Mid-Range Game 8: Highborn Intrigue

[Herowannabe he/him]

In response to those people who are suspicious of me for "starting a lynch train":

This has been discussed in previous games, but to be frank, strictly speaking I did not start a lynch train. I cast a vote and voiced my opinion less than 2 hours before the end of the cycle, that was it. It didn't become a "lynch train" until other players jumped on and voted for Phattemer too. I had no way of knowing how other players would react, and I honestly didn't expect people to latch on and vote with me. In fact, I feared the opposite- that people would jump on me for voicing an unpopular opinion so strongly, which is usually what happens to me in situations like this.

@Araris: I can assure you that this was no ploy or anything of the sort. I have been genuine in all of the opinions I have expressed in my posts. And actually, Paranoid King's post up above said it better than I did- that's exactly why I voted the way I did.

[Seonid he/him]

Where are all these people saying no to D1 lynches coming from now? 

 

With regards to Day 1 lynches (which I know is past, and more than a little superfluous, but I didn't have time to post my repetitive thoughts last cycle), they are rarely accurate in finding the Eliminators. Everyone here knows that. So whether we actually end up killing someone or not almost doesn't matter at all. So in this sense, we can afford to skip the Day 1 lynch.

 

But what all of the proponents of D1 lynches know (and this is the important point), is that we cannot afford to lose all of the discussion that comes around it. Without that, we are a cycle behind the Eliminators. We can't just hand them an advantage like that. The unfortunate thing is that the discussion doesn't happen unless we are going to lynch someone. If everyone knows that we aren't really serious about lynching the first day, then the discussion is as useless as if we had skipped it as well. So in order to get the discussion going that we need in order to win this game, we have to be serious about lynching.

 

Now, this doesn't mean that we have to follow through with it. If, by the end of the discussion, nobody is suspicious enough to lynch, we don't actually have to do it. We can tie it up or remove our votes or whatever. But the discussion has to be with the intent to lynch if it is to be any good, for the first cycle or any of them. And, most often, discussion with the intent to lynch really does end up with someone just suspicious enough to be worth lynching to find out.

 

This argument has been a staple of nearly every game I've played or watched here, and oddly enough, it almost always ends up with the same conclusion. But few people here bother to go back and read through the old games (which is a useful thing on its own, as it can give more data points about behavior of long-time players as well as insights into the local metagame), so we have this argument over and over and over ad infinitum.

[Clanky he/him]

Even with the last minute bandwagon I am still happy with how day 1 worked out (minus the lynched villager). I am not surprised the lynch ended on phatt since he is normally a vocal player.

Lots of people were brought up as potential lynch targets with real reasons instead of just poke votes. This is a lot better than the last long game where we had ties the first two days and only found eliminators from Macens brilliant seeking skills.

Also quick question for all the anti-day 1 lynch people: what exactly do you discuss and do day 1 when you know you won't be lynching anyone?

 

EDIT: My phone autocorrected macen to maven

Edited August 22, 2015 by Clanky

[Guest]

Seonid, we are going to have the argument forever, because disagreement exists. Also, unless we all follow some unspoken dog whistle, and only the villagers know that the lynch isn't for real, how can we avoid it? The village is not insular.

It's honestly an unfixable problem.

Edit:

Also quick question for all the anti-day 1 lynch people: what exactly do you discuss and do day 1 when you know you won't be lynching anyone?

I watch what people say and try to get reads. I'm all for the discussion, but I just can't get into it ever because I know it's not for real (although in this case, it was). Everyone knows it's not for real. The whole lynch is usually one massive poke vote. Edited August 22, 2015 by Guest

[STINK he/him]

In this game though, a lynch can be done by 1 person, so I thought that we were trying to make a majority so that 'a' person died instead of 'b'.

[TheMightyLopen he/him]

Owain sat at a table listening to the discussion about the execution and what it could mean. He heard his name come up a few times, "maybe I'm finally getting some recognition among the higher ranks!" he thought as the discussion continued. He shuddered after he realized why his name was being spoken. "This is not the kind of attention I was hoping for when I came here" he mumbled quietly to himself.

 

 

 

Well I thought I would elaborate on my reasoning for voting for Phattemer(sorry by the way  ), since multiple people have stated suspicion of me. 

 

1. I thought it would be better to lynch an inactive more than an active as I didn't really have much suspicion on any of the actives(at least not enough to lynch them).

2. Phat seemed like a good enough target because I thought he was usually a little more active than the other inactives(although I'm not sure about this).

3. At the time of my vote I thought it would be good to put some distance in between the topmost targets so the Worldsingers wouldn't mess with them(I realize this was probably a mistake because if a Worldsinger had messed with the votes it might have given us more information than the sure lynch).

[TheSilverDragon he/him]

I want to post saying I most definitely won't be able to post tomorrow and might not be able to on Monday. Just to let you guys know. Happy RPing!     

[STINK he/him]

So what do you usually do in the night?

[Renegade he/him]

2 hours left!  If you want to put in a Night action, do so soon!

[STINK he/him]

EDIT: My timing skills went horribly wrong

Edited August 23, 2015 by IrulelikeSTINK

[Guest]

You discuss stuff and perhaps place suspicion on people for stuff. So yeah, and stuff.

[Renegade he/him]

The Night is over!  Write-up coming eventually.

[Renegade he/him]

Day 2: Hit and Miss

Well, that was a party that overstayed its welcome, Kipper thought, walking from the wooden platform that Seixa had been executed on back towards Dalinar’s warcamp.  The sun had set, leaving the silhouettes of the king’s palace behind him.  The path back to the warcamps had only a number of people on it, some messengers retiring back to the palace, others fellow lighteyes who had attended the banquet.

When it was all said and done, Kipper concluded that the only word to describe the current landscape was eerie.  But that was probably the events that had occurred in the last day, right?  He’d been out of the warcamp later than this, and hadn’t felt a hint of fear.  Tonight was different, though.

Kipper neared the Outer Market, which was still bustling in the evening hours.  All he’d have to do was go through there, and he’d be near Dalinar’s warcamp.  Kipper looked to the left of the large trail, where the warcamp lay.  The deaths had certainly unnerved him… maybe he should make a break for the warcamp now?

No, the rational part of Kipper thought.  Why would anyone even be after me anyway?  However, nearing the market, Kipper began to sweat, breathing heavier.  Fearspren sprang up from the ground and crawled at his feet.  Anyone could be hiding in there.  I… maybe I should just make a run for it.  I can get back much faster, and it’ll be much easier to see if anyone’s following me.

Looking about suspiciously, Kipper steadied himself, looking at Dalinar’s warcamp.  It wasn’t going to be a short run.  But at least it’d be shorter.  Taking a deep breath, he headed off in the direction of the warcamp.  Maybe he’d look silly running through the darkness like that, lighteyes as he was, but at least he’d be alive.  Passing rockbuds and lifespren in the waning light, Kipper headed off in a dash towards the warcamps.

By the time he passed into the warcamp, the sky was pitch-black, and exhaustionspren appeared above him, sweeping through the air.  Panting, Kipper half-jogged the final leg of the journey to his abode.  He took a sweeping glance around him as he opened the door and stepped inside.  Kipper sighed, finally locking the door.

“I was wondering when you’d show up,” a voice spoke.  Kipper whirled around, the sound of his heart suddenly the only thing he could hear.  A shadowed figure sat in his seat, casually reading a book.
“Who-”

“Be quiet, would you?” the figure spoke, putting the book aside and getting to their feet.  “It’ll make this hurt a bit less, I think.”

Kipper’s eyes widened as a dark mist formed in the figure’s hands, coalescing into a shimmering Shardblade.  Ah storms, this is bad.  Kipper could barely see, but fortunately, he knew his home well enough to know where all of the obstacles were.  Before the figure could advance upon him, Kipper dove to the left, behind a lamppost, and skirted along the side wall.  Just need to get upstairs, he thought, facing the darkened figure, which only appeared as a darkened smudge in the already-dark darkness.

The dark form dashed forward, and Kipper ran parallel to the wall, brushing his fingers against it in order to find the stairs.  There it is, he thought, and immediately ran up, not looking back to see where the dark form was.  Kipper reached the top and dashed to the left, instinctively knowing where he needed to go.

As the dark figure slowly crept up the stairs, Kipper unlocked and opened up a side closet.  Storms, why can’t I have more time?  Kipper reached in and retrieved the helm to his Shardplate, the Plate’s gems barely flickering with stormlight.  Well, maybe I can hold off for a few seconds, Kipper thought grimly.  The helm would be of no use on his head, but he could at least use it as a shield against the Shardblade.

Kipper stayed behind the cover of the closet, peering out to see the approaching form.  The figure suddenly stabbed through the wall, nearly skewering Kipper.  Kipper responded by dashing up to the figure and bashing against them with his helm-shield.  The attacker immediately recovered and swung at Kipper, but he parried with the helm, Stormlight leaking out of the gems.

The figure swore, and suddenly slammed their Shardblade into the helm again, using the opportunity to slip into the closet.  Before Kipper could react, the figure began hacking away at the other pieces of plate, shattering the chestplate and gauntlets before Kipper recovered his wits.

I need to get out of here.  Breathing in heavily, he dashed towards the nearest window and smashed through, using the helm to protect himself from shrapnel.  Kipper fell through the night air for what seemed like an eternity, landing on the helm, which instantly shattered, the gems completely drained of Stormlight.  Kipper looked back at the window, heard a soft curse, and took off.  This is going to be a long night, he thought.

-----

Merilee Kavdar walked slowly to the Outer Market.  The place was scary; so different from Sadeas’ warcamp.  Why did she agree to be part of all of this?  It was far safer back home, despite home being barely an hour away.

Merilee shuddered at the huge, dark shadows of buildings in the Outer Market.  Maybe she could find an inn for the night?  It’d be safer in there.

Merilee walked into the most non-threatening inn she could find, and slowly walked up to the counter.  “Excuse me?” she whispered to the half-asleep innkeeper.  “May I have a room for the night?”

“I, uh, wha?” the innkeeper, a young, unshaven man, asked, barely looking up.  “That’s, ah, one bloodmark.”

“A bloodmark?” Merilee said, then immediately shrank back.  “Isn’t that… a lot?”

“Look, miss, this is the best place you’ll be able to find in the Outer Market.  You paying or not?”

Clearly, the innkeeper could not notice her eye color in the dim light of the inn.  Merilee silently handed over the gleaming red gemstone from her safepouch.  The innkeeper stumbled over to retrieve her room key, which looked exactly like all of the other room keys, from what it seemed.

Maybe I should just--

“Your room’s all the way down the hall, on the right,” the young man said, handing over the key.  “Enjoy your stay.”

Merilee nodded, shivering.  Unbeknownst to her, deathspren, black with glowing red eyes, crawled on the floorboards around her.  As she reached the end of the hallway, she heard a creak from behind.

“End of the line, traitor,” a voice spoke, and shot an arrow into her skull.

-----

Resha woke up to a knock on her door.  After several minutes of groaning, she opened the door, only to find a short messenger.

“You have been summoned to Highprince Kholin’s presence, Brightness,” the messenger spoke.  “Apparently, the other nobles have been saying some things about you that he finds distasteful.”

---

Kipper was attacked by the Conspirators, but saved by Shardplate!
Merilee Kavdar was assassinated!  She was a Conspirator Brightlady!
Resha received an extra vote on her today!

Day 2 begins now and will end in 23 hours and 20 minutes.  PMs are now open again, and I will update my sig with the new player list.  Good luck!

Edited October 28, 2016 by Alvron

[STINK he/him]

Conspirator down already? Nice job assassin! Does anybody think they've been corrupted?

[Alvron he/him]

Very nice work assassin.

 

Thanks to Ripples death and being nice and vocal on day one, we have some good information to work with.

 

IMO Badger is cleared as Ripple placed a third lynch vote on him removing the chance of a worldsinger tying up the vote.  While Ripple could've been trying to kill one of their own I doubt it as there was 4 hours left in the cycle then removed it 30 mins later only to place it back on an hour after that.  That did tie the vote between Ripple and Badger and I really don't see any eliminator wanting to tie up the vote between two of them.

 

Clanky placed the first vote on Ripple when there were already plenty of others to choose from that had a vote so I doubt he is an eliminator.  For similar reasons I doubt Raven is one either.

 

I'm sure there's more but I'm low on time at moment to go over everything.

[TheMightyLopen he/him]

Wow! Best case scenario. Good work assassin!

 

@Stink, if anyone knows their corrupt they shouldn't say because that would be revealing that they have a role. Multiple people have already said not to reveal role info so why even ask?

 

Edit: I read through what people said about role reveals and its not like they said "not" to, but that you should be careful and only do it for a very good reason.

Edited August 23, 2015 by TheMightyLopen

[STINK he/him]

Because then the fabrian can uncorrupt you

[Paranoid King he/him]

As I don't have much time to post tomorrow, I'm going to vote now.

In the interest of keeping this game active, I'm voting for Shallan. I don't have any evidence against her, I'm just voting because she isn't adding anything to the discussion.

[Amanuensis he/him]

Rumors spread like wildfire throughout Highprince Kholin’s Warcamp. Fear and confusion pervaded the atmosphere, beckoning spren to manifest from whatever realm they called home. Once word reached Efrihm he thought he might retch again. I was wrong, he scolded himself. He could barely breathe, as if his shame was viscous enough to drown him. I made a mistake, and now a just man is dead. I can’t let that happen again.

 

I won’t.

 

And so he thought long and hard, using his acute memory to replay the events of yesterday in his head. He was wrong to assume someone as young and new to the court as him was not capable of evil. He was wrong to assume someone was harmless just because they wore the face of a lady. This isn’t home, he had to remind himself. This is the Shattered Plains, land of suffering and turmoil. Everyone here is deadly; the women are no exception. Merilee, no exception.

 

She accused Klanal first, then voted against Badhab Eony a moment later. Why? She was the third to jump on him; perhaps her colleague is Brightlord Mallan, who initiated the vote, or Arilir who spoke against ‘ole Eony right before Merilee. Then again, Eony did call Merilee the Brightlord’s crony, as if he knew they were already in cahoots. What if HE is working for Sadeas? It’s possible he foresaw her death and wanted to establish a connection for the two to draw suspicion, and realizing that his heated words would draw attention to himself, took it back and apologized. Seems convoluted, but Highprince Torol’s men are supposedly master manipulators.

 

Arilir was the very first person to cast a vote, and it was against Leyton, whom I distrusted immediately. I suggested that she may have been attempting to sow chaos by accusing the first person to vocalize an unpopular opinion, and if that was the goal in mind, it worked. Even I nearly fell for it. Could it be my instincts are just completely reversed? I wouldn’t put it past me; I’m not like them. I’m no Alethi. Maybe the way I’m reading people is way off. Later on she retracted her vote against him in favor of Eony and stuck with that one until the end. That either means he can be trusted, or it was all an act to make him seem innocent. Maybe that’s why Merilee voted for him in the first place; so that if she were to be discovered Eony would be cleared in the process.

 

Then there was the gossip about Resha; she accused Cleo, who then retaliated, catching her in a lie. She retracted her vote and then continued to advocate eliminating those who were silent. I fell for this too. Could it be she only said that to save Merilee’s life because they were on the same side? But why this gossip? Surely Sadeas’ lackeys wouldn’t let words set against themselves spread in the night. Maybe they were the ones who seeded them, either to kill another innocent or to remove her suspicion. There are just so many questions, too many possibilities. Nothing makes sense. At least I now there's someone I can trust.

 

Kipper. I need to talk to Kipper.

Edited August 23, 2015 by Alvom

[Alvron he/him]

@Stink, if anyone knows their corrupt they shouldn't say because that would be revealing that they have a role. Multiple people have already said not to reveal role info so why even ask?

Anyone can be corrupted even the 'vanilla' role of Brightlord so revealing that you are corrupt won't reveal that you have a role, as everyone has a role.   Only that they have a role that has a night action that can be easily shown as corrupt.  For instance a Guardsman trying to protect someone but they ended up dead in the write up.  That would be a fairly good clue that you've been corrupted.

[Mailliw73 he/him]

Just cause no one's said it yet, chances of Kipper playing a WGG? Wounded Gazelle Gambit for you new players, it's when the eliminators target one of their own who survives in order to get them into trusted positions.

[Herowannabe he/him]

Way to go assassin! What a great way to start the game! Aside from phat that is.

And while I am excited that we took out an eliminator already, it does kind of steal the thunder from my new Contribution Crusader banner. Still, I'm serious about not letting players get away with inactivity (unless you warn us ahead of time, of course) and about not punishing players for posting a lot by lynching them. I'd like to invite everyone who like to have everyone participating in these games to copy the banner into their own signature. Contribution Crusaders unite!

Speaking of which, for now I'll be putting my vote on Feligon, another one who is experienced but who still hasn't posted since the game started.

Edit: retracted vote

Edited August 23, 2015 by Herowannabe

[little wilson she/her]

Just cause no one's said it yet, chances of Kipper playing a WGG? Wounded Gazelle Gambit for you new players, it's when the eliminators target one of their own who survives in order to get them into trusted positions.

 

Depends on how many Shardplate they had. If they started with two, they might've thought the risk was worth it. Kipper is a fan of his mindgames and manipulation as well, and he'd enjoy doing a Wounded Gazelle, tricking everyone. However, I think the odds of that are fairly low. Kipper was in communication with about half the players last cycle, and I'm sure at least one Conspirator was among that number and they likely decided to kill him to get rid of him and the information he's gaining from those PMs. I figure it's about 90% certain he's a Noble. Though it would be good to get an Ardent to check him just to be certain.

[Haelbarde he/him]

Sorry for not being around for the last half of the previous cycle - Sunday morning over here, so I was out till just recently. Good job assassin! Ardent scanning Kipper sounds like a good idea. But now I should go read over the other thread to see if I missed anything.

 

Edit: Oh... nothing much at all. 

Edited August 23, 2015 by Haelbarde

[The Honey Badger he/him]

Man, assassin is on point. Good Job. I'm sure Kipper isn't an eliminator, shardplate is too valuable in this game to waste. I would say, that our eliminators are probably semi active on thread, as to not draw our (hero's) inactive slaying wrath.