Tol-in-Gaurhoth XXI: Dueling Wizards Werewolf

[Lalaith]

I've got to go now, won't be back until after deadline.

Eomer, you've been damn convincing today and if it was anyone else I'd believe them. But you, my dear, are notoriously King Bluff.
Here's my reasons:
a. You shouldn't be alive, as I said first thing.
b. You fit the bill of the wolf that heeded Roa's call to vote Valier ahead of her.

++EOMER

ToMorrow, if we all live, I want to look more carefully at Diamond. The Roa-squabble theory, you know....

[JennyHallu]

I'm going to have to vote about two hours before the deadline because I don't know if I can trust the internet at home. Still not sure what to think...I'm not convinced of Eomer's guilt.

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

I have afternoon obligations starting in fifteen minutes. Won't be back until around 10:00 PM... long after voting ends.

So I have to vote and... well...

++EOMER

Because I've never trusted him, he's been generally suspicious the whole game, and I'm surprised that the wolves didn't kill him. Generally when wolves don't kill people I have my eye on, it's because they frown upon killing their co-workers. I suppose I'm probably wrong, but since I have to choose, I have to choose. My vote goes to the one that makes me most nervous at any given time.

[Oddwen]

Uh-oh. Guess what. I also have no other chance to vote today.

[Oddwen]

++JENNYHALLU

I apologize, I really have no time to explain, truly sorry, will try tomorrow if I'm alive.

[JennyHallu]

That's the third totally unsubstantiated vote I've received in this game. Very very frustrating...How am I supposed to defend myself? And at this point in the game, we need helpful posts. All Oddwen has done today is post a recap of game events (we already know what happened, almost everything she said was in the narrations) and post a completely unsubstantiated vote. Even if that vote were for Kitanna (who has, up until just now topped my suspicions list) I would find it odd. Oddwen, you just jumped out of the probably-innocent range. I can't see how to interprete your posting today (or all game, really) in your favor.

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

That's the way Oddwen has played the entire game. How long is she going to be allowed to keep it up?

Nothing personal, Lalaith & Fea. I too would vote for me if I was in your shoes.

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

Well, I'm not sticking around so I'll have to vote now.

++ODDWEN

She's usually a strange player but this time 'round she's been ultra-weird. You can never truly tell what's going on behind those posts. Plus, there is no-one else I feel comfortable in voting for (excluding Glirdan and Azaelia, but let's ignore that).

I don't expect to be alive tomorrow so I'd love to leave you with some advice, but I'm really stumped. I've no idea who the wolves are. Sorry.

[JennyHallu]

I really need to spend this next hour working. *Sigh*

And since I have no way of knowing if the internet is still on the fritz at home, I'll have to vote too.

++Oddwen

This is not a revenge vote: I don't like how substanceless her posts have been, and frankly, it's the most wolvish thing I've seen today. I'm convinced the wolves must never have known who eachother were...there seems to be so little to go on, and so little village left. Frankly, I'm scared of what might happen if we don't get a wolf today.

[Diamond18]

I think Eomer's innocent. Ergo, I don't want him to die.

+ + Oddwen

My head has felt like mush toDay -- I'm not sure about hardly anyone.... I'm still suspicious of Lalaith, though I have found her posts toDay to be good reading. My suspicions of Kitanna are mounting again. Both of these people are like Morm, they give me bad feelings but I can't pin them down. All the quiet people remain disturbing, and Oddwen's vote for Jenny is disturbing to me (just like Sleepy's and he was innocent, blaargh). But if this is a mistake, so be it.

[Kitanna]

Well I'm quite torn. Oddwen is still near the top of my list and it appears others have joined in to thinking Oddwen is just too odd for the village good.

Her vote for Jenny was odd, not because of who she voted for or the fact she gave no reason, it's because it's not like her. This goes for all her votes and posts this game. We all agree Oddwen is odd (hence her name) but I feel this is beyond her oddness. I'm inclined to vote for her, yet Eomer has me equally as troubled.

I thought Morm was an innocent and possibly our second seer. But with his death as a werewolf I am worried now about Eomer. Morm had him cornered as a wolf and then dropped his case suddenly. Eomer is king of the bluffers, of course Eomer would seem like a bad choice for a wolf, but that kind of makes him a good choice.

So here's an idea. Roa would want someone like Eomer, a bad choice, because most people wouldn't dare pick him. I also think Fea would fit there. But Roa probably wouldn't want both of them as wolves. So I think is Eomer is lynched today and proven guilty, Fea is probably innocent. If Eomer is innocent then I'd say Fea is probably guilty.

Well, I was hoping to have come to a decision already, but I'm going to go think over who I think is more wolvish: Eomer or Oddwen

[Kitanna]

If I don't vote for Oddwen today I'll just do it tomorrow. I'm worried about her flying under the radar for so long, her lack of substance can be forgiven for some of her votes, but not all. I've said before I feel like she's doing what Alcarillo did, flying low after moderate activity the first few days. Also looking at the family trees and known wolves I still think Roa was trying to get at least one cursed in each family and so far no one in Lalaith and Oddwen's family has been cursed.

++ Oddwen

Tomorrow I'll deal with Eomer.

[littlemanpoet]

Activity for Day Seven is Complete.

The story will arrive some time in the next few hours.

[littlemanpoet]

After burying the corpses of Spawn, Kath, and Mormegil, the ten remaining villagers went back into town. Seven of them were innocent and three were werewolves. The innocent villagers were getting nervous. They were getting worried. They looked at each other in growing unease, wondering which three of their number were the werewolves. The werewolves for their part were gleeful, even though they had lost one of their number, and did all they could not to show it, so they made a point of looking nervous, looking worried, looking at all the other villagers as if they were wondering which three of their number were the werewolves ... as they laughed in their hearts.

Zali turned away from the group and hid in the house. Glirdan went for a long walk along the shore, mourning for Kath. Eonwe went for a hike in the foothills. The remaining six adults went into the Salty Seal while Oddwen ran to and fro and around the building, singing inanities, licking the rocks, jumping in the fountain then rolling in the dust. The adults raided the pantry, which was still rather well supplied. They pulled out pickled herring, beer, brown bread, and other less and more delectable fare, and hove to as they discussed their predicament. As was not unusual, Lalaith set her food and drink down first to speak.

"I don't know whom to trust now, I'm going to have to reassess a lot of things."

"Assess or reassess all you like, Lal. I say excellent hunting, Spawn, if you can only hear me from beyond the grave. I knew Morm was evil. And I still don't trust you, Lalaith."

"I can't believe Morm was a wolf," Kitanna offered. "And my faith in everything is completely shattered."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Diamond asked.

"It means there's hardly any way to tell who the werewolves are."

Diamond had no response to that except a nod of the head.

"Maybe the wolves thought I was the Hunter and that's why they did not attack me," Eomer suggested.

"All I can say is I wish Zali, Glirdy, Eonwe, and my Oddwen would please try to participate a bit more. I do not think we can win this without them." - Lalaith

"I'm thinking about why Kath was killed," Eomer said as he chewed on a big chunk of brown bread. "She didn't voice suspicions of Roa at all the day before she dreamed of her. So the wolves apparently got lucky with that kill. So why then would Kath be killed? Beats me."

"I think Kitanna is a wolf, but I don't think Eomer is a wolf," Jenny offered.

"I don't think Kath dreamt of a wolf," Kitanna said. "As for Glirdan and Eonwe, I say Eonwe is probably innocent. I say Glirdan could easily go either way."

"Thank you very much for that, Kitanna," said Lalaith. Then she launched into a long narrative of how things had gone since the Curse came upon Sealville. When she had done, she paused a moment and said, "Having said all that, I can't see how Zali was a wolf, at least not on Day Four." She chewed carefully on a bit of herring. "And something that Jenny said yesterday is eating at me. She says, 'Honestly, I think most of the reason I was not picked is that Roa and I tend to bicker.' But I say to that, 'Really? Can I just say two words to you: Nogrod. Valier."

"But those two bicker with everybody," Jenny retorted.

"Diamond is innocent," Eomer declared. "And all this talk of so-and-so being helpful, I say that helpful is as helpful does. It's in the eye of the beholder. What's helpful to me ain't necessarily helpful to you nor vice versa."

"I wonder if Roa cursed Valier after Valier first went after her, and then told Val to just carry on. At any rate, I am going to start the vote today. You, my dear Eomer, are notoriously King Bluff." With that, Lalaith voted for Eomer.

"I'm not convinced of Eomer's guilt," Jenny said.

Feanor, who had been rather quiet and in the beer until now, said, "I've never trusted Eomer, he's been generally suspicious the whole time, and I'm surprised that the wolves haven't killed him yet, if you take my meaning. I vote Eomer."

Suddenly Oddwen came rushing in, blowing and dribbling saliva out of both sides of her mouth. "I vote Jenny!" she said, rushing up to the table where the adults sat, stopping with a slap of her filthy hands on the table edge, sending dust on all the food. "I really have no time to explain, truly sorry!" She ran back outside again.

"That's the third totally unsubstantiated vote I've received in this game," Jenny complained.

"Lalaith & Feanor," said Eomer, "I too would vote for me if I was in your shoes. No hard feelings. Oddwen, on the other hand, has always been odd, but lately she has been ultra-weird. I vote Oddwen.

"I vote Oddwen," Jenny announced. "This is not a revenge vote. I'm scared of what might happen if we don't get a wolf today."

"I think Eomer's innocent," Diamond said, batting her eyelashes at him gratefully. Then resuming her twenty-years-his-senior dignity she said, "Ergo, I don't want him to die. I vote Oddwen."

"Oddwen is just too odd for the village good," Kitanna said. "I vote Oddwen. Tomorrow I'll deal with Eomer."

They waited until sundown. Glirdan, Zali, and Eonwe had stayed away.

With no Mormegil as mayor to do the honors, they drew straws to determine who would have the honor of leading the proceedings, such as they were. The honor adhered to Kitanna. She decided that she liked being mayor for a day.

"First we have to catch Oddwen." The six adults finished their food and drink, then left the Salty Seal in search of little Oddwen. Lalaith lagged behind, feeling as if she were failing in her duty as guardian to catch the little girl in order to lynch her. The others went to it with a will, and soon they caught sight of her and gave chase. Oddwen looked back and saw the adults coming after her, and thought it was a game of tag. She laughed with glee, and tore off in a new direction, giggling with delight. The adults never played tag otherwise, and this was turning into the happiest day of her life.

She was fast, clever, and covered in slime and filth. She was very hard to catch. Now she was under a table. Now she had disappeared into a basement. Now she was on the other side of the fountain. Now she was sneaking up behind Feanor and going "Boo!" and sending the otherwise dignified lady jumping with an "eek!"

Finally they had her surrounded and she could not get away, and she gave up in a fit of laughing glee. They took hold of her and led her to the beech tree.

"Am I it now?"

"Yes, dear," sniffed Lalaith.

"How high should I count? To one hundred?"

"Yes, dear, one hundred would be good," Lalaith moaned. "Be sure to close your eyes, my dear, and count very slowly while the rest of us go hide."

"Why are they putting the rope around my neck?"

"To make sure you don't come running before you count to one hundred, my dear." Lalaith began to weep.

"Why are they putting this black hood over my head?"

"So you don't peek and see which way we go hide, my dearest," Lalaith bawled.

"Aunt Lal, why do you sound so sad?"

"I'm not sad," Lalaith cried. "I've never been so happy in my entire life, playing tag with you! Now count to one hundred."

"One ..... two ..... three .... f-" She fell. "Gck! GK!!! GGGKK!!!!!" She was too light.

"Someone do something!" Lalaith screamed.

Eomer ran up to Oddwen and pulled down on both legs as hard as he could. Oddwen's neck broke and she died, swinging limply in the air. She did not change into a werewolf.

Lalaith fell to the ground and was inconsolable.

~ The Tally ~

Three werewolves
Six Innocent

~ The Dead ~ (19)

Elempi, father of Diamond of the Battledore, killed on Night One
Loki the leech collector, lynched on Day One: innocent
The Saucepan Man the barkeep, killed on Night Two: innocent
Nogrod the retired jester, lynched on Day Two: werewolf
the phantom the loud, unpredictable, adventurer: hunter
Naria the servant who empties and cleans chamber pots: werewolf
Celuien the Healer and Cupper, lynched on Day Three: innocent
Lhunardawen the jeweler, committed suicide on Day Three: innocent
Cailín the match maker, mauled by werewolves on Night Four: innocent
Valier the gardener, planted and stoned in her garden on Day Four: werewolf
Firefoot the artist, frenziedly eaten on Night Five: innocent
Nilpaurion the ne'er do well hubby of Dancing Spawn, head almost ripped off by werewolves: innocent
Alcarillo the old retired sea captain, drowned on his boat on Day Five: werewolf
Lommy the little girl who steals other children's candy, broken and consumed on Night Six: innocent
Caranlondien the Sled-Team Driver, skewered and kabobed on Night Six: ranger
Roa Aoife the weaver, burned by fire on Day Six: the evil wizard
Gurthang the stable-hand, contorted by evil magic on Day Six: the good wizard
Sleepy Ranger the former wanderer, lynched on Day Six: innocent
Dancing Spawn of Ungoliant the Baker, flayed through the back on Night Seven: hunter
Kath the minstrel: flayed where she lay on Night Seven: seer
mormegil the retired mariner and current mayor: virtually beheaded by the Hunter on Night Seven: werewolf
Oddwen the filthy, insane street urchin, lynched in a game of tag on Day Seven: innocent

~ The Living ~ (9)

Diamond of the Battledore
Glirdan with the giant crush on Kath
Kitanna the beloved of Eomer
Feanor the shepherdess with a love of alliteration
Zali the seamstress and beloved of the phantom
Jenny Hallu the unmarried maiden & aunt
Lalaith the frivolous aunt and guardian of Oddwen
Eonwe the freeloading husband of Lhunardawen
Eomer the adventurer & lover of Kitanna

[littlemanpoet]

Glirdan was in mourning. Kath was gone, killed by werewolves. His father Sleepy was gone, lynched! Caranlondien and Lommy had been taken by werewolves. And his mother, Roa, was dead, but only because the good wizard head killed her so she could not create any more werewolves. He wondered if she had turned him into one and he didn't know it. He looked at his fingers, imagining claws, his arms, imagining them covered in fur. No, he didn't think so.

The wind blew off the salty sea, sending clean and scoured air his way. He was glad of it, for the Cursed village was becoming no place he wanted to live. He imagined that they would be voting for the next person to lynch. Let them vote! He would have none of it. He walked on. As the sun set he considered going back to town, and least to find out who had been lynched. He had no stomach for it. He kept on walking.

As darkness descended, all that could be told was the thundering waves crashing against the rocks strewen across the shore like bits of meat not consumed by the maw of the sea when it had eaten Numenor and the westmost shores of Luin in a gulp. Glirdan swallowed hard. He did not like thinking about great maws, huge gulps, and ravenous appetites. He turned his mind back to Kath and dreamed of her walking down the street, of her playing her lyre, her sweet voice, her-

He turned. Had he heard growling? A black shadow seemed to loom behind that rock. Suddenly snarls and claws and pain. He screamed.

***********

As dawn arrived, the villagers made their reluctant trek to the Watcher Rock. There lay Glirdan's body, or rather the largely skeletal remains of him. Only his head and feet and hands had been left unravaged; so they could identify him. They had no need to wonder if they had taken his heart; there was nothing left but a ribcage messy with scraps the werewolves were too indelicate to clean off. When they tried lift the body it fell into many bones, and not a few of them lost their last night's suppers. Nevertheless, they buried the bones in the graveyard, next to the one of Oddwen, already carefully decorated with a flower garden by Lalaith.

************

~ The Tally ~ (3)

Three werewolves
Five innocents

~ The Dead ~ (19)

Elempi, father of Diamond of the Battledore, killed on Night One
Loki the leech collector, lynched on Day One: innocent
The Saucepan Man the barkeep, killed on Night Two: innocent
Nogrod the retired jester, lynched on Day Two: werewolf
the phantom the loud, unpredictable, adventurer: hunter
Naria the servant who empties and cleans chamber pots: werewolf
Celuien the Healer and Cupper, lynched on Day Three: innocent
Lhunardawen the jeweler, committed suicide on Day Three: innocent
Cailín the match maker, mauled by werewolves on Night Four: innocent
Valier the gardener, planted and stoned in her garden on Day Four: werewolf
Firefoot the artist, frenziedly eaten on Night Five: innocent
Nilpaurion the ne'er do well hubby of Dancing Spawn, head almost ripped off by werewolves: innocent
Alcarillo the old retired sea captain, drowned on his boat on Day Five: werewolf
Lommy the little girl who steals other children's candy, broken and consumed on Night Six: innocent
Caranlondien the Sled-Team Driver, skewered and kabobed on Night Six: ranger
Roa Aoife the weaver, burned by fire on Day Six: the evil wizard
Gurthang the stable-hand, contorted by evil magic on Day Six: the good wizard
Sleepy Ranger the former wanderer, lynched on Day Six: innocent
Dancing Spawn of Ungoliant the Baker, flayed through the back on Night Seven: hunter
Kath the minstrel: flayed where she lay on Night Seven: seer
mormegil the retired mariner and current mayor: virtually beheaded by the Hunter on Night Seven: werewolf
Oddwen the filthy, insane street urchin, lynched in a game of tag on Day Seven: innocent
Glirdan with the giant crush on Kath, killed and eaten by the seashore on Night Eight: innocent

~ The Living ~ (8)

Diamond of the Battledore
Kitanna the beloved of Eomer
Feanor the shepherdess with a love of alliteration
Zali the seamstress and beloved of the phantom
Jenny Hallu the unmarried maiden & aunt
Lalaith the frivolous aunt and guardian of Oddwen
Eonwe the freeloading husband of Lhunardawen
Eomer the adventurer & lover of Kitanna

[Lalaith]

Right. Enough is enough. Can we *please* lynch The Wolf of the Rohirrim now.
Look at him yesterday. Gloating about Glirdan and Zali being away.
And this.

I too would vote for me if I was in your shoes

It's more than flesh and blood can stand.

The other wolves, I strongly suspect, are two out of Kitanna, Jenny and Diamond.

[Btw I will not be around very much for this Day. As I am sure the wolves will be delighted to hear.]

++EOMER

[Lalaith]

PS I very much fear that Eonwe is not going to be around for the rest of the game. And I very much fear he is not a wolf. So all the voting innocents need to vote the same way to get rid of these lupines.
There's been some very wolvish-looking bandwaggoning going on the last couple of days, getting rid of innocents Sleepy and Oddwen. If another innocent goes today, we lose.

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

I find it sad that you refuse to even entertain the notion that I might be innocent, Lalaith; no doubt, my thoughts today will horrify and anger you.

I have given this much thought today (so much so that I probably got a much poorer mark in my exam than I should have) and I have come to the conclusion that Lalaith (!) is a wolf.

I guessed on the very first day (even before the game started, actually) that she would be among the prime picks for wolvery. No-one ever wants to lynch her because she appears so sensible and so helpful and so sweet and innocent. It's an act: we've seen it before. I'm amazed that I have lasted this long; but I don't think anyone is amazed that Lalaith is still here. I'll ask again: Why on earth would the EW pick me to be a wolf? Everyone sees bluffs for what they are, at least now that we've played about a million Werewolf games. That's why I'm very confident Fea is also innocent. Neither of us last 'til anywhere near the end.

Lalaith came into her own yesterday, after her Mayor buddy Mormegil was taken out. Until then, Mormegil had actually been acting as a Mayor proper, conducting the village. Yesterday, Lalaith was doing it. Chastising us about not fully taking into account when the wolves were turned. Apparently you didn't notice that this strategy tells us very little as any combination of villagers could have been turned at any time. All this 'theory' was supposed to was gain the upper-hand in the politics of the village.

I should never have let my instinct go unheeded.

As to your argument in voting for me (not including the Caran-factor which I explained yesterday, however unlikely it might have seemed — sorry, but the wolves did guess right and left innocent me alone while they got the gifteds).

Gloating about Zali and Glirdan not being here? That doesn't make any sense and you know it. You're scaremongering, Lalaith.

And because I don't think many of you will buy into this I fully expect to be lynched today; and so we will all perish. That's the thing Lalaith: not enough people suspect you. And I fear that your fellows are too far behind me in the suspicion stakes.

This is not a revenge vote, I really do think you are a wolf. A vote on the first post, I mean really! Well, I can meet you in that respect.

++LALAITH

I'll be back tomorrow, at some point.

[Diamond18]

*bangs head against desk repeatedly*

Why do I suddenly get the feeling that both Lal and Eomer are wovles? Lal because I've thought so for a long time and Eomer because, well, these back to back votes are just tooooooo convenient. One dies as a wolf and the other looks really good? Also the points Eomer made against Lal are very similar to my earlier ones -- like, he uses some of the exact same words. Trying to jump on my wagon, are you? Bah. I'm going to have to read over yesterDay... and the Day before... and.... *sigh*

I don't know what to do, really, but I'm not going to jump to vote just yet.

[Azaelia of Willowbottom]

Apologies for my absence yesterDay, all.

To business. As one of an (ever-shrinking) number of voting innocents, I am not going to make my previous mistake and vote with my first post.

Going back a bit: I was planning on calling Morm out when I got on. But the rest of you took care of that yesterday. I must admit I was a little smug when I read that he turned out to be a baddie, just because I was about to snap because of being constanty discredited. Sure, I haven't been doing my best, but I'm not sure I deserved what I got from him.

Anyhow. I'm not going to be so bold as to proclaim anyone a wolf for sure just yet, but I think just from toDay's first couple posts, we can determine that at least one of Eomer and Lalaith is a wolf, if not both. I agree with Diamond that the set-up of the two votes is a little too convenient, but I'm not sure which one (if not both) is guilty yet.

More to come later (though I'm not sure how long, exactly, that will be).

[JennyHallu]

Diamond, I highly doubt they're both wolves. Why would they set themselves up that way when all they need is one innocent kill? One of them is, definitely, but not both.

And I'm considering the possibility that I may have to vote tonight.

Weekends are crazy busy when you work all week, and I have no way of knowing how much time I'll have or if I'll have time before the deadline tomorrow. Must think about this...no mistakes today.

But frankly, Lalaith is looking most suspicious to me, for several reasons:

First, I think there were probably wolves in both bandwaggons yesterday (Eomer and Oddwen). One in the former, and two in the latter. Looked at that way, the people who look most suspicious in my mind are Lalaith and Eomer, and I think that only one is a wolf.

Lalaith has been going SO gung-ho against Eomer for days now. When we are this close to the wire, we really need to think things out and discuss them. One wrong step today loses us the game...we need to think out our candidates and see multiple possibilities. She's been the first vote cast two days in a row, and we know she's no seer to have this kind of certainty. She's also been interpreting every little phrase of Eomer's using very emotionally charged words: gloating, etc. I also don't think her argument about the Hunter defending Eomer holds water: All Gurthang's gifteds were in his family, and with Morm as a wolf, I don't think it's at all unlikely that was noticed and acted upon.

I'm really seeing Lalaith as a more probable wolf. Eomer's posts have just felt more and more frustrated to me, which makes a lot of sense if someone is wildly and consistently accusing you, and then using your every defense to bolster their "case". He's just feeling more innocent each day.

I'm going to pause and think a bit, and vote at the latest tomorrow morning, depending on how what's left of tonight goes.

[Diamond18]

Originally Posted by JennyHallu

Diamond, I highly doubt they're both wolves. Why would they set themselves up that way when all they need is one innocent kill? One of them is, definitely, but not both.

Well, here's my logic, such as it is:

The wolves can afford to lose one, at this point. Lalaith and Eomer have lately been gaining lost of suspicion, so it's likely one or the other will die. Instead of trying to fight this, they have embraced it and decided that if one must die they will at least make it look very good for the other. Tomorrow the survivor of this little game will then use his/her increased trustworthiness (in collusion with the third wolf) to rather effortlessly direct the village onto an innocent, ending the game. It's a more reliable tactic for an Eomer/Lalaith duo than trying to keep both of themselves alive. Fear of this one small failure could be shooting themselves in the foot, so they are meeting it head on, going at each others' throats.

I don't know any of this for sure, but it's what entered my head when I read their opening posts.

Lalaith, I'm sure you all know by now, is someone I do not feel comfortable leaving alive.

As for Aimé, yesterday I felt pretty confident in my guess that he's innocent -- but Oddwen's innocent death has somewhat shaken that. We all make mistakes, and I too voted for Oddwen, but he seemed to have instigated the lynching. Which worries me. Also, in his argument against Lalaith today he used the phrase "so sweet and innocent" which is the words I used to describe her earlier... and this coupled with my earlier declaration of trust in him makes me wonder if he's trying to take advantage of my earlier thinking him innocent. Perhaps I am a villager he thinks to use as his puppet. This could be true whether or not Lalaith is a fellow wolf. At any rate, I highly dislike the idea of being made someone's patsy so.... Perhaps I just find it odd that he's now expressing many of the same opinions about Lalaith as I did earlier, and claiming to have felt so all along, when I don't remember him being particularly anti-Lalaith before. (Perhaps I need to go back and read his posts more closely.)

But I do not want to abandon my pursuit of Lalaith and turn on Eomer so quickly -- that would be ignoring instincts in the light of a little new confusion, and somehow it seems to me that abandoning instinct is the worst thing to do. If my instinct leads me foul, at least I can live with that, if I ignore my instinct and it proved to be true, then I'll be kicking myself all up and down the forum.

[Lalaith]

As luck would have it, I was able to get on again this morning before I leave.
I voted right out because
a. I didn't think I'd get another chance (see T-i-G thread)
b. we HAVE to get this right today, and I didn't want the wolves to start yet another fruitless bandwaggon.

The wolves can afford to lose one, at this point. Lalaith and Eomer have lately been gaining lost of suspicion, so it's likely one or the other will die. Instead of trying to fight this, they have embraced it and decided that if one must die they will at least make it look very good for the other

This just doesn't stand up, Di. The wolves will win today, in all likelihood. If an innocent is lynched today, we will be down to four/three. The wolves kill another toNIght, and bingo, wolf victory.

Why on earth would the EW pick me to be a wolf?

Because she had a LOT of picks, and you'd survived a long time already when she picked you. I'm not saying she would have picked you right off, I think you were turned quite near the end.

I haven't been going for Eomer for "days." Just yesterDay and today, and I think The reason I'm gung-ho, btw, is because someone has to be. I get the feeling that there have been very few active innocents left in the last few days.

And btw, innocents - statistically, it is very likely that at least one wolf is disagreeing with me right now about Eomer.

Think about that. And think about who was saved by the Sleepy bandwaggon, and who was saved by the Oddwen bandwaggon.
I'm going now, and won't back until sometime late on the next Day, in the unlikely event that we are all here.

[Azaelia of Willowbottom]

I agree with Jenny that "frustrated" posts can convey innocence...the situation you set up with Lalaith consistantly attacking Eomer is one that I'm going to have to review that thread to look into. If that's the case, Eomer, I certainly feel your pain. If this is the case, it makes Eomer look very innocent, and I doubt it's a good wolf plan to constantly attack another wolf, as it's one that could easily backfire.

Lalaith's last post does bear some consideration. If we don't lynch a werewolf toDay, we will lose. So it's a high-pressure situation.

Unfortunately, I'm going to have to vanish in about three hours, and probably won't be back until the next Day (if there is one). So I'm going to review the thread, do some careful consideration, and wait and see what happens.

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

Right, hold on just a moment.

First of all, in defence of Lalaith's tactics, I wouldn't say she's been going after me like crazy; but I do think she's being rather narrow-minded and stuck in her ways.

Second, Diamond, I didn't even look at your posts about Lalaith when making my first post today. I knew you were the one villager to really suspect Lalaith but the only point I remembered you making was that Lalaith posts a lot without ever really saying much.

I will post again in a few minutes to show that I am not hopping on any bandwagon. Diamond, you may be the original Lalaith-accuser but you haven't voted for her for a couple of days now. I hardly think that's bandwagon-jumping. I'm not accusing Lalaith of bandwagoning me due to the votes I received earlier in the game, am I?

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

Well, that didn't take long. My second post of the game (#80) includes my first direct suspicion.

"If I were a wizard, of any persuasion, I would have chosen Lalaith."

And I repeat it later that day in #151. As you can see, Diamond, while I may never have been as anti-Lalaith as you (and why should I have been with less evidence back in those days?) I have always suspected that she would be cursed by the EW. As I kept saying back in those early days — and why so many of you thought I was the EW because of this I don't know — were I the Evil Wizard, Lalaith would have been the first villager I would have cursed. So even though I think she is instilled with evil, you can see how much of a compliment that is.

Diamond, looking back I see that you called Lalaith 'pleasant and innocent' in #879 (not 'sweet and innocent', which to be honest, are words I use to describe pretty much any female), and I also saw your case against her when voting for her in #922. It doesn't really come that close to what I said about Lalaith earlier today. Could you maybe clarify where my points are similar to yours?

[JennyHallu]

I've thought about it, slept on it (well the mattress anyway but I did) and I really see Lalaith as the most likely wolf out of these two. I really hope I'm right, because I want to have at least a chance for us to win this...

And as soon as I wake my husband up I plan to have a really busy day, so i'm voting now.

++Lalaith

[Azaelia of Willowbottom]

Eomer's last two posts have pretty much convinced me of his innocence. He's reasonable, smart, and I agree with him--he's not hopping on any bandwaggon by voting for Lalaith...merely following through on a long-standing suspicion. In general, I only see a bandwaggon as happening when someone already has at least three votes to their name.

Because I believe now that Eomer is innocent, I'm going to vote for

++Lalaith

Because I am pretty much positive that one of the Eomer-Lalaith pair is a wolf. And because I'm pretty much positive that Eomer is the innocent one...Either that or they're both wolves and they're pulling a remarkable stunt that shouldn't be able to fly, but somehow is...But I doubt that very much.

I know that wolfing times are very foggy, but I feel like Eomer was under a lot of scrutiny from Morm early on, until he switched to an easier target (namely, me). Of course, Morm may not have yet been a wolf, but who knows. I'm just trying to say that my gut says Eomer is innocent and to watch out for Lalaith.

[Azaelia of Willowbottom]

Oh, and if we all wake up dead toMorrow, It's been real fun, hanging out (no pun intended) in Sealville with all of you. I hope we catch a wolf toDay, because I'd really like to see this played out to its fullest potential...and because I'll have more time to participate toMorrow.

Cheers, all!

Your friendly neighborhood Zalia.

[Kitanna]

Jenny=
First, I think there were probably wolves in both bandwaggons yesterday (Eomer and Oddwen). One in the former, and two in the latter. Looked at that way, the people who look most suspicious in my mind are Lalaith and Eomer, and I think that only one is a wolf.

Jenny, you read my mind. I was thinking that same thing, though for the Oddwen bandwagon Diamond's vote placement seems the most suspicious, but I'm pretty convinced Diamond is not guilty. So Eomer would be my second choice in that.
I agree Lalaith is probably the wolf in the Eomer bandwagon. One reason is I still think Roa was getting (or trying in Gurthang's family) a wolf from each family line that was not her own. And I was wrong about Oddwen and that leaves Lalaith because she is the only other member of that family.

Also Lalaith's first few posts have me a bit worried.

Lalaith=
Look at him yesterday. Gloating about Glirdan and Zali being away.
And this.

I remember Eomer's post when he mentioned Zali and Glirdan being gone and I don't think that counts as gloating. He was stating a sad fact that we were going to be out two votes for the day.

I'm not sure what Lalaith is trying to prove with that quote from Eomer voting for himself had he been "in their shoes." I see what he's saying and he knows he looks suspicious and he's not hiding the fact many think he's a wolf at this point. But what exactly is Lalaith trying to get us to see?

Diamond=Why do I suddenly get the feeling that both Lal and Eomer are wovles?

I'm not so sure that's true. One is a wolf for sure, but not both. If this was happening earlier in the game I would say both could be wolves, but not now. Not with precious few days left.

Zali=
I know that wolfing times are very foggy, but I feel like Eomer was under a lot of scrutiny from Morm early on, until he switched to an easier target (namely, me).

That's actually a very good point. I still find it highly likely Morm attacked Eomer until he guessed Eomer might be a wolf as well. But I've seen Morm's wolven ancestors just switch targets from one innocent to another just because one seem like a better lynch target.

Lalaith=

Because she had a LOT of picks, and you'd survived a long time already when she picked you. I'm not saying she would have picked you right off, I think you were turned quite near the end.

Eomer went through a heavy bout of suspicion and it was to be expected, I mean, it's Eomer and all. So that makes him a really terrible first choice.
So this is what I think:
Loki we know was one of the first wolves, Naria was probably a Night One wolf as well and I think Nogrod was the other one.
So the next night Alcarillo was cursed
Then on Night Three or possibly Four Valier was cursed
And then Morm was picked as the final wolf for Night Six

Now if Eomer was to be picked it would be guessed he was put chosen on Night Four or Five. I'd say if Lalaith was picked she's be picked early on, maybe Night Three.
By Night Four Eomer had gotten through a lot of suspicion already and he was still smelling like roses, so Roa saw many had abandoned the Bluffer King as a suspect and so she decided to make all their suspicions true.
As for Lalaith, she would have established early on that she was not a usual suspect for most people and that she was generally considered innocent. Roa sees Lalaith as she flies under the radar for the first few days, adding thoughtful posts to the village and gaining a lot of credit amoung the villagers. Roa seizes the opportunity and curses Lalaith early knowing that if she is lynched she will most likely be lynched later on when there are plenty of wolves hanging around still.

Jenny=
Eomer's posts have just felt more and more frustrated to me, which makes a lot of sense if someone is wildly and consistently accusing you, and then using your every defense to bolster their "case". He's just feeling more innocent each day.

I'd be really worried if Eomer wasn't frustrated. He's in a tough spot, sitting on the fence, knowing that this could be his last day, and Lalaith seems to be trying to instill fear in all of us so we push Eomer off the fence. So, he has every right to be frustrated and I know a lot of us would be acting like him if we were in this situation. If Eomer was acting all calm about this and completely dismissing Lalaith's suspicions I'd be really worried and would not hesitate to vote for him. But his increasing frustrated posts speak well of him.

So, this is going to be my only post for the day, unless by some weird accident I'm home before Day ends. Given what I've seen today and knowing either Lalaith is guilty or Eomer is, I'm going to vote

++ Lalaith

She seems to be fishing the bottom of the barrel today to find things to convict Eomer of and her reasons from yesterday were not . That worries me. Also I mentioned yesterday I didn't like Lalaith using the Caran protecting him and him still being alive thing as evidence. I think it could have been a set-up by the remaining wolves and the fact Lalaith brought it up makes me think it was a set-up and she just wants to get the village to lynch the innocent Eomer. And finally it's been said before, but Lalaith would have been an excellent wolf choice from the beginning. Her ability to fly under the radar for so long is uncanny and pretty disturbing.

[JennyHallu]

So that's four votes, right? And there are only eight villagers today and no double lynches...so Lalaith is definitely our lynchee today. Great. I feel really confident that's the right decision.

[JennyHallu]

Oh and...

*Woof*

[littlemanpoet]

This Day is over and shortened.

No more votes are necessary.

Lalaith will be lynched.

The narrative will wait until later.

The Werewolves will inform me of their final kill.

Regardless, I declare this game finished.

WEREWOLVES WIN!

Congratulations to werewolves Eomer, Kitanna, and Jenny for a superbly played final couple of days.

Congratulations especially to Roa for an amazing job as evil wizard. I can't think of a single mistake made.

[Diamond18]

What, I don't get to reply to anything, I don't get to vote, the game is just over? 5 hours early!? Bah.

[Glirdan]

Curses!! I knew it all along!!! And that's why we lynch Eomer ealier in the game.

[Diamond18]

Yeah, well, curse my habit of sleeping during the day. I got up, read all these posts, and just about screamed when I saw everyone voting for Lalaith. No one ever paid attention to my suspicions against her earlier, but the minute Eomer goes after her an instant bandwaggon forms? Evil, evil, bad things going on. I should have reacted quicker last night to Jenny's defense of Eomer... it was horribly fishy but did Diamond figure it out then, noooo. Not until Kitanna started jumping on board too, but of course by then it was too late.

Actually, what I should have done was try to kill Eomer as messily as possible the instant he said he thought I was innocent. I didn't find it wrong enough because I was innocent. But anyone with half a brain should have been going, "How is he so sure I'm innocent? I'm the only one who besides the wolves who actually knows this."

[Firefoot]

Actually, what I should have done was try to kill Eomer as messily as possible the instant he said he thought I was innocent. I didn't find it wrong enough because I was innocent. But anyone with half a brain should have been going, "How is he so sure I'm innocent? I'm the only one who besides the wolves who actually knows this."

Yeah, that happens to me a lot...

I told you all to kill Eomer... so maybe he wasn't the EW, but you still should have killed him.

[Glirdan]

Of coures you were right Firefoot. I don't know why I didn't see things earlier. Mind you, he was bugging me for sometime after I came back last week. There was just something not right. I thought that by now he would have been dead, but noooo.

[mormegil]

For those wondering I have been evil since the second day. I was the first wolf selected after the three. And you thought I was only converted the last night! What a great game. I have more to say later but it was great working with Roa, I knew her identity, I believe I was the only one. I wish I had made it victoriously to the end but well done Jenny my Daughter, Eomer my nemisis and Kitanna my friend.

Spawn a well chosen kill. She did chose me even though I would have died anyway.

[Diamond18]

I've been conditioned over my past three games (not to mention Roa's shenaigans in this one) for the bad'uns to attack me and try to get me lynched. I always knew there's the possibility of them trying to get on my good side, but I didn't see it until too late.

Actually, if I'm being totally honest, this is what made me suspicious of Eomer, more so than the Oddwen vote and the Lalaith attack:

Originally Posted by LMP

"Diamond is innocent," Eomer declared.

...

"I think Eomer's innocent," Diamond said, batting her eyelashes at him gratefully. Then resuming her twenty-years-his-senior dignity she said, "Ergo, I don't want him to die. I vote Oddwen."

Paul, Paul, Paulio -- I knew we weren't supposed to be looking for hints in the narrative, and this wasn't intentional I am sure -- but when I read this I couldn't shake the thought from my mind that maybe I was supposed to be grateful to Eomer and lay off him because he'd voiced confidence in my innocence. Especially since I'd never mentioned being grateful in my posts, but this grateful attitude somehow appeared in your portrayal of my vote in the narration. That really wasn't it -- I just have not played with Eomer before and way underestimated his talent for feeling fair and being foul. Lalaith kept saying it but my mind was clouded with my own suspicions of her, so I kept doubting everything she said, even when it made sense. Sorry, Lal.

I also kept trying to put the narration out of my mind. Even if it was a slip on LMP's part it didn't seem quite fair to be using that. So I avoided mentioning it in my post where I voiced suspicions about being used as a puppet, and kept trying to talk myself out of thinking that way. Well, from now on I will fully take advantage of such slips, and I don't care if the mod doesn't like it.

Grr. Anyway, I'm still kicking myself and obsessing over this because I saw it all so clearly reading the posts today, then just as it all came together in my head, everyone was voting for Lalaith and LMP declared the game over and I didn't even get a chance to do anything. Argh. (Not that it would have mattered, Zali's vote was the one innocent they needed and without Fea around there was no one else to vote for Eomer, but still.)