Ivory Dragonfly

Sew considered this. She wished Mouse had been more vocal. The watcher had placed her vote early, but reminded the town it was still there when prompted. It was still odd to her. "Uh, who are you again? Wasn't addressing you, but okay." Sew had to accept others trying to correct her. "Breaking a tie would have been fine, but creating a three way tie also could have worked. Learning that manipulation was taking place would have been powerful information." They were kind of missing the point of the argument. "Huh." Sew didn't hate that reasoning. It meant that he was trusting more in luck more than anything. Ironic that it cost the gambler his life. "I don't trust you, but I don't want you dead. Lysia @Charcoal Hyena" "Okay, seriously?" Sew didn't know Bryar that well, but really hoped they weren't her parent. "I was attacking the people who voted for Alais. Not the people who were voting for Hayden! You completely read that wrong. I don't think you're evil, but stop making stuff up!" Sew addressed the priest. "That's what's botherin' me too. It's a bad play either way you slice it. If they knew the role, the logical thing is to self-protect. Doesn't take that much foresight. Target someone else, then let the town tear Hayden to shreds." "I didn't notice it til this mornin. Once he survived, I went diggin' and found it." She looked away. "Still, I thought he was innocent, even without that. But I didn't do anything." The guilt was gnawing at her. "I had a couple minutes, but I froze. What was I supposed to do? Throw the vote to Alais? I thought he was innocent too, and that would've been wrong too. I had voted, but nobody was listening to me. And in the end, that happened." Sew took a shaky breath. "Maybe you should blame me..." She winced as his vote came in. Didn't she deserve this? She let the nice gambler man die, and now she was suspecting everyone. She was terrible, she was horrible, she was... "NO!" This was rusting wrong. She was trying her best, and she had a duty to help this town. "I'm not clearing Hayden yet, but you three were talkative. You can't deny that, you were there! Yes, it was normal conversation (RP). But it was extremely game relevant! You guys did role claims, for Preservation's sake! He put pressure on you, and got you to talk. Sure, it was RP, but it was draggin' you into the game. Alais and Hayden were literally the first to start talkin' to each other, so I definitely don't like Falcon puttin' the pressure there. Rust and ruin, is it suspicious to talk normal to someone? Does everyone have to give suspicions every time? Can't we develop relationships outside of this?" She tried to calm herself down. Her heart was beating out of her chest. Was she going to die? That was the second vote on her. She needed to take stock of where everything was at. Vote Count: Mauve Crocodile(2): Amethyst Scorpion, Emerald Falcon Mint Heron(1): Indigo Weasel, Chartreuse Penguin Fuchsia Ostrich(0): Mauve Crocodile Charcoal Hyena (1): Ivory Dragonfly Azure Mouse(0): Indigo Weasel Cream Tuatara(1): Mint Heron Coral Swan(1): Indigo Weasel Ivory Dragonfly(2): Mauve Crocodile, Coral Swan Emerald Falcon(1): Amber Vulture No Vote (4): Charcoal Hyena, Cream Tuatara, Fuchsia Ostrich, Melon Dingo That was just great. Two of the key figures yesterday hadn't cast a vote. She could protect herself by voting on the priest, but that didn't sit well with her gut. No, despite his vote on her, and the whole religious celibacy thing meaning he probably wasn't her parent, she wasn't distrustful of him. There was still one central question. Why did the Spiked attack Hayden? There was only one conclusion she was drawing. It was a false flag operation. "Hayden @Cream Tuatara You still haven't answered any questions. You haven't said why you killed Alais. You haven't said why you revealed your role that early. You haven't said anythin'! People are questionin' if your survival was a gambit. Well, so am I. They're afraid to accuse you though. They don't want to be made fools. They raise the question, and then move on. Not me. We need to know what's goin' on. If you were a Spiked Lurcher, there's no harm sayin' your role out loud. You wouldn't be gettin' attacked. And it's a nice way to protect yourself. Are you my top suspect? No, that's Falcon at this point. We need you to speak, and quite frankly I think we need your identity."

After reading in depth the previous day's events, Sew had several questions. First and foremost, which of these villagers were her parents? If any parents could please stand up, that would be great. Second, and probably more importantly, she still had to figure out why the gambler had died. The reasons given weren't exactly great. Two of the culprits had been chatting recently, so it was time to start asking questions. "You voted on him first, right?" She turned to the watcher (Not to be confused with the observer). "Here's what you said..." "So let me get this straight. You voted on him, cause he cast the first stone? Somebody had to do it. We have to accuse each other if we want to make progress. Were you plannin' on votin' anyone who voted? That's rich." Sew turned next to the drunk. She didn't want to talk to him. He'd been so nice, and yet that violence in him scared her. "Hayden, I thought you was gettin' on well with Alais. What happened? Here's what you said..." "He was tellin' the truth. He knew how to make the metals, but couldn't burn 'em. I hope you've sobered up. We need you to focus." "You seem less slurred to me now. You recall why you voted for him?" Sew looked around for the third voter. Where the heck was Lysia? Apparently, she had caught sick. Sew didn't want to pick on the ill, but she had to know what was going on. She had seen the tinkerer lurking around, so she didn't feel too bad asking this. "Look, I'll be straight with you. Lysia @Charcoal Hyena you're real fishy to me right now. I got no clue why you voted Alais out. Here's what you said..." "I get tryin' to gather up the vote. That makes sense. However, two people had two votes, and plenty only had one. Why'd you go after Alais in particular? You don't say, so I can't tell. I know you're sick, but I need answers. If Hayden really did fake his attack, you're who I'd suspect to be his compatriot. Give me some reasoning, and maybe we can talk more."

"Huh?" Sew stared at Falcon with a fair amount of confusion. He called himself an observer, but he was getting something very wrong. "Were you not payin' attention? We already knew he could burn metal, and we already knew what he is. The drunk's said it twice already. He's a Lurcher!" First, when talking to the late gambler, he mentioned he could burn metals, but hadn't in a couple years. He reaffirmed it as well. Then he actually mentioned what he burns, while interrogating that Acks fellow. He asked what would happen if he burned iron. Then he threatened Acks with using it to Pull on him. Normally I've seen Iron used to protect, so that's a novel use. Now, Sew was kind of baffled why Hayden had claimed that in broad daylight. That would certainly paint a target on his back. If he could actually protect people, that would be mighty nice for the village to have. She supposed the man was blabbing while drunk, but even that seemed like a poor excuse. Was he just caught up in the moment? "Look, I'm really not likin' you Mr. Observer (Emerald Falcon). You were stretchin' like crazy to try and find an elim out of Hayden, Alais, and Acks. Those three were probably the most talkative, and yet you had to suspect them. I don't get it, and I don't like it. Now you're goin' wildly off base, thinkin' he wouldn't claim? Phooey. Don't think you're a Spiked, but you can't keep makin' stuff up." Wait a second... Let me look a little closer at Day 1. Something's rotten, but I'm not sure what

Sew stared at the body. She should be used to this, right? Plenty of people hadn't made it out the caravan. It was part of life. You couldn't avoid it as a skaa. It was everywhere. Why were her eyes watering then? This wasn't fair. She hadn't liked the gambler that much, but he had offered her his name. That was worth something. And the drunk, who killed him, he had offered her a name too. It wasn't fair. The two people who first started talking were the ones who were the most dangerous? That didn't make sense. They were talking, and now they're dead. Better to be quiet, then? That wouldn't work! The Spiked would kill them if they went quiet. She had seen the instant it happened. She was paralyzed with indecision, in the last 2 minutes before it happened. She didn't want either of them dead, and just stood there. They were chatting; they were telling a story. How did it go so wrong? She did not want the talkers to keep dying. She wiped her face, calming herself. Alais wasn't her dad. She had to believe that. There were still parents to save, and she was going to be the one to do it. Those lurkers needed to start talking. It was time to knock on some doors.

"Eeee! She's so pretty." She couldn't believe the fluffy fur was real! It was so soft. After several pets, she patted the cat on the back, letting it go back to her owner. "I'm Sew by the way. Nice to meet ya. You my dad?" Before the herbalist had a chance to respond, she continued. "It'd be nice if you were my dad. Then Mihtig could be my pet! Oh that would be so cool." She considered going in for another round of chin scratches, but decided against it. "Sorry, I shouldn't focus on the cat. I should be lookin' for Spiked right?" "I don't like the look of that Rind (Melon Dingo) fellow. He comes in late as anybody, blames the strangest people here, and sits himself down nice and quiet. I've seen him skulkin' around, but only now he chimes in. Like, that chef is certainly actin' funny, but he's tryin' to get a rise out of you. Ya should know better to suspect that. And the priest, sure he's talkin' funny, but it's kinda beautiful in a way. Then he's got the gall to say his reasons are random? Seems like he knows more than he's lettin' on..." She turned to the nervous man's table. "Hey shady! Got anythin' to say about that?"

"Yay! Uh... what's good for me to drink? I guess water's fine.." She had tried some of the alcohol stuff before. It made her head hurt like crazy. "Whoa... Two last names?" Sew considered this for a moment. "Nope, too fancy. Plus, you can't both be my dads. Unless there's some forbidden love thing? Ooohh.. that would be excitin'. Wait, no, focus." She tried to calm herself. "I don't have much money, so I don't think I should be bettin' nothin'." "All over the place... Y'know, I'm in the caravan. And that's where... my parents are from. Probably. They just had to leave at one stop. Wasn't their fault. Maybe it's this one!" She visibly brightened at that last sentence. She took a sip of her water. So far, there was a bunch of grumbles going on. She wasn't sure what to do. She hoped that her parents were among the crowd, but there was also a murderer! She hoped Gam wasn't her... No, she crushed that thought immediately. She didn't look anything like that bloke. Still, a murderer! Best to let the adults talk. They were all kind of blending together. Murderers had to be suspicious right? As long as they kept talking, they could root 'em out. And maybe she could find her parents that way too! Okay, maybe she should talk too then. But who... "Omigosh Is that a cat? Can I pet her? What's her name? She's so cute. Oh my gosh!"

"Hey there!" a small feminine voice cried out. "Are you my dad? You look like you could be my dad." She turned to the other arrival, abruptly inserting herself into the conversation. "Or maybe you're my dad? I always wanted a last name. That seems soooo cool. What ya chattin' about?"

This would not do. The sunset was rapidly approaching, and Bartleby was in severe danger. He was tempted to swing his vote as a purely protective measure, but that would not save him. He needed to clearly express his suspicions, if he was to have any chance of getting the mob off him, and actually find a Spiked. He went through the list of townsfolk, one by one, to try and see if anything stuck out. Amber Vulture: One of those accusing him. The detective had fallen into that comfortable middle ground of being active yet not overly talkative. He hadn't noticed anything particularly odd about them, so it was a mild Village read. Of course, he didn't like their vote, but that was from a purely self interested perspective. Amethyst Scorpion: The other detective. Their vote swing was very strange. They shifted from him to Charcoal Hyena, with no explanation given. This was to his advantage, of course, but he didn't understand the swap. Since his train was leading, why switch to another train? In his mind, at least, it was suspicious. Azure Mouse: One of the artists. If pictures were worth a thousand words, that man was writing millions. He had shown an active desire to solve the game, despite his odd choice of medium. It was only the first day, admittedly, but he leaned very Village on the fellow. Charcoal Hyena: The other man who was close to the gallows. Ironically, Bartleby thought he was innocent. The vote on an artist purely for being an artist was in poor taste, but the fellow didn't seem to care. His vote was currently on Melon Dingo for another completely spurious reason. Even worse, it wasn't showing up in the tallies because he had managed to spell Melon wrong. It was appalling, but spoke to a lack of effort that he found more commonly in disaffected. Villagers. As a prescription, Bartleby ordered him a shot of rhubarb syrup mixed with steel flakes for conviction. He also suggested that he look at one random player in the most positive light possible, then the most negative light possible. The rhubarb would probably be more effective, but that technique was a way to gain insights and form opinions. Chartreuse Penguin: Murph was the latest to call for Bartleby's head. He wasn't entirely sure what take up the bow meant, until Bartleby finally understood the carpenter meant his cache of crossbows. Bartleby wasn't sure why the carpenter was offering a weapon to someone he was attempting to kill, but it was tempting to get something for self-defense. However, he was concerned that the things could be modified to shoot thin spikes rather than normal arrows. Further, the man had been overly concerned with explaining his vote on Indigo Weasel, even when it was a normal poke vote. It wasn't enough to get a full read on the man, but it was trending badly. Coral Swan: Apparently, they were a thief by the name of Ananame. More importantly, they had claimed to be a Smoker, which would be a useful power for a thief, but why had they revealed it so early? It was certainly strange, but the rest of their posts were thoughtful, despite coming from a place of self-expressed ignorance. It was possible that he was faking his naivete, but Bartlelby read the man as a Villager. Cream Tuatara: The man was only making jokes, but he was clearly studying the thread carefully. They had made a joke about Oxblood Beagle's post, which was the one directly before them. They had just recently responded to a poke vote with a retaliation vote. All that behavior was incredibly unhelpful. Bartleby did not trust him. Emerald Falcon: The third member of the coalition to kill him. Unlike the other Artist, he had chosen a more limited palette, choosing only to reference stars and wars. That was the easy way to tell them apart. Obviously, Bartleby wasn't thrilled with his choice of vote, but the man was fairly active. He did notice the promptness of his vote tallies, which were certainly useful, if somewhat low effort. Still, it was hard to criticize someone who put in that much effort with that limited of palette. It was a slight village lean, but only slight. Fuchsia Ostrich: The man had arrive late, as expected, but had only asked what was happening instead of giving any form of analysis. Wasn't he supposed to be some sort of prophet? Any future knowledge would be invaluable in this situation. It was disappointing, but not enough to suspect the stranger of being Spiked. Indigo Weasel: Another fellow, or maybe fellows, that was choosing to stay out of the fray. He recommended the same treatment as Hyena's. Rhubarb shot, and if that was unavailable, analysis of random one person in the best and then worst light. Ostrich could probably also take that regiment as well. Bartleby interrupted his listing, as yet a fourth voice had put him up on the block. This analysis was taking too much time, time which he didn't have. He had to show what he had so far, while working on the rest of it in the meantime.

Bartleby looked at Opal Lion with visible confusion. As far as he could recall, no one had voted for them. Why then was Opal bemoaning his fate? If the town truly didn't like them, they would be up on the gallows, yet no one had nominated them. Yes, Opal Lion had accused someone of being evil, but it hadn't gone anywhere, but that wasn't surprising amidst all this chaos. It was part of the process. You either plied a different tack, or re-argued the case. In either case, it was nothing to be ashamed of. He prescribed an walnut bark poultice applied to the sternum for the man's melancholy. After writing that order, he was annoyed to find that some of the town was suspecting him of being Spiked. He looked over the charges. A lack of engagement was a fair charge. He had been working on new experiments and procedures, and had lost track of time. It wasn't in his nature to be particularly verbose, but that was a flaw he would have to correct. He wondered if there was some way to spur speech in the lungs. Smoke perhaps? An investigation for another time. The point was, he was trying. If people were to approach him for private conversation, he would happily oblige. As for his vote on Elephant, he still stood by that. As he had formulated his thoughts on the matter, others in the town had noticed the odd behavior. He hadn't meant to be the third vote on the train, but was fine staying on it. The man hadn't addressed his concerns, and his defense seemed too passionate. It felt like pocketing, and Bartleby wouldn't stand that.

Now that the detective had shown up, Bartleby agreed. Amethyst Scorpion. The main thrust of debate so far was whether pictures were an effective communication method. To Bartleby, it was obvious that they were. After all, a picture was worth a thousand words. Those who argued otherwise were mostly idiots. Why then had Nalthian Saphire Elephant leaped to Charcoal Hyena's defense so eagerly? It didn't make much sense. And why was the man quibbling so much about good and bad? The Village was good, and the Spiked were evil. There wasn't room for debate there. Bartleby also wondered where Leo @Sage Kangaroo was. By his recollection, that man was the only one who hadn't shown up yet. He supposed the Endsayer @Fuchsia Ostrich was also not speaking, but given the man's name, he didn't expect much until the end of the day.

Bartleby eyed the dropper cautiously. The wrong dose of tin, and the whole concoction would come undone. He watched it plip, plip, plip, into the mixture. His concentration was ruined however, by a messenger appearing at the door. Apparently, murder was going on. He scowled irritably at the news, and realized he had lost count of the drops, ruining all his hard work. He swore under his breath. Why were they bothering him about this? Shouldn't they ask the detectives? He saw Sasha de Vries @Amber Vulture lurking about, and hoped they would do their job. There was supposed to be another man investigating though. Where had Barney (Amethyst Scorpion) gone off to? They needed that lot on the case. In the meantime, he would be content working at his laboratory, taking any requests for potions and tinctures.

hehe sorry for disappearing rl happened, and it happened HARD fwiw, I had a theory on Scorpion (since they were part of my pool & part of the pm where Swan claimed Coinshot) but then I didn’t share it b/c swan told me they claimed to others

heeeeey so ive been busy with a thing i dont really have the mental capacity to backread and refute the arguments that im evil or formulate reads of any kind maybe tmrw

hi, hehe something came up rather unexpectedly, so ive been super busy

Flamingo

i see

seconded. also: D2 Well, that led nowhere. *sigh* Edited to add: my annotations are purple — everything else is from last turn

hi!!!

this is a good idea and since i already have vote-by-votes of d1 and d2 ill annotate them because procrastination hehehehehe D1 More to come, but I thought I'd get this posted in case I don't finish everything tonight. Updated reads: Village - Mouse Lean Village - Falcon, Toucan, Ostrich Null+ - Albatross, Elephant Null - Penguin, Lion Confused - Hyena, Weasel, Swan Null- - Flamingo, Chameleon, Scorpion Lean Elim - Rhino Elim - (None; frustrating)

i mean a. i dont think protecting a Mistborn for one night is worth losing an elim, hehe (even if they have a kill, elim lives are intrinsically more important than village lives) and b. whatever village cred they might get will be severely mitigated by opsec. i just think it’s a super costly gambit and really not worth it. but who knows

all your gratuitous German would make me think you were Kas if he wasn’t so obviously Meerkat >> but who knows maybe this post is gonna make me look like one of the ten fools at the end of the game

hehe also aren’t you 8? hm hm hm suspicious

hi, hehe [School and other RL stuff got in the way, but I'm here now! Here's a vote-by-vote since I have nothing better to do with my time.] D2 Updated reads: Lean Village - Falcon, Toucan, Ostrich Null+ - Albatross, Mouse, Elephant Null - Penguin, Lion Confused - Hyena, Weasel, Swan Null- - Flamingo, Chameleon, Scorpion Lean Elim - Crocodile Elim - Rhino -- I've got to go soon, but I wanted to weigh in on the current situation. I think everyone needs to be a little more cautious about following this alleged "seeker" that rhino and meerkat "knew" -- this could easily be an elim gambit to distract us from Flamingo for a turn and generally sow confusion. Although if Croc flips village and Mouse claims Person X is the seeker, then Flamingo is conf elim and we have a pool of <Mouse, Person X>. So never mind. Croc

hi im here, hehehe my school wifi doesn’t like the shard so i’m on mobile and really, really don’t feel like doing analysis on mobile brb, backreading

i’m here now as i don’t think the weasel train is going anywhere, heron