Game Thread: Werewolf- this time it's real!

[Isabellkya]

Jolted awake from a deep sleep by a ringing in her pocket, Izzy fell to the floor in a crash.

Taking in the scene, she noticed she'd tumbled out of a chair. She remembered curling up on a bench, so how she got in a chair.... would probably result in an interesting answer.

Definitely a sign that one should not sleep amongst these Downers.

Righting the chair, she plopped down in it.

'Hey Shasta?! Everyone!' she greeted to those sitting around this new table.

[Nilpaurion Felagund]

Nilpaurion mumbles something about Facebook being invaded by unwanted beings to a passing Aganzir, and then resumes debating with his full cast of multiple personalities in his narcoleptic state. But then he wakes up with a jolt. He's been soaked by a dastardly dwarf, and him with no luggage. He checks his pockets--perhaps he can buy a change of clothes? But no such luck--not a shilling to his name. To undress or to get colds?

In the interest of science, Nilpaurion undresses. Lynching is valid reaction. (I think.)

[Kent2010]

Kent gave an informal salute to the lady in black who calls herself Agan. He wondered if that's the way the proper Downers' welcome went, but being in an unfamiliar situation didn't bother him too much.

He thought laying low was the perfect plan, as Kent could not afford to let any of the strangers know about his past. How he almost conquered the Zomie kids, nearly found a brain for the hopeless, and almost slew the Great Puppet Decimator. This was his chance to start fresh, make a new name for himself, and escape the man who was almost heroic, nearly completed great tasks, but always ran away.

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

After a night with too little sleep, Fea uncurled herself from the spot under the bar where she had been quietly wedged, aiming for some much needed end-of-semester shut eye, and ducked into a restroom to change and do something - anything, really - with her hair.

She returned quietly, glaring at the clock. Many 'Downers, as was their habit, had not yet gone to sleep at all. From the bartender, Fea ordered, "Coffee. Black. If it's weak, add espresso to it. If it's cold, microwave it. But please? Please..." she trailed off weakly. "Just coffee."

With a mug in her shaky hand, she crossed the room, spilling the burning brew on her wrist. She took a deep breath, ignoring the pain, transferring her mug to the other hand, and sucked the coffee off her skin, inspecting the red burn mark. Of course, she thought.

She settled next to Formendacil, who looked at her with brotherly affection. That was, of course, why she chose him for this one thing she desired: "Formy? You should just kind of sit here while I nap on your shoulder, and not let me fall off the chair."

[Kuruharan]

That's definitely an interesting result of my first experiment into hydrology.

Having now discovered my true calling as an evil mad scientist I wonder if the appropriate thing to do is to continue experimentation or immediately begin orchestrating a complex plot to take over the world (or at least see if this can be turned to somehow manipulating the results of the Form pool).

Pool...water...get it?

Har har.

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

"And if Kuru comes near me with water," Fea mumbled, barely coherently, "Pray for his soul or something."

[Boromir88]

"Make that two coffees bar keep" said a familiar voice entering the room. His cloak was worn and stained after battling through a random blizzard in early April, that dumped 6 inches, and melted instantaneously in 8 hours as it heated above 60. "Whatever you got, just make sure it gets loaded with sugar."

"I apologize for my impromptness, Master phantom," he said, "And for this dishevelled appearance. When I got the invite I assumed Miami at Oxford, not the fake Oxford. I had to rush through plane cancellations, stand bys, and a 10 hour short bus trip crammed with 19 people to Boston. Long story short, it was a trip to get here."

"It's unfortunate the Lady Mith is not present, I would have loved to meet her, and explain how American baseball is much better than that sport called criquet. Oh well, once I have my filling of wings, beer, and sports, you can count on me to be ready, sir. How about those tourney games...wow did they blow?"

[Nienna]

Nienna squints open her eyes while she tries to disentangle herself from various Mira/Lari appendages. She sits up and yawns, then looks around. Fea and Others with coffee... "good call." She wanders to the bar orders herself coffee with cream and sugar as she tells the nice man that she would like it to taste like ice cream.

Coffee in hand, Nienna wanders over to where various people are scattered in different states of sleep. She grabs a granola bar out of her bag and heads back towards Fea.

"Here. Eat."

[Kuruharan]

Lucky thing for me then that Fea isn't a target of this experiment.

Kuru pitches some ancient champagne that had been purchased specially for this event out the nearest window as being no use at this current second and takes the ice bucket and begins stealthily creeping around behind the very supportive figure of Form.

[Shastanis Althreduin]

Having fallen asleep in Izzy's lap, Shasta blinks and sits up.

"Coffee?"

He stood up, black eyes dull this particular morning, and picked his way over various sleeping Downers to the bar, shivering slightly. Perhaps wearing sandals in an unseasonably cold April such as this one wasn't the smartest idea... Forgetting a jacket also probably wasn't the most intelligent thing he could have done.

Right now, a shivering Shasta wanted coffee. The turquoise tshirt he'd picked specially to wear to this gathering was wrinkled a bit from sleeping on a bench, the rips in his jeans meant they were doing nothing to keep out the cold, and his black hair stuck up in the back, but all he cared about at this moment in time was the caffeine.

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

Fea blinked incomprehensibly at Nienna long enough that Nienna took Fea's hand and placed the opened granola bar into it. "Eat," Nienna repeated, "You'll feel better."

Fea sat up, nibbling the end of the bar, feeling like a rabbit, a bit. "Dwarf," she mumbled at Form, though he didn't hear her.

"KelNienna..." Fea began to pout, and then trailed off, concentrating on her breakfast. She rubbed sleep out of her eyes "Mornings," she grumbled, eying the corpse-still sleeping figure of Mira jealously. "She can sleep through anything, I swear..."

[Formendacil]

Originally Posted by Feanor of the Peredhil

"And if Kuru comes near me with water," Fea mumbled, barely coherently, "Pray for his soul or something."

"But that could take all night," muttered Formendacil. Still, he thought, I have a few offices to say between now and whenever Fea's likely to get off my shoulder.

Glancing around furtively to make sure that the phantom wasn't lurking jealously in the shadows with a cleaver intended for him (he wasn't... that Form could find anyway), he pulled out his breviary and quietly started Vespers. He needn't have been quiet--there was rather too much noise in the pub to necessitate that.

Fea sat up, nibbling the end of the bar, feeling like a rabbit, a bit. "Dwarf," she mumbled at Form, though he didn't hear her.

Even if Form had heard Fea, he likely wouldn't have understood what she meant anyway. His biographer in posting this, with his intimate knowledge of Form's mind, certainly cannot fathom it.

After a rather substantial nap next to the drowsy Fea--in between prayers for Kuru's soul--Form had come to the conclusion that he should probably attend to his diabetic needs. Standing up and away from Fea--and towards the possibility of murder by the Love Dodecahedron--he bid Fea an at least temporary farewell.

"At least unless you'd rather I drew blood here in public and then jabbed myself with a syringe, but every crowd seems to have at least one person made queasy by that stuff."

He glanced around at the variously assembled Downers, and remembered that they'd put on 50-odd Werewolf games...

"Of course, this crowd might not have a problem with blood..."

[Formendacil]

Originally Posted by Kuruharan

Lucky thing for me then that Fea isn't a target of this experiment.

Kuru pitches some ancient champagne that had been purchased specially for this event out the nearest window as being no use at this current second and takes the ice bucket and begins stealthily creeping around behind the very supportive figure of Form.

Well, well... I could not have posted more cluelessly ignoring this post (cf. my ignorance of what Fea meant by "Dwarf"). How terribly serendipitous for me! Dare I even say... Divinely Providential?

Make that a double time march to do my insulin.

[Aganzir]

Originally Posted by Formendacil

"I really can't approve of that stuff--at least in relation to me," he said. "Might get me kicked out of a lifetime vocation, and all that. Besides, there are plenty other people to throw kisses to here. You could always be the first step in turning the phantom/Fea situation into a Love Dodecahedron.

Aganzir flashes an innocent smile (and fails miserably to look innocent because the smile reveals her fangs and is probably her most mischievous expression anyway). "Me? Ah, I wouldn't even dream of trying to get you kicked out of the priesthood!" She sticks out her tongue. Another mischievous expression. "And phantom and Fea? Nah, phantom is too scary and I'm under the impression that Fea doesn't like girls."

Originally Posted by Mnemosyne

"Maybe... unfortunately I still can't afford a good pair of high boots that doesn't have me looking like Fea's acting with the guy who got this whole shindig together.

"I usually buy my best boots from second hand shops. They are about the only place I can find affordable leather shoes, anyway. I found my one-time favourite pair from Nog's family's summer cottage, but they were probably from the 80s and got broken beyond repair quite quickly."

Originally Posted by Mnemo

But yes, dressing up as fictional characters is much fun; wish I had the means, friends, and occasion to do it more often.

"Indeed. I recently dressed up as Scar - we had our final day of school which is, well, a rather festive event. I had some black hairspray which flaked off so in the end my face was pretty grey, though."

Originally Posted by Nerwen

"Drinks are on me," she told them. "I'm celebrating. Oh, and would you like to play again, Formy? Perhaps I'll win my pom-poms back from you."

"Have you ever tried the Seven of Clubs? Probably not, at least with that name, since it seems to be a Finnish game. We played it all the time with Rune and Legate last summer, it's lots of fun. Also, I happen to be darn good at it." Agan grins.

The room is getting more crowded and it's impossible to keep track on the people who come in. Suddenly Aganzir catches a glimpse of someone she definitely knows, walking through the pub with a pint of ale. "Brinn! Great to see you here! To think of it, it's almost exactly a year since we last met! Will you join us?" Agan stands up to hug her. Then she notices the other girl Shasta had beckoned to join them. "And you're... Isabell, I assume? My first fellow wolf ever. Nice to meet you!"

Agan turns and grins when she hears Mnemo speak.

Originally Posted by Mnemosyne

First lass to make Formy regret his current lifestyle choice (or even renege on it!) gets £20 and a dozen gingerbread Daleks. Contributions to the Reward Fund will be accepted.

"Ah sounds like a plan. Where's sally? I bet she wants to help me."

Originally Posted by Shastanis Althreduin

"With just a few more people, I bet we can get a rousing chorus of 'Wilkommen' going, what do you think?" he askes, arching an eyebrow, a wicked look in his eye.

Agan pokes him back. "Go ahead but I'm not singing. I bet there are enough people to do it even without me. So do you want to be Viktor or Emcee? Oh and by the way, I'm reading The Scar by China Miéville right now and one of the main characters shares his name with you. He has two tentacles attached to his chest."

She looks deeply amused by Kuru pouring water on Nilp and even more so when Nilp undresses. "Drunk already?" she asks with a smile on her face. "Or are you posing as a nude model for all of us interested in drawing?"

When Aganzir notices Kent responds to her greeting, she beckons him to join them. "So, how did you find your way here? I don't think I've encountered you on the forum yet, but then again I've been rather busy for the last few months. I am Aganzir but you can call me Agan, that's what everyone does anyway, and in addition to Tolkien, I'm..." she pauses to blow a kiss to Boro, "a major fan of the Lion King."

[Nerwen]

If only I'd brought my camera, Nerwen thought, watching the stark naked Nilpaurion (openly, since nobody seemed to mind), What a wonderful documentary this would make... only I'd better never let my mother see it...

Aganzir, she thought, was looking rather at a loose end, probably because her plans for Form's future had taken a setback with the latter's disappearance.

"No, I've never heard of The Seven of Clubs. How about you teach me? Anyone else want to play? Izzy? Shasta? Or– Kent, did you say your name was?"

Nerwen frowned, unable to remember anyone with such a name. Then light dawned:

"Oh, you're the new member! The one with the expiry date!"

[Shastanis Althreduin]

With a cup of steaming coffee in hand (and the steam going to work on the wrinkles in his shirt, too!), Shasta looks infinitely more awake.

Stepping over the clothing-challenged Nilpaurion, Shasta pulls a deck of cards from his sleeve like an amateur magician.

"I love card games. If Agan's willing to teach us, I'm definitely in," he said with a smile, nonchalantly feeling to make sure the extra ace of diamonds he kept under his shirt was still there.

[Mnemosyne]

Mnemo is blinded by the stark-naked Nilpaurion. Discuss.

[Nerwen]

Nerwen narrowed her eyes. Something about this Shasta suggested to her that he would not be quite such easy pickings as Formendacil and Kuruhuran had been. She would have to keep an eye on him.

Still, there was the rest of the group– they looked pretty wet behind the ears.

"Who else is playing? Come on, Mnemo, i'm sure you'll–" Nerwen broke off, seeing that Mnemosyne was staring blankly into space... almost as if she had been struck blind...

[Aganzir]

Originally Posted by Nerwen

"No, I've never heard of The Seven of Clubs. How about you teach me? Anyone else want to play? Izzy? Shasta? Or– Kent, did you say your name was?"

"With pleasure. Would someone shuffle the cards, please?

"The basic idea of the game is to get rid of your cards by placing them on the table. So practically it's impossible to cheat in this game... Not that you would do it, anyway. The first cards that can be put on the table are the sevens, and once the seven is there, you can add the six of the same colour, then the eight. After that the other cards of the same colour can be placed there, in numerical order..." Agan sips her tea and makes a quick summary of the rules. Usually she likes to explain things but it's a lot more difficult in a language that is not her native one. "It's a pretty simple game but in spite of that, it's not all about luck but also tactics. And no one has ever taught me to play poker."

She watches Shasta deal the cards to the players and, once he is done, takes a look at her cards. Slowly, she lifts her eyes. "Is this just an ordinary game or are we gambling?"

(OOC: Shasta, the aces are definitely the worst cards in that game. )

[Aganzir]

Agan follows Nerwen's eyes to Mnemo.

"Erm... Is she quite alright?"

She steps towards her and waves her hand before Mnemo's eyes. Nothing happens. Aganzir tries to find sally but cannot see her anywhere. Then she comes up with an idea. "Hey Kuru, could you help wake her up?"

[Formendacil]

Formendacil wandered back into the chaos having gouged out a bit of his blood, stabbed himself with a couple needles, and then found a nice, quiet, corner of the pub to say Lauds. Then, somehow not yet soaked, he made his way back to the main crowd, and looking about carefully for Kuru, headed over to Brinn, handing her a folded piece of paper.

"I'm going for some fresh air, and a bit of a long walk, maybe see if I can't find tgwbs's college. Anyway, I might not be back for a bit. Give this to the Moderator if I don't come back in time."

"Moderator?" asked Brinn, "but Esty didn't come to this Barrow-convention!"

But Formy was already halfway to the door. One of the reasons he had discerned the vocation he had was a comfort with being alone, and after as much time as he had spent in the Bird and Baby, he was ready to be away from the chatter of the crowd.

Not sure what Formy had meant, Brinn opened up the sheet, and read the simple message printed thereon:

++ the phantom, just 'cause.

Brinn shook her head. There was no way Formy could be back in time for Days 2,3,4 of an in-person Werewolf game. You could go through one of those in a couple hours.

OOC: I'm off to lunch in half an hour, then to my last day of classes, then back home for our Holy Thursday banquet and then evening Mass, then some of us are running around to different parishes this evening for Adoration before Midnight. I'll be abstaining from the Internet (and won't have time with watching The Passion together, going to the Mass of the Pre-Consecrated, a Good Friday orchestral concert, and holding an evening Tenebrae service), so I won't be "back" until Saturday. It'll be a long "walk" for Formy.

[Kent2010]

"Lion King's a good film." Kent replied. "You know I heard you talking about Be Prepared, the funny story about that, Jeremy Irons couldn't finish the song because it was too much strain on his voice, chronic smoking and all. Still good song and a great Scar. But I guess you're more interested in finding out how I got here?"

"I just stumbled upon this place, and lurked around for a couple weeks. Not Grima lurking, but I believe thats what you call it here. This happens to be the first forum I joined, it looked like a nice, welcoming place, and I have not been disappointed. Werewolf looks very similar to Mafia, are you familiar with that game?"

Agan shook her head, but Kent wanted to keep her interest, so he went on: "Like I said this Werewolf looks very similar. Only instead of hunting werewolves, you're after deadly mobsters. There's the G-man, he can spot and influence the townspeople to kill mobsters, and a Guardian angel that watches over, protects us from the mobsters' kills. I'm not worried about being a newbie here, mobsters are much worse than werewolves. I imagine werewolves are more gruesome, but the big Dons will have no fear about shooting someone in public, and in broad daylight. Their influence can be tough to break."

Kent had finished telling his first lie since coming to Oxford. What did it matter that he never played real Mafia, or faced real mobsters, only the card game? No one here had to know that.

"Oh, you're the new member! The one with the expiry date!"

"That would be me" Kent said to the lady. "I have some 260 odd days left, and felt I had to try this before I expire. May I ask for your name, Miss?

[Kuruharan]

Having lost his first prospective target due to excessive cat-like treading, Kuruharan suddenly flings his bucket of ice on Boromir88.

Then he stands by with notepad and pencil to record the results...which one *does* hope will be more exciting than the tourney.

[Mnemosyne]

"Um.... what's going on?"

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

"Your mom's going on," snickered Fea as she waited for food that she should have ordered four hours ago to be ready. She wondered when Nienna, Lari, and Mira would start yelling at her for skipping lunch. Tea, she'd learned the hard way, did not constitute a meal. Not even chai.

She would literally kill, she knew, for some well prepared blackoned salmon, but that was never going to happen. Instead, she sipped her chai and closed her eyes, listening to the voices around her.

Flirting is all well and good at night, she thought, when shadows conceal and comfort, but day time means solitude and getting work done. She tucked her nose back into the history book she was reading, curled up in a booth, pen in hand, eying juicy 1810's tidbits of CNY gossip. The number of people who drowned in this lake, she thought, you'd think they'd stop their kids from going near...

She reached a further section and smirked. "Local man missing," she read. "Suicide or marriage presumed."

Heh... death or marriage. I like it.

[Isabellkya]

Seeing some of the others up and moving about in search of coffee, or perhaps food - brought her rumbling stomach to her attention. She hadn't eaten since she left; not trusting airplane food. Blech.

"May I have a glass of orange juice, a glass of apple juice - cranberry if you don't. A glass of water, and an apple or banana if you have one perhaps?" She asks the man behind the bar.

She eyes the naked man, and the sneaking dwarf responsible who'd just dumped ice on another victim. The victim seemed to be in a frozen state; perhaps going over the possible reactions in his head?

"Uh, bartender; have any spare clothes or perhaps rope back there?"

I'm sure someone could make a skirt for the naked man out of the bar towels. I thought I saw a pom-pom under one of the tables, perhaps they could add a little fringe to it? Or he could be a scantily clad one-pom cheerleader.

Carrying her fare back to the table, she sips as she listens to the rules of the card game.

[Nogrod]

Nogrod woke up from the corner of the pub feeling most confused and embarrased. Well, someone must have dragged me here... "Thanks anyone, for helping me out that is". But it seemed no one noticed.

So he got up and went to the counter to have another ale to refresh himself. Suddenly his eyes caught a visitor's list that was laying on the table. "Aganzir, yeah... Alonariel, Alonariel? leiranola? A lone Ariel? Hmm... interesting to get to meet with new people. Boro, well that's a nice surprise... I sure need to find him the first thing I do... well after this pint of course. Brinniel, Ahh, soo great to meet her again. Let's just hope she's not going to get me killed yet again. Fea, Firefoot, Form... now this is getting even more interesting, how good to meet all those three in person... Greenie, Gwath... Oh this list is long as a year of famine! 23 people! Now this must be a BD-meeting record. Do I even have time to greet everyone?"

Suddenly he heard someone talking about the mafia-game and turned to look at the speaker. The man he decided had to be Kent was just asking whether Agan was familiar with the game and she shook her head. Well, well, well... Agan's already on the game mode I see... That veteran-master-mafioso is shaking her head about even knowing the game... interesting, but so like her. She's really good at that. I really do have to keep an eye on her - like everyone always should if their lives are dear to them...

After scanning the room for a while he finally spotted Boro and decided to start with him.

"Hi there Boro! So good to see you. You still believe in that "if it talks like a wolf and walks like a wolf then it is a wolf" -philosophy? I've tried it in a few games disregarding more complicated scenarios - with varying success." Nogrod smiled and raised his pint as for a toast.

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

Fea looked up suddenly in shock, a bit ashamed of herself. She'd forgotten to look for Alonariel. She liked the spunky girl who swore like a sailor and ate lemon wedges like dung beetles eat- wait, bad simile... In any case, Fea liked Alonariel and wondered where, precisely, the girl actually was.

She made her way over to Lari, Mira, and Nienna. "Have you guys seen her? Do we know where she is? Have we lost her to the fangirl clutches of TV shows I don't actually watch? Does she by any chance have the sparkletastic skin of a killer?"

[Aganzir]

Originally Posted by Kent2010

"You know I heard you talking about Be Prepared, the funny story about that, Jeremy Irons couldn't finish the song because it was too much strain on his voice, chronic smoking and all. Still good song and a great Scar.

"Well, he got it mostly done and that's what matters. And Jim Cummings did well, too. But actually I almost prefer the Finnish version." Agan switches on her laptop and finds the video on Youtube, forgetting about the cardgame. "His voice is better when he speaks, though. He sounds more like Scar then."

"I just stumbled upon this place, and lurked around for a couple weeks.

"Heh I lurked for more than a year. It took Thinlómien so long to convince me to join. But welcome, it's always nice to see fresh blood on board.

"And as for Mafia... Well, we have played werewolf in person before, kind of, and it's called Mafia, but our rules are more similar to those of Barrow-Downs werewolf. There's a wolf (or mafioso) or two, and sometimes a seer or a ranger, depending on the number of participants. I've done it in every Downer meeting I've been to, except for one where there were too few of us, and it's lots of fun... Excluding the time I was a wolf and got killed on day 1. That happened when Brinn was in Finland a year ago." Aganzir sighs and puts on a tragic face. "But no, I've never tried that sort of Mafia."

An instinct that dates back to a time when man was still prey makes Aganzir turn around, and she sees Nog eyeing her with a knowledgeable smile that always makes her feel nervous when playing the said live werewolf game with him. "What is it? I haven't done anything yet!" she asks, "and where's my lil' Greenie?" But Nog has already turned to speak to Boro.

Aganzir tries to turn her concentration back to the game but fails. Besides she's starting to feel a bit tired. "Anyway, there's this DVD I bought today and I'd like to watch at least parts of it now, if you guys don't mind. Feel free to join me if there's anyone else who wants to hear something great." She inserts Leonard Cohen Live in London into her laptop's DVD drive, and soon the first notes of Dance Me to the End of Love echo in the room.

[Boromir88]

Boro reached out his hand and pretended to catch Agan's kiss out of mid-air. He smiled and made his way towards Nilp.

Nilp was slipping in and out of consciousness, but Boro still decided to tell Nilp what he had wanted to for a long time. "I don't know if you remember, but you were the first one to suggest I join werewolf. At times I've questioned whether I should strangle you for getting me hooked, or thank you for introducing me to the game. Either way, I don't think I have ever told you that, and I am not quite sure why I am doing it now, but thank you."

Boro looked around the room to see many familiar faces, and many new ones. He was pleasantly surprised to find a fellow Ohioan in the bar. How small thy world can truly be. "Kent, you said your name was," Boro began, "I also happen to be from Ohio. What part of the great buckeye state do you hail from, friend?"

But just as soon as he asked a shock of freezing cold went piercing down his spine and through his entire body. He jumped around, trying to reach behind his back to get the pieces of bitter cold that had gone down his shirt. He turned to see a grinning Kuru holding a wet bucket.

"Why you...you...dwarf!" that's as good as Boro could come up with at the time. It wasn't the trick Kuru pulled that had Boro flustered, it was seeing his old arch-nemesis. "You will come to regret this, Kuru. I was willing to put the past behind us, but now I will take great delight in beating you yet again. Mark my words -"

Boro stopped as he saw Nogrod approach, and intervene to calm everything down.

"Hi there Boro! So good to see you. You still believe in that "if it talks like a wolf and walks like a wolf then it is a wolf" -philosophy? I've tried it in a few games disregarding more complicated scenarios - with varying success." Nogrod smiled and raised his pint as for a toast.

"I don't even know what my philosophy is at the moment," Boro laughed, now having calmed a bit, "I am afraid I am a bit rusty, although I would definitely like to stick it to that dwarf if I get the chance. But, don't mind that, please tell me of your big adventures and how you have faired. What do you mean by varying success? Has that strategy worked, or is it inconclusive? I am not much of a numbers man and have not been keeping track of my success/fail rate. I find I am a much better pusher, I push people's buttons, try to make the calm, cool, and collected become nervous, chaotic, and afraid. But please, do tell how that if it talks like a wolf and walks like a wolf then it is a wolf has worked for you?"

[Nienna]

Nienna orders some food for her and any various people who have not eaten yet... *tsk tsk*.

"Yeah... Where is that cute girl who has recently reaffirmed my love for popsicles?" she wonders to Fea who is vaguely reading nearby.

After eating Nienna wanders around mingling with the other people she doesn't really know.

To Kent she explains "Funny story... so me and all my roommates *points around* play WW except one... and she plays Mafia. She gets all cute and curious asking about a narrator and detective in regards to our games... while we talk of dreams and lynchings... It's the same principle but I believe ours are more intense."

She continues mingling "Hi! I'm Nienna, roomates with Fea, Lari, and Mira (most of the time)"

To Brinn "So... I'm moving to Boston... what insight can you give?... When can we hang out?... When are we going to get all these Downers to come visit?"

[Aganzir]

There's this song Form has to listen to when he comes back from his walk.

*continues to spend her evening with Leonard Cohen*

[Nogrod]

Originally Posted by Boro

"But please, do tell how that if it talks like a wolf and walks like a wolf then it is a wolf has worked for you?"

"Hah. Well it works sometimes and on others it doesn't..." Nogord smiled widely and winked an eye.

"But I have a feeling - totally unsupported by any statistics or that kind of stuff as I'm not used to collect that kind of data either - that you really tend to end up supporting lynches for a lot of insecure newbies by that tactics but it tends to work better with the "big fish" or what should you call it; the "loudmouthed and scheming veterans"? But yes, pushing buttons is a good way to approach the game, or to stir the discussion in any way possible - although that is always risky as many people wish to avoid thinking and hard decisions and go with the flow against those who are controversial. That's kind of sad... but no can do." Nogrod frowned but then smiled again. "But that's the game, as you know?"

Suddenly Nogrod heard Aganzir protesting aloud. But it was not that which stirred him up. It was the following sentence:

Originally Posted by Aganzir

and where's my lil' Greenie?

Uups! I should be asking that question... My parenting may be lousy... I know, but this is bad. I've lost my daughter somewhere. I'm sure she was with me in London as we arrived. Nogrod turned a bit pale and started frantically to look around to the crowd. "Sorry", he managed to mumble and started counting the people inside walking from one group to another asking whether anyone had seen her. There were still a few people who had not come and Nogrod was sure Greenie was one of them.

"Excuse me, I'll check outside. Let's discuss more later..."

A terrible idea flashed into Nogrod's mind as he went out from the door. Now if Form is a werewolf and didn't actually exit for holy-bussiness... then Greenie is in real danger!

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

Fea watched Nienna, wishing she was as comfortable mingling at parties. She was quite sure that all present, if they were paying any attention to it at all, had noticed by now that she, Fea, stayed very close to the people she was already comfortable with, shyly avoiding interaction with anybody that might require that which was, in mingling circles, referred to as 'small talk.'

She eyed Kent, wondering how he came to be here, and how his first game would define him to others.

She looked at Nog, not so much intimidated as uncertain. If she could think of something to say, surely she would go say it, but without a set topic in mind, she didn't like to approach someone.

She could imagine it now:

She would walk up to Nog, who was talking to Boro, and they would both pause their completely brilliant and engrossing discussion about mature important things, and they would look at her, and wait for her to reveal why she was interrupting them, and she would try to think of the reason why she had thought it might be a good idea to stand up and cross the room and bother these nice people who were really too good to be talking to someone like her anyway-

-and then she would mumble, "Hello."

And they would very accomodatingly forgive her for being useless and awkward, and they would say, "Hello" back, and then...

Then all would fall to silence, and Fea would feel her throat constrict, and she'd know that any words she could think of - and all of the words would be really vapid anyway - would come out in a choked squeek, and then-

-and then everybody would know once and for all that she's actually quite terrible at group social events.

Thinking all these thoughts in the space of about a second, Fea positioned herself cooly in the booth she had claimed for herself, legs stretched out casually across the seat. Next to her she had a gimlet. She was, she'd learned, the kind of woman that can drink a gimlet unselfconsciously, for all that she had to add a bit of sugar to it to make it go down more gently. She had, however, only had a sip. She was quite afraid, to be honest, that actually consuming the entire drink would lubricate her inability to function just enough that she might actually get up and talk to strangers.

STRANGER DANGER her mom's voice shrieked in her imagination.

Fea kept herself from huddling shyly, and postured her body confidently, but still, deep inside, shivered like a little kid whose mom was inexplicably late to picking her up from school (with bullies closing in as the clock ticked), and watched Nog hurry off in search of his daughter.

[Shastanis Althreduin]

Spying Boro talking to Kuruharan at the bar, Shasta raised an eyebrow.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here. Excuse me just a moment, ladies, I've some... business to attend to."

Excusing himself from the now-defunct card game, Shasta went back to the corner he'd originally placed himself in. Checking under the table, he smiled to himself; his duffel bag was still there. And inside...

A gift from Brinniel a while back. Shasta hefted the folding hand-crossbow and drew an arrow from the bag at his feet, pulling back the slide of the bow and nocking the arrow, snapping the clip into place.

In one swift motion, he raised the weapon, took a split second to aim, and fired. Down went the bow, slack went the string, up folded the wings of the bow. By the time Boro's eyes focused on the arrow embedded and still-quivering in the bar inches from his torso, the crossbow was holstered under Shasta's long vest and he was innocently sitting next to Agan, watching the movie play on the laptop.

[Kuruharan]

“Hmmm…,” said Kuru. “Sputtering incoherence,” he wrote on his pad, “and threats of revenge.” He paused. “Yes, I’d say you handled that much better than Nilp. Course, he set the bar pretty low.”

“By the way, wouldn’t one have actually have to have, oh I don’t know, actually beaten you a time or two in Werewolf…”

Dun-Dun-Dun-DUUUUNNNHHH

“…ahem, in Werewolf to qualify as an arch-nemesis? Just a thought.”

Turning to another Downer, Kuru says,

“Aganzir you are evil. Did I mention that I am running a pool?”

Kuru pulls the arrow out of the bar as if nothing had happened and turns to Shasta.

“Your’s, I believe.”

[Boromir88]

“By the way, wouldn’t one have actually have to have, oh I don’t know, actually beaten you a time or two in Werewolf…”

"A fact that would be wise to keep in mind, master dwarf. But, anyway, Wile E. Coyote never managed to beat the Road Runner, yet they were definitely arch-nemesi."

Boro heard a twang, followed by a loud thud. He looked to see a bolt lodged into the side of the bar, it was a mere centimeter away from his torso.

"It appears I'm not the only one you have to worry about." Kuru said as he scribbled another note on his pad.

"Tis a fool whoever believes one arrow can slay me!" Boro boasted and looked around to see if he could ind the perp.

He looked at Gwath, who had been minding his own business the entire party. Couldn't be, a crossbow doesn't seem to be his weapon of choice, besides he'd only get rid of you once you declared him innocent.

Boro had turned his attention to Fea, who had often advocated his death, but surely she would not want me out this early, only when I prove completely useless for her would she do it. He noticed Fea's sophisticated appearance, yet the trembling hand gave away her surpressed weakness. I never gave her a filibuster...I wonder?

“Your’s, I believe.” Kuru tossed the arrow to Shasta.

"It must have pained you to miss by that much" Boro laughed, recalling the great fake reveal.

[Nerwen]

I'm Nerwen," said Nerwen, in response to Kent. "You've probably seen my name around the forums... you know, I'm getting quite excited by this talk of a real-life WW game. It should be quite something, with all these veterans around– although it's also nice," she grinned, a grin made a trifle wolfish by her angular features, "to get some fresh blood–"

She was cut off by the twang of a bowstring, followed by the thud of a bolt striking wood, and looked around in time to see Shasta hastily stuffing a crossbow down his shirt.

"No idea you took grudges that seriously, Shasta. I hope you don't expect the rest of us to pay for the damage?" Nerwen tried to speak with the unflappability of a true Australian, but she could feel her pale face growing a shade or two paler.

Maybe live Werewolf isn't such a great idea after all...

Too tall to be easily lost in the crowd, Nerwen began looking around for a convenient dark corner to disappear into. Shasta's next target would surely be the phantom, but it was possible that he would remember she had been Boromir88's packmate in that fatal game.

[Kent2010]

"It does sound more intense" Kent agreed with Nienna. "That's the big reason I came, because it looks like you can get more involved, especially with all the fine personalities. Also I've never ran away from a challenge." False he muttered to himself.

He scanned the room, watching all the 'Downers, this will be an adventure. We haven't even begun and there is already bolts and hostile words.

Kent saw that the man who asked if he was from Ohio, he looked relaxed and less testy than after the dwarf had thrown ice all over him, so he decided to go back and introduce himself. "Hi, name's Kent. Boro I hear the people call you?" The man nodded. "Nice to meet you. I'm not from Ohio, I was born and raised in PA, but the last couple years I've lived in an apartment in Ohio. I'm going to school in Kent, its been a lot easier and cheaper to live out here, with tuition being as high as it is."

[Lariren Shadow]

Lari finally pipes up from her coffee. She had died over the past few days do to horribly long papers and tests on monarchs that she be BFFs with but were all running together in her head.

When discussion of where Alonariel was begun she piped up, knowing somewhat were the girl was.

Originally Posted by Feanor of the Peredhil

She made her way over to Lari, Mira, and Nienna. "Have you guys seen her? Do we know where she is? Have we lost her to the fangirl clutches of TV shows I don't actually watch? Does she by any chance have the sparkletastic skin of a killer?"

"She is shopping at Sephora online for that extra sparkle. She should be here soon though." At least that's what Lari hoped. She hadn't been paying attention as well as she should have been and felt left out of the conversation. However, she knew that once she started to pay attention she could hopefully get along with everyone.

*Note links prompted by Mira.

Originally Posted by Shastanis Althreduin

In one swift motion, he raised the weapon, took a split second to aim, and fired. Down went the bow, slack went the string, up folded the wings of the bow. By the time Boro's eyes focused on the arrow embedded and still-quivering in the bar inches from his torso, the crossbow was holstered under Shasta's long vest and he was innocently sitting next to Agan, watching the movie play on the laptop.

Lari stared at the crossbow. She had always wanted to shot one, but never had the chance. Plus she preferred to use actual old fashioned bows instead. She also knew that in Mira's backpack was a bat, just in case the "mean" streets of Oxford got a little rough. Though there was that time she had thought she heard a cannon going off when she had been in Oxford before. But Mira did know an awesome bat trick.