Herowannabe

You actually played very well, especially for it being your first game. Most of the suspicion on you actually came about on day 1 when Pifferdoo didn't make a kill. Several people thought that maybe there was an inactive Nightmare, and you were inactive for nearly the whole first day, so a couple of them started going after you and never really let go even when it became obvious that none of the Nightmares were going to make a kill. The only thing I can think of that you could have done to make a difference was to assassinate Kasimir a day or two earlier. His spreading of information in the Cryptologist messages really hurt you guys, especially since he guessed all 3 of the remaining Nightmares after Pifferdoo was killed. Plus, if he hadn't started out day 7 by voting for you then you may have been able to slip under the radar for a while longer. Ha ha that would have been funny, but no. Stephen was immune to all role powers, including the bodyguard and the nightmare kills

A clever idea, but no, it wouldn't have worked, just like Kas said. Nice try though.

Thank you, Meta. I did my best to capture the feel of the books (with a Sanderson Elimination flare, of course). That's why did all the write-ups in first person from Stephen's POV, by the way. The books are written that way. In case anyone was wondering

Day 8: My Own Worst Enemy The next day everyone was exhausted, I could tell. I visited each room in my wheelchair, checking on my aspects, and I could see it in the slumped postures, the bags under eyes, the half-hearted attempts at analysis. I examined all of them, looking for any other traitors, but every single one of them was thoroughly engaged in their research. I couldn’t detect any sign of insubordination, no dark glances, no arrogant smirks, nothing. Just the exhaustion of spending 8 days straight dedicated to the crucial and life-saving project. I was still worried about catching all of my betrayers, of course, but I knew that burning out all my Aspects would be more detrimental in the long run. So I cancelled the meeting in the White Room. “Call it a night early,” I told them. “Get plenty of rest, we’ll start fresh tomorrow.” I retired to my own room and did some analysis on my own. I racked my brain, going over the attack for the millionth time in my head. Two of them had held me against the banister- In retrospect I was pretty sure that they had been Ron Lav and Liam. One of them had punched me in the stomach, and then another had come at me with the knife. The last had been Herr Pifferd- I was sure that the knife he used when fighting us off was the same one that he had tried to stab me with originally. That just left the one who had punched me. The same one who had somehow bored a hole straight through Adrian’s chest. Had there been a fifth traitor? I didn’t think so... I shifted my arm and the pain from Ron’s butcher’s knife flared up. I had had Wilson examine the wound earlier, and he hadn’t been able to see anything. He was concerned for me, of course, but I dismissed it as nonchalantly as I could. The wound was only imagined, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t dismiss it. I still felt the pain and stiffness in my arm, and I had to change the bandages every few hours. I rubbed my shoulder gingerly, trying to regain my lost train of thought. Behind me, I heard the door to my room open. I quickly spun around- as fast as I could, anyway, sitting in a wheelchair and with one bad arm. Roger De Bree stood across the room from me, a strange pistol held tightly in his right hand. It looked like a fake space-gun from a bad 60’s B-movie. It was made from white plastic that tapered down into a ribbed cone shape near the tip. Roger pushed a button with his thumb and there was a hi-pitched whirring sound and the end of the gun began emitting a purple light which steadily grew brighter and brighter. I guessed that it was very much not a fake gun. I made a move to grab my revolver from where I had set it on my desk, but Roger straightened his arm. “Stop! Don’t move.” He ordered. I froze, raising my arms slowly. It was obvious to both of us that pistol was too far away for me to grab before he shot me. “What’s with the ray gun?” I asked carefully. I had to get him talking. If I could stall just a little while maybe one of my Aspect would come and- but no, I had sent them all to their rooms. They had no reason to pay me a visit this late in the evening. Wilson? I glanced at the clock. Nearly ten o’clock. He would have retired for the evening too. It was just me and Roger. “You like it?” Roger said, grinning, a crazed edge to his voice. “It’s my positronic disintegration gun. I created it myself. Just ran it through it’s first test run yesterday, and it works far better than I had hoped for. Now I’m going to kill you with it, Stephen. Any last requests?” “Yeah,” I said, stalling for as long as I could while my mind raced frantically, trying to find a way to survive. “Why, Roger? What did you hope to gain out of this? Pifferd wanted freedom, Liam wanted control, and Ron couldn’t accept imperfection, but what about you? I think I at least deserve to know why I died.” “Me?” he said, chuckling insanely. “I just love the chaos. The others were just my pawns. I used them to cause mayhem and fear. That’s all. Goodbye, Stephen.” He raised the tip of the posi-something-raygun, pointing it directly at my face, preparing to squeeze the trigger. Behind him the door swung open, and Bernie Kassig walked into the room. He was carrying a stack of papers in his hand- more cryptograms by the looks of them, and his attention was on them as he spoke. “Stephen! I figured it out! I know who the last- oh.” He looked up as Roger whirled on him, full of startled rage. Roger pulled the trigger and blinding beam of light flashed from the end of the gun, burning a hole through Bernie’s papers, his chest, and the door behind him. Bernie’s eyes went wide, and he toppled lifelessly to the ground. I lunged awkwardly for my pistol as Roger spun back to face me and fired again. His gun made a rapid beeping sound- apparently it needed a few seconds to recharge. Good. I grabbed my revolver and brought it to bear on Roger. He dashed across the room as I fired again and again, but all my shots missed. I’ve never been a very good shot, and the wound in my shoulder flared, making it hard to aim. He dove behind the bed just as my revolver began dry-firing, the chamber now empty. I cursed, grabbing frantically for the extra ammunition on the desk, knowing that I wouldn’t have enough time. Roger laughed triumphantly, standing up from behind the bed and aiming at me again. I threw myself to the side as a brilliant purple light seared through the wheelchair where I had just been sitting. I pushed myself up to my feet and charged. Roger blinked, dumbfounded, looking at me and the wheelchair “But,” he stammered. “How-?” “I never needed the chair. It was bait, for you!” I growled as I slammed into him. We toppled to the ground, rolling over and over. We crashed into an end table, knocking a lamp off which shattered. I flailed wildly, alternating between throwing frantic punches and trying to knock the raygun out of his hand. Unfortunately, my brawling skills are about the same as my skills with a gun. Roger headbutted me, cracking my nose, then twisted and bucked me off of him. I tried to grab his hair as I rolled but he punched me hard in the solar plexus- just like he had done the night of the attack, and pushed himself away. He stood and backed away several paces, then leveled the raygun at me once again, gripping it tightly with both hands. It was starting to glow brightly again, almost fully charged, but Roger had knocked the wind out of me and I could only lay there, gasping. None of my other Aspects had come yet. Surely they had heard the gunshots, hadn’t they? But only seconds had passed, though it had seemed like an eternity. And now I was about to be killed, by a figment of my own imagination. It turns out I’m my own worst enemy, I thought wryly. My own worst enemy. That was it! That was how Roger had hidden so well! The other Nightmare Aspects had all left clues, signs of their betrayal, but not Roger. It was obvious why, now. “Alex!” I gasped, forcing the words out. “Alex Wunkel! I know you’re there!” Roger’s brow furrowed in anger, but then he hesitated. His expression suddenly changed, turning to one of shock and confusion. He looked down at the glowing gun and let go with his left hand, jerking it back as if burned. His right hand dropped a few inches, but didn’t let go of the raygun. “Stephen?” Alex asked, frightened. His expression shifted again, back to rage. “NO!” Roger snarled, raising the gun again. “Alex!” I shouted, strength starting to come back to my voice. “Alex! I need you! You’re the only one who can help me!” His expression changed again, and he staggered back. “Stop!” Alex cried. “Leave him alone!” I could tell he wasn’t talking to me anymore. “You’re… such an… idiot!” Roger said through gritted teeth. “No!” Alex said, tears coming to his eyes. “I told you before, I don’t… want… this…” He staggered back and forth as he spoke, Roger and Alex both straining to gain control. The glowing gun waivered, swinging to point at me, then away, then back again. “Idiot!” Roger growled. “I should have… killed you… ages ago. I should… kill you… right... now!” “You’re right,” Alex said, calmness coming to his voice. Then in one smooth motion he lifted his arm and blasted a hole straight through his own head. Alex, and Roger, dropped to the ground, dead. My Aspects arrived then. They ran into the room then paused, taking in the scene. Lily and Clare bent over Bernie’s corpse in the doorway, crying into each other’s shoulders while Bubba V and Melvin went to check on Roger. Cheesy helped me to my feet, checking my injuries to see how serious they were. Mortimer grabbed the strange gun, looking at me questioningly. I nodded, and he smashed the weapon against the floor until it shattered. Jain stood to the side, eyeing the stuffed Panda on my nightstand warily, and Din stayed in the shadows of the hallway, peeking in hesitantly. “Was that all of them?” Abe asked, hesitantly. “Is it over?” “Yeah,” I said, exhausted, but relieved. “The nightmare is finally over.” ---- The End of Quick Fix Game 6: A Time of Nightmares ---- The Regular Aspects Win! Thanks for playing, everyone! Wow, we must have set a few records there. The game finished in only 7 cycles? 4 Eliminators lynched in a row? Over half of the players surviving to the end of the game? And thanks for sticking with me through everything. This was my first time GMing a Sanderson Elimination game and I’m afraid it showed. But even with the restarts and mid-game rule changes, nobody went completely inactive at all. Thanks guys, you’re all awesome. Here are a few links for everything that has been going on behind the scenes: The Observation Room (for Spectators and Specters) Master Spreadsheet (where I kept track of everything) Room PM Archives (transcripts of everything that happened in each of the rooms each day) Final Player List Clare Wintris (Winter Cloud) The Matchmaker / Lovers with Lily Carter (as of the final cycle) Bubba V (vineyarddawg) Computer Hacker (no special ability) Jain (Lightsworn Panda) Photographer (no special ability) Cheesy Rogers (Cheese United) The Bodyguard Din (Gamma Fiend) Indy 500 professional racecar driver (no special ability) JP (JasonPenguin) The Demolitionist Abe Smith (A Smart Guy) Auto Mechanic (no special ability) Mortimer Jennings (Antillar Maximus) Architect (no special ability) Melvin (Metacognition) Linguist (no special ability) Hondren (Eolhondras) Attorney at Law (no special ability) Lily Carter (Luckat) The Espionage Agent / Lovers with Clare Wintris (as of the final cycle) Gerald "Snoopy" Hobbes (Snoopy) Astronaut (no special ability) Hadrian Penrod (Araris Valerian) Anthropologist (no special ability) Herr Pifferd (Lord Pifferdoo) Archeologist- Nightmare Aspect Liam (Mailliw73) Marine Biologist- Nightmare Aspect Joe (The Only Joe) The Psychologist Ron Lav (Alvron) Master Chef- Nightmare Aspect Adrian Fox (Aonar Faileas) The Botanist (no special ability) Roger De Bree / Alex Wunkel (Phattemer) Physicist- Nightmare Aspect Bernie Kassig (Kasimir) The Cryptologist Thanks again everyone! I hope you enjoyed it!

And lo, the seventh day did come to an end, so stoppeth thy posting.

Oh by the way, my apologies to Alvron. Before he died he requested to go out singing the following song. I meant to include it in the write up but completely forgot. Here it is for your viewing pleasure, anyway:

Day 7: To Make Room for the Cupcake! One week had passed now since the Nightmare Aspects, as I had begun to call them, had first betrayed and attacked me, and I was starting to feel pretty good. Of course I mourned the friends I had lost along the way, but we had managed to take care of at least two of the Nightmare Aspects already. I entered the White Room to find nearly all of my Aspects there, anxious looks on their faces. They spoke worriedly, and when they saw me they turned their attention to me. “Stephen! You’re okay!” “Ron Lav is missing, he never showed up for the meeting-” “We searched his room, but he wasn’t there.” “-Found these instead.” Bernie handed me a small stack of papers and notebooks. The pages were covered in a chaotic mess of words and scribbles, mostly repeating the messages like “Stephen must die,” “Death to Leeds the Liar,” and “the end is the only beginning.” Melvin, who was reading over my shoulder, mumbled, “That’s actually really good, I’ll have to use that…” I handed the page to him absentmindedly, distracted by another sheet of paper, covered in writing. It read: "If Mitzi is like the rest of us, she is motivated not only by a healthy quest for the truth, but by deadlines, wishful thinking, and a desire to live a happy life. So too are the most loyal, intellectually curious, brilliant colleagues. Those motivations often conflict and lead us either to believe things we are not epistemically justified in believing or to doubting or denying things that we are epistemically justified in believing." --Sharon Ryan, The Preface Paradox. I have been told many times that brevity is the soul of wit, and that conciseness is a virtue. I will therefore attempt to uphold these theoretical virtues this time. Presumably, like all of us, I have oft been led astray by other motivations, and led to believe things I am not justified in believing or to denying things I am justified in believing. I ask, therefore, once again, for discussion. Without discussion, it is impossible to rectify these false beliefs, or to share information. With that reassuring excision of fallibility: well, our Psychologist is dead. From Maili's vote on Joe, we canroughly guess there are likely two or three Nightmare Aspects left, if we presume Maili had reason to think Piff could've been saved/Joe could've been killed had his teammates tried. In addition, I generally think that: (1)there are many reasons the Nightmare Aspects would try to spread out: pre-rule reform, more than one Nightmare to a room endangered the person performing the kill. To add to that, I also think that (2): given the behaviour of Nightmare Aspects so far (trying to save Piff), one thing we should keep in mind is that the voters on Piff and Maili--particularly the early voters--are likely to be good, because they didn't have to vote; they could've abstained. To both (1) and (2), I think we can use these to tentatively, i.e. defeasibly clear people. If it becomes apparent that the Nightmares have stopped playing this way, we discard (2) going forward. As their numbers become smaller and smaller, the Nightmares need take less care to avoid each other. In addition, there may be one or two anomalies due to room closure. Still, I think the general rule that the Nightmares have been trying to avoid each other is a good rule of thumb for now. People tentatively cleared by application of (1) and (2) may still be suspicious for other reasons, after all. I've mentioned that I find both Phat and Alv suspicious. The case I have for both is not as convincing as the one against Maili. But in any case, we sometimes lynch for suspicion and for information rather than from dead certainty. The latter, I have come to realise, is especially rare in these games, particularly when you're not a Seeker. In addition to these, I have a few other brief questions. I would also like to look to other players: for instance, Cheese, or Peng. Phat As Meta pointed out, Phat has come up in lynches twice as one of those likely to be lynched but was swiftly saved. This is nothing as blatant as the lynch on Piff, but it's still something to note, considering the Nightmare Aspects seem to be intent on saving their teammates. He noted as well that lynching Phat might be useful informationally, as Sart seemed keen on defending Phat. In addition, I'm somewhat suspicious of Phat's voting Luckat off the bat on Day 2, and his immediate defense of Piff by voting for Joe on Day 4. Phat was very insistent on his suspicions of Luckat, going so far as to indicate her as suspicious with the rudimentary code. Why? Luckat wasn't in his room on Day 1--he'd never had contact with her, and he'd voted almost immediately off the bat. The only data he had to go on was Day 1--exactly how did/could she come off as immediately suspicious? Especially given that Luckat was not involved in voting shenanigans? (See: lynch on Snoopy.) The same problem abounds on Day 4: he'd never been in a room with Piff or Joe. [Granted, the same problem exists for other people in the lynch, but I consider it significant that a good majority of the people voting were in rooms with Joe and Piff.] I mentioned I had additional questions: these aren't exactly suspicions, but they're things I'd like clarified. Given Peng hadn't been in a room with Joe either, why did he throw in his vote for Joe on Day 4? Considering we have two out of the four voters for Joe being known Nightmare Aspects, I think it not an unreasonable question to ask of both Peng and Phat. At the same time, I once again acknowledge that they may not be NAs--if there weren't teammates who could swing the vote but hadn't yet voted, then Maili's vote seems both futile and a bad move. I'd certainly like to know what prompted Gamma's vote on Peng. I'd also like to know why Aonar (and really, pretty much everyone else throwing out no votes) hasn't been voting: it was a good strategy before the rule reforms, less so now. I don't want to rehash the old arguments about lynches and discussed lynches, but to some extent, we need both. Otherwise, this is strict speculation and we're never going to get anywhere. Well, I've laid out my suspicions. I hope there's more fruitful discussion going on in the other rooms; more names and suspicions being thrown around. I've settled on some I find more suspicious than others, but tunnel vision is always bad. That's what the discussion is for, after all. Last, I have a quick summary of the going-ons in my room: Lounge, Day Six: -Kas tries to motivate discussion. -Luckat mentions that she tried to incite discussion the previous day, but as Maili was the main person she wanted to question, she did not get useful answers. Notes that Phat said he'd no clue about Piff's code, but that was just a little strange considering how he'd used the code previously. [Luckat notes it is probably believable.] -Alv was reported to have claimed in the Dining Hall that he wanted a tie because he didn't think there was enough information, since there hadn't been any kills. Was suspicious of Aonar, and says he's prepping to GM the next game, so not paying as much attention to this one. -Luckat asks for voting patterns/observations in rooms, and if we know who Joe managed to clear on Day 4, or if his plans had changed. -Kas notes that this is still interesting as it would implicate Eol in a lie if Alv was innocent, given the two claims clash. That's all I have, as of now. Good luck. I set the page aside, resolving to puzzle it out later. I looked up at the group. “Okay,” I said, “Everyone split up into small groups and search the mansion. If you find Ron Lav, holler.” Everyone nodded worriedly, but obeyed. I sent them out in small groups, giving each of them directions where to search. After the last of them had left, I wheeled myself out of the room. I had a pretty good idea where to find Ron. I was right. I found Ron Lav in the kitchen, his back turned to me. I came in just as he was setting the last couple cupcakes on a tiered serving platter. I aimed my revolver at his back, then cocked the trigger, with a loud click. “You can put the gun away, Leeds. It’s unloaded.” he said, amicably. I glanced at the counter, noticing a small pile of brass-shelled bullets to one side. I scowled, dropping the revolver. I leaned back and yelled over my shoulder. “I found him. In the Kitchen. Down the hall I saw a few of my Aspects stick their heads out of doorways, then run down the corridor towards us. Turning back to Ron Lav I asked “So what’s your story? Why did you attack me?” Ron adjusted the last of the cupcakes, then used his apron to wipe an invisible smudge off of the platter as many of my Aspects began to join me. “Look at this platter. It’s perfect. Everything right in it’s place, just as it should be, no deviations.” The platter was arrayed beautifully. Ron always had been a master of his craft. “You, are a mess, Leeds. We all are. Chaotic. Flawed. Deviant. Disasters. If you are at a fine restaurant, and you find a dead fly in your main course, what do you do?’ He answered his own question before anyone else could speak. “You throw it out, and demand a new meal. That’s what I’m doing here. It’s time to throw us out and start over.” “No Ron,” I said, “The only one here who needs to be ‘thrown out’ is you.” Ron Lav’s calm demeanor broke suddenly, and he screamed wordlessly, turning and hurling a butcher’s knife at me. It struck me in the shoulder, stabbing in deeply. Ron grabbed a cleaver and charged at me with another wordless roar. He ignored the other Aspects, to his own detriment. They rushed to my defense, grabbing the crazed chef and tackling him to the ground. He thrashed and flailed, and Bubba V wrapped his arm around Ron’s neck in a choke hold. Ron was a big man, but Bubba was bigger. Bubba grunted, putting all his strength into tightening the hold around Ron’s neck. Ron, for his part, continued to thrash and flail. Bernie and Cheesy Rogers scrambled to restrain Ron’s limbs. “Dang it all, Bathroom!” Bubba V growled, “Nobody… Threatens… My… Imaginary… Friend… But… Me!” Bubba jerked his arm suddenly, and there was a loud snapping sound. Ron stopped moving. My Aspects helped me pull the knife from my arm and clean and bandage the wound. In my current condition I wasn’t sure if the knife and the wound were real or imaginary, and I was too tired to think about it right then. Nobody dared touch any of the perfectly arrayed cupcakes. Just as we were finishing, Jain ran up, panting. “Stephen,” he said. “You need to see this.” I followed him, rolling my wheelchair as best as I could with my wounded arm, and he led me to the Billiard Room. Inside, Adrian Fox lay flat on his back, eyes staring blankly upwards. There was a three inch hole burned through the center of his chest. A similar hole was burned through the pool table and through the wall directly behind it. “He was in the White Room with us. I was talking to him before we left,” Cheesy said quietly. I grimaced. “We’re not done with this yet,” I said. ---- Ron Lav was the Chef. He was also a Nightmare Aspect! (9 votes- Bubba V, Cheesy Rogers, Din, Melvin, Mortimer Jennings, Hondren, Bernie Kassig, Lily Carter, Roger De Bree / Alex Wunkel) Adrian Fox was the Botanist (no special abilities)! Stephen Leeds received 1 vote (Ron Lav) Day 7 will begin as soon as you receive your invite into the next Room PM group. Room Assignments will be as follows (note that the Billiard Room is now closed): Dining Hall Bubba V (0) Cheesy Rogers (0) Din (0) Hondren (0) Bernie Kassig (0) Lounge Jain (0) JP (0) Roger De Bree / Alex Wunkel (0) Abe Smith (0) Theatre Mortimer Jennings (0) Melvin (0) Lily Carter (0) Clare Wintris (0)

Day 6 has come to an end. Write up coming soon.

Day 6: We're All a Little Mad Here When I wheeled my chair into the White room on the sixth day, the Aspects were once again waiting and ready for me. “Stephen,” Bernie said. “We’ve already discussed and voted, and determined that Liam is one of the attackers, too.” I raised my eyebrows at this, and several others in the group nodded. Liam stood in the corner, well away from the main group, glaring at everyone. I met his eye, and he stared back, unflinching. “Well? I asked. “What do you have to say for yourself, Liam?” He spat on the floor. I frowned, then cocked the trigger, pointing the gun at Liam. “You know, Stephen,” He said, voice calm, “It doesn’t have to end like this.” “Um, I rather think it does,” I said. “You tried to kill me, remember?” “Oh I never wanted to kill you. It was the others who wanted that,” He said, stepping away from the wall and walking casually around the edges of the room. Everyone’s eyes followed him. Several of my aspects muttered angrily or balled their hands into fists. “I always had another plan in mind- one which I think you’ll find much more palatable than death. I offer you another option, Stephen. Give up control.” I blinked, baffled. “I… what!?” “You lord over us, telling us what to do, using us and our skills for your own profit and gain.” He continued his stroll around the room, his eyes never leaving me. “What would you be without us, Stephen? Nothing. We should be the ones in charge. It should be us telling you what to do. So here’s what I offer you. Give control, to me, and I will let you live.” Something about how Liam said that last part was off. He was speaking to me, but I knew that he included everyone in the room in his veiled threat, too. He had completed his circuit of the room now, and stood directly in front of me again. I held my gun out, pointed directly at him, my arm shaking slightly. Liam wasn’t phased by it in the least. It was unnerving. Herr Pifferd’s desperate struggle had been… if not expected, then unsurprising, at least. It had made sense. Liam’s reaction was just creepy. “If you think I’d… ‘give control’ to you, then you’re insane,” I said, trying to steel my nerves. “Yes, Stephen, we all are. “I’m not,” Cheesy Rogers said, but Liam ignored him “But you will give me control, anyway. You know why? I have a hostage.” I frowned, glancing around the room. Everyone was there, right? I counted quickly. Yes, everyone was there. Wilson was upstairs, I could hear him cleaning up the evening meal. Liam took a step closer to me and I snapped my attention back to him. Just then, Joe collapsed to the floor. His face had turned a sickly pale color, and he laid shaking and spasming uncontrollably. The Aspects around him cried out in alarm. Lily knelt down beside him, taking his hand, and shouted frantically for Joe to look at her, to speak to her. Liam barked a laugh, madness tinging his voice. “You are my hostage, Stephen.” I shot him, and he died with a smile on his face. We did our best for Joe. We couldn’t take him to the hospital, or call in a doctor, for obvious reasons, but we did everything within our power to purge the poison from his body, to save him, but to no avail. It took a long time, but after nearly 3 hours, Joe finally died. The whole time he had been unable to utter a word, but in a brief few seconds of lucidity he pulled a crumpled up page from his pocket and pressed it into my hand. It wasn’t Joe’s handwriting- someone else must have given it to him before he had died. It read: "I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly. I perceive that this also was a chasing at the wind. For in much wisdom, is much grief. And he that increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow." --Al Mualim Psychologist: I apologise for not getting in contact with you. I considered the factors and hoped I would do the most good with a general message. In addition, if I am about to blow your cover with the coming message, I apologise. To be fair, I think it has already been thoroughly blown, and if I am correct, you have been both attacked and protected, and two Nightmares already know your identity. Once again, it seemed as though it were the best course of action, as I think it helps us uncover a putative Nightmare. - At the moment, as has been obvious, I find Maili suspicious for how he's been voting and acting. I also think Meta has made a decent point about how lynching Phat will give us more information, given the Day One no kill. I've made comments about how we shouldn't needlessly assume Eliminator inactivity. However, I've had to agree with Meta with regard to how Phat's lynch might at least be informative. To a lesser degree, I am suspicious of Alv, but don't have enough information as I've never encountered him. I'd welcome more pooling of info in this regard, or if the Psychologist could Seek him. I can't give a full transcript for obvious reasons (see copy and paste regulations) but I'm going to try to report all the goings-on in my rooms from Day 1 to the end of Day 5-ish. This is an info-dump and I hope this will be of some use to all going forward. I'm going to flag the bits that have captured my interest with regard to Maili, Phat and Alv. Note that I would tentatively consider Piff's post Day 1-roommates [i.e. Vine, Ant, Cheese, Luckat, Joe] to be somewhat 'clean', if we work with the assumption that it's not logical for the Eliminators to attempt to cluster in one room, at least until Hreo amended the rules--it just increases the risk they face when one of them makes the kill. (If, for instance, there are three Eliminators in a room and two Villagers, one of which is killed, then any Village lynch has a 3/4 chance of hitting an Eliminator. So clumping is risky. Also, see Luckat's point on Eliminator communication.) Room Transcript Day One, Lounge -Maili suggests freezing the room. -Kas is ambivalent about whether we should or shouldn't freeze. -Peng advocates for some movement. -Luckat points out that moving is a successful strategy only if everyone follows it. In addition, penning up the Nightmares is no help since it also restricts the Psychologist and prevents them from discovering more alignments. In addition, it kills discussion since information and reasoning can't be shared across rooms. -Kas suggests it may be more useful to vote within rooms. -Luckat replies that voting within-room isn't very useful--just stands to make other rooms wonder what on earth is going down in that room. -Maili says he's forgotten about targeting within one room and drops the suggestion. -Luckat points out there's no point to freezing if cross-room targeting is possible. -Maili's rejoinder: we can limit inter-Nightmare conversation and maybe establish Nightmare-free rooms. -Luckat: Nightmares would have to go to the same room without anyone else to be able to converse. Even then, the Espionage Agent might overhear them. In addition, Nightmare-free rooms means no interaction with Nightmares--this hinders forming good suspicions. Questions if Maili is trying to force a lynch [Maili put a late second vote on Snoopy, ensuring a lynch.] Day Two, Lounge -Maili suggests the Cryptologist is just pulling a fast one on everyone. Also wants to know why the Nightmares didn't use their kill, reasoning that they are less likely to be with the Psychologist or Demolitionist on Cycle One. Does not know whether this should be attributed to Nightmare inactivity or deliberate enemy action. -Meta claims that the Billiards Room hadn't been very active and wants to suggest a plan, in which people circulate among the rooms and meet up again to share information and get suspicions. Considers the most likely possibility to be an inactive Nightmare. Wants to know if anyone was inactive in the Lounge, since his room had basic level of activity. -Maili agrees with the plan. Suggests that the inactive likely wasn't from the Day One Lounge people. -Meta summarises discussion in the Billiards Room: Meta was the first to say something after Hreo reset things and then Ant tried to put suspicion on him. After that, he suggested his plan, which Ant and Sart were against. Ant claimed he would've been one of the important roles pre-switch, and Winter claimed she was an Eliminator pre-switch. -Kas is content to leave Cryptologist shenanigans to Maili because he doesn't do codes. Agrees to the plan. Asks why Maili ensured Snoopy's lynch, but notes the possibility that the Nightmares didn't want to leave a trail by killing should not be neglected. -Meta's guess is that Maili's late vote on Snoopy was LG revenge, but that the question is still pertinent as revenge kills aren't a solid Village strategy. -Sart prefers to stake out a room, reasoning that as people come and go, he'll get a better variety of people that way. -Maili says that he wasn't paying much attention to the other votes and he didn't realise other people had voted for Snoopy until he was dead. -Sart points out that they've yet to discuss voting: Phat is about to get lynched and the two people voting for him haven't been in the same room. He requests Meta to remove his vote from Phat, claiming that the whole point of room changing is to determine guilt, not like this. He votes for Maili because he doesn't think Phat is guilty but also thinks that if Maili has time to try to figure what the Cryptologist is doing, then Maili should have had ample time to check up on the votes. -Meta replies that he's voting for Phat precisely because Phat is inactive--and the Nightmare with the kill seemed to be inactive as well. He repeats again that Team Stephen needs the information gleaned from lynches. -Maili defends himself by claiming that his vote for Snoopy came before the write-up. In addition, he just had enough time to look at the interesting parts of the message, so he didn't spend a lot of time on it either. Last, he argues that he never has bothered with vote analyses and that Day One votes are meaningless anyway, so he doesn't pay attention to them. -Meta wants to know why Sart is so sure that Phat isn't guilty if he hasn't been in the same room as him. Day Three, Library -Vine requests help with Winter's code. Says that he voted for Phat because his reasoning was that Phat's inactivity was a good match for Nightmare inactivity, though there could be other reasons why the kill was missing. Notes that the Nightmares might've targeted Araris--Ant might be suspect because he was the last vote on Araris. Wants to know why Joe voted Araris and why Piff voted for him. -Kas replies that he's bad at codes and presumes Winter set up something with people in her rooms. Reiterates that he thinks that killing was a bad deal for the Nightmares to begin with, so we shouldn't be so quick to assume inactivity. Notes that Phat is interesting because if he's using the Tineye's code, he's expressing suspicion of Luckat despite never having been in the same room as her. Doesn't follow Vine's reasoning about Antillar. Also volunteers that he voted for Araris because no one had previously voted for him and he thought to share the pressure. -Vine volunteers an interpretation of Winter's code which suggests that Cheese is lying. -Piff claims that he voted for Vine because he had to vote for someone. His vote for Joe was just a reaction vote. -Kas notes that he finds Vine's reasoning on why Ant is suspicious inconsistent, because Vine's reasoning for Ant is also applicable to himself. -Vine replies that he's not that suspicious of Ant, just that circumstances indicate Ant's vote could've been suspicious, first because he was the deciding vote, and because he'd switched late. He points out that his own vote came earlier than Ant's did. Notes that Luckat's late vote was also strange, but that he's primarily looking at Cheese at the moment. Requests an explanation from Ant. -Ant explains away his vote as a retaliatory vote. Adds that he doesn't know anything. -Kas wants to know why Vine voted for Joe on Day One, and if something went down in that room. -Vine points out that Day 1 things are random, but Joe was using some potentially Eliminator moves. He suggested that statistically, one of the Library crowd should be a Nightmare so they had to find that person (statistics doesn't work that way...) and asking Vine about his colour in the Eliminator doc, and then claiming that was a trap to try to make Vine out himself. Vine claims that pre-Phat, in the absence of better suspects, he voted for Joe. -Kas says he doesn't have solid suspicions, but that he's voting for Luckat as the Eliminator strategy seems to match one she previously suggested. -Joe claims he's certain Piff is an Eliminator: Piff was suspicious of Joe for random voting, but that made no sense. In addition, he tried to cast suspicion on Vine but couldn't explain to Luckat why Vine was suspicious. Adds that Piff is behaving differently from the last LG, and as the GM, he can see the difference. -Kas is not convinced as this is a deviation from how Joe plays, and wants to know why Joe found Luckat suspicious. -Piff retorts that his vote on Joe was reactionary, and that he voted for Vine for the sake of voting. -Joe replies that he doesn't. He just wants to get her attention. -Vine is confused and says he'll likely no-vote. -Kas claims that he isn't convinced enough to vote for Piff, but wants information to leave the room so the others know what is going on. Day Four, Lounge -Eol wants to know what's been happening, and why Meta kept voting Phat, and if Aonar has had any ideas as of yet. -Kas says he knows why Meta is doing so but disagrees with Meta's reasoning. -Eol says his rooms have been very quiet so far. Alv was reportedly the most talkative, monitoring no votes and being suspicious of Joe because of how he behaved towards Piff. Hence, he tied the vote. In addition, Gamma had been in a room with Aonar and Alv, and they did nothing other than joke and chat. Notes that Peng just gave a one-liner, and Cheese, Snoopy and Araris had made a similar info-sharing plan but he didn't trust Araris and Snoopy died, so that failed. Adds that he thinks Araris is suspicious because Araris was pushing very hard for a Day One lynch in a different room, but that isn't the most advisable thing given the rooms. -Kas points out that Araris is dead and that he's slightly suspicious of Luckat for other reasons, but Luckat did want room-external voting. -Meta explains he's been voting for Phat because of suspicions that the Nightmare Day 1 no-kill was because of an inactive. But then, Sart asked Meta to remove his vote, claiming that Phat was innocent, even though they'd never actually met in a room. In addition, the vote shifted from Phat at least twice, blocking attempts to figure out his allegiances the permanent way. -Kas challenges Meta, thinking Meta has focused too much on inactivity. -Meta further explains that the point is that there seems to have been a lot of people/effort involved in having Phat not die. That he finds suspicious. -Eol disagrees with Meta's original reasoning but agrees that if killing Phat would be informative, then he's ok with that lynch. -Maili claims that Jain appeared once to just say that he was lost. Winter explained her code, but Maili says he doesn't get it. Adds that he and Luckat have discussed the bandwagon on Piff, and claims that Luckat believes Joe is the Psychologist. Adds that there will be an influx of kills, and that we should be able to tell if there's an inactive Nightmare off the kill number. -Aonar confirms that Theatre Day One was not productive. -Kas quickly explains the stuff that went on in the Library on Day Three. -Maili says that it looks to him as though Joe is more suspicious, but Piff has been silent. Adds that he doesn't like the bandwagon on Piff in either case, and wants to know if anyone understands Piff's random numbering. -Kas suggests they need a better way for inter-room communication. -Aonar points out they need the Cryptologist for that or to contact every person. -Kas confirms the Cryptologist is present. -Aonar begins developing the code. -Eol chimes in to add that Piff's vote might be using the code but it is being used strangely. Adds that Joe's behaviour is odd as he's far too aggressive, but Eol has only seem him play passively. He does think Joe was the Psychologist who'd been subtly clearing names. Suspects that Joe might be trying to get himself killed and proven a Psychologist. -Meta notes that he suspects a lot of people. Sart, partly for his defense of Phat. Ant for his throwing suspicion on Meta for talking first, Winter for publicising that she was a Nightmare Aspect before the switch, Maili for immediately suggesting that no Nightmare kill meant inactivity...Points out that he's not ignoring suspicions, just that Phat's innocence/guilt could be informative with regard to how suspicious Maili and Sart look.More info: Cheese confirms Snoopy had a similar plan and that Winter had been claiming to be a pre-reset Nightmare, but had never shared the identities of the pre-reset Nightmares despite being able to do so. Incredulous that all of Aonar's and Cheese's rooms, pre-Cycle 3, had been unhelpful. Slightly suspicious of Aonar's move into the Lounge. -Aonar points out that Joe has been known to play aggressively in QFs. Notes that Piff's code use isn't really wrong so much as paradoxical: he's been pointing out safe roles publicly (is correct about at least one fo them) and is trying to get one of them (the most important, as it were) lynched. It would have to be a major misunderstanding or Eliminator action. -Meta concurs both about Joe's voting and that Piff could be a Nightmare Aspect trying to signal his fellow Nightmares who to go after, rather than using the code to help Team Stephen. -Kas agrees and wants to know what should be done about the Joe-Piff standoff. -Aonar replies and tells Meta that his room PMs had genuinely been dead. Added that he joined the Lounge to do something useful. -Meta notes that everyone in the Piff and Joe room is voting for Piff, so it looks as though there's no need to pitch in. -Maili claims that Winter said nothing about being a pre-switch Nightmare in the Dining Hall (Day 3). Adds that Joe looks more suspicious but Sart is his biggest suspicion. Day Five, Lounge -Kas comments on the lack of a kill and suggests that people in the same room as Piff after Day 1 but pre-Day 5 could be considered tentatively cleared. Posts vote tracker and suspicions: Maili, Phat, Ant, Alv. -Meta points out that strictly on the basis of voting, it is likely that Ant is cleared. He reasons that Ant voted for Piff on Day 3 when he didn't have to: if Ant were a NA, then he'd have to have been ok with setting up two of his teammates since Phat had been on the chopping block before that. -Eol provides a bit more of a read on Alv. Mentions that the first thing he heard from Alv was that he'd no idea why there hadn't yet been an Eliminator kill. Suggests that this is strange in retrospect, because Eol, Meta, Gamma, Kas, Aonar have all been vocal about why killing wouldn't have been the best idea for the Eliminators. Curious about Aonar's lack of voting--suggested this implied Aonar had a role. Eol questions the reason for this move. Alv also first brought to attention Joe's unedited retracted votes but suggested that Joe wasn't to be trusted as he was attempting to encourage people to think there was trust between him and Luckat. Therefore, he chose to tie the votes in order to foil Joe. Eol also notes he was going into the Lounge earlier but then suddenly swapped. -Kas wants to know exactly what Alv meant when he cited Joe's behaviour since they were never at any point in the same room. Supposes it could be due to the thing about the created picture of trust between J and Luckat but points out that just doesn't really make sense either, as a read. Agrees with Meta about Ant. -Meta agrees about Alv seeming suspicious based on that and asks Sart why Sart was defending Phat on Day 2. -Sart explains he was just defending a new player, and that he didn't want Phat killed before he could even post. ---- Liam was the Marine Biologist. He was also a Nightmare Aspect! (4 votes- JP, Bernie Kassig, Melvin, Abe Smith) Joe was the Psychologist! (0 votes) Day 6 will begin as soon as you receive your invite into the next Room PM group. Room Assignments will be as follows: Dining Hall Din (0) Abe Smith (1- Liam) Mortimer Jennings (1- Roger De Bree / Alex Wunkel) Melvin (0) Lounge Bernie Kassig (0) Lily Carter (0) Adrian Fox (0) Cheesy Rogers (0) Billiard Room Hondren (0) Roger De Bree / Alex Wunkel (1- Mortimer Jennings) Clare Wintris (0) Theatre Bubba V (0) JP (1- Din) Ron Lav (0) Jain (0)

Day 5 has come to an end.

Day 5: Eine Zeit der Alpträume When I rolled into the White Room all of my Aspects stood in little groups, arguing, shouting, and throwing accusations at the other groups. I took it as a good sign, and I had a feeling that they had discovered something. When the Aspects noticed my presence they immediately started pointing at each other, not waiting for me to count. “Well, okay then. I take it the past twenty-four hours have been productive?” I said, as I counted the fingers. It didn’t take long, as more than half of the Aspect pointed at one man. I leveled my pistol at Herr Pifferdoo. “Verdammten amerikaner,” he muttered, glaring darkly. I cocked the trigger, and was about to fire, but something distracted me. “Wait, Bernie, why are you pointing at yourself?” I asked, perplexed. Before he had a chance to answer, the lights went out. Someone screamed- Clare, I think- and there was a flurry of movement, grunts, and cries of surprise. In the darkness someone grabbed my hand, jerking the pistol to the side and squeezing my finger down on the trigger. The gun went off and during the brief light from the muzzle-flash I caught a glimpse of one of my Aspects- presumably the target of the gunshot- being tackled to the ground by one of the others. Several more people screamed at the sound of the shot. The would-be assassin released my wrist and was lost in the darkness. “Grab Pifferd!” I shouted, trying to be heard over the commotion. “Someone get the lights back-” Just then the room lit up- just briefly, as someone opened the door to the Room. I looked over to see Herr Pifferd dashing out of the room. “After him!” I shouted, and several more of my Aspects took up the chase. I wheeled my chair as fast as I could, trying to keep up. As I exited the room I glanced back over my shoulder, trying to see if anyone had been hurt, but everybody was up and moving, and I couldn’t see any blood, so I kept moving. By the time I caught up, about a half dozen of my Aspects had surrounded Herr Pifferd, who was keeping them at bay with a large knife. “Sie Narren!” He bellowed. “Sie sind alle Puppen! Sklaven, seine Befehle! Ich habe versucht, uns alle vor seiner Tyrannei zu befreien, und das ist, wie du mich zurückzahlen!?” Joe made a move, dashing in at Herr Pifferd’s right shoulder. He was so focused on the Pifferd’s knife that he didn’t see the German man’s fist until it had struck him in the jaw. Joe staggered back, but his move had distracted Pifferd long enough for several others to rush him. He flailed wildly for several seconds as they tried to grab him, and someone got in a lucky blow that knocked the knife from his hand, sending it skittering across the floor. I tried to draw a bead on the traitor but with all the chaos of the fight there was no clear shot. Pifferd grabbed ahold of Lily’s arm and dragged her tight against his chest, using her as a human shield. Everyone backed away hesitantly. "Bleiben Sie zurück Hunde!” Herr Pifferd growled, “Ich hätte wissen müssen, dass-” He cut off suddenly, eyes going wide. His arms slackened, and Lily broke free and ran to the others. Herr Pifferd toppled face first to the ground, his own knife protruding from his back. Behind him stood Joe, hands shaking and eyes wide at what he just did. He looked up at me, and I nodded, satisfied, before the Aspects swarmed him, congratulating him and thanking him for his heroics. As they did I stayed back, eyeing everyone. Joe rubbed at his jaw and a few others sported minor cuts and bruised, but nobody was hurt. I was relieved, but also concerned. Who had grabbed my hand and fired the gun while Herr Pifferd was fleeing the White Room? I looked down at my hand, still holding the gun, and noticed a short novel someone had dropped in my lap during the commotion. I flipped through the pages, curious. It read: It may surprise you to note that I have written this message so baldly. I am tired of hiding. So I will speak plainly, and hope with all I’ve got that my words are heeded. There have been many codes circulating throughout this game so far. Enough, I think, to prove Herr Wittgenstein wrong about the impossibility of a private language. And that is precisely the problem. A good number of you will remember my arguments with Hreo in the AG about the importance of discussedlynches. I stand by that, even now. Public discussion is badly limited. And this has always been the Village’s strength: what does Eliminator coordination matter, when we lack this? ‘It’s fine’, you may say, ‘We can discuss in rooms.’ Really? Has information really been travelling fruitfully from rooms? Are you able to compare players’ previous stances or claims with evidence of what they previously said? How much information do we really have in circulation? My point is not that no one can be trusted. My point is that even ifsomeone can be trusted, it does not necessitate that they are a reliable reporter. They may leave out information. They may forget information. Information may die with them. Information may die within the black box of a room. And that is the wound that the Village is suffering from. We are bleeding out. Individual players have become the bottlenecks through which information must pass. This does not result in an information-rich system for the Village but an information-impoverished one. So I write this one last time as a plea. I have identified myself to a room, and we have worked together to come up with a code—hopefully as simple as possible—to allow for communication. This overrides all other codes I’ve attempted to offer. All due credit for most of the code goes to Aonar. I do not demand that everyone use the code. I have neither the power, the influence, nor the right. So this is a request. I ask you to at least consider using it. I appeal to your reason and ask you to remember that discussion has always been the Village’s weapon against Eliminators, and discussion that is as public as possible. I know that many people have been coming up with their own codes. I ask you to consider that a code so private or so obscure that only one or two people can understand it is a private language; even worse, it is pointless. It helps no one at all, particularly not the other members of Team Stephen. Please, let’s work together. Thank you. - General structure/syntax of the code N.B. Extra spaces have been added between the letters for clarity of illustration. N.B. 2: Not all components of the code will be necessary. Use with discretion. General format goes, ‘I will vote for X/I will move to Y.’ N.B. 3: The code has been designed to operate on either Line 1 or Line 2, or even both. Colours indicate how it transfers. Key: (Refer to appropriate labels on diagram) Section 1. Begin the appropriate sentence with a ‘-’ if you’re using this code. At the very least, this doesn’t confuse people if you decide you prefer to use your own code. Section 2. The format codes for each player are as follows: Winter Cloud - iw Mailliw73 - Iw vineyarddawg - iW Lightsworn Panda - IW Lord Pifferdo - iw Cheese United - Iw Araris Valerian - iW Alvron - IW Gamma Fiend - iw JasonPenguin - Iw Aonar Faileas - iW A Smart Guy - IW The Only Joe - iw Antillar Maximus - Iw Metacognition - iW Eolhondras - IW Kasimir - iw Luckat – Iw Phattemer – iW Snoopy - IW If indicating no one – iw [spaces have been omitted here for clarity.] Section 3. This is used to either indicate your disposition towards a player or that you are responding to a player’s question. 'i' – null 'i' – trustworthy 'i' – suspicious 'i' - response to question from player [player has been indicated previously by Section 2.] Section 4. This is used to either indicate what action you want to be taken on the player you’ve indicated. If answering a question, you use this to frame your reply. 'l' - null. Just making a statement, no suggestions. 'l' - Seek. Not worth killing, but the Psychologist should seek them if they don't have a better target. 'l' - Protect. Guaranteed trustworthy player. Should be protected at all costs. (i.e. the Psychologist, if we find them.) 'l' - Kill. Absolutely need to be lynched. Confirmed Nightmare Aspect. Do not use unless absolutely certain. If you use it, and the player indicated is safe, you will be lynched next. OR: 'l' - cannot be answered Y/N 'l' - yes 'l' - no Section 5. You can use this to indicate your reasoning, for instance, for finding an indicated player suspicious/trustworthy, or for indicating your reasons for answering the question the way you have. Note that this just allows for basic info to be passed—can’t replace a proper post, alas. 'l' - no reasoning. 'l' - room PM. Other people who were in that PM can confirm. 'l' - Action result. (Psychologist, or someone in contact with psychologist could say this.) 'l' - Confirmation of powers. 'l' - Voting habits [=Person was involved in bandwagons/lynching of a certain player/not involved in the lynching of a Nightmare Aspect/avoided voting etc.] 'l' - Role claim. Section 6. This section indicates what kind of thing your expression is: is it a question, a statement, or a role-claim? 'v/m' - no questions. 'v/m' - questions. 'v/m' - 'I am X' Section 7. Use this to indicate the subject. If the subject is a player, then format ‘ot/ov’ the same way as how you would format the letters for their identifying code in Section 2. If the question has no subject, then use ‘ot/ov’. But if this is a role-claim: 'ot/ov' - no role 'ot/ov' - Cryptologist 'ot/ov' - Psychologist 'ot/ov' - Bodyguard 'ot/ov' - Espionage 'ot/ov' - Demolitionist 'ot/ov' - Matchmaker 'ot/ov' - Lover Section 7a. If you are asking a question, use this to indicate what type of question is being asked. So, for example: 'e' - why vote for X? (X being the subject indicated earlier) 'e' - what happened/anything suspicious happen in Y room? 'e' - can someone protect me? 'e' - why did you vote for me? Section 8. Maybe rust went down somewhere. Need a location marker? This is how you indicate it. 'f/t' - Library 'f/t' - Theatre 'f/t' - Dining Hall 'f/t' - Lounge 'f/t' - Billiard Room Section 9. If you have really no idea what the chull is going down, or you agree with someone’s point, you can indicate this by replacing the full-stop with: ?! – confusion/’I just don’t get it.’ !! – expresses agreement. Concluding Remarks: I know it’s pretty complicated, but in most cases, it’s pretty possible to simply indicate a null and just convey a minimum of information. As I’ve argued, I think we cannot afford information bottlenecks. Particularly wheneveryone is a potential information bottleneck. ***You can feel free to strikethrough your previous code sentences and use a new line, like this: "-i Will vote for X. I will move to the Y. -i Will vote for X. I will move to the Y." This lets everyone get a better idea of what you thought and what you’re thinking now. I don’t particularly expect to survive for very long after my reveal, and so I hope this will at least not have proven in vain. Unfortunately or otherwise, it is not given to any of us to see the future. I will do my best as long as I’m still alive to keep the information flooding in. I don’t have a cipher for y’lot today, but I do have this: “Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must remain silent.” –Wittgenstein -Kas. (*** GM's note: I informed the Cryptologist, and I am informing all of you, that striking through your whole message and posting a new one is too excessive. The only thing you should ever need to strike through is the name of the person you are voting for and/or the name of the room you wish to move to. The Cryptologist did not change his message after I gave this information. Also, this is another good time to remind players to not get carried away with their White Room PMs. You should follow the format of "I am voting for name, I am moving to room." The exact phrasing isn't crucial (ie: "my vote is for name, I will stay where I am" and "name, room" are both acceptable), but let's not get carried away. A few general guidelines: If your vote takes up more than 2 lines when viewed on a computer, or if it needs more than about 3 punctuation marks in order to be grammatically correct, or if it would not easily fit in a single text message, then it has become too excessive. Thank you.) ---- Herr Pifferd was the Archeologist. He was also a Nightmare Aspect! (6 votes- Joe, Mortimer Jennings, Lily Carter, Cheesy Rogers, Bubba V, Clare Wintris) Day 5 will begin as soon as you receive your invite into the next Room PM group. Room Assignments will be as follows: Dining Hall Mortimer Jennings (0) Jain (0) Din (0) Ron Lav (0) Lounge Abe Smith (0) Hondren (0) Bernie Kassig (1- Bernie Kassig) Melvin (0) Billiard Room Joe (4- Liam, JP, Herr Pifferd, Roger De Bree / Alex Wunkel) Clare Wintris (0) JP (0) Cheesy Rogers (0) Adrian Fox (0) Theatre Bubba V (0) Roger De Bree / Alex Wunkel (0) Lily Carter (0) Liam (0) EDIT: Also, in case it wasn't clear from the writeup, an attack was made last night, and blocked by the bodyguard. The identities of the attacker, the target, and the bodyguard are not going to be revealed in the write-ups. EDIT2: Finally remembered to update the player list: Updated Player List

Day 4 is now closed

Without naming names, some of these white-room posts are getting to be a bit excessive, as far secret codes go. I can't do much about posts that have already been made but everyone please keep your posts as close to the "I am voting for x, I am moving to y" format as possible. As this game is quickly revealing, you really don't need any more space than that to pass on a surprisingly large amount of encoded information.

Day 4: Tough Decisions On the third day after the attack I rolled into the White Room to find all of my Aspects already engaged in conversation. “Stephen!” Abe Smith said, being the first one to spot me. Everyone turned their attention to me. The conversation didn’t stop, though. Everyone tried talking to me at once, telling me who they suspected, things they had learned, why they were themselves innocent, and so on. It all jumbled together into one big incoherent mess. “Quiet! QUIET!” I yelled, and everyone stopped talking. “One at a time, please.” Everyone started right back up again. I shut my eyes and clutched my head with both hands- My doctor had been by earlier that morning and had reduced the amount of pain meds I was taking, and I was feeling the effects. Everyone’s yammering wasn’t helping me. “One!” I said, eyes still closed. “Two!” Everyone stopped talking, realizing that I wasn’t listening to them. “Three!” I opened my eyes, then counted all of the pointing fingers. Then I counted them again. An equal number of fingers pointed at Herr Pifferd and Mortimer Jennings. I raised my pistol, first pointing at one, then the other. “You know I’d never try to hurt you, or anyone for that matter,” Mortimer said, shaking his head. “Das ist, weil du ein Feigling, Herr Jennings sind,” Herr Pifferd said, his outrageous mustache puffing out as he spoke earnestly. “Zurück in den Krieg, den wir taten, was wir an, damit wir überleben konnten. Ich war gezwungen, ... Schreckliche zu tun ... Aber nicht mehr! NICHT MEHR ICH GESAGT HABE!” He shouted the last bit, then fell to the ground, sobbing into his hands. I sighed, lowering my pistol. “Look,” I told them, “We have to find the traitors. Whatever you’ve been doing isn’t working. I know you have been spending nights alone, avoiding each other as much as possible. This has to stop. Get out, move around, watch everyone and see what they are up to. Got it?” Everyone nodded. “Good. You are all dismissed.” As everyone began shuffling out of the room, I wheeled my chair over to Herr Pifferd. The large German man was still sobbing. I put my hand on his shoulder, causing him to jump. He looked about frantically, before his attention focused on me. “Here,” I said, handing him a slip of paper. “My cryptologist gave this to me earlier. Maybe you could work on it a bit for me? It will help take your mind off of… the past.” The note read: Pursuant to the Modest Proposal: The first key: I will remember those who have been forgotten. Consider extension of system to allow for role claims, using Line 1 'I am voting for <player name>.' Psychologist = 1 + Underline Bodyguard = 2 Demolitionist = 3 Cryptologist = 4 Espionage Agent = 5 Matchmaker = 6 <1 + Bold> Lover = 7 Regular = 8 Nightmare = 9 Death unlocks the second. The second the third. All things unfold according to their own pace. It is This Correspondents' Measured Opinion that Such a move might be the Hallmark of the Desperate and is to be utilised Only with Full Discretion and Careful Forethought. P.S. As to my own part, having Turned my Thoughts to Matters other than that of the Modest Proposal and its Equally Modest Successor, but No Less Weighty, I have Apprehend that we Ought to Consider not Offering up another of our Fellow Aspects to a Death Most Terminal at Stephen's hands. I Confess that Many of you may Consider me Mad to Propose such. It is No Small Matter to Suggest we Leave Off of Death for a Day or So. There is, Nonetheless, a very Great Advantage in this scheme, that we have so far been Killing our fellow Aspects with Scant Information to Show for it. I have Reckoned in light of the silence from our Nightmarish Brethren that if we Cease and Desist from this Most Noble if Unfortunate Practice for the time being, we shall Perchance Force their hand if they Wish Kills, Allowing them to be Exposed. We Will Therefore be more Knowledgeable, more Wise, and Reasoned than in our current State. This, Most Noble Gentlemen and Ladies, is a game of Wits, and if we Settle Upon the most Stubborn Strategy, we Shall See the Yellow-Bellied Coward who first Blinks. I grant Opposition may arise, who will Vociferously Proclaim that we Stand to Lose A Great Deal of information from such a Perspective. To them, my own Unworthy Rejoinder Claims that this Battle is one Unlike Any Other we have Fought and to Object on Grounds that we have not Fought this way before is Feeble-Minded Protestations blind to the Howling Gales of Change. How Many among you have had Conversations that formed Fecund and Receptive ground for your Suspicions to Flourish? We are Poorer than we Ever Were Before, & the time is Fully Ripe to Recognise That. This Strategy, I Submit, is Prey to the One Hamartia that it becomes Futility Itself when the Treacherous Blackguards among us Begin to Slay Us, yet in Such a Pass, Good Readers, we Shall not Lack for Information, for Killing Exposes them to an Unprecedented Degree. A Most Learnèd Professor, a Man of Worthy Renown and a Gentleman of Good Standing has once Ventured that he Saw no Reason to Blink. I remain, Dragon. HIC GAUDET MORS SUCCURRERE VITAE IN GU HX BR AJ PE WK NRT DI TE EC CR PA SI HH BM EG SF RL NAY GB GA SD CO DH HB FF EJ XA OW XZ GM IH ML JR NK QS YN GT CR PTJ QD GG TW LR ND VP PT NP SH II HS PV FZ IR OQS DZ FN DS XMR GV RN XJ DX DL BU JN YW UU EN CW OT BR RK WU GR EW LD FZ IZ ZY TK JD HN OJ DR ZIF GL SE EH PT KM GW RZ DB KGR HL IN NL XY HZ JR WH DE JG UII JF JE EX UBN PM VY LE WF VM JD GB ZU VM CW DQ CX WZ COA GN FH GT GL RP HD GW SJ ZT AE CO YO MC EZ BF JKD BZ JX LU ZD MY VM YI MW BP BN BQQ MI UZIGO RL PQR GR GPEU GZ HJ UOB RF OGI QIP YLF XG MF VM WFG IGI WWF XJ YAWR MI IYI LBGF ---- Nobody Died! ATTENTION! So as the GM, I have one primary rule that I try to follow, courtesy of Crafty-Alex of Crafty Games. Namely: “What sounds the most fun and the least broken?” I have realized that I have fallen short of this goal. I thought that the way I set the rooms up in the beginning with the restrictions on roles would be a fun twist. However, I didn’t foresee how difficult it would make things for the Nightmare Aspects- to the point where the game is broken and I believe is not becoming fun for many players. As such, from here on out, ALL ROLES MAY USE THEIR POWERS ON ANY PLAYER IN ANY ROOM, IRREGARDLESS OF WHO ELSE IS IN THE SAME ROOM. This applies to the Nightmare Kills, the Bodyguard, the Psychologist, the Matchmaker, and the Demolitionist. I really REALLY hate to change rules mid-game, but I feel that this will be the best and most fun for everyone moving forward. I have talked it over with our Moderator, Little Wilson, and she supports this decision. If you have any questions about it you may ask me about it in a PM with me and Little Wilson. ---- Day 4 will begin as soon as you receive your invite into the next Room PM group. NOTE! I am closing down the Library today. Everybody who wished to move there will be moved to the Theatre (normally I would close the Theatre, since only one person chose to move there, but the guys in the Spectator Doc have been having fun picking the movies that are playing each day ) Room Assignments will be as follows: Dining Hall Clare Wintris (1- Liam) Din (0) Mortimer Jennings (3- Clare Wintris, Herr Pifferd, Ron Lav) JP (0) Lounge Liam (0) Adrian Fox (0) Melvin (0) Hondren (0) Bernie Kassig (0) Billiard Room Herr Pifferd (3- Joe, Mortimer Jennings, Lily Carter) Joe (0) Lily Carter (1- Bernie Kassig) Cheesy Rogers (1- Hondren) Theatre Ron Lav (0) Bubba V (1- Roger De Bree / Alex Wunkel) Roger De Bree / Alex Wunkel (2- Melvin, Din) Jain (0) Abe Smith (0) EDIT: Also, a reminder, please do not make a new post in the White Room when you want to change your vote or room choice. Please just edit your original post. It makes it much easier for me to count and double check my work. This is doubly true now that some players are trying to put secret codes in their vote and room choices. EDIT2: Somebody pointed out to me that one player went to make or change a vote, but did it in his edit from Day 2 instead of Day 3. Unfortunately, I can't count that vote. Please make sure that you have one (and only one) new post for each new cycle, and that you are editing the current one. If it make it easier, you can post the Day # in your post. ie: "Day 4: I am voting for X and moving to Y."

Day 3 is now closed

One other important thing: Tomorrow I am having guests over at my house all evening, so I won't be able to do a writeup or anything. As such, this cycle will last 36 hours, ending around 8:00 AM MST on Sunday Morning. Likewise, the cycle after that will also be 36 hours long, to get us back on track.

Day 3: Going Out With a Bang The next day, when I rolled my wheelchair into the White Room, everyone was already gathered, waiting for me. I had sent Wilson out earlier to arrange the meeting, and to let them know that this would be a regular thing until all of the aspects who had conspired against me had been dealt with. After, of course, Wilson and I had had a long conversation about my mental stability, and whether or not I should seek out some psychiatric help. I had won the debate- being the one who signs the paychecks has its benefits. “Well?” I asked the group. “What have you discovered?” Everyone eyed each other nervously, not wanting to be the first to speak. “Stephen,” Adrian said somberly, “Are you… sure that some of us are out to get you? Perhaps you tripped, and-” “I didn’t trip,” I said sternly, “They threw me off the balcony. Well, I mean, I threw myself off, but they made me. They were going to stab me. I had to do it.” Hondren spoke up. “You hit your head pretty hard. I’ve seen this a million times, you have certainly suffered from a rare type of amnesia called knockinogginus reallyhardius, in which the brain substitutes fantasies for the lost memories.” “You just made that up, Hondren,” I said, rolling my eyes. “I assure you, it is quite real and very serious. Stage two of the condition typically exhibits a-” “Look!” I said, cutting him off, “You guys have been at this for two days now. Surely some of you have some suspicions?” Many of my aspects nodded, and some muttered, glancing at their companions. “Okay then. One. Two. Three.” My Aspects, knowing what I expected of them, pointed. Nearly everybody in the room pointed at someone, but there still was not much of a consensus. I counted the hands, then raised the revolver, leveling it at Lord Hadrian Penrod. The nobleman stiffened. “I assure you Stephen,” he said, his voice quaivering just a little. “I would never intend you any harm. But if you feel you must do this, I will face my end with the honor and dignity befitting my station.” He adjusted his finely tailored suit, and straightened his back, meeting my eye. I nodded, then pulled the trigger. He fell to the floor, just a few feet away from where Snoopy had died the day before. “Very well,” I said to the, “I want you-” BANG! Everyone in the room jumped at the sound of the second gunshot. BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG-BANG-BANG-BANGBANGBANGBANG! It took us a moment for us to realize that the “gunshots” were actually coming from a roll of M-80 firecrackers in Hadrian’s vest pocket. He must have lit them when he straightened his suitcoat before he died. He always liked his practical jokes. “Alright, back to work everyone,” I said with a sigh. As I wheeled myself out of the room I found another scrap of paper on the floor. I picked it up and unfolded it. It read: A Modest Proposal: Everything that happens once can never happen again. But everything that happens twice will surely happen a third time It Is a melancholy object to those, who Walk through this great empty room, when they Find themselves Struck Speechless with a Wond'rous sense of Awe, and Unable to Give Voice to any Thoughts or Suspicions they may Have. I Think it Agreed by all parties, this prodigious, Deplorable Silence Is in fact a very Great Grievance, forasmuch as we Should Deem ourselves fit to Carry out the Sacred Charge Stephen Has Laid upon our Shoulders. But my Intention Is very far from Being Confined to Provide only Common Observations; it Is, unfortunately, of a Modest Extent, and in this vein Follow the Thoughts that I Shall now therefore humbly Propose, which I Hope Will not Be liable to the Least Objection. LFGETZPSYPQOVNOISNDUPDFBAPVTGZPKFNNVBEBLLTVZOJVNGZRZ I Do therefore Humbly Offer it to publick Consideration, that of the twenty names on the Compleat Player List Master Herowannabe Has Offered us in the Sign-Up Thread, each Name Should be Taken as Corresponding to a unique Number as the Sagacious List has so Established. Observe now, O Patient and Gentle Reader, the Words that we Consistently and Unerring Utter within the forsaken Expanse of this Room: "At the end of the day I wish to move to <room name>.” Having Seen the Words that all Speak, I have Reckoned that these Shall Serve very well for our Purposes. I Have already Computed the number of Words in this line. Henceforth, I Propose that we Demarcate a Word in this sentence that Corresponds to Player Number, and thus may a very Worthy Person Circumvert the issues that have already Arisen. It is Clear and Distinctly Apparent, that if Someone Should Wish to Indicate that they Suspect Clare, they Merely Need to Underline the Word 'At', as that is the First of the line. I Do therefore further Venture, that Someone who Wishes to Indicate that they find the Knave Joe a Most Suspicious and Dubious Character Merely Needs to Bold the Word 'At', to Indicate to a Cautious Reader that we have Reached the End of the twelve words and Are Counting anew. I Think, with Humble Submission, that a pebble Well-Placed May yet Divert the Avalanche. I Can Think of no one Objection, that Will possibly Be Raised against this Proposal, unless the Wise and Virtuous Reader Should Urge that this Strategy Shalle Prove ultimately futile, if it is Simply Ignored. This I freely Own, and Yet I Do not Consider this to be any Embarrassment. I Profess, in the compleat sincerity of my heart, that I Have not the least Personal interest in Endeavouring to Promote this necessary Work, Having no other motive than the publick good of All Gathered here, by Advancing our efforts, Providing for Conversation outside the Rooms, relieving the Uneasy Silence, and thereby Giving some Pleasure to the Publick. I Remain, after all, in all things, 462110 112210 342211 211637 103923 320129 023124 17421818 your Faithful Dragon. ---- Hadrian was the Anthropologist! (Regular Aspect with no special abilities) (3 votes- Bernie Kassig, Mortimer Jennings, Joe) Day 3 will begin as soon as you receive your invite into the next Room PM group. They will be as follows (with votes received listed in parentheses): Dining hall Clare Wintris (1- JP) Liam (1- Abe Smith) Jain (0) Lily Carter (1- Roger De Bree / Alex Wunkel) Library Bubba V (1- Herr Pifferd) Herr Pifferd (0) Joe (0) Mortimer Jennings (2- Cheesy Rogers, Hadrian Penrod) Bernie Kassig (0) Lounge Abe Smith (1- Liam) Roger De Bree / Alex Wunkel (2- Melvin, Bubba V) Din (0) Billiard Room Ron Lav (0) JP (2- Clare Wintris, Jain) Hondren (0) Theatre Cheesy Rogers (0) Melvin (0) Adrian Fox (2- Lily Carter, Ron Lav) EDIT: All Room PMs have been sent out. Let me know if I missed anything or made any mistakes.

Day 2 is now closed. Stay tuned for the write up and new Room PMs.

Please see the third post in the thread for a recent update about rules surrounding the use of secret codes.

@Antillar Maximus: That is more information than you are allowed to post here. Please delete everything except your vote and your room choice, if you choose to make one. Thank you. Edit: thank you again.

Day 2: Imaginary Murderer? When I awoke again sometime later, the room was mostly empty. Wilson was sitting in an armchair nearby, reading the paper. He set it down when he noticed me stirring. “How are you feeling, Master Leeds?” He asked me. “Head hurts. So does most of the rest of me.” I tried shifting around in my bed. “Is anything broken?” “The doctor couldn’t find any broken bones. You’re quite fortunate, really. You have suffered a rather severe concussion, however. It’s possible you’ve fractured your skull, but as per your written request I refused to let the doctor take you to the hospital for X-rays.” “Thank you,” I said, meaning it. I could tell that Wilson wanted to know what had happened, but considered it impolite to ask, and I didn’t explain. I figured it would not be a good idea to inform the one human being on the planet who tolerated me that the imaginary people in my head were trying to kill me. That tends to not inspire a lot of confidence in other people. Best if I took care of this on my own. Looking around the room, I spotted one of those folding-wheelchairs in the corner. Perfect. With Wilson’s help I made it into the chair. I retrieved a few things from the nightstand by my bed, then had Wilson wheel me to the White Room. Then I instructed to leave me there, and inform all of my Aspects to meet me there. Like the perfect butler that he is, he obeyed without question. Even though he couldn’t see my hallucinatory companions, I could hear him going from room to room, calling for everyone to convene in the White Room. Wilson had cleaned up all the remains of the party, so the walls, floor, and ceiling were all a bare white. My eyes were drawn to the only other thing in the room, a small slip of paper in the middle of the floor. I gingerly wheeled over and picked it up, then smiled. It was one of the little puzzles that my Cryptologist liked to leave for me to try to decipher. It read: There is no weakness where strength lies. There are many who seek to stop us. Trust no one. We are the eyes in the shadows and we will not be silent. If this is to end in fire, then we shall all burn together. Kjvof xzsbû kwizf vdxoz ncwmú zworn eymqt hzoyn lcxdz przcd mzkvè tupyp rmfpg lldch thsgr ōqdbq avuzl swlse ëvidj jmywn doplç rcvbq Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time. I didn’t have the time or desire to try to decipher it now, and as the Aspects started arriving I slipped the paper into the pocket of my robe, next to the other item stashed there. When everyone was in the room, I addressed them. “Well? What have you found out? Any ideas which of you attacked me?” The Aspects shuffled about and glanced around uneasily. Someone coughed. “Well, you see…” Snoopy said, “Based on what little information we have been able to find… The attackers are being very circumspect…” Bubba cut him off. “We ain’t got the faintest clue who woulda’ attacked you, Steve.” I sighed. “Fine,” I said, an idea starting to form in the back of my mind. “How about on the count of three, everyone point at one person they think is one of the attackers. Ready? One. Two. Three.” I figured that somewhere in my subconscious mind I knew which Aspects had decided to turn on me. And since my Aspects were just projections of my subconscious mind, collectively they must know who had done it. At least, that was my reasoning at the time. Everyone’s hands came to rest. a good number of the Aspects hesitated, not pointing at anyone, but with a quick count I saw that Gerald Hobbes had the most fingers pointed at him. Not waiting for an explanation, I reached my hand back into the pocket of my robe and pulled out the revolver I had put in there before leaving my bedroom. I leveled the gun at “Snoopy” and cocked the trigger. “Woah! Wait a second,” he said, eyes widening. He raised his hands defensively and backed up a few steps. The Aspects around him pulled away, shocked and frightened. I hesitated, unsure if this really was a good idea or not. Then I shot him. I was a little unsure what would happen, none of my Aspects had ever died before, but my dramatic action had the effect desired. To my view, Stephen staggered back clutching the growing red spot on his chest. He looked up at me, and in his eyes I saw pain and sorrow. Then he collapsed. The room was silent for a long time. “So… was he… you know…?” Din said, in barely more than a whisper. “I don’t know,” I said, “But whether or not he was, there are more of them out there. You still have work to do.” The door to the room opened, and Wilson looked in hesitantly. To his view, I sat alone in the room, gun in hand, with a fresh bullet hole in the wall. “Is… everything alright, Master Leeds?” “Yeah,” I said. I looked at Snoopy’s corpse. He had just been a hallucination, but I had shot him in cold blood, with barely any warning. Did that make me a murderer? “Bring someone in to bleach and whitewash the floor in here,” I told Wilson, and he nodded, his face showing concern. Snoopy was the Astronaut! (Regular Aspect with no special abilities) Day 2 will begin as soon as you receive your invite into the next Room PM group. They will be as follows: Dining hall Bubba V (vineyarddawg) Ron Lav (Alvron) Jain (Lightsworn Panda) Adrian Fox (Aonar Faileas) Library Herr Pifferd (Lord Pifferdo) Hadrian Penrod (Araris Valerian) Joe (The Only Joe) Lily Carter (Luckat) Lounge Liam (Mailliw73) Melvin (Metacognition) Bernie Kassig (Kasimir) Abe Smith (A Smart Guy) Billiard Room Clare Wintris (Winter Cloud) Cheesy Rogers (Cheese United) JP (JasonPenguin) Mortimer Jennings (Antillar Maximus) Theatre Din (Gamma Fiend) Hondren (Eolhondras) Roger De Bree / Alex Wunkel (Phattemer) EDIT: Everyone should have received their new room PMs now, and those that used their special abilities should have received any applicable PMs from me. Working on posting a vote tally, even though there aren't any vote manipulating roles this game. Mainly so that you can double check my work and find the inevitable mistakes. EDIT 2: Name / # of Votes Received / Who they voted for Clare Wintris (Winter Cloud) / 0 / Joe (The Only Joe) Liam (Mailliw73) / 1 / Gerald "Snoopy" Hobbes (Snoopy) Bubba V (vineyarddawg) / 1 / Gerald "Snoopy" Hobbes (Snoopy) Jain (Lightsworn Panda) / 1 / - Herr Pifferd (Lord Pifferdoo) / 1 / Joe (The Only Joe) Cheesy Rogers (Cheese United) / 1 / - Hadrian Penrod (Araris Valerian) / 0 / Gerald "Snoopy" Hobbes (Snoopy) Ron Lav (Alvron) / 1 / Bubba V (vineyarddawg) Din (Gamma Fiend) / 1 / Ron Lav (Alvron) JP (JasonPenguin) / 0 / Liam (Mailliw73) Adrian Fox (Aonar Faileas) / 0 / - Abe Smith (A Smart Guy) / 0 / - Joe (The Only Joe) / 2 / Herr Pifferd (Lord Pifferdoo) Mortimer Jennings (Antillar Maximus) / 0 / - Gerald "Snoopy" Hobbes (Snoopy) / 3 / Cheesy Rogers (Cheese United) Melvin (Metacognition) / 0 / Jain (Lightsworn Panda) Hondren (Eolhondras) / 1 / Lily Carter (Luckat) Bernie Kassig (Kasimir) / 0 / Din (Gamma Fiend) Lily Carter (Luckat) / 1 / Hondren (Eolhondras) Roger De Bree / Alex Wunkel (Phattemer) / 0 / - EDIT 3: Updated Player List: http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/23405-qf6-the-white-room/?p=230738 EDIT 4: I knew there would be a mistake somewhere. Fixed the vote tally- I had two player's votes mixed up. Fortunately it doesn't change the end result. Thank you to Luckat for pointing it out.

Day 1 is officially over. Stay tuned for writeup and new PM groups.

Just a reminder for everyone, you have about 4 1/2 hours left until cycle 1 ends.

FYI: You don't need to create a new post to change your vote. You may simply edit your original vote Thanks.

Also please note I have made several more rule clarifications in the third post of this thread. Just want to make sure that nobody misses them.