Metacognition

Metam swung his sign at anyone who passed on his side of the street. "THE END IS NIGH!" He shouted to the helpless masses. "THE DESOLATION COMES! REPENT AND BE SAVED BY.... By.... Ummm, by the Heralds! YES! THAT'S IT! BE SAVED BY THE HERALDS!" Metam swung and he preached. He knew that this time he was right. ...But for some reason, this Desolation just wasn't cooperating. It seemed that, though he was telling the truth, this Desolation, the Final Desolation, was dragging its feet. Metam stopped his swinging and screaming and pondered this for a moment. It was like some unseen hand was at play here and was pushing it back. Well, that would never do. How was Metam supposed to be an accurate prophet of the apocalypse if the apocalypse never came! He dropped his sign (written in multiple languages. He would save everyone if possible) and also dropped to his knees. With both fear and anticipation in his heart, he raised his hands to the sky and shouted, "WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!?" ...The heavens remained silent to his plea.

I keep meaning to join up, but I keep getting sidetracked! I figure I'd better do it now while I'm thinking about it or else I'm going to forget again and won't have time! There's one in every town, since the beginning of towns. It just so happened that Telmont happened to actually have one that was correct! Metam was a doomsayer and now that a Desolation was on the way, he not only went around telling people that The End Was Near, but also, "I TOLD YOU SO!"

Well, it seems that Mailu isn't going anywhere anytime soon and with Jain likely having the Kandra, we don't want it to be too close or a Rioter could screw up the voting. I trust Kassel, since he already got us one Skaa! Edit: Cat, you have Fien voting twice on your list.

Mesist entered the Fathvell Keep with trepidation. Not for the host and not even for the supposed Inquisitor hiding above them all, but for the drama that would be taking place tonight. His own hunt for the Skaa had been fruitless and if everyone's silence meant anything, then that meant they weren't doing any better. It seemed they were stuck relying on their own wits. Considering some of the present company, -he thought with a glance in Fien's direction- that's going to make things difficult. When Lord Heron called on them to start the typical backbiting, Mesist stood in the back. He stared into the depths of his wine, as he swirled it around, hoping to find answers there. Surprisingly, he did! A shadow passed over his wine glass and he raised his head to find out that the owner of the shadow was Mailu Willen. That got him thinking. Mailu had been the second most vocal person in the debate against Racine and he was one of the last ones to vote for Wandrin and only then, after Kassel had provided compelling evidence. Other than that, the man seemed to hang back and rarely said anything. Seemed like a popular tactic among possible Skaa. ------------- I don't have much as far as suspicions go at this point, but I did go back through the thread and the information above is correct. Mailu could just be horrible at picking who to defend, or he could be a Skaa trying not to stand out too much. Either way, a little information wouldn't hurt at this point, Mailu!

Mesist left the Ball with a little spring in his step. That was the second Skaa infiltrator he'd helped take down. 'Course the real victor here was that quiet Kassel guy, but he still felt like he had a hand in it. He was feeling pretty good about his business dealings once all this settled down. It would be hard for the surviving Houses to not feel at least a little indebted to him and his House once this was all done, right? If there was a down side to the evening, it was that Fien hadn't made as much of a fool out of himself as he usually did. That would just have to be balanced out by the fact that there had been a Skaa right underneath his nose the entire time and he hadn't known it. As he mounted up, he started thinking about what he knew of the Fathvell House. Not much, to be honest, but he wondered what kind of spectacle they would have in store for the next ball. He suddenly stopped short and shook his head. What's wrong with me? Worrying 'bout their silly balls. As if it matters. If'n I keep this up, I'll get to be no better than Fien! That sent a shiver through him. He was an honest, hard-working man and straight shooter with people. Though, he admitted to himself. The debates, the bargaining, and the dealing in this case are thrilling. It's like trying to strike a deal with another Horse Trainer; they know what to look for. It's just in this situation, the stakes are a bit higher. As he rode towards his little Keep, though he had just chastised himself for it, he found his mind turning over the events of the past few days and tried to see if he could piece together something that helped them find the other Skaa amongst them.

Huh, well I was going with the fact that I had already found out that he was a Soother and Alden has admitted to being the other. I say the other, because I highly doubt that there are more than two. Due to this, I'm almost positive that it was him who did the voting manipulation on day 1 and I still don't see any reason for that manipulation other than being Skaa. But hey, actual confirmation works for me too! My vote will stay where it is.

"Drat," Mesist said when he heard the news. "This city just isn't safe for the womenfolk anymore. "Suppose I'm not surprised the Skaa would go after them first though. Bunch of cowards is what they are." He chuckled when he saw that Penrod fellow coat Wandrin in ash though. That was move after his own heart. It also drew Mesist's attention to Wandrin. The man was far more quiet than he should be, given the circumstances, and after what he'd learned about the man, it was time he spoke up. "More than likely, they're a bunch of silent cowards as well." ------------------- While I understand your concern over yesterday, Ren, I did have reason behind that lynch. If he wasn't Skaa, then he was playing House Games, which inhibited our ability to learn anything off of the first day. That first day, we said that we didn't want anyone other than Skaa messing with the votes. You don't just go messing with the votes after we all agreed that it would be a bad idea and then not expect any suspicion placed on you for it. Considering the information that we had, it was a good bet; far better than flailing around wildly at least. It just happened to be an incorrect one. It happens. It's not like we can always just lynch the Skaa after all! That would mean the game wouldn't be challenging!

Mesist kicked the support beam again after Belmark left for the second time. "You win some and you lose some. The trick is to win more than you lose," he muttered to himself. He'd been wrong, but he wouldn't let that be the end of the world to him. He had to keep on. The Skaa rebellion was still out there and now that he was in the thick of it, he'd see his House through. He was so distracted, thinking about what had gone wrong, that he almost missed Fien take a nose-dive off the side of the barge. As the buffoon was hauled up out of the Channerel, covered in flakes of wet ash and spluttering, the look of straight up bafflement on his face made it so Mesist just couldn't hold it in anymore. Even with a Noble death on their hands, Fien's inability to do to anything right, evidently could still bring a smile to his face and Mesist burst out laughing.

That is a valid point, Cat. I've been considering that the information put in is about you; not that you could put in information that you know about another person. That makes things a lot more difficult. I'm still sticking with my vote for now, due to the fact that no new information has been added that points us in a clear direction and even if Tonul is telling the truth, he jeopardized us getting clear cut information off of the first day (again, I was one of the ones that could've been killed and I still feel this way). We wouldn't even be having this discussion if he had followed through with the plan to allow the Skaa to influence the vote (that is, if he isn't Skaa himself). So thank you, Tonul. Either you're Skaa and deserve this attention or you're not and, similar to Ashette's plan, you're making us waste time going over all this. Luckily, it's still early and we have a leg up since we got one yesterday!

It seemed that the elongated route Mesist had provided for the Nobility had caused many to show up later than usual, but show up they did. After all, Mesist thought with a smirk, they wouldn't dare miss out on a party! After most of the Nobles had made their way in and Mesist was content with the number of scowls and frowns he received (Fien's being his favorite) from throwing his Ball in the open air, he made his way to Heron's Hunting Grounds. The name still gave him a chuckle, even if Lord Heron wasn't here himself. His bet was that, after last night's performance, that Wyrmie had tried to burn some of the ineffective steel he had heard was being passed around. When he finally got there, it seemed that most of the Nobles were more than willing to discuss in little groups. Typical, he thought with a shake of his head. They'd rather play their games than get down to the real issues. Finally, that fool Fie-... no, the other fool, Tonul jumped up onto the platform for the gallows and started directing everyone's attention away from their little circles. First of all by calling out the cat lady. That wasn't surprising. What was surprising was that, somehow, she was able to keep her cat relaxed while being on a barge! That someone was finally called out seemed to spark people's interest. Looked like they just needed a target. Names were thrown around, Mesist even included Tonul's name to the ever-growing list. They didn't need Heron here to turn on each other, he was just the catalyst. Eventually, Mesist found himself in a shouting match against the upstart Venture. "My information says you've been tryin' to sabotage us." "Have not! I did what I could to save my House!" "Right, you've admitted to such, but only after I made mention of it at the last party and against the wishes of all the Houses together. Now what I want to know is why, a supposed clever fellow like yourself, would let my informants find out about such. Don't seem like the kind of thing you'd want spread around; that you'd be actin' in such a selfish manner." More and more words were shared, not all of them kindly, as the two seemed to circle each other. Other names were tossed about, but Mesist had found his mark. As his father would say, "Once branded, the deal is done." They both wound up glaring at each other; the Southern Horse-Breeder and the Central Noble. It seemed that it would depend on the rest of the crowd. -------------- The information I got from the first night was that you used a metal action on Jain on Day 1. It said nothing about you being a Rioter or a Soother, but those are the only two possibilities based on the fact that they were used on Day 1. Would you like to provide another explanation other than Soother or Rioter? So again, you basically revealed that you were willing to go against the wishes of the group to only possibly save your House. Either you were playing politics, which is something that I thought we were going to try to avoid, or you're Skaa. I'm leaning heavily to the latter, since your reasoning doesn't stack up. You revealed that you did something during the day as a means to cover up the fact that you were an Emotional Allomancer. That doesn't make sense. Your idea that people put two different ideas together is wrong too. I was the one that revealed you as an Emotional Allomancer. It was from there, and your own admission, that we figured out you were a Rioter.

You wanted to keep your Rioting a secret by putting in information that proves that you have Emotional Allomancy? What sense does that make?

You skipped my vote for Tonul, Asyr. This plan of Ashette's seems focused on the idea that the person who inherits the House Power will be able to tell if some/all of the House Powers are lost. Problem with that is that we'd learn whether they manipulated the House Powers anyways, as we'd find out if Cat is Noble or Skaa. As such, it doesn't do us much good, IMO. But we need to stop focusing on it and work on other avenues, as I don't think anyone else thinks that this is a good idea in and of itself. EDIT: I thought of a question I'd like to ask Tonul as well: Why did I get that you used your power on Day 1 from the Informants? That sounds like a GM fact, as that just reveals a lot. Like that you were more willing to play House Politics, that you're an emotional allomancer, and that it makes you look like a Skaa. Since you've already stated that, yes, you did use your power, that confirms the information at truth, but not why I got that. Was that what you put in, and if so, why put that in? Or is it a GM Fact and if so, why did I get a GM Fact when you said you went to the Informant when you found out that Racine was a Tineye?

You're assuming that the Sooth wasn't a Skaa soothing. Because of your actions, we don't know, but it's less likely that it was a Noble Soothing since it wasn't on someone in danger. Don't worry, I have my suspicions on that one as well since I know of two soothers at this point. All that doesn't change the fact that if the Skaa were wanting to go for a lynch on the first day, they would have had to go after one of the three that were up. The Soother didn't do that, but you did.

Sorry for being late to my own party! Yesterday was surprisingly busy for a Wednesday! I should be able to be on more today though. Since it seems that no one has any knew evidence or if they do, that they are unwilling to share it, I'm voting for Tonul. The easiest piece of information to fake is someone's role, which he then just gave to Racine rather than trying to catch her in a lie about her role. Now while that's not particularly strong evidence, it is that evidence plus his actions on Day 1 that make me vote for him. We specifically said that we did not want Noble Skaa messing with the votes on the first day and he decided to ignore that. His reasoning? To save someone in his House. So, he's either Skaa or he's playing House politics over the goal of killing the Skaa, which makes him a liability.

It could also be that Racine just told Alden that she was shot and she wasn't. After all, that would probably help solidify the idea that she was being framed to Alden and since he was her biggest defender, anything to help secure the idea could only help her case, right? Did she mention it before or after her name started to get brought up, Alden?

All good GMs are crazy, so at least you're in good company, Wyrm!

I'm a bit confused. She's a Noble, but also a Skaa Sympathizer? Is that a hidden role type thing or just a way to justify that she won't be returning? Mesist wasn't sure what to make of the results. It seemed like they were correct and yet, unless her "son" was involved with this Skaa rebellion, they had been wrong as well. His frown deepened as he saw Fien drunkenly celebrating and cavorting all over the place. That man is entirely too happy following a death. Of course, it's nothing more than I should expect from him. He probably views this as a chance to take out a few rivals rather than with the seriousness that he should. His mood soured even further when he found out that he was next in line to host a House Ball. Keep A'Lees was a small thing here in Luthadel; barely worthy of the name. The only reason they kept it was for purposes like Mesist was here for; to gain new contracts and renegotiate trading terms. They'd never had to host before because they were rarely in Luthadel long enough to be added to the roster! It wasn't until he had stepped outside and was mounting up that in idea came to him and a grin started to spread across his face. Yes, it could work and he'd have to start planning immediately, but it would work! Best of all, he knew that Cadri and Fien would absolutely hate it! He whistled as he rode off into the mists, planning.

When Asyr spoke up, Mesist's hand automatically went to the side of his stomach, as if he were checking on something. He glared daggers at the HouseLord. "That was you? Why you sneaky, low-down... why, you're no better than Fien or Cadri put together! So now you're just taking shots at someone before finding out anything about them? This is after I even told you all that my House wasn't very large and yet you suspected me? If I could gather the support to lay you low, I would, you scoundrel!" He turn away from Asyr, but kept him in view. Fool me once, he thought. He wasn't about to let the man get the drop on him again. "Luckily for you, now is not a time for us to be divided. With people being shot in the back and other people" -*cough*- "Tonul" -*cough*- "using their allomancy when they shouldn't, we can't afford to let another day go by like the last. While I'd rather Tonul was on the chopping block, we'll have to save that for another time. "Racine, it's time for you to fess up. If you have any last words, you best be sayin' them." --------------------------- I far less convinced than I was. Aonar keeps making a decent case for Twei, but that's also part of the problem. Shouldn't Twei be making these cases himself? Now, if Twei actually is Skaa, Aonar is going to look incredibly evil for defending him as much as he has. I'm only half joking about being willing to lynch you instead Smart. You attacked me without knowing whether I was Skaa or not just because if I was bad, then that would be a bad thing? And since I'm not Skaa, you'd rather deprive the good Faction of a good player just because? That's not very solid reasoning, IMO. Add to that your vote. Somehow, someone who isn't here, that hasn't said a word since day 1, is somehow influencing events in thread? Again, not very convincing.

The band, unsure what to make of Lord Urbain's request, just shrug at each other. Then they begin to play this. Sorry, couldn't help myself!

Mesist found the Raisaal Keep to be, like its owners, arrogant, and brutal. Seriously? A raised dais for duels? How primitive. He preferred to outwit his opponents instead of using force to coerce them into action. It was part of what had made his House as prosperous as it was. Some said that he could sell a nag to the Lord Ruler himself and make him think he was getting a thoroughbred. He couldn't think of anywhere else he rather not be. ...Well, maybe not the Urbain Keep. That might be worse. Still, if this is where the rest of the Nobility were going to be, then this is where he'd be. He still had to secure some contracts for his House and now, with the new Lord Heron's witch hunt, wouldn't be a good time to be absent anyways. Mesist found himself a table near the wall and watched and listened. It seemed that tonight was actually going to be even more interesting that the last! The Nobles seemed primed for killing one of their own on the idea that they were Skaa. Evidently they had all taken Lord Heron's threat the other night seriously. They weren't the only ones. Mesist figured that if he could help root the Skaa out of some of the other Houses, that would be a little icing on the cake when it came time to get back to business. "Seems to me," he said as he pushed off against the wall and strode towards the group of Nobles arguing whether or not their information was enough to condemn Racine. "That we have two good options for the day. Both Racine and Tonul are looking mighty suspicious to me. Racine can't have done what she says she has, based on all the information and Tonul is not only helping her build an alibi, but I heard that he went against our plans on the first day. "I'd say we should send 'em both to the Inquisitors if we could do that." ----------------- Well, at least I got a little RP in! Okay, so here's why I think those two are the most suspicious. Racine could not have gone to the Informants last night and given them good information. This is obvious just by the amount of different claims we have. I have asked Wyrm and if there is one piece of information about someone, then everyone would get that same piece of information about that person rather than a GM fact*. If there is not a piece of information available, then people will get a GM fact and which one they get is randomized. So, in conclusion, Racine could not have gone to the informants last night with good information about herself for us to have so many different informant claims. That alone is suspect unless she had something else to do at night, like use a House Power. Thing is, Racine has already claimed to have gone to the Informants, so we know that she's lying to us in some right or another. For it to be any other way, we'd have to assume that the Skaa basically put all of their lies on one person. Now, that would still be helpful information. If we lynch Racine and she's innocent, then we know that the Skaa put most of their lies on her and we can, with relative reliability, trust any information about other people. *Also, based on the answers Wyrm gave me, there is no way to tell whether a piece of information is a GM fact or a supplied one, so Aonar, how do you supposedly know that your information on Jain was a GM fact? I also suspect Tonul since, as Cat pointed out, he basically gave Racine the information rather than seeing if we could catch her in a lie about her Metal. Whether intentional or not, he was effectively assisting Racine in trying to clear her name. Add to this the fact that he used Zinc on Day 1 when we had specifically said that Noble Allomancers shouldn't use their powers so we could catch any Skaa Allomancers messing with the vote. And remember, I was one of the ones on the chopping block and I'd have rather died if it would give us a better chance of catching the Skaa. If he really wants to allay my suspicion, he'll have to come up with a good reason why he went rogue and tried to get someone killed. So those are my thoughts. My vote will likely go to one of those two, as I think those are our best options at this point.

Why are we glossing over the fact that Ren supposedly got information back that specifically named someone as Skaa and going after someone else? I would think that there would be more discussion at this point about whether or not we could trust said result. Depending on a few questions I have for Wyrm, there's compelling evidence for his informant actually being accurate. Honestly, the fact that Ren's claim isn't even being considered makes me think that this is an attempt to distract from it, especially since it seems like Jain was being acted upon on Day 1, not the instigator. Tonul, I'd like a bit better explanation for why, if you're a Noble, you would sabotage the idea to let the Skaa emotional allomancers influence the voting so we could identify them easier. Right now, the only explanation that comes to my mind is that you're actually not a Noble emotional allomancer.

(I really wanted to wait for the chance to have time to do up some RP as well, but I need to get this in so we don't go off on tangents) I have conflicting information, Aonar. I have it on good authority that Tonul used a Metal on Jain on Day 1. This still means that Jain is likely a smoker, but that Twei might not actually be a Rioter (besides, wouldn't his vote not get canceled since he couldn't switch Jain's vote?).

Sufficient to say, I don't think the Skaa have control over a Rioter or else I'd likely be dead. They also could have just not been online from when Hadrian switched his vote, but I think it's the former. It also looks like they're trying to point a finger at Fien. Whether that's them trying to get us so suspect him or if they know that we'd think that and soothed the vote on one of their own, I don't have a clue yet. Either way, works though. If we can proved him innocent, then he'd be a great help to the Nobles and if he isn't, then we have our first Skaa. By singling him out, they just gave us a good starting point. As far as tonight goes, the Skaa are likely to try to make the informants as muddled as possible. They already know who all their targets are, so the information they gain by being honest is less useful to them. They're more likely to lie when going to the informants and I wouldn't be surprised if they lie about other people. As such, I suggest that anyone other than the Skaa that decides to go to the Informants tonight be truthful. Not only will this net us more information, but we'll be better prepared to catch which clues are lies. These are just my observations, so feel free to disregard them, but we stand a better chance of winning if we're all on the same page.

Purely RP isn't any better reasoning than being erratic, IMO. I stand by my reasoning so far, unless you have something more to add. It's not like my one vote is going to kill you as is, but if that's all you can offer us, then other people might start to pay closer attention to you too. There's still plenty of time left in the day.

Mesist was content to let the Nobles play their petty games with alliances and treaties. He, like Kassel, seemed to know that it would basically turn into backstabbing because that's what Nobles like this did! Instead he decided to focus on the bigger problem. "I suppose it comes to me to point out that there hasn't been anyone arguing against the idea of turning on Ashette. Now, that may be common here in Luthadel, but from where I come from, if you're part of my crew, you're part of my crew. I don't think the Skaa would let one of their own go without a fight just yet; even one of their own that seems hellbent on getting themselves targeted. You'd think there'd be more discussion going on, if they weren't satisfied with the results. "But you know, I have seen that kind of behavior already tonight and now it's looking all manner of suspicious to me. "Hyrun, you're off the hook for now. I'd like to know more about why Tonul took it upon themselves to stand up for Fien. As far as I can tell, those two seem to be in cahoots more so than anyone else at this point."