WW: XCVIII ~ Game Thread ~ Death at the Foot of Taniquetil

[Kath]

In the days of peace in Valinor a dark evil has grown among Elves and Valar alike. Assumed to be the result of an evil work of Melkor, previously non-violent Elves have turned upon each other in vicious ways. Many of the inhabitants of the land have fled to the relative safety of the mountain home of Manwe. However, at the foot of the mountain, danger lurks in one small village ...

... Rune and Greenie peered out of their homes, glancing suspiciously at each other as they slowly made their way to the fountain that marked the centre of the tiny village that had sprung up over the last few days. Shasta had said the Valar were going to send someone to inform the villagers about the worrying deaths that had marked their departure from their previous homes. They met him hurrying along the road with Boro and all four travellers made sure they kept a safe distance apart. They had all seen the bodies, no culprits had been caught - trust had to be earned now.

sally called out as they arrived. "These are the last ones!" She was speaking to a tall Elf stood at the side of the falling water. Pom and Nerwen moved aside as the final four slid into the small circle that had gathered around the Elf.

"I am Kath." She stated simply. "I have come to tell you what we know of the danger surrounding the village. There are three monsters among you. They are separate and do not know each other ... yet. We have found in other villages that these creatures are drawn to each other and as they meet their power becomes greater and more die."

"But is there no protection?" Cried Coppermirror in horror. skip spence and MCR murmured in agreement.

"In a village this small there is not." Replied Kath. "It is up to you and you alone to stop these creatures. If you can agree amongst yourselves to put one villager to the gallows that villager will be granted death if found to be one of these evil creatures. If that villager is an innocent their soul will be kept safe until such time as the danger is passed. Work well together to save yourselves. Return to your homes and lock your doors. Your task will begin in the morning.""

With that, ignoring any further questions, the Elf stepped into the fountain and vanished amid the water.

The villagers turned to each other, each face holding more suspicion than the last.

Villagers:
Rune
Greenie
Shasta
sally
Boro
Pom
Nerwen
Coppermirror
skip spence
MCR

[Kath]

The Night had been full of terrors. As the three dark creatures that lived amidst the frightened villagers shed their daily guise and revealed themselves in their own homes their howls could be heard through the tightly shut doors and windows. The howls held a note of question - each creature attempting to find the other evil-doers in the village.

Yet one voice was different. Feanor, mighty among Elves, had sent a gift in secret to the village. One was able to search for the side of good, seeking out the evil.

This voice though was all but drowned out by the delight and malice in the three voices. They had found prey.

~ ~ ~

In the morning the villagers awoke, surprised and relieved to still be alive. In fear but with a kind of dreadful fascination they put their heads round doors - expecting to see some grisly sight before them. They were not disappointed.

"Kath!" Screamed a voice from the crowd.

The villagers crowded around the mangled corpse that lay in the once beautiful fountain, the water now a deep red. It was indeed Kath, their only link to help from outside the village, mauled and murdered

"We are lost." A deep voice intoned sadly.

"No! Remember her words!" Came a hopeful cry. "We can still save ourselves. Let us discuss now what we know of each of us and hope that we can discover evil before it takes us all."

Day 1 has begun. Villagers please begin discussing your fate.

[Nogrod]

Nogrod was among the crowd and kind of baffled why he was not mentioned in the account as among the villagers... "maybe it's my usual quietness..." he thought while turning away in disgust from Kath's mauled body with the others.

Well, anyway, if the wolves didn't know who the others were, then we might have an advantage if we acted wolvishly just to derail them from their real target of finding out their mates.

Then again it would be that the most vocal players might be more the targets than they normally are (which isn't a low probability either) as it goes with the wolves' "popular vote" unassisted by strategical considerations... which gamewise could be bad.

Then again, if we all act like wolves toDay it makes the voting quite random - which it in some ways is on D1's most of the time - but well, forcing a policy on D1 rarely works either...

So in the end... hmph. Let's take that as a starter? Or any other ideas?

[MCRmyGirl4eva]

MCR stared at the mauled body in the water. She glanced about, staring at each of the villagers in turn. Working together to find the wolves seemed folly; it would only lead to more death when the wolves were aware of the individual villagers' plans. She had been planning to save herself at any cost, and seeing the mangled body in the fountain solidified her conviction.

"Do as you all will," she announced. "Save yourselves, and your families if you must. Trust no one whom you do not know better than your brother. Loose lips shall be the death of us all. We are alone. There is nobody from outside to help us through the wilderness, so those who plan to flee shall have no guide. I shed no tears over Kath, for though she was a brave woman, I have no compassion to spare."

Her skirts swished about her as she walked away, stepping around Nogrod, and her departing form was followed by the amazed gazes of the others.
___________________

Please, if I seem to be missing the point or something, don't be afraid to help me out. I've never done something like this on this site, and I want to enjoy it without ruining it for others. Thanks!

[Coppermirror]

Coppermirror stood thinking near the village centre for some time, eyes averted from the grisly sight in the fountain. At least among the crowd, it was possible to feel a semblance of safety, however shaky. "Alas, poor Kath. Her words were true. There is no protection for us, but for the plan she brought."

Originally Posted by Nogrod

Well, anyway, if the wolves didn't know who the others were, then we might have an advantage if we acted wolvishly just to derail them from their real target of finding out their mates.

I wonder about how good that idea is...

Advantages:
- We could prevent the wolves from having any real data to go on. Usually, an information blocking strategy like this would only hurt the village, but the wolves need information too.
- As long as the wolves don't have sound information to go on, they might kill a wolf in the Night.

Disadvantages:
- There'd be little basis for today's lynching target. Albeit it's rare to have solid info on Day 1 anyway.
- The rest of us will also lack information going into Day 2. On the other hand, unless the wolves found each other last Night, there would be little info we could guess from their Day 1 behaviour anyway.

Originally Posted by Nogrod

Then again it would be that the most vocal players might be more the targets than they normally are (which isn't a low probability either) as it goes with the wolves' "popular vote" unassisted by strategical considerations... which gamewise could be bad.

Sorry Nog, I didn't understand this paragraph. Why is it that the most vocal players would be more of a target using the "everyone acts wolvish" strategy?

Originally Posted by MCRmyGirl4eva

Working together to find the wolves seemed folly; it would only lead to more death when the wolves were aware of the individual villagers' plans. She had been planning to save herself at any cost, and seeing the mangled body in the fountain solidified her conviction.

"Do as you all will," she announced. "Save yourselves, and your families if you must. Trust no one whom you do not know better than your brother. Loose lips shall be the death of us all. We are alone. There is nobody from outside to help us through the wilderness, so those who plan to flee shall have no guide. I shed no tears over Kath, for though she was a brave woman, I have no compassion to spare."

Miss MCR, I understand your worry completely. We can trust no-one. But we must all work together to find the wolves, nonetheless.

[Nogrod]

Haha. I thought of going to sleep "early enough" but being secluded from the internet and social media for four days clearly takes it's toll... now I'm pondering whether to stay up to look for the presidential debate (updated: only forty minutes from now - but it ends soo late...)


Hey Coppermirror, nice to have your input. I don't think we have played together earlier. Welcome!

And it looks like you're playing and not just lurking around. Kudos for that - and I really appreciate that. We need people who play and just not hide in the corners.


That said, your comments or "analysis" ("advantages and disadvantages") of my first post seemed to be only restating what I said...

What you said you didn't get is the following.

Let's say you are a wolf X and you need to get someone killed by the rules which say there has to be at least two votes for the kill to take place in the first place. So how do you pick your choices when the kill demands others (you don't know who they are) to think the same way? So all the "high-profile" players are more probable to enter their lists as any wolf would pick them thinking the others would think like the same... So not so much strategical discussion but trying to make the same pick other wolves would do (in your opinion). So the "obvious ones" die first.

Now I think the wolves have thought about that already (they are not stupid to not have thought of that) so that can be said out aloud. And why I think we should speculate on this is actually that the wolves need to be also afraid of killing their mates so an open discussion might help us making their picks harder.

We need to stir the pot.


On another note.

I can't see why some thought the wolves would be underhanded in this game because they didn't know each others' identities? I mean if they don't happen to aid lynching one of their fellows (3/11 chance on D1) we have no way of findng a connection which is the only good way of hunting them down as there is no connection in the first place.

So many shots in the dark to follow. Let's pray Valar we get them right.

And no, this is no pessimism. Just stating the facts and encouraging everyone to make their best!

[Pomegranate]

Pom sat on the ground for a long time, her head bent and her eyes seeing nothing. Everything seemed to happen around her as if in a haze. People walked around her, shaking their heads and murmuring sad words, all glancing towards her every so often, sometimes with compassion, sometimes with the same doubt that was in their expressions all the time these days.

Suddenly she rose. She was sad - yet it was time to do something.

I personally think that, given how small the amount of villagers there is compared to the amount of wolves, a technique which will keep us from having something to analyse today and tomorrow could prove to be pretty disastrous. The wolves need information, but I think we need information more.

Also, there is a chance some of the wolves already know each other, since they had a dream last night - obviously we cannot know whether they succeeded, but I think it's a point to remember. And a further point, I think, against just trying to seem wolvish.

Edit. x/ed with Nog's #6.

[Pomegranate]

Regarding obvious kills. No-traces should be the second pretty obvious group of targets - though, on a second thought, especially if the wolves don't know each other, there is not quite as many traces left by a kill of a loud player than there would usually be. Indeed, agree with Nog about his point on the wolves not being underhanded by the set-up of the game.

[Coppermirror]

Originally Posted by Nogrod

Hey Coppermirror, nice to have your input. I don't think we have played together earlier. Welcome!

Thank you! This is only my second game, but I'm sure I've seen your name before.

Originally Posted by Nogrod

What you said you didn't get is the following.

Let's say you are a wolf X and you need to get someone killed by the rules which say there has to be at least two votes for the kill to take place in the first place. So how do you pick your choices when the kill demands others (you don't know who they are) to think the same way? So all the "high-profile" players are more probable to enter their lists as any wolf would pick them thinking the others would think like the same... So not so much strategical discussion but trying to make the same pick other wolves would do (in your opinion). So the "obvious ones" die first.

That makes some sense. What I didn't understand was why the everyone acting wolvish strategy you proposed would make high-profile players more likely to die, but it seems that's not what you were suggesting after all. Unless I'm still missing something. I am a bit tired today.

Originally Posted by Pomegranate

I personally think that, given how small the amount of villagers there is compared to the amount of wolves, a technique which will keep us from having something to analyse today and tomorrow could prove to be pretty disastrous. The wolves need information, but I think we need information more.

Also, there is a chance some of the wolves already know each other, since they had a dream last night - obviously we cannot know whether they succeeded, but I think it's a point to remember. And a further point, I think, against just trying to seem wolvish.

I think that's persuasive. Today's the day with the lowest chance of the wolves already knowing who the others are. If there isn't any real discussion today, there's no behaviour to compare later behaviour against. And behaviour should change, sooner or later, unless the wolves are very unlucky with their dreams. I hope that makes sense.

It would be great if some more people would post, but the Day's still young. I hope everyone knows the game is running.

[Coppermirror]

It's quiet! Just 4 people out of 11 have shown up so far. I suppose that means most of the players must be in time zones where it's been inconvenient for them to drop into the forums so far. But it's getting to be inconvenient for my time zone, and that means I probably won't be back to this thread until I wake up in the morning, which should be somewhere between 4 and 6 hours before the deadline.

[Nerwen]

Originally Posted by Nogrod

Well, anyway, if the wolves didn't know who the others were, then we might have an advantage if we acted wolvishly just to derail them from their real target of finding out their mates

HOOWWLLLL! I'm a wolf!

–No, really, Nog, I understand the idea of a smokescreen– but how would everyone go about "acting wolvish" on purpose, considering it's something people generally do inadvertently? And I should think that in practice actual wolves might well be able to turn such a tactic around to make it *easier* for them to signal to each other.

Anyway, I have to go, but I'll be back later.

[Rune Son of Bjarne]

As Rune considered Nogrod's suggestion, whilst attempting to get over the shock of Kath's death and the destruction of a wonderful fountain, he became painfully aware of how much he disliked recounting his own experiences in third person.

Anyways, I think it is an interesting proposal that Nogrod has put forth, but my initial reaction was the same as Nerwen's... How does one act wolfish? By making fake freudian slips, by howling at the moon?

[Boromir88]

Boro awoke this morning with a terrible chest cold which left him without much of a voice. And even making it worse was waking up and seeing the mauling of a woman they called Kath. Such beauty gone to waste, what a shame.

*RL reason, no not sick. Woke up and my internet was down, currently at lunch but have limitted access, so here comes my one likely quick post for the day, and hopefully internet decides it wants to work soon.*

Seeing as it was Kath targeted, the only assumption one can make is they are targetting and eliminating beauty. Wolves are naturally disgusted by beauty.

So would this make the next target...

Nerwen who has a sort of feisty beauty and attraction?

Possibly Greenie or Pom who have a rare and appealing cuteness in their faces?

Rune and Shasta are radiating beautiful strength and Skip really looks good in hats.

Nogrod is rugged, rustic charm, which could also be beautiful to many.

Then there's the pinnacle of beauty in, sally...surely if she's not a wolf, it would be a shame to ruin such perfect...beauty. There is a shortage of that in the world.

Then MCR and Coppermirror, who I have such little knowledge and awareness of, but surely there is a beauty existing with them as well.

What a darn attractive bunch of people...and therefor, the wolves must be seeking to elminate their own rivals? Hmm...

The only interesting point of note, is one of Nogrod's comments about signals and Nerwen's blatant howl...Well, hard to say what's going on there, Nerwen and Nogrod would both be dashingly beautiful enough to play such a game (as no doubt I would too). Sadly, my time is nearly up so I have to go again, and in the best ways that I can, today...going to vote:

++Nerwen

Do, I think Nerwen wolf would howl as she did? Meh. Probably not, but it's no different than any other shot in the dark reason.

[Coppermirror]

I need to vote soon, but four people haven't posted in this thread yet, and there hasn't been a lot of discussion. I'll look at the people who have posted so far:

Nogrod: Has some ideas to discuss, wants to stir the pot. I don't know enough about his playing style to know whether his tone and style are normal for him. I don't want to vote for him because he's the first poster and was willing to get the conversation going.

MCR: Wrote a stylish in-character segment. If it reflects her actual views, it might indicate she's going to pursue an especially non-co-operative strategy, which would be interesting to see, if so. But it might be very good cover for a wolf. It's her first game, so I won't vote for her on the first Day without better suspicions than this.

Pom: Seems bright and makes good observations. I don't want to vote for them.

Nerwen: Made a good joke! But in paranoia-vision, was that good joke a handy way to say "I really am a wolf, so don't kill me" to the wolves? I don't want to vote for someone who makes a good joke like that, but can't rule her out on those grounds.

Rune: Brief post, makes a quick mention of his opinion about Nogrod's proposal.

Boromir: Had RL problems delaying him. Writes an amusing post and decides to vote for Nerwen, although he seems to have find a point interesting in Nogrod's posts too, on the topic of signals. I can't seem to find that bit.

Greenie, Shasta, Sally, Skip Spence: aren't here yet. Do they know the game is running? Out of these four I've only played with Shasta and Sally before and don't know anything about the other two.

I am really loath to vote for someone who hasn't shown up. If they did know the game is on, leaving things this late is suspicious. If they didn't know, then I don't want to vote for them, but I have no way of knowing which it is. I'm also loath to select my vote only from among the people who have shown up in a timely manner, as doing that seems unfair. This is difficult.

[Coppermirror]

I have to go, and so I am going to vote

++ Rune

because he posted fairly late on, and kept his post short and without much of a contribution to the discussion. In other words, it looked very safe and hard to respond to. There's very little else to go on, so I'm picking him because his post looked the most as if it fits my idea of what a sensible wolf would do.

I am still suspicious of the four who haven't shown up yet. I think it's worth considering the next Day that some of them might have been avoiding posting until late toDay so that they could escape being considered as voting choices. That doesn't help the village.

[Rune Son of Bjarne]

I seem to have made a calculation error regarding deadline, so I will have to cast a quick vote without much analysis, or even having made a proper contribution my self... I do apologize.

++Pomegranate

It is a shot in the dark.

I do not wish to vote for Nogrod or Boromir, I like them. I do not wish to vote for a an inexperienced villager on the first day. I do not wish to start a bandwagon. I do not wish to make retaliation votes. And finally I do not wish to vote for people who had not said a thing. That leaves me with precious few voting options at this given hour...

If I was to make a case against Pomegranate, I would say that while her posts are reasonable enough... She should really follow her own advice more and try to kick-start the conversation in this village (if she really think we need information more than the wolves).

Yup a pretty weak case, but as I said, it is a shot in the dark vote.

[Coppermirror]

Dropping in quickly again, I think there may be a problem with my previous post, as I didn't put my vote on a separate line. I am going to go back to edit it, but only to put the line in.

[Nogrod]

I thought I'd have a page or two to read... well, it seems not.

It fits well with my busy day though so actully I'm happy about it, but gamewise this is just one of the worst D1's ever - if not the worse, like what, 14 posts the whole Day? (Okay, I've done myself only two so I admit being one to blame with everyone else)

I did call Greenie and she is not probably able to get to the computer before the DL toDay. Just FYI.

Okay. I'll give the little we have some thought and try to make my mind on it.

[MCRmyGirl4eva]

I seem to be having difficult making a decision as well. I've looked through at others' viewpoints, and they all seem reasonable. However, I've got to agree with Coppermirror. Rune gave little to the discussion, and his post was quite short.

How does one act wolfish? Fake Freudian slips? Howl at the moon?

This seems as though it could be a cover, a way to hide his own wolfishness. So, my vote is for

++Rune

[Nogrod]

Well, just an initial thought first. It is a generic problem of D1's that what you have is more or less little or nothing to go for. We have done some heroic voting based on sound reasoning on D1's as well, but that would require a couple of pages of posting and really finding something fishy from how people go with their posting.

The most common way to catch a wolf on D1 is - on top of catastrophical slips, early given seer-dreams, or just pure luck - is finding out them revealing a relationship of some sort to their mates. But with the wolves in as dark as we are with whom to vote there is no such a thing to be observed as there is not that behaviour. And sadly we can't even use toDay's voting later on as a treasury for information as there probably isn't any here - unless some of the wolves did find each other last Night, which I think is possible but not too probable, if I understood the rules correctly.

That said - and here's my second thought for the moment. Of those posted I could say that Nerwen's "howl" and Rune's emphasis on his vote being "a shot in the dark" look the most plausible candidates for the wolves trying to signal each other. But that is sadly little to go for.

So to read then...

EDIT: X'd with MCR

[Nogrod]

Thanks for pointing this out MCR.

Originally Posted by Rune Son of Bjarne

my initial reaction was the same as Nerwen's... How does one act wolfish? By making fake freudian slips, by howling at the moon?

Now here's Nerwen earlier:

Originally Posted by Nerwen

HOOWWLLLL! I'm a wolf!

So if there is any calling for mates going on in here, then this looks the most promising one.

But it could as well be joking when there is very little to say on any other issue with such low posting thus far. To be fair, I'd hate to vote Rune based on this as it is such a long time I've played with him and there are already two votes for him.

So let me promise the second time I'll get into reading. There's not that much of it to be done I couldn't finally make it.

[Nogrod]

Okay. Here's my take at the moment - and I do hope people have posted meanwhile...

Rune - the best shot for someone who was caught trying to signal a possible mate in some serious way - the reference to howling (for Nerwen) or the underlining of his vote being a shot in the dark (to any wolf as wolves normally don't "shoot in the dark when voting). Then again, that would be outrageously blunt and daring putting that many hints into his posts in a village where people don't post too much...

Nerwen - the best shot for someone trying to signal mates in a joking manner. Could be, could be not.

Pom - the following could be read as being a little fishy (answering to my discussion starter -proposal that we acted like wolves)

Originally Posted by Granate

I personally think that, given how small the amount of villagers there is compared to the amount of wolves, a technique which will keep us from having something to analyse today and tomorrow could prove to be pretty disastrous. The wolves need information, but I think we need information more.

Being concerned about a tactics givin us less information when we indeed will have more or less none whatev er way we play might suggest she looks at the situation from the POV of a wolf, like: she hasn't realised how deep in trouble we are and only pays attention to the problem the wolves face: lack of information (as she does in her next sentence...).

Boro - RL problems... still makes a neat post in a way (and makes me smile). I'd hate to vote him on that ground - even if a wolf-Boro would probably play exactly like that. Which idea actually makes me second-quessing my initial feeling about not voting him.

MCR - her first game, right? Not going to vote someone who plays her first game on D1. Basic WW-game etiquette.

Coppermirror - her/his(?) second game and I've never played with her/him. NOt going to vote, especially as s/he seems active and thoughtful.

Greenie
Shasta
sally
skip spence


No see on any of the four. I might even entertain voting one of them but it would feel stupid in a way. But then again, why vote with bad reasons for someone who actually plays ratther than someone who doesn't play?

[Nogrod]

Mathematically one of the four non-posters would be a wolf. Then again the wolves don't "forget" to post in general on D1 as often as ordos do. Some may use that intentionally as a getaway, but let's say that is just bad gaming and should diminish any victory achieved in that way.

So I'm voting for somone who has posted.

Anyone else around to vote?

Boro -> Nerwen
Copper -> Rune
Rune -> Pom
MCR -> Rune2


I'm actually thinking of creating a draw and let the dice decide unless someone makes me think otherwise. Rune would be a tad too obvious to be a wolf (but could be one).

So Nerwen might have tried to signal a mate or not (it's soo 50-50 to say), Pom might have just revealed she was thinking this so heavily from the POV of the wolves she kind of didn't realise what the position of us innocents is - or then she just didn't tihnk of it enough...

[Nogrod]

Btw. if someomne just appears out from nowhere to decide the voting I would put that person under some serious scrutiny on D2.

And I'll tie it.

++ Pom


Boro -> Nerwen
Copper -> Rune
Rune -> Pom
MCR -> Rune2
Nog -> Pom2

[MCRmyGirl4eva]

Nogrod, That's very good thinking, and since we still have the no-shows, it complicates the positions of the players. After all, we have less evidence to look at and fewer people to choose from. Hopefully, they'll realize it's time to post. I mean, what is the likelihood of all four of their computers crashing? Hmmm?

[Kath]

It had been a quiet Day within the village. Few had spoken yet those who had could neither agree nor trust in their decisions. Finally though, two villagers were led to the gallows that had been hastily put together by the site of Kath's vicious murder.

"Well which shall we hang?" Nogrod asked.

"Both of 'em!" Came an unidentified voice in the crowd.

Pom frowned from her position in the noose.

"That's a bit bloodthirsty." She said. "Suspicious if you ask me."

"Well nobody did." Rune snapped, somewhat testy at all the deliberating still going on while his neck was on the line.

Most of the villagers were still milling around in confusion. Kath had said one villager could be lynched each Day - but there were two up on the gallows. How was this to be decided?

Even as they asked this question among themselves it was answered for them. A sudden gust of wind blew the waters of the fountain into a great river aimed directly at the gallows. The villagers closed their eyes against the spray of the water and when they opened them again ... Pom had been washed clear of the gallows, the noose shredded around her neck.

The entire village turned to stare at Rune. His fate had clearly been decided.

"You fools!" He cried passionately. "You ever-damned fools!"

But it was too late. With a snap the trapdoor opened beneath him and he fell. As the rope pulled taut and the last breath left his body the villagers held their breath. But there was no change, no sudden release of evil. Rune simply swayed in the breeze, an ordinary innocent villager to the last

~~~

Dead:
Kath (mod)
Rune (innocent villager)

Living:
Nerwen
Greenie
Shasta
sally
Boro
Pom
Coppermirror
skip spence
MCR
Nogrod

If Shasta, skip, sally and Greenie do not post toMorrow they will be modfired. If Pom and Nerwen don't vote toMorrow they will be modfired.

Seer please send me your dream. Wolves please send me your dreams and lists.

[MCRmyGirl4eva]

I may not be able to post much this weekend. I will if I can, but I may only be able to make brief posts. Some previously unforeseen circumstances have arisen, so if I am unable to post on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday assume that my character is indoors fixing the fletching on her silver tipped arrows.

Sunday is the most questionable day for me. Friday and Saturday, I may be able to at least contribute something. I thought it would only be fair to warn you before going AWOL though.

[Kath]

It was a quiet Night within the village. Strange lights flickered over the houses, brightening at one particular door. The wolves howled but their voices seemed oddly muted. Eventually the howls drifted away into the silence.

The villagers woke with a mix of dread and resignation. One by one they left their homes and took unwilling steps toward the fountain - the scene of two deaths so far. Upon reaching the water the villagers paused, unsure. There were no bodies, no red stains, no sign that evil had triumphed last Night.

"Should we ... search the houses?" Greenie asked.

"Or the wells?" Boro offered.

"What about the woods?" Nerwen suggested.

Some time later the various search parties reappeared.

"Anything?" sally and MCR had been left at the fountain in case of further messages from the Valar.

Nobody had found anything odd in any area of the village. Unsure, but pleased at the lack of further death, the villagers went about their Day.

~ ~ ~

Dead:
Kath (mod)
Rune (innocent villager)

Living:
Nerwen
Greenie
Shasta
sally
Boro
Pom
Coppermirror
skip spence
MCR
Nogrod

If Shasta, skip, sally and Greenie do not post toDay they will be modfired. If Pom and Nerwen don't vote toDay they will be modfired.

Villagers start posting.

PS: MCR messages like your one above need to go on the Admin thread not the Game thread.

[Nogrod]

No kill last Night and no ranger to stop it...

Originally Posted by teh rulez

During the Nights when the wolves do not know their fellows each wolf sends a list of three names to the Mod in preferential order. If the same name appears on more than one list that villager is killed. If no name appears more than once there is no kill. When two wolves are aware of each other they jointly send a list and the lone wolf sends a list and the same thing happens. Once all the wolves know each other the kill proceeds as usual.

NOw that is either a darn bad luck for the wolves (they managed to post 3 X 3 names without a single one colliding with the other aka. covering 9 out of 10) oer then one or two wolves are really lackluster... Which brings to my mind the idea of lynching Skip Spence toDay unless he doesn't appear toDay when he will be modfired anyway.

But sure this feels like there is at least one wolf - if not two - who are very inactive. Or, like I said, they had a ridiculously bad luck.

But yeah, cool for us.

Although I'd like to see rather more people posting and voting toDay as yesterDay was just plain ridiculous: it's D2 and we're still on page 1!

[Nogrod]

Btw. just a question Kath: concernig this quote of the rules

Originally Posted by the rules

When two wolves are aware of each other they jointly send a list and the lone wolf sends a list and the same thing happens.

Does this mean the wolves have less chances of killing someone when two wolves know each other than when none knows each other? Like in the first case there are only two lists of three to pick up one common choice while in the latter there would be three lists of three to pick a common denominator?

I mean that might explain the no-kill toNight better...

[Shastanis Althreduin]

I apologize for sleeping yesterDay away. Comes from all the exhausting labor I do, you know.

Originally Posted by Nog

Does this mean the wolves have less chances of killing someone when two wolves know each other than when none knows each other? Like in the first case there are only two lists of three to pick up one common choice while in the latter there would be three lists of three to pick a common denominator?

I actually mentioned that on the admin thread, actually.

[Coppermirror]

YesterDay was a shambles, with so few posts. We don't have a lot to go on from that. At least with there being no Night kill this time, there's a little less time pressure.

Day 1 - Innocent lynched. Village 7, Wolves 3.
Night 2 - No death. Village 7, Wolves 3.

The worst case scenario from this point on is:

Day 2 - Innocent lynched. Village 6, wolves 3.
Night 3 - Innocent killed. Village 5, wolves 3.
Day 3 - Innocent lynched. Village 4, wolves 3.
Night 4 - Innocent killed. Village 3, wolves 3. Village loses, wolves win.

...Actually, I see I'm wrong. This doesn't give us less time pressure. If there had been a Night kill, we'd simply have lost at the end of Day 3. rather than on Night 4. We have to catch a wolf toDay or tomorrow. There's also a chance that the wolves will kill one of their own, but that chance reduces as time goes on, and judging by the lack of a Night kill, it's reasonably likely that two of them are in contact. Or it could be as Nogrod suggested: maybe at least one wolf is in among the people who didn't show and are at risk of being mod-fired. Statistically there are good odds that at least one of those at risk of mod-fire is a wolf.

People who didn't post yesterDay, even if you won't have time for a proper post until later in the Day, if you see this thread, could you make a quick post early on, if possible? That way we'll know whether you're still at risk of mod-fire. And players who didn't vote, could you tell us whether you're going to be able to vote toDay?

Risk of mod-fire
Those who didn't post: A Little Green, Sally, Skip Spence.
Those who didn't vote: Pom, Nerwen.

If some players really are going to get mod-fired, I'm not sure what the best plan is for toDay. There are too many variables here, not knowing who's going to show up. I'd like to be able to work out the odds of whether Nog's suggestion of possibly lynching Skip Spence would be to our advantage.

So yes, players at risk of mod-fire, please post to this thread ASAP, even if it's just to say "I'll be back later to vote". Nog, you said you'd spoken to A little Green, right? Did she say anything about whether she would be able to play toDay?

[Nogrod]

Originally Posted by Shastanis Althreduin

I actually mentioned that on the admin thread, actually.

I did sign in at the last possible moment and have basically read only Kath's rules-post from the admin thread. So I'm in no way disputing what you say and were you not true in that comment... it would be quite odd indeed as you'd get caught of that - and why fake such an easily checkable thing?

But my question is, why do you feel the need to bring that up? With a smiley?

[Nogrod]

Originally Posted by Coppermirror

People who didn't post yesterDay, even if you won't have time for a proper post until later in the Day, if you see this thread, could you make a quick post early on, if possible? That way we'll know whether you're still at risk of mod-fire. And players who didn't vote, could you tell us whether you're going to be able to vote toDay?

I could'n agree more with this.

And Shasta has already shown himself... Greenie knows the game has begun and will most probably post something toDay - it is just that it is about 2 am here in Finland (and I'm going to sleep as well) so it might take some time she's going to be around.

Skip and Sally I know nothing about, but have the vague idea Sally posted something on the admin thread (or somewhere) and thence I suggested Skip. I might be wrong with Sally though and could suggest her as well, unless they don't turn out (and needs to check that tomorrow - not toMorrow aka. D3 - whether Sally has made a comment on being around or not).

And this later thought that two wolves know each other and thusly their choices are less likely to succeed must be bore in mind. It sounds odd indeed, but if it is the case, then we might have all our wolves active... which would sound more reasonable indeed.


There is sadly little to go for from yesterDay both because of the low posting but also because the wolves most probably didn't know each others - or only two of them knew each other. So not much to delve into there by the way of helping a mate there or something like that we could try to catch on.

But it (yesterda's voting & relations of people) should be looked after anyway as there is little else to do while waiting others to post. But I'm off to sleep now. See you later toDay...

[Pomegranate]

My apologies as well. More time, more energy, more awareness of the game going on toDay.

I'm trying to see through Nog's point about me to figure out if it actually makes sense. The idea of having a tie up until last minute and seeing if someone would come and save me or Rune is reasonable enough - though I can see the point only if we believe that some of the wolves already knew each other.

when we indeed will have more or less none whatev er way we play

Would you mind elaborating that a bit, Nog? I'm not really sure what you're trying to get to. What I did mean was that if we'd all deliberately try to seem not innocent, that leads to this being a good excuse explaining anything you've done on day 1 ("Yes, I was just trying to act wolvish so that they'd try to dream of me and would go wrong!"). Yes, I do agree that day 1's are most of the time pretty unproductive (and that this one was such in particular, and I admit I was a part of the problem), but at least you're going to have to take responsibility of whatever you do that day.

And yes, you were starting substantive discussion, and I reacted to it by stating my opinion, which is also a part of starting a discussion

Okay, what do we have...

Coppermirror: I think he (or is it she?) makes good observations by the little data there is. Follows on Boro's doubt about Nerwen's howl, yet doesn't vote for her. Is this a wolf protecting potential packmate, or just someone who doesn't want to vote based on a joking comment?

Boro: I feel a bit doubtful about his lack of internet leading to long enough, yet unsubstantial post - you had time to go through us all, but not go through what had been said? Then again, there was not a lot to analyse, and Boro both brings up the case against Nerwen and votes for her, which raises his points in my head since it is a relatively valid point (as much as anything is valid on day 1) and thus he risks the lynching of a potential pack mate. Then again (again), there's nothing that will make me trust Boro anything more than a bit :P

This brings me to Nerwen who did something that would definitely make the wolves consider her being a packmate, yet also something that could've just as easily been done by an innocent. She does bring up a point I was wondering about myself, the whole idea of how does one act wolvishly. I'm more inclined to be curious about the reactions to her than about herself, there is not enough to say.

And Nog. Who was pretty much keeping the whole game alive yesterday. As I said earlier, there's bits I don't understand about his point about me, and in general since I tend to follow his thought well, since it usually is logical, that worries me. But then again, it might just be me having concentration problems, wouldn't be surprised. Waiting for elaboration.

MCR is a hard one to say much about, I want to hear more of her before being able to make a point for/against, as she is a first-timer.

[Nogrod]

Originally Posted by Nogrod

the wolves most probably didn't know each others - or only two of them knew each other.

Well, obviously one of the two is true as they didn't manage to kill anyone in a village with no ranger to deny their kill...

[satansaloser2005]

I am terribly sorry about yesterDay, everyone. I have had a horrific week thus far, and I only remembered the game started because my prince had asked me to tell our charming moddess of his own absence. Sadly, tonight and tomorrow will likely be light on WW as well, but I shall do my best to make up for it thereafter.

I suppose I should probably go read the thread now....

[Nogrod]

Originally Posted by Pomegranate

Would you mind elaborating that a bit, Nog? I'm not really sure what you're trying to get to.

Not at all, even if I need to try and go to sleep soonish... (happily I don't have work tomorrow at eight)

The first elaboration: it of course means "when we indeed will have more or less none whatever way we play"

But seriously, the idea was this.

You Pom said the following:

Originally Posted by Granate

I personally think that, given how small the amount of villagers there is compared to the amount of wolves, a technique which will keep us from having something to analyse today and tomorrow could prove to be pretty disastrous. The wolves need information, but I think we need information more.

And that of course was a reply to my initial discussion starter as whether we should all act wolvishly to blur the scene from the wolves from finding each other (as they would need to do that).

Now you say there you doubt the merits of the "plan" because it would "keep us from having something to analyse today and tomorrow", and "could prove to be pretty disastrous". Now thinking that the wolves don't know each other, we the villagers already are in that position that we can't deduce or argue about anything from what happened on D1 as there is (probably) no co-operation by the wolves; which is more or less the only thing we might try to catch normally.

So the question becomes, how didn't you realise that? Now if you were a wolf, that would be logical as there would have been no natural way for you to think about that situation from the POV of a villager - which is very different from a normal game indeed this time - but had only thought of it from the POV of a wolf and thus had not noticed it (probably more busy with a thought of how to find your mates which must be a stressing question to a wolf). That would actually be even more believable explanation if you've been busy and had no time to think this properly...


But yeah. That was my D1 reasoning - and I admit it is thin and full of questionmarks / assumptions (which one needs to make if willing to find a wolf). It was the best I could do yesterDay. I hope we'll get more substance in toDay to make more enlightened decisions...

[Nogrod]

Originally Posted by satansaloser2005

I suppose I should probably go read the thread now....

The muffin should do that...

[Pomegranate]

Okay, I see your point. But I do feel that you're now thinking a bit pessimistically.

Yes, the best material we could get from a normal day 1 would be hints of collaboration. But I don't think it is only that. I think we can also see something from the "wolf-hints" and how people react to those (as I was trying to do regarding Nerwen's howl), from the way people react to discussions, to accusations etc. that tend to rise eventually when people post seriously. It is maybe not quite as tight evidence of anything, but it is something to start the game with. Which is more than nothing, and should be more than if we'd just all 'act wolvishly'.

...But I admit I didn't think it that much yesterday, it was more just 'I want more stuff to analyse and people to have to take responsibility of their posts!'