Mr Doctor

Sir Sabien took the bowls from Ketchup and examined each of them. He lifted the steak sauce to his thin nose, inhaling the rich scent deeply and savouring it for a moment. Then he smelled the teriyaki, enjoying the tangy sweet smell. "I think that these are excellent options," Sabien said with a smile. Then his gaze turned flat for a moment as he looked into Ketchup's eyes. "I do hope that you're not trying to poison me, Colonel." The cold look in his eyes lasted for a moment before Sabien's lipless grin returned. "Don't worry, friend. I trust that your culinary abilities will not upset my constitution all too much." The thin man dipped a finger into one bowl and tasted it, then into the other. He smacked his lips and nodded. "Most excellent concoctions, Colonel. I'm sure that they will pair excellently. Now, all I need to do is procure the body from the police and I can prepare a feast fit for a king. How would you go about stealing a mutant corpse away from the police?" ----------- I won't be super active this Cycle, sorry. I have a presentation for university and so I'll be working on that until rollover. I will be able to pop in now and again, but don't expect any huge analysis. I do want to go over the items and powers and see if I can figure out the distribution so we can guess what everyone has. And yet the vast majority of his posts have been votes without much reasoning. I prefer it when people provide some justification, however shaky, to their votes. Otherwise the only thing that we can analyse is a voting pattern, and that's much harder than looking at posts. A good Villager should be helping people trust them, and Gancho isn't doing that. That behaviour is anti-Village unless he has some scheme to bait the Elims, but I'm not going to trust that. People who act weirdly in all games to hide their roles are not the sort of people that I'll ever clear for acting consistently. It just seems too risky.

Sir Sabien Ash flung open the doors of the Ballroom. “This place,” he proclaimed to the room, “is impossible to navigate! Apologies, my dear friends. I had hoped to visit earlier, but this hotel is like a maze sometimes, worse still when the authorities glare at me.” The thin man shook his head and walked into the room, still speaking regardless of who was listening. “Why, it’s almost as if asking whether I can take the wolf-mutant home with me is a crime in and of itself! So what if a man wants something exotic to spice up his pantry?” Sabien Ash strode into the ballroom, nodding to Raven and Colonel Ketchup. “I say, Ketchup,” he said, approaching the military man. “What sauce would a man of condiments recommend for a rather gamey side of canine?” @Devotary of Spontaneity That doesn’t really make much sense. You’re saying that Shqueeves, Drought, or Xinohep could be an Elim because they were around in C1 but not C2, but as you say they weren’t in the right room. And then you bring up suspicions of the others in the kitchen, which is pretty separate to the previous three. This feels like you’re trying to arrive at conclusions before the process. Could you please explain a bit clearer what you mean? Otherwise it just looks like you’re throwing suspicion around. I think it's reasonable that Shqueeves, Xino, or Drought could be a Phaser if you're correct. Maybe I need to reread your post, but I also wanted to say something this Cycle. We can continue this after rollover. I don’t like the idea of voting for inactives. I’ve made my stance pretty clear on the fact that I don’t like lynching people for silence. However, I don’t think that Deathclutch has said anything so far, I don’t feel so bad because I don’t know if they have the potential to be active. That’s usually why I don’t vote for inactives. But in this case there's no real reason to not vote, since this is pretty unanimous. As much as I don’t like this vote, Deathclutch. Also, @Gancho Libre hasn’t shown up this Cycle or justified their actions from last Cycle. What are everyone’s thoughts on that? Sorry about the late posts and votes twice in a row. I'm really busy with university right now.

I don't have many solid thoughts about the lynch this Cycle. I think that the arguments against Megasif are pretty poor, especially since he hasn't stayed up for rollover this Cycle, so it might have just been wanting to be around for the first rollover. However, I also don't think that Itiah is particularly untrustworthy. I think that considering Sart soft-cleared for dropping a Mobile and accusing someone on shaky grounds is a bit weird, but that's the only thing that I'm thinking about him right now. You know what, I'll ask Gancho Libre to please say a bit more about his votes in the future. It doesn't look good to me, and seems like he's trying to be erratic to hide his playstyle whatever role he has. Votes: CadCom (1) - Gancho Libre Elandera (1) - CadCom Itiah (2) - Snipexe, Elandera Megasif (2) - Sart, Itiah Gancho Libre (1) - Mr Doctor

After some thought on it, I second this. For now, Crimsn isn't much of a threat because everyone can be watching her. Her reaction seemed a bit odd, partially for disparaging the Elims if they were pulling this plan off. I think that she should be watched for a while until we know more. I'm still not happy with Gancho's behaviour. I don't think that there was any forced innocence in CadCom last Cycle, and that's a pretty shaky reason to put a lynch on someone for. Some more justification would be nice. I've left my vote late as I always seem to do, but I'm still thinking about it. Currently I'm thinking either Itiah or Gancho, but more likely Gancho since an Elim!Itiah trying to clean up after a failed kill seems too obvious. But if there aren't many more votes then I won't want to leave it to a massive split vote, because I don't trust RNG.

This is a good point. If anything, her being attacked condemns her more than clears. The only counterargument that I can find is that it might have been more advantageous to wait to attack her, so that the clearing is fresher in everyone's minds. If the Elims waited until she had come under fire for some reason and then attacked her to clear, it would have been more efficient. Yeah, I want to know more about the Gancho/Kidpen interaction. It felt a bit strange, especially since it would have only taken a single vote to endanger Kidpen with the random tiebreaker. If Gancho wanted to distance, then this Cycle he might push something. Or not, because it's been pointed out, or because he was just randomly voting. @Kidpen why would you vouch for Gancho like that? You're not wrong. I'll never fully trust you. - Elandera, here @Elandera Whaaaaat? When have I ever done anything to make you doubt me? Don't worry, LG46 wasn't cosmere, so it's non-canon. What do you think of things so far? You expressed some interest in the vote on Kidpen last Cycle. Any new thoughts since then? RP post will come when I've had anything resembling sleep. Anyone can prompt my character if you want to start something fun.

That sounds like you were told to check in by the doc that you're in! Clearly an Eliminator! Welcome to the game Snipexe.

I'll poke Snipexe, who hasn't checked in yet. @Snipexe Vote Tally Chief of Police (2) - Coop, Droughtbringer Coop (2) - Cadmium Compounder, Kidpen Kidpen (1) - Gancho Libre Shqueeves (1) - Megasif Gancho Libre (1) - Shqueeves Snipexe (1) - Mr Doctor Lynch Discussion The Chief of Police - I'm not keen on threatening a police officer with a lynch, that sounds like it'd be a crime. But since lynches are interrogations, maybe we're just wanting Brightness to sit down and have a chat with herself. Just relax in the interrogation room and have a nice time. Coop - Cadmium's is a retaliation vote for...lynching the GM. Alright, fine, makes about as much sense as lynching the GM in the first place. Kidpen's makes less sense, other than just general C1 lynch lack of information, unless he's trying to get something going against Coop. @Kidpen care to elaborate? Kidpen - I don't know why Gancho would say nothing along with a vote on Kidpen, but Kidpen vouches for them. A friend, I assume? @Gancho Libre if that vote stays there without any additional justification then I'm not sure if Kidpen's words mean all that much. Shqueeves - I disagree with this. @Megasif that justification doesn't sit with me. Shqueeves has explained himself, so I'm not sure if this should stay. Gancho Libre - I slightly agree with Shqueeves's justification, and might switch my vote because Gancho hasn't explained or retracted their vote. Not much else to go on, but such is C1. Snipexe - Mr Doctor is evil and untrustworthy and shouldn't hurt poor Snipexe.

Sir Sabien Ash strode into the room, his polished leather shoes clicking against the floor with measured steps. “Ladies, gentlemen, others, and all,” he said with a smile that showed many teeth. “How are we all doing this wonderful evening?” He didn’t wait for a reply. The tall man in his deep red suit cast an eye around the assembled guests, sizing up each and every one of them like a chef in a meat freezer. “This!” he proclaimed, sticking a bony finger up in the air, “is a pickle. We are in a pickle, my soon-to-be friends.” He turned back to them with a lipless leer. “And I hate pickles.” The tall man snapped up into an almost military posture, clasping his hands behind his back and beginning to stride up and down the length of the hall, stepping cleanly over a police evidence marker like it wasn’t even there. “However,” he continued, his voice snapping around the room, “being in this pickle jar together means that we must work together. Even if we come at odds or even to blows, we must remember that we are in this together, through thick and thin.” He cast his gaze over the other guests, now prisoners in this hotel. “I think we’ll get along delectably.” Sabien Ash adjusted his cuffs, the ebony cufflinks matching his black shirt under the maroon suit and tie. “With the fall of Calamity—may it never return—and the…curing of the affliction that has plagued Epics, I find it not implausible that there are Epics among us, passing as regular people.” He arched a thin black eyebrow at the guests. “Know that I respect your privacy, and I in no way demand that you reveal your natures to us." Sir Sabien clapped his thin hands together suddenly. “Percival, take this down. I think that this will make an excellent contribution to my memoirs. Ahem. ‘I stood in the centre of the room, every eye upon me and all guests breathlessly hanging upon my words. Surely this would be a great turning point of my life, where—’” Sabien Ash frowned and paused, then glanced around him. “Ah, sad day, I remember now,” he said. “Percival went and got himself arrested for trying to sneak away. Poor fool, but no matter. I’ll get another one.” He grinned around at the other guests, baring his white teeth. “I think I can survive without my dear companion. Why, you all seem like excellent people.” Sabien’s lipless grin grew wider. “Once this is all over, I would love to have you all for dinner.” Hello everyone! I’m in my last two weeks of university (last weeks ever, assuming that I pass) so I’ll be relatively busy, but I’m going to be making time for this game because I missed SE so much. I’ll always be awake for rollover, but since most people are on the other side of the world to me, I’ll probably end up making less frequent and larger posts to make up for the fact that it’ll be harder to talk to people directly. I’m keen to RP with anyone who wants to. Just let me know . I can’t promise that Sir Sabien won’t make all manner of death threats, but that’s half the fun. And that’s what we’re here for, right? Fun? Not killing each other and glaring around with complete distrust? Yeah, sounds about right. I don’t have many immediate thoughts about the game, other than that we’re going to have to watch what rooms people go into, and that there’s real potential for cliques of people who trust each other more to gather in rooms. Might be something to consider. @Kidpen I hope that this doesn’t get confusing, since your RP character is a Doctor as well. The greater good!

Sir Sabien Ash rose from his seat with unhurried poise. The nervousness of the other guests did not touch him. If anything, the sharp apprehension that one could almost smell seemed to make his lipless grin even wider. He showed his white teeth to the room as he stood at his full height, adjusting the cuffs on his deep maroon suit and tightening his tie. “Well,” he said, staring around at the other guests. “This looks like a fine mess. I wager we’ll all be mincemeat come supper.” Sabien Ash's grin grew wider still. I have two projects to do, two assignments to finish, an exam to study for, and a job to find. In other words, I have barely any time, so let’s do this as Sir Sabien, the reclusive owner of Babylon Restored’s meat works. If I'm going to go crazy then my character might as well be crazy, too.

Good game! I'm proud of my team for carrying it through to the end. Most of the credit goes to Itiah the blue rodent, for his strategies and analysis. I wonder if V will be contacted by the EBI with a job offer—after some much-needed R&R and extensive psychological therapy, of course. Well done to Bort for remaining hidden for so long. That was very, very close. At the recommendation of the fine folks in the Spec doc, sometime in the next day or two I'll post some RP of Denesta Vreaux's last moments, because that's a story that I want some closure on. Another very enjoyable game. Well done to Seonid and Fifth for making it happen. Excellent writeups, very interesting game mechanics. Out of interest, what was Heron Industries up to? Or is that a story for another game?

I think that paranoia and gut feelings were the only things that were left at that point. Based on what the other Villagers (except for Fifth Scholar) thought, everyone seemed pretty much neutral by the time that you'd joined. Thanks! It was quite close, though. It all came down to the Day Nine lynch, because losing an Elim then would have made it pretty much impossible, but once it was down to 4 Villagers and 3 Elims the outcome was confirmed because of our Rum, unless a Villager had vote manipulation. I'll admit that I was refreshing the Day 10 page over and over again near the end because I was worrying about that possibility. I owe a lot of it to you and Len for explaining things to me early on, so thanks for that. Also, your death was pulled off masterfully so that we all escaped unscathed. Should I be worried? I should probably be worried. You seem to strike fear into the hearts of everyone else, and I doubt that you would hesitate to lynch a fellow Kiwi.

Good game! That was a lot of fun, and I'll definitely be coming back to do more. I'll admit that sometimes I had no idea what I was doing, but I guess that it worked out. King Hobbert, formerly Private Hobbert, formerly the Dead Private Hobbert, thanks you for the good time. I was very concerned that you would spot me in your analysis after seeing how you broke down Straw's activity and figured him out. I had a hard time stopping myself from agreeing entirely with you and voting on Straw, since I wanted to keep my Village persona strong. In the end I just settled for not stating my agreement and having to ignore most of your post . You did a great job pinch-hitting and firing the thread back up when it looked like everyone (myself included) would succumb to inactivity. Thanks Steel for running this game. I'm not sure how many people noticed, but you can see evidence of my alignment in my last post of Night 10, here.

RP continuing on from this post. I said that I would get around to finishing it. “Yes,” Hobbert said in a grinding tone. The young man turned, and Hobbert punched Death in the face. The young man stumbled back, letting out a cry of pain as the heavy lump of bone and cold flesh took him across the jaw, and Hobbert advanced. Death looked up, rubbing his jaw. “Why di—” Hobbert hit him again. “Now stop that!” Death said, scrambling away from the walking corpse. “Why,” Hobbert growled, no inflection of a question in his voice. “I think that this is all quite unnecessary,” the young man said, hopping over corpses as Hobbert marched towards him around the room. “I agree,” Hobbert said, winding up for another punch. STOP, Death said in a voice that made every resident of the castle wake from terrible dreams. Hobbert advanced. Death tripped over the body of Brutus Kowd and fell on the seat of his very expensive-looking suit pants. Hobbert reached down and grabbed the collar of the suit and dragged the young man up until they were face-to-face. “How are you even doing this?” Death asked. “I’m Death. You can’t touch me.” In response, Hobbert headbutted him. “Ow!” Death exclaimed. “Put me down!” “So we’re going to talk?” Hobbert asked in his grinding voice. “I’ve already been talking!” Death said. “You’re the one enacting physical violence.” Hobbert dropped him, and the young man dabbed at his nose, which had started to bleed. Then he looked up at Hobbert. Other than his eyes, he seemed to be an ordinary young man. A face a little too sharp to be overly handsome, hair a bit too messy to be considered styled. His eyes, though, were like bottomless pits in the ground. One could get vertigo looking into his eyes. “Oh, I see,” Death said. “You’re an in-betweener. Dead but still walking. That would explain why you could—” he produced a black handkerchief and wiped blood from his nose “—harm me.” “I want answers,” Hobbert growled. “So many do,” Death said with a roll of his eyes. “No, I’m not saying if there’s an afterlife. No, I don’t know if all dogs go to it, I subcontract handling the dogs out to someone else. I’m not good enough at board games to play for your soul.” “Why me?” Hobbert asked. “Why you what?” “Why am I here?” “I assume that you walked,” Death said. Hobbert raised a fist. “Alright! Alright!” Death exclaimed, stepping back. “You’re going to need to be more specific. I can’t recall who you are, so I can’t answer your question.” “Why do I rise,” Hobbert said, “every few decades? Why do I always get drawn back into this hellhole? Why am I dead, but can’t die?” Death frowned artfully. He stepped forward, and then walked a slow circle around Hobbert, examining the Dead Private. “Oh!” he said. “It’s you! I remember you.” Hobbert said nothing, made no noise, made no movement. The dead are good at that. “Yes, you’re the one that comes with every war, aren’t you?” Death said. “Seems that way,” Hobbert said. “I’m trying to stop one right now, but some strange things happened, and I think that True Love is involved.” Death made a face. “True Love. Inconvenient technicality, keeps me from doing my job when I want it.” “It got me thinking,” Hobbert said. “If True Love is affecting me, then maybe I’m not so dead after all. Maybe I’ve got it wrong. But I’m still like this.” He gestured down at himself. His leg was duct-taped on, but it wasn’t actually his. If one were to examine the corpses in the room, one would find that Indigo Montoya was missing his left leg. “All the other walking dead that I’ve met have risen once. Then some angry village chases them down and beats them into little bits, and they go away.” Death nodded. “But I’ve been beaten into little bits, I’ve been burned, I’ve been eaten by fish, lions, and dogs. I’ve been consecrated and entombed in stone. But I always come back. And so, I’m asking you, why. Why am I different to the others? Why can’t I rest?” Death stood quietly for a moment. It was curious to see how ordinary he seemed. With Hobbert, it was clear that something was inhuman about him. Disregarding the rotting flesh, the dripping bits, the limbs on the verge of falling off, he did not move. He had no need to breathe, his muscles did not tire, and he had no pulse in his congealed veins. He was completely still. Death, on the other hand, shifted his weight occasionally. He sometimes he wrinkled his nose at a strange smell. He blinked a little slower than average. He fiddled with the cuffs of his suit. If one did not look at his eyes, he would seem like a smart young man ready for a job interview. “What do you know of the in-betweeners?” Death asked finally. “What?” Hobbert said. “The undead,” Death said. “The ones who do not rest, like those you have met.” “Not much,” Hobbert admitted. “Did you know that they all have a purpose?” Hobbert thought for a moment. “What sort of purpose is it to stumble around groaning until some people with pitchforks come and pull you to bits in the name of some god?” Death smiled. “Well, take it from me, they all have a purpose. That’s what draws them back, what powers their bodies when life has left them. Sometimes it’s an old woman getting up from her deathbed to make sure that her cat has enough food. Sometimes it’s a cleaner who slips and falls on wet floor, but rises in time to lock up at the end of his shift. Once their purpose is done, they fall and don’t rise again.” “So you’re saying that I have a purpose?” Hobbert asked. “You said as much to your fellow pirates, did you not?” Death asked. Hobbert grunted. “More of a pep talk.” “Has it occurred to you that you keep on rising simply because you haven’t completed your purpose yet?” Hobbert went as still as a corpse hanging from a gibbet. “You,” Death said with a slight smile on his youthful face, “are my retirement plan.” “Really?” Hobbert asked. “How. Oh, no, wait. I’ve heard this one before. You’re not actually the real Death. You inherited the title from the previous Death, who retired and has spent the last twenty years living like a king in Patagonia.” “What?” Death said. “That’s inconceivable. No, not at all. Let me explain. You see, I am not the Reaper, I am Death. I’m not just the bus driver, I am the bus as well.” “Bus?” “Oh, right, sorry,” Death said. “After your time. Anyway. I am all of death. All of the dead, they are part of me. And so naturally, I grow whenever a new living creature dies.” “How is this relevant?” Hobbert asked, his flat tone echoing in the chamber. “I’m revealing how your world works!” Death said. “Don’t care,” Hobbert said. “How do I come into it?” Death made a motion as if he was rolling his eyes, but naturally he had no eyes to roll. “Fine. Fast forward, then. If I left the world to grow and die on its own accord, they would go and develop something irritating like everlasting youth. So in order to keep the harvest healthy, I must…employ farmers to till the fields.” “You mean me,” Hobbert said. “Indeed!” Death said with a clap of his long-fingered hands. “Wars are excellently efficient for harvesting. All of the disease, the fighting, the hopelessness.” Death closed his eyes, his young face taking on an expression of some sort of ecstasy. “Having you rise with every war has been perfect for forcing them down more destructive paths. Oh, the fun I have planned for you. Gunpowder, scorched earth policies, chemical weapons… The goal is for you to be my right hand in the world, bringing the harvest to me. I won't have to do a thing!” “You set me up,” Hobbert growled. Death opened his empty eyes and frowned. “I don’t think that you understand,” he said. “You are dead, and I am Death. That’s not a metaphor. I’m not the Grim Reaper. I am all of death. And that includes you.” Death raised a finger. The shadows grew deeper, and Hobbert was suddenly floating a half-metre above the flagstones. “I am you. And you are me, for you are dead. These…issues that you have are like a droplet not wanting to be part of the ocean.” Hobbert twisted in the air, but he made no headway. Death lowered his hand, and Hobbert dropped to the floor. The young man stood over the rotting corpse, and smiled. “I did not set you up,” Death said. “No more than I ‘set up’ my arm to rise when I wish it to. You are part of me.” Hobbert rose, and stood silently. Something viscous drip, drip, dripped from his body. The young man smiled sadly, and put a hand on Hobbert’s shoulder. It weighed as much as a shadow, not that Hobbert had nerves to feel it. “It’s alright, dear Private,” he said. “It’s always hard for a corpse to realise how little free will actually matters. But that’s the issue with being dead. Don’t worry, like all spirits, you’ll eventually get used to it.” “You mean I’ll die.” “You’re already dead.” “No,” Hobbert said. “As long as I’m still thinking, I’m still alive. That’s what living is: it’s knowing what you are. And it’s being unique.” “I see,” Death said. “Yes, this will fade as well. Don’t worry, it’s perfectly natural. Now, if you would get back to stopping that war…” “No.” Hobbert did not move. Death frowned. “I’m afraid you don’t get a choice.” Hobbert did not move. The young man sighed. He raised an arm, and said, “You know, we could have kept up the illusion of free will. Very well, off with you.” He flicked his hand, and the darkness leaped like waves under a sudden squall of wind. Hobbert did not move. An artful frown appeared on Death’s pale face. “Perhaps you are a bit more stubborn than the rest.” He swirled his hands, and then thrust them forth. The shadows were suddenly blasted away from the room, from every crack in the flagstones. A mouse squeaked in fright. The darkness and tones of the corpses, both upright and scattered in the circle, whipped away like leaves in a gale. Hobbert was unmoved. There was no shadow on him, it was all a stark, uniform grey, but he was not moved. Death’s eyes widened. “What is this?” he asked. Hobbert took a step forward. His foot went down with the sound of a heavy piece of meat hitting a butcher’s bench. Death flicked out his hands, and every insect in the castle died in a single spasm. Hobbert took another step. “You made a mistake,” the walking corpse said through limp lips. “What is this!” Death said, stumbling back. He tripped over a body, and almost lost his balance. “I’m dead, sure,” Hobbert said, walking forwards in his awkward, lurching gait. “But I’m still walking. And the dead don’t walk.” “That’s not how it works! You’re meant to be part of me.” Death hopped over the leg of a dead guardsman. “I’m caught between,” Hobbert said. “As you said. Not quite dead enough to be still, but just enough to touch you.” “Yes,” Death said, still walking backwards. “Yes, but dead enough for me to force you!” Hobbert stopped and grinned. It was a hideous sight, for one could see his teeth even when his mouth was closed, due to the hole in his cheek. “Not when there are…inconvenient technicalities.” Death’s eyes widened. “No. It doesn’t work that way. You’re not the one in love!” “But True Love has been here,” Hobbert said. “Something with the power to deny you was here, and even though the lovers are dead, the Love’s echoes remain.” “That’s ridiculous!” Death snapped. “True Love isn’t like Jehovah’s Witnesses, always at your door when you’re doing other things!” “I have no idea who witnessed Jehovah doing what,” Hobbert said, stepping over the final corpse, “but I don’t care. True Love isn’t only something to deny you. It’s the power of choice.” He clenched his fist, the one with only two fingers remaining. Then Hobbert looked up. “And I choose to not be a slave.” There was no flicker of light. There was no choir of unseen angels. It was as simple as Death’s appearance had been. One moment, Hobbert’s hand was grey and rotted, bones showing through dried flesh. Then it was whole. Hobbert flexed five fingers, the pink colour of his hand and arm looking strange underneath the dirt-coloured rags. Death’s face, already pale, went sheet-white. Hobbert smiled and looked into Death’s eyes. For once, both of Hobbert’s discoloured eyes moved in sync. “How else do you explain these strange happenings?” he asked. “Sudden lisps. Poems. Dramatic speech. Princess Buttercup died, and True Love found no home with her and the Man in Black. So it spread through the castle, finding things empty enough for it to fill.” Death’s mouth was moving, but no sounds came out. It looked like he was trying to say No, no, no. Hobbert stretched his hand, coloured the healthy pink of new skin. “The power of choice,” he said, “and the power of Death. And you tried to make me your slave.” Hobbert reached for the man in the black suit, who suddenly looked so young despite his fathomless eyes. *** The shadows had come creeping back to the round stone room. Hobbert stood amidst the corpses. In two hands, neither of them grey and desiccated, he held a small brown mouse. “You are sure that you want this burden?” he asked, his voice still bearing some of the wet grinding that it had before. The mouse squeaked a few times. Hobbert smiled. “You are a better man than I,” he said. “And you aren’t even a man.” The mouse twitched its whiskers. “I said that you were right,” Hobbert said. “I think that we can do wonderful things. A man who can only dies when he wants to, and a mouse with expanded horizons.” The Dead—no, now it was just Private Hobbert, knelt and gently put the mouse down on the floor. There were ten bodies in this room, nine being an assorted mix of pirates and guards. But one wore clothes all in shades of black, the tones and shades of darkness all looking the same now. “I will see you around, my friend,” Hobbert said. “I have some business to attend to.” The mouse squeaked, the sound echoing in the chamber. “I know of the coming war,” Hobbert said, “but I swore an oath to the Prince. This castle is still full of good people. I will see them safe from the Man in Black's pirates, then we can leave.” He turned from the room of death, and strode away, his steps even and purposeful. The mouse snuffled a bit. Then it was gone. It was not that it vanished. It was simply that one moment it was there, and the next it had never been there. It was a strange enough event, but at least one would no longer have to see its eyes, which had depth to them which no mortal could ever know.

Well, storms. This was the vote at the end of the Day. Elandera (2): Straw, SnipexeStraw (2): Elandera, Burnt SpaghettiBurnt Spaghetti (3): Fifth Scholar, Mr Doctor, Walin Straw now has no votes on him. If that doesn't incriminate Straw completely, I don't know what does. One Rum I might be able to forgive for protecting himself. Two, when the entire thread believes that he's unsettlingly neutral at best... Yeah, no, not buying it. This also doesn't make Elandera look very good. I don't want to throw speculation without much evidence, but the fact that she wanted to lynch Burnt and then switched to Straw, whose survival was guaranteed by that Rum, might be a distancing act. It would be a hell of a gamble, but if Straw and Elandera were trying to distance by voting on each other, and then bussed Straw with Rum, it would be a way of making Elandera look even better. Then next Cycle, everyone wastes time lynching Straw, and Elandera gets two Night kills off. Do I need a tinfoil hat for this? Let's say that Elandera is Elim. This Cycle, she introduced suspicion of Burnt when people already had suspicions. She and Straw distance, and she doesn't dispel any concerns about Burnt. Burnt gets lynched, and Elandera and Straw use their Rum to make it look like Straw was being saved by his teammate. Elandera kills an active tonight, either Fifth or me, and then next Cycle everyone lynches Straw because he's obvious. Then Elandera kills the other active, and uses her arguments and good writing ability to overcome the less assertive actives and get it to LyLo. I know, that's very conspiracy-theory, but this game is about conspiring, and I'm not trusting anything or anyone at the moment. Could you explain why? I disagree, or at least, the fact that two Rums got used on him condemns him in my eyes. It's either a misdirection of super-sneaky proportion, or it's Elims overcompensating to save him. Why would the Elims try to misdirect suspicion when he's probably the most consistently suspected player still alive, and therefore a better target than anyone else?

Unless I've missed someone, the votes stand: Elandera (2): Straw, Snipexe Straw (2): Elandera, Burnt Spaghetti Burnt Spaghetti (2): Fifth Scholar, Mr Doctor Very interesting... @Walin

Agreed. It's interesting to note that the Elims have been consistently active, and Straw didn't let himself die to the filter. That's not nearly enough to lynch him, but as you say, if Burnt gets lynched then what we learn from that may be enough to sway me for the next Day. We'll see.

Good analysis, Elandera. I didn't really think that Straw had anything worth dissecting, but this puts things in a new light. I find that I agree with a lot of it, about both of them. I'll have a look at parts that I think need more discussion, not necessarily which ones I agree and disagree with. About Burnt: She asked a similar question of me. It did feel a little bit like probing for information, which could be either good (trying to catch up) or bad (trying to gauge enemies). The justification for doing that also felt a little weak, and I don't like the near-exclusive activity in PMs. Additionally, why would Burnt go to Elbereth in the first place? A Villager could be trying to get a revive-in-advance, but it's significantly more likely that an Elim was trying to strike a deal for Pills. Right now, when everyone's being read as Village or neutral, is when Pills are the most effective, because we won't be as certain about lynch targets. I think that trying to verify the Giant would be pretty critical for the Elims. By lynching the Snipexe, they either get a confirmation of the Giant (and get to kill him that Night) or they lynch a Villager and know that the Giant is still out there. With only two members left, every lynch would count, and they would want to be as accurate as possible. About Straw: This would add to a theory that both Burnt and Straw could be Elims. What are your thoughts on that? Defending against votes is probably reasonable, especially since Straw hasn't been doing much posting, and therefore doesn't have the ability to defend himself other than with votes. And Sart wasn't a mostly-cleared Villager at the time. However, this is interesting because making a mistake and then admitting it could be a way of deflecting suspicion. Fifth gave me an interesting thing to think about in a PM, that the Elims are best spotted by noticing people who know too much. If someone makes an error and then draws attention to that, then they're making it look like they don't have as much information, or suggesting that they know less. This could be Straw trying to draw suspicion away. The Doc12 lynch is evidence that poke votes can just be opening the floodgates. Given that there were at least two Elims other than Rand left alive, it's possible that they contributed to the votes on Straw in order to get it to appear so quickly. Yeah, that does look a bit weird. But how would he know that there was no pinch-hitter? Unless it came up in a GM PM, there's really no way to know that. If he assumed that there was none and stuck around, then that would probably be slightly AI for me as well. Yeah, that does look strange. Suspicions were against Straw, Burnt, and Walin, so it may have been protecting one of them, or all of them. Well, your reasons are all pretty logical. Another example of your posts vindicating you. But I can't ignore the fact that I don't really trust you, and I don't have anything of my own against Straw. I agree with some of your reasons, but others have some issues and more to them than just alignment indication. I can only trust my own analysis, and I would have to pick apart what Straw has said and done myself to see if I can determine anything. This has, however, raised you above him on my trustworthiness rating. Burnt Spaghetti is still at the bottom of the list that I stated in my last post. I agree more with your dislike of her than Straw, although that may be confirmation bias playing up. Or perhaps I'm just expecting confirmation bias because I'm overcompensating to avoid these biases... And I'm now having an IKYK with my brain. What have you people done to me? I think that Burnt Spaghetti is still a better target. As I've been saying for a while now, we have to vote with the information. And most of mine points at Burnt. Additionally, if she flips Elim, then I know that Elandera is most likely clean, and I can trust her judgement on Straw, which may indeed be enough to lynch him. If she flips Village, then I'll look more closely at Elandera and see if I can spot inconsistencies in what she's said about Straw. I'm confident that it'll give us enough information to dodge LyLo.

I'm in agreement with this. If we're sure that one of the remaining Elims is an active, Elandera might be the best target for that fact. But then again, I'm not really in favour of lynching someone for activity after we've just been lynching people for inactivity. I think that the whiplash might kill more people than the inactivity filter has . Additionally, what are your thoughts on near-exclusive activity in PMs? I'm not sure that I like it too much. Well, I'm not about to complain. I may end up poking you for these more detailed reasons, because with three actives we need your analysis. It may also be a deciding factor in my vote, both from how much I agree with your justification, and by what it indicates about you. A weird vote, but not necessarily out of character. Is this a poke? Do you agree with the arguments of anyone so far? Do you have any additional reasons of your own? Losing Sart loses us another voice in the discussion, and we could use yours. For the reasons that I stated last Night, I’m tempted to vote on Elandera. If we’re as close to LyLo as you guys think, then I feel like acting on suspicions and information is better than lynching to get more data. However, it’s a bit of a gamble. If we get to LyLo next Cycle with more information, there might be enough to identify at least one Elim. And there’s also a chance of this lynch hitting an Elim, which is best-case, but I don’t think that it’s feasible to rely on that. Let’s break down the players. Maybe this will change my mind. Walin Incriminating Factors: Has been trying to be neutral, but has started voting in the later stages of the game when the killing streak against Villagers started. On Walin I have very little. I don’t like that he’s started voting just when Villagers start dying more, but it’s also not necessarily AI. I would expect the Elims to be more active when there’s more information and discussion being thrown around, so as to ensure as many early lynches as possible. Starting to participate in mislynches right now is too careless, especially when the mislynches haven’t come down to one or two votes. Snipexe Incriminating Factors: Did some strange tunnelling against Sart and Fifth, and never really stated why. Cleared for being the Giant (and as an interesting note, the last non-Elim role left in the game). I would really like Snipexe to contribute, because having him cleared is a pretty nice resource for the Village. Fifth Scholar Incriminating Factors: Tunnelled hard against Sart and Rathmaskal, leading to the lynch of the latter when both were Villagers. Fifth Scholar is a tricky one. I really don’t like how he came out of nowhere with his lynch on Rathmaskal, and I wouldn’t put it past him to know how to use the power of a bandwagon to get a mislynch and then use his accumulated reputation from earlier in the game to pass it off as a mistake and having a bit of fun. However, his post in agreement with my bandwagon theory makes me disagree with that theory. If he didn’t want to admit that he’d been spotted, I would expect him to either ignore or debunk my theory. Unless he wanted to pocket me or something similar. Yay, IKYK. But his behaviour earlier in the game seems to vindicate him enough. Straw Incriminating Factors: Poor voting pattern all game. I’m tempted to write Straw off because I can’t really analyse much. It’s just a voting pattern with virtually no content, and it’s hard to determine motive, much less alignment, out of that. But Straw assisted in the Rand lynch, so I suppose that’s another point for him. However, even though I can’t conclude much from it, I can’t ignore a bad voting pattern, and so Straw remains on the suspicion list. Elandera Incriminating Factors: Consistently lynched all of the Villagers in the last Cycles. An odd voting pattern last Cycle. Elandera is very active, which is good. But there’s a disconnect between her posts and her votes. When I read her posts, she seems honest and Village-like. Whenever she is poked to clarify, she provides good and logical reasons, and her analysis has also been useful. However, every vote bar one has resulted in a lynch, and every lynch has been a mislynch. I simply cannot ignore that, no more than I can ignore Fifth Scholar’s bandwagon that resulted in a lynch on Rathmaskal. The difference between Elandera and Fifth, however, is that Fifth has redeeming factors from all through the game. Elandera does not. Burnt Spaghetti Incriminating Factors: Only really active in PMs, where posts cannot be easily dissected. Apparently had some disagreements with Elandera which occurred in PMs, but never amounted to anything. Burnt Spaghetti is hard to pin down as well. I’d put her in the same boat as Walin and Straw, where she hasn’t done enough to make me trust her, or even to balance out my suspicions. PMs are enough to avoid the inactivity filter, but not to avoid suspicion. When someone doesn’t want to share their thoughts with the thread, I have to assume that they have something to hide. Burnt hasn’t really done anything to vindicate her. No one is particularly offending, and that’s irritating, because I don’t like lynching people whom I’m not sure about. But by this point, it makes sense that I don’t have anything conclusive because anyone who was offending would have been lynched long before now. So, I’m left with a bunch of people who aren’t incriminating, but some are less trustworthy than the others. In order, from most to least trustworthy: Snipexe Walin Fifth Scholar Straw Elandera Burnt Spaghetti Elandera and Burnt are close, but Burnt is lower because she hasn’t provided very much, and I can somewhat forgive Elandera for participating exclusively in mislynches because there weren’t any other lynches on Elims for her to participate in. I’m not voting yet, but when it comes it’ll likely be on Elandera or Burnt. I’m hesitating because of the bandwagon that might form if I do vote, and I want to hear other thoughts on what I’ve said before it looks like I’m sure about my vote, because I really am not sure at the moment. It wouldn't be very sporting to imply otherwise. As an aside, @Steeldancer I'm really enjoying the little writeups at the start of every turn. It's a nice piece of entertaining levity as I mentally prepare myself for trying to kill someone.

Since I’ve had done some form of discussion on all of the active players except for Elandera, I decided that I might as well do one. Alright, that’s reasonable. I was also guilty of dropping off in activity a couple of Cycles ago. Given this, all of your posts seem fine to me. Other than the contradiction that I stated (which you've cleared up), you’ve been relatively reasonable and consistent. The issue that I have is your voting pattern. I’ll have a look at it. Cycle 5 Walin (not lynched) Nothing really wrong with this. You had entered the game recently at this point, and you had reasonable suspicions. It’s notable that you ignored the Rand lynch, though. I would have expected some acknowledgement of it, but since it was early on it really doesn’t say much. You didn't have the built-up suspicions that we did. Cycle 6 Doc12 (lynched) This started off as a poke vote but ended up being the closest thing to a unanimous vote that we can really expect, and against a Villager. You stated why you believed that the vote should stay, but while you had greater suspicions of Jondesu, you didn’t move the vote. Perhaps because Jon wouldn’t have been lynched, but perhaps to make it look like you weren’t tunnelling Doc. Cycle 7 Jondesu (lynched) Voting on your previously stated suspicions, I imagine. Reasonable. Voted immediately, which is notable but not strange because you had mentioned previous suspicions, and you could have also been trying to galvanise the discussion, which is commendable. Cycle 8 Burnt Spaghetti (rescinded) Rathmaskal (lynched) The vote on Burnt was a poke vote, which was rescinded when she responded to the poke. Reasonable. The vote on Rathmaskal was to support Fifth’s theory, apparently trusting in Fifth and to learn if he was insane or not. That statement implies that Fifth is being strongly read as Village (in that, Rath's flip would not significantly change how you thought of Fifth's alignment), which is notable. And determining Fifth’s sanity probably isn’t worth spending a player on unless there were other suspicions. But the bandwagon theory explains this. Cycle 9 Manukos (rescinded) Fifth (rescinded) Burnt Spaghetti (rescinded) Manukos (lynched) This is the weird Cycle. Three rescinded votes, the first of which had no reasons (but stating that analysis would be turned down for a while), the second being a poke vote in a time when poke votes are generally rarer (or so I’m told), the third being on Burnt again, and again with no reasons. Not a poke this time, though. You never mentioned whether you came up for reasons behind your gut suspicions, even after the fact. The last vote goes onto manukos, after Sart has voted that way. Granted, Sart’s post was persuasive, but it might also look like you’re trying to challenge the Fifth Scholar vote. Yes, Fifth could be acting too crazily to be an Elim, but I have to consider it. Or it was attempting to pocket a trusted Villager, being Sart. The saving grace here is that I believed that manukos was worth lynching. I can understand that someone else would believe the same. If he turns out to be an Elim, I would consider you virtually cleared, because bussing a teammate at this point in the game is suicide. The stranger thing is the fact that you jumped from manukos, and then back again. If my read was off and manukos is a Villager, then that could be seen as trying to garner support for a manukos lynch, changing to a different target when it didn’t work, and then changing back once someone else was willing to vote manukos and you could get a lynch. However, that approach seems really, really sloppy. Why vote early, and not wait, which would be subtler and avoid suspicion? The only options then are that you’re doing a level of IKYK that’s extremely risky for this stage of the game, or you’re genuinely unsure. At this stage, I believe that the latter is far more likely than the former. I don’t like the target-jumping, but I can’t suspect it because the reasons for it that I can think of are inconceivable. Now looking at the future: if manukos flips Elim, then misdeeds are forgiven, and I move you to soft-cleared. As I said, there's really no way that an Elim would bus a teammate at this stage. It’s as simple as that. However, if manukos is Village, then all of your votes that resulted in lynches have been on Villagers. Perhaps that’s just bad luck, because the ‘more obvious’ Elims were lynched before you arrived. But at this point, I’m not willing to use bad timing as an alignment indicator. As with my suspicions of Fifth, I won’t be able to ignore someone who acts strangely regarding a lynch that hits a Villager. Just like with Fifth, I feel like you’re a Villager, but your actions could make me question that. It’ll mostly come down to how manukos flips. Any thoughts on this are welcome. If you want to clarify anything, please do. I haven’t gone completely Fifth Scho—I mean, I haven’t gone completely insane quite yet.

I’m a bit confused. Last Cycle there were people keen on voting on Rath “for information”. Well, he was lynched, and now we have information. But no one seems to think that the information is worth anything. Granted, I’ve said that Rath’s flip doesn’t automatically condemn Fifth, but it’s still something, and yet I feel like I’m the only one paying attention to it. @Elandera, you said that you wanted to lynch Rath because it would give us information, and you couldn’t think of anyone else. And yet, now that Rath has flipped Village, you’re not willing to act on what you learned. There’s an inconsistency there, and I can only see two options: You believed wholeheartedly that Rath was an Elim when you voted, and so didn’t consider what would happen if he was Village. You honestly didn’t know whom to vote on, and so you chose the option that would lynch someone, perhaps in accordance with my bandwagon theory. If 1 is true, then your statement that you were unsure about voting is false. If 2 is true, then since you really weren’t sure, you should have no qualms about admitting that you were led astray by a potential Elim, and therefore no qualms with voting on Fifth. Your arguments don’t seem to make sense to me. Have I missed something that you can clarify? The only other option I can see is that you do not believe that the information is enough to condemn Fifth. @Snipexe, you also voted on Rath with the intention of seeing how he flipped, and said that his alignment would define how you thought of Fifth Scholar. Has this happened? This is one of the best arguments in Fifth’s favour. Other than the tunnel against Rath and Sart, Fifth has been pretty much clean. I'm starting to agree that it's hard to see how he would suddenly turn around and overtly reveal that he's an Elim. I commend Sart for reaching out to Fifth, who still harbours great distrust of Sart. That is yet another point for Sart. While it’s more than possible for a Villager to be misled, the fact that Sart, who is higher on my Village reads, doesn’t suspect Fifth is definitely something worth considering. If everyone would prefer to lynch manukos this Cycle, I will not stand in the way. Manukos is my second-highest suspect, but I still think that acting on information may be better than relying on 50% chances. But then again, it isn't a 50% chance for me, because he's already got other suspicions against him. Alright Sart, because I think that you're Village and I trust your judgement, because Fifth's actions are almost too weird to be an Elim, and because I'm willing to trust the odds: Fifth Scholar, manukos. Once I've observed Fifth some more, I may switch my vote, but given how late it is I may not be up in time for rollover. However, I still want to know why Elandera and Snipexe aren't paying attention to what Rath's flip may mean. Or if they are, they aren't sharing what they think. This is the worst time for doing that.

Yes, that's a good point, and it's why I'm not super-convinced that you're an Elim, but it's also an IKYK. You're the most suspicious person at the moment, and I don't believe that I can vote on an inactive given the way that the last Cycle has gone. The way that this stands, I either vote on Fifth or an inactive, and I'm coming to the conclusion that lynching inactives doesn't really help anyone except for the Elims. It has a higher chance of bringing the Elims one step closer to their win-con than it does hitting an Elim.

The Dead Private Hobbert stuck his head through the door. "Did someone ask for me?" Hmm, manukos is a decent choice if we're still lynching inactives. So far, he's posted very little, and this post reflects poorly on him. The people listed here as manukos's suspicions are Jondesu, Doc12, Hemalurgic Headshot, and Snipexe. Of those four, three are confirmed Villagers (on merit of being dead) and Snipexe is mostly confirmed (on merit of his uncontested claim). Now, Jon and Doc12 were both mislynches, which means that manukos was not alone in suspecting them, but these are pretty much all of manukos's suspicions. He has nothing which speaks well of him, and I really don't like the complete lack of voting. Perhaps he's attempting to throw suspicion on specific people but remain in the background to dodge the lynch. People do a lot of vote-reading in this game, so abstaining from voting entirely could very well be a strategy to push people towards certain targets by making it seem as if there was a bandwagon. I might have caught a bit of paranoia from Fifth, but I really dislike the idea of being subtly pushed against targets, and I'm trying to be vigilant for it. I feel that newer players might be extra susceptible to being persuaded to join lynches if they think that it's common knowledge that someone is suspicious. Naturally, newer players are less confident, so they might jump on bandwagons quicker. I might be overcompensating to avoid this bias, though. It's notable that manukos mentioned suspicions of Rath, who also turned out to be a confirmed Villager. This hit around the same time as Fifth's theory, and unlike others, he seemed to be thinking that Rath was an Elim, not wanting to vote to get information. And he also didn't vote. Perhaps trying to help Fifth's theory get a bit more credibility. If Fifth flips Elim, I think that manukos is a good target, and vice versa. A potentially innocent statement, but also general enough that it could be made without being backed up, and seems like the subconscious manipulation that can be done saying "we". This post smells of someone trying to look like Village without actually providing much to deconstruct. That, coupled with the fact that manukos hasn't said much, doesn't speak well for him. His posting record seems to so far be throw suspicion against those who ended up being Villagers, and attempt to subtly convince people that he is Village. And unlike other players, he has no votes to speak of that might vindicate him, on Elims or otherwise. None of this is especially conclusive (which has me wondering if that's the point), but it puts my read a few ticks down, whereas most other players have some redeeming factors. However, there's an elephant in the room. In writing this post I was going to ask why everyone seemed to be ignoring what Rath's flip meant for Fifth Scholar, but Elandera has posted and put an end to that. But I'm still going to speculate. Fifth's tunnel against Rath and Sart appears to be a complete mislynch. I've developed a feeling over the course of this game that Sart, Rath, and Dalinar all seemed to form a little group of soft-cleared Villagers who mostly supported each other. Initially, I didn't like that Sart's voting pattern looked a lot like efficient bussing, but that really doesn't seem plausible anymore. Dalinar had a virtually impeccable voting record, and had Sart listed as "soft-cleared". Rathmaskal had some black marks against him, such as the vote on Jondesu, but on every point I brought up against him, he defended himself adequately. The fact that Fifth targeted two of them, and then Dalinar died to the Elims last Night, really doesn't speak well to me. Since I had Rath at a neutral read for the majority of the game, in the end Fifth's theory just wasn't enough to sway me. I was initially surprised that it swayed so many people, but I think I know why it did. Or rather, I have a theory as to why the ostensibly neutral Rathmaskal accumulated enough votes: It seems that we are in late-game, with most likely only two Elims left. At the time of Day Eight, the most suspicious active players had been removed, and as Elandera has said, everyone seemed to be a mostly Village read, at worst suspicious, but still mostly about the neutral threshold. And yet, we still have to lynch someone every Day, and naturally that lynch should feel like it means something, and not just be a shot in the dark that's more likely to hit a friend than foe. That's why it's so unpleasant to lynch inactives, because there's really nothing to go on other than "they haven't talked". And who wants to lynch someone for the crime of silence? I've observed that the Village operates under the expectation that there is always a decent lynch target...but sometimes there isn't, or sometimes it's someone who they thought was a Villager. Or sometimes it's you. And that makes people squeamish to set that precedent, even if they're not hugely aware of it. So it's almost a relief when a bandwagon comes rolling along, because it brings direction, and it brings freedom from guilt. You were just going with the bandwagon, so it's alright that the lynch hit a Villager. It's not entirely your fault. But bandwagons have to start somewhere. In some cases, they're built out of joke votes and misunderstandings. See the Day 1 vote on Araris, where Bugsy made a relatively harmless statement that resulted in a mislynch that removed the two most powerful roles in the game. Sometimes they come out of poke votes. See Elandera's poke of Doc12, which was jumped on by two people very quickly, and turned into the closest thing to a unanimous vote that we've had all game. And sometimes, a passionate enough spokesperson can direct a lynch against someone whom no one suspected all that much. Rathmaskal's lynch was the perfect example of that. These bandwagons are powerful in times when information is low. The Araris lynch was at the start of the game, when no one knew anything. Prior to Doc12's lynch, the previous two lynches had been on Bort and Rand, both of whom were Elims. That means that the most recently suspicious players are dead, and the other suspicions have been mostly forgotten in the space of two Cycles. So, suddenly no one knows where to go next. And Fifth Scholar's attack on Rath was in a time when we were all reading each other as pretty much being Village, probably not much worse than neutral. It's not inconceivable that others know that this happens. Since humans can be really good at being followers, a passionate enough person could bring enough votes to their side because, frankly, it's better than a random lynch. It's not inconceivable that someone if someone speaks strongly with enough conviction, people will listen, and they are entertaining while they do it, then they will be far more engaging than if they just state their theories. Or, perhaps, if they lay their thoughts out in a memorable and interesting manner. That's my theory on why these bandwagons succeed, and specifically why Fifth's did. People were able to justify their votes on Rathmaskal because it would provide information. And that's not wrong, because it did! I'm not saying that lynching is bad, but I'm saying that smart lynching and avoiding misled bandwagons is key to maintaining clarity in times of low information. The Elims thrive when the Village knows nothing. I think that this is an example of this. Note that this does not necessarily incriminate Fifth Scholar directly, but the line between his conspiracy theory and an active attempt to pull the Village, which lacked other options, into a lynch against a mostly-neutral is very, very fine. The fact that the bandwagon was against Rathmaskal, a Villager, is what turns it from suspicious into incriminating. I said here that I was reading Fifth's alignment as Village but it could change with Rath or Sart's flip, and now it has. I suppose there's the argument that it's strange for Fifth to target someone when it could incriminate him, but at this point I think that he's the best choice for a vote. I'm tempted to vote on manukos, but I also said last Cycle that I expected that we'd have enough information to lynch an active, and I believe that this is now the case. Fifth Scholar, you told me that if you were wrong, you hoped to be lynched into retirement. At the risk of bringing back the Day Six fashion of drama, I have three words for you. As you wish.

So you're saying that Fifth is a genius of meta-fashion posts, because he sold his idea well to you? In all seriousness, as much as I think more information helps us, I wasn't all that keen on spending players when there was still discussion to be had with them. I feel like the last lynch was something similar to the Doc12 lynch: no one really had any better suspicions, so might as well lynch someone and see what happens. I disagree that late-game is the time for it, but that's just me. The general inactivity makes it harder to judge players as much, which makes it sort of understandable, though. That's good. I was worried that the thread would end up going even quieter. Alright... Regardless of Rath's flip, I'd like some explanation. I'm happy to answer questions.

@Elandera you've suggested a few times that we should be lynching inactives, but last cycle you voted Rath anyway. I know that it's not pleasant to kill someone solely because they aren't talking much, but given my list above, who do you think is the best option to lynch? @Fifth Scholar you've got a lot riding on this lynch of Rath. If he flips Elim, then I assume that you're keen to go after Sart, or has that changed? If he flips Village, though, it doesn't look very good for you. What do you think that you will do in that case? @Sart similar question for you that I put to Fifth. What will you do if Rath flips Elim, and likewise if he flips Village? Additionally, you mentioned that you didn't suspect either Straw or Rathmaskal, so you voted on Walin. Is Walin currently your only suspect? What are your thoughts on some others? @Dalinar Kholin you've said that Sart is soft-cleared, and you wanted to look among those who were not soft-cleared to find the active Elim. Who else is soft-cleared in your eyes? Additionally, if Rath flips Elim, does Sart retain that read? @Walin at this point, you're accumulating a bit of suspicion. For your own good you should start to become a bit more active. At this point, you're just dodging the lynch because not enough people have noticed you. Time to give them some reasons to not lynch you, if there are any. @manukos how is your dive into the last two lynches going? You also said that you had some suspicions of us all being fooled, would you like to expand on that? @Burnt Spaghetti you have about half of the players listed under "Hrmmmm". Are there any whom you would add or remove from that list given the developments since that post? @Snipexe you were suspicious of both Fifth and Sart in previous Cycles. I was initially suspicious of that, but your claim vindicates you. What are your thoughts on them now? Additionally, since you believe that you are going to die tonight, is there anything you'd like to say before then? And may I offer to sell you this inconceivably comfortable coffin, for the low price of your pirate life insurance?

Given the posts of the last Cycle, this is what I've come up with. The Actives Mr Doctor - other than a brief bit of inactivity last Cycle, I've been making a couple of posts consistently per turn. I'll be aiming to increase my activity to catch up. Elandera - doing a good job of pinch-hitting, and has been one of the most active members since then. Fifth Scholar - our resident madman, has been saying that he's only semi-active, but evidence points to the contrary. Sart - has been a bit inconsistent with responding to specific pings and accusations, but makes a few posts every Cycle and I don't think that he's failed to vote yet. The Sleepy Ones Dalinar Kholin - our resident Bondsmith, has been inactive recently for blue-text reasons, but hopefully should be waking up soon. Was active earlier in the game. Walin - has stated that he's going to be as neutral as possible, to the point of not voting or offering any analysis. I don't see why he can't still offer analysis while remaining neutral. Manukos - a pinch-hitter, making a couple of posts yesterday but hasn't voted on anyone and hasn't offered much discussion. Mentioned going back over the last two lynches to learn something. Burnt Spaghetti - also a pinch-hitter, and might be the most active of the sleepy in terms of recent post count and contribution to discussion. Primarily active in PMs, which is good (but would be better to be active in the thread). Snipexe - low post count all game, but voted yesterday, which is good. Might be coming out into the open to post more (I hope). Also expects to die tonight, however. Mostly Mostly Dead Elbereth - almost guaranteed to be Max. Made very good discussion posts early on but dropped out of the thread and has been sleeping since. Is she likely to be replaced by a pinch-hitter soon? Straw - consistently quiet all game with posts, but has still occasionally voted. In this category because he's being forced into inactivity with his own game now running. You know, I could start up a coffee stall. I think that's what we need, given how sleepy everyone is. Anyone want to buy some coffee? It was brought all the way from our pirate ship! Yes, it's a little bit stale. Yes, the beans aren't "finely ground" so much as they are "vigorously shaken in a jar to break them up a little". But hey, coffee could do with a bit of a crunch to it, as I always say (given various interpretations of "always"). When you drink this crunchy coffee, it'll be like you're eating chips, and who doesn't love chips? Hmm, coffee chips. I'll write that down for my next scam business venture.