Long Game 18: Holly and Iron

[Clanky]

@GMs: Can I even file complaints since I'm not attending the University?

 

If I can I'll vote for Danosaur and Lopen just to make sure we don't get another scenario with a skindancer getting anyone expelled at the last moment.

[Burnt Spaghetti]

So......

 

 

Wonko

 

 

Wonko

[Orlok Tsubodai]

This turn is now over!

[little wilson]

Term 6: Month 2 - When the Bonestorm Hits

 

Pyra Ghetti was sitting beneath her tree as usual, drawing and humming. She absently fingered the silver panpipe pin she’d been given, smiling. Now that she didn’t have to worry so much about tuition, she had much more time for drawing, and she intended to take full advantage of that extra time.

 

The branches of the tree above her rustled, dropping a leaf directly onto her page. She glared upwards for a moment, but decided a bit of wind wasn’t worth getting upset about.

 

Then she looked back up at the tree. It was rustling quite loudly, and even the substantial trunk was swaying in the wind. This is weird. I’ve never heard of a windstorm in Autumn before. She tried to continue drawing, but the page wouldn’t stay down and the wind was drowning out her humming. Finally, she gave up and stood up, deciding she’d have to go inside just in case the wind got worse.

 

Her piece of paper slipped from her grasp and flew away in the wind, skidding and bouncing on the ground. Pyra ran after it, hoping that the art wasn’t getting smudged. She’d been working on that piece for a week. No puny wind was going to snatch it from her grasp.

 

She finally caught up to it on the bridge over the Omethi River, and managed to catch it with a wild grab. She wanted to examine it for damage, but she didn’t want to risk it slipping from her hands again.

 

But before she could tuck it away safely, the paper was ripped from her hands by the wind. Not again! But instead of skidding along the ground again, the drawing soared directly into the air and practically hovered in one place, just out of reach. Then Pyra felt herself lifting into the air as well. She looked around in wonder and not a small amount of terror. She’d heard of tornadoes, but this didn’t look like that at all. She was enclosed in a wind so strong that when she tried to look down to see what she was standing on, her head met a very hard barrier of... air? She did manage to catch a slight glimpse, though, and there was nothing to see but a few leaves swirling around very quickly.

 

Looking over the river, since it seemed that was her only option, she saw that everyone was gone. They’d presumably rushed inside when the giant windstorm had started. The windstorm that now had her hanging over a bridge in midair. And she couldn’t even try to possess another student and get out of this predicament, because they were all gone.

 

Wait. There was someone there, still. In the shadow of the tree where she had been working was Sev, watching her. Somehow, his coat wasn’t even flapping in the wind, even though the tree was obviously still affected by the wind.

 

She attempted to possess him, even though he was too far away, but failed as she’d expected. The wind prevented her from leaving her current host. I’m going to die by drowning? she thought. Or would it be by crashing into the bridge at high speed? Sev obviously had had enough with her and now just wanted her dead. At least falling’s not so bad. At least it’s quick.

 

Then she heard a CRACK. No, she felt it. She looked down to see several holes in each boot near where her toes were, and a few little objects circling around them. What were those? She wanted to look closer, but the wind blocked her from bending down.

 

Then her confusion was suddenly clarified when the front half of her foot practically exploded and a few more bones flew out. Ick!

 

With a shudder, she turned off her nerves before she could start feeling the pain.

 

Why couldn’t he have just drowned me? she thought in exasperation. It’s not like he’s unable to. Just throw me underwater and keep me from surfacing or whatever. This is demeaning. And gross.

 

She waited impatiently for her death as her ankle bones became disconnected, then her lower legs, and so on. She noticed after a while, when she gathered the courage and strength of stomach to look down again, that her bones were literally stabbing the flesh they had emerged from.

 

She didn’t look down again.

 

Pyra waited with a growing sense of nervousness and futility, but also anger. How dare Sev do this to her? How dare he kill her in the absolutely most gruesome way possible? She stared at him, imagining him dying how she soon would.

 

Then her rib bones emerged from her body, flying outward and then pointing directly towards her chest in a perfect, bloody circle.

 

She let out a final scream, which was choked off as her jawbone decided to desert her. Seriously?

 

Even Sev never knew whether she died of an exploding cranium or 24 ribs to the chest.

 

-

 

A day later, Sev stood before the nine Masters, heart thumping. “Pyra was a Skindancer!” he said. “She deserved to die!”

 

The Master Physicker shook his head. “Did you not see her afterwards? She was a bloody husk. Her bones were scattered outside her body, and some of them were literally stabbing her. Poor girl.”

 

“But she deserved it!” Sev said desperately. “She was evil!”

 

“She was brutally murdered,” said the Master Alchemist. “By you. That crime cannot be absolved. I don’t care how evil she was, if we take your word that she had any counts against her at all. As I recall, she loved drawing in the sun. I’m eager to hear your explanation how that’s evil.”

 

“This is not her trial, in any case,” said the Master Sympathist. “It doesn’t matter who you killed. The fact remains that you killed a fellow student in cold blood, and that cannot go unpunished.”

 

The Master Namer, serious for once, spoke with finality. “You used the beautiful art of Naming for an evil purpose. We taught you these skills for the benefit of everyone, and you perverted that. You will be expelled. If I had the power to declare your life forfeit, I would. But unlike you, I am not a murderer.”

 

Every other Master nodded. Sev looked at the row of formidable faces. “Surely one of you must understood! We have Skindancers in our midst, and you’re ignoring that to go after the person who actually helped!”

 

The Master Namer raised his eyebrows. “Go. Before you’re sentenced to the Crockery instead.”

 

Sev rushed out the door in anger. “If you won’t listen to me, I’ll just have to catch the Skindancers on my own!”

 

---

 

No one was elevated.

 

Pyra Ghetti was killed! She was a Skindancer studying in Linguistics!

Someone used an item.
 

Wonko was brought on the Horns and charged with Conduct Unbecoming! He’s been expelled!

 

 

This month's writeup brought to you by the creative endeavors of Elbereth and Burnt. Thank you, you two. This is magnificent.

 

Edited March 23, 2016 by little wilson

[Elbereth]

Okay. That's totally on me. I'm not used to the turnover time now that I'm back in my normal timezone, so I was in no rush. I can change votes. I could have saved Wonko. Storm it.

Sorry, Wonko. Feel free to blame me for that.

At least he killed Burnt, presumably, which isn't nothing.

[Haelbarde]

@Elb: Same here... I didn't see she'd posted that, and didn't get time to put the actions in to do anything about it.

Given that burnt died, do we assume it was spread across 4 players and Wonko just got unlucky with a bad roll?

[Clanky]

Or one of the masters specifically gave him all of their DP. 

[TheMightyLopen]

Well I can't say I didn't see that coming. Too bad you guys ignored me. (Except for Clanky, who I finally managed to get to vote by PM'ing him!)

 

Danosaur, where did you put your DP? And why exactly did you vote on Burnt, when I asked for players to spread the votes around? I'd already voted on her, and it's not like she would be staying at the Horse and Four.

 

Haelbarde, I saw you viewing the thread right when Burnt posted her votes. Are you saying you NEVER thought to use your Rhetoric powers to cancel or move her votes once she was revealed to be a Skindancer??? I specifically said in the thread we needed to spread votes around to stop her from doing exactly what she did. Also, Hael, where did you put your DP?

 

I put all of mine on Burnt, which was probably a mistake, since she died. I'm guessing that means that some of it went to Wonko. So sorry to Wonko for that misstep of mine.

 

GM's, are Clanky's votes valid even though he's not attending the University?

 

If you can't tell, I'm upset. Twice I posted saying we needed to spread the votes around. I just really don't like when something like this happens because the good guys just don't do anything, even though there was plenty of warning. I guess I should capitalize and bold my posts next time.

 

Wonko did kill Burnt yes. I was attacked by the Skindancers.

[Danosaur]

Sorry, I missed your vote on Burnt. I forgot to assign my DP last round. I do not know what happens to them in this case. But if your's spread to wonko I would guess mine did as well.

 

 

---

 

I am not a skindancer

[Haelbarde]

I didn't think to put the actions in in advance, no, though I put my DP on her. And I had the thread open, but didn't look at it immediately and so wasn't able to get the orders in at last minute once I did see them. So mea culpa.

Next time I'll make sure I get them in well in advance.

[Elbereth]

Muffin, any scan results?

[little wilson]

GM's, are Clanky's votes valid even though he's not attending the University?

 

Quite valid.

[Clanky]

Quite valid.

But randomly distributed DP won't go on to masters I'm assuming? 

[little wilson]

But randomly distributed DP won't go on to masters I'm assuming? 

 

It gets dissolved as soon as it's placed. So they're only there to spread out the DP.

 

On a similar note, PC Masters who placed DP on students who die or go insane are unsuccessful with the DP placement, because the DP is dissolved from the student in the same way the DP is dissolved from a Master. The DP from a PC Master is not re-allocated. NPC Masters, however, cannot vote for dead or insane students. If those students had complaints against them, they're basically cancelled out when figuring out who is going before the Masters.

[TheMightyLopen]

It gets dissolved as soon as it's placed. So they're only there to spread out the DP.

 

On a similar note, PC Masters who placed DP on students who die or go insane are unsuccessful with the DP placement, because the DP is dissolved from the student in the same way the DP is dissolved from a Master. The DP from a PC Master is not re-allocated. NPC Masters, however, cannot vote for dead or insane students. If those students had complaints against them, they're basically cancelled out when figuring out who is going before the Masters.

 

So as an example to make 100% sure I understand this right:

 

4 players have complaints on them. I put all of my DP on player A. Player A dies. So my DP just kinda disappears rather than going to some of the 3 living players who had complaints on them?

 

If that's the case, that means that Wonko was expelled with only 35 DP available(mine and Hael's should have dissolved) and 4 players with complaints on them that could receive those discipline points(me, Hael, Danosaur and Wonko). Which means that Wonko was either fairly unlucky(realistically you should have to get 13 DP or above to get expelled) or there was evil stuff happening with votes/DP placement. I personally think that one or possibly both Danosaur and Haelbarde are Skindancers.

 

Hael and Dano have both made statements that can be checked with Linguistics Analysis. Hael, could you post the I am not a Skindancer phrase? I think everyone should still be doing this, especially now that there's a different player who has the Linguistics Analysis ability. I am not a Skindancer by the way. 

 

Also, Hael, what exactly was that lie you told in the thread a while back when Burnt "scanned" you? And for what reason did you intentionally lie in the thread?

[Haelbarde]

I am not a skindancer. 

If you checked your notes, you'd possibly work it out. I misreported what my elevations had been, when talking to Araris in thread. I didn't feel like making it too easy for people in general to guess what I had studied. I didn't know I was being scanned that cycle though. I expected that I'd be coming up eventually - I'd not been contacted by Wonko or had it declared in thread that I had been scanned - but there was still a good half a dozen players still to be scanned. So I let Wonko know that I had done so, in case you were scanning me that cycle. I also suggested that given you knew I had a public lie, you could get your analyst to scan me, and as they'd not know I had lied, you could use that to help verify the fact that the analyst was indeed an analyst (the existence of the counter-analysis hadn't appeared in thread yet).

 

So I didn't have that good a reason to do so, but I didn't think it'd be that important if I let Wonko know. 

 

Oh, and with the votes, given Burnt put two complaints on Wonko, that would have added 1 DP, which admitedly isn't a great deal, but would be enough to bump him up to the next tier, potentially.

[TheMightyLopen]

I am not a skindancer. 

If you checked your notes, you'd possibly work it out. I misreported what my elevations had been, when talking to Araris in thread. I didn't feel like making it too easy for people in general to guess what I had studied. I didn't know I was being scanned that cycle though. I expected that I'd be coming up eventually - I'd not been contacted by Wonko or had it declared in thread that I had been scanned - but there was still a good half a dozen players still to be scanned. So I let Wonko know that I had done so, in case you were scanning me that cycle. I also suggested that given you knew I had a public lie, you could get your analyst to scan me, and as they'd not know I had lied, you could use that to help verify the fact that the analyst was indeed an analyst (the existence of the counter-analysis hadn't appeared in thread yet).

 

So I didn't have that good a reason to do so, but I didn't think it'd be that important if I let Wonko know. 

 

Oh, and with the votes, given Burnt put two complaints on Wonko, that would have added 1 DP, which admitedly isn't a great deal, but would be enough to bump him up to the next tier, potentially.

 

Ah yes, I hadn't noticed that lie. Still, it seems like a needless one. It's important for Students not to lie so that they're available for clearing. It's possible that you might have intentionally lied so that you could say "I lied in the thread already, so you can't scan me." Which means we have to wait another Month to scan you and be able to see if you're telling the truth with your "I am not a skindancer" post. Mailliw lied in thread almost the exact same way(I think it was a lie), stating that he was staying at the Horse and Four, when in my PM with him he told me he was staying at the Golden Pony. He explained to me that he lied because he didn't want the Skindancers to know he was staying at the Golden Pony in case they attacked him saying he wanted to possibly block their attack.

 

Also, going back through your posts, you actually semi defend both Mailliw and Burnt at different times. Once, when we were trying to figure out which Nobleman was likely a Skindancer, you said Clanky and Wonko were most likely Students, I'd been scanned, which left STINK and Mailliw. You said you were more suspicious of STINK than Mailliw and focused almost solely on him(I'm still uncertain about STINK's alignment myself though). Then later, when the "Analyst"(Burnt) was being discussed, you say that it seemed like the situation in AG2, where there's a village Seeker scanning only villagers. Implying that Burnt was a villager(or Student in this case). I'm not sure about this, but I think your votes have mostly been on Students as well. I know that you voted on BB and Kipper early on. I think you voted on STINK for some reason as well, but since STINK is alive, it's hard to draw conclusions from that.

 

Anyways, I'm sure this is clear, but I'm quite suspicious of you. I think I'd go so far as to say you're my top suspect right now. I do need to review the interactions between the known Skindancers and the still sane, living players though.

[Firemuffin42]

After speaking with Wonko and a couple others, I decided to scan Clanky. Just in case the skindancers were trying to pull that WGG thing you were talking about in an earlier thread.

The results: Clanky did not tell a lie.

Since he posted the skindancer tag, he has officially been cleared.

Unless someone has a better idea, I want to begin scanning the PC masterss because I think we can all agree that a skindancer master is something that would be very bad.

Here are the players I know are masters: Lopen, Danosaur, and Haelbarde. One or two of you already has posted the skindancer tag, but all three of you should definitely post it, and avoid putting any lies in there that mess up the scan.

Failing a scan will only hurt your reputation and you will not be able to be cleared. Besides, if you refrain from lies then you'll be cleared, and that makes sure that the skindancers will be easier to find.

If there are any other pc masters other than the ones I listed, please tell me. Also, regular players should post the tag as well in case I change my mind, because again, I'm always open to suggestions.

Sorry for the long post.

[Haelbarde]

I mostly voted on Kipper for RP reasons, truth be told. But at that point in the game, it didn't matter so much. 

I think my reason for focusing on Stink over Mail was I thought there would more likely be a Vintish on the skindancers. I'm not sure if I'd put both an Aturan and a Vintish on the same team though... so I'm not sure about that. 

 

I quite think I'd have been a fair bit more suspicious of the analyst if I'd know it was Burnt. And while I may have defended her their, I did bring up the question of verifying the analyst a few times as well - I was concerned about the fact we'd done nothing to verify her, and we'd not yet found any skindancers. At least in AG2 I could scan roles, so it would have been a lot harder to fake being a scanner (although, guessing Smoker would have likely done the job just fine...). With this, there's a good chance that most players are telling the truth in thread, so you could feasibly just say they said the truth and not have the player come out and so 'No, but I lied!' 

 

I had noticed your suspicion, yes... but it makes sense. I'd find me suspicious too, I think, if I were in your shoes.

Edited March 23, 2016 by Haelbarde

[TheMightyLopen]

I mostly voted on Kipper for RP reasons, truth be told. But at that point in the game, it didn't matter so much. 

I think my reason for focusing on Stink over Mail was I thought there would more likely be a Vintish on the skindancers. I'm not sure if I'd put both an Aturan and a Vintish on the same team though... so I'm not sure about that. 

 

I quite think I'd have been a fair bit more suspicious of the analyst if I'd know it was Burnt. And while I may have defended her their, I did bring up the question of verifying the analyst a few times as well - I was concerned about the fact we'd done nothing to verify her, and we'd not yet found any skindancers. At least in AG2 I could scan roles, so it would have been a lot harder to fake being a scanner (although, guessing Smoker would have likely done the job just fine...). With this, there's a good chance that most players are telling the truth in thread, so you could feasibly just say they said the truth and not have the player come out and so 'No, but I lied!' 

 

I had noticed your suspicion, yes... but it makes sense. I'd find me suspicious too, I think, if I were in your shoes.

 

Yeah, I do remember your vote being a counter vote/RP vote on Kipper. I've been trying to figure out which side STINK is on. It's difficult. 

 

I remember you suggesting some things about the Analysis as well. I could still see you saying and suggesting those things from a Skindancer point of view though(especially since Burnt did have that power, which means confirming she had that power wouldn't have done much). I'll try and review the stuff about the revealed Skindancers and look at your posts a little closer as well, and hopefully come up with something and not tunnel on you if you're a Student. (But if you're a Skindancer... )

 

Something I just noticed, but Araris lost 5 EP from his 21 EP in Archives(yes, I'm the Master Archivist). Which means that someone must have used some kind of manipulation on me placing my DP. I sent in the Action to place all of my DP on Burnt, but the only way Araris gets Archive EP taken off is if I place it. Haelbarde, I believe you have some Action manipulation power? Actually, besides Wonko, you're the only player I know of who has any Action manipulation.

[Elbereth]

Sorry for the long post.

Well, first, I am not a Skindancer.

Second. Do not apologize for a long post. Long posts give us more information about you, to figure out your alignment. They provide good ideas. We appreciate them immensely. Don't apologize for talking.

Just saying.

Lopen, did you elevate Araris? That would explain it.

EDIT: Nevermind. I forgot that there were no elevations this turn.

Edited March 23, 2016 by Elbereth

[Araris Valerian]

I am not a skindancer.

 

That is a bit odd Lopen, since my PM from the GMs says I still have 21 in Archives. And as for thoughts on player alignment, I guess I am leaning towards suspecting Haelbarde in light of what Lopen just posted. I understand that he may not have wanted to give away his elevations, but that is easy to get around without telling a lie; just say you don't want to tell. Especially if you are innocent, getting caught in a lie about your roles just makes things awkward for the village, even without having a scan role that is dependent upon players being truthful all the time.

[TheMightyLopen]

Okay, Wilson explained that there was a slight mix-up with the EP and Araris does still have 21 EP in Archives. So nevermind about that then.

 

My PM(s) with Burnt finally. Shortened and changed slightly, because of rules:

 

T1:M1 - Random non-helpful stuff. 

T2:M1 - She told me she'd been elevated in Linguistics. I told her I'd put all of my EP in Archives, which is why I figured I'd just reveal that I'm the Master Archivist. We talked about tuition stuff for a bit. Not a whole lot of talking though.

T2:M2 - We talked about her lack of money again. She told me she'd scanned me with Linguistics Analysis and so I was cleared! Yay! She told me she'd probably scan either Wonko or Kipper next, eventually going with Wonko because she'd received a PM from him and wanted to talk openly with him(even though I suggested Kipper, because I thought Wonko was more cleared than Kipper because he suggested the "I am not a Skindancer" thing).

T3:M1 - Explained why she went with Wonko over Kipper. Uhhh, now that I look back at that specific PM, I think she may have c/p'd it from a doc...Not much in this PM that's relevant now.

T4:M1 - She told me she hadn't been PMing me much because Wonko was keeping her busy with his PM's. Told me she'd won her talent pipes(a lie). Said she'd scan either Elbereth or Mailliw, because they both were receiving some suspicion. She also told me that Elbereth and Mailliw were cooperating and getting players elevations(which Elbereth has revealed already) and she said that she'd told Elbereth that she was elevated in Linguistics. She also gave me her list of percentages about the players, with STINK as her top suspect, and then Mailliw and DeathClutch as the next 2. We know that Mailliw was a Skindancer and I think DeathClutch may be one, so if I'm right about DC, I think that would point to STINK being a Student. She had Haelbarde as her most trusted player, besides those players she'd scanned or who had gone insane. She said her main reason for being suspicious of STINK was her severely disliking the way he's playing the game(Assassinating people 'cause he could and making an Edema Ruh's life harder, talking about how he voted on Elbereth a while back). She said mostly he was just annoying her and she didn't really know if she thought he was actually a Skindancer.

T4:M2 - She told me she'd been staying at the Mews for the whole game(which I have a theory is why DeathClutch never unleashed his Alchemist powers on any Buildings, because a buddy of his was in the Mews, which I'm guessing is the place a lot of players have been staying because it's so cheap and so would be the place most likely to do the most damage). She told me she was gonna scan Mailliw. Said she was annoyed at STINK but couldn't read him. I figured out that she could scan 2 players at once since she'd been elevated in Linguistics twice and thus had 2 Action periods. This was the Month where Mail lied about his lodging to me and I asked Burnt not to scan him because of that. I think she scanned FireMuffin and Danosaur, at my request(I was suspicious of both of them at the time). They turned up as honest though(according to Burnt mind you).

T6:M1 - There was a gap where I didn't talk to her because I was on my trip. So I PM'd her last Month and asked how the scans had been going. She told me she'd scanned Haelbarde and Clanky as liars(this was right before she was revealed). Then, once she was revealed, we talked quite a lot. She told me she'd stalked my PM's but that that Month I didn't say anything(I think there was 2 Months where I didn't PM at all) and that I had been a frequent suggestion for sabotage(I've been attacked twice now!  ). She said Maill might have suggested me as a target a few times. She said sabotaging Muffin was a lost cause because she knew that Clanky and Wonko were sending him stuff and he could make Bloodless. I asked her why they sabotaged PK, and she said she didn't remember why, but that she thinks Mail decided on that(I asked because I was curious if she'd say actually say anything or not. Her answer makes me think that STINK is not a Skindancer, because if he was one, I would think that she would have had a more clear idea of why they'd chosen PK, given that if STINK was a Skindancer there most likely would have been some talk about them both sabotaging and killing PK on the same Month.). She also clarified what happened on the Month where they targeted 2 players and so they didn't sabotage anyone. She said they'd decided to go after 2 possible targets and that one of them sent in the order for 1 of them, but didn't say so on the doc and so another player sent in an order for the other possible target just to be safe and thus neither of the players were attacked because of the lack of communication. She also said she stalked Clanky's PM's on T5:M2 I think it was. So Clanky, you might want to check your PM's in that Month to figure out what she learned from them.

 

I think that's most of it. Since she said she was the one sabotaging a few of the times, it's possible she scanned one of her buddies at some point. Why? Because using the sabotage takes an Action period I think, and so she'd only have had 1 more Action period during some of the Months(until she was elevated a third time), meaning that if she scanned 2 Students, she would have been risking being revealed if either of them had actually lied and she would say they were telling the truth. Not a lot we can gain from that, but it's something that could be considered.

 

Based on her interactions with Clanky and Wonko, I'm fairly certain that they are both Students. I also think that Elbereth is as well, but not quite as much as Clanky and Wonko. Although I don't remember Elbereth knowing that Burnt had Linguistics, and Burnt said that Elbereth should have known because Burnt said she answered Elbereths questions truthfully about her elevation in Linguistics. Elbereth, could we get some more information about this?

 

Edit: First long post in a while. I feel better now. 

Edited March 23, 2016 by TheMightyLopen

[Haelbarde]

@Lopen: I wouldn't have thought you could redirect DP anyway. It's not an action that takes up an action periods, at least.

And with redirects, does Elb have any? She at the very least has vote manipulation powers, but I don't know how many of her elevations were R/L.

[Elbereth]

Said she'd scan either Elbereth or Mailliw, because they both were receiving some suspicion.

Really? I don't remember this. And I feel like I would remember people being suspicious of me. Maybe not, though.

Based on her interactions with Clanky and Wonko, I'm fairly certain that they are both Students. I also think that Elbereth is as well, but not quite as much as Clanky and Wonko. Although I don't remember Elbereth knowing that Burnt had Linguistics, and Burnt said that Elbereth should have known because Burnt said she answered Elbereths questions truthfully about her elevation in Linguistics. Elbereth, could we get some more information about this?

Oh! Sorry about this. I missed that PM because it was so much later than my other info-gathering PMs. I did PM Burnt asking her about her elevations on T2M2. And she did say Linguistics. Apologies for not providing that information before. Not that it's really helpful, since everyone already knew.

@Lopen: I wouldn't have thought you could redirect DP anyway. It's not an action that takes up an action periods, at least.

And with redirects, does Elb have any? She at the very least has vote manipulation powers, but I don't know how many of her elevations were R/L.

I don't have redirects. That's the one R/L power I don't have. Which is really storming annoying.