Herowannabe

I say go ahead and start the countdown timer from when you edited in the number, especially since we haven’t heard from @luckat and @xinoehp512

Yes there should. @Jondesu?

A while ago, right after the Secret Project appeared, someone mentioned that Wizards of the Coast had a project in the works that would be an compilation of Magic the Gathering stories, and theorized that Brandon may have been recruited for that project. Brandon is a huge fan of MtG, so that seems like the most likely candidate for the Secret Project to me.

Alright, the Spymasters are all set up and ready to go. We're just waiting for them to generate the keycard and share it with each other and then start giving hints. Good luck everyone!

Awesome, thanks guys. I’ll PM both of you as soon as I’m able and we’ll get the game started. So based on order of sign up our teams are: Red Team Spymaster: @Jondesu @luckat @xinoehp512 @Rebecca Blue Team Spymaster: @Scion of the Mists @Herowannabe @Cadmium Compounder

Welcome @Jondesu, and thanks for volunteering! @Scion of the Mists, do you want the other spymaster spot?

It’s about the same as IRL. Actually if anything it’s a little easier, because you can take as much time as you want looking over the codenames and coming up with clues.

Sweet, so that gives us enough players to get started, and anyone else who wants to can join in later. Player list: round: @luckat @Scion of the Mists @xinoehp512 Me @Rebecca @Cadmium Compounder so we just need two spymasters. Any volunteers? I’m happy to do it if needs be, though I’d rather give the opportunity to other people first.

Well you’ve read Bands of Mourning haven’t you? Because...

Welcome back!

Alright, the grid for Game 4 is up and ready to go! So far it looks like we have the following interested in playing the next round: @luckat @Scion of the Mists @xinoehp512 Me We need at least 2 more people to get started... @Jondesu @recneps @Totally_Not_A_Worldhopper @Rebecca @Darkness_ - are any of you interested? Or are there any newcomers out there who want to join?

This ^ although to be fair to myself it started out as real life taking over and keeping my incredibly busy, but since things eased up I don’t have any excuses. So yeah, count me in. I can set up a grid for us tomorrow sometime. I’m curious to hear your ideas...

Yeah that concept is probably never going to go anywhere. Don’t hang on to any passes for my sake.

Don't be too sure about that...

That’s only so useful when the tassels of the mistcloak are actively trying to strangle you. Say you loose the cords that tie the mistcloak around your neck... so what? The tassels aren’t going to just let go. They’re still going to be strangling you. Vin would have to actually tear the mistcloak apart / off of her before she would be safe.

Sweet! So this begs the question: is Dark One still Cosmere or did it get bumped out of the Cosmere for this project?

Exactly. My point was that she was an interesting choice in that if she could get close enough to touch her opponents it would be an auto-win for her (or nearly so, depending on whether pewter/Stormlight would be enough to keep Vin/Kaladin alive and give them enough strength to rip the clothing free), but it’s near impossible for Vivenna to get close to either opponent unless they wish it.

Vin would definitely win, for all the reasons @Weltall laid out, plus one important fact that he overlooked: Vin has ranged attacks. She can push/pull coins at her opponents, and unless they have specially prepared to face a Mistborn they are likely to have bits of metal on them that Vin can manipulate. If you somehow managed to balance out the various magical powers so that they were all on even footing, I would still put my money on Vin. She’s a survivor, and far more ruthless that Vivenna or even Kaladin. She would do whatever it took and pull out all the stops to win. Vivenna is an interesting choice for an opponent in this situation (she’s not really much of a fighter, I think. Vasher might be on more even footing with the other two), because of her ability to awaken. If she can manage to get in touching range of either of the other two she could awaken their clothes with a command to strangle things, and there’s nothing that Vin or Kaladin could really do about it. Vin’s mistcloak in particular would be nasty when awakened. The difficulty would come in actually getting close enough to awaken their clothes though, especially since both of Vivenna’s opponents can fly but she can’t.

When you sign up for his news letter you can put in your home town and you we get special location-specific notices when he is going to do a signing near you. That’s probably your best bet, short of stalking the “upcoming events” section of his website.

Shout out to Susebron’s Mom, even though I don’t think we ever learn her name.

Well I meant to get back here to post some closing thoughts sooner, but life has been busy. Oh well, that’s how it goes sometimes. Anyway, I’m going to try to keep it brief. All in all I’m really happy with how this game turned out. Yes, it was a resounding win for Arelon, but that was due to some incredibly luck and skillful plays, not to imbalance issues like LG12 had. Speaking of incredible luck- just, wow. The strokes of luck this game were pretty wild. @Amanuensis and @Seonid practically couldn’t miss with their scans, and the Elantrians restored Elantris in record time- literally. In LG12 Elantris was restored at the end of Night 8, and this game it was restored after cycle 6. There were 4 areas (out of 19) that they needed to explore in order to restore the city, which means that they only had two misses before restoring Elantris. And both of their “misses” were the discovery of Aons that they were able to use once the city was restored. They never ran into any of the harmful areas, or even any of the “fun” ones I added in. You can read all the possible areas in the master spreadsheet, but to highlight a few interesting ones: One area would have turned two of the Elantrians into lovers with each other. One area would have converted all the Elantrians to Shu-Dereth. One area (the one they were debating exploring when the game ended) would have been an encounter with Hoid, who would have let the Elantrians as a group perform any action possible in the game one time only- even faction specific actions like the cultist kill or swearing a second Odiv- which could have been interesting. Anyway, moving on. It was really fun to watch all the scheming and stuff going on behind the scenes. Shu-Dereth in particular. @Steeldancer managed to recruit both pairs of lovers to his side, and he and @Elenion we’re doing a great job of avoiding suspicion up until Seonid managed to scan El. If they had been able to last one or two more cycles before being caught it probably would have been too late to stop them. With 5 players on their team (one of them a prince) and a Shu-Dereth pendant under their control they could have effectively hammered one or two votes and coasted to victory. In closing, I just want to thank everyone again for playing. I had fun and hope you all did, too. And an extra big thanks to my co-GMs, @Elbereth and @Fifth Scholar- I couldn’t have run this game without you. Your aid with the spreadsheets, tallies, writeups, and everything else was invaluable- and also to @Orlok Tsubodai as our Impartial mod. Until next time, Herowannabe

Hopefully one of those other characters you have in mind is Szeth, with the opening scene from Way of Kings done to the tune of “the Assassin in white” from the Kaladin soundtrack, because Storms somebody really needs to do that. Eagerly following every step in this project (and future ones)!

You played a fantastic game, it was a lot of fun to watch. Especially when you were able to recruit both pairs of lovers to work with you and you had essentially 5 players on your team. Unfortunately Seonid also played a brilliant (and very lucky) game, and managed to catch both Elenion and you at the same time with his clever scheme. There are only two things that I think you could have done better (and note, this isn’t criticism, this is the musings of the all-knowing GM who was able to watch everything in the game as it unfolded): 1) Hang on your SD-pendant longer. You used yours pretty quickly to convert Araris (and I know you wanted to swear him as your Odiv but you could have done a regular convert on him too) but if you had held it until late game it would have given team Shu-Dereth almost full control over the vote. Same with Elenion’s pendant. If you had held on to those pendants then you would have had all three SD-pendants (with Jon’s) at your disposal. 2) You should have converted your enemies first and your allies last. The more of your enemies that are converted, the more control that the SD-pendants give you over the vote, because your allies are going to vote with you anyway. If you had done that and held on to the pendants then you might have still been able to win the game even when Seonid scanned and outed both you and Elenion. But again, I have the advantage of knowing all the rules in and out as well as being able to watch the game unfold from behind the scenes, so don’t take this as any sort of criticism. You really did play masterfully and came dang close to winning with a very difficult win-condition. If you had been able to hold out two or maybe even one more cycle before Seonid found you then you would have had it.

Finale: Shao Elantris glimmered as sunset fell over the land. Alone, above Kae and the other surrounding cities, it defied the night for only the second night in many years. Of course, last night, everyone had been too afraid to watch it. Too afraid of knives in the night, of the wrath of Shu-Dereth, of death. Tonight, on the other hand... Tonight, beggar-children climbed every rooftop they could find to sit together and watch Elantris grow brighter as the sky dimmed. Tonight, the nobles climbed to the towers of their high mansions or rolled out in extravagant carriages to get a better vantage point. Tonight, mothers brought their children out in the streets to see the miracle, and tell them stories of the olden days. Inside the gates of Elantris, the Four Restorers stood in silence. There was work to be done, far more than Kae dreamed - the walls may have been restored, but the scrolls were gone or half-rotted; those Elantrians who hadn’t already discovered the Well and left were few and far between and still coming to their senses. The walls glowed, but their knowledge had been reduced to nearly nothing. They had not even quite cured Aladdin yet, when a decade ago it would’ve taken a few minutes. That didn’t matter to Kae, though, even if they’d known. Elantris’ return ultimately didn’t mean new miracles and perfect health to them - they’d gotten used to living life without that, in the long years since its fall. But they watched the silver gleam of the walls of Elantris as night fell, and for the first night in many they felt true hope. Kainae stood up, stepping down from the wall she had been facing for more time than she cared to admit. She began walking home somberly. Tears still flowed down her cheeks, and she thought of her “meeting” with herself on the wall a day earlier. She was likely mad, hallucinating, seeing visions of her future self that simply didn’t exist. Perhaps she had deserved to step off the wall when she had the opportunity, giving her compromised mind peace in the afterlife, where she could have gone to join Enelan, at his side, where she truly belonged… No, she said to herself emphatically. You know better than that. She may not clearly understand it yet, but Domi had spared her for a purpose, and she would find that purpose and carry it out. Using the same mental techniques she practiced in ChayShan, Kainae stuffed the morose thoughts of her lover self into the back of her mind, concentrating on her motions, which sped up as she paced towards her house. One, two, one, two… she counted in her head as she rounded a corner. The rhythmic thump of her footsteps and the consistent counting cleared Kainae’s mind, dispelling some of the exhaustion she had felt from kneeling on the wall for nearly a full day. At last, Kainae took the final left turn and ended in front of her house. She frowned. Her easel was still knocked down from the second confrontation with the Cultists over the course of the last several days. She propped it up, gazing at the crumpled paper with a critical eye. Tearing off the first few sheets, which were damaged beyond repair, Kainae looked at the remainder of her easel. It was still hopelessly bent, the paper unable to be reflattened and the easel itself broken in some places. This would not do. With a sigh, Kainae went to her desk, popping open the center drawer and taking out one of her precious canvases, rigid and undamaged. Unsure of what she was really doing, Kainae selected colors. The black of mourning and death and evil. A silvery gray, to represent the moonlight under which the Cultists killed. A deep green for nature, which remained in harmony despite human conflict. And finally, white, the color of hope and light. Then, moved by a sudden impulse, she seized the four colors, taking mostly black and grey, and dumped them into the same cup. Letting the mixture settle and mix for just a few seconds, she poured the contents of the cup onto the center of her canvas. The different colors bled outwards, creating patterns and shapes Kainae had no control over. Letting Domi direct the flow of the paint, she stepped back, watching as the colors mixed and spread. Amazingly, not one drop of paint ran off the edge, an occurrence only explainable by Domi. Or Jaddeth. Thoughts of Enelan quickly sprang to mind again, but she smothered them instantly, refocusing on her painting. It was definitely abstract, Kainae decided. However, two things stood out to her. The coloration was the first: the structure of the gray on the bottom of the painting, the gray-green areas, the black at the top with the strange formation that looked like a bird of some sort. These were the lands owned by the farmer Eoni, viewed at nighttime from the mountains to the east. More specifically, it was his fields, with the strange rock called Eagle’s Jaw jutting out in the middle of them. But why would Domi show her this? Kainae then looked at the center of the painting, where the white paint had formed an Aon. Shao. Change. Transformation. A change may be happening in Eoni’s lands today, she mused, but for an Aon to be in the middle of my painting, there must be some other meaning. Perhaps Domi wished to tell her about a major change in the world? Elantris had been restored, a large change that would produce yet more changes in the future, and maybe Domi warned her of this turbulent time. Or perhaps it was more personal. Kainae herself was changing. She certainly was not the person she was two days ago, when Enelan had been by her side. She was not the fearless Jindo that had chased away the Cultists coming for her. Her love of honor in battle had dwindled since then, after she had fled and run into the other Jindo on the night after. And she was not the artist who sat in her room, alone, painting for hours on end, for Kainae would not be that restful again. She was none of those people, and yet, she saw all of them reflected in her. Lover. Warrior. Artist. Broken. She could transform, had been transforming into something better. Domi would continue her renewal past Enelan’s death. And so would she. But first, something was going to happen in those fields of Eoni tonight. Kainae left her paints behind, and rushed to find out what it was. Eoni sat in the fields as the sun began dipping below the horizon. He had finally found the Aon plate, and had decided to destroy it. He walked through the city, carrying the plate, to Elantris’ pool, and dropped the plate in. The Aon itself disappeared, but the plate remained engraved and intact. Well, that would do. Eoni returned to his fields, where a crowd armed with torches and pitchforks had gathered to face him. They had decided to come to his extraordinarily grassy field, and stopped at its edge. Nigel, who appeared to be acting as the leader of the crowd, spoke. “You’ve been behind the killings! You knew that the Elantrians would see your acts, and you hid from them! Stop this horrid act, and die. We’ve got a message to send to "the Ja”—we don’t accept these sacrifices in this city!” With that, the mob moved to surround Eoni, pitchforks held at the ready. “You really shouldn’t have come here.” Eoni said, and flashed a wicked grin. “These fields are mine!” Eoni dropped to one knee and placed his hand in the soil, then began chanting in a strange language... *** In strolled across the wall of Elantris in the faint light of dusk, the meeting with the others concluded. He passed a guard, who stopped and saluted him crisply. The Elantrian Guard no longer policed the Elantrians, they served them. In made his way to the western portion of the wall, and looked out over the fields that stretched between Elantris and Kae. Down there, somewhere, was the secret tunnel leading out of Elantris that they had discovered last week. They still hadn’t had time to do anything about it, but they needed to do something. Board it up, or at least post some guards there. As In looked down, he noticed something strange about one of the fields. It had been plowed in crazy, twisting patterns. It kind of looked like Aon Shao, but different. Twisted. Different somehow. Suddenly, the fields lit up with an ominous, red light, forming a pattern. It was Aon Shao, but interspersed with strange modifiers- not like the modifiers used in Aon-Dor. They were reminiscent of the patterns the Jeskeri cultists had been using. Shao meant “change,” but this aon had been altered. Corrupted. “That can’t be good,” In said, then began running towards the guard he had passed, calling the alarm. *** Down in the fields, the crops began writhing and growing at a furious rate. Their lush green color faded away, replaced with a soft red glow. Within seconds Eoni was completely obscured by the corrupted crops, and villagers began crying out in panic as the plants thrashed about, leaving burning welts where they touched skin. Suddenly Eoni appeared, dashing through their ranks and swinging a twisted dagger. Villagers cried out in panic and dove out of the way, but Eoni didn’t stop to finish them off. “He went this way!” “After him!” *** The plants pulled away from Eoni as he ran, making a beeline for the rock formation known as the Eagle’s Jaw. Within a couple minutes the formation was in sight, and there, at its base, was the pile of shrubs that concealed the smuggler’s tunnel. Eoni just had to reach that tunnel and he would be in the clear. If the mob tried to follow him he could just collapse the tunnel behind him and bury them all alive. But before he could reach it, Sheodan burst out of the wall of glowing plants and cut Eoni off. Sheodan was covered with red welts from the plants, but his training as a soldier in Eondel’s army had allowed him to ignore the pain and catch up to the escaping Cultist. Sheodan swung his sword at Eoni’s head, but Eoni ducked under the blade and lashed out with his dagger, slashing the soldier across his gut. Sheodan grunted and fell back, clutching at the wound. Eoni growled, and moved to finish the soldier off. “SHEODAN! NO!!!” The voice came from behind Eoni and he whirled just in time to catch a glimpse of the Elantrian ANGUS before he barreled into Eoni knocking him aside. *** ANGUS dropped to his knees by Sheodan, tears forming in his eyes. He began drawing Aon Ien in the air- he hadn’t yet mastered the healing Aon, but he had to at least try to save his dear friend. Eoni grabbed his fallen dagger and scrambled back to his feet. He glanced at ANGUS drawing in the air over Sheodan, tempted to rid himself of two foes at once, but he could hear the sounds of the rest of the mob getting closer- they would be here any second. No time. He turned back to the rock just in time to see another Elantrian, Rhomil, emerging from the secret tunnel, looking surprised and scared of the scene before him. This lone, terrified Elantrian was now all that stood between Eoni and escape. Eoni gripped his bloody dagger and charged forward. *** Rhomil’s took in the horrifying scene in front of him. Corrupted, overgrown plants glowing with an evil red light writhed wildly. Sheodan lay on the ground in a spreading pool of blood while ANGUS tried desperately to get the healing Aon to work. And Eoni, who must be the Jeskeri cultist, rushing towards him with a bloody knife in his hand. Rhomil’s mind raced. He had no weapon- other than Aon-Dor, but he didn’t know any dangerous Aons. He didn’t know how to create fire or stop a man dead in his tracks. All he knew how to draw was Aon Nae, magnifcation- useless- and… He began hastily drawing in the air, his fingers leaving glowing trails in their wake drawing an aon and including the most powerful modifiers he knew. Eoni was getting closer. A dozen paces. Eight. Five. Two. Rhomil finished the aon, then closed his eyes and drew the chasm line. *** Aon Ashe burst alight with a brilliant white light- brighter than the sun. Eoni screamed, blinded by the shining Aon. He swung his dagger but missed and tripped over a rock. He fell and the dagger was knocked from his hand. He searched frantically with his fingers, trying to blink away the afterimage of the Aon burned into his vision. The villagers caught up to him first. As mob seized him and began stabbing him with pitchforks, Eoni gave the best inflamed-throat shout he could. “PRAISE THE JA!" I hope nobody minds the long write-up, we had multiple people contributing to it and since it was the finale we wanted to make it special. @Elbereth wrote the section about night falling on Elantris. @Fifth Scholar wrote the part about Kainae painting, and also made the Shao painting. @Walin wrote a death scene, part of which made its way into the write-up (In his version he gave up way too easily, and I couldn't let that happen, so I changed it and expanded on it. I hope that's alright, Walin. ) If you liked the writeup, make sure to give each of them upvotes! Walin has been lynched! He was the last remaining Cultist! The Jeskeri Cultists have been defeated! Arelon has won! @Devotary of Spontaneity and @Jondesu/ @Kynedath were lovers, and have won by surviving until the end of the game! Vote Tally: Eoni (Walin) (4): ANGUS (Jondesu ), Nigel (TheMightyLopen), Rhomil (Cadmium Compounder), Sheodan (Devotary of Spontaneity) Bill (King Cole) (3): Amati (Kidpen), Eoni (Walin) Straw (Straw) (1): Kainae (Little Wilson) Final Player List: Links Master Spreadsheet Spec Doc Jeskeri Doc Shu-Dereth Doc Elantris PM log GM thoughts to follow in a later post.

Night 7: Ene Enelan, Jaddeth’s last living representative among these heathens, sat at the desk of his former master. In his hands he held a Seon, not the one that his hroden had left behind, but his own. He did not have the authority to call upon Wyrn, and even if he had he did not want to burden the ears of his prophet with ill tidings. Instead, he communed with a Derethi arteth that he had sent to spy on the mobs. “Hold on, we have movement,” the arteth reported, “Confirmed that they are headed for the chapel, just as you anticipated.” “Thank you. Please return to the chapel.” Enelan turned to the other arteths, “Prepare for siege! These heathens have rejected our wisdom, but let us ensure that they cannot turn Jaddeth away lightly!” The arteths sprang into motion, energized by their devotion to Jaddeth and Enelan’s religious fervor. The Derethi chapel was sparse by design, not full of ornamentation that could easily be used for a barricade, but the doors were soon braced. As the last chairs were tossed onto the barricade, a crash came from the doors, followed by the pounding of fists. The mob had arrived. Voices could be heard through the ruckus, “Death to Enelan! Praise the Ja! Jaddeth is a fraud!” “Arteths, sing some hymns to Jaddeth and overpower these blasphemies!” Enelan ordered. The arteths began to chant, and to Enelan the yells of the mob were drowned out. After what felt like an hour, the pounding stopped and the yells quieted. The chants of the arteths continued. Enelan returned to his Seon and called on his spy. The unfortunate arteth had been stuck outside of the chapel when the siege began. “What’s going on out there?” “They’ve gone to get a battering ram.” Enelan frowned. “Thank you, arteth. You’ve served me well.” ***** When the mob returned with a ram, they found the doors to the chapel slightly ajar. A small group ran up to the doors and peered inside, wary of ambush. Nothing. No sign of movement. They swung the doors open, and saw the remains of a barricade now moved to the sides of the doorway. Still no sign of ambush. They signaled to the others, who dropped the ram and silently followed the advance party into the chapel. The chapel itself was completely dark, all lights extinguished save for a single one that shone directly behind the podium at the front. A man could be seen at the podium, hands at his sides. Enelan, the last leader of the Derethi faith in Arelon. “There he is!” Nigel said, “Take him!” “If it is the will of Jaddeth that I die, so be it,” Enelan said. “Remember, my converts, and listen when Jaddeth calls, so that you do not fall with this nation.” That said, he wasn’t planning on going down without a fight. The mob charged Enelan, some more hesitantly than others. But there were also many eager for his blood. There were too many of those. Enelan’s arteths, who had hid undiscovered along the walls of the darkened chapel, engaged them as they came, but they were quickly dispatched by the ferocity of the mob. Enelan hated to see his loyal followers fall, but at least they had died in the service of Jaddeth. He would do that as well. He carried no weapons, but charged the mob’s remnants anyway. He dropped one or two with well-placed punches, guided by his training in Ghajan monastery, but the weight of the crowd bore him to the ground. “I regret that I have but one life to give in the service of Jaddeth! RAZE THE JA!” As the mob carried on its work of destruction inside the Shu-Dereth chapel, a lone figure hung back, with tears in their eyes. Enelan may have been a priest of Jaddeth, but he was still a good man. A great man, even. One of the best there was. At least, the lone figure thought so. Enelan had held a very special place in the figures heart. He could not be replaced. The world would never be the same without him. And with a breaking heart, the lone figure decided that this new world was not one they cared to live in. They turned and left the mob behind. A short time later, the figure reached the top of Elantris’s wall. The walls were much more crowded now that the city had been restored. People came from all over to gawk at the glowing buildings and tried to catch a glimpse of the Elantrians inside. The figure worked their way through the crowds until they found a spot that was mostly isolated. They looked over the edge, into the city. The guard-wall was barely more than waist high. It would be easy to climb a top it and then simply… step off. A few brief seconds of flight, and then they could go to join Elenan in the afterlife. The figure climbed atop the wall. “In the Do-Keseg,” someone said. Their voice held a Jindoese accent. “Keshu wrote that ‘a man does not truly die when his body ceases breathing. He lives on in the hearts of those who love him.’” The figure turned to find a person in a robe with a hood that concealed their face. “You! You were with the mob, weren’t you. You followed me here.” The robed Jindo ignored the accusation, and said, “It would be a shame to let Enelan’s memory die for true. The memory of the man he really was.” The figure atop the wall spoke, choking back a rush of tears. “I- That is a burden I don’t think I can bear.” “You can. The soul is stronger than you think. Your heart will heal, and you will learn to stand again. In the meantime, if you need someone to help you bear the grief, I will gladly volunteer.” The jindo reached out a hand invitingly, then waited. After several long moments, the figure atop the wall took the Jindo’s hand. Enelan (Elenion) was lynched! He was a Shu-Dereth Odiv, a Prince and a Lover! He possessed a Seon which has passed to a heir. Enelan’s lover was saved from death by a Jindo Warrior! Elenion was the last member of the Shu-Dereth Faction. With his death, Shu-Dereth is defeated. All converts have lost their convert status. Vote Tally: Enelan (Elenion) (7): Amati (Kidpen), In (Droughtbringer), Nigel (TheMightyLopen), Rhomil (Cadmium Compounder), Sheodan (Devotary of Spontaneity) Eoni (Walin) (1): Eoni (Walin) Nigel (TheMightyLopen) (1): Fenot (Coop772) Updated Player List EDIT: Note that we're back to the normal rollover time, so this turn is a little shorter than normal. If that is a problem for anyone remember that you can request a time extension. EDIT2: Also, thanks to @Elenion for the bulk of the write-up. Make sure to go upvote one of his posts.