Long Game 33: Life

[BrightnessRadiant she/her]

Ok if I am attacked this cycle and go insane or am assassinated my other suspicions mainly include stink and HH...please just think about them too

I kinda feel like the elims will try to send me to the crockery instead of kill me cuz otherwise my alignment will be revealed as a student...just sayin

[Elbereth she/her]

Term 3 is over. Do not post or PM. Term 4 will be posted in 6 hours. 

[Elbereth she/her]

LG33: Term 4, Month 1 - Dance

Sloan stood before the mercenary, glaring at him despite the ragged state of her clothes and the dirtied dance shoes which were all she had left. She couldn’t bear to part with them, and her normal shoes sold a little better anyway. 

“Why’re you glaring, sweetheart? I just asked for a little something nice,” the mercenary said, leering. “Come on now, you can’t refuse an old warrior his due.”

Sloan clenched her fists. “You are the most disgusting man I’ve ever met!” she burst out. 

“Now, now. That’s going a bit far,” the man said, eyes darkening. He put a hand to his sword. “Behave, now, or bad things start happening.”

Sloan felt at the wall behind her, hoping in vain for some little crevice or something. She grimaced. Nowhere to go. She looked up at the mercenary. “Never.”

He drew his sword, advancing slowly, toying with his victim. “Come here, little girl,” he crooned. “Say that again, and you’re losing a limb.”

She grinned fiercely. “Never,” she repeated, louder, crying it out as if she wanted the world to hear. “I will never submit to men like you!”

He roared and swung and- missed. She’d taken a single graceful step to the side, swaying for all the world as if in a dance studio, and not some dirty alley with a mercenary trying to kill her or worse. 

The dodge only made him angrier, and he swung at her leg. 

She leaped over it, fluttering her legs in midair to show how unimpressed she was. She smiled a little, and began to hope. Maybe, just maybe, she’d make it out alive. 

She ducked and wove and danced, dodging stroke after stroke, smiling. This, Sloan thought. For me? This is life. This is what it means, right here. To dance with death and dance with joy anyway, because this is what makes life worth living.

She became too absorbed in the thought, and didn’t notice until he nicked her, finally. She gasped at the pain.

He grinned in victory. “You will die for your refusal, little girl.”

I refuse to die here, now. I have so many more dances yet to come, Sloan thought with determination. She leapt and kicked the mercenary in the face. 

He staggered back, but she was equally thrown off balance and slammed backwards into the wall from the force of the kick. 

“You’re a pretty dancer, but dancing is no match for a sword,” the man groaned. 

He recovered quickly and swung just as Sloan leapt forward. "Maybe, but you're still not going to have me, and that broken nose is going to hurt for a while," she replied.

"What broken- uuuuungh."

"Told ya so," she said, then faltered. She looked down at the sword embedded in her chest, hand raising up gracefully one last time. So ends my dance, I suppose…

---

A cloaked figure slid over the cobblestones of the courtyard slowly. It could have walked, of course. It still had a human body. But it was more comfortable sliding, and after all, that was far more ominous. So it slid. 
 
It reached the doorway to the inn, weaving through the inn’s patrons with a ducked head and hood thrown back to show its perfectly ordinary face. 
 
It made its way up the stairs, still walking like any other student, but slowed when it reached the hallway. A decidedly nonhuman tongue flicked out to taste the air. 
 
As quietly as it could, it slipped to Eolah’s door. It tilted its head, considering bashing the door down. 
 
Eh. How conventional.
 
It raised its hand and knocked. 
 
And waited.
 
It knocked again. 
 
After five minutes had passed, it wanted to knock the door down anyway. But instead, it reached into its robe and found a pair of lockpicks. 
 
Eolah, of course, wasn’t inside. The Skindancer waited there all night for her, in fact. But he was nowhere to be seen. 
 
(Nowhere to be seen by the Skindancers, anyway. The reader happens to have the privilege of knowing that Eolah was laid out in an alley where she’d been knocked by a brawler over the matter of his girlfriend’s beauty and a fruit basket. [And yes, the fruit basket is by far the more important argument. Obviously.])
 

---

 
“Chancellor Varda.”

Aodhan Breacadh stood before the Horns, arrogant and fearless before the assembled students and Masters. Shadows danced and flickered about the edges of the room, as a chill breeze blew from nowhere. While knowledge of the magic involved spoiled some of the effect, she had to admit that Naming and Glamourie could generate a bit of an atmosphere.

“Re’lar Breacadh. It has come to my attention that you have been accused of plotting to destroy the University.”

“So the wind has told me, Chancellor. It’s all but buzzing with rumour these days.”

“It has also come to me attention that you refuse to defend yourself from these claims.”

He inclined his head, an acknowledgement. “I believe to do otherwise would be an insult to the intelligence of all involved.”

“Fair enough. I am afraid, then, that I have no choice but to expel you from the University.”

Another small nod.

“And I assume you will not willingly submit yourself to imprisonment and punishment for your crimes?”

Aodhan bowed deeply, the perfect picture of formal respect. Something about the movement, however, its fluidity, its uncaring ease given the context, somehow turned it into a mockery, a jeer. “You would assume correctly.”

“Begone, then. The other Masters and I will not bother to try and stop you. I cannot say the same of our students, however.”

“I understand.” He turned and left, passing through the doors without another word. The cold and darkness faded, eventually.

When they did, the gathered students began to file out, intent, almost somehow hungry. She wouldn’t have been surprised if there was a lynch mob before the day was out. She would be surprised, however, if said mob managed to find Breacadh.

Why is it, that of all the students I have dealt with thus far, the one intent on destruction seems the most sane?
 

---

 
As if to prove her point, the next to enter was Dele Fajro.
 
“What this time...” Varda sighed. 
 
Dele bit her lip, looking down to hide shame or amusement. Varda wasn’t certain which. “I, um. May have injured someone, maybe, while I was experimenting with plushies, Chancellor?”
 
“....right.” At least the girl’s original, I suppose. “Dele. This is the third time you’ve been on the Horns. I’d thought you knew better by now!”
 
“But... plushies,” Dele mumbled, ducking her head again. 
 
“If this keeps up, I’ll have to expel you,” Varda warned. “This kind of behavior is not acceptable.”
 
Dele looked up at that, her bright blue eyes meeting Varda’s grey ones. “Then expel me, Chancellor,” she said. “I’ve learned all I need to know, here. And I’m definitely not going to stop experimenting.”
 
Varda raised an eyebrow. “Very well. Dele Fajro, you are now expelled...” she continued the speech without even thinking. The fact that it was so routine was frightening. They’d expelled so many students, already... 
 

---

 
“Amelia,” Varda called. “Amelia?”
 
Amelia took a moment more to steel herself, then came forward, ducking her head. “Chancellor?”
 
“It says here that there have been several complaints about you causing noise?” Varda wasn’t certain how such a quiet girl would result in such things, but stranger complaints had happened. (At least the fruit had stopped, for the moment.)
 
“Um. I, um. I’m sorry, Chancellor,” the girl stuttered out. 
 
“What exactly is the noise you’ve been making, student?” Varda asked curiously.
 
“Do I have to say?” Amelia said pleadingly.
 
“If it’s a reasonable excuse, your punishment will be reduced.”
 
The girl blushed and looked down. “I, uh, would rather not say, if that’s okay with you, Chancellor? Please?”
 
Varda raised an eyebrow, but didn’t press. “Very well. For disturbing other students and Masters at work, you’ll be lashed tomorrow. Desist whatever you’re doing to create these noises, or your next punishment will be significantly more severe.”
 

---

Eol was attacked, but didn’t go insane!
Silverblade broke out of the Crockery!
Wilson died! She was a Student!
Aonar and Burnt were expelled!
BrightnessRadiant was brought on the Horns and charged with Reckless Use of Sympathy! 
Alvron, Burnt, Brightness, Cluny, and Hemalurgic Headshot were elevated! 
Names were used.

Term 4 has begun. You have 42 hours to send in actions. 

Player List
1. Queensteph - Vintish Noblewoman 
2. Randuir (Telar Pike) - Yllish Commoner Student 
3. Hemalurgic Headshot (Noremac Quwester) - Aturan Nobleman 
4. Aonar (Aodhan Breacadh) - Edema Ruh
5. Wilson (Sloan Walker) -  Cealdish Commoner Student
6. Straw (Medicus Novis) - Yllish Commoner
7. Paranoid King (William Opuscule) - Yllish Commoner
8. Ornstein (John Springer) - Aturan Nobleman Student in Physicking
9. Jondesu (Vell) - Yllish Commoner
10. Drake Marshall (Greyson) - Cealdish Commoner
11. Assassin in Burgundy (Jurdaan Longfell) -  Yllish Commoner Student
12. Burnt Spaghetti (Dele Fajro) - Vintish Noblewoman
13. Orlok (Locke Alveron) - Cealdish Commoner Insane
14. Magestar (Magestar) - Vintish Nobleman Insane
15. Alvron (Stryker Nox) - Cealdish Commoner
16. Arinian (Darian) - Aturan Nobleman
17. Stick (Stick) - Aturan NobleStick
18. Darkness Ascendant (Balthazar Myrrh) - Yllish Commoner Student
19. Cluny the Scourge (Cluny) - Aturan Nobleman
20. Silverblade (Ryth) - Cealdish Commoner
21. Amanuensis (Esuan) - Yllish Commoner
22. BrightnessRadiant (Amelia) - Aturan Noblewoman
23. Eolhondras (Eolah) - Yllish Commoner
24. STINK - Yllish Commoner
25. Hael (Glavion) - Edema Ruh Insane
26. Sart (Titud) - Edema Ruh Insane
27. Joe (Chalks) - Yllish Commoner Insane

Edited May 27, 2017 by Alvron

[BrightnessRadiant she/her]

so.....Wilson was a student???????  apparently i was completely wrong about her! arggggggggg....why can't I figure out who they are??...also i was expecting to be attacked that round? i was pretty worried actually which is why i went off on the long rants about wilson and the others...guess i'm gonna look real guilty now  I'm still suspicious of burnt and aonar but i guess i should look more carefully into even them at this point... i'm second guessing everything i thought i knew 

[DrakeMarshall he/him]

Interesting... They attacked Eol, not PK.

Seeing as Eol was unscathed, it could be WGG I suppose, but *shrugs* I really have to say I don't know. My read on Eol's been pretty neutral.

And yes BR, you are right that to me at least you look suspicious. Sorry if I'm wrong about that, but you haven't really persuaded me otherwise. Not that my views will do you much harm.

Personally, if I had to guess elims, I'd say Aonar, BR, Jondesu, Cluny. I guess probably there's a fifth. But the only one I'm very sure about at all on that list is obviously Aonar.

Oh, and @Silverblade5, I don't know if you've heard the good news seeing as nobody tagged you, but apparently you aren't dead any more. Congratulations. I guess you are probably trustworthy.

Anyways, I know we've outed an elim, but it looks to me like the village casualties are getting pretty high considering we've only managed to out (and not even kill yet) a single eliminator.

At any rate, in regard to dealing with Aonar. We need to approach this methodically and cautiously. Expulsion is certainly the best first step against him. From there, make absolutely sure someone is consistently roleblocking him until someone can kill him. I recommend nahlrout, but alternatively a power role may be able to do some good. If someone wants to risk using a name to kill him, be my guest, otherwise I recommend someone who has enough money buy an assassin. Seeing as Aonar is obviously forewarned, I'm betting he survives a single kill, so try and coordinate a double tap if you can.

But while I hold that it is of utmost importance to deal with Aonar properly, I don't advise spending more time then is necessary discussing that. I would try to look for your next lynch target.

Seeing as Aonar isn't very wealthy, but that it is very likely that elims have purchased at least one assassin, I'd guess the social class distribution on eliminators is pretty even...

[BrightnessRadiant she/her]

@Drake Marshall yeah i guess it's to be expected that i look guilty after all of my crazy theories  please don't hold it against me forever though cuz we need to be working together...i was only trying to help

@Silverblade5 congrats on the breakout!!!!

I actually used nahlrout on aonar last turn and my action failed. If he has access to naming powers than i think he will be dangerous even outside of the University.

I will be pretty inactive for around 14 hours cuz i'm staying at my sister's house and won't be getting on much...i should be home after that time frame though so i will be back then...although i might pop in and out if i get a chance.

Edited May 11, 2017 by BrightnessRadiant

[Hemalurgic Headshot he/him]

Dang. Wilson's gone too? She was on the streets, but that is another strong player for the village gone. Aonar got expelled. It would have been better if he had gotten lashed, because that gives a role block. With all of his names, I don't think anyone without extensive protection is safe, maybe not even then. 

Can Wind or any other name remove items?

Silver, welcome back! Two breakouts? I thought they were rare. And Eol survived an attack? Given no one else went insane, I bet it was the sabotage.

[Straw he/him]

Important news: I am staying at The Grey Man and was/am in Imre for both the current cycle and the last cycle. Last cycle, nothing was sold out. This cycle, the gram was sold out.

[STINK he/him]

Okay well this tuition crap is actually ridiculous so I'm gonna die ain't that lovely

[DrakeMarshall he/him]

8 hours ago, BrightnessRadiant said:

I actually used nahlrout on aonar last turn and my action failed. If he has access to naming powers than i think he will be dangerous even outside of the University.

Well this is ironic. I considered using nahlrout on Aonar but figured someone else would certainly be roleblocking him already, even if I didn't end up having time to confirm it in-thread...

Good of you to admit that at any rate. I promise I won't use nahlrout on you again, unless I am presented with more solid evidence.

 

EDIT: And, the best part is, this state of affairs pretty much works in my favor either way.

Either you are a villager, in which case by your own admission you are both willing and able to roleblock Aonar, and you will do so, providing a critical service to the village.

Or you are an eliminator, and you still have to convince Aonar not to kill anyone, because if he does kill someone, you'll have to answer for it.

I have to say I'm not sure which one it is, but it doesn't actually matter that much. Aonar can't kill anyone either way, I don't waste anymore actions/nahlrout, and you don't get roleblocked a second time. Everyone wins. Except Aonar, of coarse. Sorry Aonar.

EDIT2: But actually, seeing as Aonar didn't kill anyone this cycle, I'm guessing someone else managed to successfully roleblock him. So... Hm. It's probably actually best if people can figure out who is going to do the deed this cycle, and not have too many people all try to do that.

EDIT3: I'm really doing too many edits point is, we can't actually very well coordinate who roleblocks Aonar, because if it is publically one person... Well then the elims can just roleblock that person. Assuming BR is telling the truth about nahlrout blocking another use of nahlrout, anyway.

 

6 hours ago, Hemalurgic_Headshot said:

Aonar got expelled. It would have been better if he had gotten lashed, because that gives a role block.

I'm not sure I agree with that. It's only a conditional roleblock; if Aonar had the presence of mind to buy a bit of nahlrout it would do nothing to hurt him. I would recommend roleblocking him with a role related power, or nahlrout.

6 hours ago, Hemalurgic_Headshot said:

With all of his names, I don't think anyone without extensive protection is safe, maybe not even then.

Wait how do you know that Aonar has access to more then just the name of the wind?

 

Oh and also RIP Wilson. I guess the gods of RNG must hate her, seeing as the mercs attacked her twice in one cycle.

Edited May 11, 2017 by Drake Marshall

[Sparkrunner he/him]

1000 Posts congrats @Drake Marshall!

Cluny chewed on a pencil. Then he chewed on his foot. Then he chewed on another student's leg. He scuttled away on all fours as the student screamed. He kept crawling. He crawled through the sewers. He crawled up out of a small hole in the ground, in a dark alley. There were some weirdos offering cookies to passerby in the alley, but somehow, his inner ratlike intuition said that all lurkers were worthless crem, beneath the notice of people like him. A bunch of Contribution Crusaders were standing at the corner, looking noble and majestic. Cluny shook his head, dispelling the dangerous thoughts. Not as dangerous as thoughts of another multiverse, but still dangerous. He had learned his lesson when he tried to say "Harry Potter." He shivered.

He turned the other way, where a thug had cornered a little girl. OOOOOOooo! Cluny thought. He grabbed some only mildly mildewy mildewie whatever popcorn from the gutter and sat back on his haunches to watch. It was interesting. The little girl tried to ballet dance, but it looked weird in combat boots. Why combat boots anyway? It was over after a little while, so Cluny wandered back to the sewer.

He heard footsteps. He turned around. "This is pest control! 509-747-1883! Please stand back ladies and gentlemen!" Pest control. The change happened in an instant. Cluny's thoughts changed, his features seemed more refined, he stood up straight, he brushed off the grime. He buttoned his coat, he filed down his long claws. He tucked his tail back in his pants and shaved his exposed skin, all doing it in a blur of motion.

"Pest control!" He shouted, straitening his top hat. "Oh my good men! It was terrible! It went that way!" Pest control passed him by. As they did, he swiped a pair of keys from one man's pocket. Snickering rudely, he ran down to where the pest control wagon waited. He unlocked the door. He unlocked the cages. He laughed madly to himself as a flood of scrawny cats, dogs, axehounds, small chulls and rats ran out into the street.

_____________________________________________________________________

I think it should be noted that, as I have gathered, probably at least one of those in the crockery is a skindancer. I thought at the beginning of the game that breaking out was impossible, but we have had two. They probably knew this would happen, (Did this happen in LG:18?) So I think it would make sense for at least one of the insane to be a skinnie.

[Aonar he/him]

27 minutes ago, Drake Marshall said:

Well this is ironic. I considered using nahlrout on Aonar but figured someone else would certainly be roleblocking him already, even if I didn't end up having time to confirm it in-thread...

Good of you to admit that at any rate. I promise I won't use nahlrout on you again, unless I am presented with more solid evidence.

 

EDIT: And, the best part is, this state of affairs pretty much works in my favor either way.

Either you are a villager, in which case by your own admission you are both willing and able to roleblock Aonar, and you will do so, providing a critical service to the village.

Or you are an eliminator, and you still have to convince Aonar not to kill anyone, because if he does kill someone, you'll have to answer for it.

I have to say I'm not sure which one it is, but it doesn't actually matter that much. Aonar can't kill anyone either way, I don't waste anymore actions/nahlrout, and you don't get roleblocked a second time. Everyone wins. Except Aonar, of coarse. Sorry Aonar.

 

I'm not sure I agree with that. It's only a conditional roleblock; if Aonar had the presence of mind to buy a bit of nahlrout it would do nothing to hurt him. I would recommend roleblocking him with a role related power, or Nahlrout. 

You know absolutely nothing about Naming, don't you?

[DrakeMarshall he/him]

2 minutes ago, Aonar Faileas said:

You know absolutely nothing about Naming, don't you?

Well, clearly I'm not a namer. Or the guy who designed the naming mechanic.

Okay I'll just speak bluntly. Is anyone killing Aonar this turn?

[Hemalurgic Headshot he/him]

@Drake Marshall, I am just assuming that by now, Aonar has more than just one name. He's been elevated at least once, right?

And don't names become more powerful with other names?

[Stick. she/her]

8 minutes ago, Drake Marshall said:

Is anyone killing Aonar this turn?

Isn't it better not to answer to this? I mean, whoever is planning to kill Aonar probably doesn't want the elims to know that lest they get targeted by them :-P

 

[DrakeMarshall he/him]

29 minutes ago, _Stick_ said:

Isn't it better not to answer to this? I mean, whoever is planning to kill Aonar probably doesn't want the elims to know that lest they get targeted by them :-P

Hmmmmmm true. Well, I guess I'll just request that all our village namers to attack him this cycle, and that should probably be enough firepower to eat  through any kill protection he might have.

Moving forward... Aonar hasn't posted too much, which is annoying in terms of discovering accomplices. Wilson might have had a better read on Aonar's elim buddies, seeing as Wilson said she had PMed with Aonar fairly often. But Wilson's dead, so... Any leads?

[Stick. she/her]

27 minutes ago, Drake Marshall said:

Hmmmmmm true. Well, I guess I'll just request that all our village namers to attack him this cycle, and that should probably be enough firepower to eat  through any kill protection he might have.

KILL IT WITH FIRE

28 minutes ago, Drake Marshall said:

Moving forward... Aonar hasn't posted too much, which is annoying in terms of discovering accomplices. Wilson might have had a better read on Aonar's elim buddies, seeing as Wilson said she had PMed with Aonar fairly often. But Wilson's dead, so... Any leads?

We should probably go through her posts and votes and things. Which I shall attempt to do when I have the time to.

[BrightnessRadiant she/her]

@Cluny the Scourge i'm pretty sure escaping from the crockery is next to impossible so it's SUPER rare and weird that we've already had two breakouts...i doubt the skindancers would have planned getting themselves in there. I wouldn't be sure about any of the ones that went insane by natural caused cuz they could be evil but the ones who were actually sabotaged are pretty much in the clear. 

[Sparkrunner he/him]

Well, I guess so, but when I play Assassin with my friends that's exactly what the assassin wants you to think, they try to get into the impossible spots because no one suspects them, but still... I guess I would vote for you from that comment but I think that you are innocent, judging from your previous posts. BrightnessRadiant BrightnessRadiant. So there.

[DrakeMarshall he/him]

23 minutes ago, Cluny the Scourge said:

Well, I guess so, but when I play Assassin with my friends that's exactly what the assassin wants you to think, they try to get into the impossible spots because no one suspects them, but still... I guess I would vote for you from that comment but I think that you are innocent, judging from your previous posts. BrightnessRadiant BrightnessRadiant. So there.

Okay but how impossible is it? We are on the seventh term that anyone was insane.

That means even if they sabotaged their own man D1, they still only have a 7/20 chance of them escaping by now.

I'm not sure it's worth that risk, just to gain people's trust. Might be worth it if you became a master namer, but then, at this point, its late enough in the game that you probably won't have time to escape. I really don't see it being a worthwhile trade.

Also, did  you just cast a vote and retract it in the same post?

 

EDIT: Oh, also. Speaking of insanity... Seeing as Aonar felt safe enough to study naming and learn multiple names, even though naming has very high insanity risks... I'm guessing very likely that one of the elims is a physicker. Quite possibly one that can protect Aonar from a kill, at least every other turn.

And speaking of university fields, any masters yet?

Edited May 11, 2017 by Drake Marshall

[BrightnessRadiant she/her]

13 minutes ago, Drake Marshall said:

EDIT: Oh, also. Speaking of insanity... Seeing as Aonar felt safe enough to study naming and learn multiple names, even though naming has very high insanity risks... I'm guessing very likely that one of the elims is a physicker. Quite possibly one that can protect Aonar from a kill, at least every other turn.

And speaking of university fields, any masters yet?

that's a good point...i will look into my notes on who i think could be studying physicking

I'm not sadly...and i don't think we have any yet but i will have to consult my notes on that as well.

@Cluny the Scourge haha thanks for not voting on me? i guess lol...i just don't really see the crockery as a good strategy as Drake pointed out.

[Paranoid King he/him]

1 hour ago, BrightnessRadiant said:

I'm pretty sure escaping from the crockery is next to impossible so it's SUPER rare and weird that we've already had two breakouts...i doubt the skindancers would have planned getting themselves in there. I wouldn't be sure about any of the ones that went insane by natural caused cuz they could be evil but the ones who were actually sabotaged are pretty much in the clear. 

Escaping from the crockery isn't actually that difficult. True, you only have a 1/20 chance of escaping on each cycle, but those cycles add up.

40 minutes ago, Drake Marshall said:

That means even if they sabotaged their own man D1, they still only have a 7/20 chance of them escaping by now.

Not quite. If so, everyone would escape for sure by the 20th cycle.

WARNING: MATH

Spoiler

The chance of escaping on exactly cycle 1 is 1/20.

The chance of escaping on exactly cycle 2 is the chance of not escaping on cycle 1, times the chance of escaping on cycle 2. Therefore, (19/20*1/20)

So the chance of escaping by cycle 2 is (1/20)+((19/20)*(1/20)), which is 39/400, or 9.25%

(You could express this as Σ^2,  i=0 =((19/20)^i)*(1/20))

Continue this for 7 turns, and your chance of escape is about 30%

By cycle 20, your chance of escape is 64%. (about 13/20). Pretty high, but not definite.

Just clearing some things up.

[DrakeMarshall he/him]

Hmmm good point, I was wrong about the math.

But still, you really think the game is liable to last 20 turns? Still not so sure its worth it.

 

Also, this thread has been getting quiet...

Edited May 11, 2017 by Drake Marshall

[queensteph she/her]

I thought of this last turn but forgot about it and now I'm going to bring it up, If someone spied on Aonar's PM and saw that they had the elim doc, then wouldn't they also know another person that was an eliminator? Like, the sender/receiver of the doc? Or is that not how PM spying works?

[Alvron he/him]

1 minute ago, queensteph said:

I thought of this last turn but forgot about it and now I'm going to bring it up, If someone spied on Aonar's PM and saw that they had the elim doc, then wouldn't they also know another person that was an eliminator? Like, the sender/receiver of the doc? Or is that not how PM spying works?

If they were spying then likely yes.  However from what I can gather, someone used Wind so lore and mechanic wise they would only hear some of the words of the one targeted.  Or at least that's my best guess.