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Fifth Scholar

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  1. Fifth Scholar
    So you think that (barring accidental failures) the Children/Standard factions are pretty much filled out? We’ll probably see who’s correct tonight, because if all the conversions are burnt up, we should see at least two Shards get released, assuming the factions go for maximum coordination—they could force-break Shards now with four people. But also, with most of the Shards still locked away, there really aren’t that many Vessels, so there’s no rush for the leaders to convert while the village still isn’t coordinating to break more out. Again, if not under pressure, they can just chill and stack Investiture they think is helpful. Not going to give the Elims more advice than I already have, but there are definitely Shards which are at the bottom of the “cool flashy powers” list which have very useful Investiture charges
  2. Fifth Scholar
    I mean, this depends very much on who Hoid and Khriss are. If they’re under Exe pressure, I’d imagine they’re churning out conversions like there’s no tomorrow, but if not, there’s always the option of putting one in strategic reserve. The mere possibility is already kinda forcing us to be careful and take things on a round-by-round basis…not to mention, the longer they wait, the more likely they’ll get a better sense of who to target so they don’t waste conversion actions on Vessels or unconvertable members of opposing factions. Well someone had to be the lucky recipient I guess Any reason you didn’t kill? LG92 suggests your relationship with pacifism is at best tenuous…unless it’s enforced pacifism
  3. Fifth Scholar
    While there’s a lot being made of how the kill happened, I am a little more interested in how the survival happened. If we accept Kas’ suggestion that this was a shot from someone on Braize, there are still only a few methods currently in place for surviving such a thing: Scadrial (very unlikely unless Drake got word of an attack on himself + I don’t think he’s even on the planet), Honor/Preservation Investiture (unlikely for similar reasons) or Vessel Shield. If Vessel Shield, Drake is either Ruin, Odium, or Autonomy - and imo, he should probably claim which one. If he’s one of the first two, then Autonomy already knows he has a kill Shard and so the village should as well (also which one so that he could be counterclaimed). If he’s Autonomy…well, we should kill him. Also I hope we can get ahold of Hoid and Khriss soon as well because I’m tired of throwing out my village reads every cycle >> A bit curious why, again assuming that Kas is right about Drake being a Braize shot, neither Ruin nor Odium killed. Maybe a sign that we’re going for re-containment? I suppose Ruin could be in part 1/2 of blowing somewhere up, and Odium might be sizing up targets with his Investiture action but c’mon guys, lame
  4. Fifth Scholar
    Turtle we need a death today. I’m not going to self-vote because Mat would kill me, and it’d work against the village, but if there’s no appetite for Turtle or Fadran than I’m willing to get mowed under so there’s at least no black hole of discussion around me. Not like I’m doing anything terribly productive with my life anyway, though if I do survive at least I’ll be off shift for the Night and be able to contribute a bit more. TJ and Elan are still my Khriss and Hoid guesses, respectively, I have ideas about Frost but am not publicising them for obvious reasons, and I have no best Bavadin guess. If Bavadin’s smart, she’s already passed the Shard anyway to make a convert, so hunting her down specifically is less relevant unless we get Ruin and Odium contained again (lol). Kas/everyone else asking me about the snap Fadran vote: My principle at this point in the game is pretty much “it’s helpful to treat the 17S as village and any efforts to frame things otherwise is only encouraging the kind of factionalism and horse-trading that crushes and blinds the 17S later in the game.” This is why I was voting Fadran even if I don’t necessarily think he’s evil (though I am getting convert vibes off him still). Also, I was working off a skim of the thread and not intensive analysis, hence it was an easy place I could leave my vote and be happy with it until I got another chance to look things over.
  5. Fifth Scholar
    Putting things back in containment is a nice theory, but given that the two Shards broken out have been the killing Shards, and the one that could has killed with it, suggests that people may enjoy the power to dispose of suspects more than the allure of victory by re-containing Shards. Giving up possible Coinshot powers is hard. I know this as a Mistborn who burnt duralumin/steel to make two bad C1 kills. And if somehow Hoid or Kris grabbed Ruin or Odium, I don’t think we’re ever seeing it again… I will widen the voting pool a bit with Turtle. This is kind of a poke to make sure he actually does contribute a touch more, as well as a weird feeling I’ve gotten from his few posts. I think a lot of people are flying under the radar (I myself may be in this lot) but we have to start scrounging around in there a bit and see if something shakes loose. I’d also like to follow up on my Fadran vote from yesterday to ask what difference it makes between a 17S viewing himself as an elim and an actual elim viewing himself as an elim, if he is promoting a kind of attitude that discourages loyalty to our current win condition. I mean, sure, if I’m converted by a faction or a Shard, I’ll play to that wincon, but I’m not explicitly trying for that while I have this one, and I think it’s a real disservice to the play experience (not to mention game balance, and Frost who would presumably like a Village that is actually working on his behalf) if we all just treat Researcher like a stepping stone to something else. While I’m Village, I’m going to play wholeheartedly as a villager. Which is why I think Kas’ containment idea has merit, if the current Shardholders could find a way to communicate their degree of happiness with the plan to the thread somehow. It means that the village has the best chance of getting its head start early-game before the other factions fully convert and mobilise to break more Shards out. Without that, though, I think it does blow up, and we have to do the old-fashioned faction hunt.
  6. Fifth Scholar
    I am sad that my job is making me miss all the chess excitement, but if Drake wants a game with me, I’ll let him have the white pieces re: me “slouching” that’s pretty much due to me not being able to be on the Shard during my twelve-hour shifts except for one brief break, so yeah, quality of analysis will be reduced (and much of my energy this game is being directed into understanding rule interactions and making sure I’m doing legal things that will help the 17S and not blow up in my face
  7. Fifth Scholar
    …hmph. Kinda with Mat that I’d have preferred someone outside the main wagons but still sad at no death/info :/
  8. Fifth Scholar
    If you are actually a researcher or 17S aligned though, this is just a bizarre remark lol, and if he isn’t I’m happy to see him go
  9. Fifth Scholar
    Fadran?
  10. Fifth Scholar
    (For reference, Drake, Kas, since your records disagree, the move-by-move thus far is 1. d4 Nf6 2. f3 g6 3. e4) I think TJ and Wiz are putting themselves on my Khriss shortlist but I might need to see more before I jump on that
  11. Fifth Scholar
    We Gar-Dena in geardagum, þeodcyninga þyrm gefrunon, hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon. (But yes, I am very glad that Ruin takes two rounds to kill planets, and that Silverlight can’t be completely blown )
  12. Fifth Scholar
    If you think I’m a good conversion target, you have clearly never played a conversion game with me in it I think the four-tap cap on Investiture tapping has made releasing Shards less appealing, and many people probably thought going for Odium was stereotypical, or wanted a shot in a less crowded field, which ironically resulted in Odium staying in containment. I’m also a little surprised that Endowment and Dominion didn’t breach, but their Investiture is pretty useless, so that could be part of it as well. More relevantly, it’s quite likely at least 2-3 people were doing non-siphoning actions, which reduced the chaos in play with the Shards Party doc is nice idea but sadly Silverlight is where the Investiture is at I forgot how crazy LG43 got with the concentration there, and how Ruin blowing up the planet was pretty much what forced everyone to migrate Anyway, I haven’t been reading closely enough to know what the case against Archer is, but even if it’s slightly petty I will hit him with a retaliatory vote, because unless he wants to further explain its reasoning, it’s a silly one that is irresponsibly placed.
  13. Fifth Scholar
    I will note that it is a perfectly valid strategy for the village to simply not break Shards out and hunt all the neutrals to death …but nobody is gonna do that so if we are releasing certain Shards, I recommend Dominion, Mercy, Endowment, Ruin, and Ambition.
  14. Fifth Scholar
    Hi. About to work a 12-hour shift so expect me…after that Will note that Researchers will kinda have to scramble to not get crushed by the setup here >>
  15. Fifth Scholar
    New voting plan Anyway, thanks a lot to Kas for running this, and Araris for IMing. I still think three was a bit much (if Archer was killed C1, or had scanned anyone else, we were pretty much toast), but hey, it worked out, thanks to some expert Village lying (again, good work Archer, even if you unjustly barred me from the truth twice ). Also thank you to everyone who sparred with Ripling, verbally and otherwise. You were all true poets. Hail the Emperor!
  16. Fifth Scholar
    After a reread, I mildly suspect TKN over TJ, but I also just woke up from a dream in which TJ was evil so I don’t know which way I should go :/
  17. Fifth Scholar
    Yep. ’Preciate it
  18. Fifth Scholar
    Yeah well I’m not really feeling great about you despite the pretty ring telling me you’ve got nothing in your bag, so And again, still not sure on Devo, though I doubt the Elims would waste a stamp on a foregone conclusion unless they really wanted to set up my Exe, which is too much effort when it’s more valuable to smoke their last member. I suppose I should actually reread >>
  19. Fifth Scholar
    Ripling stood up, wroth with himself and the investigation as a whole. "Name me lieutenant," he spat. "Certainly can't go any worse for me than it did the other two. And who knows, maybe we'll actually get somewhere with an authority to remind people of the Emperor's providence." Yeah so I would really love to know the case on me Also I am half tempted to believe Devo is guilty anyway but that would mean we had three elims (?) which still makes zero sense to me. Remind me, exactly, why we are clearing or ignoring Alpha/TKN? The first has Archer vouching for him, pretty much, but I see no reason to trust TKN as things stand.
  20. Fifth Scholar
    I was voting Xino and then talked myself out of it :> Archer said the same thing to me which made no sense but hey he caught an elim so who am I to judge say we’re wrong, and you’re Village—who else is evil? Currently thinking TKN or TJ, just based on the niche I’d expect them to be filling, but as the person being executed I’m curious to hear your take.
  21. Fifth Scholar
    I am fine with killing Devo (as evinced by my own vote this cycle) but it’s kind of funny how thoroughly I was out of all the important PM loops. Archer did indeed PM me, but I bought his double-lie and thought JNV had actually gotten a scan off, and that Archer trusted them and had lied to me. To answer some questions, Archer PMed me early C1 back when I was accruing more SP asking me to stand down in a battle for the ring, and I obliged him, hence my frustration when he seemingly didn’t go through with it. I still don’t think he needed to lie to me as much as he did (yes I am aware of glaring hypocrisy don’t @ me Kas), but I guess it’s water under the bridge, hooray we caught a baddie, and I’m reasonably sure it’s a real one given the number of assertions we have backing Archer If it isn’t Devo (which I think it is) I am banking on TKN or TJ.
  22. Fifth Scholar
    Ripling looked curiously at the man who had spoken. “Ill might a hart, lamed, fare among the strays, True is the heart and fair which ever stays Unto his word and his dear ruler true; A pack of deer the leopard never knew.” He pivoted away, musing that he had perhaps been too idle in private conversation. So it was the lieutenant who had received the favour of the captain. As befit such a subsidiary authority, however, he did not choose to be frank with the results of his investigation, but rather kept his thoughts to himself. Ripling saw no use in a supplication to either he or the captain—it was sufficient to know if others knew the information as well, so that it would not perish with the lieutenant were he to meet an early demise. Unlike the Emperor, the immortality of such men was not assured. Nor, he thought wryly, was their loyalty. Even those he told would have to be wary about being taken in by the insidious factions. As for the others, while the soldiery seemed busy, they had yet to make any significant leads. While Ripling still looked with suspicion at the ones calling themselves Left and Right, they were at least trying to marshal the guards into doing something. The same went for the old man, Gregg. He did note that Krow had accepted the lieutenant’s word quite readily, and wondered if the man had something to gain by choosing to lay low in such a manner. And, of course, several soldiers simply napped the hours away. It was distasteful behaviour, of course, but the hand of the Captain, guided by the Emperor, would sort them out soon enough. Nonetheless, he aimed a kick at a few of them, hoping for some kind of response. (@Son_of_Hoid @TheAlpha929)
  23. Fifth Scholar
    That’s a pretty decent question, considering the village is already at a disadvantage for coordinating how we plan to use our SP. I think the Elims didn’t vote together, so TJ/Devo aren’t a team. Of the three living people that landed on wagons with more than one participant, I suspect Devo the most, followed by you and then TJ. And while I’m not privy to all the PMs, I’m not discounting Alpha for his vote on me.
  24. Fifth Scholar
    No results. So did you try to spend your SP? You told me you would. In that case, whoever outbid Archer, care to share results? I voted on gut, pretty much.
  25. Fifth Scholar
    Rambleton, Ripling mused, had been an interesting poet. But he had known very little of poetry. He was saddened that their contest of wits would not take place as scheduled, because Ripling had ideas about poetry, borne from his training, but also from his experience of the world and his knowledge of the Emperor. And Ripling had concluded that true poetry was in order. Free verse, such as Rambleton had practiced, might well consist of so many ramblings. But poetry was different. There was so much instability and chaos in the world surrounding them, so much that was uncertain, so many structures that were inartfully construed and so many actions hastily thrust out into the void of life. And so there was nothing poetic about “spontaneity,” nothing even truly authentic about the wild gestures of language which the modernists worshipped. It was mere conformity to the natural state, conformity to the convention of thoughtlessness and disorder which even now bore down upon the empire like a vast thundercloud. To miss the mark was normal, commonplace: for a poet to find a form, to compress his language and his thought into it, and to hit the exact patterns and stresses and rhyme it demanded, that was the rare and exceptional thing. For every sonnet and haiku and villanelle and long-form epic in blank verse to have been penned, it required ingenuity, the poet brushing past a hundred impulses to simplify, to let the language guide him instead: yet, all the greats instead chose mastery for themselves, and bent language to their will. Ripling sat, hands poised over the sheet of paper. He had been asked to write a simple couplet for Rambleton and Randen, but the words would not come off his pen. He instead scrawled an emendation to an earlier quote: When beggars die, there are no comets seen, Yet noble death may outlive noble sheen. I think looking in the pool of [TJ, Devo, Alpha] might be interesting. Also, @Archer, would you like to share anything with the class?
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