Divergent

Only minutes had passed since leaving the shop when all hell broke loose. The night sky became tinged with the color of crimson as flame consumed shops and houses without discrimination. What was going on? He had spent the day in a vibrant and thriving city that celebrated a hero who had saved their land. Things had been lively. Maybe too lively, that he didn't feel that it was the time to find some kind of help to the plight his fellow Goron faced back in their village. Now, everything had been turned upside down. People scrambled amid the chaos, carrying as much as they could salvage. He stood frozen for a few moments, not knowing what to do. There was too much going on and he felt overwhelmed with people running in all sorts of directions. Just then, he heard the sound of a whistle and it calmed him down just a little. "South Gate. Everyone. Move." He didn't know where south was, but he observed and he saw many people running a certain direction, so he followed them and ran as much as his legs could handle. There were many thoughts running through his head. For now, he would focus on survival.

Yeah, there's so many things needed to actually get it from staying alive the whole time to getting the specific mask needed, and also having both village and elims coordinating a message to each unique player, that it's basically just an impossible task to even get it Agreed on the Honor and Coder read. They haven't really done anything yet that pings me one or the other, so I'm neutral on both. I think we'll be able to have more definitive reads once we start D2 and have votes that could better indicate what our positions are I agree with what Araris said. I'm also thinking about trying to vote people that are suspicious and trying to win the loop because we only have really control of the execution and the elims can simply NKs one of their own to ensure no one is cleared. And I guess, it was a common thought that anyone with a mask/hat/hood would not reveal their possession of it or that they tried to get it, and it would be better to reveal such information once the next loop comes around (and there's not as much threat of that information being exploited by the elims)

If there was anyone observing Gor Elam, it would have been clear that it was his first time visiting Clock Town. He walked along the town with an extreme sense of fascination and curiosity over every unfamiliarity he had not encountered or experienced in his humble hometown in the north. There were individuals of all races, buildings of different types he could barely guess as to their purpose, and items of impeccable craftsmanship being sold at every corner. Which was why he found himself stumbling into that shop with all sorts of little trinkets and masks. There were masks of various designs — one resembled the head of a falcon, another of a rabbit's ears, a mask that mimicked a frog leaping on one's head, a red cap that had a bunny symbol in the front. He turned over every mask delicately, afraid that he might accidentally damage the elegant handiwork. As he browsed through the shop's wares, he found himself drawn to a small painted figure of a bear snuck into one of the shelves. He had never seen a bear before except for depictions in picture books. They were creatures only told of in bedtime stories that his mother used to lull him to sleep in his childhood. His little brother loved bears and he would always try to act like in the make-believe games he'd play with his friends. So, he knew that he had to buy this figure as a souvenir when he could finally come home and return to his family.

I thought it over, and I think it would be fine to share. These are small leanings atm and Araris makes a good point that it can be something that can be factored into our analysis moving forward. I have a village lean on Hael for being the one who initially advocated for people to be cautious about what they're doing with their rupees. Of course, it's something that an elim could say to have some brownie points, but he did it at a time where nothing of consequence was shared yet, so I feel that that comes from village motivation. I also have a village lean on Archer. I thought it was good for him to remind people that masks can be purchased only in the first cycle. What makes this a village lean is that it demonstrated that he had a good grasp of the mechanics of the game, but only shared strategy that would be helpful to the village and only offered strategy ideas to the elims once Wonko made it somewhat inevitable that it would be discussed. And I do agree that I am also wary of Wonko atm. It could be just a villager who was excited to share information since he had experience with a game with similar mechanics, and didn't realize that he was giving information that would be more helpful to the elims. But it could also be coming from an elim who either made a slip or that this could be setting up a narrative that the NK targets have to be people we are suspicious of.

I've been mulling it over, but do we think now would be a good time to start sharing reads, or would it be better to withhold sharing it for now and wait until the next day arrives (since sharing them now could influence what the elims do before they even get their first kill)?

Gor Elam finally reached the northern gate to Clock Town. He looked up in awe at the massive walls that surrounded the town. From the stories of other Goron that had visited Clock Town before, he had already been aware of it, but still, it was a different experience hearing about it compared to seeing it for himself. He turned his sight to the gate. There were a number of guards stationed on both sides of the gate, accommodating the civilians that were seeking entry via the northern gate. There were peddlers, performers, tourists, mercenaries, families, and all sorts of individuals from different walks of life. Everyone seemed to have been eager to take part in the Hero's Carnival. While he was waiting for the line to move forward, he hurriedly scoured through his backpack to prepare his identification. He easily found it in the same pocket that he had stashed it on. Of course, it would always be there. He didn't leave his village without checking that he had all the necessary materials a neurotic amount of times. "Identification, please," the guard uttered when he reached the front. He handed him the identification and the guard glossed over it for a few moments before smiling, "You're good to go. Welcome to Clock Town." He had heard from others that the guards were strict, so this was a surprise, but a welcome one. Perhaps it was a sign of good omens.

Agreed on this. I think it'd be best that we play it like a regular game and vote people out based on whether their behaviors are indicative of being elim or not, and I feel that over time, our social reads combined with the mechanical aspect from the end of the loop results would be highly beneficial to us winning (especially that this game is essentially a marathon, and elims might eventually slip up)

Oh, so the outcome of a loop is also affected by the night kill? I don't know why I had assumed that it was only based on the alignment of who gets executed

By the selective picks part, does that mean the Postman's Hat owner gets to decide which PMs will be sent? Or is it either all PMs are sent or no PMs are sent? Also, for the Blast Mask and Fiercy Deity Mask's 1x per game, is it as a collective for all players or just for that player alone?

Agreed on this. It is better that we don't give any indications as to what masks/hats we have, especially that a good amount of them are more effective if they remain hidden (at least this loop, Bremen, Bunny, and Postman want to stay alive while Don Gero wants to bait the NK). Masks reset and we get resurrected anyway if we die during a loop, so it'd be more advantageous to reveal the relevant information once the next turn comes around. We can only purchase on the first cycle, so the next tier of masks will only be available the following loop. I guess Bunny Hood and Postman's Hat could help obtain the Fierce Deity Mask, but it'd pretty much require you to keep being alive throughout the loops since you lose your money if you die. I believe we are notified if Postman's Hat is in play and the message will be received at the start of the following night (you can only write them during days)

Gor Elam took in the scenery as he strided on the road to Clock Town. Clear, blue skies stretched over the central region and clouds laze about, seemingly unhurried and without a care for the world. There was a gentle warmth in the air and the soft wind carried the scent of flowers at the peak of their bloom. He wore a melancholic smile as he appreciated the view before him. It had been a few days since he had started on his journey from Goron Village. For most of his life, he hardly strayed out from his hometown. Occasionally, he'd venture to the mountain smithy on an errand to deliver minerals to the local blacksmiths, Zubora and Gabora. He was perfectly content with his life there. That was until a recent unexplicable change to the climate, which had turned from being temperate to being plagued by the frigid cold and snow, that was usually only common in the Snowhead Mountains. Most of the Gorons, including his family, had retreated to the shrine to seek refuge from the glacial winds. They were alive, but they were merely surviving. They could hardly go out without the fear that the harsh conditions might cause their untimely end. And so, they spent their days holed up in that shrine, waiting and waiting that this seeming eternal winter would stop. But days and weeks and months passed, and there was hardly any sign that things would return to how they were. Many of his fellow Goron had left the village. Some had sought new homes elsewhere. Others had tried to find answers or a solution to their plight, but all returned fruitless and despondent. When yet another group returned to the village empty-handed, Gor Elam decided that he wanted to go out himself. Maybe there was a different angle that the others had missed or that he would have the fortune that others did not possess. Whichever the case, he loved his village too much and could no longer stand the hopelessness of the situation they were in. Now, he was merely a stone's throw away from Clock Town. Someone must have the answer he seeks. He will save his village.

@Amanuensis Some things I wanted to ask, 1. Is it correct that a Mask can only be acquired by one person at a time? 2. If yes and you bid for that mask, but did not get it, would you lose the Rupees equivalent to how much said Mask is worth?

I'm okay with starting tonight! I think it's fine since we'll have the first 48 hours as non-voting days where we'll have the time to figure things out

Got around to reading the mechanics and I'm hyped! If I'm understanding it correctly, - We're basically playing 4 games with the same set of people (via the Loops and that alignments are the same throughout) - For village / elims to win, they need to win 3 out of 4 of those games. Village wins a game if they execute 1 elim (Game 1 only) / 2 elims (Game 2 beyond) - You buy your own abilities (Masks) with the currency and this currency is primarily earned via being active. They can only be purchased up until the end of N1 in each game (Loop)

I'll switch to being a player. My character is Gor Elam of the Goron race.

I'll pinch hit

When I saw that there wasn't a living Tineye D1, I was like "If Doc's playing this game, he'd be sad there's no PMs"

Oh I was scared alright when you went after me D2 of that game back when we didn't know yet that we were both elims . I know from experience that you do so well convincing people of your innocence if given the opportunity to do so in PMs haha so I can see why the villagers trusted you until the end

I was reading through some parts of this game when I had the time and from the bits I had read, I had fun haha. Did not expect at all that Mistfallen and Archer would get taken out C1. I liked how Stick locked in C4 and immediately got killed after because of how big of a threat she was to the elims . Also, Doc really plays a scary elim game omg. I think I'll be wary of you again the next time we play lol Also, I was surprised when TOW actually flipped v and that he really had just missed submitting actions one too many times . And I was really impressed with the newbies' play. Hopefully, I'll have the time to play the next game

I'm really uncertain of whether I'll be available or not in March/April, so I think I'll decline for now, but thank you for the nomination

@Stick. I fulfill the promise to make memes in the name of the "Oxblood Beagle"

So true. I thought Weasel was like one of the long-time SE people haha Yup I guessed you as either Toucan or Meerkat, and figured it was most likely wrong since I wasn't too familiar with your writing style

Five of my guesses ended up being correct (Honor, Hoid, Fura, Kas, and TwinStorm), which wasn't too bad considering I've only played 2.5 games @Kasimir I almost believed the not-Kas lie. It was fun being in the same alignment this time and bouncing off ideas heh @Mistfallen Soldier I figured you were playing, but couldn't identify who because no one seemed to fit the impression I had when we played. My guess was Octopus, but it felt far off. @Archer I'm still amazed how you managed to convey so much with so few words @|TJ| I'm glad I never fed into the e!Rhino allegations haha To both, it's my first time playing with y'all and it's been great working together @Doc12 Loved the RP, never would have figured out it was you This was my first experience of an anonymous game and it was a really interesting experience

I had a lot of fun subbing into this game! I'm glad to know my analysis and reads ended up being quite good haha. I'm also amazed that one of my combinations was the correct distro for the game @Doc12 Thank you for that D4. Started out being very suspicious of you, but you did really well to help me find you as village and reconsider my vote @Ookla the Wallfacer @Alvron When the day ended and the game wasn't over yet, I thought either of you was lying about being Smoker and were actually a different power role to prevent the elims from killing you. Unfortunate it wasn't the case, but that final hour of D5 exchanging ideas was fun @Ookla the Broken I have to laugh because your earnestness really fooled me. There were soooo many things that made me suspicious of you, but every time, I remember some of your more passionate posts and then I make up the excuses that "there's no way IHAT is elim", but I guess I really should have listened to my gut more and not put as much trust in you as I did. Those D4 PM exchanges even furthered my impression of you as town. Crazy good effort. @The Unknown Ookla @Stick. @Ookla the Broken Congrats to the elims for the win! It was a lot of good coordination and teamwork to ensure that all 3 of you remained alive throughout the game. Hahah I didn't expect so many mentions of my name in the dead doc To respond to one of the last mentions, I did have a lot of fun, and part of the fun was putting in the effort to try to solve the game both from the social side and the mechanical side. This was a very interesting game mechanically, and I really liked that it revolved around giving the elims the power to decide the rolelist. Also, I read some of what you said about Blood in the Clocktower and it would be nice to have either the game itself translated here or an inspired version of it. And I wanted to ask, what do you think of Spy? Do you think it's a fun role, overrated, etc? @DrakeMarshall Thank you for hosting this game! As mentioned earlier, the setup was very interesting mechanically and I look forward to either playing or pinch hitting for your future games

Yeah, I recognize that and I think I'm still not used to all these vote shifts in the hour before rollover lol Definitely something to ponder on