Fifth Scholar

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Oddly enough, I agree (at least on the last part); I think Bard is more likely to be evil than Kas, but do like Rath a lot more after last cycle’s voting, and have tipped the other way again on the Striker Seesaw, believing him to be good on balance, if not near my first choice of nominee. I will just go with Occam’s Razor here: Stink was elected as a Corrupted with a last-minute tiebreaking vote. The person who did this should be in no way a candidate for our immediate trust, much less two nominations; even if you assume Eliminator!Bard wouldn’t dare to act so aggressively and publicly to help a teammate, that tell isn’t worth much once you get deep enough into the IKYK, and frankly, an outed!Corrupted!Bard isn’t the worst thing for their team—at the very least, he’s a wild and unpredictable vote we can’t afford to shut up. At best, we ignore or overanalyse what in other circumstances would be rightfully hailed as a clear elim tell. I’m not saying village!Bard is out of the question, or that he should be ignored, but ultimately I would not put him near the Fellowship. Which makes this concerning: Wonko, as I said, overanalysis is very much a thing; I agree that this wouldn’t be a normal Eliminator move. But this isn’t a normal Eliminator game, and we should expect the Elims to try to get away with whatever they can. In this case, that includes not voting, voting unhelpfully, and voting last-minute to elect teammates and later allow the move to be characterised by a sympathetic and paranoid public as village-inclined. I do not intend to let myself look too deeply into things to the point of self-confusion, particularly with my time restraints, and you have now joined my official Dubious list. Hope you enjoy Bard’s company there. Oh, and Coda’s: As I asked Wonko, why do you trust Bard after the vote on Stink? Again, while it is possible he is innocent, IMO there are far better targets outside of both him and Kas which we aren’t properly examining, and both of them look suspicious after their votes last cycle. Out of everyone’s voting history and final location of their vote, I definitely trust Rath the most for leading a double-vote on Aman, who I also consider village, and for not dumping his vote on a random third party, the GM, himself, or not using it at all.

Kay watched the argument with fascination. Already, all these fancy Bright Lords and Ladies, plus a Purelaker and some sort of hairy cremling, had been unable to reach a decision. Of course, no mortal was capable of truly making a decision. The will of the Almighty had always prevailed. Amidst the frantic shouting on both sides of the argument, Kay heard someone yelling for both Brightness Ellarel and Brightness Hymnyes to accept the judgement of the Almighty. A bit of a hasty sentiment, to be sure. The judgement of the Almighty could not be taken for granted, after all. Still, Kay echoed the call, as did the people around her. Kay saw in their faces that this decision was driven more by bloodlust than respect for the Almighty, but at least the correct choice was being made. It seemed that the remainder of the supposedly noble mob supported the plan to place agency in the hands of another. Each condemned Brightlady was seized by four others, and the two women were carried to the nearest chasm. Kay ran ahead of the others, finding a spot on a nearby permanent bridge from which to witness the fate of those who rejected the Heralds’s teachings. Hymnyes and Ellarel had barely time for a brief yell of surprise before the crazed ardent, with a willing mob of Alethi sympathisers, sent them teetering over the chasm’s edge. Ellarel felt herself grit her teeth; the nothingness underneath her was freeing, but the rapidly approaching ground, which she normally welcomed as a source of stability, seemed a prospect wholly unappealing. Beside her, Brightness Hymnyes screeched, her voice losing its natural melody it so frequently employed to sing hymns to the Almighty in favour of a hoarse squawk which contained all the terror a noblewoman pushed off a cliff should rightfully experience. Ellarel looked down, with alarm seeing the rocky floor of the chasm rushing up at her, and offered up a brief prayer to the Almighty. And perhaps it was heard. Noblewomen met ground with a sickening thud, their outstretched bodies connecting with a freshly killed set of Parshendi corpses. The pain was blinding and all-consuming, yet after minutes of agony slowly subsiding to numbness, both ladies realised the relative softness of the dead parshman soldiers on which they had fallen had spared their lives. Ellarel made an attempt at movement, and found her left arm and leg to be incapable of motion, and her ribcage was set aflame by every shuddering breath she drew. Falling back down, she dragged herself over to the fallen Brightness Hymnyes, who was softly humming “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty,” a familiar Vorin song of praise. Ironically, the fourth verse of the tune popped into her head, and she began to softly sing to the unconscious Hymnyes, adopting a mocking tone. “Praise the Almighty, who prospers your work and defends you; Surely his goodness and honour shall daily attend you. Ponder anew what the Almighty can do, as with his pow’r he befriends you.” The Almighty was prospering her work, Ellarel thought bitterly, gazing at the steep walls of the cavern. They could just as well be a prison. What he seemed to have done was saved her from one death to send her into another, and no amount of pondering would change that reality—it was not a question of if the chasmfiends would find her, but when. She kicked the lethargic Hymnyes, then bit back a stream of curses as pins and needles shot up her bad leg. “Get up,” she said harshly. “We need to get moving.” The only response was a mutter of dissent, and a rustling behind her. Ellarel swerved, and came face to face with a crazed Hymnyes, who had picked up a dagger from the corpse of a fallen Parshendi. Ellarel did not have to do much to dodge—she tried to jump out of the way, but yelped as her legs gave way from under her, sending her sprawling in a heap to the ground. Hymnyes’ wild strike passed clear over her head, and the woman overbalanced, her own injuries showing as her hip and knee buckled, leaving her kneeling next to Ellarel. Breathing hard, the two women held their daggers, Hymnyes’ from the corpse, and Ellarel from a concealed region of her safepouch. Neither was able to crawl an inch closer to her adversary, but they were both within arm’s reach. Ellarel’s training as a scribe had made her fingers fast and agile: in spite of her exhaustion, the piton in her hand flashed, and its sharp edge did its quick work on the Brightlady’s arm. Hymnyes howled, dropping her dagger, frantically attempting to staunch the flow of blood from her arm. Ellarel, for her part, left the dying figure behind her, the vain pleas that Ellarel help prolong her life echoing in her ears as she slowly gathered herself energy and crawled away from the dying wretch behind her. The Almighty, it seemed, had chosen her. Perhaps his goodness did attend her, hidden though it was. Yet she had no way of dragging her exhausted frame back up the cavern. “Help up there?” she called to the sky, scarcely daring to hope for a reply. From high above, a knotted rope ladder dropped to her feet. “The Almighty has given you the victory, blessed one,” the echoing voice of the ardent Kay came back immediately. “Therefore come up, to be fed and cared for. We do not wish you harm any longer.” Mraize grinned at the sight of the woman, the blood dripping over her form as she emerged from the Chasms. It seemed that the Ghostblood’s work was being done for them. He watched from his perch on the roof of a barracks, his spyglass held tightly hands. When he finally confirmed that the woman was indeed Ellarel, he turned to the man standing to his left. He was a messenger from one of the more deeply embedded cells, and was bearing news of the other woman. “Dead?” The man nodded. “Was it them?” “No blade” Mraize nodded. Despite how convenient an early death of their adversary would have been, it would have been far too suspicious for one with knowledge of his sect to die from a mere fall. Mraize’s gaze fell to the horizon, to the Shattered Plains in the distance, and the group returning with Ellarel. “Let them know, tonight the axe hounds are to be let loose.” The man nodded, then retreated. Mraize sighed. He felt it was a tad early to be starting the killing, but the incident had only confirmed how at each other’s throats the nobles were. It would only be in the Ghostbloods’ favor to toss some fuel on the flames, lest they themselves become consumed. Butt Ad Venture was lynched! He was a Noble without any items! Vote Count: Venture (4): Elandera, Rath, Fura, Drake Elandera (4): Venture, Araris, Striker, Sart, El Stink (1): HH El (1): Coda Night 1 has begun, and will end in approximately 23 hours, at 9 PM EST on Wednesday 13 November. PMs are closed, except for Spanreeds. If you are using your Spanreed tonight, submit your order via GM PM before sending any PMs. Keep in mind all PMs must have *all* the GMs in them. Please and thank you Please don’t be last-minute with your actions like with your votes, or I as GM will find some way to drive you as equally insane as the two-seconds-before-rollover submissions make me, and I’m a creative person. Please in the future inform me if you’re going to be sending in anything literally last-minute. Thank you Special thanks to Devotary and Snip for helping with the first and third sections of the writeup, respectively. Collaborative writing is wonderful, and you should spread some upvotes around to them. Good luck! Player List:

The turn is over. Please stop posting, and reconsider the choices which have led you to condemn someone in the last minute of a turn. Next cycle will be up soon.

I am running on next to no time for this game, as stated earlier, but why the votes on Aman out of seemingly nowhere? Them all falling in quick succession makes me suspect at least an Eliminator or two on the bandwagon, whether or not Aman is actually evil (because the Elims could be trying to elect a teammate, or get village cred early and remove a powerful village voice). From my lightning-fast skim of his posts, I will remove my vote on Striker, as his posts do not sound reasonably village enough for me to hold to my initially random pick, and he crucially reinforced the Aman wagon. I don’t necessarily blame him, but will hold him to account for that explanation. For now, I’m going Burnt for using her post to generate discussion on a new candidate, not bandwagoning, and for having a significant tone shift from when she was evil. It’s poorly reasoned, yes, but given the time I have any reasoning at all is better than none.

About half an hour left! Get those votes and actions submitted

Asking about secret rules is always a dangerous question. Or you can just ask somebody less trollish than myself.

Hello all! I...do not have the time I would like for this, particularly as it’s no longer the weekend, so please do not expect too much RP from me, or really anything much at all (though I will try to sneak in what I can, if I have time (right now that isn’t the case)). I...am a little disappointed to not find more here, so Striker—you’ve been around. Any thoughts to share with the rest of us? D1 discussion is somewhat killed by the fact that we’ve already had one, but we’re not going to engender more discussion by sitting here mutely, and I would like something to talk about and vote off if I’m going to be minimally engaged anyway.

The thief win does end the game, yes. As for the Shardbearer question, just don’t lie about having one if you don’t. >> I will correct you, and ramifications will be vaguely unpleasant.

Highprince Sebarial, Upon further correspondence with the agents planted in our midst—the Ghostbloods who we have identified—their close-lipped silenced and stiff denials only serve to confirm my suspicion that it was they who tried to assassinate you. The Highprince of Investigation agrees with me, and adds that after our raids in which we were able to capture a Ghostblood spy, the camps have had an undercurrent of activity, and the organisation appears ready to make a counter-strike. It is apparent that some of the men around us will not hesitate to knife us in our sleep, and so the only thing we may do is stab them first. That said, the increased security around your warcamp is impressive, and reassures me that the next strike will not come near you. I can only hope it does not fall on me. Keep up your spirits, and tell your troops to be vigilant for absent or suspicious-looking men these next few days. Our continual cohesion in these times is imperative. Elhokar, King of Alethkar Mraize looked around the small circle of men and women huddled inside the stone-walked tavern. His voice was silky and soft, yet carried an undercurrent of pure rage within its low whisper. “Alright,” he said, fighting to keep his rage down. “Which one of you thought it would be a good idea to go out and cut a hole in a Highprince’s wall? You’re all capable Shardwielders, which is why you have the Shards to begin with, so you know the consequences of doing something like this! You know a stunt like this would attract attention! Why? Why would you expose our entire network?” He swept his gaze from side to side. The members looked startled, as Mraize rarely had trouble keeping control of himself, but not afraid—just as they had been trained. Their eyes stared back into his, and one of them replied. “None of us carved that hole.” “It was in the shape of three diamonds,” Mraize hissed. “How could that not be your doing?” “The same three diamonds which we are never to carve into anything important or permanent or official?” “I…” Maize faltered. “Are you saying we’re being framed for this?” “What else could it be?” another Shardwielder sighed. “We’ve already told you that we’re blameless in this, and you’d perhaps literally chew our heads off if we lied; that’s the only other option. Either the king wants a scapegoat for something he ordered himself, or else a third party wants us both weakened to the point of death.” “This is true,” Mraize conceded. “Which is why it will become essential that we kill the king without delay. He is the head directing Alethkar’s efforts against us, and his death will cut that head off, leaving the body, as large as it may be, to writhe.” Mraize felt his voice grow in power. He had to be right about this. “Your new task is to get yourself into his court, convince your way through or slaughter the other guards, and kill him. We cannot afford to let this drag on any longer, or we will all be found separately and killed. And finally, find that Shardbearer who actually cut the hole. I want his Blade!” Three crashes of mugs slamming against the table in agreement greeted Mraize’s ears, and five seconds later the tavern was deserted, the only sign of previous habitation the faint beer flecks on the table and the hushed, echoing whispers of a conspiracy gone wrong. Day 1 has begun! It will end in about 47 hours at 9 PM EST (-4:00 UTC) on Tuesday 12 November. All role PMs should be sent out! Thank you to Devotary and Snip. A brief reminder that one-on-one PMs are closed, unless you have a Spanreed and use it during the Night turn. There will be a lynch today, with no vote minimum to kill. Ties will result in a random death. The updated rules may be found here. Good luck to all! Player List:

Signups are closed! The new thread should come up in about an hour, and PMs will be going out shortly. Thanks to everyone who’s joined, and good luck! The near-exact LG20 ruleset is official, by the way.

Don’t worry—you did plenty well with the MR, and if this game remains in its original form (which, admittedly, looks unlikely), you’ll likely have people to advise and help you, and if not, the ruleset will be much simpler. The LG20 Rules, for reference, which will be used barring an influx of late signups: Factions and Win Conditions: Ghostbloods’ Win: Outnumber the other players Bonus goal: Obtain a Shardblade and Soulcaster. Nobles’ Win: Kill all Ghostbloods Bonus goal: Survive until the end and the player with the most/most valuable items will be made king and the other survivors will be made Highprinces/Highprincesses. Thief's Win: Steal or otherwise obtain at least one of each item(excluding Shards) throughout the course of the game (which are included in the game itself) to become a master thief and live a life of luxury. Items stolen and then lost due to use do count for the purposes of this win. Items: Other Roles: Item Rules: Other Rules: Changes from Maill’s ruleset in LG20: Elimination of the rule which obscures the alignment of Full Shardbearers upon their death, elimination of death cries, elimination of the Emotion Bracelet Item, and a modification of the thief’s win condition which allows them to count items they are Heired or which they receive through other means towards their win condition. Potentially an elimination or a modification of the activity filter as well, which will be announced at the start of the game. Artifabrians take two turns to make a Grandbow.

Thank you for the game, El. The setting was wonderful, and I look forward to the rerun, though I’ll likely be less intensively involved once the LG goes up. Special thanks to my teammates, @Haelbarde, @Burnt Spaghetti, @Coda and @Elandera, for being wonderfully active and engaged with the game, as well as just being excellent to work and strategise with. Credit should especially go to Coda for his ideas and strategy, which were good in general, but especially for a new player. It was fun working with you, and I hope you stick around for many more games to come For the rerun, I feel like bringing back Bombur will be difficult, so I’ll switch to Robin Smallburrow, a Hobbit Shirriff fleeing an ale-consuming monster known only as “Sharkey.”

Coda Elandera I will see you all in the Fellowship. But I’m taking my porter with me.

“My point exactly, sir, on the turmoil that the corrupted could engineer, but why bring the possibility up at all if you were not at least somewhat serious? Even a 2- or 3-way split between us could cede control of the election to the Shadow, and your remarks, offhand though they may seem, may push those with noble intentions to deepen existing schisms and differences of opinion, or normalise such behaviour if a Corrupted were to attempt it. It is better if we use the election process Master Elberond has set up in its ordinary fashion, lest by seeking to abuse it, we hand the Shadow an even more potent weapon.” Bombur used the man’s temporary glance at another person to steal two more sausages off his plate. “Anyway, if you don’t hope to be elected, I’d suggest you start looking elsewhere for your endorsement. Dronlir I support for obvious reasons, because he supports me all the time, but I’ve taken a liking to that man Kavan I’ve been chatting with privately.” Bombur jabbed his fork at the man in question, then speared a fourth sausage with it. “That elf Tinuiel is another one I’d be alright with—not friends, of course, because she’s an elf and would never make friends with us “cave-dwelling” Dwarves, but perchance she seems like the type who wouldn’t stab me in the back first chance she got. Maybe she’d wait until the third or fourth chance. I guess the Elves call that mercy.”

Bombur cleared his throat. “Master Striker, while your idea of sharing the Fellowship we would like to create perhaps has merit, your implementation sounds incredibly suspicious. Shall we allow those among us with evil intent to alter the course of our decision with their Shadow able to impose forcible silence on any of us (the Eliminator Soothe), or at the last stages of our decision making raise such chaos with their changing of opinions that the servants of the Enemy may thus more easily enter into the Fellowship? Such counsel seems likely to lead only to our ruin, and since your plan would take us there, I see no reason to entrust the safety of the Ring-bearer to your care anytime soon. Or even that pile of perfectly good meats in front of you.” Bombur reached onto the plate of the man, who was standing directly in front of him, and swallowed a sausage. “Really, you should just give me the whole tray while you’re at it.” Bombur looked aghast at Dronlir. “But you cannot be saying such things!” he exclaimed. “Why would I choose anybody in this chamber on a whim when I could attest to your own character from prior knowledge? And why do you support your own ascension if you disagree with my assessment of you?” OORP: I chose you for RP reasons, and for reasons which I’m choosing to keep under wraps for now. As I said, my vote is probably moving to Kas, Burnt or myself by the end of the cycle, unless a more convincing argument pops up.

Signups will be extended by another day as a chance for me to put together a distribution for the exact-copy-of-LG20 ruleset, and as a way of getting more people to join. Please do! I’d love more people, regardless of which ruleset we end up using

My desire was not to create an immediate lynch, as the people who you yourself noted were employing the same “unproductive pattern” would be poor candidates for immediate trust; while my vote on Elandera wasn’t born out of trust either, it was meant as a poke vote (which do still work in this game, albeit in a different way) which wouldn’t put anybody on the Fellowship quite yet. So far, I think I’m content to let the vote sit where it is after seeing her response, despite my desire to cement my lead; I will PM you with more details. I would disagree with...the vast majority of this, and would possibly suspect you for even suggesting this. I’m a proponent of early lynches in almost every game, but especially this one, and the reason is that the lack of an Eliminator kill hurts a village which doesn’t lynch more than one that does; the kill actually provides information similar to the lynch regarding alignment, and in a world without lynching or killing, the only information we have is that which the Eliminators choose to give us; the Soothe, a deadly IKYK in most contexts where it doesn’t support an Eliminator into being on the Fellowship, and the posts of the Eliminators and villagers themselves, which are consequence-free without voting. As you mentioned as a point against Elandera, a refusal to immediately vote denies the village information; what would happen if nobody voted? The best reads you could hope to acquire would be tone, the reads would be individual and disconnected, and those Eliminators who managed to have good tone would slip by. Another point would be that a two-person Eliminator hammer could immediately elect a Corrupted, which would be a poor way to start the game, particularly with the outed Eliminator free to cause chaos with their votes and words. Also, I’m further suspicious that the age-old D1 lynch discussion is being brought up again, as inherently it’s (mostly) NAI and just ends up taking space in the thread (which I’ve contributed to...oops...), and can provide Eliminators with a way to contribute without putting in a ton of effort or giving readily analysable content; I’m not saying that you’re doing this, but it’s a risk. Finally, I don’t want to torture El by dragging out her game. My strongest current trusts are probably Elandera, Burnt and Kas, not necessarily in that order, and if Elandera isn’t a viable candidate I’ll probably switch to myself or one of those two. Edit: RP to come next post, probably in response to somebody else’s. If you want to coordinate RP with me, please PM me!

Bombur shifted uncomfortably on the stone bench. The elves had tried to seat him in one of their intricately carven wooden stools, which had been far more comfortable, before its spindly legs gave way under the old Dwarf’s weight. Despite the mass of cushions underneath him, and the plates piled high with food next to him, he felt hot and irritated in the corner of the Council. When would that Elrond figure stop talking? And the debate between the Ranger and the Gondorian was boring him. He idly munched on a large platter of fruit, allowing his attention to wander. Upon mention of the Ring, however, he perked up. A company of seven was to destroy the Ring? What an excellent opportunity for he and his porters! They would fill the tale of seven perfectly, and would not have to worry about the grasping hands of Elves interfering with a sacred mission involving gold—heavens knew how the last time had turned out. Thingol and his greed, Bombur thought angrily to himself. Feanor before him, Celebrimbor his grandson afterwards—all the same breed of greedy. And yet they have the audacity to name us grasping and ungracious! Shaking his head, he discreetly beckoned to his porters. He turned to Dronlir, the first to arrive, who handed him a wedge of cheese, mistaking his gesture. Bombur gratefully accepted the morsel despite the mistake, and between bites mumbled to his dwarf companion, “What’re the odds that elf chap will let the seven of us go on this journey? All that walking sounds like an excellent opportunity to finally start a consistent weight-loss plan, which Bofur is always nagging me about, and that’s besides the goal of destroying the ultimate evil in all the lands. Why, I bet that as Ring-bearer, the influence of that cursed object couldn’t touch my heart for all the layering over it!” Bombur grinned broadly and chuckled, waiting for Dronlir’s reply. @Elandera...and now I’ve been ninja’d Sorry for the delay in putting up a decent post; relatives were over, more specifically their young puppy which I had to prevent my own dogs from killing. Serious analysis will probably come when more people check in and vote, but for now I’d note that the self-voting isn’t NAI but is IKYK—it can probably be analysed on a person-by-person basis, but applying a general rule to people doing it won’t work terribly well. I won’t hesitate to self-vote personally, but will try to cast votes elsewhere simply because the minimum demands that we start looking at other players, and because everyone self-voting is going to eventually just let the Eliminators blend very effectively. So, Elandera. I hope to be in the Fellowship, but I wouldn’t know what I’d do there without my trusty porter. (Also, I appreciate your RP, even if I wish you hadn’t ninja’d me )

Pinch hitters would be appreciated, certainly, and you’re now on the list.

Maybe he was one of Bombur’s porters. “Bombur was now so fat that he could not move himself from his couch to his chair at table, and it took six young Dwarves to lift him.” —The Fellowship of the Ring Dronlir sounds like he fits the bill perfectly.

Signups are extended by a week, in light of the low playercount. Should I still not have the numbers I would like after this period, the game’s rules will be simplified to something akin to LG20 and run anyway. That ruleset will be posted in the next few days, though I hope it does not have to be used.

Hello! I’m another person fairly heavily involved in SE, so I just wanted to poke my head in here both to concur with Wilson, and to invite anyone here who’d like to get a taste of what SE can be like (without having to fully join a game) to participate in either the MR39 (Mid-Range Game; cycles are 48 hours) or LG61 (Long Game; cycles are split into 48-hour Day/24-hour Night turns) spec docs, which are Google docs that can serve as chatrooms to discuss the game, what SE is like, or anything at all, really. You can PM Elbereth for a link to the MR spec doc, or myself for the LG link. If you’d rather jump right into a game, that’s perfectly fine too, though if you’re scared off by complexity you might want to choose the MR over the LG, even if it is non-Sanderson—signups for both are still ongoing. And as Wilson said, the anniversary game, which is large, has simple rules, and is completely anonymous (so there’ll be no stress about being new to SE) is coming up in late December or early January, and anyone is free to join it.

(El, I appreciated the quote from Tolkien. I appreciate the whole chapter of the Council, actually, but Elrond’s section is especially nice. Though I’d note that the speech in the beginning properly belongs after Gloin’s tale ) I am madly tempted to sign up as Shadowfacts the horse from XKCD, as a Dwarf of the Lonely Mountain. ...but I won’t. Hopefully signing up will not make me die IRL, and RP will be either minimal or worked into what I want to say in-game. However... Bombur cleared his throat, and the six young dwarves attending on him quickly arose, pushing his chair closer to the centre of the Council so he could be heard. When he spoke, his voice was a hollow, quiet echo, seeming to fight its way through the many layers of insulation the old Dwarf had accumulated. “Thank you for your tale, Master Elrond. But before the Ring-bearer begins his story, I have news from our king Dain of the Lonely Mountain. He is pleased to convey to those who dwell here that the hands of the Dwarves who dwell in Erebor have not been idle, and the Mountain again stands as a bulwark of strength in the North. Yet with this strength, its beauty is also undiminished, and Dain’s rule there is prosperous, and both his hands and the streets flow over with the gold and riches of the Dwarves. Long and peaceful have his years been as of yet, and before recently, nothing had troubled our lands, or those of the people of the Lake, led by the valiant king of those in Dale, Brand son of Bain son of Bard.” Here Bombur paused, and beckoned with his arm to one of the Dwarves, who reached beside him for the plate of “refreshments” Bombur had made sure to bring with him. The helper handed Bombur half a loaf of buttered bread, which he shoved into his mouth quickly. Enduring the bemused and impatient glances of the assembled elves, Bombur chewed quickly, and resumed. “Mmph grrmph—where was I? Oh yes. Dain, and peace in Erebor. Well, there was peace. Last summer, a rider, garbed all in black, came to our gates...”

Agreed—I would certainly like more players. (Thank you, @DrakeMarshmallow, for helping with this. ) With half of the people I would like, I have two three options: 1. I can run this game at the current playercount, and drastically modify the ruleset in order to do so. It would probably end up looking a lot more like an exact rerun of LG20 (village/elim/thief, less complex). 2. I can extend signups for another week, delaying the game’s start in hopes of getting more players. 3. A lot of people sign up in the next 24 hours. What do you all prefer?