Metacognition

In light of this, I'll remove my vote from Gamma for now. That seems incredibly powerful, as it's guaranteed to find either Rayse or a Champion then. That's better than having an actual Scanner, especially since they can do it multiple times as long as we protect them! If team Rayse has one, then they basically will learn who Ati is at the cost of one of their own. Still incredibly powerful. Sarc, that is horrible reasoning. "Let's kill off our better players because they might be evil!" And, with no insult to Wilson, I'm not her. We both have very different play styles and I keep my suspicions very fluid.

It's wasn't a poke vote. I meant to leave my vote exactly where it was, but everyone wanted a no lynch, so I bowed to the will of the group. During the first cycle, you can't help but pick someone out semi-randomly and just see what happens. What I don't like about poke votes is exactly how easy it has become for people to shrug off the early votes. Most people only leave them on someone until that person speaks up. That does us no good, as it doesn't tell us anything. For example: Joe votes for Gamma. Gamma posts "I'm here." and that's it. Joe removes his vote from Gamma. That doesn't tell us anything other than that Gamma isn't going inactive. Those kind of poke votes don't do us any good. The idea behind voting is to make the other person fear that they might actually get lynched and see how they try to defend themselves and who all comes to their defense. That doesn't happen if you're going to remove your vote just because they posted. In other words, because no one wanted a lynch on the first day, the votes lost their bite. Preferably what you'd want is a bunch of votes being thrown about on the first day (and most days in fact) with every intention of lynching someone. Then you see who might be trying to defend themselves just a little too hard or who has other people that seem to be sticking up for them. The end result though is that someone does wind up getting lynched. This is what separates poke votes from other votes. The first day votes have lost their intent and that's why lynches on the first day are so random. They don't have to be, but everyone being unwilling to lynch on the first day is what makes them that way. I'm going to go back through the first cycle later tonight to see if I can't pick up any clues, but for now, I remember being suspicious of Gamma, more so after we only had the one kill. We know Rayse was active enough to invest in one of their Champs, but they didn't kill last night. As such, there's a good chance that they're not as active and that they missed their chance to put in the order. The Witness doesn't have a very good shot at actually targeting the person making the kill (about a 2/29 chance), so having Ati hold off very well could have been to protect Rayse from getting shot. Besides, lets say the Witness does find Ati instead of Rayse or a Champ. That's not necessarily a bad thing. We'd have confirmation of Ati and that the Witness is telling the truth and could likely be trusted.

This could also include Dominion if they are capable of changing someone's no vote to a vote. Joe: could we get a ruling on that?

Well, I did say that we'd lock this game a little bit after LG10 started and this seems as good a time as any! I'd like to again thank you all for playing. Maybe we'll make this a tradition; where we run this game every year to see how it turns out! That could be a lot of fun after all. I know I'd enjoy that! Or maybe next year, we'll come up with something else to do to celebrate another year together. Only time will tell! In the mean time, may this year be filled with tricks and deceptions and chaos and blood! But above all, may this year be filled with a lot of awesome games with some great people! Happy Hunting everyone! Now, as we like to leave off every game, if anyone would like to try your hand at running a game, please get a hold of Gamma, Wilson or myself. Not only will we get you added to the list, but I'm sure we'd be more than willing to help out in any way we can as well! You can also ask questions and get some hints and feedback from everyone over here in our Art of Game Creation thread as well. With all the games that we've run so far, we have plenty of experienced GMs that can help you refine any game you're thinking about!

Funny how that works. Aonar is to be protected for stating a plan, but me doing so means that I'm trying to take control....

The problem with doing that is that it would defeat the purpose. Team Rayse could be trying to get one of their own chosen specifically to infiltrate a world in which they don't have anyone. You'd risk a possible clean world just to distribute the numbers a bit more around a bit? I can say that if someone moves to the world I'm on, I would automatically look at them with suspicion just because I wouldn't know how they were chosen. In case it wasn't obvious, I agree with the idea of locking the worlds (for now at least), but we shouldn't be trying to evenly distribute players between the worlds. If we do that, we're losing the purpose behind why we're locking the worlds in the first place!

People seem to be getting the wrong idea of what I'm asking of Ruin, so I'll clarify one last time while answering their questions and from there, I'll leave it up to Ruin to decide. Honestly, I'm a bit surprised at the dissent to the idea. I'm beginning to wonder if there's an ulterior motive behind it, especially since some of the complaints sound similarly.... Could just be me reading too much into it though or people being afraid to be responsible for an innocent's death; even one that isn't being helpful. If they come in and let people know that they're busy and that they plan to be back, then they're not inactive, are they? They're just busy. If someone comes in and lets everyone know that they're going to be busy, obviously, they shouldn't be the initial targets. That said, it's rare that someone that says that will be able to keep up with the twists and turns that happen in their absence anyways and this seems like a very specific circumstance. You wouldn't happen to know of someone doing exactly this via the Eliminator Doc, would you? This has nothing to do with the lynches. This is about Ruin's kill ability. The idea is to do this specifically so we don't have to use our lynches on inactives later on and can focus on finding the coonections and lies that lead us to Team Rayse. The chances of us hitting a Spiked are slim; this is true. But, this way, we don't have to worry about the inactives once/if the game gets close and, as stated already, the inactives aren't helping us at all. All they're doing is providing a place for the Spiked to hide between. The Day is 48 hours long. Half of the day is a full 24 hours, but even that isn't what I'm talking about. Ruin doesn't get their kill until the Night Turn, so that means that their target would have to have been inactive for over 48 hours before they would be a likely target. Also, this is not a strategy for the entire game. This is a way to actually use Ruin's ability early on when they'd likely just be twiddling their thumbs. As stated earlier, once Ruin has some information and can make better guesses, I encourage them to go after them rather than the inactives. Also, let's discuss past games for a minute, especially the AG. In the past, the Eliminators have consistently tried to find that sweet spot between posting too much and too little. Too much and they get put on people's radar, which is where they don't want to be. Too little and we might kill them just for being unhelpful as the game goes on. The idea with this plan is to encourage them to have to speak up more and thus giving them more opportunities to slip up. This happened in the AG, near the end of the game, when they couldn't continue to stick to the shadows as much. If you go back through the Dead Doc, there were multiple times in which people notices posts that would've been red flags for them if they were still in the game. I'm trying to accelerate that process before we have to lose almost half of our players. Look, I get why everyone doesn't want a lynch today and why people are uneasy with this idea. No one wants to accidentally kill an innocent. Thing is, it's going to happen. We don't have a scanner role and Team Rayse has two possible kills a night! If we sit back and try to wait to find only Rayse and his Champions, we're likely going to lose. Heck, there's a chance that we could lose a Shard tonight (but at least then it's not on us, right?). That said, I'll acquiesce to the group and withdraw my vote from The Second of the Sky and start coming up with other ideas. Investiture is going to be difficult. The Shards could accidentally invest in one of the Champs, so they're going to want to be very careful about doing so. The only Shard that I think really should hold off on investing would be Devotion. Unless they're fairly certain that the person they pick is not a Champ, then I think we want to have all options for future lynches on the table. Cultivation and Dominion are iffy, as we don't really want to give Team Rayse the ability to manipulate the vote (or to get people in mini PMs where they can be more easily manipulated), but if they do manipulate the vote, then Cultivation and Dominion would know who they are at least! So that's the last word I'll say on that idea and also some thoughts for going forward.

Sorry, couldn't help myself. I'm just messing with you anyways.

I would but I'd rather read about it in some long, awesome RP! You plan on doing one of those, right? If I don't have some plan or something to help us root out the Eliminators, then that's when you should worry about me actually being one! When I play, and you can ask other people who have played with me before if you don't believe me, I typically have some plan for limiting the tactics that the Eliminators can use. In this game, it's making sure that they have to speak up and be active if they want to live. And we want them talking and being active! The more they have to say, the more likely they are going to accidentally let something slip. If they don't say anything or say very little, then we never have enough information about them to make an case against them and we wind up focusing on other people that have spoken up and they win. As far as Shards and/or roles lurking to stay hidden, this is a bad idea anyways. As I stated in my first post, roles are nice and all, but they are not the end all, be all of anyone's capabilities. If anyone is strictly focusing on their role (or waiting for other roles to do their thing), then they are leaving the game up to chance. We don't know who is going to get hit at night. The Eliminators could get lucky and hit two Shards tonight. Maybe they hit Hoid right off the bat. Maybe Honor accidentally protects one of Odium's Champions. My point is that no one should be hanging back just to "protect themselves." If they're doing that, then they're not helping us find the Eliminators and any single player's survival is worthless if we still lose. Without getting lucky, we're going to find them in the discussions, not at night. And even if Ruin were to hit a Shard; it doesn't matter. An inactive Shard isn't putting in their orders or using their investiture or discussing who they think could be evil or anything at all for that matter, so killing them isn't going to hurt us at all. In fact, it'll help us, as we'll know that we can't count on that role in future. We'll know that the actions performed so far were not connected with that role, so we can narrow down what has happened. And we take away a place for the Eliminators to hide. Besides, the other option is Ruin just sitting back and either killing someone randomly or they hold off for a few cycles until they have what they feel is enough evidence to make a decent judgement call. It really is a win-win for us. This way, they're using their ability to make sure that the Eliminators have no where to hide and making them have to speak up so that we can catch them in a lie. If this is a tactic that benefits the Eliminators, I'm not seeing how since it eliminates (heh) some of the strategies that they could use to keep themselves hidden!

If Cognition had a head, he would be shaking it. Humans and their obsession with titles and roles. They always placed so much importance on them, as if they were worth more than an analytical mind. Battles weren't decided by those that had the best, specialized units, but by the general with the most information. Considering his simulations had correctly predicted a 98.2% chance that Odium would initially target the command structure of the 17th Shard, they were definitely at war. Odium had struck first and he had the resources to strike quickly. He gave these worldhoppers a 88% of having multiple of them dead before the next day. Not exactly an ideal situation for them to sit around and wait for information. It was only logical that they go out of their way to find the information they needed to stop Rayse. They weren't going to get it by sitting around and waiting and they weren't going to get it by half-heartedly poking at each other. Cognition was more than capable of traveling to other worlds, but he still hadn't perfected the transition to the physical realm yet. This annoyed him greatly since he understood the principals and yet they never came out right. Obviously, there was a component that he had not yet considered. As such, he appeared a little stormcloud, no larger than a basketball, hovering in the air. "You humans always run when you should pause and pause when you should act! Rayse is far too clever for indecisiveness. That is why The Second Sky has attracted my attention. We cannot waste time on frivolous squabbling and we will need the combined skill of everyone to combat Rayse. To that end, we need everyone to be a part of the discussion!" Most of my thoughts are up there, but I do have one suggestion that I wanted to spell out a little clearer: I suggest that whomever has Ruin should use it to kill off inactives and lurkers until we have more solid suspicions. This will make it so that Odium and his champions will have to speak up if they don't want to be killed early (which will help when it comes to finding them) and will provoke more people to contribute! It takes away a place for team Rayse to hide amongst and, when/if the game gets close later down the line, the game won't be decided by whether or not the lurkers/inactives come back or not. We also learn what roles they had, so we have a better understanding of what is likely still in play. So if there is someone who hasn't checked in by the time night rolls around- well, they had plenty of time to step forward. If they are that busy that they weren't even capable of checking in within two days, then they're unlikely going to be much help to us anyways.

Just to let everyone know, we'll likely lock this a little bit after the start of LG 10. As such, if you have any additional questions, comments, or threats or friendly ribbing you want to make before then, get them in soon! I had a blast running this game and it could've gone either way a hundred different times, IMO. I was very impressed by those that were new to the game on both sides. They all jumped head first into it and I was impressed with how well they handled it! I look forward to many more games with you! So get in your comments while you can, cause soon we'll be moving on into our second year together and that means even more blood and death! Can't go wrong with that!

Joe, could you update the OP with all the additional roles/rules? Personally, I'd like to have a reference point to work from and I'd bet I'm not alone in that right! Also, New Role! You see, everyone; me being added got us a protection role! Obviously, that means that I should be spared..... right?

Humans muddle everything. They are bounded by emotions and impulses that lead to chaos... and, to be fair, sometimes innovation. Still, they were an erratic lot; constantly driven to foolishness. Indeed, many seemed to seek it out! At least that was Cognition's point of view. As a Logicspren that had been around for countless generations, he had seen his share of humans come and go. Now was a time of coming, evidently. Cognition had not seen so many humans wandering his home of Shadesmar since the Desolations. They thought themselves unique with their ability to traverse the worlds. How like children they were. The understanding of the Realmatics behind the universe were abundantly clear to one that could process them logically and Cognition was nothing if not logical. He had traveled to worlds yet unknown to these "Worldhoppers." Most humans thought of logicspren as little storm clouds that appeared around great arguments. It was an example of their naivety, as that was just their expression within the human's physical world. In Shadesmar, they stood as large, rectangular constructs, similar to a large computer, though the lightning remained as conduits of energy pulsed through them. Even before the humans started gathering within the Cognitive Realm, Cognition knew of the danger that they gathered to face. He had run the simulations and, without help, Odium would break free. Since such a result would be disastrous (he had run those simulations too), he was forced to assist these humans in their objective. Perhaps their inspiration would help all of them find victory. If not, Cognition would lead them with his logic and ensure that Rayse was stopped.

Will you still be accepting players after that point or is this the start of the game, but it doesn't actually start till later?

Wow, that was a lot of layers there, Maill! Very impressive! ...Also.... I'm not one for acclaim and I can see how this mistake happened, but really? Yep, thanks Joe! I thought it was a great game and really well balanced! Everyone should strive to make a game as good as this!

The Spiked are capable of doing so because they are not using it to confirm themselves to another player. They already know who each other are. The Rule against Copy/Pasting is there to keep players from being able to tell if someone is lying or not. If it wasn't there, people could just send everyone the original PM from the GM that states their roles and then that wouldn't make for a very fun game, now would it? Also, the Spiked are not immune to the Copy/Paste rules. They can't do so in other PMs to other players, just the same as anyone else. In fact, I know that at one point, I threatened to reveal the next Spiked who did so, due to how often this rule was getting broken by everyone. So it's not that they're immune to the rule, but they don't have to convince each other that they're all on the same side.

I didn't give them a Thug. Remember where you got that information, Wyrm. The Spiked lie after all! Edit: Dual Seekers would've thrown off the balance, IMO. Especially since the Village did have multiple seekers in the form of a Mistborn as well. Giving them another Seeker would mean that there's the possibility of a turn in which three people were seeked! That's a lot of confirmed players for the Spiked to have to handle! Not to mention the amount of Rioters and Soothers available to help find smoked people. That is what helped you guys find Weiry after all! Besides, with all of the emotional allomancy that was available to the village, the Spiked needed some way to still be relevant when voting.

Aftermath: Tyrian Falls...Again Most of the villagers had turned up at Baron von Piffertiff’s manor the next day. There were three dead guards, but no sign of the Baron himself. Did he escape? Was he alive and in need of their help? They split off into teams and searched the Baron’s entire grounds. None of them found the secret tunnels. Wyra had been teamed up with the stranded Nobleman, Melend; though he liked to think of it more as him being “temporarily inconvenienced.” They were searching the Baron’s stables. Wyra was checking in one of the storage closets when Melend walked past her. Barely audible, she thought she heard him whisper, “You’re next.” A chill ran down her spine and she froze for half a second before turning to face him. “Excuse me?” She said. Melend had continued walking, but stopped when Wyra addressed him. When he turned to face her, his face was etched with confusion. “I’m sorry,” he said. “Did you say something?” “I thought I just heard you say something as you went past me.” Melend shrugged. “The only thing I’ve said since we came in here was about how much I hate the smell.” “Okay, then why did I- you know what? Forget it.” Wyra shook her head. I must be hearing things, she thought. It wouldn’t surprise her after everything. The Koloss were now close enough that they were capable of being seen with the naked eye. Most of the town had been killed in paranoia or by the Spiked and now, with both Jain and the Baron missing, it seemed as if even some of the villagers had given up hope and abandoned them. Her being on edge enough to start hearing things wasn’t entirely without merit! They spent the entire morning combing the Baron’s grounds. As noon approached, everyone gathered back at the front doors of the manor to see if any of the other groups had had any luck. None of them had. At the news, Wyra happened to glance over to Melend, the whisper still haunting her. Was he grinning at the news? It could just be the play of the shadows across his face or maybe she was letting her imagination run wild again, but it looked like he was trying to contain a grin! Melend noticed Wyra watching him, staring at him incredulously. His grin grew bigger and he winked while pointing at her. No one else seemed to have noticed. It felt like she’d been doused by a bucket of ice water. It took her mind and body a good minute to catch up to each other. Her mind was racing. There was no mistaking that! She hadn’t just been hearing things! That meant that Melend must be one of the Spiked! And he had threatened her! She was their next target! Fear and rage and relief battled inside of her. Fear because the Spiked were looking to kill her, rage at all the deaths that they had caused, and relief because she wasn’t going insane. As with most times in Wyra’s life, the rage eventually won out. Threaten me, will you? I’ll rip your heart out! With a snarl, she dove at Melend, reaching to do just that. The crowd parted in surprise. “Help!” Melend called urgently as he and Wyra tumbled across the ground. “She’s gone mad and I don’t know how much longer I can keep her off of me!” This just infuriated Wyra all the more. She pushed with all her might, even flairing pewter to try to get her hands around Melend’s throat. Her arms didn’t budge even a fraction of an inch closer. Before Wyra could even be surprised by this, the village was on her, hauling her off of him. “No!” She shouted as she tried to them off of her, but even with pewter, there were too many of them and she didn’t have the leverage she needed. “Don’t you get it? He’s one of them! He’s Spiked!” Melend picked himself up off the ground and dusted himself off. “Obviously, the strain of consistently hiding her true nature, that of one of those villainous Spiked, has shattered her mind. You all saw the way she attacked me! She was like an animal! I’d pity her, if it wasn’t for the fact that she had killed so many of our friends.” “You Rusting Cur!” Wyra spat. “I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you if it’s the last thing I do!” Melend held up his hands as if to say, “See?” The villagers didn’t know what to do, so someone was sent to fetch some chain that had been hanging up in the stables to tie Wyra up while they deliberated. They knew they couldn’t botch this. They spent hours arguing back and forth until eventually it came down to one last person: Maill, the Cobbler. Every eye turned towards him and he didn’t know which of them were friendly and which weren’t. He took a deep breath to steady his nerves. “Hmmm, well let’s see. I- I don’t think we can have Wyra running around, trying to kill whomever she wants whether she is Spiked or not! But, for our sakes, she had better be.” “Excellent, then it’s decided.” Melend said quickly. Perhaps a little too quickly? They left Wyra chained up. They likely wouldn’t be able to overpower her again, not now that she was ready for them. After all the fighting and arguing and debating, it almost seemed too quick and easy. A quick thrust through the heart and Wyra’s body went limp. The villagers crowded around, throwing off the chains that bound Wyra’s body, desperate to find the spike that they just knew had to be there. None of them were more so than Maill. “There’s nothing here!” Maill moaned, as he moved to double check again. “It’s got to be here!” “Huh, I guess I was wrong,” Melend said nonchalantly. He stood at the back of the crowd. “Oh well.” “You win some, you lose some. I’m sure we’ll get them next time though!” Senn stepped up beside Melend and patted him on the back. “You know, this reminds me of a parable I once heard,” Clancy narrated as he joined them. “It all started with a boy, a shepherd boy, who liked to play pranks on his fellow villagers. He-” “Hey guys! I hope I’m not too late! I just finished my latest masterpiece! Wanna see?” Odustren whipped off the cloth concealing his painting with a malicious grin. “See, that’s us and that’s the Koloss sweeping through the burning village and this is all of the little villagers weeping and dying! Pretty good, huh? I think I did a pretty good job of capturing their horror! Ha!” The villagers slumped in defeat. They had tried so hard and now it looked like it was going to all be for naught. “What do you plan to do with us?” Maill asked as a single tear ran down his face. “Oh, Ruin has something special in mind for all of you!” Senn sneered as he pulled out sets of manacles he was carrying in a sack. “Well, most of you. Some must be left to satiate the Koloss!” It was still early afternoon when the villagers were corralled into the town square. There, a strange table had been erected. It looked normal enough, except for the fact that it had the indented shape of a person in the middle of it…. Ruin had guided the Spiked in the making of the altar and now he guided them again, picking out the allomancers from the villagers left alive. Tin from Maill and Pewter from Damon. There were a few surprises, as Peng was hauled forward, unbeknownst to him, that he was a Duralumin Gnat and a few others. Melend was stripped to the waist and he laid down in the indention as the rest of the Spiked strapped the helpless villagers on top of him, one by one. “For the Glory of Ruin!” Clancy would shout each time he impaled a spike through a villager and into Melend. The crowd turned away in disgust, but there was no chance of fleeing the grisly scene. They had been tethered to each other and the ground. As the last of the villager allomancers were used, Clancy glanced at Senn. Ruin had given them both a very special mission. Senn nodded and together they grabbed Odustren, who was using the blood of the villagers to paint a scene of the huddled masses he was keeping an eye on. “Hey! What do you guys think you’re doing? What is this? Oh, oh NO! NO, NO, NO! RELEASE ME! I’M ON YOUR SIDE, REMEMBER?” Odustren struggled as they strapped him down on the altar while the villagers couldn’t do anything except watch in horror. They were sacrificing even their own! “Ruin has need of your Zinc, Odustren,” Clancy stated calmly. “And you know Ruin gets what he wants. For the Glory of Ruin!” “NOOOOOOOOO-” Senn held the spike, so Clancy could drive it the rest of the way through Odustren’s body. The villagers cringed with each thunk, unable to watch anymore. Then they heard a new thwack and a few of the braver, curiouser ones turn back to find out what had happened. Senn was laying unconscious on the ground. There was a dribble of blood coming from where Clancy had knocked him upside his head. With steady hands, Clancy finished pounding the spike through Odustren and then heaved the comatose form of Senn onto the table and the pounding began anew. Finally, it was done and Melend sat up, covered in blood, but looking little worse for wear after having so many spikes driven into him. Truly, this was some dark form of magic. Clancy helped him up as as he did so, he admired his handiwork. “No eye spikes yet, but you’re well on your way! I’m sure Ruin will provide us with ample opportunity in the near future!” “Very true,” Melend said. “There are a few that I’m still missing.” “Such as?” “Such as Copper.” Clancy nodded before he realized what Melend meant. Melend was on him in an instant. He pulled out a spike he had hidden (due to Ruin’s guidance) underneath the table and in one swift motion and the strength of his enhanced pewter, jammed it through Clancy and into himself. As Clancy’s form slumped to the ground, Melend turned to the final villagers. “And now I must bid the rest of you adieu! Trust me, I would murder you all if you were worth even the fraction of the time it would take, but alas, my lord has other plans for me! Do try to flee when the Koloss finish breaking through! They don’t like it when it’s too easy for them after all!” With that, he dropped a coin and with a Duralumin push, he flew off into the fading day. The villagers huddled together in the silence afterwards for a moment before they could hear the Koloss finally breaking through their makeshift wall…. As Melend soared through the air, he silently asked Ruin where he was to head next. North said a voice within his head. It is time to deal with the people of Terris. Your brothers are already on their way. Melend smiled and adjusted his course. ________________________________________________________________________ Will this town ever be free of the ravages of the Koloss? The Spiked win! Votes (4) Wyra- Maill, Melend, Clancy, Senn, (3) Odustren- Joe, Peng, Wyra (4) No Votes- Dom, Odustren, Damon, Larry Good game everyone and thank you all for playing! I hope you had as much fun as I did in running it! Here are the links to all of the Docs used during this game. Master Doc Action and Vote Spreadsheet Ruin’s Guide to Destruction Mistborn Heaven Feel free to ask any questions or comments and all of that kind of good stuff! Again, thanks for making this, our Anniversary Game so special and here’s to hopefully another great year of amazing games!

The Day is now over, but I'm too exhausted to do the write up right now guys. My brain feels like it's filled with cotton or molasses. Sorry. I'll get it in tomorrow and I'll take that into account, okay? Again, sorry guys!

Day 9: Tunnel Vision Baron von Piffertiff was spending more and more of his nights and evenings in his study. He had his book to finish and as things grew more and more dire for the village, there seemed to be less and less chance that he’d finish it! So while the rest of the village had spent the afternoon looking for that scoundrel of a traveler, Jain, the Baron worked. That didn’t mean that he was alone though. He kept his best three guards at his side, just in case. As night started to descend and the lamps were being lit, his steward, Stu brought him his dinner and information about the events of the day. It seemed that the village hadn’t been able to find Jain and had finally given up. “Bloody fools,” the Baron mumbled to himself at the news. “They would’ve been better served working on the wall as I told them!” “Umm, sir? You’ve been here all day. When did you tell them?” “As I would’ve told them if any of the lazy louts had asked me about it.” Piffertiff corrected. “I don’t want to be disturbed, Stu. I’m about finished and then we need to see about getting this book and myself out of this infernal town. If you serve well, you can come too.” Stu bowed his way out, leaving the Baron to his work. ...and thus these cans and can-like vessels make the perfect containers for keeping perishables fresh for extended durations. Furthermore, they allow for ease of transportation between various what was that? Oh, Lord Ruler! They’ve come for me! Not now! Someone help! Piffertiff had been so consumed in his writing that it took him a moment to disengage and had started writing stream of consciousness, wasting precious seconds. By the time he pulled himself away, most of his study’s lamps had been blown out as the wind and mist curled in through the now broken windows that the shadowy figures had crashed through. His guards were quick to react. They drew their swords and were between him and the assailants in a split second. It was amazing what kind of loyalty coin could buy. Not that the Baron wasted any more time thinking about it or their lives. As long as they lived long enough for him to escape, they had earned their coin. He didn’t even give a thought to how difficult it would be for dead men to spend it. The assassins drew swords of their own and charged. In the flickering light, shadows elongated and shifted; making it difficult to guess who many of these Spiked there were. There was a clash of blades as the guards met the assassin’s charge. The Spiked would dart in out of the shadows and mist like ghosts. They’d exchange a few blows before fading back and attacking from a new angle, but the guards were holding their own; if barely. Every exchange cost them in new, little cuts. It would only be a matter of time before the Spiked wore them down. The Baron, not being much of a fighter, instead used the time to flee. He ran to one of the bookshelves lining an inside wall. His fingers felt along the side of the bookshelf, looking for the irregularity that would trigger the lock. He found it and with a click, the bookcase swung open, revealing the tunnel that would lead him to freedom. He grabbed a torch that hung nearby for this exact purpose and pulled the bookcase closed behind him; abandoning his guards to their fate. The tunnel Piffertiff traveled down connected to other tunnels, each of them leading to different rooms in his mansion. One of the tunnels led out to where he had a carriage constantly waiting for just this purpose. He had lost his book, but he was more important. As long as he escaped this hellish town, he could always rewrite it after all. It was a waste, but him losing his life would be more of one. He was almost halfway through the final tunnel until salvation and safety when his torch illuminated a humanoid figure in his path. It could just be his footman for the carriage, but this far into the tunnel, Piffertiff doubted it and he stopped dead in his tracks. “Escape isn’t that easy, Baron.” The voice echoed off the walls, almost seeming to slither their way to his ears. Piffertiff gulped and though terrified, tried to give the figure his most winning smile. “Ahh, yes. So I see. Well, in that case, might I offer-” He spun on his heel as quickly as he could and sprinted back the way he came. A throwing knife caught him in the calf and he tumbled to the ground. He leaned against the wall to stand up, but the best he could to was hobble along the wall. Another knife hit him in the shoulder and he cried out as he fell again. “There will be no escaped for any of you,” the voice calmly stated, far nearer now that the Baron couldn’t run. He heard the rasp of a sword leaving its scabbard. It was the last thing he heard. _______________________________________________________________________ Odustren awoke to find his paints and his canvas stolen. In a panic, he rushed outside, hoping for some sign of the thief. He skidded to a stop when he got to the town square. There he found all his paints, still perfectly kept, on the lip of the fountain and one of his canvases was next to it. It seemed someone had borrowed his supplies for a late night artistic endeavor. Odustren wasn’t impressed. There was just a bunch of words written on the canvas: Pretty sure this isn't worth it anymore. There's too much time required for these messages. I'm done putting a whole bunch of effort into them. So, this is possibly(hopefully?) my last. This is the only reason I do want to die. Just so that I don't have to worry about these messages. I wanted to go out with a bang, but I already put a ton into those other ones. So I'm done. Sorry. Well, we can't afford another mislynch. We'll be even this cycle and if we don't get a Spiked, they'll outnumber us. Pifferdoo is the one who claimed to be a Soother to me. The only problem is, Wyrm was Rioted last cycle. Wyrm couldn't have Rioted himself, since that would show as a No Vote, and Dom, Damon, and Macen are all inactive and can't have Rioted. Therefore, Pifferdoo must be a Rioter which means he lied to me. That isn't conclusive evidence, but you need to know it before I die and I can't influence the kill tonight be sharing it early. If I die, farewell and good luck. If not, Piff, you're going to need some storming good reason why you shouldn't die. And watch Joe too. I've waffled back and forth on him, but I'm beginning to think he's Spiked. _______________________________________________________________________ Night 9 ends and thus Day 9 Begins! You have 48 hours! Baron von Piffertiff was a Village Soother! Updated Player List

Well, I hope that no one else is messing with my posts! If I change the votes, it's not on a whim, if that's what you're asking. If I change the votes, it's to reflect the correct status after I notice that I recorded something wrong.

If you Riot yourself, your vote would switch, ever so temporarily, to the new target before it drops off completely. In terms of the final vote count though, this doesn't mean anything, as I can only show the vote's final resting place. In the case of Rioter rioting themselves, that would be in the No Vote category.

Night 9: Don’t Panic Jain decided it was time to leave this crazy town and their even crazier problems. There was no way he was planning to die here, not when there was still plenty of world yet to see! Besides, if the whispers he heard were true, it seemed like the villagers weren’t going to be very friendly to him for much longer anyways, so he was back at the little hovel he had rented and was packing. As he gathered up his belongings, his stuffed panda sat on a shelf nearby. It almost looked like it was disapproving of Jain’s cowardice in his decision to leave. He turned it so it was facing the wall. It wasn’t cowardice to not die; that was just good survival skills! And Jain had a handy, mental guide when it came to traveling and surviving. His first rule of course was Don’t Panic. You’d be surprised how often people would mess that one up. Not only does it make it more likely that you’re going to wind up in a situation you didn’t want to be in, but panicking made it incredibly difficult to take in the sites! He finished packing and hefted his belongings onto his back. He was about to grab his panda and leave, when he realized that he had almost forgotten to grab his towel! A towel, he had found, was one of the most useful items he could have. He could wrap it around himself to keep him warm when hiking through the Terris Mountains; he could lie on it as he lounged on the beaches in the Southern Dominance; he could sleep under it beneath the stars in the forests of the Eastern Dominance or use it to sail a miniraft down the River Channerel. He could wet it for use in hand-to-hand combat, wrap it around his head to avoid a particularly strong ashfall, wave it around in emergencies as a distress signal, and, of course, dry himself off with it if it still seemed to be clean enough. Indeed, there was no way he was going to be traveling without his towel! He went to retrieve it and when he returned to get his panda, he found it facing him again, which was impossible of course, but didn’t change the fact that it was. Jain had gotten used to its impossibilities though, so he just rolled his eyes, grabbed it, and left. The rest of the village was somewhere else, likely trying to decide on who amongst them was Spiked. It made Jain’s job of getting out of town that much easier. There was still a few people working on rebuilding the wall, but Jain just waited until around noon, when everyone left off for some lunch and then quickly scrambled up and over the wall. As he set off, he skipped a little bit and whistled a merry tune as he headed west. He walked up and down the rolling hills for most of the rest of the day without incident. As the sun was just starting to set, he came up over the top of another hill and stopped dead in his tracks. Oops. He’d forgotten which direction the Koloss were coming from. Below him was the Koloss camp, less than a day’s journey away from Tyrian Falls by now and Jain had been noticed. He stared at the Koloss and they just stared right back. His mind raced, trying to come up with a solution that didn’t end with him being tossed in one of the huge cook pots. He remembered his first rule and figured that if running and fighting weren’t options, he’d try for confusion. So he just continued walking as if nothing was out of the ordinary, right through the middle of the Koloss camp. He even smiled and nodded to a few of them as he did so. The Koloss continued to just sit there, following him with their bloodshot eyes, but not making any moves to stop him. Jain’s smile grew a bit wider as he neared the far side of the camp. I’m going to make it! He thought. That’s when a sudden breeze blew his panda off of its perch on his pack. It rolled towards one of the bigger Koloss, who was almost as tall as Jain when it was sitting down. Jain paused again. He knew he should just leave the panda and keep going, but he just couldn’t. He tried to keep his grin plastered on his face as he tried to nonchalantly walk over to the behemoth. “Terribly sorry about that,” he said as calmly as he could. “It’s like the thing has a mind of its own sometimes. I’ll just pick him up and be on my way. Wouldn’t want you fine, upstanding gentlemen to think I was littering in your pristine camp after all.” He bent down to pick up the panda, which meant he had to break eye contact with the Koloss and thus he never saw the colossal club that crushed his spine. ________________________________________________________________________ Day 8 is over and Night 9 begins! You have 24 hours to get your orders in. Jain was a Village Rioter! Votes (5) Jain- Maill, Melend, Senn, Clancy, Wyra (1) Baron von Piffertiff- Joe (1) Clancy- Peng (1) Melend- Jain (5) No Vote- Baron von Piffertiff, Dom, Odustren, Damon, Larry Updated Player List

The Rioter can only affect those that have voted, as they need their target to be emotionally invested, but they can switch a vote to a no vote. Think of it as Rioting the target's apathy or fear of making a bad decision.

Day 8: Inconceivable! Newan had practiced day in and day out ever since he had heard that there were Koloss heading towards his fair city. It was time for him to throw off the facade of a simple peasant with illusions of grandeur and become the hero he always knew himself to be! He would stand atop the wall and stare the Koloss in the face when they arrived! He would lead the rest of the villager in a charge against the fearsome foes and he would slaughter most of them himself! He would become a whirlwind of death, a horror story that Koloss parents would use to frighten their little Koloss children into behaving. ‘If you don’t go to sleep, the Newan will come and slice you into little pieces!’ Newan didn’t have a very good grasp on Koloss culture. Similarly, he didn’t have that great of a grasp of how to use a sword either, but neither stopped him from trying! It had been roughly 8 days since the first signs of danger to his home and the one thing he definitely knew for sure now was that the rounded part of the sword, some people called it the hilt, was definitely the best place to grip a sword. The other places cut up his hands. Hey! Maybe that’s why Ament made so many gloves! He thought as he swung the sword around at invisible foes. They weren’t for the rest of the village! They were for me, so that I could use a sword properly! It was already night by the time Newan’s inspiration struck, but he chopped his way through the mists towards Ament’s abandoned shop for his prize. When he entered the shop through the gaping opening where the front door used to be, he realized that he wasn’t the only one who had come to the same conclusion. There was a hooded figure in the shop and they were ripping the new gloves to shreds. “Halt villain!” Newan shouted. He took what he thought was a menacing stance with his sword in his right hand and pointed in the general direction of the figure. “Those are my birthright that you’re destroying! My name is Newan; prepare to die!” The room was poorly lit and the hood left the figures face in shadows, but the body language alone showed that Newan had surprised the figure. They jumped at first and turned towards him. When Newan finished his, incredibly well spoken if he did say so himself, challenge, the figure drew a sword of their own out from under their cloak. This is it! Newan thought with glee. My first battle! The beginning of my adventure! Newan was so busy daydreaming about how the rest of the villagers would praise him for defeating this hooded person that he was almost run through as the figure charged him. He sidestepped at the last minute and deflected the figure’s thrust. The momentum carried the figure through the open door and out into the night. Newan followed quickly, thinking the figure would run when facing such a skilled opponent as himself. The hooded figure didn’t run. Instead, the second they were capable of stopping, they swept their sword backwards, spinning around to face Newan. He barely got his sword up in time to keep himself from being beheaded. The two of them circled each other for a moment. The figure threw a testing swing and Newan blocked it. Newan attacked with a quick thrust, but was parried. Then the figure went for an all out attack, swinging in from the right and then switching to the left, then finally ending with a thrust to Newan’s gut. The triple clang of blade against blade and the lack of blood spilling from Newan spoke to the effectiveness of this exchange. The hooded figure pulled back. While Newan still couldn’t see the figure’s face, it was obvious that they were stunned. “Ah-ha!” Newan shouted. “I see you’ve underestimated me! A foolish mistake. But I have another surprise for you. I- am not even right handed!” He quickly switched the sword to his left hand, a triumphant grin breaking out on his face. He went to take a few swings with his sword, to show off his skill, but as he sliced across his body, he lost his grip on his sword and it clattered off into the mists. Oh, right. He thought. I actually am right handed! The hooded figure advanced on the unarmed Newan with sword raised…. _______________________________________________________________________ There was writing on the burnt out hull that was once the barracks. The town square was covered in words. The beginnings of the new was were also covered! There wasn’t a lot of places left in which the messenger was capable of graffiti-ing with their inspiring words. ….Well there was one place, but there was a reason they’d avoided it…. Oh well, fortune favors the brave…. ________________________________________________________________________ As the sun started to rise and the mist burnt away, the Villagers awoke and left their homes to find a very unhappy Wyra. She was carrying around the axe that had become their go-to lynching weapon as if she meant to use it. “If I find who ever did it, I’m going to give them the wrong side of this axe in a very uncomfortable way!” She shouted it to no one in particular, but she made sure that everyone within Tyrian Falls heard her. “You hear me, you ash-stained fool! You try it again and you’ll be lucky to get away with all your fingers!” She drew a bucket of water from one of the wells and went back to her forge, where she spent the morning scrubbing away the latest missive, but not before everyone had a chance to read it. I suspect that this is my last message. If I die, know that my spirit is with you. You can still drive these koloss away and purge the town of these Spiked. Keep hope! For all is not lost. Mr. Morse might help us now. Fourscore seven years ago our pops brought forward on this land wonderful new groups., conceived amidst free dedication among a good proposition that all men created are the same. Presently we are . in civil war, testing if this .town or any town so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that town might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this town under the Survivor shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth. Give me Liberty or give me death! B2A5A3C3E3C3B3B3 My last suspicions for you(in order): Unodus(Spiked Rioter), Piff(Spiked Rioter/Soother), Joe, Newan, and Senn/Peng. _________________________________________________________________________ Night 8 is over and Day 8 begins! You have 48 hours. Newan was a Village Smoker! Updated Player List