Jo and the Bush

Jojala thought about it. She thought about it some more. Honestly it made no rational sense. Why would an Elim do that? Probably not as part of a plot. "Panic probably? She didn't mixed up facts or didn't remember? She is busy with a life emergency right now, so possibly she was hurrying to respond to you in between whatever is going on? She attuned patience. "I believe you, but i want to know the actual wording, and I also asked the Almighty about this and have yet to receive any sort of answer. Because that is a wild call for the gods to make, and I half suspect it is the result of miscommunications between them." @The Unknown Medallion "you told me you were Discerning as I am, who did you target last night? Can you shed any light on this situation?"

"No?" Jojala attuned confusion. "TUM being the Shardbearer requires too many coincidences. O scanning me, the gods giving his result to the regals, the regals finding the Shardbearer and telling him what I was, and him bluffing with that. While stranger things have happened, Nienna being evil only requires a single conversion, rather than a long chain of coincidences. TUM has also been active, where the Shardbearer has not."

Jojala took in that speech. It was a lot. If everything Stick said was true, and it kind of had to be since she had Discerned that Stick was in fact a Listener after the second conversion, then the only possible answer was that Nienna had been converted. "I can confirm large chunks of what Stick has said, though she is wrong about me, obviously. I will be Discerning The Unknown tonight to ascertain their nature assuming i live, or maybe Nienna instead." She hesitated. Was it smart to execute a Regal right now or should she still focus on the Shardbearer? They hadn't killed the night before, possibly they truly were Penguin the inactive. And Marne's math and analysis did make it seem more likely they could still win with killing a Regal today. "Obviously, i will vote to save myself, because Stick and I are the only Singers that I know for sure to be opposed to Odium. But otherwise, I will vote on Nienna, who basically has to be the most recent Convert, or Penguin, who is probably the Shardbearer." "The only way I see TUM being the Shardbearer is if O the Discerning Regal scanned me on that first day, and the Elims found TUM and told him my role. Either that or he made the bluff of a century and I fell for it."

"I agree, but it's important to not let the conversation stagnate, hence the vote elsewhere. If everyone votes on an inactive, the non-singers have no need to respond, and we get no additional information. I will happily switch to Penguin if no one else votes for Marne, but on the smaller chance it is Marne, i want to keep my vote there in case anyone else agrees."

"I disagree. We need to kill 2 Regals to stop their kill, but only 1 Shardbearer. If the Bearer is in fact working with the Regals, then it will not be under threat of force, but under some guise of cooperation. If the Regals and the Shardbearer are working together, then we don't have the numbers to win without counting on 1 or more Heroics successfully blocking kills, or the Bearer continuing to not kill. If we execute a regal today, and lose 2 Singers, it drops down to 5 to 1 to 1, and we'll need to successfully execute the second regal, or it drops down to 2 to 1 to 1, at which point we lose. Killing the Bearer today gives us the time to actually win."

She proffered her old list that she had kept. "The thing that stands out the most is Stick. She was my last remaining suspect for being the Bearer of Bloody Shards. Now, if the Discerner claim is true, it cannot be her. Which means that I must have been wrong in my list. The Shardbearer slipped through my bluff. I will still happily execute Stick if her claims cannot be validated, but I suspect they will be, and while I wait, I do not wish to be idle. Thus, the vote on Marne, to which he responded with his usual defensiveness. Qian I suspect merely because the role they claimed is not one that can be easily verified, and they are pursuing an inactive as the shardbearer, which gives them good reason to not kill, as it would through off the trail." She shrugged and attuned consolation. "I'm not Regal, I am merely following the lines of Logic that I have established."

Jojala nodded at her list. That was valuable information that stick had given. "Can we assume that Stick is telling the truth here? Did the Discerner tell you the roles of Nienna and Jojoja? If so, those two could confirm the validity of your claim." "If that was true, and Khenari and the Unknown Singer were telling the truth, that only left Marne, Kiri, and the two other nameless singers as possible shardbearers. Kiri had claimed a different target the night of O's death, which would have been an odd gambit given my own fake claim of being Sneaky, which really only left Marne and the two nameless. The Shardbearer hadn't killed last night, which could lend credence to it being the penguin, but that would result in a runaway execution with absolutely no defense or discussion." She thought about it for a moment. "I think it is now past time to revisit Marne's first day defensiveness. Could that be a result of them being the Shardbearer? I am currently willing to execute any of Marne, Qian, or Penguin as the Shardbearer."

Hrrmmmm. Hrrmmmm. Qualifier dates are March 9th to April 27th. . . Winter Term ends March 20th, and Spring Term starts March 30th. That's only 10 days that I would be able to dedicate to championships, if I got lucky and it started at the exact right time. I don't think I can accept.

While is was certainly an odd move, to advocate for one's own destruction, Jolala did not believe the forces of Odium would do such a thing. "Dahran, i would prefer your execution at this point over the Penguin's. They should instead request to be replaced. Perhaps the Almighty will see fit to do that."

Jojala frowned as she tried once more to figure out how to discuss multiple nameless singers at once. "I will happily stand with the louder Nameless Singer who is standing with me. I no longer believe that he is the Shardbeaer or a Regal. I have received the confirmation i was waiting on." "As for the other nameless one, i am quite fine with their execution. Penguin, you called him?" "As an aside, I do trust Nienna as well."

Jojala knelt in the plaza, beneath an empty vessel that had once housed a Spren. A beautiful spren, full of radiance. One that had believed in her. She hadn't known that, hadn't known how long Fernri had been watching her until she'd gotten home and found the note. If things had gone differently, Jojala might have become Radiant. Six Singers had stood by and watched as they tied the rope around their own neck. Stick. Nienna. Dahran. Kiri, and two Singers who cared so little about the gift of choice they had been given, that they had not even chosen names. Choice. Was Choice a gift? Or was it a curse? Jojala had once longed for the ability to choose, but now she had it, and it brought her nothing but grief and longing. She had spent the day before searching for the Shardbearer, instead of defending Fernri. Was that a mistake? Maybe. What had she learned from it? @Wahrheitswächter Marne had been very confused by her fake confidence. He had guessed that she had been fooled by a Stormform. Jojala believed Marne to be neither Shardbearer nor Regal. @Akimikoisthecutest Khenari had been shocked, but refused to confirm nor deny the accusation. She had asked where Jojala had sourced it from, but then her bluff had been revealed in public before She could get any other information from Khenari. While the refusal to deny the accusation was of note, the exact phrasing of their conversation led Jojala to believe that Khenari was certainly not a Regal, and probably not a Shardbearer, but also someone of great skill with words. Not someone to be trifiled with. @mippo Dahran had been distrustful and uninformative. Carefully ignoring every question that she had asked him while asking questions of his own in return. In the end, He had denied being the Shardbearer, and seemed to grow bored with trying to get information from her. Jojala no longer suspected Dahran of being the Shardbearer, but was inclined to suspect them of being Regal. @Stick. Stick had laughed at her. Literally laughed at her face, then asked if she was the shardbearer. If She was the Shardbearer, Jojoja would have been dead by now. Jojala honestly had no read on Stick. She could be literally anything. @ThatOneWorldhopper Jojoja had simply asked her about how she came to that conclusion, then never responded again when she lied about following them Sneakily. Presumably the man had figured out she was bluffing, and decided to ignore her. Unfortunately, Jojala had come to the conclusion that he was a Singer, not a Regal or Shardbearer. What a waste of good spite. @IcedOutPenguin One of the Nameless Singers, though this one had not voted to execute Fernri. They had simply shaken their head, with no consideration for the accusation at all. It was a surprising reaction to be honest. Jojala didn't know what to make of it, but had decided that he probably wasn't the Shardbearer. @Doc12 Nienna's name was still misspelled in the listings put out by the Singers running the city of Revolar. The woman had seemed confused, both by the accusation, and then by the admittance of the massive bluff. She really didn't care about the Shardbearer. Jojala was inclined to believe she was neither Regal nor Shardbearer. @The Unknown Medallion One of the Nameless Singers, and one of the most suspicious. A Singer who had admitted to visiting O shortly before his death, but claimed it to be for other reasons. Jojala was withholding judgement for now, but would hopefully soon find something out. She had considered her own survival to be of interest after accusing him so publicly. Presumably her hunt hadn't threatened the Bearer at all, since she was unattacked. @coco.pudding Kiri had been confused by the accusation as well, and had offered up an alibi to prove it. It was not an alibi that Jojala could follow up on, but Kiri had been the very first to respond to her accusation, and very quickly. Jojala believed her to be a Singer. @Qianweilian The last of the Nameless Singers, had outright denied being the Shardbearer, and suggested that she had gotten them mixed up with one of the other two Nameless Singers. They had offered up their nature easily, and guessed Jojala's own nature quickly enough. Jojala didn't think they was the Shardbearer, but could see them being either Regal or Singer. Jojala frowned as she reviewed her list. Had she really discounted literally everyone except Stick from being the Shardbearer? Maybe that bluff had been a monumental waste of a day. Two Regals had been slain, and she hadn't even really paid any attention to it, because she'd had the idea to try to find the Shardbearer. She should really review what everyone had said while she was working. As things stood, Dahran and the nameless singers were her suspects for Regals. If she had enough time, she would investigate those 4 as thoroughly as possible.

IRL, i'm clocked in at work right now and shouldn't really be on the 17th Shard at all. Jojala raised an eyebrow. "We all have other things to do, whether they be education or work. I cannot devote all of my waking hours to this investigation that we have all volunteered for. "As for Strategy, it has worked in the past." She shrugged. "I saw no downsides to attempting it again now."

Jojala sighed. She had hoped her work wouldn't be spoken of in public before it was completed. "I'm still waiting on a few responses, but now those responses aren't going to be genuine, as they have been warned." "Yes, i spoke with each of you, and told you that I knew you were the Shardberer who slew O. I don't currently have the time to reveal all of my results, but suffice to say, alot of players denied it with some confusion, and no one admitted to being the Shardbearer." "Some Singers had very interesting reactions. My top suspects are @The Unknown Medallion, then @ThatOneWorldhopper, then @mippo. The Unknown is far and away the most likely of them. Jojoja is second due more to their lack of denial, and Dahran is only suspicious due to how long it took them to deny it. They may have been delaying in order to get info out of me though." "I do think that the Shardbearer is a grave threat right now, as they have zero motivaton to help us at the momemt, with so many Regals dead. I will provide more thorough documentation once I have finished my assigned work for the day, that may come after this night ends."

Jojala didn't like what was happening. She really didn't think that Khenari was a Regal, but she also knew that due to her own anxieties, she was more willing to believe resigned defenses than most people were. "I'm not sure this is the right choice, but it's the only choice I see right now. Narash, I cast my vote for you, solely because I have more faith in Khenari than in you, and there might be enough suspicion on you to save her." Mistfallen Scholar

Jojala blinked rapidly, trying to follow the sudden shift in the mood of the crowd. Now everyone was following her lead onto Jojoja, which meant that all the same arguments she had used in defense of Marne now applied to Jojoja. She considered switching but decided against it. It might look suspicious in the rare world where Marne was Regal but Jojoja wasn't, but that wasn't eniugh of a reason to back down.

Jojala attuned Scorn. “Yet another good reason to get rid of that mocking Singer.”

She pointed at Jojoja @ThatOneWorldhopper. "That Singer has had opportunity to contribute, had pressure put on them, heard the discussion happening, and done nothing about it, as if completely certain that they would be saved if the crowd turns against them. Marne meanwhile is merely defensive after being accused, meaning they do think they could be killed. Jojoja feels far more like a Regal than Marne."

Jojala attuned anxiety. "I would really rather we did not remove someone so young this early, especially as no one is defending them. This feel more like an easy way for the Regals to hide rather than a legitimate mistake by an inexperienced Regal. I do not believe that anything Marne has done is suspicious in the context of who they are."

Mafia, sometimes called Werewolf, is a game of Social Deduction and Elimination. At it's most basic, there are two factions of players, The Village, who are an uninformed Majority, and The Eliminators, who are an informed Minority. Each cycle of the game, all players vote for a single player to be removed from the game, and the Eliminators choose a villager to be removed from the game. If all of the Eliminators are removed, the Village wins the game. If most of the Village is removed, the Eliminators win the game.

Jojala sat atop a crate and watched as groups formed and broke apart. Singers shifting from rhythm to rhythm as easily as the Wind moved from house to house. She was not certain who among them were acting suspiciously, as many of them were new to her, and she had many other tasks to be about. The one that stood out the most was O. A Singer who had chosen a single sound for their name, and had loudly proclaimed their communications with a Shardbearer. She wasn't certain she believed that. She could see a world in which O was Regal, and attempting to bait the Shardbearer out. She could see a world in which O was a Willful Singer, attempting to bait a Voidspren. She wasn't at all willing to vote for O, not given the efforts they were putting in to their schemes. If they were a Singer, Jojala wanted them to stick around. To that end, Jojala hoped that an Inspiring Singer would target O, to keep them safe. Unrelated to O, Jojala couldn't help but notice how unconcerned Jojoja was with having two votes on them. Almost as if they didn't feel any pressure to defend themself. She had originally voted on him more as a whimsical joke than anything else, but now felt more willing to end the Singer's life. As she was about to say as much, Khenari beat her to it. Jojala nodded in appreciation.

Jojala appreciated that at least one of the other singers was voting on Jojoja. She was a bit embarrassed to realize that she didn't know that Singer's name. She knew most of the Singers in Revolar, but there were three that seemed to be involved in the Regal's scheming that, to her knowledge, were nameless. She hoped that Yakat, who had worked tirelessly for the good of the Singers in Revolar, didn't get taken so early, but she wasn't worried too much yet. Obviously her fellow Singers were simply reveling in their new found freedom to embrace Whimsy.

Jojala wondered why all of her fellow Singers were all talking so strangely. Maybe they were listening to Rhythms that she couldn't hear? But, since they seemed to be voting on who to get rid of, she decided to vote on Jojoja. That one had been speaking about being a Shardbearer just a couple hours ago, and it didn't seem likely than Odium would allow a regular Singer to bear shards. ThatOneWorldhopper

I am so far behind on schoolwork right now. I can't afford to run another game unless it starts March 15th. Never mind, i'm on board. let's do it.

Welcome! New players are always welcome in Sanderson Elimination. Have you already read the new player thread? If not, I recommend doing so as it will answer most any question you have, and if it doesn't feel free to ask us. If the GM's don't let you join for some reason, I'll fight them.