Ashbringer

Cassie heard a voice calling from within a less fire-y part of the building and was surprised to see... Lord, in a cage. Trying to get someone to open the door. Calling for help. She hesitated. She... she could walk away. Leave him to burn. But... no, she needed him. And there would be other rescuers coming. She had to get Lord out. But that didn't mean she had to do it nicely. Cassie stepped over a burning beam, then lightly pushed aside the fumbling soldier and examined the cage. An intricate locking mechanism, metal bars, and glass, with Lord sitting behind. She doubted she could even understand how the lock worked. But she didn't really need to. She pressed her freehand and its Soulcaster against the lock. You. Will. Change. And the lock melted into mercury, letting the door swing open. "What have you done, Lord?" she asked quietly.

If you had all 14 (13?) in front of me, I would likely end up with Ambition. But I could probably go Honor, Dominion, Valor, or Mercy. Heck, give me any Shard and I’ll take it. (Which is why I end up with Ambition )

Oh no... This is what Ishar’s trying to figure out, isn’t it.

I would think that Taln would arrive on Roshar the same way the Heralds did in prior Desolations (the ones who didn’t break that Desolation). I thought that would be more magical, but now I wonder if they didn’t just worldhop there normally. Or semi-normally for Battar, Kalak, and Ishar (Transportation and Bondsmith perpendicularity).

I see the distinction as if Dalinar’s bound by an Oath, that’s much less... consuming than giving up to Odium like we see Moash struggling with. And while I shudder to think of what T-Odium would do with Dalinar as his sword, I think the ends will at least be better than Rayse’s goals.

Rarashe-son-Lurdroler opened his eyes. He'd been stabbed in the middle of the night by Hadrian - fortunately just a quick in and out, as he wasn't sure what a sustained exposure to a blade meant to kill Heralds would do to his own physiology. Luckily, goldminds did wonders for lacerations in the chest. They would be gone now. That was the style of this incursion. In, chaos, out. He hadn't done much. That Shaman kept a very close watch on all the Honorblades. Even the Shardblade he'd borrowed. So he roamed the halls, trying to find the exit to this blasted- Rarashe tripped over something. He fell, bruising his knee, which healed almost immediately. Then he looked at what he'd fallen over. A hilt within the floor. He grabbed it, drawing the sword in the... wood. It was Ishar's Honorblade. The one the infiltrators hadn't taken. "Now," Rarashe said, grinning wildly at the silvery sword. "This will be interesting." Hehehehehehehehehehehehehehe... Okay, time for some serious thoughts. If I'm capable of those. First of all, I am definitely rerunning this game in some form. Either as a standard game with some tweaks, or as a faction game elevating the Heralds and Odium's forces to additional Elim factions with more secrets (or just more neutrals without being hidden). I might also rerun it using... certain things that Rhythm of War has added to the idea. Speaking of which, I should probably reveal the full secret's abilities. Battar: Vyre: This game did suffer a bit of an inactivity problem. Less of quantity, and more of what roles: of the ones who were replaced by the filter, one was the Stone Shaman, one was Kaladin, and one was holding Ishar's Blade for a while (after Matrim panicked realizing he couldn't reclaim holding a blade and dumped it on someone). Which isn't really something I can control, but I do agree that five elims along with Szeth and Kaladin is probably too much. If anyone besides Ventyl had been lynched D4, then Nightblood would have been activated much sooner, and Araris would likely have put a lockdown on Paliah's blade and cemented the Elim's control over protection. If I do rerun the game, I may just remove Kaladin entirely, or rework how Nightblood works. Araris Valerian definitely gets accolades for organizing the Elims to a win, for the fourth time in a row. Dannex managed to win D1, which I was... definitely not expecting. Devotary of Spontaneity did an excellent job as Vyre, and raised some excellent points in the doc about whether Neutrals should leave the game upon meeting a win condition. And Matrim's Dice did some excellent manipulation to get what he wanted, despite some... setbacks... well, I'll just let you read the doc. Whysper did very good working with the Shaman's abilities without much time (and my own delay in giving her the lists). And, last but not least, Elandera and Elbereth. I both literally and legally could not run this game without you guys, and you did a great job getting me on my feet. Elbereth, I thoroughly enjoyed our lecture conversation on Faction games, and Elandera taught me a great deal about doing PMs. Thanks everyone.

Mist wandered the keep of Shinovar. She often wondered why the original Stone Shamans had decided to build it this way. Wooden halls, stairs, rooms, all intertwining together in wild, unpredictable ways. Wood was obvious; stones were sacred. But the winding pathways… it seemed to be a method of hiding from an invasion. Or at least an invasion from without. However, the Shamans had failed to predict the return of the Knights Radiant, of Lightweaving. Of an invasion from within. It meant that the people couldn’t trust their eyes. Mist, however, always trusted her ears. Which told her “I know you’re there,” she said quietly. “The night is tense. I doubt many people are sleeping tonight.” Whysper rounded the corner, staring at the voice. Mist. She seemed mostly trustworthy, although not as strong as the original Bearers had been. Stones Below, there were so few of those left now. “Aye,” she nodded. “It’s… close. Whatever is coming. The infiltrators are close.” Mist nodded… sadly? Whysper hesitated. Then she tapped into the souls of the stones. It was an unwieldly power, built off of a form of Tension. The Stone Shamans had built up a connection to the Honorblades, letting her track their positions with relative ease. Eight senses burst from her, leading around the keep. Another shot off weakly into the distance – Nale’s Honorblade had been reclaimed long ago, and the connection she had to the blade was weak. But after years, Jezrien’s Honorblade had finally returned to Shinovar. The last connection was not pointing to Taln. That blade had never been planted in Shin stone, never granted the land its sacred ichor. It was pointing towards an… abomination. A blade that bled darkness, that had its connection cobbled together in the hours that Whysper held it. That sense pointed to Nightblood. It was also pointing toward Mist. “Oh, Stones Below,” Whysper swore. Then she summoned her Honorblades. Mist dropped her – his – Lightweaving. Storms, Shallan was much better at slipping between mindsets than she – he – was. And it appeared that Whysper had already figured it out. Mist-Kaladin stepped toward the Shaman, bursting alight with Stormlight. Syl dropped into his hand as a Shardblade, and ten heartbeats later the Honorblade he’d taken from Viola did as well. Chanarach’s Blade, carrying Division and Abrasion. Surges he didn’t know how to use well, but if his intel was good… yes. “You don’t have Stormlight, do you?” he said. “You’ve sworn not to use those Blade’s powers.” Whysper nodded. “True… but they are still blades.” The two burst into motion, with Kaladin finding himself fighting on the defensive. She couldn’t use Stormlight – how was she almost faster than him? It was almost like the Shamans had a Surge all to their own… Kaladin morphed stances, letting Syl become a full shield while he used Chanarach’s Honorblade to attack. And still, he took more hits. First Ishar’s Blade took him in the knee. Then Kalak’s in the stomach. Whysper fought with the same grace that Szeth had, even when he depended on an Honorblade to kill. Then Kaladin Lashed himself right into Whysper. She reacted quickly, carving a line out of his uniform and forcing him to drop his Honorblade as his shoulder deadened, but then he slammed his Sylshield on her exposed arm, with Syl morphing into a cutting edge just as it reached her. Whysper dropped Ishar’s Blade as her left hand failed her, the weak bond to the blade breaking entirely. The Radiant had healed from every wound she’d been able to inflict, but she knew from her training that she wouldn’t recover from that cut even if she broke her oath and drew in Stormlight. Honorblades alone simply weren’t powerful enough; she’d need Regrowth. And she was fairly certain an infiltrator had one of those blades. She held out Kalak’s Honorblade wardingly as she backed down the hall, the infiltrator in lockstep with her. Strange she should die with Kalak's Blade in her hands. That had been the Honorblade she'd entrusted to her Truthless. She'd meant to send it back to Eternum, but it didn't look like she'd get the chance. Suddenly she heard pounding footsteps. She didn't dare turn around to see who was coming. She- The Radiant dropped his Blades. She lunged forward instantly, but he brought up his spren-shield and knocked her blade to the side. Then he reached behind him and drew the black sword. DESTROY EVIL! It took every ounce of willpower for Whysper not to look away. Not to hide from the death coming. But Kaladin didn't swing Nighblood at her. Instead, he swung it towards the side. And Whysper watched in horror as Stink, bearer of Paliah's Honorblade and her last hope, radiant with Stormlight and running to her rescue, evaporated into smoke. And she turned and ran. Hadrian-son-Penrod had hoped he could get some sleep. But the sounds of battle generally were hard to block out. He rolled out of bed, grabbing a dagger, ready for a fight. Instead, his door crashed open to reveal Whysper, hand grayed, bleeding, and looking like she'd just seen death face to face. "Mist," she finally said. "She - he - I don't know - they're an infiltrator. A Radiant, with the corrupted Honorblade." "I doubt he'll look here," Hadrian replied. "Did he see you come..." He trailed off when he saw the look on her face. "Where did you get that dagger?" Hadrian looked at the yellow-white blade. "Oh this? I took it off... Vapor, I think." Whysper stared. "That blade belonged to Vyre. And they were killed by the Radiant." Hadrian nodded. "So they were." And then he summoned Jezrien's Honorblade in the middle of her throat. The two met on the rooftop, Kaladin once again wearing Mist's face. "Gunandwaf is dead, I think," Hadrian said. "Looks like poison, but it might be just an illness. I can't tell. But Whysper is dead." "Lotus and Eternum escaped with Shalash's Honorblade, and Ishar's was dropped somewhere in the scuffle." Mist-Kaladin added. "We can go get it later; we need to get back to Urithiru before the Shin can mobilize an assault. Five Honorblades are ours. It will have to be enough." Odium had been on the move, as of late. They needed to get these Blades. Szeth had known them best, but there was nothing they could do for him now. So Mist summoned her Sylblade, and Hadrian his Honorblade, giving one last salute to Shinovar. The land that had killed three of their member, and possibly saved the world. Then they Lashed themselves into the sky, triumphant. STINK was obliterated by Nightblood! They were a member of the Shin High Council and the Bearer of Paliah's Honorblade! Whysper was killed! They were the Stone Shaman, the Bearer of Kalak's Honorblade, and the Bearer of Ishar's Honorblade! He who goes DORIYAH!! has (technically) died to inactivity! They were a member of Szeth's Cohort and the Bearer of Vedel's Honorblade! Congratulations to @Ventyl, @Mist, @Araris Valerian, @Flyingbooks42, and @He who goes DORIYAH!! for winning as Szeth's Cohort! Congratulations to @Dannex for winning as the Truthless and to @Matrim's Dice for winning as Battar! If you can edit the docs... please don't. That will cause problems. Spec Doc Elim Doc Battar Doc Vyre Doc Shaman Doc Master Spreadsheet Full Player List:

And that's the game! Writeup should be up... soon. You know I like my writeups.

Somebody had to die today. They all knew it. They’d gone too long since discovering Tszen’s betrayal, and so far attempts to discover any further members of Szeth’s Cohort had only led to them losing more Honorblades. They couldn’t afford mercy. They had to keep searching. Eternum was the first to accuse Somebody. Hadrian-son-Penrod soon followed. And Somebody panicked. He had no way to prove himself. He’d never even held an Honorblade before, only seeing the ones that people dropped upon their death. He wasn’t even sure if he was supposed to be here, as the culture of the Bearers and their burdens were completely alien to him. “What do you want me to do?!” he finally said, drawing a glare from Mist. “You have no evidence, just accusations! How am I supposed to defend myself from that?” “So, you deny… everything,” Eternum said. As the alleged original owner of Ishar’s Honorblade, he had much more weight in the conversation. “Don’t die a Truthless, Somebody. Tell me. Did you do this?” “No,” Somebody said. “I will not lie for your sakes. Nor will I lie for my own.” It was a dangerous bluff for both of them. Somebody was, as far as anyone could tell, a true Shin, even if he was a traitor – and Eternum had invoked the code of the Truthless. If he was an infiltrator and confessed, his soul would be blighted, but not cursed to eternal torment. If he failed to confess, however… he could be made a Truthless, and either forced into servitude or killed, and his soul would be cursed for eternity. However… if he was an honest member of the Council, a confession that was a lie would condemn his soul all the same. Eternum and Somebody stared at each other for a while. But Somebody stood firm. “Fine,” Eternum said, reaching out a hand. “But it’s too late. We’ve reached a decision.” No Honorblade appeared. Instead, Eternum looked at Rarashe, who nodded curtly and summoned his Shardblade. Instead of swinging it at Somebody, he flipped it over, grabbing the flat and offering the hilt to Eternum. The man hesitated. “You say Somebody here has blood on their hands,” Rarashe said. “And someone here certainly does have a lot of it. Whether that somebody is Somebody, that’s up for you to decide.” “But if you invoke the code of Truthless, we have to say we all have blood on our hands. So, this is your action to take.” Eternum hesitated. But not for long. He took up the Shardblade and stabbed Somebody through the sternum. No spanreeds were discovered on his person, however. So Eternum closed Somebody's burned out eyes as Rarashe recalled his Shardblade. "May you find truth and peace in the stones, friend," Rarashe said. Then, quieter; "... now you're just Somebody that I used to know..." * * * Somebody from Sel was executed! They were a member of the Shin High Council! Chanarach’s Honorblade has been claimed or redistributed! Paliah’s Honorblade has been claimed or redistributed! * * * PMS ARE CLOSED, and will remain closed until they are reopened. Please stop PMing or creating new PMs. The Night Turn will end at 5:00 PM PST on December 28th, in about 24 hours. Get your actions in! Honorblade List: Player List: T

That's Time! Rollover should be up soon...ish? I prewrote a good bit of it but I'm also doing it on my own. So yeah. Edit: Apparently I'm not alone now!

Was it ever said what the terms are for winning? Is it just assumed to be a fight to the death? I could definitely see Dalinar losing. Perhaps becoming a certain mysterious figure on Scadrial... my main question, and likely the one that Odium was wondering about asking, is if Dalinar becomes bound to Odium, what happens to the Stormfather? It's possible T-Odium wouldn't force Dalinar to act in a way that would break his bond, but I could also see Dalinar being ripped apart by two incompatible oaths like Kaladin was in WoR.

And Shallan is a much better Illuminator than Soulcaster, Jasnah is a much better Soulcaster than Transporter. I think Dalinar might be some factor of having Kaladin able to somewhat show what Adhesion can actually do. Or Bondsmiths just being weird.

"I am literally unable to do as you ask, not without destroying myself in the process." -Odium "I will take this bond to the Stormfather. I will bear it myself. I sense... something odd in you. A Connection to Odium. He sees you as... as the one who will fight against him. This cannot be right. I will take that Connection as well." -Ishar, rated perfectly sane by 4 / 5 dentists Heralds

Honestly I was expecting much more of a... war. The Occupation of Urithiru was very well written, but the only real war scenes were Jasnah vs the singers in Emul, the original Deepest Ones invasion of the tower, and Leshwi and friends vs the occupiers of Urithiru. And the first two... Jasnah just kind of demolished everything in her way, and the invasion wasn’t so much a war as a spec ops strike and then skirmish for the gem pillar. Oh, also the Heralds. No one’s even mentioned Vedel yet, and we only sort of kind of can guess at Paliah. Sure we got Kalak and Ishar, who both were awesome, and another piece of evidence for Liss being Chanarach. But Vedel, Paliah, Chanarach, and Battar all have yet to be confirmed or found at all.

And look veeery closely at the last panel

What's the status of the LG list on the spreadsheet? I have slot #10, but I'm pretty sure that's the game that I'm currently running... Is there any way I could request an LG spot for 1-2 and then 6-7 months in the future? I want to try my Narak Blackout and then rerun Honorblades with some... updates using a certain piece of source material.

(Okay, last one. Look closely.)

When it finally sunk in that Taravangain was now Odium, I was half wondering if he’d just force his champion to surrender while he wasn’t bent by Odium’s Intent. I now realize that is both narratively quite boring and also putting far too much faith in Taravangian... I think that Kaladin’s mostly out of the picture, because it seemed like Moash was trying to turn him into a Champion and that went about as bad as it could. Shallan’s also faced what seems like the last of her demons... but that’s what I thought in the last two books, so who knows. As for my theories... Moash is possible, but now he’s blind. Adolin is also possible if TOdium goes full Odium mode, but that would spell doom for Maya’s arc... then again, Rayse says hi to how much we know about arcs. Nale has the power, but none of the real gut-punching that another Champion would have. Szeth... Szeth unleashed would be a terrifying force but it would be against his Oath, plus Nightblood would mess with Dalinar’s oath to join the Fused. If I had to make a solid guess... I would likely say Ishar. Perhaps not knowingly, but a Battle of the Bondsmiths would be intriguing indeed. I do feel like Taravangian won’t let this challenge define him. It will likely not be the sole climax of Book Five.

... as much as this is completely off my plan, let's see what happens here with a tie. I won't vote in case an Elim!Cambric tries to make a three-way-tie, but I'm mainly looking at Straw, Matrim, and to some degree Quinn. BrightEyes' posts do feel off, but... not in an incredibly unusual way, I suppose. (I do find it interesting Straw's made several read posts, none of which seem to mention me.)

Somewhere in here someone said Wildlight. My guess is Thornlight.

Oooh. I missed that. Real Nicrosil is nickel-chromium-silicon, but I suppose that chromium could be mistaken for silver fairly easily. I'll have to look at those knives again.

I'm honestly a little bummed that the conduit metal was raysium... I was hoping it would be nicrosil. (I'm trying to collect evidence that there is something up with the Enhancement metals, because they seem way too cosmereogical than the others.)

Also... I'm pretty sure nobody did this but someone has to.

I couldn't think of a good template so it's in text, but here's a normal one.

Viola-daughter-Condensation refused to be branded a coward. A warrior, a fighter, perhaps a bloodspiller. That may be her fate. But to her, and the stones she attuned, dying with honor was better than living a coward. Who knew? Perhaps she would survive this and kill the Radiant. Live with honor, a hero. Or… perhaps the alleged Shaman and their mob would try and force her to die a coward. Honor and cowardice were often opposed, but when your leaders commanded you bear your own neck for the slaughter… she didn’t know what she would do. But either way she would never see Shinovar again. However, she was unlikely to get that chance. Kaladin had come himself, perhaps aware of the bounty that she held. Two Honorblades. That wasn’t supposed to be how things were done, but by the souls of the stones there were a lot of things that weren’t supposed to be these days. Viola blocked Kaladin’s spear with Chanarach’s Blade, swinging with Paliah’s. The Honorblade caught the Radiant’s left arm, but Stormlight burst to heal him. She didn’t have that luxury. Not against a Shard…whatever it was. She did, however, have other advantages. Glowing with her own Stormlight, Abrasion slickened her feet, letting her race down the corridor. Kaladin cursed and followed with a Lashing. Viola knew the Surges, at least in theory. This Radiant may know his two Surges better than any Bearer, but she had four, and knew what he was capable of. They raced for a corner in the hallway, Viola grabbing the edge to swing herself around. Then she burned with Stormlight, closing her eyes as she overshot and hit the wall – and went through, the wood Dividing itself away as it touched her. The infiltrator soon got through using his Shardblade, but it gave her precious moments to try her other blade. When Kaladin cut through, he blinked. Viola had cast an illusion, giving her skin the same pattern as the floor beneath her feet. It would let her take a stand. Kaladin charged. Viola swung her Honorblades, twin silver blades of death. Kaladin deftly blocked Chanarach's with his spear, letting Paliah's take him in the side. Lashing himself into the blow. Into close quarters. Then he thrust his spear forward, knocking her still-slickened form off balance. The next thrust took her in the eye. * * * Condensation was killed! They were a member of the Shin High Council, the Bearer of Chanarach’s Honorblade, and the Bearer of Paliah’s Honorblade! Chanarach’s Honorblade is available to be claimed by Condensation's killer! If it remains unclaimed, it will be redistributed at the end of the turn. Paliah's Honorblade is available to be claimed by Condensation's killer! If it remains unclaimed, it will be redistributed at the end of the turn. (Note that only one Honorblade (including Nightblood) can be claimed from one kill.) * * * PMS ARE CLOSED, and will remain closed until they are reopened. Please stop PMing or creating new PMs. @He who goes DORIYAH!! is being warned for inactivity; they will be removed if they do not post this cycle. (They previously asked for a pinch hitter, but since there aren't any available I'm not just going to mod-kill them.) The Day Turn will end at 5:00 PM PST on December 27th, in about 48 hours. Get your actions in! Honorblade List: Player List: