where she had come from. “At least one would be, to watch for my return, probably. Though they probably think you’re still holed up in the Breakaway—I know I did, or I’d have had you help.” “That's not exactly excellent news,” Kareana said grimly, “but Ellira and Errdal can probably hold the Breakaway for now if they have to. If they don’t expect me, we can probably scatter them here. But I’ll need your help. You will be required here, Adi—I can’t watch my back for those shadows without you, and it’s high time you started striking at these false Radiants now that they’ve unmasked themselves.” Adi breathed deeply, allowing Kareana’s words to sink in. “Okay,” she said, and peered around the doorframe leading to the forty-fourth floor. Her breath caught in her throat. Motioning Kareana to also look, she took in what she observed. Led by one of the squires she had seen earlier, a regiment of about four dozen of the shadowed figures was forming, oily black spears and shields and swords coalescing from seemingly nothing. A marching beat shook the floor, led by the back rank of shadows, which seemed to be the ones responsible for the discordant drumming reaching her ears. It was an impressive force, given that two or three of these shadows could give a Radiant trouble, and there were few of them left anyway. Ordinary soldiers would be hopeless against such a force. The squire motioned, and the section pivoted, heading perpendicular to the doorway towards another point in the hall. Realisation flooded Adi with dread. “They’re heading for the lift system!” she hissed to Kareana, who only nodded grimly. “If they reach it, they’ll get the Breakaway, and cut off the Oathgate!” “Then we follow them!” Kareana replied, and pushed past Adi into the open chamber, producing her Shardblade. Bracing herself, Adi did the same, and charged after her mentor. She would make Cadamum pay for the deaths of her companions. Kareana charged out of the doorframe, swinging her Shardblade at the two nearest shadowed figures, who were taken aback. Their blades of shadow somehow managed to block Kareana’s initial wild strokes, but the neatly formed ranks collapsed, and consternation reigned in the chamber. Behind her, Adi had already speared a shadow with her Blade, and was fending off another with her dagger. She was awfully quick with it, and Kareana stopped worrying about her as she began having her own problems. Her Shardplate marking her as the greater threat, the shadows thronged around her, jabbing with spears and slashing with swords. Somehow, her Blade managed to intervene, chopping the weapons apart, and occasionally ending a shadowed form. Unlike what Errdal had reported, these units actually seemed to die, their essence in the Cognitive Realm disappearing entirely when she struck. Perhaps it was the cost of allowing the shadows to roam so freely far from Re-Shephir’s lair. Or perhaps it simply made them more dangerous—some of their weapons had blocked a Shardblade, after all. Setting to her task with renewed determination, Kareana struck out at the soldiers around her, not relying on the Blade’s destructive power as some did, but maintaining the forms she had been taught, and looking for the gaps in her enemy’s. A slice here, a thrust there, and the ranks began to collapse further, with perhaps half the shadows dead. Adi was making quick work of a group of three that came up behind her—was that Soulcasting the girl had used on that one shadow behind her? She was full of surprises, and good ones to boot. Cutting down two more figures in her way, Kareana renewed her charge, Adi in tow, aiming for the squire who led the group. They met halfway, blades clashing again, and Kareana left Adi to do most of the work with the shadows as Cadamum’s squire produced an aluminum sword. Easy to block a Shardblade with, and potentially deadly in the hands of a skilled user. Sparks flew as the blades met, and the remaining shadows surged, forcing Kareana back again. She gritted her teeth. How on Braize was she supposed to fight this many enemies at once conventionally? Adi was already desperately fending off a group of five shadows, which were wisely staying out of Blade range. That left her a dozen or so. There was nothing to be done, then, except use Surges. Breathing deeply from one of the two large gemstones she carried, she drew enough Stormlight for a low-powered Surge of Division, which pulsed out from her in a wave of heat and light. Adi gritted her teeth as her torso was burnt, but Kareana had no alternative. The shadows quaked as well, their forms loosening, and she wasted no time. Their cluster of attack was easy to hit with a Blade, and only one of the dozen escaped immolation. Kareana was pleased to see that none of Adi’s five were giving her trouble either. Grinning, she blocked the vengeful squire’s quick strike, twisting her Shardblade as she did so to cut off the vanguard of his sword. He back-pedalled, frantically attempting to escape the wheeling arc of light which Kareana’s blade had become, but he instead fell, tripping over an outcropping which a thousand years of crem buildup had magnified to many times its initial size. He stumbled forward, overbalancing, directly into Kareana’s thrust. Behind her, Adi swept the legs out from the final shadow, which crackled and dissipated into nothing. A sudden silence fell, broken only by the crackling of small fires that Kareana’s Surge had begun. That’s right, Adi’s injured! Kareana remembered, rushing over to the girl. “How badly were you burnt?” she asked, kneeling over her. “Not too badly,” she replied, “though I don’t know Progression, so you’ll have to take care of that.” Kareana winced. “I don’t exactly know it either,” she admitted, “so you’ll have to manage. Sorry.” The word felt odd in her mouth, especially to her subordinate, but it was also necessary—the girl had every right to be annoyed. “I had to scatter those things somehow so I could deal with the squire.” “It’s not an issue,” Adi replied. “Strength before weakness, as you say.” The ghost of a smile flickered across her face. “Come on, let’s use the lift to get back to the Breakaway. Walking off my injury will be best anyway, and I’m sure Errdal and Ellira want to know about this attack.” “Remind me again why we’re entering on this level?” Adi whispered, following Kareana off the lift onto the floor below the Breakaway. “If there’s a battle up there, we’d have heard it by now.” “I’m not worried about walking into a battle,” she retorted, “but walking into a battlefield where the shadows have already won. That’s a trap I’m not putting my leg in. I’d have obviously headed straight up if there was any commotion, because we’d need to help. But this situation calls for caution.” “D’you reckon anyone is left in the Breakaway that the shadows would care about?” Adi asked. While Errdal was a Shardbearer, and Ellira had shown herself to be eerily competent, neither were Radiant. And the Breakaway was a good distance away from the Oathgate platform, enough that there were entry points that were closer to the gates on the lift system. Of course, given how forces were amassing, Cadamum might have had enough of the shadowed warriors to destroy the Breakaway with one group and secure the Oathgate with another. Suddenly, Kareana’s concerns didn’t seem so far-fetched. She gulped. Was she going to have to fight those shadows again? Kareana had fallen silent beside her, and Adi turned to look at the woman. The same set and determined face as always looked out, the eyes iron with resolve. Yet her posture suggested only weariness. “Brightness, if you can’t make it through another one of these battles…” “No, child,” the reply came. “I will endure as many battles as I need to get everyone down to safety and warn Dalinar that Urithiru is inhabited by traitors and Odiumspren. Remember, we were placed on this mission because Brightlord Kholin thought us able to handle any potential dangers. That includes armies of ancient spren. Worry about your own health—you’ll need to if we get into another of these scrapes.” Adi nodded. “As you say, Brightness.” She glanced around the passageway, which was narrowing and starting to ascend. The familiar golden and blue strata here gave her hope—normally the Midnight Mother’s creations made those bleed to red or purple—but caution was still necessary. She squinting, casting her eyes into the distance, and to her surprise found a Shardblade-wielding figure already standing in the doorway. She nudged Kareana, who muttered assent. “I see him. Though I think that’s Errdal, judging by the stance.” As they drew closer, Adi saw with relief that it was indeed the Shardbearer who had accompanied Radler on that fatal expedition, in what seemed like so long ago. Had it really been less than a week? It seemed unthinkable that a party of traitors could wipe out their entire group that quickly. Though we certainly did enough of their work for them, she thought grimly, wincing at the memory of failed murders and executions. For his part, Errdal peered back, and Adi saw his knuckles tighten on his Blade, then loosen and dismiss the Shard when he saw them. “Kareana, Adi!” he exclaimed, smiling. “It is you two. I’d worried you were shadows coming up to attack us again.” Adi felt a spike of alarm, and Kareana’s eyebrow visibly rose. “Again?” they said, Kareana’s indignance mixing with Adi’s worry. “When?” demanded the other woman. “An hour or so ago, Brightness. After you and Adi left, they assaulted us, a group of maybe fifty—” “Four dozen,” Adi muttered. “—pouring through that gateway. The soldiers were shaken, and I was as well, but Ellira and I managed to rally them. They were harder to kill than in the chamber, I think, but the deaths seemed permanent.” “I felt the same, oddly enough. Casualties?” Kareana’s voice was certainly strained. “Five dead and seven wounded, mostly those caught unaware in the initial rush. A lot more are shocked, though, and barely survived the mental strain. Once we grouped up, they were easier to handle, though without my Shard and Ellira’s daggers…” His voice trailed off, and Kareana resumed. “Where is Ellira? Wasn’t she supporting you? I don’t fully trust that girl.” “I don’t either,” Errdal replied grimly, “but she’s had two chances to kill me in the middle of combat and hasn’t yet. I think she went—” Errdal’s next words were cut off as a resounding boom echoed throughout the chamber, then the marching beat of drums. Adi heard Kareana swear under her breath, and looked askance at the brightlady. Errdal wasted no time, however. “Get inside the Breakaway!” he yelled, shoving both women towards its entrance, and slamming the doors to the area behind him as the three sprinted through. Adi panted, her legs already exhausted, but Kareana pulled herself up. “We will hold this door,” she announced, raising her voice. “Every person not a Radiant, which should be everyone that was in this room five minutes ago, should exit immediately towards the Oathgate platform. That is an order. We will meet you there later. Am I clear?” Assent was murmured, scribes and soldiers making their way with various speeds towards the direction Kareana had indicated. A group of soldiers tried to approach Adi, clearly wanting to help despite knowing it was hopeless, but Kareana affixed them with an icy enough glare that they saluted, retreating back down the hall. Adi looked back at the door. The red and purple veins in the rock weren’t just spreading, they were creeping up the door, and approaching the handles. Drums shook her ears, and she winced, bracing herself against the onslaught that was to come. Darkness slowly suffocated the window slats, leaving only Kareana and Errdal’s Blades to cast thin rays of light about them. The chamber shuddered again, then lay still. Adi closed her eyes as the veins reached the handles, pulling on them with sudden force and strength. The doors flew open, and chaos began anew. The shadows always came first, Kareana decided as she watched the doors to the Breakaway physically crumble, and an army twice the size she and Adi had faced down earlier emerge from its depths. The squire here had evidently learned, and was in the far back, using his aluminum-coated blade to urge the thronging army into the Breakaway chamber. Plans of holding the doorway immediately evaporated upon the sudden onslaught of figures, and Kareana stood back-to-back with Adi and Errdal, almost unable to distinguish the oily figures from each other. Her Blade was again a wheel of light, albeit a slower one than last time, as there was no alternative to that fighting style even if it tired you quickly—whatever those shadows actually were, their weapons bit like real ones, and only by covering all of herself could she keep the hordes from simply crushing her. Behind her, Errdal did the same, though less defensively, and Adi continued awkwardly squished between the two of them, yet still picking off unwary shadows and deflecting stray blows which threatened to hit the Shardwielders. Kareana had to admit to herself, even as she again fought for her life, that she had two of the bravest companions she’d had the privilege of fighting with. Errdal fearlessly took the offensive with his Blade, striking at the shadows in the gaps between their weapons and shields, and forcing them into an awkward defensive, while Adi seemed to find it nothing to throw herself between a blade and one of her companions to save them. She had already blocked Kareana from being hit twice, and had managed with her spear-work and small manoeuvrability to avoid damage. Yet it was undeniable that they were losing. The second wave of shadows slammed in after the first, the disarmed and limbless replaced by fresher and stronger forces, if the concepts of strength and energy could be said to apply to the constructs. Some of these had what looked to be pikes, and were staying out of Shardblade range, forming into a ring around the encircled defenders, behind the sword-wielding constructs which still hacked away. Kareana winced, seeing what was about to happen seconds before it did, yet unable to use Division to prevent it without outright killing her companions in the process. That didn’t stop her from unleashing a concentrated storm on the figures in front of her, however, which crackled to pieces against the blast of fire and wind. Then the ring closed, the ordinary soldiers receding to make room for the charge, and Kareana saw several things happen at once. Most immediately, in front of her, were four pikemen with their spears levelled at her chest. Division would be too slow, and an ineffective blast was more of a risk to Adi than a help to her. So she rolled out, ducking beneath the long spears and swinging her Blade, watching in satisfaction as all four figures jerked and died. However, a mass of shadows immediately filled the space between her and Adi, leaving the girl stranded with Errdal as the rest of the ring closed. Horrified, she let her guard drop for a brief moment, feeling her Shardplate suddenly double in weight as it cracked underneath the weapons of the shadows, but Kareana had eyes only for Errdal, whose lack of Plate had cost him dearly in the assault. Though his Blade had cleft nearly a dozen of the figures as he died, only one needed to get through, and now he lay prone on the floor, gazing with sightless eyes at the ephemeral pike protruding through his chest. Adi, to her credit, was facing off well against the crowd of shadows, ignoring Errdal’s corpse and using her energy to frantically block the jabbing spears and blades of her enemies. She had only moments, though. Snapping out of her reverie, Kareana let her Shardplate, which felt only like lead, drop to the floor, cutting the straps with her dagger which she held in her safehand. Making wide sweeps with the Blade to clear room for herself, Kareana beckoned Adi over, and the child hurriedly disengaged from the group she was fending off. Kareana was pleased to see that the crowd of shadows had thinned, returning to perhaps slightly more than the fifty or so she had encountered earlier. However, combined with the squire, who was approaching the rapidly tiring women like a circling whitespine, she wondered if the two of them could take on such a force. Cutting down two more shadows with her Blade, and watching as Adi Soulcast four more into oblivion, Kareana resumed the grim battle, feeling her arms grow more tired with each stroke. Next to her, Adi was flagging as well. “Can’t give up—now,” she grunted, darting her sword into another figure, which collapsed. “Life before—death. We can’t—leave things as they are now—we can’t die yet.” Kareana laughed, feeling Adi’s confidence infuse her with a burst of fresh energy. Spinning, she caught another shadow’s weapon, sending it flying into a neighbour. “You speak well, Radiant. We will hold this yet.” She only wished she was as confident as she sounded. With the squire drawing ever closer to them, and the shadows continuing to die, it would be only a matter of time before the deciding move was made. Half a minute and five more dead shadows later, as both Adi and Kareana continued bleeding in multiple places, she was proven correct. The squire raised his arm, and the shadows all disengaged, retreating to behind him. Walking forward, he addressed Kareana. “You put up a brave resistance against the Lord Odium. Surrender now, and he may deign to spare your immaterial lives. We are always looking for new servants.” A humourless smile touched his lips. “Or you may die here, exhausted and overwhelmed. It is your choice.” Kareana spat at the ambassador's feet, and he recoiled, glaring at the brightlady. “Very well, then,” he responded. “Death it is.” Without warning, the shadows attacked with renewed vigour, pressing Kareana back against the wall of the enormous chamber. Adi stayed beside her, but she was having to contend with the human squire at the same time, who was far more skilled than the shadowed copycats. A resounding clamour could easily be heard every time the two clashed blades, the squire’s heavy overhand strokes forcing Adi to her knees, holding her sword above her in a desperate attempt to ward off the blows. Beside her, where Kareana’s Blade could not reach in time, a shadow stabbed, its spear entering Adi’s side and causing the girl to scream in pain. Fighting for her own life, Kareana could only watch as Adi’s sword fell from numb fingertips, and the squire’s blade swept in one last motion, cleaving the head of the last member of the expedition loyal to Dalinar. So I really am alone, then. Odium has already won. No. She would not—could not—accept that. She screamed in rage, unleashing a Surge of Division almost unconsciously—with no allies for her to hit, it worked wonderfully as intended, the squire hissing in pain and the shadows shuddering, as they had before. Kareana took the opportunity to lay about her with her Blade, and the very advantage of the compact group when assailing her now became a liability as strokes killed five at a time. The shadows that could quickly retreated, once more making a ring around the squire. There were a mere handful left, at least compared to the numbers she had faced down earlier, but her body was screaming in pain, particularly her arms. She was definitely too old to be carousing around fighting Odium’s spawn. But as Adi had said, there was no choice. It was in the First Ideal from the beginning. Life before death. Strength before weakness. So she did the only logical thing for any outnumbered and exhausted force to do: charge. The squire was unfazed, meeting her Shardblade with the aluminum-coated rapier he held. It had a strangely heavy weight to it, if that wasn’t simply her torpid arm speaking for her. The shadows seemed to stay back, refusing to engage with her. A duel, then. That’s the fairest odds I’ve been offered all day. The squire parried with a vengeance, his thin blade whipping around to strike at Kareana’s exposed sides. Off-balance, she tried to pivot away, but had slowed too much from sheer exhaustion, and she felt cold steel pierce her upper leg. Groaning but staying upright, she swung weakly at the man’s exposed head, but he ducked easily as he withdrew the Blade. One, two, powerful strokes, and Kareana felt her Blade drop, her fingers reverberating with the clash of the metals. Looking up at the Sympathiser, who was clearly relishing his victory, she felt her heart speed up as he drew back to plunge his sword into her. My heart is speeding up. It seemed like such an odd detail to latch onto when she was about to die, but it was somehow important. Ten heartbeats. My Blade... The sword moved forward, but Kareana was faster, a final burst of energy allowing her to roll beneath the thrusting blade and stand on the other side, summoning the Blade through the back of the squire. He fell without a word. Kareana hit the ground before the last shadow had completed its screech of death, skewered on the end of her Shardblade. She had never felt so utterly exhausted in her life. And yet I must keep going, she reminded herself. There's a whole room of non-Radiants waiting to be slaughtered if you don’t act! Overcoming the sluggishness of her brain, she tried to get up, and found that one of her legs felt like lead, and that the other was numb. Odd, that—there had been sharp pain there before. She looked down, and saw blood still oozing from it in a thin red trickle. Well, it was little wonder she was in no state to be moving around. Suddenly, she began laughing. There she was, the victor and only survivor of a great battle, and she could not lift a leg to help herself. Brightness Kareana, Captain Radiant, Shardwielder, warrior, force of nature, lay prone and useless. Heedless of Errdal and Adi’s corpses, she laughed, unable to process the ridiculousness of the situation, laughed until her sides began hurting and she was gasping for air. After a good minute, however, she began sobering up, her breaths coming more evenly and slowly than the shuddered gasps she had been taking. A sudden pain in her bad leg flared, then subsided. She looked down, and saw her wounds close, her dizziness subside, and fresh energy flow through her veins. Standing with ease yet with wonder, Kareana looked down into her pouch, and saw with horror that almost an entire gemstone had been drained. Well, apparently I lied to Adi when I said I didn’t have Progression. Though it only works on myself? Either way, this was probably the greatest gift she could have been given—perhaps there would be no Stormlight left after the first trip, and perhaps she would remain stuck at the top, but there would be no usage of the Oathgate if she was lying half-dead in the Breakaway. Thank you, Almighty, she prayed, and ran with renewed vigour for the doorway leading to the Oathgate platform, taking care to put the sack of gemstones behind her to avoid accidentally inhaling more Stormlight. With happiness, she noted that her assistants were already well ahead, as she was unable to see them, and she blessed the Almighty again for unthinking obedience. It wasn’t always ideal, but here it had saved many lives. Making the final turn into the Oathgate complex, she was greeted by two jumpy soldiers, who brandished their spears at her before studying her face. “Brightness!” one exclaimed, dropping his aggressive stance. “You’re here! Where did the others go?” “They’re dead,” said Kareana simply. That sobered the room up, and silence fell among the chatting scribes. “And we all will be soon, if we don’t use this opportunity to get away. Klavin!” “Brightness?” a young soldier asked, stepping forward. He was barely old enough to shave, Kareana mused, but he had a cool head about him, and she had observed him calming the troops earlier after the first attack. He’d hold them together for long enough, and had an ordered mind to remember what he was told. She began again. “You get a battlefield promotion to second-in-command, now that all my Radiants are dead. Lead this group after you arrive in the Shattered Plains to Dalinar’s tent immediately, and tell him that Urithiru has been overrun by the servants of Odium, led by a man named Cadamum. Brightlord Kholin and his forces are to avoid the city, particularly the thirty-eighth floor, until he has a trained, powerful and trustworthy group of Radiants to reclaim it. Within the scribes’ notes is everything we know about the city. I, Kareana, testify to this report and its accuracy, and am not giving this in person in order that I might defend the Oathgate from above. Do you have all that?” Klavin’s face was knitted in concentration. “Yes, Brightness,” he said hesitantly. “Repeat it back to me.” He did, and switched only two words. Kareana was impressed, correcting him and having him lead the dishevelled party onto the platform, Vamah’s sorry regiment forming a ring around the distraught scribes. It was unlikely to do much good if they were attacked, but it was better than nothing. As they filed up, one of the scribes tapped Kareana’s shoulderplate. “What about Ellira, Brightness?” she asked. Damnation alive, that girl! Kareana felt like screaming at someone, probably herself, but she kept her face straight, though her lips were drawn in a thin line. “She’ll have to find her way here, or help me hold the shadows back at the top. I’m not responsible for her wanderings. If she chose to disobey my commands, I can only assume suspicious motives. We’ll wait a bit, I suppose, but time is precious here, and I can only countenance so much delay.” “You will not need to tolerate much more, Brightness,” a voice came from behind her, and Kareana spun around. Ellira stood there, a smug expression on her face, and Kareana began to wonder if she had wanted the girl back after all. Indigo Weasel (Adhom Inem) was lynched! He was a Loyal Knight Radiant Worldhopper! Violet Axolotl (Adi) was killed! She was a Loyal Knight Radiant Worldhopper! Errdal was killed! He was a Loyal Shardbearer! You will discover the ultimate fates of Kareana, Ellira and Cadamum after El finishes her section of the writeup. After a few delays, AG6/AN7 is over, and Odium’s Sympathisers have triumphed yet again! Congratulations to Quartz Zebra, Ivory Dragonfly, Plum Rhinoceros, Scarlet Octopus, Saffron Iguana and Salmon Meerkat for engineering a narrow late-game victory. Please DO NOT log out of your anonymous accounts yet, or post with your regular ones in this thread (though you are free to, and are indeed encouraged to talk with your anon account). Identity will still be presumed to be anonymous as we vote for the annual dissemination of non-Sanderson passes. This year, the passes (of which there are three) should go to the individuals who exhibited a consistent dedication to and engagement with the game by, for instance, engaging people in PMs, being an active or frequent participant in the thread, using their CRs and sticking with RP, etc. Everyone who participated in the game (so yes, Toucan will get two votes from the original and the pinch-hitter) will submit a ranked list of five people in their GM PM who they believe to have best exhibited these qualities, or otherwise demonstrated a desire or ability to maintain and encourage thread activity. You have until 9:00 PM EDT on Saturday 25 January (so about three and a half days) to submit or modify this list. At the end of that time, El and I will use the STV (Single Transferable Vote) system to select the top three players, who will be awarded a pass to run a non-Sanderson game. Thanks to everyone for playing, and tolerating your slow GM as he constructs an overly long final scene. While I’ll give most of my final thoughts after voting has taken place, I’ll note quickly that the post count on this AG was lower, but I think each person was able to stay at least somewhat engaged over the course of the game, which was wonderful to see—outright inactivity was very low. And I loved all the RP, especially the people who took it beyond the first few cycles. Expect my next game to have some kind of minor reward built-in for that, as it was fun to read and then later kill you in a manner more befitting your character. Final playerlist to be posted with correct identities after voting is over. Some doc links for those who want them: Eliminator Doc (The Knights Errant) Spectator/Dead Doc (The Tranquiline Halls) Master Spreadsheet (forthcoming) Thanks again to everyone for playing and providing an awesome start to SE’s new year. We couldn’t do these games without you.

As both El and I need more time to finish our portions of the writeup, the aftermath is getting delayed again; sorry. In the interest of satisfying immediate curiosity, the Eliminators have won, but the writeup is proving quite involved and not easy to tackle quickly. We hope the end product is worth your time, which is the only reason we’re delaying

The cycle is closed. For no reason in particular, rollover will be 24 hours long, so expect to see the next cycle up in a day’s time. Edit: Surprising nobody, my writeups take too long. It’ll maybe be up in three hours, if I have a reasonable closure. Your clues for the aftermath writeup are music, and never invade Russia in the winter.