Fifth Scholar

Please remember to get your actions in! Cycle closes in a little over 6 hours.

Small edits to the vote count have been made, which you should check if possible. Also, please thank and upvote El for continuing to run this with sleepy!Fifth in tow. And don’t forget your CRs! The RP D1 was fantastic and I wish we were using regular accounts so my upvotes would actually do something.

I would note that Windrunners cannot protect themselves. Their Oath states that they may protect only those who cannot protect themselves, so logically they should be able to protect themselves if there’s a prohibition on them protecting themselves which would then place them under their own protection, but then with the ability to protect themselves they no longer have an obligation to protect themselves because they’re already protected so they can’t protect themselves which means logically they should be able to protect themselves oh wait we’re going in circles this makes no sense what do the rules say

PSA: Somehow at least a few, if not all of these accounts got mod privileges. Please do not mess with anything, as we can see it from the backend, and just play the game as normal. Apologies for the inconvenience/oddity, and it will hopefully be corrected in short order.

Merry Christmas, SE! A quick reminder that you’ve got about 22 hours left to sign up, so this is your last chance if you’re still on the fence about participating. There are still plenty of slots open for those interested, so please join if you haven’t already. If you’re already signed up, expect a PM from El around this time tomorrow

Thanks to everyone who’s signed up so far. The game is officially scheduled to start at 4 AM EST on Thursday 26 December, so you have a little more than three days to decide if you’re playing, should you still be on the fence. Given that we are limited to thirty anonymous accounts, any players who signed up outside the first 24 hours will have a chance of being included as a pinch-hitter if we get more signups than we have Anonymous accounts, but right now we still have over half a dozen slots left open, so please feel free to join—you’ll have a pretty good chance of getting in no matter what. If you’d like to sign up as a pinch-hitter, that’s also fine should you not anticipate being available for the first few cycles.

Hello SE, and congratulations on somehow surviving another year of murders and bloodshed. Welcome to Anniversary Game 6/Anonymous Game 7: We Shall All Be Changed. Before discussing the game itself, however, I have several important announcements to make on behalf of the moderating team, and would encourage all of you to fully read through them. The first and most pressing matter is that of the moderation team itself. Unfortunately for all of us, both @Orlok Tsubodai and @Alvron have felt that their schedules no longer permit them to serve as effective moderators for the subforum, and have decided to step down. Needless to say, this is very saddening, as both have given years of service to SE and its community, helping to shape it into a better place, and both the logic and clarity of Orlok and the (sometimes lurking) activity of Alv will be missed on the moderating team and the subforum. We wish them the best of luck as they dedicate themselves to their respective pursuits, and hope that they will find the time to occasionally sneak back into a game or two. Their replacements on the moderating team will be @Elbereth, the other GM for this game, and @Devotary of Spontaneity, and I am confident that both will be excellent additions who will help Wilson and I tremendously in the coming years. El brings with her a wealth of experience in conflict resolution and a veteran perspective as two other long-time players depart, and Devotary’s keen sense of balance and impartiality will also be welcome in game balance review and our thankfully infrequent moderation. With changes in the moderation team, our game balance committee is also undergoing a shift in membership. We are pleased to welcome both @Amanuensis and @STINK back into the committee, and to receive @Elandera, @Araris Valerian, and @Sart as its new members who will be helping with game review. The committee will also be taking on responsibilities such as keeping the GM spreadsheet updated, revising the rules and Lexicon to reflect a post-AG2 understanding of SE, and giving additional feedback in the Art of Game Creation thread—undertakings which moderation has historically wished to be able to do, but there never seems to be enough hours in the day. With the revitalised committee, however, we hope to see these changes finally be made. The final significant alteration to SE policy is with respect to the SE Discord server established by @A Joe in the Bush and currently owned by @little wilson. While the Discord has been incredibly successful on its own merits, its well-being and the casual community fostered there have come at the expense of the subforum’s health and the activity of socialising institutions such as spectator and dead docs, PMs, and the games themselves, which have experienced a falling-off in activity recently. Therefore, to stem community migration to the server, we are officially divorcing it from the subforum—it will be removed from the General Rules thread, the #game_creation channel will be archived to incentivise participation in the largely defunct Art of Game Creation thread, and we ask that you not invite new members to the Discord, but instead encourage them to remain in the subforum and use the games and docs for social interaction. With these changes, we hope to revitalise the SE community and bring personal discussion and RP back into the games. It might surprise you, but you are allowed to talk about your life or begin off topic discussions in docs and PMs, and doing so actually helps both the community and the games. That should be it for sweeping structural changes, so onto a couple of smaller points. First, the variety of GMs in the spreadsheet for upcoming games is depressingly low, and we’d love to see more people creating and running games. With the reinvigorated committee and mod team, there are plenty of people eager to help out if you have a game idea you’re looking to refine, including El and I, and we’ll get you signed up on whichever list you’d like. (And once it comes to actually GMing, there are plenty of experienced players happy to help you co-GM.) So please contact us if you have any ideas you’d like to see run. Second, we’re implementing automatic spectator lists, which you can sign up for to be immediately PMed a spec doc for any game you’re not participating in, hopefully further incentivising people to contribute to spec docs. Finally, after a break during AG5, we are back to handing out non-Sanderson game passes, and will be distributing 3 or 4 after the game to worthy recipients. We won’t be revealing exact criteria, but worthy players are likely to be active, thoughtful and sensible players who foster discussion and community within the games. Just a thought. /announcements Oh no! Although Dalinar Kholin has successfully re-founded the Knights Radiant upon the formerly lost city of Urithiru, there looks to be an insurgent faction of the new Knights sympathetic to ODIUM, the Lord of Hate. While you’re aware of their existence, a small group of cornered individuals with mystical powers and incentive to kill...well, that can be a dangerous thing. Besides, should the Knights fall, who will guard Roshar when the Final Desolation begins in earnest? Factions: Roles: Cosmetic Roles (please read before signing up): Housekeeping: Each Day turn will be 48 hours long, with a simple no-vote-minimum lynch. The player receiving the most votes at the end of the Day turn will be killed; should there be a tie, a random player from among those lynched will die. Each Night turn will be 24 hours long, allowing the various factions and Radiants to submit orders. An inactivity filter of two cycles will be enforced. This is subject to change based on player count. To reiterate, PMs are open so long as an Edgedancer is alive. Please remember to include both @Elbereth and myself in any PMs made. Rollover will occur at 4 AM EST (-4:00 UTC) and may be posted by either El or myself. Due to writeups and the need to send PMs, this will typically take about an hour. Please be patient and bear in mind that there are likely thirty of you to keep tabs on. This game is a completely anonymous game. Please sign up by PMing both @Elbereth and myself with the title “AG6 Signup Request: [Your Name Here]” and include your chosen character and Cosmetic Role (details above) in the PM. Do not tell anyone whether or not you are playing the game. This both makes identity-guessing more fun and ensures the integrity of any voting we may do at the end of the game for non-Sanderson passes. If you wish to spectate, please PM us in a similar manner, and do not reveal that you are doing so. To facilitate anonymity, this thread will be locked, and we urge any discussion about rules changes to be made in the Q&A/Meta Discussion thread. At the start of the game, you will be issued an anonymous account. There are a number of rules associated with the use of an Anonymous Account. Please follow them carefully. Given the potential for abuse of Anonymous Accounts, any rule breaking using the accounts will be dealt with harshly. 1) Do not change the password of the anonymous account you are issued. Wilson (the IM), El and I will have access to all anonymous accounts for the duration of the game. 2) Do not use the anonymous accounts to PM any non-anonymous account, other than the accounts of the GMs. Please do not use your normal accounts to PM anonymous accounts. 3) Once again, do not tell any other player or individual associated with SE whether you are playing or not playing the Anonymous Game. Player identities will be revealed after the game, not on the death of their avatar. Players must not reveal their own identity after their death, until the end of the game, including in the dead/spec doc. Players wishing to spectate rather than play should PM El and myself for a link to the spectator doc. Questions and rules clarifications should be submitted in your sign up PMs, and will be posted by myself in the signups thread. 4) Do not change anything cosmetic about the accounts, including member title, username, signature, and avatar. Good luck to all, and we hope to get this thing started in about a week. Quick Links:

Thanks to Devotary for putting up the aftermath; as I mentioned in my comment on the QF, my connection issues combined with an old phone and a sleep-deprived me made rollovers difficult this game. Luckily, the connection and probably the sleep issues are getting fixed, so this state of affairs hopefully won’t be perpetual. I will put the finishing touches on Ularid’s death, and edit it in. My final thoughts on the game are that it was an overall success, but had several points of failure. 1) Low playercounts. There is nothing to be done about this, but it made balance very tricky, and great lengths were gone to in order that no team would get an unfair advantage from the start. Unfortunately, this was not always successful. One glaring flaw in my role design was vote manipulation; I gave the Eliminators, in essence, six votes to start the game, and while this was mitigated by powerful 1A items given to villagers, it was still likely too much. Had Drake not died to inactivity, the village would have likely been crushed. 2) I expected the thief to play a balancing role in the game, keeping large item clusters from forming. Xino’s inactivity removed this balancing force, and his quick death ultimately resulted in players being able to brazenly claim items without fear of retribution, making information more public than I’d intended, and perhaps slightly favouring the village (though Aman made quick work of any argument against him for the vast majority of the game, which is a testament to his excellent play). 3) The Heiring system. Devotary and I’s complaints on this are peppered throughout the spec doc, but wow was that a headache, and one I’d not have resolved without Devotary’s consistent help. The ultimate problem was that almost nobody bothered to Heir except the Elims (which was utter madness), and the resulting random redistributions gave the last players large clumps of powerful items. This was an issue specific to Maill’s old ruleset, and the new one removed items from circulation much more easily, but again the village was to be favoured slightly from this simply because there were only so many items the Elims could retain. It was partially responsible for Aman’s demise; the other half of that coin was the coins themselves, which seemed to harbour animosity towards the village at the beginning and the Elims at the end. Without the Heiring system, less random chance would have ensued, and the game would likely have been fairer. On a more positive note, the game certainly did see excellent play from both sides, and was close enough in the end that I’m on balance happy with how it turned out. Props to @Elbereth for preventing the Eliminators from spiralling out of control, @Amanuensis for his silver tongue which almost carried Team Evil to victory, and @Coda for an excellent showing as a newcomer. Don’t worry about being pocketed by Aman; it happens to everyone, including a certain GM who will go nameless. it’s me Finally, I’d like to thank both @Devotary of Spontaneity and @Snipexe, but especially Devotary. As a GM, it shames me to admit that I was not very fair to either of them, accidentally falling asleep on occasion and at other times (such as last night) having my connection issues take me out of commission for long stretches of time. Both were very helpful and patient through all of that, Devotary being consistent and active enough that she could probably GM a game of twice this complexity by herself, and Snip’s assistance with filling in the margins on the writeups with hilarious interludes was highly appreciated. They both deserve your upvotes and praise. Overall, I hope that despite my personal shortcomings here, you all enjoyed this game, and I do hold out hope that one day I’ll get to run my initial ruleset with more players. Thank you all for joining and making SE wonderful.

You’re fine, and welcome back! It’s nice to meet you Sorry to interrupt, everyone, and you can get back to your regularly scheduled programming of deciding who to murder

@Elkanah Welcome back to SE! One of the changes that was perhaps made in the time you were away is that blue text is now reserved for OOG information which you cannot lie about most likely bearing on activity, such as “I was experiencing connection issues again last night and couldn’t get back on to finish the LG aftermath writeup” (which, incidentally, I’m not lying about, and isn’t just an example), instead of being for Out of Character talk. All gametext now, whether RP or not, is black (though if you want to differentiate using something like purple, that works too). For everyone else: I’m the IM for this game.

The cycle is closed! Stay tuned for an aftermath just for this lynch’s results.

The Ghostbloods were not the only secret society who had infiltrated the nobility of Alethkar, and not all sought political change. Brightlord I.N.’s immediate mission was far more botanical in nature: his goal was to transplant samples of Ashyn flora on Roshar’s rather more inhabitable surface. So far, things were not going well. Roshar as a whole may have been intact, but the Shattered Plains were a terrible place to grow vegetation. Any plants that managed to take root in the bare rock were washed away by the frequent highstorms that were at their most devastating this far east. I.N. had complained to his superiors after every failure, begging them to consider a more arable location for their plan to preserve the dying Ashyn species. Every time, his superiors had refused, saying they couldn’t afford to have their only Rosharan agent give up his position in the Alethi hierarchy. When I.N. brought up the possibility of inserting a second agent somewhere with agriculture, they had not even considered his request, instead demanding that I.N. acquire another of the dwindling number of native plants, submit it for approval, and begin the journey back to Roshar with his precious cargo. Even with the Surge of Transportation and the general nonexistence in the Cognitive Realm of the vast distance between the two planets, the trip back to the Shattered Plains was a lengthy one. One did not physically tire running through the solid expanse representing vague thoughts about space, but making the same run week after week took its toll. As always, his spren Tolb tried to convince him to circumvent his orders. Like all of her kind she was bound by oaths, but she felt there could always be a way to fulfill promises while still undergoing to most reasonable course of action. Last time, she’d persuaded him to try and create a duplicate plant. I.N. was paid well enough to possess emerald broams, and such gemstones could be used as a focus to Transform any material into a plant substance. The results of this experiment had not been especially promising, as being able to produce a plant did not mean he could replicate vegetation perfectly, but he had planted his hybrid species in Jah Keved anyway. He would check on it when he arrived at the Horneater Peaks; perhaps he had been more successful than he’d thought. Just as he was thinking of them, I.N. found himself at the Perpendicularity that led to the top of the Horneater Peaks. Being merely a third ideal Radiant, this was as close to the Shattered Plains as he could get from the Cognitive Realm. Leaping through to Roshar, he summoned Tolb as a shield and began to sled down the mountains. So far, he had never died doing this, and it was certainly the fastest way down. This time, I.N. managed to only obliterate half his bones and didn’t even end up with a concussion, which qualified as a rousing success. After repairing his shattered body with all his remaining stormlight, I.N. ran at normal human speed towards is makeshift garden and stopped with subpar human grace when he saw someone else already there. I.N. recognised the man as an Alethi, one of Leiken’s underlings. I.N. panicked and began to reach out his hand to summon Tolb as a weapon, but the other man raised his hands in a calming gesture. He explained that he was merely a messenger, informing I.N. that the other nobles had voted to strip him of his title and holding in his absence. I.N. remained in shocked silence as the messenger turned to leave, recommending that he stay here and tend to his garden instead of returning to the Shattered Plains. As the man disappeared from view, I.N. couldn’t help but think this was a good idea. And the LORD answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain GM, which made an LG for his community, and sent forth his co-GMs to call them that were bidden to the game: and they would not sign up. Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are in Discord: Behold, I have prepared my game: my NPC character and my co-GM’s character are killed, and all role PMs are ready: sign up for the LG. But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his college work, another to his pressing RL obligations: And the remnant took his ruleset, and entreated it spitefully, and slew it. But when the GM heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his bot armies, and destroyed those unwilling, and broke up their Discord. Then saith he to his co-GMs, The LG is ready, but they which were entreated were not worthy. Go ye therefore onto the Shard, and as many as ye shall find, invite to the game. So those co-GMs went out into the forum, and gathered together all as many as they found willing, both villager and Eliminator: and the LG was furnished with players. And when the GM came in to observe the players, he saw there a man which had not posted for two cycles: And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having posted for two cycles twice? And he was speechless. Then said the GM to the co-GMs, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into the spec doc, where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen. Brightlord Ekard was sleeping again. As the congregation of nobles discussed who to kill, and seemed intent on disposing of those who spoke up and were suspicious, Ekard felt that the best way for him to carry out Mraize’s work was to simply say nothing at all. Then, he wouldn’t be killed. The solution had worked wonderfully thus far, with Elhokar’s men largely ignoring him. Moreover, he had found an outdoor pavilion which made for an excellent resting place, and carried the additional benefit of being screened from obvious notice. Much trouble—too much trouble—would have to be gone to in order to do anything with him besides criticise his absence and move on. Unfortunately, having closed his eyes earlier last night, Ekard could not use them to discern the unplanned highstorm which brewed above the horizon, moving with unnatural speed towards the warcamps. The Stormfather was determined to punish apathy this time, and Ekard’s own strategem of avoiding notice had worked too well. Not having seen him, all the people of the warcamps fled inside for cover as nature’s wrath was poured out around them. The stormwall hit the warcamps with a deafening rumble. Ekard started, awakened at last, and his eyes widened as he realised the dire straits he was in. He sprinted for the door of the nearest barracks, but was not nearly quick enough; a gust of wind threw his body into the air and over a chasm, and a defiant yell was the last heard of a man who truly placed himself at the mercy—or lack thereof—of the Almighty. Young Bard was lynched, but survived! Vote Count: Bard (3): Aman, Coda, Stink Drake Marshall died of inactivity! He was a Ghostblood with a Spanreed, Pain Knife and Reverser! Night 6 has begun! It will end in 48 hours on Friday 29 November, at 9 PM EST. Everyone have a happy Thanksgiving. For my part, I’m thankful for the chance to moderate and be a part of this wonderful community, and am also thankful for my co-GMs, who have helped tremendously this game. Please show your thanks by upvoting Devotary, who did the writeup for Bard’s not-really-death. EDIT: I’m also thankful for @Elbereth, without whom none of you would know which items deceased players held. Spanreeds may open new PMs during this Night turn at the cost of an action. Good luck! Player List: 1. Elandera as Brightness Ellarel, a flighty scribe who nonetheless remains tethered to the ground Noble 2. Rathmaskal/Young Bard as Brightlord I.N., whose reversed name conceals his role as a secret member of the Knights of Ni 3. Butt Ad Venture as Brightness Hmynyes, a connoisseur of classical Vorin music Noble 4. Xinoehp512 as Brightlord Rashor, a man who determinedly believes that blue wine is a plague from the Voidbringers Thief 5. Araris Valerian as Brightlord Arilar, a recently arrived spy with ties to the Kholins Noble 6. StrikerEZ as Brightlord Nalakor, a professional chull breeder and racer and close friend of the King’s Wit Noble Spy 7. Furamirionind as Brightness Dohila, a lighteyes who insists on wearing only orange and green lace Noble 8. Hemalurgic Headshot as Rat, a pet of Brightlord Joe and a secret worldhopper Noble Pet 9. Sart as Tleir, a Purelaker trying desperately to impersonate the missing Brightness Drella while House Sebarial hunts for her Ghostblood 10. STINK as Jumae III, a Brightlord whose eccentricity in fashion contrasts sharply with a docile and even temperament 11. DrakeMarshmallow as Brightlord Ekard, a man at the mercy of the Almighty Himself Ghostblood 12. Amanuensis as Brightlord Ularid Leiken, a man hunting a chull with a green shell which once insulted his mother 13. Coda as Brightness Dejda, one of Adolin’s former girlfriends who now hates the Kholins with a passion 14. Straw as Brightlord Straw, an effigy of Gavilar which was officially recognised as a lighteyes of the fourth dahn 15. Elbereth as Brightness Tintallë, whose title has come under charges of redundancy by expert Quenya scholars Noble

The cycle is closed!

Silent night! Holy night! All is calm, all is bright Round yon Ghostbloods, Hidden with Blade Silent Kill’rs, to the shadows they fade, Sleep in the grave’s embrace; Sleep in the grave’s embrace. Silent night! Holy night! Bridgeman quake at the sight! Brightlords fear of assassins above Ghostbloods laugh as the knife in they shove. Blades, the sharpest, be used! Blades, the sharpest, be used! Mraize put his head into his hands and let out a sigh. Around him the crowd applauded the young Ghostblood. He looked around the tavern, his eyes still refusing to believe what was before them. Someone, who he noted would not be around for much longer, had decided that rather than actually doing their assigned work, that of killing people, it would be a great idea to throw a party celebrating some Thaylen holiday or another, while they should have been out killing people. He slipped the mug of wine into his hands, sipping it through a tube into his mask. It was terrible. But it was better than what was assaulting his ears. Whoever was singing needn’t bother with knives. A few warbling notes, and their victim would kill themselves. He finished his drink, then held it up. He would need quite a few more to stop himself from killing everyone in the room. Domand surveyed the night, looking alternately down by the narrow light of his spheres at his feet, and up at the stone silhouette of the warcamps. A fall was not fatal to one of his talents, but it was inconvenient, and surviving one of them raised questions—as experience had borne out. He picked his way through the crem-covered rock formations which topped the chasms, peering out at the camps. An eerie quiet hung over them. No chull racing; no duels; no screams splitting the night air. It was a nice evening, and he intended to make the most of it. Smiling slightly at himself, and at the nostalgia of being a street vendor in the alleys of Silverlight, Domand began setting up his booth. It was always profitable—only the marketing needed to be changed. No longer Shard-invested items, the technically correct term which made the highly intellectual Silverlight scientists salivate at the prospect of studying them, but “blessed by the Almighty” for these more superstitious people—never mind that Honour was in very few of the things he was selling. The enemy was in more of them, in fact, as he knew himself. As was now a common occurrence at night, a light black steam began rising from the poorly dyed pink leather gloves which Domand wore. He tried not to think of what that meant. He was not here to see if Dominion could hold sway over the Lord of Hate, and he was not about to find out. After his conversation with Arrdel, the Council had largely stopped giving him grief publicly, but if he tried something like that, he’d be lucky to not be killed on the spot by the very group he’d founded. And for good reason. Realising he’d allowed his thoughts to wander, Domand shook his head. I need to stay more alert, he chastised himself. Adonalsium alone knows what could happen on this forsaken world. Indeed, as he stood underneath the black sky, Domand slowly heard a distant yet approaching rumble; looking east, his suspicions were confirmed. A mere line on the horizon now, the stormwall would strike in hours. He sighed, packing his booth back up. It appeared the lasting peace which he sought would still need to be achieved, and the temporary truce keeping the king and the Ghostbloods apart would be torn to shreds by the coming storms. And with nobody any closer to consolidating and creating order, the reaction was bound to be even more violent. Watching the chull who had adopted her after the death of the previous owner, Kay once again questioned why the beings best suited to understanding the Almighty’s will were among the least able to abide by it. Any animal was capable of blasphemy of course, but for the most part they did not attempt to predict the future or otherwise usurp the Almighty’s domain. This chull appeared more intelligent than others of her kind, but she still tended to limit her behaviours to those promised to have a specific outcome. Consuming rockbuds, cremlings, and grain had been declared to provide sustenance, and so eating these when hungry was not heresy. Experimenting was not forbidden either, so long as no firm conclusions were drawn and the outcome remained in doubt. Kay questioned whether her new companion truly understood this second part though, as failing to provide grain upon a plaintive bleat merely led to louder, more insistent cries. Yet Kay was sure that this creature didn’t spend time wondering whether the people who had killed her former master would be caught and executed. Kay tried to avoid these thoughts as well, but every time she saw the chull she was reminded of the circumstances by which they met. There could be no evident solution to this conundrum, as any plan to remedy it would require an attempt to shape the future. It wouldn’t do to imagine the possible steps required to offer the chull’s services to a Highprince as a beast of burden, or return her to the races to find a new rider, or sell her to a chouta vendor for food. Instead, Kay made the decision as she’d been instructed, impulsively and impermanently. Every time, Kay decided to keep her new friend. And every time, the decision became a little easier. Nobody was attacked! Day 6 has begun! It will end in approximately 47 hours, on Wednesday 27 November at 9 PM EST. Should a Night 6 be necessary, it will be 48 hours as well. Americans, enjoy your Thanksgiving with whomever, and don’t worry about getting orders in for SE. Spinach casserole is far more important. An obligatory reminder that spanreeds may not open new PMs. Thanks to Snip for an inventive parody of Silent Night, and to Devotary for continually excellent character development. Good luck! Player List: 1. Elandera as Brightness Ellarel, a flighty scribe who nonetheless remains tethered to the ground Noble 2. Rathmaskal/Young Bard as Brightlord I.N., whose reversed name conceals his role as a secret member of the Knights of Ni 3. Butt Ad Venture as Brightness Hmynyes, a connoisseur of classical Vorin music Noble 4. Xinoehp512 as Brightlord Rashor, a man who determinedly believes that blue wine is a plague from the Voidbringers Thief 5. Araris Valerian as Brightlord Arilar, a recently arrived spy with ties to the Kholins Noble 6. StrikerEZ as Brightlord Nalakor, a professional chull breeder and racer and close friend of the King’s Wit Noble Spy 7. Furamirionind as Brightness Dohila, a lighteyes who insists on wearing only orange and green lace Noble 8. Hemalurgic Headshot as Rat, a pet of Brightlord Joe and a secret worldhopper Noble Pet 9. Sart as Tleir, a Purelaker trying desperately to impersonate the missing Brightness Drella while House Sebarial hunts for her Ghostblood 10. STINK as Jumae III, a Brightlord whose eccentricity in fashion contrasts sharply with a docile and even temperament 11. DrakeMarshmallow as Brightlord Ekard, a man at the mercy of the Almighty Himself 12. Amanuensis as Brightlord Ularid Leiken, a man hunting a chull with a green shell which once insulted his mother 13. Coda as Brightness Dejda, one of Adolin’s former girlfriends who now hates the Kholins with a passion 14. Straw as Brightlord Straw, an effigy of Gavilar which was officially recognised as a lighteyes of the fourth dahn 15. Elbereth as Brightness Tintallë, whose title has come under charges of redundancy by expert Quenya scholars Noble

The Night is over. Please stand by as we put up the new cycle.

Protections come before all kills in the Order of Actions. Edit: HH’s items are now public. Thanks to @Elbereth for the reminder.

Rat squeaked, feeling the tumbling of Joe’s ash taco cart as the man enthusiastically wheeled it ahead of him, heedless of his rodent cargo, which was being jostled about quite severely. He could share in the Brightlord’s thrill, however—who knew ash tacos would sell so well in Roshar, where the warcamps’ only consistent consumption seemed to be wine? Yet it was counted as a foreign delicacy, and Joe’s last worldhopping had brought with him a large supply of the ash so crucial in their construction. The chouta merchants seemed baffled by the innovation, unable to sell their wares as they had in the past, and times seemed to be looking up. Except for the rattling of the cart beneath his claws, of course. As the cart neared the warcamps, Joe began rambling enthusiastically, addressing Rat in a low voice. “Maybe I’m not completely useless after all!” he exclaimed, gesturing at the full pouch of spheres tucked inside his cart. Having said this, and just after having made the turn into the warcamps proper, Joe tripped, sending the cart rolling along the uneven rocky ground. Miraculously, it remained upright, but even so Rat was nearly thrown from the top of the cart, and was forced to make an awkward scramble and a quick dart under the canvas layering towards the bottom of the stand to remain safe and out of sight. The runaway device did not stop with Rat’s safety, however, and the small rodent found himself jarred by the sudden collision with...something. He couldn’t see anymore. “...this cursed ash taco stand!” a bellow came, sounding like Brightlord Ularid. “Joe, storm you! Get over here!” The scurrying sound of footsteps made Rat believe Joe was coming nearer, but the folds of canvas were too heavy. He couldn’t see! He clawed more frantically, looking for a way out. As he squirmed, he could hear raised voices, Joe exchanging words with the crowd of nobility he had apparently interrupted. “...no clue why you keep this out-of-control stand in operation any longer. We have infiltrators and spies to root out, at the King’s orders, and your only concern is turning a little profit for yourself!” Definitely still Ularid, who was close by now. “Look, I’m useless, okay? Leave me alone; I’m not trying to get anyone hurt here. I tripped and fell, and whatever rocks you have in this area are very unforgiving on the knees.” That was Joe. Scrambling, Rat managed to free himself, and found himself looking up at three figures with weapons drawn, staring at the hapless Joe and his cart. He froze, hoping none of them had noticed his appearance, which was limited to a bulge in the canvas from which two eyes peered out. One of the three, neither Ularid nor Joe, cast a greedy eye over the pouch of spheres hanging on the cart. “Look,” he said to Joe, “I might not suspect you like Brightlord Ularid does. But we do have the rights to do customs inspections on your merchandise, which we haven’t done yet, unless the Highprince of Investigation has. Have you seen him?” Joe gulped. “No.” “Good,” said the man, and began heading toward the cart. He found his way blocked by the thick arm of Brightlord Jumae. “I don’t think so, my lad,” he said quietly. The tension in the air crackled, but no move was made. Rat grew increasingly uncomfortable with Ularid. Not looking at either Jumae or the Noble he was restraining, and keeping Joe back with one arm, he seemed to be peering...directly at Rat. His eyes narrowed, and his muscles tensed. Too late, Rat tried to scurry away. “How now, a rat?” he cried. “Dead for a ducat, dead!” The thrust came; Rat gave one last gibbering shriek, and was forever lost. The last thing he heard were the tears of his faithful master, Joe, and the cries of the other nobles as the cart was overrun and plundered. Hemalurgic Headshot was lynched! He was a Noble with an Alerter, a Spanreed, and a Painrial! Vote Count: HH (3): Aman, Coda, HH Aman (1): Stink Night 5 has begun! It will end in approximately 23 hours, on Monday 25 November at 9:00 PM EST. New Spanreed PMs may now be opened. If you have a PM open with a player already, it is acceptable to re-open that PM with your spanreed instead of creating a new one with identical membership. Good luck! Player List: 1. Elandera as Brightness Ellarel, a flighty scribe who nonetheless remains tethered to the ground Noble 2. Rathmaskal/Young Bard as Brightlord I.N., whose reversed name conceals his role as a secret member of the Knights of Ni 3. Butt Ad Venture as Brightness Hmynyes, a connoisseur of classical Vorin music Noble 4. Xinoehp512 as Brightlord Rashor, a man who determinedly believes that blue wine is a plague from the Voidbringers Thief 5. Araris Valerian as Brightlord Arilar, a recently arrived spy with ties to the Kholins Noble 6. StrikerEZ as Brightlord Nalakor, a professional chull breeder and racer and close friend of the King’s Wit Noble Spy 7. Furamirionind as Brightness Dohila, a lighteyes who insists on wearing only orange and green lace Noble 8. Hemalurgic Headshot as Rat, a pet of Brightlord Joe and a secret worldhopper Noble Pet 9. Sart as Tleir, a Purelaker trying desperately to impersonate the missing Brightness Drella while House Sebarial hunts for her Ghostblood 10. STINK as Jumae III, a Brightlord whose eccentricity in fashion contrasts sharply with a docile and even temperament 11. DrakeMarshmallow as Brightlord Ekard, a man at the mercy of the Almighty Himself 12. Amanuensis as Brightlord Ularid Leiken, a man hunting a chull with a green shell which once insulted his mother 13. Coda as Brightness Dejda, one of Adolin’s former girlfriends who now hates the Kholins with a passion 14. Straw as Brightlord Straw, an effigy of Gavilar which was officially recognised as a lighteyes of the fourth dahn 15. Elbereth as Brightness Tintallë, whose title has come under charges of redundancy by expert Quenya scholars Noble

The cycle is closed! Come back to see who is right...and who is dead. How now, a rat? Dead for a ducat, dead!

Please do not use any PMs opened by Araris, as he is now dead and the spanreed connection is broken.

Araris’ death has now been edited in.

The cycle is closed! Please bear with us whilst we sort out rollover.

Rollover will be extended by an hour, pending changes in my schedule. Please get in all your actions by 10:00 PM EST, a little under four hours from this post.

“I denounce you Ularid!” Brightness Tintallë’s voice rang out as she strode through the warcamp wearing the slowly reforming Plate that had once belonged to Brightness Tleir. “For too long, you have been allowed to murder your way through our ranks, but no longer! I challenge you to a full Shardbearer duel to the death, today at noon.” Ularid blinked in surprise. This was not how he had expected this day to go. Still, he could not refuse a challenge issued by a Shardbearer. He stood up from the table where he had been eating a leisurely breakfast. “If my lady desires a duel, I will of course accept. Still, I must ask you to reconsider. Our numbers are dwindling; we must work together if we are to root out the Ghostbloods.” Allë stepped right into Ularid’s face, forcing the man to step backwards instinctively. “You’re welcome to submit to a full body search, ‘Brightlord’”. Your associate had the most fascinating mark etched into her shoulder. Who knows where we’ll find it on you?” Ularid said nothing. Satisfied, Allë turned to leave, pausing only to call out “I suppose we’ll be searching your corpse instead.” As soon as Tintallë was gone from view, Ularid’s right arm began to shake involuntarily. Irritably, he grabbed it with his left and forced himself to calm down. He had been a fair hand with a blade in his prime, though he’d never gotten to wield a Shardblade except for brief practice sessions. He hadn’t fought in actual combat since the days of Gavilar’s campaign to reunite Alethkar under the Kholin banner. He didn’t know if he could hold off an opponent who would be trying to kill him, but now he had no choice. He would go before the son of the man who had ordered his home assaulted and request the tools necessarily to potential allow him to survive the day. News of the challenge spread quickly throughout the camp. Brightlords Jumae III and Arilar tried to make Tintallë change her mind, but there was no stopping a duel once it had started. King Elhokar himself presented Blades to both Tintallë and Ularid, providing a set of Plate for the latter and enough stormlight to repair the cracks in the former’s. At noon exactly, the two duelists walked into the arena, trailed by their entourages. Allë was trailed by Dedja, Straw, and the ferocious creature who had unmasked Tleir. Jumae and Arilar followed Ularid into the entrance on the arenas other side. The noncombatants took their seats, and the arena doors slammed shut, right in the face of Brightlord Ekard who had been trying to catch up with Ularid. Once everyone was seated, King Elhokar rose to address the sparse crowd. “It is my honour to preside over this death duel today. May the Almighty smile upon the virtuous, and strike down any who seek to inflict harm upon Alethkar. Combatants, ready your Blades. Begin.” As soon as the words left the King’s mouth, Allë was charging towards her opponent, the Thrill racing through her veins. While not well-used to lethal combat, she had been practicing her Smokestance for years now with borrowed weapons. The Shardblade she held now was far longer than any sword she’d practiced with, but no heavier. Giddily, she swung the massive blade at Ularid, aiming for his neck plates. Ularid executed a two handed counterswing without moving his feet and the two weapons collided with a clang. Still grinning, Allë disengaged and stepped to her right, swinging this time at her opponent’s leg. This tactic worked far better with a knife in the left hand which could be simultaneously plunged into an exposed chest, but Allë had no knife today, not that one would have accomplished anything against intact Plate. Ularid accepted the blow, choosing to shove Allë backwards with his left hand. She stumbled backwards, noticing the shattered section of plate above Ularid’s left knee. Steadying herself, she jumped right back into battle. Ularid couldn’t feel the Thrill, not anymore. He remembered what it had felt like, the pure joy of battlelust singing as he cut down enemies in Kholin blue while his city burned behind him. Back then, he had been proud to fight for his lord. Now, he felt nothing as he desperately tried to keep himself alive. Battle was just another job, just something that needed to be done. He settled himself back into Stonestance as Tintallë came in for another strike, still trying to think of a way to end this without bloodshed. His left leg was no longer moving with full power, but that didn’t matter anymore. There was no reason for him to run. He deliberately left his guard low, and Tintallë obliged, swinging a vicious horizontal blow that shattered his breastplate. Ularid stepped forward and grabbed her blade as she tried to swing again, wresting the weapon from her grasp and letting it drop on the arena floor. Once it left his hands, it vanished, disintegrating back into mist. Tintallë stepped back startled as Ularid dismissed his own Blade and stood unable to move at the arena’s centre. The king’s voice cut through the shocked silence. “The duel is over. Attendants, assist Ularid in getting out of his armour.” Allë heard her heartbeat thunder in her ears as the king spoke. One. Two. “No,” she cut in. “This is not over. That man will kill us all in our sleep. He will assassinate you, your Majesty, and bring our kingdom toppling down.” Elhokar made no response. Five. Six. Darkeyed servants had reached the arena floor now, and were stripping the intact pieces of Plate from his immobile body. Allë snarled. Nine. Ten. Her own Shardblade dropped into her hands, nearly two meters long with gentle curve. The tip of the Blade glittering in the noonday sun, she charged towards the unarmed, unarmoured Ularid. Alarmed, the darkeyes scattered. Just as she was about to cleave Ularid’s worthless head from his shoulders, Jumae and Arilar stepped in from of him protectively. Allë stopped her swing before it could cleave through all three of them. “You don’t understand, he’s the one we need to kill,” she implored the intervening Brightlords. She glanced at her own supporters for affirmation, but even they seemed hesitant. A duel was one thing, striking down a helpless man without verifying his innocence was another. Gritting her teeth in frustration, Allë took up the Blade in her right hand and held it aloft. “Fine. If you don’t trust my judgement now, then what was the point of all this? Let Elhokar die. Let the Ghostbloods burn Alethkar to the ground. I’ll be laughing from the Tranquiline Halls. I expect you’ll all be joining me soon.” So saying, she removed her helmet, reversed her grip on the hilt and drove the Blade into her own neck. Her eyes burned out and her body collapsed onto the sands. The Shardblade fell to the ground, ownerless. The blade clattered to the ground, continuing its arc as it cut through the challenger. They had her. The shardbearer. The one responsible for this mess, for Mraize burning through cells faster than addict with moss. Had it been worth it? The women had ended her life. That spoke for itself. She knew she had been in too deep, drowning in hidden knives and secret poisons. She had played her cards, and the Ghostbloods had had the upper hand. It was inevitable. All that was left was to quench the fires they had started, extinguishing lives as quickly as the blaze had begun. The knives that had flashed in the night without discrimination, were now to be turned to far more surgical strikes. He slipped from his perch and slipped a note to the women watching the chull stall. It had the necessary instructions on it. Elbereth was killed in a duel! She was a Noble with a Shardblade and Shardplate! Vote Count: El (4): El, Aman, Stink, Araris Aman (3): HH, Straw, Coda Night 4 has begun! It will end in approximately 22 hours on Friday 22 November, at 9 PM EST. Spanreeds may again be used to freely open PMs of up to three players, provided the GMs are included. Very special thanks to Devotary for El’s death scene, and the entire duel, in fact. Please send out the upvote mobs against her most recent posts. Good luck! Player List: 1. Elandera as Brightness Ellarel, a flighty scribe who nonetheless remains tethered to the ground Noble 2. Rathmaskal/Young Bard as Brightlord I.N., whose reversed name conceals his role as a secret member of the Knights of Ni 3. Butt Ad Venture as Brightness Hmynyes, a connoisseur of classical Vorin music Noble 4. Xinoehp512 as Brightlord Rashor, a man who determinedly believes that blue wine is a plague from the Voidbringers Thief 5. Araris Valerian as Brightlord Arilar, a recently arrived spy with ties to the Kholins 6. StrikerEZ as Brightlord Nalakor, a professional chull breeder and racer and close friend of the King’s Wit Noble Spy 7. Furamirionind as Brightness Dohila, a lighteyes who insists on wearing only orange and green lace Noble 8. Hemalurgic Headshot as Rat, a pet of Brightlord Joe and a secret worldhopper 9. Sart as Tleir, a Purelaker trying desperately to impersonate the missing Brightness Drella while House Sebarial hunts for her Ghostblood 10. STINK as Jumae III, a Brightlord whose eccentricity in fashion contrasts sharply with a docile and even temperament 11. DrakeMarshmallow as Brightlord Ekard, a man at the mercy of the Almighty Himself 12. Amanuensis as Brightlord Ularid Leiken, a man hunting a chull with a green shell which once insulted his mother 13. Coda as Brightness Dejda, one of Adolin’s former girlfriends who now hates the Kholins with a passion 14. Straw as Brightlord Straw, an effigy of Gavilar which was officially recognised as a lighteyes of the fourth dahn 15. Elbereth as Brightness Tintallë, whose title has come under charges of redundancy by expert Quenya scholars Noble

Cycle is closed! Stay tuned to figure out the winner.

Less than half an hour left to decide the winner of the duel! Finalise any votes and actions now.