Tol-in-Gaurhoth XXI: Dueling Wizards Werewolf

[littlemanpoet]

Players are strictly forbidden to post to this thread until the Game Moderator (LMP) opens it up.

Introduction

On the shores of For-Luin* there lived a small folk of the Atani who called themselves the Reindeer Folk. Their lore told how they had once been wanderers over the northern plains, hunting reindeer and living off their gift of meat, skins, and antlers. The tales told of how the earth opened its mouth and roared and ate the plain land, the icy sea rushing in. The reindeer that had not been swallowed up, fled to the east and never returned.

*For-Luin is the coastland bounded on the northwest by the Sea, to the northeast by the Ice Bay of Forochel, to the southeast by Ered Luin, and to the southwest by an unnamed bay that separates that land from Forlindon.

Of the Reindeer Folk who had not been swallowed by the earth, many starved for lack of food or froze for lack of skins. All feared for lack of the antler for it had been their lucking and charm against evils. The few that survived until spring turned their eyes to the Sea and saw strange flippered dogs near the shore, barking at them from a distance. The folk saw these as an omen and said to each other, "Maybe the Sea has brought death, but from it now we must find life." Some fashioned rods and lines with hooks and bait. Others twined nets to catch game from the sea; but not the flippered dogs. Still others gleaned strange greens from the salty seas. There were folk who did not take to the sea, and so they tilled the land between the sea and the mountains, so that half of them were farmers and half fishers. Some of the boldest fishers hove out to sea and caught fish that swam farther from shore, and they gave a portion of the meat to the flippered dogs; and their numbers grew. The folk saw in these creatures their new luck and seal against evil, and called the flippered dogs by that name. They renamed themselves the Seal Folk. The seals throve and the Seal Folk throve for many lives of their folk, and their former life as plainsfolk became legend.

One day they when the Seal Folk woke up, they found a new thing. The seals were quiet and watchful, for sitting on a rock near the breakers in the bay were two tall figures looking out to sea. They were fair to behold and seemed as gods. They moved not, but looked ever to the sea. The Seal Folk spoke to them but the two uttered no word back. Awed, the Seal Folk let them be, and wondered what they were. It was not long before the seals barked again and all was as it was before, save that there were two who watched the sea for a mystery. The Seal Folk began to place portions of their catch at the feet of the Watchers, but never saw them take it up. However, each morning the catch was not where they had laid it. Even when the overbold youth watched during the night they did not see the Watchers reach down, but in the morning the catch was gone.

Years went by. The Seal Folk became used to the Watchers, and made up tales about them, that they watched the sea for the sake of the Seal Folk, ever vigilant in care of those who went out in boats to find sea-game for the Folk. Maybe it was so, but the wise among them believed that the Watchers looked to the sea for other reasons. The Seal Folk took to eating at the feet of the Watchers, for they seemed to luck the place, never failing to leave a portion of their catch behind.


Once, when a group of the Seal Folk were at meal beneath the Watchers, the Lady opened her mouth and, still looking to sea, spoke these words: "You shall have a wizard amongst you to tide you against the coming evil." She said no more, but the Man spoke these words: "Hidden from you shall be the wizard, for the evil shall come hidden amongst you." The Seal Folk were stunned at first, but then asked many questions of the Watchers; but got no answer. The Watchers did not speak again during their lifetime.

Each of the Seal Folk took their own counsel, and carefully rehearsed the Words of the Watchers, and passed them down from parent to child for many lives of their folk. Some of them went on journeys inland to learn what they could of wizards, and brought back scrolls and tomes copied by unknown hands. The Seal Folk learned to read and to write, and discovered much of the ways of the world, and of wizards. They learned that when the Sea had eaten the land, it had been the end of a Second Age of the world, and they now lived in the Third Age.

The Watchers remained seated upon their stone, looking out to sea.

Many years later, there came a dark night of deep cold shadow. Had any looked upon the Watchers, they would have seen their countenances darkened and dour. But none looked. To one in the village, carefully chosen, came a Shadow. This Shadow had watched each of the Seal Folk, and this one, who had done no deed of evil and seemed in no wise more given to evil than any other of the folk, bore a seed of malice unvoiced. To this one the Shadow came and said, "You shall my accomplice be, and power you shall have, to wield fear and rule over these folk who have never understood your greatness. Choose first for yourself three to rule over. Through these you will kill. Do this and you shall be given power beyond your dreams." This one understood: "The evil wizard am I." The evil wizard prepared by spending all the days reading carefully the tomes and scrolls in the evil wizard's possession. This did not seem odd to others of the Seal Folk, for every household possessed such books and parchments, and some were known to give themselves wholly to such study from time to time.

The Seal Folk are:

1 Diamond ~ gammer married to Nogrod & mother of eligible young maidens Lhunardawen, Azaelia, & Firefoot ~ Battledore Maker with strong forearms from battledore swinging

2 Celuien ~ wife of The Saucepan Man, daughter of mormegil ~ Healer and Cupper

3 Caranlondien ~ eligible young maiden, eldest daughter of Sleepy Ranger & Roa Aoife (big sister of Thin & Glir) ~ Sled-Team Driver

4 Roa Aoife ~ wife of Sleepy Ranger, and mother of Thinlomien ~ weaver

5 Nogrod ~ gaffer married to Diamond and father to eligible young maidens Lhunardawen, Azaelia, & Firefoot ~ retired jester who has many permanent bruises from battledores

6 Dancing Spawn of Ungoliant ~ eligible young maiden (or wife of Nilp if he plays) ~ Baker

7 Kath ~ eligible young maiden ~ minstrel

8 Lommy~ child of Sleepy Ranger and Roa Aoife, younger sister of Glirdan and Caranlondien ~ little girl who steals other children's candy

9 Lhunardawen ~ wife of Eonwe (no children) & eldest daughter of Nogrod & Diamond ~ jeweler

10 Glirdan ~ child of Sleepy Ranger and Roa Aoife, older brother of Thinlomien, younger brother of Caranlondien ~ with giant crush on Kath (occupation aplenty!)

11 Valier ~ not so eligible young maiden ~ gardener

12 Sleepy Ranger ~ married to Roa Aoife, father of Thinlomien ~ Wanderer from the days of old, now settled in the village

13 Kitanna ~ courting Eomer ~

14 Firefoot ~ tomboyish young maiden (engaged to stuffy, boring, rich jerk) & daughter of Nogrod and Diamond; younger sister of Azaelia ~ artist

15 Alcarillo ~ gaffer married to Cailín ~ old retired sea captain

16 Cailín ~ gammer married to Alcarillo ~ match maker

17 Oddwen ~ orphan child, in the care of Lalaith ~ aviary keeper (filthy, insane street urchin who steals chickens & other fowl and keeps them locked up in boxes)

18 mormegil ~ widower, father of Celuien ~ retired mariner and currently mayor overseeing honorary functions

19 Feanor ~ husband lost at sea, widowed and eligible ~ suspicious and somewhat creepy shepherdess with a love of alliteration

20 Azaelia of Willowbottom ~ eligible young maiden & daughter to Diamond and Nogrod [open to whims of the mod] ~ (apprentice?) seamstress

21 the phantom ~ single semi-eligible young man, brother of Eomer of the Rohirrim ~ loud, unpredictable, adventurer

22 Naria ~ young eligible maiden ~ servant who empties and cleans chamber pots

23 Jenny Hallu ~ unmarried maiden & aunt; Celuien's sister ~

24 The Saucepan Man ~ husband of Celuien ~ barkeep

25 Lalaith ~ frivolous aunt and guardian of Oddwen ~

26 Eonwe ~ husband of Lhunardawen & son in law of Nogrod & Diamond ~

27 Eomer of the Rohirrim ~ young eligible, brother of the phantom, courting Kitanna ~

28 Nilpaurion Felagund ~ hubby of Dancing Spawn

29 Gurthang ~ Kath's older brother, son of Nilp & Spawn ~ stable-hand

30 Loki ~ ~ leech collector

Family Tree of the Village

Players are strictly forbidden to post to this thread until the Game Moderator (LMP) opens it up.

[littlemanpoet]

Dueling Wizards Werewolf Rules

There are two wizards, and no other gifted at the beginning of the game, which must have a minimum of 20 players, and an arbitrary maximum (first time) of 30. The two wizard roles are assigned from a list of volunteers who are willing to play the roles.

The two wizards don't know who each other are. One is evil, one is good. Neither wizard can be killed, except by each other.

The game begins with a Night phase.

Evil Wizard: each Night the evil wizard picks a villager to curse as a werewolf. The new werewolf is immediately informed and the mod requests a kill choice, which the werewolf provides by the end of the 24 hours. On the first Night of the game, the Evil Wizard chooses three werewolves; thereafter s/he chooses one per Night.

The werewolves do not know each other's identity because while they are werewolves at Night, they cannot detect the identities underlying the curses. When there are multiple werewolves, and they make differing kill choices, the person with the most werewolf "votes" is killed.{**} If there is a tie, the sub-mod for the evil wizard PMs back to each werewolf about the others' choices, and serves as a go-between until the werewolves have come to a majority choice.

{**First, the werewolves place their individual nominees before the Evil team sub-mod. The sub-mod informs the EW & werewolves of all nominees. The werewolves then pick from amongst the nominees until there is a consensus for the Night as to whom to kill. If there is not unanimity, the kill will be based on majority votes. If no majority has been established by the end of the Night, the EW will choose from among the nominees. The EW may overrule all of the nominees (but should be cautious about doing so), and informs the Evil team sub-mod when s/he does so; the sob-mod then informs the werewolves and gives a summary of the EW's reason(s) for the overrule, if the EW wants to give one.}

If the werewolves happen to pick the EW or a werewolf, ALL will be told to pick another kill.

Note: Werewolves do not PM each other and therefore cannot debate with each other; thus, they are not going to find out each others' identities. If in some odd circumstance, a werewolf gets the most votes for the werewolf kill, the evil wizard has the right to overrule the choice, and the werewolves are told to make a different pick. If in some even odder circumstance, the werewolves choose the evil wizard as their kill, the evil wizard of course has the right to overrule their choice. In a 20 or more player game, if there are 4 to 6 werewolves, there are 2 kills per Night; if there are 7 or more werewolves, there are 3 kills per Night.

If the evil wizard chooses a gifted villager to curse, the gifted villager loses the gift but does not turn into a werewolf ... this time. The good wizard is informed of the loss of the gifting.

If the evil wizard picks the good wizard at Night, he is informed that he has discovered the good wizard, and has the option from then on to call out the good wizard to battle during any Day.

The evil wizard may choose to inform one or more werewolves who one or more other werewolves are; but this is a risky option and should be used with great care, considering the possible consequences.

The evil wizard is allowed to lie to his were-creatures.

Good Wizard: each Night the good wizard picks a villager to scry.

1. If the good wizard scries the evil wizard, the good wizard is informed of that, and can call out the evil wizard to battle during any Day, which results in the death of both wizards.

2. If the good wizard scries a werewolf, the werewolf is turned back into an innocent by the good wizard's power.

3. If the good wizard finds an innocent, the good wizard has the option of turning that innocent into a gifted, the choices being seer, ranger, and hunter. If a gifted is de-gifted by the evil wizard's curse, the good wizard may assign that gift to another. A newly assigned gifted may immediately function in the gift the same Night. If a gifted is killed, the gift may be assigned to another innocent. The new assignment is made via the nightly scry.

NOTE: There may only be one seer at a time, one ranger at a time, and one hunter at a time.

The good wizard may choose to inform one or more gifteds who one or more of the gifteds are.

The good wizard and gifteds may PM during the Day. The good wizard may withhold from, or divulge information to, the gifteds as the good wizard sees fit. All PMs between gifteds and good wizard must pass through the good team sub-moderator. The gifteds do not know who each other is unless the good wizard tells them.

The evil wizard and werewolves win when the werewolves equal or exceed the number of innocents. The villagers and good wizard win when there is no evil wizard left, and no werewolves left.

There are no shirriffs, no werebears, and no cobblers.

If the good wizard and the evil wizard choose the same previously innocent villager on the same Night, the two wizards discover each other's identity by means of the contest. Since the evil wizard still wants a werewolf, the good wizard must choose whether to let the villager die as a casualty of the wrenching experience of the contest, or let the villager survive and become a werewolf.

Just to be perfectly clear: a wizard battle always results in the death of both wizards, and may only happen during the Day. Once both wizards are dead, the werewolf game reverts to classic rules: no PMing between gifteds during the Day.

There is a vote for lynching every Day. If there is a tie vote, then the first player to have received that many votes, is lynched. If a wizard is voted to be lynched, he will be lynched but cannot die that way, and is thus forced to declare himself, and the opposing wizard can call him/her out for a wizard battle the following Day. A wizard cannot be killed by lynching; instead, nobody dies that Day.

If the evil wizard dies, the werewolves are informed of each other's identity, and revert from there on to traditional werewolf group dynamics.

Each Day and Night will be 24 hours; if such a time frame proves somehow unworkable, it may be changed (with notice of course!) during the game.

Order of Night Activities:
1. Evil wizard picks whom to curse.
2. Good wizard pickes whom to scry.
3. Affected players are informed of results of #1 & #2 (if both wizards pick same villager, this phase gets longer but is completed before the next phase begins).
4. Ranger picks whom to save.
5. Seer picks whom to dream.
6. Hunter picks whom to hunt.
7. Werewolves pick whom to kill.
Note: Steps 4 - 7 can happen simultaneously, but will be recorded by the moderator in the order as listed so as to keep the game straight.

Miscellaneous Rulings:
*There are no multiple lynchings.
*A killed or lynched persons previous roles will not be revealed until the game is over.
*Regarding player etiquette: Accusations and suspicions are what the game of werewolf is all about, and that's why we play. This sometimes includes insults which must be considered as 'all in fun' (using appropriate 'smilies' helps to show that it's all in fun); however, there are limits that must not be crossed: if your gameplaying insults are beyond the pale (you're going to have to accept the moderator's judgment on this), you will be considered to have gone overboard. Therefore, anyone going overboard will get a PM from the moderator with a warning to use better etiquette. Any player that "goes overboard" a second time, will be summarily removed from the game with no death narrative. As one of the Wise once said: "It's only a game - don't be offended, but it's only a game - don't be offensive."
*The seer may dream of the same person more than once. The Ranger may NOT defend the same person two Nights in a row; but may defend the same person every OTHER Night.
*The Hunter may kill (and be killed) either by being killed by a 'picked' werewolf, or when lynched.
*No retractable votes.
*When a player dies, the identity and last role of the player will be named, but previous roles will not.
*References to past werewolf games may be made as follows: "My werewolf lorebook(s) say(s) ....."

[littlemanpoet]

The Game begins at 6 p.m. today with Night One.

At that time the following things may happen simultaneously:

1. The evil wizard may officialy pick the first three werewolves.
2. The good wizard may scry one player, resulting in the discovered evil wizard, a discovered and uncursed werwolf, or gift an innocent player.

Immediately following that, the next things may happen simultaneously:

3. The three werewolves may nominate one victim to kill, by sending a PM to Boromir88, the evil team sub-mod.
4. If the good wizard has bestowed a gift, the gifted player may, if a seer, pick a player to dream; if a ranger, pick a player to guard; if a hunter, pick a player to hunt.

The victim nomination process will continue until (1) a consensus is reached regarding the werwolf kill, or (2) a majority is reached, or (3) the evil wizard overrules the werewolf choice, which ever happens first.

There will be another narrative post roughly around 6 pm EDT today. Following that will be the first Day post, which will go up at roughly 6pm Friday. Once that post is up, posting may commence.

CRITICAL EDIT: The first Night's kill is Elempi, widowed father of Diamond of the Battledores. Therefore, the werewolves do NOT need to nominate a kill for Night one. Sorry for the confusion.

[littlemanpoet]

The Evil Wizard coveted the power spoken of, and did as instructed. The evil wizard knew that there was a Good Wizard, for the Watchers had foretold it. It came into the evil wizard's mind to have the werewolves kill the Watchers first, but the Shadow had expressly forbidden it saying, "Those two belong to me. It is mine to end their lives. Touch them at your peril." The Evil Wizard left them alone.

After much study, the Evil Wizard deemed that the time was ripe, and cursed three of the Seal Folk, and they became werewolves that Night. He sent them forth to do their killing.

* * * * *

One of the Seal Folk, who had, as all the others, prepared for the prophecy through much study and practice, woke up to see the Two Watchers standing in the room.

The Lady said, "You are the Good Wizard foretold."

The Man said, "You must act tonight. You know what you must do."

This person blinked and rubbed at sleepy eyes, and looked again. The Two Watchers were not there. Had they ever been? They were only ever seated upon the stones! Scry a villager, spoke a whispered voice in the person's mind. "I am the good wizard," said this one. "I must do what I can!" The Good Wizard got to work.

* * * * *

Night One has now begun. Let the Game Begin!

[littlemanpoet]

Night One Intricacies

The good wizard felt at a loss, and rushed about the room looking for just the right book. "Scrying," mumbled the good wizard. "That's what I need to do. How is it done?" At last the good wizard found the right ancient volume and poured over it long into the night, and almost until dawn before being sure of what action to take.

Meanwhile the evil wizard had not been idle, but had cursed three villagers, and they had become werewolves. They raced into the night and sought their prey, finding him alone, asleep, and defenseless. They woke him and leered at his terror, then attacked him, first a gash to the throat so that he could not scream. Then they mauled him, almost beyond recognition. Almost.

At last the good wizard rose from the table and scried. The one scried was fanged! "Uncursed be!" cried the good wizard. As luck would have it, the killing and disposing of the body had been long gone and the other two werwolves were not nearby. The uncursed werewolf was safe, and no longer a werewolf. Almost, however, the good wizard saw a shadow of some kind, lurking in the darkness behind the identity of this former werewolf. "The evil wizard!" the good wizard said. "I must discern!" But the good wizard had not studied discernment of the evil wizard, and was unprepared, and could not discover the evil wizard's identity. The good wizard resolved to be prepared the following night.

[littlemanpoet]

A Note on Rules

The first loophole has been discovered. The good wizard chose to scry one of the players that the evil wizard had cursed. On any other Night, I would have allowed the rules to function as I have written them. This Night, however, is a special Night, and I decided that the play of the game would be compromised if the good wizard found out the identity of the evil wizard before there was even a Day One. So I made a decision that the evil wizard's choices would be made early on this Night, and the good wizard's scrying performed late. If this game is ever played a second time, I would strongly recommend that: The Good Wizard does not scry on Night One. The plot does function more cleanly that way, as Loki has suggested. But the gameplay was the deciding factor. There you have it. We shall see how many more of these snap decisions will be needed during this game. Not too many, I hope. Bear with me, it's going to be an interesting ride!

[littlemanpoet]

Day One

Elempi's father had been all the way to Umbar in his day. He had returned with the oldest tome the village had seen, and won renown thereby; and the hand of a fair maiden named, if bargain one could call it. When Elempi was a name of Umbarian origin, and so the babe's father settled on it. Elempi is translated from the Umbarian tongue as bard of little account; or in the slang of that land, two bit poet. Elempi did grow into his name. He gained a reputation for the wittiest doggerel that any had heard, but never a serious line of verse passed his lips. He married Nar and their only child was Diamond. But Nar was drowned in the sea in a sudden gale while her fishing husband was safe off the coast. Elempi grew sad for the loss, but gladness came when Diamond married Nogrod, the village jester who, though not given to verse, took up where his father-in-law had left off for jollity. Nogrod and Diamond gave joy to Elempi's declining years. with three children, though Diamond lost that same number to illness and early death. Yet the three who lived to walk on two feet were lovely girls. Their grandfather loved them and delighted in them.

Until this day. The sun rose over the distant Ered Luin, shedding light upon fragmented, rushing clouds that broke off the sea as if fleeing in fear, chased on crying winds by the gods.

The villagers found a corpse lying at the foot of the Rock of the Watchers, who looked still out to sea. But a single tear slid down the quiet face of each. The corpse was Elempi, and was marred cruelly by wanton maulings that were far more than needed to kill.

"Papa!" cried Diamond, kneeling by the corpse.

"This is murder!" grated her husband, Nogrod. "It is the evil the Watchers warned of! What should we do?"

Lalaith said, "The Watchers said there would be a wizard among us. That one will save us."

"How do we know that is so?" asked Lommy.

"So the Watchers spoke, according to the old tales," said Alcarillo.

"Cursed by the evil one," said a voice they had not heard before, "werewolves three." It was the Lady Watcher.

All the Seal Folk, after a moment of stunned silence, erupted in a chaos of questions. She did not reply, but looked out to Sea.

"One cursed new each Night shall be," said the Man, not taking his eyes from the sea.

Now the stunned silence was not broken, for fear had overcome them all.

"Two remain," the Lady intoned, "for one was turned again."

At last, mormegil the mayor spoke. "The good wizard may help us, but we must do what we may," and this one laid out a plan for the village to talk amongst themselves and choose one each day from their number whose life should end as sundown, in hopes of ending the life a werewolf. Each of the Seal Folk acknowledged that it was a desperate measure, but needed nonetheless.

Suddenly Diamond wailed. "They've taken his heart!" Sure enough: almost surgically, the chest had been opened and the heart removed, carefully cut. What diabolical purposes did the evil wizard have for this? All wondered, but none could say.

So the Day began.

Play Officially Commences for Day One at 6pm EDT.

[Loki]

Loki grumbled, thoroughly annoyed at the events that had taken place the night before. "If you think that this bloke had a rough night," He jerked his head toward the desecrated corpse of Elempi midsentence, "...you ought to have waited until morn' in my bed." The aging leech collector cracked his neck, advanced beyond its years fromt he abuse his work had put him through-- namely infections of the bacteria from the collected creatures, but added upon the stresses of blood loss and forced rapid revitalization.

"By Eru, both of those damned wizards must have been vying for the collection of my soul this night. Visions of fur and claw and tooth dominated my mind; I couldn't catch a wink." He growled in a quiet tone, irritability clearly having become the order of the day. "The wizarding pair of which the Watchers spoke must have lost nearly as much sleep as I in fighting over the reclaimation of my soul." He kicked a nearby puppy that had dared cross his path in the early morning. "Thankfully, perhaps, I neither lost my life in the scrap nor transformed into one of those foul lycanthropes."

OOC: Gee, what does Loki know? He must be some kind of bloomin' idiot, he must. Know what? I fully exercise my right to the "I told you so" clause of the Immaturity Papers.



I told you so.





...MAN, that felt good.

[Nogrod]

What a discrace! What an evil!

My father-in-law killed! You morons will pay for this!

Why didn't the watchers tell us, that this would befall on us? Are they in a league with the evil-doers? And how come the leech-collector makes his predictions already before they were killed?

Loki grumbled, thoroughly annoyed at the events that had taken place the night before. "If you think that this bloke had a rough night," He jerked his head toward the desecrated corpse of Elempi midsentence, "...you ought to have waited until morn' in my bed."

"By Eru, both of those damned wizards must have been vying for the collection of my soul this night. Visions of fur and claw and tooth dominated my mind; I couldn't catch a wink."

So fifteen minutes before he died, this Loki guy was already making his

I told you so.

remark here... and trying to assure us, that he was astonished, why he was not the subject of the death - or scrying!

...MAN, that felt good.

DO I need to comment on this one?


Well, it's the time of grief, and I won't be with you in some hours. We must make preparations for the funerals right now. But believe me, I'll be back, more furious than ever you have seen - to hunt down these horrible mutations that have killed my father-in-law!

[Celuien]

Evil times are upon us, friends. Long have we known that doom would come upon us, yet none us of looked to see it in our time. Yet it seems that fate has chosen us alone of the Seal Folk, and the Reindeer Folk that were our ancestors (may their memory be praised!) to meet this horror. And what a wicked horror it is that would choose to slay Elempi, kind man that he was. I will not forget the many hours he spent, telling me the tales of our folk, when I was but I lass no higher than his knee. May we swiftly avenge his death.

I know not who among us has turned to evil. I will vouch for my own family, though in truth, I cannot be certain if any among them have been brought into the dark. But I find it hard to believe that my own husband, the Man of Many Pans, could possibly slip out of our home to do foul works without somehow alerting me. Nor could my girls, Kitanna and Naria. And don’t any of you go accusing my poor, sweet, quiet Naria for her shyness. Why, it isn’t her fault, what with her father and me always talking at each other. Poor child could never get a word in edgewise. No wonder she doesn’t say much to us anymore. Nor can I believe that my dear sister Jenny or my father (morm) could be werewolves. I’ve known them my whole life and they’ve never been anything but good to me. Except for the whole business of their opposing my marriage, but I’ll not hold that against them.

That Eomer though. Imagine him courting my daughter without so much as a word to her father or mother. ‘Tis most shocking behavior and speaks to some mischief. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if he did turn out to have lupine tendencies.

So much uncertainty. I would try to heal the evil that has befallen us, but this foe is beyond my poor skill. Fevers and ill humours - ailments of the body - I can assuage, but the business of Wizards, Good or Evil, is outside my ability.

I rejoice that the Good Wizard in our midst has cured one of our number who had fallen to evil treachery. I doubt, however, that the one was Loki. Though I appreciate his deliveries of leeches for my healing art, he is somewhat less known to the village than some of the others here. The Evil Wizard could strike a sore blow to us by taking those closer to the community; my husband or father, for instance. That crazed adventurer the phantom. Or even, yes, the rascal Eomer. And any of them are as likely to have drawn the notice of our Good Wizard too. All have served our village well, and could aid us greatly in possession of the gifts the Good Wizard is said to be able to bestow. But only the Wizards, and perhaps the saved victim, know who the fortunate one is.

In way of advice, I can only say to try and keep a clear head. Watch for those among us who are changeable, for they might have changed in more ways than their words. Even to the point of seeking our destruction.

[mormegil]

I've never trusted that Eomer and I would suspect him of Lycanthropy at best but more than likely he's the evil wizard. I say we kill him! Plus this will prevent him from marrying into my family.

[Celuien]

Originally Posted by mormegil

I've never trusted that Eomer and I would suspect him of Lycanthropy at best but more than likely he's the evil wizard. I say we kill him! Plus this will prevent him from marrying into my family.

Well, I agree to anything that stops him from marrying Kitanna. But sadly, if he's the evil wizard, we can't kill him, dad. What's this I hear about his being involved in piracy?

Have at thee, battledore maker! I care not about insults to my own character, but where my sister, husband and children are concerned, I will brook no scornful words proffered without good cause. At least no insults were hurled at my poor father, which speaks well of you, but apologies are still owing.

[Loki]

OCC: *rolls eyes* Fine, Nogrod, if it's THAT important to you, I'll delete my post and repost. Is that what you want? I had just happened to be available at that point in time, and making sure I could catch one last meal at my favorite cafe before it closed for the summer happened to be more important to me than some silly internet game. I had to use the money I had on credit there, else I would lose it. So, unless you're willing to cough up $20.00 for my meal next time, I'll be sure to follow the rules a little more closely. If you REALLY want me to delete that post and place it later, you're certainly welcome to ask. I simply did not have the time for wait around for an extra fifteen minutes. Some of us have lives and jobs outside of this forum.

Also, my "I Told You So" statement was directed towards this:

If this game is ever played a second time, I would strongly recommend that: The Good Wizard does not scry on Night One. The plot does function more cleanly that way, as Loki has suggested. But the gameplay was the deciding factor. There you have it.

Not directed towards my being transmogrified and then scryed. That, even I could not predict. I was not wholly suprised by this action; I am, obviously, the best pick(And, being newest to the forums) and least suspicious of the group. Chances are good that I would not have been considered to be anything evil and wrong... just yet.

[Diamond18]

I have the most reason to mourn this day, since it was my very own venerable and beloved father who fell to the beasts. Ai! Foul dwimmerlaiks. *shakes fist*

However, one does not get to be my age without learning to maintain a stiff upper lip and turn sorrow into action. Vengeance! *raises battledore with a mad gleam in eyes* I do not like the idea of losing any more of my family to this menace, but am prepared to avenge each and every loss. I've been preparing all day by knitting together battledores, a pair for each of my daughters to defend themselves with. Noggie dear has a nice collection of juggling knives, also, which will no doubt come to good use.

And so, I now lay out my thoughts about the days ahead:

Well, I do believe I announced my intentions for this earlier, but I will repeat myself for the sake of annoying redundancy.

Today I do not intend to vote for anyone in my family. This includes Nogrod, Lhuna, Zali, Firefoot, and if he's a really good boy, Eonwe. Also, being the loyal battledame that I am, I will vote to save the lives of any of these people should the opportunity present itself.

As the days darken and evil stretches its clammy hand over the village, (i.e. after Day 1) I will break with family ties if I see fit. But not before then, so don't bother trying to talk me out of it.

Now, on to the really serious portion of my opening speech. Here are my thoughts on the various inhabitants of the village and some predictions for how their time amongst the dueling wizards shall go.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Diamond (a.ka. me) ~ I am clearly a wolf. Possibly even a mangy one. With a foaming mouth. In a strange twist of fate, I am also a Seer, a Hunter, and a Ranger, as well as being versed in both Good and Evil Wizardry.

Celuien ~ Evil. Just look at those beady little red eyes. It's not natural.

Caran ~ The eldest child of Roa and Sleepy, obviously prone to bouts of uncontrollable evil, and with parents like that, who can blame her? Still, she's just your ordinary psychopath. Can't find any traces of fur on her.

Roa ~ Seer, of course. Why else do you think she always appears to know everything?

Nogrod ~ My dear long suffering hubby, it's only a matter of time before he snaps. Sure he's okay now, but watch out for that one in the later stages.

Dancing Spawn of Ungoliant ~ Is the Evil Wizard, no doubt about it.

Kath ~ Pure as the driven snow. Possibly Ranger material.

Lommy ~ Another one of them Roa/Sleepy spawn. This one's clearly got hair sprouting in all the wrong places.

Lhuna ~ My eldest child, my pride and joy. Clearly innocent.

Glirdan ~ Owl.

Valier ~ Is the Good Wizard. Naturally.

Sleepy Ranger ~ I'm predicting will die innocent at the hands of a lynch mob headed by his wife.

Kitanna ~ Will eat her beau for midnight snack before the game is over.

Firefoot ~ My youngest, the baby of the family, sadly obviously a wolf.

Alcarillo ~ Is sick. Sick sick SICK.

Cailín ~ Completely innocent of everything but marrying Alc and giving birth to Phantom and Eomer, folly which will surely be punished by a lynching.

Oddwen ~ Will eventually be killed in a struggle between the Wizards.

Mormegil ~ Is completely innocent but will be highly suspect the entire game, until he is lynched at a crucial point.

Fea ~ Wolf.

Azaelia ~ Future Seer. My children are all high achievers.

the phantom ~ Wolf, Seer, Hunter, Ranger, Good and Evil Wizard. Also, Cobbler, Shirrif, and newspaper delivery boy. He gets around.

Naria ~ Inhuman.

JennyHallu ~ Bad to the bone.

The Saucepan Man ~ Must die.

Lalaith ~ An angel incarnate. Also a centerfold. Scary, isn't it?

Eonwe ~ Well, obviously I would never marry my daughter to anyone I thought less than highly of. He's the Good Wizard, too.

Eomer ~ Hunter. He'll kill Kitanna while she's snacking on him. What a narrative that will make.

Nilp ~ Is a freakin' genius. He'll be the first to die, though.

Gurthang ~ Clearly, he's evil.

Loki ~ Smells bad.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And that, ladies and gents, is the word from the battledore shop.

[Diamond18]

Originally Posted by Loki

OCC: *rolls eyes* Fine, Nogrod, if it's THAT important to you, I'll delete my post and repost. Is that what you want? I had just happened to be available at that point in time, and making sure I could catch one last meal at my favorite cafe before it closed for the summer happened to be more important to me than some silly internet game. I had to use the money I had on credit there, else I would lose it. So, unless you're willing to cough up $20.00 for my meal next time, I'll be sure to follow the rules a little more closely. If you REALLY want me to delete that post and place it later, you're certainly welcome to ask. I simply did not have the time for wait around for an extra fifteen minutes. Some of us have lives and jobs outside of this forum.

I was wondering to myself, today, as I was knitting my battledores, "I wonder how many posts it will take for Loki to get insulting and insufferable."

And the answer is two!

Seriously, though, don't blow your stack every time someone calls your posts into question. It happens to everyone.

[Nogrod]

= Loki
OCC: *rolls eyes* Fine, Nogrod, if it's THAT important to you, I'll delete my post and repost. Is that what you want?

= Diamond
I was wondering to myself, today, as I was knitting my battledores, "I wonder how many posts it will take for Loki to get insulting and insufferable."

I just must second my wife here! *ducks the battledore-sweep* But really, that was not the point... and do not care about it... for awhile at least. Just don't make yourself forcibly made available to that kind of indecent accusations later on...

[QUOTE]Also, my "I Told You So" statement was directed towards this:

=lmp
If this game is ever played a second time, I would strongly recommend that: The Good Wizard does not scry on Night One. The plot does function more cleanly that way, as Loki has suggested. But the gameplay was the deciding factor. There you have it.

I will drink to your favour on this one!
But I will also request you to see the probability of this one happening (and thence kind of ask, whether lmp was a bit overhasty in his judgement - or whether those dry runs didn't take consideration of us WW-gamers being "known enough" to build up some categories that are not the same as neutral dice-rolls - that was one of my concerns before the game)

But anyhow, we all get it right sometimes, and on others not (I got two werecats right from the initials of an original death poem, but can't say, that I could have honestly bragged afterwards, that "I told you so"!).

I am, obviously, the best pick(And, being newest to the forums) and least suspicious of the group. Chances are good that I would not have been considered to be anything evil and wrong... just yet

Anyone making that claim is the most suspicious so far. I'm kind of irritated by the change of the tenor of your voice in the discussion thread. There you were mostly challenging everyone. So why not anymore? Now after just one light suspicion (basic first day stuff anyhow - just picking on some twistable detail), you start defending yourself like a wolf (even appealing to your newbieness - quite unlike in the discussion-thread)?

If you have been picked as a wolf by the EW just because no-one will vote you on the first days as a vocal newbie (and somewhat an arrogant one) - I hope you rot in hell pretty soon - if you are an innocent, well, try to do something for us! "Show your qualities"!

Now the funeral awaits, and I must try to support my wife and children... Sorry, the time of mourning is holy. I hope you see it as such too. See you in the evening..

EDIT: X-posted with Alcarillo, Firefoot & Celuien

[Gurthang]

Okay, Summary of Reactions After Receiving Votes (SRARV):

(format: Receiver - vote number for receiver {&} (vote giver) - post number of first post after vote (with cross-posting considered) - reaction in a word - reaction)

Nogrod - 1st (Nilp) - post #118 - Ignorant - Asks question about time of Day End.
Eomer - 1st (Lhuna) - post #77 - Displeased - Says that some of the early votes seem innappropriate, although does not mention his directly.
Thinlómien - 1st (Gurthang) - post #75 - Ignorant - Thin does not mention or acknowledge being voted for.
Loki - 1st (Diamond) & 2nd (Caran) - (no need to say anything)
Nilp - 1st (Eonwe) - (none yesterday)
Oddwen - 1st (Cailín) & 2nd (Glirdan) - (none yesterday)
Saucepan - 1st (JennyHallu) - (no reason to put anything here)
Kath - 1st (morm) - post #154 - Agreeable(?!) - says vote is "fair enough " and tells morm to use more reasoning for toDay.
Nogrod - 2nd (Naria) & 3rd (Eomer) & 4th (Thin) - post #162 - Unhappy - Direct quote: "Great!" (But also see post #163 - questions Thin and Eomer's reasoning)
Saucepan - 2nd (Alcarillo) - (see above)
Thin - 2nd (Kath) & 3rd (Celuien) & 4th (Firefoot) - (none yesterday)
Loki - 3rd (Fea) & 4th (Nogrod) & 5th (Lalaith) & 6th (Valier) & 7th (Kitanna) & 8th (Azaelia)- (no need to say anything)
Nogrod - 5th (Loki) - post #173 - Sarcastic - "How convenient..."
Alcarillo - 1st (SPM) - (none yesterday)
Lhuna - 1st (spawn) - (none yesterday)
Nogrod - 6th (Roa) - post #202 - Ignorant - He didn't say anything, probably because he was safe for the day.
Roa - 1st (phantom) - (none yesterday)

Well, there it is, but why do I feel like I just wasted my time...

About the only things I see from this are a couple of responses from Nogrod, but I don't have anything from my lorebooks to say about him.

But I want to ask Eomer something: Why did you think the earliest votes were inappropriate?


Other than that, I think that maybe we should look at what Loki thought. I know other people also are suspicious of Nogrod and Roa, maybe not Diamond so much, but I don't think it'd hurt. Although I might be pressed just to keep up; lots of Stable Handing to attend to.

[littlemanpoet]

Please refrain from asking for rules clarifications on this thread.

Instead, PM me directly.

You will get quicker response that way, and you will also not potentially skew the game by unintentionally alerting other players as to your role in the game.

Thank you.

[Nogrod]

The one I have the most suspicion now based on some evidence, is Oddwen (I'm probably a bit weary about both Lommy and Roa - as the hunches go), as I have noted on my post #328, basing it into my belief about how the EW will have picked her/his wolves.

++ Oddwen

Trying to save my neck and do some good to the village (Sorry Roa: those two might be identical things: with my lorebooks, you are not used to see it this way... )

[littlemanpoet]

Thirty Minutes to Day End.

[littlemanpoet]

Voting is now over.

Evil wizard pick a player to curse.
Good wizard pick a player to scry.

Werewolves wait until you know how many you are before you nominate a kill.
Seer pick a player to dream.

Day End narration will follow in the next few hours.

[littlemanpoet]

One of the village's young men spent a year in wandering before he returned home, but did not get far. Rather, he made friends of the Dwarves of Ered Luin and learned all he could of their histories, even of the great Dwarven Cities of the First Age of Arda. Armed with this knowledge, the young man returned and married, and fathered a son whom he named Nogrod, after one of the two great Dwarven cities of old.

Nogrod proved to be a happy fellow, not at all like his city name's population. He left town when a young man, and made his way in the world as a fool and jester, and became quite good at it. Most of his time was spent in the kingdoms of the Dunedain in the North of Eriador, and he made a fine living. When he returned to Sealville, at the mildly advanced age of thirty-five, he brought back with him a small fortune, with which he found it quite easy to catch himself a bride, and not the least fair of face amongst those available. Her name was Diamond, famous in the village for everything haveing to do with carpets, and she bore him seven children, though only three survived: Lhuna, Zali, and Firefoot. As their children grew, whether mooning about the house, or playing about the bottoms of willows, or running fast from trouble they'd started, they were well cared for and suffered no want. The eldest, Lhuna, married well enough that without her to care for, the four remaining family members lived rather well.

As the years advanced, the house was known to erupt in sudden violences of temper and squeals of rage accompanied by the sounds of some stick like implement smacking against something that did not give way. "You know who wears the pants in that family," the gossips were known to say.

On the mornign of Day Two of the Evil Times, Diamond was holding forth just outside her own home, making new battledores while she talked. Nogrod was there of course, and Glirdy was over, as well as Alcarillo. Diamond talked about family rivalries, the late but not missed (by her) Loki, and how much she agreed with "that boy phantom". Celuien burst in, tears streaming down her face. "Why my poor, harmless Saucy?" Diamond tried to comfort her in her grief, which meant keeping her battledores sheathed. Celuien nevertheless gave out murmurings of suspicion, directed at various and sundry persons, including the present and listening Diamond and Alcarillo. Glirdy accused the mayor. After some more deep thinking and referring to lorebooks, Diamond barely stave off the temptation to throw another in the fire. Nogrod finally spoke his piece, but all he could say was, "This looks bad. We're really in trouble." He ducked from getting hit with a battledore just in time, then announced that he was going to take a nap.

It seemed that mormegil had been eavesdropping and took high umbrage at the death of Loki and all the nattering talk that he couldn't keep track of. In good mayoral fashion he put his hands in his vest and with all seriousness declared a few of the villagers innocent. How do you know? not a few of them wondered.

Down by the beach, Gurthang, Caranlondien, Feanor, Zali, Firefoot, and the phantom discussed the recent events. "We have to find a wizard!" Gurthang said yet again. "I don't think we can expect to find any clues in Saucy's death," said Caran. Feanor said, "Just because our ancestors acted one way, doesn't mean we'll act the same way." The others looked at her with impatience, wondering why she was saying something so obvious. "I wonder if Saucy's death is was a subtle frame-up?" said Zali. "This is completely nuts!" said Firefoot. Phantom said, "I have a plan but I'm not saying what it is." Zali looked at him moon eyed and mistily while the others clicked their tongues or rolled their eyes.

Toward noon, Celuien announced that the Salty Seal would stay open for business. The villagers gathered there for food and drink. Mormegil opened the discussions anew by pointing out that Diamond was talking an awful lot. "What's she trying to hide behind so many words?"

"So much depends on who the evil wizard is!" said Eomer.

"I think it's Valier," said Nilp. "I vote for her." And so the lynch vote began over lunch.

Lalaith became the quick receiver of two votes, noticeably one from her own orphan charge, Oddwen.

It was not a complete surprise that Diamond turned on her husband and voted for his lynching. Of course, she had warned that she would be quite willing to vote for members of her family, but no-one had taken her seriously until it happened. Some whispered behind their hands to each other, glancing evilly at the battledore maker. Others aimed an eye at Nogrod and wondered if his wife knew something about him that it would do all of them well to know.

Soon the voting coalesced around two primary nominees: Nogrod and Oddwen. The Nogrod camp considered the filthy, insane child to be hardly a serious threat. "How can such a poor thing turn into a werewolf at night? Or have the twisted intelligence needed to be the evil wizard?" Meanwhile, the Oddwen camp said "She's being a bad girl." Luckily for her she was apparently not being a bad girl enough. The final tally was 11 votes for Nogrod, and 6 for Oddwen.

They bound him and led him to the beech tree, strung up the rope, and set him on the stool.

"Do you have any final words, Nogrod?"

"It's sad to leave a good life so early," the gaffer said. "Sorry family. Your daddy was a nice person once, but then something just meddled his mild-mannered mind."

"Kick the stool already!" cried Diamond, hands on hips.

Nogrod grinned. "Bye-bye everyone!"

"Oh, I'll do it!" Diamond groweled, and came up to kick the stool. Then she shrieked and fell back. Nogrod's face began to ridge and his teeth enlarged. His nose grew into a snout, and he burst his bonds. With a roar he scratched and struggled at the noose, but Eomer and Phantom raced up and unsheathing their swords, they slew the monster with many strokes. Finally he lay on the ground, a mangle of matted adn bloodied flesh, his eyes alone red with werewolf-light. He hissed a last sibilant breath. Some heard whispered words of doom in that hiss. Shivering with the growing chill of the night, even more with the horror of the first werewolf revealed, they shuffled off to their homes, climbing under the covers even though the night was not cold.

~ The Tally ~

One evil wizard
One good wizard
Two werewolves
One seer

~ The Dead ~

Elempi, father of Diamond of the Battledore, killed on Night One
Loki the leech collector, lynched on Day One: innocent
The Saucepan Man the barkeep, killed on Night Two: innocent
Nogrod the retired jester, lynched on Day Two: werewolf

~ The Living ~

Diamond of the Battledore
Celuien the Healer and Cupper
Caranlondien the Sled-Team Driver
Roa Aoife the weaver
Dancing Spawn of Ungoliant the Baker
Kath the minstrel
Lommy the little girl who steals other children's candy
Lhunardawen the jeweler
Glirdan with the giant crush on Kath
Valier the gardener
Sleepy Ranger the former wanderer
Kitanna the beloved of Eomer
Firefoot the artist
Alcarillo the old retired sea captain
Cailín the match maker
Oddwen the filthy, insane street urchin who steals chickens
mormegil the retired mariner and current mayor
Feanor the shepherdess with a love of alliteration
Zali the seamstress and beloved of the phantom
the phantom the loud, unpredictable, adventurer
Naria the servant who empties and cleans chamber pots
Jenny Hallu the unmarried maiden & aunt
Lalaith the frivolous aunt and guardian of Oddwen
Eonwe the freeloading husband of Lhunardawen
Eomer the adventurer & lover of Kitanna
Nilpaurion the ne'er do well hubby of Dancing Spawn
Gurthang the stable-hand

[mormegil]

Okay I did a brief read of all of Alcarillo's posts and wanted to make a couple of comments on them.

Originally Posted by Alcarillo

Relax, relax... it was just a bit of role-playing. You aren't going to lynch me because of that, are you? Just a bit of fun.

Now in my reading I would estimate that at least half of what you said is role playing. A bit too much for my tastes as it gives us very little to go on to judge your character. It's too easy a shield to hide behind. You've given very little by way of substance.

Originally Posted by Alcarillo

If by yesterday's "overreaction" you mean my spirited defense, then I'll explain. Saucepan Man and I had exchanged votes on the first day, so naturally his death would point at me as a double-bluffing wolf, as some of you accused. If my defense seemed overeager, I suppose it was, but fingers across the village were pointing at me. I was the topic of debate, and I just wanted to dispel the dangerous rumors.

Again an extreme overreaction to some queries. I reread that section and really only Celuien brought up suspicion of you and actually you were defended by both Glirdan and Diamond before your so called 'spirited' defense. I think you know of the kill and got a bit hyperactive and couldn't handle the pressure.

I was the topic of debate, and I just wanted to dispel the dangerous rumors

Again overreacting on this point, your name was obviously mentioned, as it should have been but I don't think you were the topic of debate.

Alcarillo, with the combination of overreacting, role playing in excess and posting little of substance you fit the mold of what I would consider lupine.

Gurthang you bring up good points and I concede that I may be wrong but I feel Eomer worth looking into because he's too dangerous to leave alone for too long. Now the bold arguement doesn't hold water...this rougue would bluff his way out of anything because in his mind the safest way is the most risky...if that makes sense.

Well it's time to retire but I hope to hear from Eomer soon and more from Alcarillo but more than likely my vote will swing that way. Where has Thinlo gone? She's normally here 24/7 it seems.

[Cailín]

My phantom... I am so proud of you. You did indeed die a hero's dead and you will be sorely missed. I know I wasn't always nice to you, but... *sniff* I loved you dearly.

A mother just lost her child and now you start attacking both her husband and her other son? How terribly heartless! I must say I can see some reason in the attacks on Eomer, though let me tell you that being mysterious is just one of his ways. Ever since he was a little child, I only understood half of what he says. Apparently because he's smarter than me, or something (ha! as if).

But seriously, though I do believe caution is in order and Eomer would indeed make a formidable opponent (as my ancestors know well) I would not like to see this premature bandwagon going any further. I'd love to hear what he has to say for himself, first.

As for my husband, Alcarillo... He has not contributed much to the general discussion, admittedly. There are more, however. I am not yet convinced.

The question is, did anyone else make similar posts talking up the importance of the Wolves not knowing each other?

I can answer that: I did and I think Oddwen might have mentioned it as well. I do not find it of much significance, however, since I still believe the wolves were unaware of each other's identity.

Short post, as I have to leave now. I will check back soon with my own observations.

[littlemanpoet]

Rules Clarification

1. If the player the Hunter picks is a wizard or an innocent (whether ordo or gifted), the Hunter makes no kill.

2. If the player the Hunter picks is a werewolf, the Hunter and werewolf kill each other.

3. If one of the players that the werewolves pick to kill is the Hunter, one of the werewolves who nominated or voted for the Hunter, is killed, and kills the Hunter.

Rules Revision

The Hunter, if lynched, does not make a kill.

I apologize again for not having this clear in my head before we started. The clarifications and revision are in keeping with my dry runs, which held good balance. We return to that balance.

These clarifications and the revision are effective immediately.

Thank you. That is all.

[Gurthang]

Quick glance at Celuien, Zali, and Diamond.

Diamond:

#13 - Says she won't vote family Day 1, but later on will if necessary. This was followed by a list of everyone; most of them being 'accused'. She did say Nogrod would be evil and that Naria was inhuman, but I wouldn't give that a lot of weight, since she said the same about most of us.

#14 - Pokes at Loki and warns him about overreacting.

#25 - Defends Nogrod against Loki's rebutal. Again warns Loki about sportmanship.

#27 - Says post about everybody (#13) was just for prediction sake and hopes they don't come true. Talks to Alcarillo about children.

#28 - Gives possible reasons why Loki might have been the one scried by both wizards. Still doubts though.

#30 - Reverts Celuien's question about Loki to Nogrod. Says she thinks Nogrod might be acting strange and that she saw what she expected from Loki.

#35 - Responds to phantom's comment about flattery.

#39 - Looks forward to phantom's list of how wizards will act. Says she doesn't have any idea. Also says it's unlikely that we'd find the EW early, but if we did the wolves wouldn't stand a chance.

#43 - Thinks Naria's right with her response to phantom's "what do the wizards fear" question. Makes a joke for her own response.

#50 - Babbles about wizard behavior. Says EW won't be loud, but then again he might. Throws lorebooks into a fire.

#76 - Attacks (jokingly) Nilp for voting Nogrod. Marks that Nilp and morm have been quiet. Votes for Loki. Gives reasons.


Celuien:

#10 - Standard first post: Defends family, mildly accuses Eomer, doubts Loki's claim, and advises a clear head.

#19 - Quotes morm concerning Eomer. Agrees, but seems like mother-protecting-daughter reason. Spars at Diamond over family insult or something like that.

#29 - Says we should wait about Loki and that he is not unlike what she expected.

#61 - Remarks about Nilp not voting for himself.

#78 - Talks about GW revealing. Also mentions EW strategy and is reluctant to employ wizard spotting as it might flush out GW. Doesn't want to vote for any of the current candidates.

#142 - Gives reasons she will not vote for Loki. Doesn't think EW would risk discovery to defend wolves.

#145 - Thinks Nilp wouldn't be a wolf. Goes through post thinking about who EW would curse.

#164 - Voting list.

#169 - Says gut tells her Nogrod is innocent.

#181 - Analysis of Loki, Lommy, and Nogrod. Votes for Lommy for being a good EW pick and her sudden switch to vote for Loki.

#184 - Clarifies Day End time.

#186 - Responds to phantom about EW bluffing.

#201 - Voting Update.

#203 - Replies to a comment by the phantom and says she now knows he's not the EW.

#206 - Says goodbye to Loki. Comments that she doesn't think him a wolf.


Zali:

#104 - Warns against discounting anyone. Says Loki gets her on edge.

#196 - Agrees EW must be found. Votes Loki. Reasons include him being confusing and he worries her. Makes a point to say vote is not due to newbieness and that she has valid suspicion. Aplogizes for lack of participation.


That's only Day 1. Sorry, but I am tired of looking through all of it. After going through all of the first Day, I have nothing on Azaelia. Celuien is looking less suspicious also, mainly because she seemed to give good analysis and reasons for her vote.

Now, Diamond is something else. I think I may vote for her. One of the main reasons is that she seems to shift her view to fit what people say to her. Specifically I would point to #25 where she defends Nogrod against Loki, then when Celuien asks her something she turns to Nogrod with suspicion and says she saw what she expected from Loki. In the end she ended up voting for Loki. Also, she talks a lot, which is obvious and not necessarily bad, but a lot of it is role-playing and not as much constructive to the task at hand. I'm not too keen on that.

I don't want to waste my vote, though, so I'll only vote Diamond if there's still a chance to lynch her. Although, of the three candidates so far, I don't want to vote for Eomer or Azaelia. I'd have to do some research on Alcarillo to see what I think. I've got about an hour before I have to vote, so I'll see what happens.

[Thinlómien]

Originally Posted by Gurthang, about Celuien

#181 - Analysis of Loki, Lommy, and Nogrod. Votes for Lommy for being a good EW pick and her sudden switch to vote for Loki.

I hope she really didn't say that for I never voted Loki...

Originally Posted by Valier

I just noticed, but on POST #267 on pg.7 The Phantom put an arrow in his post, was he the Hunter by then? and if so this is perfect for Roa, she would see this and kill him not thinking he would pick Naria to kill....wait did he pick her? She also wouldn't fret knowing she could make another wolf even if he did pick one to bring with him.....Hmmmmmm weird indeed!

Also does anyone think NO TIME NOW in the Phantom's post could be an anagram? I don't know why he would put one in there, but you never know....and I have no idea how to solve those darn things!

I think your ideas are a bit far-fetched, Valier. Calm down. He was a hunter already then.

Now I'm really going... Good night! (Or day or whatever you have there...)

[Valier]

Originally Posted by Thin

I think your ideas are a bit far-fetched, Valier. Calm down. He was a hunter already then.

I don't think they're far fetched...So the Phantom let everyone know that he was the Hunter then by posting the arrow and I don't think it far fetched that he very well may have put in an anagram. I think Naria or one of the other wolves picked up on that and voted to kill him.....but I am still not sure.....Phantom did not kill Naria though,

Originally Posted by LMP

The evil team picked the phantom to kill. The good team picked the phantom to be the hunter. Werewolves trying to kill the hunter get killed. So the good team was really lucky.

Ok to me this sounds like Naria picked the Phantom to die last night...but was she the only wolf that voted for him? If so then it goes that she would be the one to die according to LMP's post. But why wouldn't the other wolves vote for Phantom if they saw the arrow? Did they, and Naria was the one chosen to die at random? Maybe she was the only one to see the hint.. I find odd though that the good team was really lucky.......why? because Naria was the only one to vote for him? AAAHHH I am confusing myself, but I see something here.....perhaps all the wolves voted differently and the EW chose to go with Naria's so the Hunter would be killed.Meaning the EW saw the arrow too...

This doesn't clarify much, I know, but I have almost convinced myself that Roa is the EW and if I be wrong this time may I shoot myself in the foot!! I sense it and I will come up with something concrete on her...I'll be back

[JennyHallu]

Val...one more time...

The phantom was not the Hunter until last night.

[Valier]

Ok Ok so what was up with the arrow? I find that odd for the Phantom to just put that in there....Oh well...I thought I had something...I still think I do on the EW choosing Naria's vote so the Hunter would be killed sacraficing a wolf, which I think they did.

[Kath]

Valier, one question. Why would the wolves want to kill the Hunter? I don't think that works. For one thing, phantom only became the Hunter last Night, so all these 'clues' from phantom's posts mean nothing. No wolves would go after the Hunter unless they were sure he'd hunt an innocent. The Hunter is only of use when dead.

[Celuien]

Originally Posted by Thinlómien

I hope she really didn't say that for I never voted Loki...

Never fear, Lommy. I'm not that off my rocker yet.

Originally Posted by Me, in the above cited post 181

...her sudden switch to voting for Nogrod...

Almost caught up...

[Roa_Aoife]

Valier- your record so far has been less than steller. First, you cast the vote that put Loki (an innocent) in the lead, then you decided the Nogrod wasn't a threat. My lorebook tells me that you are astoudingly off your game. Or perhaps your doing so purposfully. Either way, your instinct has not been trustworthy this game.

Several points:

I don't understand all of the suspicion for Alcarillo. He had a reason to defend himself, as people were suspecting him, and SPM's death made him look quite bad. And while I don't particularly like incharacter posts at this stage of the game, I don't see it making him guilty.

As for Eomer, good points were made against him, but good points were also made by him. His behavior seems too obvious to me, but my lorebook only has one record of an Eomer in a pervious village, and that one didn't live past Day 1.

Zali did seem far too eager to jump on the Eomer bandwagon. However, this could have been due to time constraints forcing her to vote far too early to see any other viable suspect.

Firefoot is the one that really draws my attention. After her strong defense of Nogrod before, and her imediate jump to help morm collect evidence against Eomer, she's looking really bad.

I'm afraid I don't have enough time to do a more thorough analysis right now. I'm going to consider things a bit more and try to get a clearer picture before I vote.

Edit: Crossposted with last five posts

[Valier]

Originally Posted by Roa

Either way, your instinct has not been trustworthy this game.

We shall see my dear Wizard...

[Kitanna]

Well I've given some thought to all that has happened and I came down to Eomer and Celuien as my top two suspects. Eomer for his cunning ability to double bluff and for Celuien's continued defense of phantom accusations of herself. In the end I simply flipped a coin to decide who to vote for.

++ Celuien

Though I defended her and Diamond to begin with when they brought themselves to everyone's attention, when Celuien continued it and regarded anyone looking at her as a "pointless arguement" I began to suspect her even more.

Oh crude, I need to run so I can't finish my reasoning. Sorry all.

[JennyHallu]

Two and a half hours left and this has really been a fairly quiet village this afternoon. I find myself at something of a loss: No one looks particularly suspicious today, except perhaps for Fea, Zali (maybe), and Di (maybe)...I'm inclined to think the third day 1 wolf (I firmly believe Loki was telling the truth...) probably was someone from that fateful list of SPM's though...

I think the wolves worked like this:

Night 1:

Loki, Nogrod, ??A??

Night 2:

??B??

Night 3:

Naria

Night 2 and Night 3 may be switched, but I think Naria was innocent Night 1. I don't know if I think LMP would have merely chosen the most recent wolf to kill rather than use one of his ever-present dice. A d3, anyone?

I think A is a SPM list-member, or one from that basic category: intelligent, trusted, moderate. B I am completely unsure of. But this list does rather put the EW as someone rather brash: Roa, Fea, morm, Diamond...there are probably others capable of trying to pull off a Loki/Nogrod/??A?? combo...

Must think and vote later.

[littlemanpoet]

Voting is now done.

Evil Wizard, pick a player to curse.

Good wizard, pick a player to scry.

Seer, pick a player to dream.

Werewolves, nominate one player to kill.

The Narration for today will be up in a few hours.

[littlemanpoet]

Moon-of-Earth-Girl. Lhunardawen had not always been sad. Hers had been a happy childhood. Whereas she took after her mother in appearance, she took after her father in outlook. It was as she began to grow older that the swinging battledores were less often hidden. Lhuna would run from the house rather than witness her father thwacked for yet another practical joke or prank greeted with wrath.

When she found Eonwe, she felt that she had her means to happiness. That was before three miscarriages, two still births, and a sole surviving toddler drowned in a freak riptide. Lhuna had been on the beach when it happened, near the Watcher rock when it happened. When she could not see her baby anywhere, she panicked and sought help from nearby villagers. It was many hours later that they found the little body washed up on the shore. Stone faced and numb, she had carried the inert form past the Watchers, and looked up at them: tears streamed down their faces. She melted in grief.

When the curse came, and her grandfather was the first to be killed, Lhuna hid herself away. She listened a little to the discussions, but lynching did not seem a thing to be done. Cold hearted and cruel, it seemed to her, and she could hardly bring herself to vote that first day. On the second day she wandered in the fields and did not attend any of the discussions. She came back into Sealville just as the sun was setting; to her horror, her father was being lynched. "No!" she cried, but no one heard her. To her greater horror, she watched her very own mother step forward to kick the stool away that would kill the man she had married. Greatest horror of all, her father changed into something ghastly before her eyes. Something in her snapped. She wandered back into the fields and hills, and slept under the unseeing stars. None came for her; they had more pressing matters, those who prowled the night streets.

On the third day, she stayed away yet again, but not amongst the hills. She needed to be closer to the Watchers, for it seemed to her that they would offer some protection, or at least give the fleeting impression that such protection might just be possible.
~ * ~
Celuien was so named by her father Mormegil because she was a fountain of joy to him. This was less so when she chose Saucy for her husband, but joyful she remained. A bright spirit she was in the village, and chose to be a healer ..... and cupper, learning the arts from a gammer who died not long after and does not come into this tale. So both the herbs and spices she plied, and the leech and cup as well, both in good measure.

When the curse came to the village, it was hard on Celuien to lose her husband one night, then one of her daughters the following night. Harder yet came the realization that her late daughter was no doubt the cause of her husband's demise. It left her shaken and a bit loose with her tongue.

"You probably think I'm the evil wizard. Well, I'm not."

Those who heard, wondered why she brought the suspicion upon herself, thinking that it was perhaps a ploy to come out early and thus throw off her suspecters late.

"Think what you will of Celuien," said Mormegil, "but my attention is elsewhere. Eomer is a brazen character and wouldn't shirk at the thought of killing off his wolves, looking at the vote for Nogrod indicates he did just that."

"Yes," said Firefot, "Eomer seems alarmingly obsessed with the Evil wizard."

"Eomer makes me nervous," said Feanor.

"I'm just a bit uneasy about Mormegil," Caranlondien said.

"The wolves probably know who each other are," said Diamond. "And what if Eomer's the good wizard?"

"I'm not saying Eomer is innocent, but I am quite surprised by this sudden tidal wave of support for his death," Gurthang asserted.

"Ack!" Diamond cried. "This is downright suicide inducing!"

Just then, Lalaith ran up as if she was looking for something. "I'm sorry, I'm going mad," she sobbed. "Where did Elempi put that post, I can't find it."

"What post?" asked Alcarillo. "There are many holding up the buildings and such. Besides, Elempi wasn't doing much besides writing bad poetry."

Eomer spoke up at last. "I'm not the Evil Wizard. I'm not the Good Wizard. I'm not anything but a tired young man who wants to settle down in a peaceful village. This dream does not look as if it will come true. Oh, and Spawn is devastating."

"I'm devastating?" Spawn asked, unbelievingly.

"Spawn is doomed," murmured Gurthang.

"You're always so cheery, my dear boy," Spawn retorted.

"Nilp seems surprising insightful," Mormegil offered.

"On the contrary," Kath objected, "Nilp has been behaving most oddly."

"I must be the worst mother ever," Diamond moaned. Nobody disagreed with her.

And on and on the discussions went until Nilpaurion cast the second vote (Zali had cast the first), but that had been so early that the folk wanted more time to discuss.

Zali was the nominee of choice early. Eomer, Alcarillo, and Roa also garnered a couple of votes. Then Valier started spouting theories, which, rather than gathering momentum, got her nominated for lynching. But the greatest number of votes went to Celuien. Out of twenty votes cast, she received five. It was enough.

"Come, Celuien, my d- No! No!" cried Mormegil. "I can't truss up my own daughter! Even if she did marry a brew gobbing scoundrel!"

"I know!" said a voice that sounded to some like Diamond, to others like Kath, and yet others like Firefoot. "Let's use her cups and leeches to lynch her!"

"No!" Celuien screamed. "That is most untidy!"

But it was to no avail. They tied her to a chair and set the leeches and cups to her arms and legs. She did not stop talking the whole time, but her words became more slurred and weak as the time passed. At last her pallid head dropped for the last time. The villagers waited for a hoped for transformation, or for her to magically wake up and fill back up with her own blood, assuming that the evil wizard had the power to do this. It did not happen.

As the sun was setting they carried Celuien's body to the new graveyard and dug another grave. Mormegil had insisted upon it. "We'll not make the Watchers bury our dead, especially not the innocent ones."

As they dug the grave, Eomer, taking a break, looked down to the shoreline. "Look!" he said. "There's something down there! I wonder if it's a werewolf or something?"

Half of the villagers left off digging and went down to the shore to see what had washed up.

It was Lhunardawn, soaked and without breath. This was no act of village will, nor of the evil wizard. This was a life taken in grief. The shadows lengthened as evening fell. But the shadows seemed darker this day. Those who looked up at the Watchers saw streams of tears. They silently laid Lhunardawen, the phantom, and Naria, side by side next to Celuien, in four new graves. It was late when they returned to the village and to their homes. Not far from anyone's mind was the likely horror of the night. Who would die next?

~ The Tally ~

One evil wizard
One good wizard
Two werewolves
One seer

~ The Dead ~

Elempi, father of Diamond of the Battledore, killed on Night One
Loki the leech collector, lynched on Day One: innocent
The Saucepan Man the barkeep, killed on Night Two: innocent
Nogrod the retired jester, lynched on Day Two: werewolf
the phantom the loud, unpredictable, adventurer
Naria the servant who empties and cleans chamber pots
Celuien the Healer and Cupper
Lhunardawen the jeweler

~ The Living ~

Diamond of the Battledore
Caranlondien the Sled-Team Driver
Roa Aoife the weaver
Dancing Spawn of Ungoliant the Baker
Kath the minstrel
Lommy the little girl who steals other children's candy
Glirdan with the giant crush on Kath
Valier the gardener
Sleepy Ranger the former wanderer
Kitanna the beloved of Eomer
Firefoot the artist
Alcarillo the old retired sea captain
Cailín the match maker
Oddwen the filthy, insane street urchin who steals chickens
mormegil the retired mariner and current mayor
Feanor the shepherdess with a love of alliteration
Zali the seamstress and beloved of the phantom
Jenny Hallu the unmarried maiden & aunt
Lalaith the frivolous aunt and guardian of Oddwen
Eonwe the freeloading husband of Lhunardawen
Eomer the adventurer & lover of Kitanna
Nilpaurion the ne'er do well hubby of Dancing Spawn
Gurthang the stable-hand

[littlemanpoet]

Evil wizard, pick a player to curse.

Gurthang, pick a player to scry.

Hunter, pick a player to hunt.

Werewolves:

* Nominate a player A to be killed if there are only three of you after all is said and done on Night 5.

* Nominate a player B to be killed if there are four or more of you after all is said and done on Night 5.

A lynching narrative will be forthcoming in the next few hours.

[littlemanpoet]

Voting is now closed.

Evil Wizard, pick a player to curse.

Gurthang the Good Wizard, pick a player to scry.

Seer, pick a player to dream (if you wish to).

Hunter, pick a player to hunt.

Werewolves, pick two players to kill.