Wyrmhero

With regards to the question directed at me by The Young Bard, I can confirm that there are no Eliminators on Night 0.

Few clarifications: Kas is indeed sub-GMing this and hence had to die before it began. Before the sign-ups were over, he asked if he could sign-up to throw everyone off, knowing what I had planned for the write-up and how it would have him vanish mysteriously. There is no kill tonight. When I originally said 'No kill Night 1', I was starting the game on Night 1 rather than Night 0. It would be better to read it as 'No kill during the first Night'. Omens will be noted in the write-up when found, which will hint towards the Eliminator role that is now in play. Also, I'm going to leave the origami map in the writeup, it amuses me too much >>.

Kas, you're dead, stop posting dammit >>.

Night 0: Lost There was quite a crowd gathering around him now. Kasther grinned and gesticulated in a wild and extravagant manner as he called people to him. “Come one, come all!” Sure, it was more circus or village fair than was strictly speaking sightly within the city of colour, but it drew attention. And so what if the people who this attracted were more along the lines of the poor than the wealthy who would be able to afford the house? Frankly, the house and its land had a stigma about it. Rumours seemed to get more and more outlandish with every year. So this was at once a way to reassure people about the horrific ghost stories that were floating around, and attract prospective purchasers. At the very least, the counter-rumours would help to counteract those who would not have looked at it, and in the end, it could only help to raise the number of potential customers. When he judged that the crowd was not likely to get bigger, in case those who had arrived earlier got bored and left, he ceased his shouting. With a dramatic flourish and an almighty jingling of his pocket (assisted by a few other pieces of metal in his blazer pocket), he withdrew a set of a dozen or so black iron keys. “Yes, ladies and gentlefolk, the tour shall begin in just one moment! This is your chance to see a piece of historical architecture and – yes – even own it!” The key was inserted in the great lock on the gate, and it opened with an almighty creaking. “...Of course, a small amount of maintenance is required, but this gates will soon glide open, ladies and gentlemen.” He led them up the pathway, cobbled stone surrounded by all manner of wildflowers and other fauna. “The gardens are a magnificent example of horticulture from before the Manywar. This house and its grounds remain virtually untouched since that historic event. Some of the plantation here you simply cannot find within the city these days.” “Ah, I must ask you not to touch or smell the flowers please,” Kasther said quickly, pulling one of the people back. “The previous owner was in particular a lover of many flowers, but in particular he was fascinated with the idea of poisonous plants being used as medicine. He was a generous and insightful man, but I do not advise that you get too close to them at the moment. Of course, a few Lifeless gardeners can clear this up right away if that's not your fancy.” The door to the house was in as poor a state as the gate was, but at least it had not rotted through or anything like that. “You will note, ladies and gentlemen, that the house features a wooden exterior like many other houses nearby. However, these panels were constructed not from the jungle wood that most are, but from further afield. Most of it is treated pearwood, I believe, renowned for its durability, appearance and ability to breathe.” “We will now begin the tour. Now, the House is particularly expansive, and it is somewhat... unique in its layout and design. I therefore ask that if you become separated from the group, that you remain where you are so you don't get lost. I will come back to find you a short while after. Thank you.” He cleared his throat again and gestured round. It was a wide room, home to the great staircase, which seemed to go on forever as it went further and further up into the sky and to higher floors. “There are four floors to this house, as well as an attic and basement. As you can see, the original owner liked tall ceilings, and so the house has been built quite tall. I believe that it was on record that he wanted to be able to see most of the city from the attic.” “Now, if you'll look around, you will see that the great hall contains the great staircase, the great fireplace, and the great grate here.” He frowned a little as he tried to recall his notes. “I don't believe we know what's under that. I'll look into it. In any case. The fireplace is an original Alvere, the only piece in the House I believe, as the original architect passed away in uh...” He pulled out a small slid of paper from his pocket. “Horrible pain.” He coughed and quickly put the slip of paper away. “...Anyway, Lord Heron the First commissioned Alvere to finish this Hall. Now, following me!” He raised his hand and walked away from the group, looking back to double-check that everyone was following him. “The Great Hall leads on to the waiting room. The Lord Heron was very important in his time, and so he would often keep his guests waiting here for up to half an hour as a sort of power display. Of course, as you can see from the furniture, even those guests he felt were less important still received some quite considerable comforts.” “Moving on from the Waiting Room, we have the Parlour. This is where Lord Herons through the ages would meet with and entertain their guests, either before or after matters of business. For this, they would retire to the study, but they would always be offered refreshments here first. As you can see over there, connecting on to here is a small kitchen. That room connects to the servants pathways. The pathways, of course, were designed so that the staff of the house could travel between rooms unseen by their masters. I'm sure we all feel that's a tad archaic now, but I digress. Now, if we return to the Great Hall,” he said, leading the group away again. “Opposite the Waiting Room, we have his lovely Breakfast Room, which was made open-plan and so it faces the sun. The family would eat here only between the hours of eight and ten in the morning, as this is when the sun illuminates the room fully. As you can also see, there are no holders, no places for candles to be placed; this room is intended to be lit solely with natural light. There are of course other rooms for the other meals, built very much on similar principles, and we shall see this if you follow me...” He led them to a new room, similar in some ways to the old one but facing a different direction. “Huh,” Kasther frowned a little, pulling out a piece of paper which he folded into a map. “Could have sworn this room was south-facing. Anyway,” he stowed it away. “This room was used for public dinners, rather than private occasions, as can be seen from the size of the table and number of chairs. The only other notable difference in this room is the painting that hangs above the fireplace, which is the only surviving portrait of the Lord Heron. As we can glean from this, he was a fairly dour and no-nonsense man despite his frivolity with his family's money.” “When entertaining official guests, the women would adjorn to the the sitting room next door, while the Lord and his friends or business partners or what have you would take port and discuss important matters deemed too severe for women at the time. As we can see from the...” He paused as he opened the door. “This is...” He pulled the map back out of his pocket. “I thought it was the sitting room. Says so on the map. But I think it is actually the Games Room.” He took a writing implement out as well and crossed through on the map. “Bloody useless...” he muttered. “Anyway,” he said, letting them all in. “This room was said to be filled with various toys, games and books for the Heron family children. Some of them were also Awakened objects, which is where the story about shapes moving around in the darkness has come from; After the death of the last Lord Heron, the Awakened dolls were able to move around still for some time, giving the appearance of some kind of ghost or spectre remaining in the House.” “Now, if we return to the Great Hall, we find... The Master Bedroom. Uh, this is where most of the Lord Herons lived, though there were times when other rooms were used as the master bedroom. The bed is as you can see four-poster, with silk curtains and a bell for summoning servants. The Lord Heron would often be instructed on matters of urgent business in the morning while he was dressed. Said clothes would be obtained from the Wardrobe Room, which housed all of the Lord and Lady Herons's clothing.” “It is... unusual... to have the Master Bedroom on the ground floor, because...” He thought about it, and then gave up. He couldn't think of any reason that he could bluff for that. Were his notes just that bad? No, he couldn't remember anything about this in his briefing. “Do you bloody know or not?” One of the visitors asked. “I know, I know,” Kasther said hurriedly. “I just can't remember...” “Don't know a damned thing.” The man continued. “Fine, I'm leaving.” He turned on his heels and strode out of the room. “Wait, wait!” Kasther said, following the man quickly. “You'll get lost!” “The door's just here,” the man said, gesturing at it. He put his hands on the large handles and pulled. The door refused to budge. Giving up on opening them both, he put both hands on one handle and pulled. Still the door remained immobile. “What? The door's locked itself again.” “Ah, one second, I'll just get the key...” Kasther muttered as he patted down his pockets. Then he emptied them with a frown, finding only scraps of paper and the metal pieces he had used for dramatics earlier. He whirled around and looked along the floor. “I must have dropped the key. I'll just go and retrace our steps... Won't be a moment.” He hurried off out of the Hall. “How long as he been?” “No idea. None of the clocks in this place work.” “It's getting dark.” “What are you saying, that he's just up and left us?” “I have no idea. Maybe he just got lost.” “Lost? He had a map!” “Well, he said it was easy to get lost. Maybe he dropped the map as well or something.” “Well, I'm going to find him. Him, or another exit. Anyone else?” One by one, they all got up from where they were sitting. He nodded. “Right. Let's go find an exit.” Kasther (Kasimir) was an Estate Agent! Night 0 has begun! It will end at 9PM GMT on Sunday. PMs being sent out now. As it is the Night, PMs can now be sent between players! Please include myself and Kasimir on the PMs. Character List

The game will start in an hour. Please let me know if you have asked for a spec doc (and are not playing >>) and have not received a link, or I have missed you on the player list.

There is no player cap. ...I may regret saying this :P. But eh, the more the merrier.

There is not.

Updated player list and rules clarifications. To respond to STINK (which I have also done in the second post), kill occurs before Omens are discovered.

By the way, if anyone wants to spectate, just let me know. Also, due to the way this game works, I will be requiring living players to immediately cease all communications with dead players upon that player's death.

In order, PAFO, no (I am willing to confirm this one) and PAFO.

PAFO.

Cripes, how long do you want this game to take >>.

Items are fixed and while you can nickname them, they will still be at their core the same thing. Roles can change and would stack - Though bear in mind that we have (to borrow a D&D term) an 'action economy' here, and you still only have one Action each Cycle. Good question.

You aren't reading it quite right. It is possible for the player that discovered the Omen to be the one turned to the Eliminator side. What I was trying to say was that the person who discovered it is not definitely evil, but nor are they definitely innocent.

In order: For example, an Event which would not grant an inherent ability would be discovering the Heart of the House. If this is done, then it will be publicly announced. Items can be found again, yes. There are some items where multiples can be found, as well. Omens will also be announced, giving a hint as to the flavour of Eliminator that has been created. This was meant to mean the standard Traitor kill - One player forgoes any other Actions that Cycle in order to use the Traitor kill.

Neither - This is a mafia game inspired by Betrayal, rather than an attempt to turn the board game into a Sanderson-version of itself. There are no 'rooms' to Explore, or anything like that.

Everyone begins as vanilla characters who can only do two things: Die Vote during the Day, and Explore during the Night.

Each Turn is two days long, so both Day and Night are 48 hours. A full Cycle is 4 days, or 96 hours. PMs are only allowed during the Night Turn by default.

Friday 18th, whoops. Edited that. Also put up a character list.

Rules Clarifications The Eliminator conversion on Omen-discovery is entirely random. It does not favour the person who discovers it. Order of actions generally goes: Protection - Kills - Exploration. House Kill occurs before Exploration occurs. Items are set and cannot change ability. Players can have more than one Role/Inherent Ability (as I am calling them for the sake of this game) at a time. There is only one Action per Cycle per player. The random kill only occurs when there are no Eliminators. Otherwise, the Eliminators need to make the kill. The random kill occurs before any new Eliminators are converted. Omens are announced when discovered. Items which are lost can be rediscovered. Some items can be found in multiples. Deceased Victims Character List Dr Konwa Arelle (Wonko the Sane) - A biochromantic scholar. Frost (Doctor12) - He changed his name to something he thought sounded cool. Coincidentally, he is no longer invited to parties. Nyali (Shara) - A real estate agent that ain't afraid of no ghost, because she doesn't believe in them. Stick (I_Am_A_Stick) - A thin piece of wood that has been cut off or that has fallen off a tree. Aralis (Araries Valerian) - Not all-together there. Yiferien (Daniyah) - A murderous maid with her mind on the property market. Exion (Unodus) - Gambling with his life... Rotiart (Paranoid King) - Not suspicious at all guys. Moro (Magestar) - Searching for treasure. Bugsy (Bugsy6912) - Not related to any potential crook. Doctor Ryan Oglethorpe (phattemer) - Has a strange speaking problem. Quintus (Jondesu) - Entering the mansion. Khaos (little wilson) - A fear junkie. Isaac 'The Hammer' Jones (Elenion) - In search of treasure. Nightspud (Assassin in Burgundy) - A questionably starchy person. Nathan (Nathanvanduij) - Signed up. Dr Artie Neuems (Arraenae) - An old gentleman comparing about today's youth. Billy (Darkness Ascendant) - An rural man enamored by the House's appearance. Arinian (Arinian) - Appearing as himself. Greg Ronald (STINK) - TBA Locke (Orlok Tsubodai) - George Washington in disguise. The Guy in the Red Uniform (Ecthelion III) - Too easy... Aon Deag (Aonar Faileas) - Has no interest in buying, so what is he there for? Sean (polkinghorndb) - Planning on asset-stripping the House. C. L. Anky (Clanky) - Hired for investigative purposes. Prof. Alberd Hae (Haelbarde) - Searching for the research notes of the Five Scholars. ? (The_Lady_Of_Chaos) - TBA Jeffery Wilferson (jefrywlfersn) - TBA Eques Tempore (Straw) - TBA Sheon Idris (Seonid) - A shade of his former self. ? (JUQ) - TBA Huxton (The Young Bard) - He means well but does bad. Kasther (Kasimir) - Intreped young estate agent. Kresla (Elbereth) - Wide-eyed and innocent. This cannot end badly. ? (Mark IV) - Better than Mark III.

The Awakening at the House on the Hill There is a House on the Hill at the end of the road. It is a large and foreboding mansion, grandiose but quiet. In fact, it is almost eerily so, the only noise coming from it the chirping of insects or the whines of birds and beasts. It is surrounded by an acre of land, and the high walls give it a measure of privacy, a feeling of defensiveness and isolation. The parts of the House that can be seen from the road are grey and dull, a blot of darkness in the colourful outskirts of Hallandren. While it seems to be in perfect condition, if it weren't for the bright candles bathing the rooms in a pale yellow light at seemingly random times, one might think it was abandoned. That no-one lived there. In this, the public are actually right. There has not been anyone living there for as long as people can remember, even if, people reason, someone must visit now and again to dust and replace the candles and so on. Its owner died many, many years ago, and presumably now the only people who go in are the people who take care of the place in preparation for its eventual reuse. There are rumours, of course. Everyone has an idea of what happened, even if they are all contradictory. The rich owner killed his wife and then himself when he discovered her tryst; The Returned who claimed it as his court gave away his Breath in a final act of selflessness long since forgotten; It was built for the God-King, but twenty builders died in its construction, their bones holding the foundations in place; Lifeless prowl the hallways, obeying a last command from a mad Awakener, who died (or perhaps lives yet in a state of unlife) when she decided to replace her own blood with ichor. Yes, everyone has an idea of what happened. Whatever really happened, it seems that none of these rumours hold any truth to them, for the eventuality seems to be now. A 'for sale' sign is up at the rusted and ancient iron gates, and people are arriving to have a look around. Not just prospective purchasers, but the usual sort that turn out at any open house - Nosy neighbours who cannot remember anyone living there in all the time they've lived on the road, gawkers hoping to see the place the previous occupant died, thieves trying to make off the with any Awakened Objects scattered in the House while no-one notices. All sorts stand before the gate, shoulder to shoulder as they try to peer within the grounds. Whatever reason you have for your actions, you have turned up on the first day that the House has been opened to the public for sale. It might be a pointless endeavour, or it could turn out to be an opportunity of a lifetime. But in either case, you don't feel too bad about being one of the first at the gate, waiting for the tour to begin. After all, what could possibly happen to you at the House on the Hill? General Rules For the most part, the game is similar to a normal Sanderson Elimination game, except for the fact that the game is a Hidden Information game. Please be aware of this before you sign up. There are two Turns in a Cycle as normal, Day and Night. The game starts on the Night phase. There will be no deaths on Night 1. There are no Eliminators at the start of the game. Players can only use PMs during the Night. The Traitors win when they outnumber the Explorers. The Explorers win when all the Traitors are dead AND the House has been killed. This requires the players to find the Heart of the House, as well as a method of slaying it. Neither of these can be found before the first Traitor is killed. When the House is dead, no more players can be converted to Traitors. On death, the names of all items and inherent abilities that the player has will be revealed. Their effects will remain hidden. Players who die can only discuss the game with each other in the doc. Please do not discuss with anyone else. Each Day Turn, a player may choose to vote for another player that they think is a Traitor. At the end of the Turn, the player with the most votes is lynched. If there is a draw, or the player with the most votes gets less than two votes, then there will be no lynch. Some players may have Actions to use during the Day Turn. If they do, they cannot use an Action during the Night Turn. Each Turn will last 48 hours. Each Night Turn, if a player did not use an Action during the Day, they may use one now. All players, regardless of Alignment, have the ability to use an Action to Explore during the Night Turn. While exploring, a player may discover one of three things (or they may discover nothing): Event - An Event is a single-time immediate effect that will usually grant some kind of Role to your character. Roles require an Action to use. Item - An Item is a physical object which may be single-use, or have multiple charges that allow it to be used a few times. They require an Action to use. Items are reclaimed by the House upon player death. Items can be given away using an Action, one at a time. Omen - An Omen is a symbol of fear. When an Omen is discovered, a player has their will subverted by the House, gains a Role and access to the Traitor doc, and their Alignment changes to ‘Traitor’. All Omens grant different Roles depending on what is discovered. Note that the player that is subverted is unconnected to the player who discovers the Omen. During the Night Turn, if there are no living Traitors, the House will kill a player at random. Otherwise, the Traitors will have the chance to confer among each other and target a player for death instead using an Action. The game will begin on Friday 18th, at 9 PM GMT. Rollover will also be at 9 PM. Please let me know if you wish to speculate. Kasimir will be sub-GMing while I am asleep . Quick Links:

So, here is the document I used to keep track of stuff. Please don't mention any mistakes, it got rather complicated >>. So, my thoughts on this game - Firstly, and perhaps unsurprisingly, balancing stuff is hard. It's not just a question of what I expect to happen, but what the players will actually do. For example, you guys spent a lot, lot longer setting up your economies than I expected. There was also a huge variety of profit being made across the board, for various reasons. The idea was that eventually your profit would cap due to Upkeep, and that you wouldn't want to just go for Wealth-producing Properties as it meant you'd have to pay more for Items. This didn't really work as well as I'd hoped, as is pretty obvious. The other aspect is that I was treating this more as a Roleplaying setting than as a game initially - I expected people to make somewhat sub-par moves for the purposes of flavour. That occurred at times, but not as much as I was expecting. I was hoping to see more Roleplaying posts as well. I'm not sure what I could have done to encourage this further though, as it was apparently the time aspect which prevented this from happening more often than not. It is interesting that I have only recently really encountered a game of this style elsewhere. Originally, it was designed as a cross between Civilisation and a play-by-post RP setting, but I have recently found something which describes this game better. I was recently introduced to Europa Universalis IV, which is a 'Grand Strategy' game, and I think this is a better example. I think this game would be incredible as a computer game by the same people, certainly much better designed :P. So continuing on, as a GM this was a lot of work on specific days. Overall it wasn't that bad, it's just that it got concentrated on Sunday pretty heavily. To anyone considering doing similar, prepare yourself for this and simplify things as much as possible. As has been said, mistakes were commonly made due to the huge number of moving parts, though I tried to be fair as much as possible. Indeed, my GM philosophy is to try to allow you to do what you want to do, and I find it hard to deny that unless absolutely necessary. But mostly, I wanted you guys to have fun. And it looks like that aspect was achieved :).

I couldn't stop laughing for a long while when I saw that :P. I wanted you guys to play around with history in this because you could. How it was changed was up in the air though - If effort was put into it, I would have been happy with anything. That's partly why I introduced stuff over time as well - So you could play with the various aspects. Also, would you guys like more write-ups to define the aftermath of the game, or would you rather it was left more up to personal interpretation?

I guess this is the ending theme? The game is indeed now over, so feel free to reveal any information you like - I can guess what you want to say, Comatose The question of Vin is difficult. In this, Kelsier has not been caught and sent to the Pits of Hathsin, so he has not Snapped. He cannot train Vin if she exists (Tevidian Tekiel could exist, I suppose, as a branch off the Tekiel family tree). At the very least, with Kelsier Unsnapped, TLR dead and Elend possibly nonexistent (I had reasons why it was Straff who died >>), canon has certainly been derailed. While Rashek could have compounded calories, the issue is not one of Investiture here, but actually of the metal. The problem for him was not the lack of energy per se, but of the metal required to compound it. And while it is true that there is the cache below the palace (I can't remember if it stored anything other than lerasium beads?), it would be almost impossible for The Lord Ruler to reclaim his Empire like this. As such, better to bow out with dignity and laugh at you all from the next world than stay.

The game is now over! I will be uploading the action spreadsheet later in the week to my Dropbox, which I will link you guys to. I will also post my thoughts at this time. If you have any questions before then, ask away! In the meantime, as there is technically quite a bit left over after this rebellion, I am going to post snippets of the aftermath over time, which will allow you guys to potentially direct some RP if desired. My reasoning for following this story path as an ending is due to the plot of Well of Ascension - The Lord Ruler is dead, yes, but this splinters The Final Empire as the rule of law cannot be applied everywhere at once. Instead of one Empire, we now have two - One loyalist, one revolutionary. As for the 'winning' faction in this war, there are a few reasons. Firstly, the anti-TLR group has been planning this for several Generations, and their actions reflect this. Secondly, the existence of gunpowder weaponry. This tips the balance quite considerably in their favour, even with House Elariel's subsequent betrayal. Thirdly, the fact that they were slightly more successful at bribing the Lesser Houses. In any case, thank you all for playing. It's been an interesting and fun game. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did The rebellion was swift and brutal and chaotic. Blood flowed freely through the streets, and disease proliferated through the slums as the bodies piled up. House Tekiel troops were already marching the streets when House Izenry tried to kill The Lord Ruler, and when the explosion rang out through the city, they immediately turned to oppressing dissenters. At that, House Elariel troops suddenly turned on their apparent allies, butchering many of them before they were aware that they had been double-crossed. Ultimately, however, the support of House Izenry's firearms proved to be enough to tip the balance in their faction's favour, and the city became covered in the soot and smoke of gunpowder. By the end, uniforms from all the Great Houses littered the streets, left to rot by the armies while they had more important things to deal with. It was several weeks after the initial rebellion, and there was still an uneasy sense in Luthadel. A number of the Lesser Houses had kept out of the fight, in case they backed the wrong person, but they were slowly coming to the realisation that the fight was now practically over. Those that had fought with House Izenry and used their new ferocious weapons to fight The Final Empire had been exalted, while the rest were diminished in status. But that was a long-term consideration. Now, all the Lesser Houses tightened their security and drew inwards. As for the Skaa, they stayed indoors, and got on with their lives as they had previously done. As far as they were concerned, a change in the administration of The Final Empire did not affect them at all. The Steel Ministry had started making noises about it, of course, demanding that the Great Houses and their troops return home immediately, but they were ignored. Those that did not quietly keep on with their task of making sure the city and Empire ran smoothly were locked away until they changed their minds. The Inquisition, on the other hand, were strangely absent while the coup was occurring. They did not come out to condemn Houses Tekiel, Wilson or Izenry, nor did they help them. There were rumours of them heading East, towards the Outer Dominances where House Wilson's troops were currently, but nothing substantiated. Some other nobles seemed to have the same idea of leaving the city. A mass exodus of Lesser and Greater nobles alike headed out to the 'true' Final Empire – A loose alliance of Dominances held by Houses Elariel, Penrod and Uethorn. Steel Ministry agents too, if they could get away from the city quietly enough. It was said that these three Houses were amassing armies and rallying support, and it was practically an open secret that an all-out war would happen sooner rather than later. The Skaa Rebellion on the other hand had seen its chance after all these years. Both sides had promised them rewards for their aid in this conflict, but considering how they were normally treated by the nobility, they decided to simply use the confusion to be lawless. Violent crime rates increased dramatically, as they thieved, murdered and even kidnapped people from the now vulnerable city. And in the centre of the town, hundreds upon hundreds of guardsmen stood before the twisted, jagged mass of iron that was once a palace, but was now a prison. Each was equipped with an Izenry firearm or a bow with obsidian-tipped arrows. They all had one job – To keep God contained. It was reasoned that if he could be vulnerable, then he could suffer from a siege. Eventually, he would have to leave the palace due to starvation. At that point, they could take him down. And in the mean time, the Imperial Guard were starting to defect. Every day, another starving man would stumble out, begging for food and water. But that had ended now, it seemed. It had been a week, and not a single soul had left the palace. But that did nothing to help the guardsmen feel settled; it only made them feel more disturbed. “You four,” a uniformed officer said to some skaa on duty. Noble, still dismissive towards the skaa no matter what his masters might have claimed was the future for the downtrodden class. “Scout the palace. Report back if you see anything.” They could have complained, but that would only lead to their certain death now instead of potentially later. So they switched their firearms, which would not be useful in the confined corridors, for duelling staves, and entered the mess of metal. They saw nothing living inside. Slowly and cautiously they made their way through the chambers and passageways, jumping at every shadow that they saw. Eventually, they found the throne room. It too was empty, the throne itself abandoned and covered in a thin layer of dust. A piece of parchment lay on the floor before it. They took the note and brought it outside to find someone literate to read it. The note was hastily scribbled, and not neat. The hand that wrote it was shaking, and the ink was smudged in places. However, it was still legible. The longer I remain here, the weaker I become. I could leave, but I will not get far, and I would rather die as I choose in my palace as a king than pierced by arrows to collapse on the streets like some vagrant. Who would have thought that it would not be age catching up with me, but food and energy? Something I have never bothered to stockpile. But regardless, I have decided that I will not wait to starve, but to meet my passing with the dignity that befits someone of my stature. I write this cursing the world you wish to create, and I take pleasure in knowing that it will crumble to dust just as I will after I finish this. If you had accepted my rule, there would be more than Ruin in your futures. But alas. The penalty for high treason is that the Empire shall wither and die. Entropy cannot be defeated by mortals, only God, and you have killed Him. You have a few years of this world left to enjoy before it all falls apart; I look forward to watching your despair and suffering from the other side. Rashek, The Lord Ruler of The Final Empire.