Long Game 74: You Want It Darker

[|TJ| he/him]

16 minutes ago, Matrim's Dice said:

A tie wouldn't actually be that bad, honestly, so your lack of self pres is just confusing.

What, why? You don't think there's even a tiny chance that Gears is evil? Gears flip also gives us info, although not as much as Maill's, cause if he flips elim we'd know there was some sort of effort to save Maill, if he flips village, we look at the Quinn and Gears voters. Like - are they prolonging the village!Maill's death cause we'd try to eliminate him again or are they trying to save Maill?

[Mat he/him]

1 minute ago, TJ Shade said:

What, why? You don't think there's even a tiny chance that Gears is evil? Gears flip also gives us info, although not as much as Maill's, cause if he flips elim we'd know there was some sort of effort to save Maill, if he flips village, we look at the Quinn and Gears voters. Like - are they prolonging the village!Maill's death cause we'd try to eliminate him again or are they trying to save Maill?

You missed both my edits  

1. I added in at the bottom there that I forgot ties kill neither party.

2. I edited my most recent post before this.

I do think there's a tiny chance Gears is evil, and I guess something slid together for me because using the info of his flip makes more sense to me now than it did five minutes ago. I'm now... fine with either. I still prefer Maill, but this works.

[Ashbringer he/him]

Perhaps this is a mistake.

But it is one I feel I must make.

The Spiked hide among us.

Infuse our plans.

Perhaps to beat them requires a certain... Spontenaity.

[STINK he/him]

Just now, Ashbringer said:

Perhaps to beat them requires a certain... Spontenaity.

That's why if we all band together in the last 3 minutes and just get rid of someone at random we'll ruin their plans

[Stick. she/her]

1 minute ago, Ashbringer said:

Spontenaity

are you suggesting devotary?

[Mat he/him]

1 minute ago, _Stick_ said:

are you suggesting devotary?

I think he's pointing out that Devo hasn't voted yet and it's last minute.

Edited March 10, 2021 by Matrim's Dice

[Stick. she/her]

devo isnt online even

[Kasimir he/him]

Tofu is good, cases are bad
I don't know who died tho
How about u?

Also, my dad likes this song, so here you all go as I've had to listen to it too often as a kid and associate it with my GCEs:

 

[Ashbringer he/him]

Or perhaps I am being cryptic because I’m tired.

[Wyrmhero he/him]

The Real GM here!

Kas doesn't want me to post here. I've done what he wanted, and now I'm not needed he's trying to cast me aside. I'm not going to go quietly though. I'm posting here and now to take a stand against the dictator Kas, and put in place the dictator Wyrm instead! Overnight, please put kill orders in against Kas and tell him to go to bed so I can reign supreme.

Also, the Day's over, so stop posting. This means you too, Kas.

[Kasimir he/him]

4 minutes ago, Wyrmhero said:

The Real GM here!

Kas doesn't want me to post here. I've done what he wanted, and now I'm not needed he's trying to cast me aside. I'm not going to go quietly though. I'm posting here and now to take a stand against the dictator Kas, and put in place the dictator Wyrm instead! Overnight, please put kill orders in against Kas and tell him to go to bed so I can reign supreme.

Also, the Day's over, so stop posting. This means you too, Kas.

Now and then I think of when we played together
So back in LG12 we ended up Dula
I told myself maybe you were Village
But couldn't really trust you completely
Still, we were young and undisputed kings of trolling

You've become addicted to both trolling and backstabbing
Like when you stabbed me in the back in MR1
So when we've been on the same team since then
And I guess that we've both become friends
But I'll admit that I still can't really trust you

But you didn't have to cut me down
Act like we were never brothers and our jokes meant nothing
And I wasn't even a threat
But you put in all those kills on me, it feels so rough
No, you didn't have to stoop so low
Have five players try to kill me and then take my PM
I guess that I was dying though
Now you're just some Dulabro I used to know
Now you're just some Dulabro I used to know
Now you're just some Dulabro I used to know

Now and then I think of those two games you screwed me over
Coming out of nowhere with that Grandbow and then Kholinar
But paranoia's now my way
Reading into every word you say
I thought that I could let these go
But I guess I'm still scarred by these betrayals from seven years ago

But you didn't have to crash my game
Taking over as the GM and then all that trolling
Guess I could really use your help
But you came in like a highstorm and you trolled them hard
No, you didn't have to wreak havoc
Claiming GM black for yourself and then taking over
I guess that I did miss you bro
Now you're just the Shardtwin that I used to know

[Kasimir he/him]

Night Four: The Gambler, He Broke Even

“Every gambler knows that the secret to survivin’
Is knowin’ what to throw away and knowin’ what to keep
‘Cause every hand’s a winner and every hand’s a loser
And the best that you can hope for is to die in your sleep.”

—’The Gambler’, Kenny Rogers

I’ve never been much of a gambler.

Thing about wetwork is, you don’t want to leave things up to chance. Of course there’s always a chancy element to these things. As much as Wyl talks about how people are predictable, how our behaviour follows patterns, there’s always the element of randomness. That thin sliver of a chance that sends a die up snake’s eye rather than stacked sheaves, that has your mark decide to go to the ball at the Ostlin manor that night, rather than attending the party at the Jerzy’s.

Little things like that, which can badly feck your plans up, if you’d been scoping out the Jerzy grounds, and preparing to sneak in and ice the mark there and then.

You want to be good at wetwork, you need to develop contingency plans. All improvisation and adaptation is built on a solid base of having done your intelligence work. Having scouted out the locations, and your mark’s schedule, habits and tendencies, understanding them intimately… You want that. Need that, even. Putting yourself in your mark’s shoes is what allows you to anticipate what they’ll do. This helps you craft plans that might survive first contact with the enemy.

Wyl, though. I won’t say he’s reckless—he’s a more meticulous and canny planner than some in the wetwork business I’ve known—but there’s a streak in him that’s more comfortable with outright audacious gambles than I’ve ever worked myself up to.

Guess a guy who talks a rusher into joining up with the Watch has got to have enough of a gambler in him, if you think about it.

The burning of the Steel Crow wasn’t how I’d have done it, and I’ve torched a few buildings in my time with the Red Knives. Not going to make any excuses for it, really. In this world, everyone’s out for themselves, in the end. Torching a building’s a better way to get the point across than icing someone, or breaking a couple bones. We had our lines, though. Never kids. There’s a special place in hell for those as lay a hand on kids, in my book. 

Maybe only Wyl would care, even if the Watch weren’t paid. I’ve seen him refuse to take so much as a clip from some of our clients before. If you don’t know Wyl enough, you think he’s a hard-arse, like a walnut. But there’s the decency in there, too, and if you’re very, very lucky, you’ll catch a glimpse of it.

Do I feel bad about my past? I don’t know. I wonder sometimes, about what my younger self would make of the person I’ve become today. Maybe he’d reckon I’ve gone weak. That I’d betrayed my crew to run with the enemy. Work for the enemy. That I’ve become the enemy, really. Maybe he wouldn’t be wrong, either. In skaa thieving crews, trust is a hard commodity, but in good crews, you had each other’s backs. That means something, in my view. More than looking out for the thousands of people in your precinct.

Sure, you feel a little bad, but really, world’s a hard place. You’ve got to be hard to stay alive in it, and there’s no use wringing your hands about it.

That’s my younger self talking, I suppose. I’m older now, with years in the Watch on my shoulders. And sometimes, people need help, and sometimes, you’re all they’ve got. Sometimes, people are lost or afraid, and I guess if I’m there, why not? World’s a dark enough place as it is.

Maybe Wyl got to me, more than I expected.

I talked to Clanal, when trying to figure out what had gone down with the Crow. First thought was that it was Arenta, maybe. It’s what we did in the Red Knives when there were stubborn coves and mots holding out on their protection fees. But no, Arenta hadn’t reacted like this before when people were late on their payments. She just got a rusher and had ‘em thrown out onto the streets. Stone cold, bleeds boxings if you cut her, that’s Arenta. 

Clanal. As I said, Clanal’s the village moneylender. What a lot of people don’t know is that Clanal deals in something quite a bit more valuable than just boxings. He deals in secrets. Clanal is an information-broker, and he’s very good at what he does. To borrow any decent-sized sum from him, Clanal requires collateral. Among other things, he requires information from you. A secret. If he approves of it, you scribble it on a slip of paper, and he locks it away. And if you fail to repay him, whatever you set down as collateral is his. And your secret is his to do with, as he pleases.

Clanal had been shaken by the fires at the Crow. I figured that was maybe my in with him.

“Know anything about anyone who might’ve wanted to torch the Crow?” I asked him.

Clanal eyed me warily. “Isn’t good business if I give information away for free, Speirs,” he said. “If you want it, you have to deal with me, same way the rest of my clients do.”

“Come on, now,” I said. “Way I see it, they nearly got you too.”

“If they’d wanted to get me, they’d have torched the Crow earlier, Speirs. Isn’t going to work on me.” 

I wished I had Wyl’s way with words, with coaxing trust out of people. All I had going for me was one formidable right hook, the sort of jaw you could break fists on, and a lifetime of brawls. “Right,” I said. I handed him a couple boxings, just to start the conversation. “What are you looking for?”

Clanal smiled. “If it’s information you’re after, you know how this works, Speirs.” 

I did know. Bastard kept my boxings anyway. “And in trade?”

Clanal considered it. “What can you give me that’d be worth Sara’s past, Speirs? Or even Tomas’s?” 

“I know that Tomas has claimed to be some kind of god,” I said. “Obliteration, something like that.” I guess my scepticism must’ve been clear because Clanal laughed. “Just talk, really. He’s kept his head down, enough that I haven’t crossed paths with him.”

“Then here’s a free one for you: someone in Fallion’s Tears or the surrounding villages has often claimed to be that god,” Clanal said. “Just not at the same time.”

“Some kind of cult?”

Clanal shrugged. “You’re the fancy Tremredare detective. You tell me.”

“Haven’t been one in years. You of all people should know.”

He did. Of course he did.

“How about telling me something about Sharpe,” Clanal said. There was a curious glint in his eyes. “You work together. You must know something. He’s about the only man I don’t have anything at all about in this village.”

Because of that bad run of months. We’d needed to pay Arenta, and I wasn’t about to put any more pressure on Wyl than he was already feeling, having generously told another widow that we weren’t going to accept a clip for looking into her husband’s murder. I’d borrowed from Clanal, but I’d made good, but Clanal knew, of course. I didn’t know how many others in Fallion’s Tears knew I’d been a rusher, once. 

Maybe Clanal hadn’t traded that off. But if he hadn’t, why not?

“No,” I said, and I meant it. Wyl’s probably the only good man I know. Be damned if I’d just sell him out like that. “No deal, Clanal. I’ll find the information myself.”

“Suit yourself.”

I strode off, feeling the pain of each step as it stabbed into my leg and my knee. Wasn’t about to rat Wyl out, even with the little I knew. I mean, we were partners. We worked together. He saved my life nine times. That time in the Warrens didn’t count. Never did. I saved his life, that night in Tremredare, when everything fell apart. When Gade came for him. The night Gade messed my leg up bad. Didn’t mean I really knew him, see? People think we’re friends, and maybe we are, I don’t know. Way I see it, we work together and are in business together, and that means a certain level of professionalism.

“Wait!” Clanal called after me. I hesitated, and then cursed myself. Didn’t want to seem desperate, and all that, but.

“Interesting,” said Clanal. “That you’re so fiercely protective of his secrets.”

I don’t have a good poker face, but I do have a good killing face. I fixed that stare on Clanal and watched him pale. “Business is between us, Clanal. Told you that the first time I came to you. Isn’t right to get my partner involved, understand?”

He narrowed his eyes. “Proposition for you.”

“What?”

“I have a job that needs doing,” said Clanal. “And you happen to be a rusher. I have information you want. Way I see it, it’s interesting how we can help each other, isn’t it?”

I felt my hands curling into fists. I hadn’t been a rusher, hadn’t done rusher work in years. I didn’t like this, and all I could think was: what was Wyl going to think if he knew? He wasn’t going to know, obviously, but all the same, I hated the idea that I was failing his standards, somehow, even if I knew Wyl’s own standards weren’t the one any normal person would want to live up to. Bastard’s a pain like that, really.

And secrets have an inconvenient way of coming out at the worst possible time.

“Icing someone?” I finally asked. Hated myself for not stepping away. I told myself we needed Clanal’s information. Clanal was often good for his word. But it felt like I was taking a step away from whatever we were doing, back into the murky world of skaa thieving crews. Part of me liked it. It felt like waking up again, after years of muddling through, years of having fallen asleep. And I hated that, so much.

Clanal considered it for longer than I felt comfortable.

“No,” he said, thoughtfully. “Dead men don’t pay up, Speirs. You know this as well as I do. Or knew this, I suppose. I want you to send him a very clear message.”

I knew about clear messages. Maybe that was where Clanal and I spoke the same language. I didn’t like it one bit, but I liked the idea of selling Wyl out less. And the truth was, Clanal had me by the short ones, there. Finding the information I wanted, fast? Harder than you’d expect, with so much of the Crow in ruins at the moment. And I didn’t even want to think about how the hell I was going to figure out what was up with Tomas getting iced by our renegade Coinshot, who just so happened to be Sara.

Sometimes, you have to choose which of your principles to break. Today was shaping up to be a day of personal discoveries.

“Sara killed before,” Clanal said. “It’s why she had no hesitation going after those kills your partner attributed to her.” I understood. The first kill is always the hardest. After a while, killing becomes a job, or an action. Like cleaning up, like shaving. And for some, like making love. I wasn’t that sort of messed up, though. Didn’t think Sara was, either. I wish I knew her reasons, but the best I could make out was that either she’d snapped over some dispute, or she’d figured she was going to take it in her own hands to stop our killers. Far as I could tell, all those she’d tagged with her coins were people she or someone in Fallion’s Tears had suspected.

“Got more details on that?” I asked. Family and friends of a vic were often prime suspects for vengeance, and maybe one of them had set fire to the Crow. 

“Little,” Clanal admitted. “It’s hushed up, and from nearly a decade ago, but she moved over from Gamsbrook with her uncle, after killing someone with her metal. He died of his injuries a few days later. You don’t want to know the details.”

I frowned. Who in Fallion’s Tears would act out a feud from nearly a bloody decade ago? Maybe that was the sign, though. If it wasn’t a feud, then maybe it wasn’t personal. Maybe I was looking at the arson all wrong. Maybe it was sabotage.

“And she never borrowed from you?”

“She made good,” Clanal said. Which was probably why I was only hearing about this secret of Sara’s right around now.

“And Tomas, then?”

“Left a trail of bodies in his wake,” Clanal said, with wry amusement. “Skipped out of Bainsvale about half an hour before the Watch there put together a posse and went after him. Changed his name, skipped across half the Western Dominance, and put down roots in Fallion’s Tears, and all was forgotten. Surprising, isn’t it? Lots of people seem to come here to hide from their past, or their killings.”

I didn’t like that part. And it was the same issue with Tomas as with Sara, except we knew Sara had iced Tomas, so there wasn’t so much worry there about whether anyone from his past had come hunting him. And that was even without the preposterousness of his claims to be some kind of god. Sometimes, I thought he’d bring the wrath of the Steel Inquisition down on us all. Wouldn’t that be a thing to get hauled in for.

“What is it then? Who do you want reminded?” I asked, reluctantly. I’d given my word, and I wasn’t going to go back on it now. Maybe that was why Clanal wanted a trade, too.

Clanal’s grin grew a little wider, and I had a sinking feeling it wasn’t going to be good.

“Torch one or two of Erik’s fields for me, would you? Stop at two, mind. It’s not about doing him in. It’s about sending a message.”

 

Someone’d cleaned up the Crow, painted a new sign on the outside and scratched out the word Steel. It was The Rusty Crow now, and they’d put up hoarding and canvas flaps overhead to substitute for the missing roof. The rubble had been cleared fairly quickly, and Kast wasn’t sure if it was a testament to human ingenuity or just how powerfully most of Fallion’s Tears wanted to get drunk.

It was broad daylight, but it was a nervous crowd. Slart and Rowan hadn’t returned, and somehow, word that the hunters had been sent out to scout for koloss was setting everyone on edge. The militia moved among the patrons, a solid presence of steel, but Kast knew better. People nursed their drinks nervously. 

There’d been too many deaths in Fallion’s Tears over the past days, and with Tesse Mourn having fled for the safety of Tremredare, fear had begun to creep into the village, eating it away from the inside like woodrot did for a sturdy table-leg. Kast nursed his warm beer with some distaste and just listened, trying to take the pulse of the village.

All he could hear was fear. Whispers. Rumours. Distrust.

They hadn’t turned on him or on Wyl yet, but sometimes, Kast wondered if that was only a matter of time. Some of the villagers still talked about Variel, but they had been a little reassured by Tesse Mourn’s departure. Kast wished her well.

He and Wyl were still going over her ledgers, trying to track down Wyl’s elusive firebug, though they hadn’t much luck. Most of Mourn’s sales were to those outside of Fallion’s Tears, and though Wyl had been right about the Bart and Leas Fel connection, it seemed that Leas Fel really had had a sword repaired by Mourn. 

Had he been expecting trouble, then? And why?

He had to talk to Palladiel, but the last Kast heard, she’d locked herself in her shop again, which meant he wasn’t going to get much out of her this day. So here he was in the burned-out Crow instead, sipping his beer, listening, trying to work out his next move.

Marll, Joe, and Roko were rolling dice at the table on the far end of the tavern, and Kast was only half-paying attention to them but he sensed the moment the arguments took a darker edge and turned deadly.

Rioting? He didn’t know.

It was an argument over whether the dice were loaded, and had expanded to accusations of Marll cheating at cards, with Marll almost wrecking the table and insisting that it’d been Roko instead, who’d cheated.

In a tavern, with frightened, nervous people all doing their best to get drunk.

Kast sighed. How the bloody hell did he always end up in these sorts of situations? And how was he ever going to explain this one to Wyl?

Within seconds, the tavern exploded in violence. It was why Kast hated tavern duty, really. They’d lost more men to tavern brawls than just about any other part of the precinct. And back in the Red Knives, he’d figured those brawls were a waste of his time.

Chaos was like a ladder, and it spread like the fire in Erik’s fields through the remnants of the Crow. Someone hit someone else, that was always how it worked, whether by accident, or simply because they were drunk, or too amped up. The gaming table was splintered and broken, and Marll had Roko by the throat.

Kast thought about intervening, and thought the better of it.

One man alone in a tavern brawl. You died, easily, that way. Wouldn’t have chanced it, even if Wyl had his back.

Someone grabbed a beer stein and swung hard at Marll’s head, but the cobbler reacted swiftly, turning about so the metal smashed into Roko instead. Kast winced. That was going to hurt, but Roko somehow shrugged it off, and fluidly twisted about, so Marll was forced to let go, or risk injury. Roko landed, and then knives were in his hands, and one of them was pressed to Maili’s throat.

Said Roko, in a voice that cut through the shouting and the sounds of splintering wood and broken glass, “One of us dies today then, I suppose.”

Marll eyed him, coolly. “You feeling this violent over a game of cards or dice?”

Joe was nowhere to be seen. Kast wondered where he’d gotten off to. Perhaps he was hiding, like a sensible person would. 

“Everyone’s all worked up now,” Roko said, with a shrug. “Takes more brass than I have to calm everyone down, and really, why bother? It’s rather hard to save people who are actively trying to kill you. Take that from someone who knows.”

Marll said, “Why, you—”

Someone smashed a glass bottle over Roko’s head, and then another. “Don’t let him Soothe you!” It was Willie, his face grim but set. “We heard, didn’t we? Was one of those manipulating Mistings that set up the riots in the square that day.”

Roko blinked. 

The others joined in, beating Roko up as the knife drew a thin line of blood across Marll’s throat, but Marll had dodged, trusting that he would beat Roko’s reflexive reaction, and Kast supposed the gamble had paid off, this time.

Soddit. He had to go, now. The Watch had to know. One man alone could not do anything here.

But he could create a chance for intervention, before things got worse.

Kast skidded out from under the table. His leg protested, but he let it. Being trapped there, watching Roko die… It wasn’t on the list of things he intended to do today.

He caught a glass bottle that was flying right at him, and struck out with it, smashing it into the face of someone who was trying to hit him. Cordwainer. Kast recognised him. For good measure, he punched the man twice in the gut, dropping him.

Something rolled out of Roko’s pocket. It hit the floor, bounced, and skittered right in front of Kast.

It reminded him of a strange, metal orb, and yet.

Chains of glowing letters filled the air in a small slice above the orb. Kast had no idea what they were, or what that sort of contraption was. In the span of moments, a figure appeared, composed of the letters.

“What?” Kast managed.

“I applied my heart to know wisdom,” the man said. “And to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also was a chasing at the wind. For in much wisdom is much grief. And he that increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow.”

Kast said, “Who are you?”

There was no answer, and the light fuzzed out again and there were only strings of disconnected letters, shapes maybe.

There was no time.

Kast left.

 

 

Gears was the victim of a tavern brawl! He was a Village Soother!

Quote

Gears (5): _Stick_, Araris Valerian, Ashbringer, Mailliw73, STINK
Mailliw73 (3): Illwei, Matrim's Dice, TJ Shade
TJ Shade (1): Fifth Scholar

The Night has begun and will end on 11th March 2021, at 2300hrs SGT (GMT+8)! PMs remain open!

P.S. If anyone reads this, vote for Wyrm in the Night.

 

---

 

Quote

Hi, everyone.

As I have until Friday to clear 180k cases all on my own as my office's Taln, you are once again owed a write-up, though I am at least making decent progress catching up on the last one. Such is the way of adult life I guess. 

Also, hot damn, Wyrm'alor my bro you don't have to hijack the thread just to tell me you feel unappreciated man  You're the best bro a bro could hope for and if you want to GM this thing or do more you can totally go ahead. I'm grateful for all the help I've received from you and only a little resentful of the chaos and you funneling two attacks through my chokepoint.

P.S. Stop getting the players to try to get me to sleep.

Edited March 11, 2021 by Kasimir

[Kasimir he/him]

Player List:

Spoiler

1. @Matrim's Dice as Philico, the Magician Extraordinaire! - Come one, come all!
2. Random Bystander as the village's random bystander and musician, a Regular Villager
3. Gears as Roko the Basilisk, the gambling menace, a Village Soother
4. Quintessential as Tesse Mourn, resident metallurgist, a Village Soother
5. @Fifth Scholar as Iste Confessor, village scholar - I confess I'm interested in this one
6. @Shard of Reading as Joe, gambling duck wrangler who drinks - I'd be driven to drink too if I had to wrangle ducks 
7. @Araris Valerian as Arenta, grumpy landlady - or the unholy conglomeration of AG Araris and Ren, tremble with fear ye tenants!
8. @Dannex as Dr. Aliker - A doctor, just probably not the one you're looking for
9. @Elandera as a confused and overworked metallurgist - Whose order is it anyway?
10. @Ashbringer as Derrick, general madman and secret kandra - Twice the pride, double the fall!
11. @TJ Shade as Fleur Tieste, hopeless romantic and god of cheesy one-liners - Are you a Lurcher? 'Cause I think I'm pulled towards you.
12. @Illwei - definitely not an Elantrian
13. @Devotary of Spontaneity as Sonnah Cojic, alchemist - But probably not full metal
14. Experience as Shard, the crazy 'kid' in town, a Village Rioter
15. @Mailliw73 as Marll, a gambling cobbler who heard of Tyrian Falls - Beware beetles!
16. StrikerEZ as Variel, a fastidious storyteller, a Regular Villager
17. The Unknown Order as Obliteration, a Shard inhabiting one of his followers, a Village Smoker
18. @The Windrunner Supreme as Merritt Cavallo - Pending
19. Ventyl as Niru, a watcher of ashes, a Village Smoker
20. Flyingbooks as Lasalen, a Regular Villager
21. @Burnt Spaghetti as Roseanna Ghetti, an insomniac artist - But what is there to art in this village but an infinity of ducks?
22. @STINK as Smirkai - Smirkai, now that's a name I haven't heard in a very long time...
23. @_Stick_ as Sunny, the intrepid baking worldhopping dolphin - So long and thanks for all the fish!
24. Biplet as Sara, the local tavern-keeper, a Village Coinshot
25. Daisy / @Haelbarde as Hadra the storyteller - We are the stories we live! The tales we tell ourselves!
26. The Young Pyromancer as Pie Roayong, foreigner kid out for blood, a Regular Villager
27. Young Bard as Thiriel, social climber, a Village Lurcher
28. Tani / @Condensation as Daux, duck poacher - The socially-accepted term is 'wrangler'.

Rule Clarifications:

Spoiler

Shoo, no secrets here!

 

Edited March 11, 2021 by Kasimir

[Stick. she/her]

wyrm

because kas asked me to

 

[---]

8 minutes ago, Kasimir said:

Mailliw73 (3): Illwei, Matrim's Dice, TJ Shade

wait when did this happen

[Mat he/him]

5 minutes ago, Illwei said:

wait when did this happen

When you were asleep

Annoyed the heck outta me

See guys? Straight back to suspecting Maill. This got us nowhere. Why don't the people who were all 'Gears exe gives info too' go ahead and enlighten exactly what info we got.

[STINK he/him]

1 minute ago, Matrim's Dice said:

See guys? Straight back to suspecting Maill.

Ok but this can't be the only thing you've been doing for like 2 cycles

[Stick. she/her]

3 minutes ago, Matrim's Dice said:

When you were asleep

Annoyed the heck outta me

See guys? Straight back to suspecting Maill. This got us nowhere. Why don't the people who were all 'Gears exe gives info too' go ahead and enlighten exactly what info we got.

weren't you on board with this in the end too?

Anyway here's a new suspect list

TJ, Maill, TWS, Burnt, Devo, Hael/Daisy, Fifth

Let's go

also dear elims feel free to NK me tongiht and put me out of my misery I know I'm better to keep around as an honorary elim but honour this wish of mine thanks :P.

[Mat he/him]

20 minutes ago, STINK said:

Ok but this can't be the only thing you've been doing for like 2 cycles

Maybe if we had just killed Maill two cycles ago I wouldn't be

And I have been thinking about other things- like vc analysis. Let's do some of that.

First off, just saying here the elim team is likely to consist of people in this group: Maill, Stick, Araris, Ash, Devo, Stink, Fifth with an outside chance of Illwei if something really crazy is going on. Edit: And the inactives but we can't really judge that.

Nearly positive one of Araris or Illwei is an elim. Araris is like 100x more likely in that group so unless something stupid happened Araris is evil. Probably my vote is going there because voting Maill doesn't seem to do anything.

So- Araris is evil, Maill is almost certainly evil, Stick is probably evil with Maill. From there, I don't really know but there's three.

VC Time. Bold is confirmed Village.

D1:

• Shard of Reading (4): Araris Valerian, Fifth Scholar, Illwei, Flyingbooks
• StrikerEZ (2): The Young Pyromancer, Matrim's Dice
• _Stick_ (1): Experience
• Illwei (1): Mailliw73
• Quintessential (1): Dannex
• Flyingbooks (9): Gears, Quintessential, Ventyl, _Stick_, StrikerEZ, Young Bard, Ashbringer, Devotary of Spontaneity, TJ Shade

What I see- dwindling amounts of people left cleared on the Books train. Heavily incriminates the four there, but I trust TJ outside of voting. Mildly interesting how many uncleared Reading voters we have but idk about that.

D2:

• StrikerEZ (9): Matrim's Dice, The Windrunner Supreme, Mailliw73, Quintessential, Fifth Scholar, Tani, Biplet, The Young Pyromancer, _Stick_
• The Young Pyromancer (5): Araris Valerian, Illwei, StrikerEZ, Devotary of Spontaneity, TJ Shade
• Ashbringer (1): Young Bard
• Mailliw73 (1): Experience
• The Unknown Order (1): Ashbringer

Again, low number of cleareds altogether. Again seems to incriminate Stick somewhat, and I'd argue Ash is NAI for this because elim!Ash could have added to either v/v train or stayed out of both knowingly and I don't know which.

D3: 

• Mailliw73 (5): Tani, The Windrunner Supreme, Matrim's Dice, Quintessential, Biplet
• Quintessential (6): Araris Valerian, Elandera, STINK, Devotary of Spontaneity, Burnt Spaghetti, Mailliw73
• Dannex (2): Illwei, Fifth Scholar
• The Windrunner Supreme (1): TJ Shade

Notice the number of villagers on Maill and the number of cleareds on Quinn.

Edit:

15 minutes ago, _Stick_ said:

weren't you on board with this in the end too?

I wasn't on board, I was resigned to it. Like I had given up fighting because it was the number two option and number one was clearly out of reach. If I had been on board I would have switched my vote. 

But you can't deny that a Gears village flip puts us in a worse position than either Maill flip would have.

Edited March 10, 2021 by Matrim's Dice

[STINK he/him]

Ok but without any of the dead people's points you're just highlighting dead villagers and it's not really much?

 

[---]

31 minutes ago, Matrim's Dice said:

with an outside chance of Illwei if something really crazy is going on.

;).

19 minutes ago, STINK said:

Ok but without any of the dead people's points you're just highlighting dead villagers and it's not really much?

since you're actualy seemingly getting involved in the conversation, do you have any elim reads or trusts?

Edited March 10, 2021 by Illwei

[Araris Valerian he/him]

46 minutes ago, Matrim's Dice said:

Maill, Stick, Araris, Ash, Devo, Stink, Fifth with an outside chance of Illwei

Who do you consider active that isn't in this group (aside from yourself)? I can only think of TJ. 

 

1 hour ago, Matrim's Dice said:

Why don't the people who were all 'Gears exe gives info too' go ahead and enlighten exactly what info we got.

I voted for Gears because I thought the uncontested Mailliw train was unhelpful, and I also thought it likely that regardless of Mailliw's alignment, an elim would have been one of the voters after you and Illwei. Gears showed up first in the player list, and following my ISO I was comfortable voting him. Didn't have enough time to ISO the other two. Can you honestly say you would have preferred me to not vote and have a 1 page thread with 5 votes on Mailliw?

[Wyrmhero he/him]

1 hour ago, Kasimir said:

P.S. Stop getting the players to try to get me to sleep.

Are you asleep yet? 

[Kasimir he/him]

1 minute ago, Wyrmhero said:

Are you asleep yet? 

 

Spoiler

 

[Mat he/him]

15 minutes ago, Araris Valerian said:

Who do you consider active that isn't in this group (aside from yourself)? I can only think of TJ. 

I voted for Gears because I thought the uncontested Mailliw train was unhelpful, and I also thought it likely that regardless of Mailliw's alignment, an elim would have been one of the voters after you and Illwei. Gears showed up first in the player list, and following my ISO I was comfortable voting him. Didn't have enough time to ISO the other two. 

I didn't ask why you voted him, I asked what info we got from his flip.

Because as you pointed out in the first paragraph, the PoE hasn't exactly shrunk.

15 minutes ago, Araris Valerian said:

Can you honestly say you would have preferred me to not vote and have a 1 page thread with 5 votes on Mailliw?

If it would have meant Maill's flip and a better position going forward, probably yeah. Cause what just happened was like... worst case scenario.

Edit: Can I echo Stick's request to be mercy NKd? xD

No actually don't I want to keep trying to solve this  

Edited March 10, 2021 by Matrim's Dice