Long Game 8: Elendel Gang War

[twelfthrootoftwo]

Taliz reviewed the contract. This was the third-party statement; while House Hasting had sponsored their work, it was common for other houses to attempt to buy new research. For a hefty sum, and a guarantee of secrecy, of course. A typical third-party statement from Hasting promised to outbid such offers in exchange for silence.

This one was a little different. Hasting was trying for a solid hold over the market, and that meant undermining their opposition. The statement contained a bonus payment, which would be used to develop a version of the design for 'public distribution' - with the implication that it would be designed to fail.

Taliz chewed her lip. She was no stranger to these underhanded dealings; bribes were a financial necessity, and she'd happily take money off the richer folk to fund innovation (and her watch collection). Not that it was her decision to make; the team leader had already signed for her. But for once, there was a challenge. How could you make something that was designed to fail? That would be subtle enough to avoid detection and reliable enough to destroy reputations?

No, this would be a true challenge. She smiled. There was life in their piston project yet.

 

...A corrupt engineer was trickier RP than I expected.

If I'm reading the game correctly, this day/night cycle is the only time we have where we can be sure every post or PM actually comes from the poster/sender. Even more than most games, volume of information on this first cycle is important. We can't just track a single player's behaviour through the game to identify the kandra; they have the option to move. And identifying the change requires something to compare to. So post some discussion, RP, questions about the rules, what you're doing on the weekend. Half-formed ideas and single sentences are still valuable contributions to the team effort!

In that vein, while I will probably switch to a no kill vote later, Binnut gets my vote until he posts.
 

[Binnut he/him]

I'd better post then =) I'm just hope from School, and have some things to do, so no RP from me right now, but maybe later tonight.

 

Twelfth: I'm not really sure that we will be able to notice a difference between before and after, when Kandra switch body. Not on RP at least. The person writing the posts will still be the same person, there will just be a person behind it all pulling the strings. But I do agree with the conclusion, everyone needs to contribute if we want to survive! That everyone is actively playing is one of the most important things for this to succeed.

 

In a similar manner to everyone else... I would like to hear from Quitania 

 

Ok, one more thing:

bartbug: When a Kandra is using someone's body, is it the "dead" player writes the messages about the things the kandra wants? or is it the Kandra writing things that the "dead" copies and posts?

 

Edit: Blue Blue Blue

Edited September 4, 2014 by Binnut

[Metacognition he/him]

Met-al not like pasifists. They not let Met-al hit things! Met-al think that we need infermashion from votes for us to not be exactly where we r now on the nex day. Met-al think that just giv Kandra a free nite to hit things and that not fair if Met-al not get to hit things eether! 

 

U know wat else Met-al not like? The Sets! They always pick on Met-al! Willa is the meanest, so Met-al waet to see if she apolajize!

[little wilson she/her]

Wow. I am feeling the love here. It's great. I don't really have much time to say anything. I'm attending Salt Lake Comic Con, so I won't really have time to really start analyzing and posting in depth until Sunday (but I'll be able to keep up with the game until then. No worries. Just don't expect many posts from me). Of course, this is assuming I survive. Sort of looks like I might not this game.

 

And Meta. I wanted to be the one to start the wars by voting for someone of the other gang. And then you had to steal my thunder. Aonar. Just because he doesn't have any votes and he's a dangerous player. And he's not in my gang.

 

And now I'm off to the Con.

[bartbug he/him]

I just realized that one of the initial rules that you guys are basing your speculation off of is actually invalid.

I had expected more players, but then when there were twenty, I switched some things up a bit. Some of the Corrupt Politicians can have powers, just as some of the Set and the Koloss Riots can not have powers.

Sorry about the rule change.

And clarification for the body-kandra relationship: it's up to the kandra for exactly how it works. They can respond or they can give their body the gist of what they want to say. The only copy paste rule is that a body cannot copy paste and PMs prior to death to the kandra. Anything new though is open to copy paste, and to learn prior PMs, the kandra can ask his body. If that makes any sense.

Edited September 4, 2014 by bartbug

[Metacognition he/him]

And Meta. I wanted to be the one to start the wars by voting for someone of the other gang. And then you had to steal my thunder.

 

If it make u feel beter, Met-al vote for u beecause u so meen to him. Wat Met-al not heer was an apolajee. Met-al not surprised. Met-al know that the Sets r all meen. Met-al punch all of them, unteel he find Kandra. Then Met-al just punch Kandra, as Kandra r good for punching. 

[twelfthrootoftwo]

Thankyou Binnut. To clarify my argument, it's a bit more complex than looking for details in RP to distinguish the kandra. This cycle is our opportunity to establish baselines for things such as posting times, which will inevitably be disrupted if a player is possessed. Depending on the player, RP might be easier to post at this stage than discussion, which is why I mentioned it.

Bartbug, can I clarify the obligations of a possessed player? My current understanding is:
Depending on the kandra's wishes, they are obliged to:

• check the game and coordination doc at least once per 24 hour period
• provide all information about actions and PMs relating to themselves in the period after being possessed
• act, PM and post according to the kandra's instructions
• translate content provided by the kandra into their own words

​They are not obliged to:

• provide information about actions and PMs prior to being possessed
• contribute game-related content (and if they are, is sabotage allowed?)

​

 

Also, a vote...let's hear from Morgan Hanks.

 

Edit: I think an example will make my question clearer. Say there's a kandra-body pair using a translation based system. Kandra instructs body to vote for X with Y reasons. Body translates Y reasons into his own language, and posts. But what if kandra just says to vote for player X, and body decides that a vote without reasons is not their style? Are they obliged to come up with a reason, or can they just say "I vote for X"?, If they do need to come up with a reason, does it need to be convincing, or can it be something like "X made a typo in their last post"?

Edited September 4, 2014 by twelfthrootoftwo

[Araris Valerian he/him]

Koll

I think that we should have some tentative ideas spreading around during the first day, even if we don't kill anyone. Now, since the Riots and the Set all want to toast each other, my team is supposed to act as a kind of mediator as I see it. The Kandra are going to want to remove the people with powers, but IMO they will target the Riots so that the Set can grab up some spikes that the kandra can later steal. So, if we do have a kill today, it should be someone from the Set like Lucky.

[Mailliw73 he/him]

Willa doesnt seem very suspicious to me. From what I've gathered in our talks and her posts, she doesn't seem likely to be a kandra. I'm not sure who I'll vote for yet, but I do plan on voting. The first day voting is very helpful.

Edit: "The Kandra start off spread out as player throughout the enemy teams." Bartbug, the enemy part makes it sound like the Set and Riots. Does that mean the Politicians can't have kandra or are they possibly in any of the three factions?

Edited September 4, 2014 by Mailliw73

[bartbug he/him]

"Enemy" as relative to the Kandra. So anybody can be one.

[Araris Valerian he/him]

Current Tally:

Meta-al (1)

Willa (1)

No Kill (5)

Peng (1)

Morgan Hanks (1)

Quitania (1)

Aonar (1)

Lucky (1)

 

Seems like there is not much we can to to cause a kill at this point, which may be a good thing.

[A Joe in the Bush]

Wait, do the No Kill's actually count as not killing anyone? Like would we have to get 7 votes on somebody to kill them now?

[Araris Valerian he/him]

No kill will be an option for your vote on this day only. That is, today, if the votes for no kill win, then no one will die.

That's how it looks to me. Seems like we have a bandwagon already Time for somebody to do some analysis stuff.

[Aonar he/him]

I don't know about in-depth analysis (votes are a little too random for me to get anything), but I do have one thing to add: If we focus on doing anything but rooting out the Kandra, we're screwed.
 
Let me explain our situation: (Because I know there are more than a few of you who disagree with me, in my own faction, and most likely in the Set as well. )
 
We have two ways to find Kandra, (other than lynchings, of course) neither of which are really useful:
 
1. Soothing/Rioting. 
 
On the surface, this looks nice. We likely have at least one of each, (but likely no more than three total) and they can easily confirm someone as Kandra if all the Smokers agree to stop burning copper. The catch? Order of actions (Bodysnatching occurs at night) and the Kandra's immunity to night-kills makes this utterly worthless unless we manage to catch two at once.
 
2. Night-Kills: 
 
Less pretty than Soothing/Rioting, seeing how if we guess wrong, someone dies, and if they don't die, we most likely won't know whether we guessed right or not, with Pewter/Gold. (Wouldn't mind some confirmation on this one, Barty.) 
 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
So we have basically have nil investigative roles. We've dealt with this before though; this isn't a huge problem in itself. What is a problem is that any openly stated suspicions can and will be acted upon by the Kandra. Impersonation is (unfortunately for us) a very useful shtick. So any suspicions that hit too close to the mark will most likely result in a rash of body-snatchings that leave us right back where we started.
 
Add to this the fact that we can only kill one per cycle, at best, we will have them all by cycle five, with four to twelve of our own dead. (Depending on how abilities are used, and how they're distributed.) This is an absolute best case scenario, and is nigh on guaranteed not to happen. And this is if we focus solely on finding the Kandra. If we thrown in even one or two kills that have no purpose other than ensuring a faction victory... I personally don't like those numbers.
 
So... yeah. We appear to have found ourselves in a rather crappy position, and the game hasn't even gotten off the ground yet. Myself, I'll be just a tad suspicious of anyone who suggests lynching based on faction rather than honest suspicion, because the Kandra are dangerous enough as it is, and they really don't need out help.
 
Based on this, current top ones for me are:
 
Koll, for reasons the other Rioters (the Faction, not the Mistings) will be aware of. However, he has the benefit of doubt being a new player.
 
Meta, for being somewhat ambivalent to the idea of working with the Set, despite they obvious perils in spending our resources one-upping them.
 
Wilson, for similar reasons, although this is all based on one post and it's pretty flimsy. The Set members would know better than me.
 
Vron, although the suspicious bit here is RP, and obviously not what you'd call hard evidence.
 
Jain, randomly voting for an inactive Set member. Only really suspicious in combination with Vron's RP. Given that this is Jain we're talking about though... Erratic behaviour is par for the course.
 
However, the inverse of these suspicions also hold true. (I.e., if the Kandra assumed that my stance would be the generally agreed upon one, then they would most likely have jumped on the first chance to cooperate with their opposing Faction.) In this case, Maill and Joe would be my first two suspects.
 
The only suspect I have that doesn't fit anywhere on this list is Popeye, but as that is based on a single comment that most likely resulted from a misread of the rules, I won't focus on this one at all.
 
...Dang. For a post that wasn't really analysis or RP, that ended up pretty darn long.

[Lightsworn Panda he/him]

Jee... looks like being erratic is part of my playing style, no matter how hard I try to get rid of it. Ah, well.

 

I chose Peng simply because he was one of the most experienced players here who wasn't voted for yet. Considering how he's been offline for quite some time, I might as well retract my vote for Peng. On second thoughts, he probably wasn't the best person to provoke discussion from, considering how quiet he is.

[twelfthrootoftwo]

No response from Morgan; I'll move my vote to Tulir.

 

Araris, I don't agree with your logic. Spiking requires knowledge (or a correct guess) of a player's powers, and at this stage it will be very difficult for them to get it right. And killing off the Set won't decrease the rate of Spikes - as a faction, they get only one per night. The only way I can see to keep spikes out of kandra hands through a lynch is to target someone currently holding a spike, and trying to do that essentially starts a gang war.

[Binnut he/him]

I disagree on so sothing being useless, we cannot distinguish Kandra from smokers and smoker's target, but we can can "clear" someone's past, and until next day. I know, it is not much, but it can be used to check that this this message for example was not an attempt to manipulate you (Kandra manipulation that is...) But that is provided that the person has voted of course.

That said, I will keep my lone vote as is for this reason. Me changing it would not provide any real change.

[Pupper she/her]

Terra sat in a chair on the porch of her new home in Elendel, as she watched the city. It was interesting. The day she arrived to Elendel, chaos took the city.

Terra had been planning to come to Elendel for almost a year. She had set up herself as the new house lord to the Aurelia house,a small noble house from one of the smaller cities, who had come to Elendel recently. With all the chaos recently, and most of the people leaving the city, it wasn't hard for her to get a spot of power in the city.  She wanted to see what happened with all of this, even if she gains nothing else from it.
 

 

I'm not sure what to add to the discussion, as we really don't have much information so far. Going to get interesting on the later days, though.

[bartbug he/him]

Alright, this day cycle is over. Write up for Night 1 is about to be up, though.

[bartbug he/him]

Night 1: Two Gangs and a Bunch of People Walk into a Tavern…

 

PolOr watched Alvron give his speech. The disinterest in .the air was amusing enough for him to almost forgive Harmony. Almost.

 

Within only a few days’ time, PolOr had decimated the Set. He had sent more than a message; he had nearly destroyed the entire group, along with almost all of their work. Inside of PolOr’s body lay a patchwork of metal, dozens of various spikes incorporated into his skin. He had killed enough of the Set’s spiked patsies that he was now the most powerful Scadrian in history. Though, technically, he would lose any fight with an atium burner. Not only was that metal nearly impossible to procure, the Set hadn’t been able to get any atium spikes also.

 

It didn’t matter. Now, PolOr could compound any of the Feruchemical traits, including the two most important: mental and physical speed. He had been experimenting with these two, and he was beginning to get it down. If he matched the two, then he could effictively create a mobile, personal speed bubble. PolOr prepared to tap, and then kill everyone in the tavern.

 

It is time for you to retire from this fight, I think. Harmony’s voice boomed through the multitude of spikes in PolOr’s body.

 

“Come on,” he muttered. “Please. I can end this. I can kill every one of them.”

 

No, Harmony said. We must keep the balance, and you are more than enough to tip the scales. I have a few younger agents who need proving. They are perfect for this. If you disobey, then you will make me restrain you, unfortunately. Do not.

 

PolOr growled but nodded. “Fine. Just let me watch.”

 

Willa looked through the tavern and smiled. Somehow, every single person of importance and influence left in the city had made their way here. All of the Riots of consequence, as well as a large smattering of the corrupt leaders. It was perfect.

 

She leapt to her feet and fired a gun in the air. Immediately, the whole tavern silenced. A mug of beer shattered after hitting the ground. She laughed quietly to herself.

 

“Ladies, gentlemen, thank you for giving me the honor of keeping you here. We have a problem, and I have a solution.”

 

One of the corrupt politicians, and wiry thin man named Jain, stood up, chicken wing still in hand. “Put that gun down, young lady. Some of us are trying to enjoy our second dinner.”

 

She turned and put a bullet in his shoulder. He gasped and collapsed into his chair. No one cared enough to move. “Sorry, Jain. But there are kandra, ancient creatures from the World of Ash, and they are hunting us down. Some of them are likely disguised as us. And I know that none of us like each other, but as I said, I have a solution. This is miraculously everyone of consequence in the city. The kandra should be in this room as well, if they’re trying to hunt us down. If we all stay in a closed space, then they’ll be forced to as well. Yes, they can kill us easier, but now we have a chance of killing them. The soldiers of the Set are outside, keeping us in. They’ll provide food and water, and we’ll collectively elect which of us to kill on the inside. It will all work.”

 

Meta-al grinned and cracked his knuckles. “Me like hurting.” Others nodded in general agreement.

 

“Glad to hear that you are willing to work with us. If you disagree, you can leave. Of course, my men have orders to shoot everyone going outside. Good night; we’ll begin the killings in the morning.”

 

Slowly, the tavern returned to its previous mood.

 

Votes:

 

No kill: 6

Lucky:1

Tulir: 1

Willa: 2

Quitania: 1

Meta-al: 1

Aonar: 1

 

Player List:

 

Corrupt Politician:

Popeye (navybrandt)

Corrupt Politician:

Araris (Arais Valerian)

Corrupt Politician:

Quitania (Quitecontrary)

Corrupt Politician:

Terra (Pupper)

Corrupt Politician:

Alron (Alvron)

Corrupt Politician:

Jain (Lightsworn Panda)

Corrupt Politician:

Tulir (Tulir)

Corrupt Politician:

Taliz Duede (twelthrootoftwo)

Koloss Riot:

Kamden (dants)

Koloss Riot:

Met-al (Metacognition)

Koloss Riot:

Morgan Hanks (the Gleeman)

Koloss Riot:

10. Koll (killersquirrel59)

Koloss Riot:

14. Bunnt (Binnut)

Koloss Riot:

1. Aonar (AonarFaileas)

The Set:

Jedal (The Only Joe)

The Set:

Alim (Malliw73)

The Set:

Peng (jasonpenguin)

The Set:

Satrams (a smart guy)

The Set:

Lucky (luckat)

The Set:

Willa (little wilson)

 

[Binnut he/him]

Can I ask why Koll, Aonar and I are the only ones that have numbers?

[bartbug he/him]

No reason. Copy paste error.

[bartbug he/him]

Day 2: Coins

 

Lucky chugged down another cask of beer, then downed a shot of liquor in quick succession. She was part of the Set, sure, but that didn’t make her any less pissed about being stuck in the tavern, even if they had found rooms in the above stairs area. Already, it was beginning to stink. If she wanted any chance of sleep, then alcohol would likely be her only aide. As much as she loved gambling, the thrill of it would only keep her from sleep.

 

A tentacular hand shot down from the rafters and yanked her up with strength unbefitting its thin, wraithlike feel. Even as it choked out her life, Lucky couldn’t even bring herself to care enough to scream out. Only after every drop of life in her had been choked out did her corpse fall to the floor, and only after it hit did anyone else in the tavern care enough to scream.

 

(Sorry. I didn’t see any RP by Lucky, so that was the best I could give her.)

 

 

 

Met-al paced crept out onto the roof of the inn. It was a mistless night, and the clear visibility only served as a clear indicator of how well the Set had outmaneuvered them. Completely surrounded, by soldiers as well as Allomancers. Willa hadn’t exactly said which ones, but Met-al knew the pulses of a good Soothing or Rioting like he knew the back of his hand.

 

“Urgh,” he said. “Met-al wants to break sumthing.” he chuckled on the inside; he was not as childish as he presented himself to others, though over the years, it had sunk deep into him. Besides, Met-al likes hurting people, he thought. Met-al know sadism fun.

 

A Set soldier saw Met-Al and aimed his rifle. “Get back in,” he said.

 

“Met-al no go back! Met-al needs Met-al space!” Met-al Rioted the man slightly. Yes, hurting others was fun, but making others hurt others was even better. Met-al focused on contention, not towards Met-al, but towards every other guard. He Rioted it as hard as he could. Met-al was not one for subtlety, but he could Riot as hard as a Nicrobursted man.

 

Coins hit the ground besides Met-al, and one smashed into his kneecape. Met-al roared with pain, and, emotions flurrying in the guard, he shot. Met-al was not hit, but he stumbled forwards, desperately trying to drag himself off of the side. He could survive the three story fall, maybe, but the Coinshot would kill him before-

 

Multiple coins smashed into his head, and even his massive size and bulk could not keep him up much longer. Met-al died before he could feel the blood drip onto his neck.

 

Met-al was a Rioter! Lucky was a Citizen!

 

On the wall, the Tineye had written his message, carving it into the wood. It read: If the people can get behind Alvron’s leadership, we can take our city back from the gangs.

 

Players:

 

Corrupt Politician:

Popeye (navybrandt)

Corrupt Politician:

Araris (Arais Valerian)

Corrupt Politician:

Quitania (Quitecontrary)

Corrupt Politician:

Terra (Pupper)

Corrupt Politician:

Alron (Alvron)

Corrupt Politician:

Jain (Lightsworn Panda)

Corrupt Politician:

Tulir (Tulir)

Corrupt Politician:

Taliz Duede (twelthrootoftwo)

Koloss Riot:

Kamden (dants)

   

Koloss Riot:

Morgan Hanks (the Gleeman)

Koloss Riot:

10. Koll (killersquirrel59)

Koloss Riot:

14. Bunnt (Binnut)

Koloss Riot:

1. Aonar (AonarFaileas)

The Set:

Jedal (The Only Joe)

The Set:

Alim (Malliw73)

The Set:

Peng (jasonpenguin)

The Set:

Satrams (a smart guy)

   

The Set:

Willa (little wilson)

Edited September 9, 2014 by Gamma Fiend

[Alvron he/him]

Alron sat at his table quietly brooding.  In front of him was the message someone had carved into the wall.  Not only had someone mocked him by claiming to want to help but the perpetrator couldn’t even spell his name right.  But what if this is real.  Could someone actually be willing to help clean up this city?  Dare I let this opportunity pass?

 

Noticing a minor Set member going around the room handing out loaves of honey bread and mugs of ale that was to be everyones morning meal, Alron motioned her over.

 

“Bring me paper and quill.  I have a speech to write!”

 

Shooing the indignant girl away, Alron began to plan how best to use the fear and resentment he thought was building among the others at what Willa and the Set had done.

 

Now then, before anyone reads too much into my rp, I shall simply say that it means nothing.  My rp is purely for fun.

 

Now that that is out of the way. I vote Quitania.  I have seen you lurking around the forums but you haven’t said anything.

 But then, no one said anything during the night anyway so we are all at fault.

With the coinshot active on the first night I think its fair to say that they are most likely one of the newer players.

 

And now if you will excuse me, apparently I have a speech to write.  

 

Edit: Greened vote 

Edited September 9, 2014 by Alvron

[twelfthrootoftwo]

Lucky is an interesting choice for a first kill, unless she's said something significant in private. What's the bet she's our first kandra?

Also, I think kandra can't be killed except by lynch - if Meta said anything particularly interesting, it's probably trustworthy.

 

I'm going to vote for Aonar, because the half page of analysis that normally shows up when everyone's quiet hasn't appeared. (And because I need to pick someone likely to respond fully if I want to stir up any debate.)

 

Edit: green

Edited September 9, 2014 by twelfthrootoftwo