Game Thread - WW XCIIX - The Meaning Of Death

[Galadriel55]

Could you please do it? Just one more time! Please?

I don’t want to, and it’s nothing new to you.

Please? Just once more!

Very well. Last time! Let’s go find something good.

In the last years of Numenor the King’s hatred for the Firstborn and the Valar grew black, and with it grew the hatred for the Elendili. King Ar-Pharazon –

Oh, this is boring, and you know it – I will skip to the interesting part.

Then, sensing that the time was right, Amandil the Faithful of the line of Elros bade all those still faithful to the Valar to gather in a deseted village not far from Romenna. He bade them to come in a guise, so that should they chance upon the King’s Men, they would not be discovered and their purpose revealed. Amandil believed that whilst there is still one voice to cry for the cause, hope is not lost.

So on the right day a crowd of people came to the village, and they spoke freely to each other, saying that somehow the King must be shown the wrong of his ways. But there were four men who spoke not but listened carefully. These were no Elendili, and with no invitation they followed the crowd to the village. Being fooled by their own guises, the Faithful took no heed, and thus revealed themselves to the King’s Men.


Night1 begins. KMs may PM, Elendil – send me your names.

ALIVE:
Morsul
Nerwen
Inzil
Lottie
Shasta
Manwe
PomPom
The Phantom
sally
Eomer
Boro
Steve
Brin

DEAD:

Don’t freak out and bombard me with PMs about the 4 KM. There are 3. You’ll find out everything soon enough.

[Galadriel55]

It was nearing night-time, so all the people settled down in the abandoned houses. Eventually, most sank into a deep sleep. Only four were still wandering about silently, thinking, pondering.

It was nearing dawn when the four men happened to come together at a crossroads in the middle of the village, and they recognized each other, and they spoke quietly of what to do.

“There is only one thing we can do,” said the first. “Are we not the King’s Men? Let us ride fast to Romenna and alert Ar-Pharazon of this gathering!”

“Nay,” said the second. “That way we shall only do harm. The Elendili will miss us before we deliver our news, and they will know that something is afoot. They will flee and scatter, and we know not who they really are. What is it to the King that they have met, if they cannot be caught? Nay. We shall destroy this rag-tag gathering from within. We shall single out one of them each night, and the one we choose shall never see the light of day again. We shall be bloody, bold, and resolute; we shall laugh to scorn the power of the Faithful, for none of them shall find out that there are King’s Men among them, for all their strength in numbers and tricks of the mind! And even if they do – what fools! They are wearing guises! They would not be able to recognize us amongst themselves. Today I heard them talking, and they said that none of them know exactly who and how many are to arrive. We shall triumph over them and stomp them into their own confusion!”

“Faithful...” spat the third, “We’ll show them how to be Faithful...to our King!”

But... was there really no way the King’s Men could be defeated? Was there really no hope?

Of course there was, silly. Otherwise they wouldn’t make such a long story out of it. Listen.

Yet the third man was dubious and hesitant to join his voice with his fellows.

“Do you really mean to kill them?” he finally said. “Kill them in their beds? They are disloyal to our King, and deserve a punishment. They should be hanged in the city square for all to see what happens to traitors. But to murder them? I will not...”

“If you will not be with us,” the first man interrupted, “then you are against us. You are too lily-livered to deal them their lot. But we are not so; we are not afraid to give a supporter of the Elendili what he deserves. And he deserves no better than they. We start tonight.”

The fourth man’s eyes widened. Before he could make a sound, he felt a dagger strike deep into his chest.

“The first one is done, then,” said the third man, wiping his dagger clean on the inside of his sleeve. “Who shall be next?”

“We do not have time. The sun will be rising in mere minutes and the folk will be coming out of their shelters. We ought to hide the body.”

But it was too late already. People were waking and peering outside. The most that the King’s Men could now do is pretend that they have just come out too and found the body lying there.

The crowd gathered around the dying man. Someone asked what evil is come to this place. Someone gently placed a pillow under his head. Someone brought a cup of water and cloth for bandaging. But it was to no avail. They could not save him.

The man started coughing. He was trying to say something. Everyone drew closer to hear his faint voice.

And what did he say? Did he say the truth?

Be quiet, and you’ll find out.

“Elendili...” they heard, “not all of you are so. Fear to be betrayed from within, for there are three King’s Men among you here. Do not take off your disguises, for that is all that they need to find a place for you in Ar Pharazon’s dungeons. Find them and destroy them before they destroy you!”

Everyone was dismayed. “Who are the men? Who are they?”

The dying man’s eyes groped around the circle of faces, looking for the guilty ones that only he knew, searching, searching, searching... He was dead before he completed a circle. Three men standing on the outer edge of the circle exchanged meaningful looks.

The people mourned and lamented, but they knew the dead man was right. They had to find the three traitors. They decided to vote every day and cast a vote, and the person with the most votes they would lynch. Through talk and careful investigation they were sure they would be able to identify the three traitors among them. And they did not lose any time on hesitation.

Day1 begins. KM, stop PMing. Villagers, post! Isildur, you may send in a name.

ALIVE:

Morsul
Nerwen
Inzil
Lottie
Shasta
Manwe
PomPom
The Phantom
sally
Eomer
Boro
Steve
Brin

DEAD:
G55, the hesitant King’s Man (modess) – stabbed on Night1

[Inziladun]

Ah, how Númenor has fallen from the ways of the Edain of old! Holding to rebellion against the West, and with violence forcing evil upon all, that in defense of our lives we must ourselves kill, the King's Men debase us in spirit as they seek to destroy us in body!
Nevertheless, care we must take, as much as we can, that we destroy not ourselves, doing the work of the King's Men for them.

*whew*

With IC done, let's go. Since I'm first posting, that makes me a baddie, it seems. Who wants to be second and third to round out the evil ones?

[the phantom]

Originally Posted by Inzil

Since I'm first posting, that makes me a baddie, it seems. Who wants to be second and third to round out the evil ones?

Yes indeed! I was just about to post-> "Does posting first mean I found the body first? Uh-oh" or something similar.

[Nerwen]

Ah, well, I'll have to be third, then.

[Morsul the Dark]

IC: Forsooth a comrade hath been slain.
Why why is our quest now in vain
are we all now in peral
I fear some of us are feral
tread lightly friends
I fear more death before this ends.

Moving along:

Does fourth make me the nonexistent CC?

We have 3King's Men right?

and 13 players? That means if we do really bad and don't catch any of them we have 7 day/nights. Not much time.

[the phantom]

Time to look at the roles...

KING'S MEN- A standard wolf-pack here, with the usual behaviors to look for and bluffs they can use.

AMANDIL- Essentially an Ordo with the added bonus of potentially being able to prove himself through a reveal. If the other Gifteds die quickly his "power" becomes rather useless, but early on it's a nice consolation if he's offed to know that some Ordo will know to trust some Gifted.

Frankly it makes me wonder if Amandil shouldn't just be super bold right from the start. I mean, that way we won't lynch him and if the baddies kill him they know that the result will be Elendil, Isildur, and Anarion surviving the night plus a random Ordo will know to trust one of them due to the death-power.

Thoughts from others on an extremely early Amandil reveal?

ELENDIL- Now this role is very interesting. He'll easily be able to find out what his dream recipient thinks of his dream target, but he won't know whether to trust the recipient as he very well could've handed information to a Baddie.

As far as ensuring that Elendil gets the opportunity to see what his dream-recipient thinks of his dream-target, that's relatively easy to set up- everyone simply say "these 3 are evil" and list 3 names. Elendil then looks at the names provided by the recipient and if his dream-target isn't there then the recipient is saying "they're good" and if they are there he's saying "they're evil".

This process can be repeated every day and right off hand I don't believe it would be particularly easy for the King's Men to trace the individual dreams or Elendil himself based on the lists, as the dream will originate from a different source every day and could be any of listed or unlisted names.

Thoughts on this plan? If no one can show that it would harm the village's chances I think we ought to agree to it as soon as possible, as it seems to be one of the few obvious constructive things we can do on Day 1.

ISILDUR- Now he has a straightforward and quite useful power- at a time of his choosing he can nullify the lynch! I think it's unlikely the power will be used early on unless he is defending himself or a dreamed-of Goodie if he's so lucky as to receive a dream. If he can stay alive to the point where reveals are made and suspicions are easier to come by etc. he could truly rescue the village from defeat. On the other hand if he's night-killed without using the power it'd be a total waste, so it's not as if he can say for certain that sitting on his power is best.

Or should he just bank on Day 1 being most likely an innocent and spare us the initial lynch right off the bat playing the percentages? Thoughts?

ANARION- The standard Ranger, here, except that there is a twice-per-game limit set on him. If not for that then the obvious percentage play on Night 2 would be self-protect, but if he survives the first couple days then still having a pair of self-protects in his pocket would be darn useful. This would also be another reason for an early Amandil reveal- with Anarion still alive the King's Men might feel a need to silence the trusted Amandil but they'd know the Ranger might be hovering over him. Thoughts on this?

[the phantom]

Well, I had hoped people would be around, but ah well... I'll check back in before I fall asleep at least.

[Galadriel55]

“When do you think we will get a King’s Man?” asked a young man. Some men grunted or shot icy looks at him.

“Do you know what will happen to us?” the same boy asked again.

“Stop asking such questions. It does not help us any,” the old man said patiently.

“But I want to know! I think that they will help me find a person I suspect of being a King’s Man!”

“Do not argue,” quipped a man with thick, curly hair. “Listen to sagely advice when it is given to you.”

“But what if I disagree?” the boy continued on.

“Then don’t disagree!”

“What sort of thing is that to say when our survival depends on rooting out the three malicious people within us?”

The boy’s voice was louder than he intended. Some people turned their heads to look at him. One seemed to have come upon some dazzling idea.

“Hey, were you not the one who threw the first stone?” he asked.

Was he really? I’m sure he didn’t do it because he was evil!

*sigh*. I thought this wouldn’t last long.

What wouldn’t last long?

You not asking questions.

What questions?

Just – just don’t talk.

“He was, by Eru!” another man replied.

“I didn’t know that man was innocent!” the young man protested. “You all threw stones too!”

“And asking all those questions, just doesn’t seem right!” yet another man said.

“I just want to do the best thing! All I want is to get rid of the King’s Men!”

“Watch him argue!”

Despite the boy’s protests, they dragged him to the town square, where the night’s victim was found dead this morning.

“You have done it, have you not?” roared the crowd.

“I’m a good boy, I am!” the boy pleaded. It was no use. The crowd was deaf to the truth. Someone brought out a sword. His head was forced forward. Then the sword came down.

Nothing happened.

I knew he was no King’s Man!

Aye, so you told me. But they didn’t.


ALIVE:

Morsul
Nerwen
Inzil
Lottie
Shasta
Manwe
The Phantom
sally
Steve
Brin

DEAD:
G55, the hesitant King’s Man (modess) – stabbed on Night1
Eomer (ordo) – stoned on Day1
Boro (gifted) – drowned on Night2
Pom (ordo) – decapitated on Day2

[Galadriel55]

As the villagers closed their eyes, praying that the next day will prove to be more successful, the King’s Men met near the edge of the settlement. For some time they only whispered. One nodded. They walked slowly through the streets, making no noise as they went. Then they came to the house of their choice. It looked empty from the outside, but they knew that there was a man inside. A good man. A trusted man. A dangerous man.

The door creaked slightly when they entered in. They tiptoed into the bedroom. Just like they thought, the man was inside. He sat gazing out a window. Somehow, the King’s Men knew that he held more power than it seemed.

“Good morning, sirs! Has the beautiful Anar disappeared from the sky, or did the time shift so that the morrow is now at midnight?” the man gave a nervous chuckle.

“We are not amused by your petty jests,” one of the King’s Men replied coldly. “We do not come here to exchange greetings.”

“Wherefore do you come, then?” the man knew the answer and dreaded it, and he braced himself for a rough fight.

“We are come for your life.” There it was. Suddenly, it did not seem as fearful to the poor man as he thought it would. After all, what is his life, the life of but one simple man, no matter how good, in the webs of history of Ea? His life would not merit one stitch in Varie’s tapestries, or so he thought. And he would continue on, beyond the circles of the world, even if his life is taken.

“Nay, ‘tis not my life that you need,” he said, and his quiet voice rang in the room. “’Tis my death that you came for.”

“Life or death, we will have it!” one of the King’s Men said triumphantly. Before the victim could do so much as make a sound, they were on him. One hastily produced a piece of rope, which he wrapped around the man’s head and pulled until the life went out of him. A pale mist rose above him and floated out the window that faced the West.



ALIVE:
Morsul
Nerwen
Inzil
Lottie
Manwe
The Phantom
sally
Steve
Brin

DEAD:
G55, the hesitant King’s Man (modess) – stabbed on Night1
Eomer (ordo) – stoned on Day1
Boro (gifted) – drowned on Night2
Pom (ordo) – decapitated on Day2
Shasta (gifted) – throttled on Night3

[the phantom]

So, are we going to debate what role Shasta had?

[the phantom]

Anyway, yesterday's lynch was.... irritating. I did a special readthrough especially for Pom, and following that I made this post announcing that I was transferring Pom into the "free pass" category.

No village has ever regretted listening to an innocent Phantom. You know that, right? *grumble*

[the phantom]

Okay, so now that Shasta's dead, is there a one of you that has received special information about Amandil's line?

(I'm not asking for you to out the person, I'm just wanting you to raise your hand if you've been sent special info, and then if someone contests that claim I suppose we'll put the both of you to the test.)

[Eönwë]

Will be back later, with more thoughts.

[Morsul the Dark]

Here for two minutes between errands.

Note: I'm putting assumed there because it's not 100% confirmed but pretty much accepted.

list:

Known Innocents:
Phantom
Brinn

Assumed Innocents:
Lottie
Inzil

Assumed evil
Nerwen

That leaves at least two packmates.
Sally
Manwe
Steve

Right now I'm thinking Sally Steve However if I'm wrong and Sally is in fact innocent then clearly Steve Manwe

[Brinniel]

Originally Posted by phantom

So, are we going to debate what role Shasta had?

Hmm...well, that's a tough one. I'll have to think about it.

phantom, should I assume that you didn't receive a dream last Night? Then we can pretty much confirm that Boro was indeed Elendil...not that it's any surprise.

Originally Posted by Morsul

So Pom was Ordo which means to me anyway Sally is evil Nerwen is evil and probably ZIl.

Wow, you really think all three baddies would hop on the Pom bandwagon? I doubt it.

I do feel fairly confident that at least one baddie took part in getting Pom lynched, for reasons I stated yesterDay. And when I say this, I don't mean just those who voted her, but anyone who contributed to the bandwagon. Because a baddie can manipulate a lynch without actually voting the target lynchee.

[the phantom]

Originally Posted by Brin

phantom, should I assume that you didn't receive a dream last Night? Then we can pretty much confirm that Boro was indeed Elendil...not that it's any surprise.

Heh heh- if I had received a dream I probably would PMed back, "Um, are you sure?"

Originally Posted by Brin

Wow, you really think all three baddies would hop on the Pom bandwagon? I doubt it.

Well, Inzil voted early for Steve I believe, so that would only be two on the wagon, which would be an understandable number if in fact the threatened Sally was a KM.

Btw, you're not obligated to answer my questions, Brin, since you're a proven innocent.

[Morsul the Dark]

Originally Posted by Brinniel

Hmm...well, that's a tough one. I'll have to think about it.

phantom, should I assume that you didn't receive a dream last Night? Then we can pretty much confirm that Boro was indeed Elendil...not that it's any surprise.


Wow, you really think all three baddies would hop on the Pom bandwagon? I doubt it.

I do feel fairly confident that at least one baddie took part in getting Pom lynched, for reasons I stated yesterDay. And when I say this, I don't mean just those who voted her, but anyone who contributed to the bandwagon. Because a baddie can manipulate a lynch without actually voting the target lynchee.

It's at the point that even if one innocent makes a mistake(me) then as long as they vote together it's not that hard to outvote everyone else.

[Brinniel]

YesterDay's Voting:

Italics = known innocent
Underlined = deceased

Pom ++ Sally
Morsul ++ Pom
Inzil ++ Steve
Shasta ++ Pom
Manwe ++ Morsul
Brinn ++ Inzil
Nerwen ++ Pom
phantom ++ Sally
Loslote ++ Sally
Sally ++ Pom
Eonwe ++ Inzil *

*didn't count

X-ed with phantom

[Morsul the Dark]

So Pom was Ordo which means to me anyway Sally is evil Nerwen is evil and probably ZIl. Nerwen and Sally keep suspecting me but never vote me. I mentioned I'm an easy lynch and useful at a critical moment for the KM well we could have worst case scenario two bad lynches till game's end so frankly now's my final stand as an innocent I have to go with what I think what I'm sure of. I will have really no time for this day so in case I can't get back by DL:

++Sally

Yeah I'm that sure.