WWXXXV: Werewolves among the Wolf-men

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

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[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Túrin son of Húrin was a man strong and proud, a hero of old times, and his deeds were great in the lands of Beleriand in ages long gone. But his fate was dark and sorrowful, for the curse of Morgoth the Dark Lord lay on him and his kin. His tale is fulltold in that lay that is called Narn i Hîn Húrin, the Tale of the Children of Húrin. Here of that tale is told but a small part, for it is the longest of all the ancient tales.
When Túrin was young, his mother sent him to Doriath, where king Thingol received him and raised him. Túrin grew fair and strong in Doriath, and became the companion in arms of Beleg Cúthalion. But he came into enmity with Saeros, an elf from king's court, and Saeros assailed him in the woods; but Túrin overcame him and Saeros fleeing in terror before him fell into the chasm of a stream. In fear of punishment, Túrin left Doriath and joined himself to a band of such houseless and desperate men as could be found in those evil days lurking in the wild. Gaurwaith, wolf-men they were called, and Túrin became their leader and led them away westward out of Sirion's vale; for they grew weary of their life without rest, ever watchful and in fear of pursuit, and they sought for a safer lair.

And it chanced at a time of evening that they came upon three Dwarves, who fled before them; but one that lagged behind was seized and thrown down, and a man of the company took his bow and let fly an arrow at the others as they vanished in the dusk. Now the dwarf that they had taken was named Mîm; and he pleaded for his life before Túrin, and offered as ransom to lead them to his hidden halls which none might find without his aid. Then Túrin pitied Mîm, and spared him; and he said: "Where is your house?"
Then Mîm answered: "High above the lands lies the house of Mîm, upon the great hill; Amon Rûdh is that hill called now, since the Elves changed all the names."
Then Túrin was silent, and he looked long upon the dwarf; and at last he said: "You shall bring us to that place."

The company set westward, and Túrin went at the head with Mîm at his side. They walked warily when they left the woods, but all the land was empty and quiet. They passed over the tumbled stones, and began to climb; for Amon Rûdh stood upon the eastern edge of the high moorlands that rose between the vales of Sirion and Narog, and even above the stony heath at its base its crown was reared up a thousand feet and more. Upon the eastern side a broken land climbed slowly up to the high ridges among knots of birch and rowan, and ancient thorn-trees rooted in rock. About the lower slopes of Amon Rûdh there grew thickets of aeglos; but its steep grey head was bare, save for the red seregon that mantled the stone.
As the afternoon was waning the outlaws drew near to the roots of the hill. They came now from the north, for so Mîm had led them, and the light of the westering sun fell upon the crown of Amon Rûdh, and the seregon was all in flower.
Then one among them said: "See! There is blood on the hill-top."
"Not yet," said Túrin.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Then Mîm led them by secret paths up the steep slopes of Amon Rûdh; and at the mouth of his cave he bowed to Túrin, saying: "Enter into Bar-en-Danwedh, the House of Ransom; for so it shall be called."
And now there came another dwarf bearing light to greet him, and they spoke together, and passed swiftly down into the darkness of the cave; but the men followed after, and came at length to a chamber far within, lit by dim lamps hanging upon chains. There they found Mîm kneeling at a stone couch beside the wall, and he tore his beard, and wailed, crying one name unceasingly; and on the couch there lay a third. But Túrin entering stood beside Mîm, and offered him aid. Then Mîm looked up at him, and said: "You can give no aid. Not unless you can turn back time, and then cut off the cruel hands of your men. For this is Khîm, my son; pierced by an arrow. He died at sunset. Ibun my son has told me."
Again pity long hardened welled in Túrin's heart as water from rock. "Alas!" he said. "I would recall that shaft, if I could. Now Bar-en-Danwedh, House of Ransom, shall this be called in truth. For whether we dwell here or no, I will hold myself in your debt; and if ever I come to any wealth, I will pay you a ransom of heavy gold for your son, in token of sorrow, though it gladden your heart no more."
Then Mîm rose, and looked long at Túrin. "I hear you," he said. "You speak like a Dwarf-lord of old; and at that I marvel. Now my heart is cooled, though it is not glad. My own ransom I will pay, therefore: you may dwell here, if you will. But this I will add: he that loosed the shaft shall break his bow and his arrows and lay them at my son's feet; and he shall never take arrow nor bear bow again. If he does, he shall die by it. That curse I lay on him."
The outlaw who shot the Dwarf was afraid when he heard of this curse; and though he did so with great grudge, he broke his bow and his arrows and laid them at the dead Dwarf's feet. But as he came out from the chamber, he glanced evilly at Mîm, and muttered: "The curse of a Dwarf never dies, they say; but a Man's too may come home. May he die with a dart in his throat!"

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

So began the abiding of Túrin son of Húrin in the halls of Mîm, in Bar-en-Danwedh, the House of Ransom. For a long while the life of the outlaws went well to their liking. Food was not scarce, and they had good shelter, warm and dry, with room enough and to spare; for they found that the caves could have housed a hundred or more at need. But when the year drew on to midwinter, snow came down from the north heavier than they had known it in the river-vales, and Amon Rûdh was covered deep; and they said that the winters worsened in Beleriand as the power of Angband grew. Then only the hardiest dared stir abroad; and some fell sick, and all were pinched with hunger. But in the dim dusk of a winter's day there appeared suddenly among them a man, as it seemed, of great bulk and girth, cloaked and hooded in white; and he walked up to the fire without a word. And when men sprang up in fear, he laughed, and threw back his hood, and beneath his wide cloak he bore a great pack; and in the light of the fire Túrin looked on the face of Beleg Cúthalion.
Thus Beleg returned to Túrin, and their meeting was glad; and with him he brought out of Dimbar the Dragon-helm of Dor-lómin, thinking that it might lift Túrin's thought again above his life in the wilderness as the leader of a petty company.

But after the winter came spring, and now again the might of Angband was moved; and as the long fingers of a groping hand the forerunners of his armies probed the ways into Beleriand. They have taken all the northern lands and led their way as far as the Guarded Plain; but the Orcs did not go far upon it, as yet, for there dwelt now in the wild a terror that was hidden, and upon the red hill were watchful eyes of which they had not been warned. For Túrin put on again the Helm of Hador; and far and wide in Beleriand the whisper went, under wood and over stream and through the passes of the hills, saying that the Helm and Bow that had fallen in Dimbar had arisen again beyond hope. Then many who went leaderless, dispossessed but undaunted, took heart again, and came to seek the Two Captains. Dor-Cúarthol, the Land of Bow and Helm, was in that time named all the region between Teiglin and the west march of Doriath. In Menegroth, and in the deep halls of Nargothrond, and even in the hidden realm of Gondolin, the fame of the deeds of the Two Captains was heard; and in Angband also they were known. Then Morgoth laughed, for now by the Dragon-helm was Húrin's son revealed to him again; and ere long Amon Rûdh was ringed with spies.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

In that time, when due to deeds of the Bow and Helm the power of Morgoth was stemmed west of Sirion, Morwen mother of Túrin fled at last from Dor-lómin with Nienor her daughter, and adventured the long journey to Doriath. There new grief awaited her, for she found Túrin gone. But Morwen's heart was restless, as if she saw some great peril coming, and longed to go to seek for Túrin. But Thingol said to her: "This is a perilous matter, Lady of Dor-lómin, and must be pondered. Such doubt may in truth be the work of Morgoth, to draw us on to some rashness."
But Morwen being distraught cried: "Rashness, lord! If my son lurks in the woods hungry, if he lingers in bonds, if his body lies unburied, then I would be rash. I would lose no hour to go to seek him."
But Nienor said: "If the wife of Húrin can go forth against all counsel at the call of kindred, then so also can Húrin's daughter. Mourning you named me, but I will not mourn alone, for father, brother, and mother. But of these you only have I known, and above all do I love. And I want not to lose you, but I will go and find my brother, and bring him back."
Then Morwen would restrain her; but Nienor knew her mother will not give up unless Túrin is found. So under the cover of night, she had taken horse and left Doriath to seek for her brother in the wilderness. She crossed Sirion and headed northwards, and there came upon a small company of outlaws. Their leader welcomed her, but to her questions he gave no answers. "The Bow and Helm are in these lands," he said, "but where their bearers dwell, no one knows."

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

At that time, news reached Túrin that the Orcs are assembling once more to cross Teiglin with great force, and Beleg set forth with some of his companions to learn more about their numbers, while Túrin decided to stay and guard their hideout for the few days.
"I will return shortly," Beleg said to Túrin when they parted. "But until then, do not admit anyone you do not know to Amon Rûdh. My heart warns me that there is some greater peril ahead than our eyes can perceive."

Thus Beleg departed, and Túrin heard nothing of him for some time. He spent few days with the old Dwarf, listening to his lore and the tales of his life. Mîm seemed well pleased, and showed much favour to Túrin in return; eventually he would admit Túrin to his hidden smithy, and there they would talk softly together. But as days passed, Túrin's heart became unsettled, and every evening he would look westwards to see Beleg returning with news from the Crossings. But Beleg did not come, and Túrin's heart was restless.

But it happened one evening that Ibun son of Mîm returned from gathering of food, and brought news about the Outlaws in surrounding camps, for the fame of the Helm and Bow has brought many men to these lands. And then it was when Túrin heard this strange tale: of a young woman coming from the East, in likeness of the fair women of the House of Hador, seeking for the bearer of the Helm of Dor-Lómin.
"Who was she?" said Túrin, suddenly in fear and doubt, though he knew not why. But at that moment a hooded man appeared beside them, and Túrin, startled, drew his sword. But the man took off his hood, and lo! In the light of campfire Túrin looked again in the face of Beleg Cúthalion: but the face he saw was weary and fearful.
"I bring grave news, my friend," said Beleg before Túrin could ask anything. "The might of the North has moved. Before we could even reach the Crossings, we were waylaid by a troop of Orcs who must have secretly crossed the river. The men fought valiantly, but many of them were slain by the first unexpected strike and the rest have fled into the woods. I do not know what happened to them."
And Túrin said: "So it is as I have feared. I pity that loss, for they were brave men. But even then there is some hope. Mîm's son, here, said that there are men gathering in the nearby woods to join the Helm and Bow. Is that not a good sign of fate in the darkness of this time?"
"Your fate is all dark, and not good, son of Húrin," said Beleg. "But I do not understand what you say."
"I say," Túrin answered, "that we send Ibun for the outlaws down in the nearby camps. We need more men and if we have enough, we can at last go and throw back the Orcs."
Now Beleg was alarmed and said: "But surely you cannot plan to bring those you hardly know to our hideout? The Enemy is searching for you everywhere, and who knows his counsels? Remember that it was for the treachery he achieved his ends in the Battle of Unnumbered Tears. Choose wisely whom you admit to your presence!"
But Túrin would not listen, and against the counsel of Beleg he sent a call to the men from nearby camps to join him; and he let a chosen number of them come to Amon Rûdh. But Beleg remained quiet and unsettled, and he covered his face with hood, so that none of the men recognized him.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

And it indeed was as Beleg said: for it came that Morgoth resolved that the Orcs alone would not serve him in this case, as he needed to discover the hideout of Gaurwaith first. And he called forth the werewolves, fell beasts inhabited by dreadful spirits, and sent them across Anfauglith to the marshes of Serech, and then down through the land between Sirion and Malduin. And when they reached the Crossings of Teiglin, they took upon themselves the forms of Men, and in secret, unknown, they joined the scattered bands wandering in the woods.

Two of these beasts were now among the men heading towards Amon Rûdh. And when the company reached the hill, sun was setting; and Túrin was standing at the hilltop, watching the company as they passed silently. And suddenly he gave out a cry, but was silenced by Beleg, who once again appeared behind him.
"What is it?" whispered Beleg, as last of the company passed. And Túrin said: "I ordered eight men to come. But nine they entered the hill!"
And Beleg answered: "Does your heart not know the answer? There went rumour among the men in the camps about a young woman they encountered in these lands. She is Nienor, your sister. She was searching for you, but shortly after you sent the call, she disappeared."
Túrin's eyes widened. "My sister? So do you say she is here?" And he turned to follow the company, but Beleg stopped him.
"And what if," Beleg said, "there are some who wish to harm you, as I said? Is not your sister in danger as well?"
Then for a moment it seemed to Beleg as if he saw a glimpse of fear in Túrin's eyes. "But what should I do then?"
And Beleg answered: "Now you ask me for a counsel? But I will give you one: hide your helm and conceal your heritage, as you did before. These men recognize the Dragon Helm, but they know not your face. And if there are indeed some who seek to harm you, they will at least not know whom to focus on. Only then you, and your sister, are safe."
Now Túrin, not because of fear for his life, but for his sister, took off the Dragon Helm and covered his face with hood; and unknown he and Beleg joined the ranks of the newcomers. And when the company entered the hill, Mîm the Dwarf and Ibun his son came out and welcomed the outlaws.
"New friends have come to the halls of Amon Rûdh? Mîm welcomes everyone in his house gladly," said the old Dwarf, observing the newcomers closely. And a fair man among the Outlaws, clothed in blue-hued cape, turned to him and spoke: "Where is the bearer of the Helm of Hador? I come a long way to see my rightful master." But another man, standing nearby in the crowd, said: "Why should we care? He will surely come when he wants to speak with us."
Then some of the outlaws looked around, and there was question in their eyes. But at last there came a voice heard from further end of the hall, and all the men and women turned around; but what they saw was not the Dragon Helm of Dor-Lómin. And there stood a man tall and strong, but dressed in with worn-out clothes and with a smirk on his face. And he spoke to Mîm, though he was not looking in the Dwarf's face, and there was contempt to be heard in his voice: "We care not of Dwarven greetings. This day was long and we are tired enough to listen to blethering of old dwarf-kin, nor to look for a man who called us here but has surely important matters at hand than welcome us himself. But let us go to sleep now, as we have a long journey behind and are in need of a rest."
"Surely," said Mîm with a glimpse of smile on his face, "I will not trouble your sleep. Mîm will go to his room and work a little. But the Men may rest wherever they find space."
So every man found his place to rest, some in the chambers opening out of the halls, some even in passages between them, and all fell asleep. Silence fell on the mountain and its many halls. And as the pale full moon rose above Doriath in the east and its white shine lightened the crown of Amon Rûdh, the two werewolves rose from their sleeping places and came together in an empty hall, and with low voices they started to talk about their plans...

These are the names of the inhabitants of Amon Rûdh at that time:

Mîm the Petty Dwarf
Ibun his son
Rikae
Shastanis Althreduin
Nogrod
Macalaure
Isabellkya
Brinniel
Lhunardawen
xyzzy
Gil-Galad
the guy who be short
Mithalwen

Night 1 has begun. Wolves, you may start PMing and talk your plans. Túrin and Beleg, you may do so as well. Others, wait for dawn.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

It was still deep night and Mîm the Dwarf had finished his work. "We go to sleep now," he said to his son. "Take these arrowheads, we will hide them on a safe place." Ibun took several fine-shaped arrowheads they made during this and the previous nights and quietly they crept out of the room. Together they passed through empty and silent corridors. Suddenly Mîm stopped. A sound of soft voices was coming from nearby chamber.
Mîm looked at his son, then beckoned to him to stay in place with the arrowheads, and he himself took a turn and with his lamp's light dimmed he entered the room. "Do not the Men yet sl-"
But he did not finish the sentence. In the dim light of half-covered lantern, two large beasts in wolf-form were sitting there, their eyes staring at him. Mîm gave out a loud cry and turned to run, but he was too slow. At the same moment something big and furry knocked him down from behind, and he fell to the stony floor. Sharp-fanged jaws opened to inflict the deadly bite, but suddenly retaliated, and the wolf gave out a sound of pain, as a thrown sharp piece of metal hit his side. The beast turned, and saw Ibun standing in the nearby entrance. He was just preparing to rush forth to his father's aid, but faster than eyes could see the wolf jumped over Mîm's lying body and ran to Ibun, nailing the Dwarf against the wall. Half-shaken by the pounce, Ibun struggled to set himself free, but instantly he felt terrible pain, as sharp fangs pierced his throat. The Dwarf's death rattle echoed the empty corridor, followed by annoyed growl and Mîm's scream.

But there was no time for the old Dwarf to wonder. The second wolf came out of the room, preparing to finish off the second witness of the monsters' presence. But before he could move toward his helpless prey, a hooded figure appeared in the corridor entrance. There was a plunk of bowstring and an arrow nearly missed the snout of one wolf. The newcomer was already pulling the string of his long black bow for the second time, but the monsters understood the peril quickly. Swiftly, both wolves turned and disappeared in the other empty entrance.

Before Mîm could lift himself from the floor, swift steps were heard and from the other side a man came with sword drawn and a torch in hand, and he stopped at the terrible sight. The hooded figure, still holding the fine carved black bow, turned to him.
"What is this evil work, my friend?" said Túrin. "What happened here?"
"It is as I told you," answered Beleg, taking off the hood, "you brought the evil with you. This is the deed of Morgoth's servants. I saw them: they are werewolves. They are hiding among the outlaws."
Now Túrin saw again that his choice lead him to peril, and that Beleg was right. But the Elf said: "Alas! You may do well to pity that you rejected my counsel, son of Húrin, but too late. The evil is here."
Mîm did not listen to the talk of two men. Crawling on the ground, he moved to his son's dead body, lay his head on Ibun's chest and soaking his beard in son's blood he wept with voiceless cry.
"Stand up, Mîm," said Túrin. "You are alive, thanks to Beleg, though it is too late for your son."
"I pity I came too late," said Beleg. But Mîm looked up, and there was a red light in his eyes. "Late!" he said. "You should have let the beasts kill Mîm as well, then! For what is now left for me here? My sons are dead! Yes, you came too late, Elf, as your kin always does!"
"Do not be hasty in your sorrow and anger, Mîm," said Túrin. "You are alive only because the beasts were disturbed. But with your aid, we can make revenge on those who caused you this pain."
Now Mîm looked at Beleg, but was silent. "Speak to us!" said Túrin. "How many did you see?"
"Two," answered the Dwarf.
"I saw two as well," confirmed Beleg. "I doubt they will do anything more tonight: they surely want to cover, now that they know their presence is revealed. In the morning, we should move the others to seek for the threat in our ranks."
"And how shall we learn?" asked Túrin. "How shall we discern the werewolves from innocent men?"
"We must hope," said Beleg. "But we should not reveal ourselves to the others, not yet. I am sure the Enemy wants you, Túrin, more than anyone else, and if the werewolves learned, they would waste no time to harm you."
"But Nienor!" said Túrin. "She is in danger too! And how can I save her? I do not even know who she is!"
"Then you have to find the werewolves and destroy them before they find you - or her," answered Beleg.
"So it shall be," said Túrin and turned to the old Dwarf. "Mîm, we appreciate you told no one about the two of us. Keep this knowledge in secret still! But I swear I will avenge your son, and once this is done, I will pay you even greater ransom, for I owe you my life now."
And Beleg said: "Do not swear when you cannot see the end! But now you will do well to sleep. I am going to stay awake for the rest of the night and guard, as well as tomorrow and other days if it is needed. I may watch you or another one whom you choose to trust, to protect him from danger. I can stay awake and alert at nights, but you, Túrin, are a Man and have to sleep."
"Nevertheless, I will keep my sword close," said Túrin.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Mîm did not sleep at all that night: after the talk with Túrin and Beleg he took the dead body of his son together with the arrowheads they forged that night and carried it through the empty corridors to his secret room. He was downbent by his heavy burden, but carried it all the way. Then he buried his second son's body, as it was a way among the Dwarves; and when the stars were beginning to fade, he left his secret room and blocked the entrance with a stone.

And it came when the outlaws awoke in the morning, Mîm spoke to them in the great hall and, as Túrin asked him before, told them what happened at night. And when the men and women heard about werewolves being present among them, some were afraid. And one of them, a long-haired woman dressed in dark green, expressed the feelings of some: "If there are werewolves among us, we should leave this place!"
But another one, a grumpy-looking man, said: "And how do you want to survive in the woods if there are such monsters around? No, we have to stay here. And if these beasts go out, they will bring their friends."
"You are right," nodded another, shorter man. "The location of our hideout should not be given away."
"And you remember the way inside?" asked a woman in worn-out clothes, with long black tangled hair. "I think no one of us does. There is quite a maze of rock out there."
"But what are we going to eat?" asked a very young-looking man, almost a boy. "We surely cannot let this place's location be revealed, in this I agree with the short guy. But from what I saw, there is not much food here for the lot of us, or is it?" he said, turning to Mîm.
"Truly, there is not," said the old Dwarf. "For a few days, maybe. But Mîm can bring food from the outside."
"No, no!" said the grumpy-looking man. "We will not allow this, surely? We would never see the old rascal again."
"Why should he betray us?" muttered a young woman in gray cloak. "This is his home, after all."
"Someone should at least watch him," proposed the man in blue-hued cloak. "If we send someone with him, he cannot simply run away."
"But we said that no one should leave!" shouted the short guy.
"If we send just one," said the boyish-looking man, "then even if he were a werewolf, he would not want to leave his fellow here alone. And as someone said, he could not find his way back without the Dwarf's aid."
"Then the only question remains – who will go?" said the woman in dark green.
There was a moment of silence.
"I will," said the woman in gray cloak after a while. "I trust the Dwarf, but for your sake I am going to look after him. We'll be back at sunset, good?"

As no one obliged, the Dwarf and the woman took each one bow and a sack and went off. The others watched them, until they disappeared among the rock...

The inhabitants of Amon Rûdh - dead:

Ibun son of Mîm, killed by a Werewolf on Night 1

The inhabitants of Amon Rûdh – living:
Mîm the Petty Dwarf, outside on the gathering of food
Rikae
Shastanis Althreduin
Nogrod
Macalaure
Isabellkya
Brinniel
Lhunardawen
xyzzy
Gil-Galad
the guy who be short
Mithalwen, outside on the gathering of food with Mîm

Day 1 has begun. Everyone stop PMing. Everyone start to talk.

[Nogrod]

Old Nogrod woke up with the general hassle. He had thought that this dwarf Mîm was no good and should be done away with anyway. The way Mîm presented the case of the Night was not going to make him thinking better of the shortling.

“C’mon! You said there are two werewolves of Morgoth inside here, but how come you tell us that:

In the dim light of half-covered lantern, two large beasts in wolf-form were sitting there, their eyes staring at [me]. [I] gave out a loud cry and turned to run, but [...] was too slow. At the same moment something big and furry knocked [me] down from behind, and [I] fell to the stony floor.

So you saw two but still one came from behind? And what is your part in this you cobbler of a dwarf? As soon as we realise who of us you are, I say we bring you to the gallows just to be sure with you.”

Nogrod drew breath and watched the others as they tried to come to grips with his strong accusations.

“Just listen to what he tells us and think for yourselves. There is something rotten there. Either there are more Morgoth’s servants around here and he lies to us deliberately or then he himself is a lesser baddie and wants to mislead us with cunning schemes. Both ways I’d like to see that dwarf getting the blade as soon as possible.”

Nogrod streched for his pipe and after reaching it and the tobacco started filling it.

“The Two Captains should stay concealed for their own good... and lady Nienor, if she really is here... I do fear that her fate is tied to the fate of our Dragon-helm of Dor Lómin. But how can we avoid jumping on the child of Húrin or the renowned Beleg Cúthalion, or Her? That is the puzzle for us to begin with in concerto with spotting these cursed Morgoth’s apes.”

After lighting his pipe Nogrod set it aside and took his blanket to fold it neatly. Then he looked around for the others in the chamber and grasped his pipe puffing a few smoke-rings from it.

“Mith is away for toDay as she is out with that dwarf. I would not think her suspicious just for the reason she will not have a possibility of defending herself toDay. But the dwarf I would really like to hang. So let’s see who is the one that will not take part in our discussions toDay and reason out the dwarf’s identity that way? Or do you have better ideas?”

With that Nogrod leaned back and fell into his thoughts. He was puzzled and waited in eagerness for the others to contribute their thoughts.

[Nogrod]

After a moment's silence Nogrod coughed pardoningly and managed to utter the next words against his personal pride.

"Oh... after some thinking I must say that the dwarf actually said that he had turned around before someone ran over him from behind. But I still wonder how he managed to stay alive albeit being run over by a werewolf. So is he telling us the truth? It's easy to allocate brave deeds to those who do not speak any more... And anyhow I dislike these dwarves so I would rather see them gone first."

With that he grumbled and fell to his back again...

[Nogrod]

After a while of napping Nogrod woke up again just to realise that no one had said a word.

"Now what's wrong with you guys? Don't you think we have something to do?"

He bursted and relit his pipe that had went off. Adjusting himself to a better position he scanned the people around. Most of them seemed to have fallen asleep yet again even as it was a high morning outside. He cursed silently to himself... well, being the only one who doesn't need so much sleep around as I'm old enough and have slept my share already, or what? Or the cunning of Morgoth to lay us down and not to even try?

As a sudden reaction he threw a small rock on the short guy.

"Hey you! You we're busy telling us things a while ago when the morning broke... How about you cleared your mind now? Or you blue-hued cloak-man? Or the woman in dark green? We don't get anywhere if you just stay quiet and I'm the only one to talk in this wretched cave..."

His words were absorbed into the silence of the cave and not even the echo answered him. Nogrod sat still for a moment puffing his relit pipe before he rose up and took to the doorway to look at the bright daylight outside.

The morning had actually broken and the sun was travelling quite high already. The forest around Bar-en-Danwedh was glimmering in the day that was already nearing it's peak. Nogrod sat down on a boulder by the entrance of Mîm's hall and looked around him.

The different hues of greens of the forest that danced in the daylight were enchanting and carried Nogrod's thoughts out of the present to the days of his childhood. But then he suddenly came back to the here and now. Darn fools... how do you think to catch the slaves of Morgoth by sleeping on it...?

EDIT: language-affairs...

[Gil-Galad]

Gil rolled his eyes and sighed

"noggie you old coot, why must you always go into those long paragraphs, maybe our readers would like you as the strong silent type"

Gil smiled at the thought of his own joke then begisn to stretch

"so what is our plan for today now that it is less safer my lads?"

[Brinniel]

After some time, a boy hooded in a dark cloak stepped out from the shadows. Sunlight splashed on his face revealing unusually soft features. He looked about the others almost hoping someone else would say something, and when no one did, he cleared his throat.

"I am normally one who prefers to remain quiet, but when no one else but Nogrod will speak, I will no longer stand to stay among the silent. This is an important matter we are discussing...all our lives are at stake. How can we go about seeking out the werewolves when everyone is quiet?

"We may outnumber the wolves now, but one by one they will pick us off. It is important that we find a strategy on how to capture them, and we must have a plan before the day is over or else we might well jump off a cliff, for certainly that would be a better fate than falling into the hands of an Enemy."

Brinn spoke these words quietly, but surely. He hoped that others would follow and step out from the shadows as well.

EDIT: X-ed with Gil-Galad

[Shastanis Althreduin]

Awaking from his much-needed sleep, the young man crawled out from under his sapphire-hued cloak and sat up, reaching for his boots. Picking one up, he paused, then overturned it, shaking it vigorously. A large insect fell out, righted itself, and skittered off.

"Damn cave vermin," he muttered, pulling on the boot and tying the laces. Looking up to see just who was awake, his gaze landed on the old man. He grinned, yanking on the other boot and hopping to his feet.

"What ho, old man! Keeping watch over the rest of us? I'm grateful, truly; perhaps, though, another, more able to fight off a beast, might sit up tonight? I, for one, volunteer, if there are no others courageous enough..."

He trailed off, waiting for a protest... and looked a bit confused when no one did.

"Very well, that's settled. Have that dwarf and the lady come back with provisions yet? I'm about to die of hunger!"

True to form, a growl let out across the cavern, originating from the young man's stomach.

[Gil-Galad]

Gil looked over to Shasta

"and you my dear Shasta, you better be saving some of these, 'Provisions', for us this time eh?"

Gil looked around the roo mand sighed

"look my lads, if we are going to get through this peril of werewolves amongst us we must keep a hearty smile at all times and we'll get through this, for as my father fought side by side with the great elven king of the days of old! i will fight with my brethern to save our group"

a voice came from amongst the group "your father was a pig farmer that got himself drunk and drowned hismelf in the lake"

Gil snarled back

"oi, but that drunk pig farmer could out do your papa any time there! jsut ask your mother"

Gil again smiled to hismelf as a rock hit him in the lower back

"oww... thats going to leave a mark now..."

[Shastanis Althreduin]

"That was one time! And there weren't that many provisions left to begin with!" Shasta protested, turning slightly red. To change the subject, he threw another rock at Gil.

"Anyway," Shasta continued, "with the amount of us here, with two of us being werewolves, we don't have a lot of leeway here... We ought to make very sure that we're executing a werewolf, because we don't have very many chances at this."

Having had his say, Shasta edged warily away from the sleeping bodies behind him, as though one or two them might grow fur and fangs at any moment.

[Lhunardawen]

"Can't a person here think in peace without being accused of sleeping?" came a woman's voice from the corner. She was hidden by her mass of tangled dark hair, which she soon parted to reveal a dirt-stained - albeit yet quite lovely - face. "It is better to keep silent when no thoughts worth voicing out would come. And you, Gil, would do well to remember that," she added with a glare towards the man.

Lhuna stood up, and walked slowly around the room; all eyes followed her, though she took no notice of it. "You were right, Shasta," she said finally, more to herself than to the person she mentioned, "we don't have a lot of room for mistakes. With only ten - eleven - of us, and two of them vile servants of Morgoth, every drop of blood counts. If it's any consolation to us we ought to be relieved that Morgoth did not think of sending more. But in our small number, should these wolves prove as shrewd as their master, we only have less than a week - four Days, if I counted it right - to spend discovering who they are before we all are killed. We should spend that time wisely, scrutinising everyone, down to the tiniest things they say.

"But as of yet, there is nothing to scrutinise - unless we make a big deal out of Gil's glibness. You'll all have things to say before the sun goes down, and for that I will wait."

Lhuna went back to her corner and sat again motionless, as though asleep.

[Nogrod]

Nogrod woke up from his thoughts when he heard that a discussion had started inside. It's about time..., he mumbled to himself and walked in to hear the conversation.

As he stepped in it was quiet again.

"I heard you Shasta! The brave and young soldier edging away from sleeping fellows in open daylight... and at the same time questioning my strength and skills. If you were my son I would teach you a lesson on respect for older people... and on how incoherence is not a personal trait worth having in this kind of situation."

He glanced at the young man somewhat disapprovingly but then just shrugged his shoulders and walked to his place. Youngsters... gah... After a while of searching he finally lifted a small ballshaped thing from his backpack. It was wrapped in paper of a kind. Nogrod opened the package carefully and took the small bread out from it. He cut a small piece of it with his knife and then turned towards Brinn who was sitting quietly some yards away from him.

"Catch Brinn!" With that he threw the small bread to Brinniel.

"Okay guys, we're all hungry. Take your share from my bread so that we don't need to waste our time on talking about food. We've got more important things to discuss here toDay...

You're right Lhuna. We should scrutinise everything anyone says, down to the tiniest detail. But the problem is that so few of us have said anything that could be read this way or that. Yes Gil is looking a bit glibbery and Shasta's words contradict with his actions. But this far I'm much more inclined to suspect those who just stay quiet and do not contribute to our cause. It's afternoon already and only five of us have said something... I mean, yes I know some people need more sleep than others but this is just plain ridiculous."

Nogrod fell silent for a moment but lifted his head soon again.

"If... and mark that I say if there is a number of people who do not help us toDay - not counting Mith whom we know to be out there in the wild getting us some food - and if, note if there are no better tracks to follow I might be ready to just pick toDay someone I find the least helpful of those quiet-ones and lynch her or him just out of pure frustration..."

[Rikae]

An older woman in a blue cloak had been sitting in the corner watching these proceedings for some time, though no one had paid her much heed. Now she rose, slowly, and frowned at Nogrod.

"Young man, don't think I speak out of fear of your empty threats...or that you will escape scrutany by assuming leadership of the group, though your forefathers did the same."

She lifted a gnarled wooden staff and pointed to each of the others in turn.
"Brinn has spoken only for the sake of speaking and to urge others to contribute. While I don't approve of empty prattle, his brand of it feels like an honest attempt to break the ice. There seems to be some fear behind it, though, but on the other hand, it is never easy to speak so early.

Gil is talking as much as his grandfather did; and, while discussion is needed, playing and joking in such dire circumstances is not. It is not the play, however, that worries me so much as the lack of playfulness behind it. It seems false, somehow stiff, and I will be watching Gil.

What I say for Gil goes doubly for Shasta. His actions seem staged and his mood slightly...edgy. His fearfulness makes more sense if he is evil, too, since then the majority is against him.

Lhuna,, you speak sense; though, at this point, what you say is rather obvious. I knew your grandmother, though, and she was a crafty one. You must be watched closely."

she paused, then added "it's a shame for such a lovely girl to go around with her hair unkempt..." she pulled an ornate comb out of her bag and handed it to the young woman.

"Where was I...? Oh, yes, these slugs." She indicated TGWBS, Izzabellkya, xyzzy and Macalaure with her staff, giving the last a slight nudge.

"I would hardly be surprised if a wolf lurks among them. You should especially watch THAT one - "

[the guy who be short]

Guy looked around the room, concerned. He himself had just awoken; more than half the others were still asleep. Some - like Nogrod - seemed to be on the verge of falling asleep again. Only an old woman seemed really animated, poking people with her staff.

"Friends," Guy said, arising, "there is plainly some evil at work here. This sleep is unnatural - it is late in the afternoon and my eyes have only just opened themselves. Some sort of charm lies on this room: I beseech you all, let us awake these others and step outside, into the sunlight by the pool. There, perhaps, our hearts shall be lighter and our tongues looser. For we have little time to decide what is to be done of these wolves."

The others consented. Rikae, the old woman, gave each of the sleepers a tap with her stick, and the whole group left the cave to sit around the clear pool outside. The sun was shining and they felt their wits sharpen as the sleep left them.

"Now, perhaps," Guy began, "we shall be able to decide who the wolves are. We are in a perilous position - we cannot have people keep watch at night, for fear that they are wolves. So we cannot afford to wait: we must decide who the wolves are, and slay them swiftly."

Everybody in the group looked round once again, suspicious of one another. The sunlight faded, and their moods were darkened. None spoke for several minutes.

"If none shall speak, I shall voice my thoughts, though they be half-formed only, to prevent the sleeping-charm taking a hold even here. I find that lady Rikae too willing to use that stick on others. Hers is the perfect disguise: for who would suspect an old woman. I'll warrant she needs not that staff.

"And what of Brinn? His soft features do not befit a man who has struggled to stay alive these past years. Perhaps his life has been easy under the thraldom of Morgoth."

[the guy who be short]

Guy looked around in shock. During his oration, most of the rest of the group had nodded off again.

"Hear me!" Guy shouted, waking a couple of them up. "I shall declare he who I believe to be guilty of wolvery. He is

++XYZZY."

There were many nods and a few gasps. Xyzzy, meanwhile, did not offer a response, being once again fast asleep on the floor.

"I feel," Guy continued, "that his sleepiness is a result of wolvery. Tiring himself with murder by night, he requires the day to sleep it away. This sleeping enchantment that falls ever upon our heads is surely a result of his wolvish magic, seeking through spells to make others appear like him and so reduce suspicion upon him. One of these other sleepers - Izzy and Mac - is likely his companion."

He finished, satisfied with himself, only to realize once again that several villagers had fallen asleep. He sighed and shared a glance with Nogrod: he, at least, could stay awake. I do not think, Guy thought, that he is guilty. Surely he would have slain us when he alone was awake earlier in the day, were he a wolf?

Guy looked up - Nogrod had closed his eyes.

Or perhaps he is merely narcoleptic. Sod it, I can't take any more of this, I'm going to sleep.

[Nogrod]

Nogrod was happy for the short guy's proposition. The air was fresher by the pool and he could sense the sight of the setting sun tranquilling some of the fear from upon all of the outlaws gathered there. For a while he just breathed the cooling evening air but as the discussion seemed to have gotten to a halt yet again he opened his mouth once more.

"Your idea to come out here was a good one Shortie but I'm not sure your half-formed suspicion - as you called it - on the Grandma' here is as good. Indeed she's doing the only reasonable thing here we can do and that is to point to others and possible reasons for why we should take a closer look on someone... Indeed I see you yourself doing the same thing which is good. But hardly a reason to suspect someone else doing the exact same thing, right?"

Nogrod glanced around the pool. He was not sure whether the people were sleeping or just deep in their thoughts. Finally his eyes caught Rikae. So I'm a young man then? Has she got trouble with her eyesight or in her wits? He laughed to himself quietly but then addressed the Grandma'.

"Tell me Rikae, whom did you mean by the "that one" when you mentioned "these slugs" we should look more closely? Had you something particular in mind or was it just vain talk? I mean I do appreaciate your short characterisations of some people here and do indeed agree with them but empty pointing is not something I'm very fond of. It kind of feels the wrong way."

EDIT: Adding this as I saw tgwbs's post

"And what comes to your vote short-guy, I'm inclined to say I do appereciate it at least now before I give it some more thought. I just need to think about it for a second"

[Macalaure]

After being dragged to the water and being nudged with a staff violently and repeatedly, Macalaure finally escaped the grasp of work... erm... sleep. He rose himself and had somebody tell him what has been said and done, while the Sun had been journeying on her paths, and he was not too pleased with what he heard. Critical eyes could be seen under his dark cloak of weathered leather as he spoke to the outlaws.

"Sleep I suffered myself, so I shall not judge those who suffered the same, or still do, at least not yet. But, I ask you, does that excuse the manner in which our curséd company deals with its pressing peril when awake? I think not.

Let us no longer offer the obvious, or jest our time away, or condemn companions by causes contrived of questionable content. Most of you have made an ill-favoured impression on me so far, most notably Shasta, who, like others have observed as well, does not practice what he preaches, and Rikae, who made aggressive accusations based on evasive evidence, possibly stated to see if someone bites."

Exhausted by his elaborations and annoying alliterations, Macalaure laid back on the leaves and proceeded on his productive napping.

(edit: crossed with Guy and Nogrod)

[Nogrod]

"Yes, I do appreciate your choice guy. If and when we need to flip a coin on one Day or another I say we flip it toDay and/or toMorrow rather than later for then it will be much harder and were susceptible to make foolish decisions then.

What I've heard of this Macalaure speaks good for him and I would like to leave him out of our discussion at least for toDay while I also hope he will eventually wake up yet toDay and speak for himself. That would leave me firstly Xyzzy and Isabell to choose from right now. Naturally that is in case they don't wake up before the Night comes. And I do hope they do wake up as that is the only way to even try to quess on them with something else but pure luck...

Of those spoken toDay I'm inclined to keep my eye on these young men Shasta and Gil - not forgetting the very softly and carefully spoken Brinn and Lhuna either. This doesn't mean I'm in anyway confident with your innocence Rikae and guy but this far I can see you making at least a partial effort and that's enough for me for the time being."

With that Nogrod fell silent but in his head he started remembering everything that had been said that Day. And he started thinking about it...

(EDIT: X'd with Mac so forgive me the incoherence with the Mac not posting yet -stuff...)

[Lhunardawen]

Dropping off to sleep in spite of herself, Lhuna was awakened at the mention of her name. She listened well to Nogrod, and shook her head almost imperceptibly when he ended. Rash, she thought, too quick to shed blood that by all means could be innocent. I do not blame him his frustration, but he should not have expressed it so. And she decided to keep an eye on him from then on.

Next came the voice of an old woman, who soon handed her a comb. She received it without thanks, doubtful that it would do her good, and began to work on her hair quietly. As they moved to the pool outside she persevered, sometimes almost breaking the comb in two, but all the while she listened carefully to what was being said.

Soon, when the state of her hair was undoubtedly more dignified than it had been minutes - hours? - before, Lhuna handed over the comb to the old woman Rikae.

"I thank thee," she told her, "for this favor, and for expressing fearlessly your observations. The latter is possibly a sign of your innocence. But I will not be too quick to judge that for certain, for a lot more remains to be seen.

"I feel rather uncomfortable with tgwbs's vote - I would rather he chose one among those who have already spoken. Rather hasty, it seems to me, and safe, for in the event that xyzzy is killed and found innocent, he could hardly be blamed for playing a crucial role in it."

She turned and frowned at the dozing Macalaure, saying, "If you do not like what we speak, then you could have demonstrated for us what you think is right. But your defensive tone this early in our discussion is suspicious, and not worth mimicking. You ought to be observed more carefully."

Lhuna sat, stroking her hair, and pondered on the words spoken throughout the Day. For reason unexplainable, as though a part of her lived in a place where it is already dark, the desire for sleep was to her overwhelming, and she desired to cast her vote before finally succumbing to it.

[Nogrod]

Suddenly Nogrod stood up. He had been thinking and trying to remember what had been said and done earlier the Day when the thought came to him. It was a tough question.

"Listen now. I just remember a curse that has befallen on many villages that have been infected by werewolves... Yes, I'm old enough to have heard a host of these stories."

With that he glanced at Rikae and smiled.

"There seems to be a curse in most of the villages that those who do not take part in discussions or make their votes will be dead after two Days have passed. Now what shall we do with this knowledge?

If those that have been silent this far will remain silent and sleep all the Days, they will die toMorrow evening anyway. If they're innocents their deaths will be a big blow to our numbers as we keep lynching people all the time as well and the wolves will not kill one of their own either. So wouldn't it be reasonable for us to indeed lynch the quiets for this reason as well? If and when we risk lynching an innocent anyhow why shouldn't we start with those who may be dead without our or the wolves aid in the first place? That way we maximise our numbers to the Days to come..."

Nogrod looked around him. No one seemed to be in haste to answer his question.

"Please consider this. I myself have no "case" against anyone in particular right now but have a thought or two on all of you and will be voicing them soon. And Lhuna, please tell me why do you think guy should have voted for someone who has contributed something toDay? Do you try to say that everyone who feels like not posting anything should be given a free ride? I must say I disagree with your logic here."

[Rikae]

Rikae looked down her nose at Guy.
"Certainly, we should not be decieved by appearances. Anyone, no matter how old, young, or short, could be more than they seem. But I don't think it's productive to dwell on this; nor to speculate about voting for those who have not spoken, when they still may wake. Such things distract us from analysing those who have; a wolf may be among the silent, but it is unlikely, I think, that Xyzzy and Izzy are both wolves.
Macalaure may call my evidence "evasive", but it is no more so than his. Still, his delightful diction and enthralling eloquence incline me to be fond of his innocence, at least for now.
I am truly uneasy about Shasta, and would like to hear more from him before the day is over. Some have mentioned carefully analysing WHAT is said, but it seems to me that it is far more useful to try and discern the intent behind the words. Shasta, Gil and Brinn seemed, to varying degrees, to post with the intent of avoiding suspicion, while the others seem to intend, at least somewhat, to actually analyse the situation. Guy, though he hasn't really added much sense to the discussion, seems to be interested in stirring things up, which might speak in his favor.
If I were forced to vote now, it would probably be for Shasta; but if the sleepers sleep on until sunset, I may join Guy in his vote for Xyzzy."

EDIT: Crossed with Lhuna & Nogrod

[Mithalwen]

Mithalwen entered at last bearing such foodstuffs as she had been able to find. Her name signified Grey Tree and it suited her well for she was tall and grey clad but her face now was grey with fatigue and forboding.


"Here take what I have foraged. The day has been long and wearisome, for you as for I. " She sat down and perceiving the direction of their discussion spoke again.

"I will not pass judgement when I have not borne witness to your deliberations. Unless it be my doom not to survive this night, I shall give what assistance I may. But now sleep claims me, alas" .

With that the woman wrapped herself in her cloak and fell at once in to a deep sleep, almost as if she had swooned.

[Macalaure]

Macalaure opened one eye, once more worried about the course that events had taken. He decided it was time for him to speak up.

"I'm uncomfortable with the amount of debate which is dedicated to whether or not we should lynch people who did not speak yet. If we do not find anybody worth lynching by the end of the day, then maybe it is a course to choose. But instead of spending our time debating it, we should rather debate, with the little evidence we have, who among us could be a wolf. This may render the previous problem redundant.

Like Lhuna, I don't particularly appreciate Guy's vote. I also hold Nogrod's latest contributions slightly suspicious, because it encourages a debate which I think won't do us any good.

I find it interesting that Rikae calls my evidence against her evasive instead of explaining why her own isn't. I didn't say, for example, that Lhuna speaks sense, but needs to be watched closely. Then again, the rest of Rikae's recent speech looks a lot better than this particular part."

[Nogrod]

Nogrod looked at Macalaure and then addressed the people around the pool.

“I hope you Mac are satisfied of what I'm about to say as that last one was just a thought that crossed my mind and I thought it important to voice it - and I still think that is something we should ponder about. But I have been indeed occupied with what you said we need to do ie. trying to figure out our wolves. Here's some of my first thoughts. I'll give you more after a while.

Of those who have spoken toDay I find the most unhelpful Gil, Shasta and Brinninel. You know the young guys, when have they ever been of any help to anyone?”

With this Nogrod smiled but went serious soon enough to continue.

“I don’t wish to fall into the semantics here between terms like “contributing” or “helpful” or “silent”. I hope you understand what I mean. As a famous philosopher from the days to come said: if you’re not with us you’re against us... If they’re not going to put more effort in I’m all for lynching them sooner than later.

With Gil there is the joking that admittedly feels somewhat fabricated. But quite nothing more. Is he indeed participating? I would be ready to consider him as a non-talker up to this moment. I hope he will open his mouth yet again and say something for a change.

With Shasta there is something more I think. Even though he has spent most of the time joking easily with Gil he has said and done something that bothers me. It’s not only that he first tries to give an impression of a hero to guard us all and then later is afraid of sleeping people in the middle of a Day. This might be explained by psychological pressure, the demand to lie and to make oneself survive in hostile envirovement might produce, surely. But there is also this comment he made We ought to make very sure that we're executing a werewolf, because we don't have very many chances at this ...Now to me this sounds like saying let’s lynch people who speak a lot and let’s forget the quiet ones like himself – and possibly his mate. Anyhow I think he overstresses our plight. We have a few Days to get it right and every speaker is one we can analyse and catch unlike those who do not contribute and with whom we just have to throw a coin. I don’t like the general way he has acted and spoken toDay.

With Brinn there is the carefulness. I’d say overplayed one. It is interesting that he says he’s not normally the one who talks but likes to stay in silence (a parasite, that is?) but now wishes to speak up... and what does he say? Nothing. The only thing he kind of said was: We may outnumber the wolves now, but one by one they will pick us off. It is important that we find a strategy on how to capture them, and we must have a plan before the day is over. This is not something I would agree on. As has been known on so many occasions any general agreements are places to hide for the wolves and anyhow his way of speaking of the urgency of doing things and his own lack of commitment seem to contradict each other. So trying to look helpful while laying low as a safety-measure?

I'll soon come up with some further views."

With that Nogrod closed his eyes and went back to thinking.

[Brinniel]

Brinn took a large bite from the bread Nogrod had given him, and as he chewed, he remained deep in thought over the things the others had to say. It satisfied him that at least they had finally spoken up. He finished and swallowing, wiping his dirty hands on his trousers.

"Now this whole discussion on whether to lynch one of the quiet ones I find rather interesting, not to mention a bit odd. Only two of us now have not spoken, and while I agree it is quite possible one of them is a wolf and we cannot simply ignore them, I do not think it is a good idea to jump on one of them on this first Day. We must give them another chance to speak before attacking them when they cannot defend themselves. Anyways, I feel confident saying that I am sure at least one wolf is indeed among those of us who do speak, and I think for toDay it would be smarter to base our votes on what has been said, not what has not been said."

Brinn leaned back, folding his arms.

"Now tgwbs's quick vote on xyzzy I do not like. He votes for him because he still slumbers, but on the hour of that vote, dusk was still a long ways away and even still xyzzy still has an opportunity to awaken and speak up before Night approaches. Neither do I appreciate his jump on my appearance alone to judge the chances of whether I am a wolf. To me, his behaviour seems most suspicious.

"Gil-Galad's constant use of insults without any useful contribution to the discussion I highly dislike as well, but I suppose this could just possibly be due to immaturity rather than wolfishness."

And then Brinn was once again silent, for he had nothing else to say for the time being. Sitting in the shadows, he bit his nails waiting to hear more comments and responses.

EDIT: X-ed with Nogrod

[Lhunardawen]

A yawn escaped from Lhuna's lips before she could stifle it.

"I can feel sleep nearly claiming me, so excuse me if I sound hurried. Nogrod, I must admit I feel rather uneasy to shed blood in this occasion, only due to the fact that we don't know friend from foe. Should the circumstance be otherwise I would not hesitate, but now, as I said earlier, each life we claim is more likely to be from our side than the enemy's. That is why I do not think it is right that we think of killing our companions before we hear them speak - who knew if they had excellent reasons to be yet asleep, and we end up losing a worthy comrade in our rashness?

"All your eagerness in lynching those asleep, Nogrod, makes me feel wary of you. If I didn't know respect, I would accuse you of having among those who have spoken very little a companion during the Night. But your old age gives you wisdom, and from that we could benefit for now.

"Now from what I've heard toDay I find these people...questionable:

Brinn - few words of little significance, without even following them up. Granted, Rikae had a point in saying that it is tough to break the ice, but I feel a certain hesitance on his part beyond this explanation.

Gil - again, he's too glib to be in this serious situation we are now in. But a voice in my head says that this is how he normally is, and it would be foolish to kill him for this reason alone. He bears close watching in the next Days, though.

Shasta - volunteering to stay up and sleeping on the job, huh? But I sense in him a mix of being happy-go-lucky and careful at the same time - the perfect combination for wolf behaviour. Careful not to slip, but not too guarded to be found suspicious. Unfortunately, I do suspect him.

Macalaure - as I said a while ago, it was too early for him to defend himself by subtly attacking those who expressed suspicion of him. I find this very disquieting.

I shall be casting my vote in a short while."

[Gil-Galad]

Gil looked around after hearing the comments about him

"come on now lads, the last thing we need is for us to accuse everyone! we are getting no where with that. no TGWBS, your first words of the day is going straight for Xxyzy... who has remained quiet the whole time... very strange indeed"




"Gil-Galad's constant use of insults without any useful contribution to the discussion I highly dislike as well, but I suppose this could just possibly be due to immaturity rather than wolfishness."



"now my dear brinni, your breaking my heart here. immaturity is quite harsh words, and with the day beginning, what contribution can i provide? you need evidence to have a point in a discussion? with only nogrod speaking what am i to do? to imemdiately accuse him of being a wolf AND our heroes? brinni, first thing you must do is read your own words before you say them then you can be helpful"

Gil grabbed a loaf of bread and some brries and began nibbling on them

"but for now, i think we best be looking at shasta over there, he is trying to hard to relay the seriousness of this situation, if we concentrate to hard on a certain trait, if you will, then these wolfs can slip behind us and take us from behind

We ought to make very sure that we're executing a werewolf, because we don't have very many chances at this ...

"now i am trying to have a light-hearted attitude at this... but i do know this peril is serious and will cost us our lives, but let us make sure and go over every possibility and remember how some words can be more harsh then you intend them to be and it will land you in a dark pit"

"in conclusion, ++Shasta, rest in peace my lad, though for the first couple of days, many innocents will probably be lost..."

EDIT: xed with Lhuna

[Macalaure]

Time to start sorting things out, Macalaure thought to himself and started to talk - to himself, apparently.


"Rikae is switching from red to green and back. My feelings about her are mixed, which is not enough for me to vote her, as everybody will surely understand...

About Shasta more and more good points are raised. He's the one most likely to receive my vote right now.

After his recent speech, I'm about to declare Nogrod innocent.

I, too, find Brinn's first post a little too careful. Except for his suspicion of Gil, and mine of Rikae, his last post is almost about the same topics as mine (lynching the silent, Guy's vote), which I find strangely strange.

Of Lhuna I have no definite idea, but she feels more on the innocent side right now.

I don't know why so many of the people are suspicious of Gil. I'm fine with him.

Guy is somebody I shall look at closely tomorrow.

Of Isabellkya, xyzzy and Mith I cannot say anything."

[Nogrod]

"Lhuna’s way of speaking I tend to trust at the moment. She seems to be independent from others’ point of views – remember the wolves need to be liked and thence tend to be the most agreeable ones. I do disagree with her about the best code of conduct for us right now but I feel she is stating her points innocently, not maliciously. Her point on guy is fair even if I disagree with the basis of it and the one on Macalaure was sharp and to the point. I’m not going to vote her toDay unless some miracles happen.

Rikae is another one I feel pretty good at the moment. Her first speech was reasonable and she did what an innocent one should do ie. telling her mind openly and laying some suspicion around to see what happens and to open the situation in the first place. Her later discussion about the intent and content I found reasonable as well – and genuine sounding. She’s another one I wouldn’t like to vote toDay.

Tgwbs I have mixed feelings about. He seems to act and speak like a decent person – and agrees with me to be sure... – but there is something that doesn’t quite sit right with me. First of all he has been a bit too friendly to me like trying to gain a feel-good –factor with me. Secondly he also contradicts himself as he first said we
“cannot afford to wait: we must decide who the wolves are, and slay them swiftly”
and then he goes on with this lynching the quiets just to be sure... even if he clothes it under the vestige of:
“I shall declare he who I believe to be guilty of wolvery”
and giving ridiculous reasons for it:
"his sleepiness is a result of wolvery. Tiring himself with murder by night, he requires the day to sleep it away”.
If I wouldn’t like to get the non-contributors out of the way he would be one of my top suspects right now. And he is. But I will listen to you others as well before voting as we only can lynch one and throwing one’s vote away too easily is stupid (with retrackies or not).

Macalaure I feel strange right now. His first speech was far less I would have waited from him. Kind of in the middle of the road being nice and trying to sound reasonable without actually saying anything, eg.:
“Let us no longer offer the obvious, or jest our time away, or condemn companions by causes contrived of questionable content”
and sticking to the obvious suspects like Shasta and Rikae who had been a bit bold just a moment before him. In his second speech he kind of suspects people who are not full-time analysing others who have spoken but doesn’t contribute a lot himself either in that cause. I’d hate to lose an innocent Macalaure toDay and as I don’t have more on him I will not vote him either toDay... unless the miracles.

I need to bring myself up to date with everythnig that has passed meanwhile as I see Brinn, Gil, Lhuna and Mac have spoken yet more.”

Nogrod picked his pipe and started cleaning it and fell down to his thoughts.

[Lhunardawen]

Lhuna was torn between two choices and wished to hear more from them, but her eyes were too heavy and could no longer remain open. She scrambled over to the sand, and wrote on it with her forefinger:

++MACALAURE

and shuffled back inside the house to sleep unhindered.

[Nogrod]

Suddenly Nogrod stood up again. His eyes were startled.

"The Day is ending soon and we need to make a decision. Let's consider our choices together. If Xyzzy and Isabell are not going to show up the curse will take them in the end of toMorrow. If they are innocents it will be a mighty blow to our numbers. We might reduce that shock by lynching one of them ourselves if we don't have a strong belief we have an actual more talkative wolf in our hands toDay.

Just consider this. This is a bit too sleepy place anyway and the talkers can be analysed unlike the people in the shadows.

Of the others I'd think Gil to be more on the innocent side but might go with Shasta or Brinn or tgwbs - albeit less eagerly than with the silent ones."

WIth that Nogrod lit his pipe he had been filling while he spoke and sat down, puffing rings from the smoke and looking sternly at the others around the pool.

[Nogrod]

Nogrod opened his left eye and glanced around him.

"Xyzzy, Shasta and Mac now have one vote each... and if Isabell and Xyzzy will stay asleep there will be five votes left - if Mith is withholding her vote. So all the possibilities are open. Please speak of your feelings and do not hide."

[Rikae]

Rikae had been nodding in the shade of a maple tree. At the sound of her name, she looked up with a twinkle in her eye.

"Macalaure, I hope you're not refraining from voicing your suspicions out of chivalry! I can handle your accusations, dear boy."

The sun touched the horizon, and cast a golden light which illuminated the hill behind them with an unexpectedly beautiful radiance.

"I suppose we are running out of time, then. I can actually see some sense in Lhuna's words about Mac, and in Nogrod's about Brinn; but for me the most suspicious outlaw remains Shasta. There is one doubt in my mind; that is, the fact that he seems a little too popular a lynchee, and obvious votes on Day One so frequently go awry - but for lack of a better choice, I vote:
++Shasta"

EDIT: X'd with both of Nogrod's posts

[Brinniel]

Brinn sighed and rubbed at his eyes.

"Gil, harsh I may be, but it is only because I am honest. There are better ways to start up the day than by insulting the only person who has spoken.

"Mac, I find it a bit funny you think me slightly suspicious because I actually agree with you on one thing. Surely, you didn't think you'd be the only one to think voting for the silent is a bad idea...because that would be quite absurd.

"When it comes to Shasta, he has contributed very little, and what he has said doesn't scream Guilty to me just yet. While he is most certainly not in the clear, I do not see a good enough reason to vote for him.

"Folks, the sun is setting and Night is near. I must vote soon, and I hope everyone else will do the same."

Brinn pulled his hood tighter around his head as he swatted away pesky mosquitos.

EDIT: X-ed with Nogrod and Rikae

[Nogrod]

"I have some familiarity with this Xyzzy and Isabell. They might be ones that do not take part in our joint effort - and if they die the next Day they will reduce our numbers considerably... We have retractable votes. So please Rikae, consider once again. I'm not trying to pressure you - or anyone, but it's just frustrating when no one speaks when there is only twenty minutes left of the Day.

"Folks, the sun is setting and Night is near. I must vote soon, and I hope everyone else will do the same." Well Brinn, could you share us your ideas about whom to vote and not stay in the shadows?"

Nogrod sighed and took a deep inhale of smoke into his lungs. The sun really was setting.

[Macalaure]

"I agree with Nogrod that, given the quietness in Bar-en-Danwedh of late, we should leave one of the quiet or silent outlaws behind us. Lynching a silent one might mean that we waste a lynching, because the elected one would have been removed one day later anyway. I don't like this idea. I think we fare best with lynching somebody who was there, but said little, and is suspicious at least to a certain degree.

My preference still lies with Shasta.


And, Rikae, if you think I would refrain from voting you out of chivalry, then you do not know this outlaw, my Lady."

[Nogrod]

"Knowing I can retract this I will try to wake you up in another way...

++ Xyzzy

Please speak up my companions! What is it with you?

Give me a better idea if you don't like this..."

EDIT: X'd with Mac...

[Brinniel]

"Well Nogrod, I still disagree with your plan to eliminate the silent ones. They still have time to speak up early toMorrow, and if they do not, then I will consider voting for one. But I will not be so hasty to vote for one toDay when there is no evidence showing that either of them is a wolf.

"I still find tgwbs to be most suspicious for his quick vote for xyzzy, plus his suspicions towards others for strange reasons. Most likely I will vote for him, unless someone can convince me otherwise."

EDIT: X-ed with Mac and Nogrod

[Nogrod]

Lynching a silent one might mean that we waste a lynching, because the elected one would have been removed one day later anyway. I don't like this idea."Don't you see this my friend? If they are removed after toMorrow and they are innocents, then on Day three which is a critical phase anyhow we have actually less in numbers that we would have if we lynched them ourselves! Why let a curse kill an innocent - or two - if we're not sure whom we lynch ourselves? Just more innocents dying...

Or are you so sure about your instincts / cases as to lynch someone who has at least said something toDay?

I'm all for lynching Shasta, to be sure, but with our numbers I'm not quite sure it's the best choice we have."

[Macalaure]

"I only think that the only way to overcome these beasts is to lynch them. If one of the two is a wolf, she or he will be dead tomorrow anyway. If not, then I would not want to waste lynchings on them, unless I really had no clue at all, which is not the case, for me."

[Brinniel]

If they are removed after toMorrow and they are innocents, then on Day three which is a critical phase anyhow we have actually less in numbers that we would have if we lynched them ourselves!

"But how can we know for sure? There is always a chance that amnesty is given, and with our small numbers, I wouldn't be surprised.

"I encourage that you retract this vote and vote for someone who actually has reason to be suspicious of.

"It seems few are willing to join me on this and I have seemed to fail to convince you to follow my word, but nevertheless, I am a man of my word:

++tgwbs"

[Nogrod]

"Are you that sure Mac? I can vote Shasta if that is needed. And after all his contribution is not much more than that of Xyzzy or Isabell. I'm just afraid of our numbers going down drastically for Day3..."

[Macalaure]

"Sure I am not, of course, but suspicious enough for a vote. There's always a risk. I'm taking it.

++Shasta"

[Nogrod]

It seems Shasta has gained the two votes first anyway.

Let's see what you say if I join Brinn in this...

-- Xyzzy

++ tgwbs

edit: X'd with Mac again...

[Macalaure]

"Keep in mind that Bellkya or xyzzy still might appear tomorrow."

[Brinniel]

"Does this make a tie?

Then I think Shasta will be lynched..."

[Brinniel]

"No wait...

Shasta has more votes. Sorry, I'm just confusing myself."

Brinn rolls his eyes.

[Nogrod]

"Nope. Shasta will have three votes and tgwbs two."

EDIT: X'd with Brinn.

[Shastanis Althreduin]

Shasta was horrified that everyone could twist the words he made in one remark, and attempt to kill him.

"Well! That's gratitude for you. In sheer self-preservation, I'm going to be forced to vote ++tgwbs, even though I'm not at all sure of his guilt. It seems that I can't say much of anything without seeming suspicious, can I?"

With that, Shasta stormed off, probably to sulk.

[Isabellkya]

Izzy opened her eyelids and looked upon the ceiling of the cave. She traced the subtle lines in the rock with her eyes as she continued to listen to the others discussing the best plan of action.
Their words had infiltrated her slumber, yet that was not what had awoken her. It was the poking of a stick by the grandmotherly old-woman which had finally dragged her from her sleep.

She continued to stare at the rock as she let her thoughts marinate, she was not ready to cast her vote upon another.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

After the echo of the outlaw's last words faded, Shasta raised his head.
"What do you say?" he spoke. "You are going to kill me, innocent, instead of getting rid of the beasts among you?"
"First things first," said Rikae. "I think we decided to make our sleep safer!"
"You- you cannot!" shouted Shasta, standing up and drawing a sword. "You will dare! No dirt-covered outlaw shall judge me!"
"I knew he will make trouble," said Gil-Galad. "But see? He is not one of us! Let's flank him!"
"Do not move," Macalaure spoke to Shasta. "Everyone, surround him! He shall not escape!"
The outlaws reached all for some weapons, but Shasta did not wait. With sword drawn, he gave out a war cry and sprinted forward. Some of the outlaws leapt aside to avoid him, but some turned on him to strike. Right in front of the door, Rikae's staff knocked Shasta to his head and then Gil-Galad and Macalaure fell on him with blades drawn. Shasta's sapphire cloak turned to red. "I curse you, Túrin!" was the last sound that came through his lips, though it was not clear to whom this cry was meant to go.

"Is he dead?" asked Nogrod.
"It seems so," said Brinn, coming closer to the body. "Was he a Werewolf?"

He reached down, and took the hood off Shasta's face. There were several screams among the observers. Shasta's features were not as human as it seemed on first sight. His fair face was the one of Elf-kind.
"An Elf!" cried Lhuna. "Is that not Beleg, one of the Two Captains?"
The crowd came forth to examine the body closer. Mithalwen pointed at a scar at the dead's right cheek. "What is this?" she said. "He has similar on the neck. Look!" Carefully, she took off the dead's cloak. Shasta's body was covered with old scars and wounds.
"What is this?" gasped Gil-Galad.
"He was not a werewolf," said Nogrod. "And that is what should concern us. Those of us who have not slept all the day - " he glanced at xyzzy and Isabellkya - "are surely in need of a rest. Let's leave all questions till tomorrow."

The outlaws slowly walked to their sleeping corners, silent. Túrin, quietly, moved near Beleg. "It was Saeros!" he whispered. "I do not understand it, but it was him!"
"But you killed him?" said Beleg.
"I saw him falling to the chasm," Túrin replied, looking around. "But it was him, I swear. What was he doing here?"
"We may never learn," whispered Beleg. "But sh! No one should notice us."

Another night fell on Amon Rûdh. There was one less of them – but two of Morgoth's servants were still lurking in the halls.

The inhabitants of Amon Rûdh – dead:

Ibun son of Mîm, killed by a Werewolf on Night 1
Shasta alias Saeros, outnumbered and stabbed on Day 1

The inhabitants of Amon Rûdh – living:
Mîm the Petty Dwarf
Rikae
Nogrod
Macalaure
Isabellkya
Brinniel
Lhunardawen
xyzzy
Gil-Galad
the guy who be short
Mithalwen

Night 2 has begun. Outlaws are asleep. Wolves may talk. Túrin and Beleg may talk. Everyone who has something to send to me, please do so.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

It was deep night. Outside Amon Rûdh, above its crowned top, cold moon was shining in the clear sky. But inside the hill, in the vast labyrinth of caves, darkness laid heavily.
Two dark shadows were slowly passing through empty corridors. Two dark shadows in the darkest darkness of Amon Rûdh's deep halls. Their senses found the best way to their target tonight. Their senses lead them towards their prey the best and safest way.
Here it was. They entered the small room, on its further end they sensed the heat of their victim. Unbeknownst to anyone, they neared their prey.

Unbeknownst to anyone?

Suddenly, a bow sang and an arrow pierced the air. The first monster stopped in fear. Twice! That was for the second time in two nights! There was no time to think. Before another projectile could hit them, the two shadows turned and quickly disappeared in the maze of corridors.

Beleg stood silently in the dark for a minute, but then he put his arrow back in the quiver. Good work, he thought to himself. The beasts will surely not return this night. Shame he could not hit one of them. But their evil deed was foiled. "Valar grant me blessings," he muttered to himself. Slowly, he walked out of the room to hide his bow for the Day in a safe place.

Unbeknownst to him, a dark hooded figure with covered lantern in its hands joined him in the corridors. He was being followed.

Túrin woke up. It must have been still night out there, though in the darkness of the tunnels inside Amon Rûdh day or night were not any different. At the moment he awoke, he more felt than saw someone standing above him. He reached for the blade.
"It's me, Beleg," whispered the person.
Túrin put down the sword and sat up. "Something happened?"
"Yes," said Beleg. "I stopped them."
"Good!" said Túrin. "That was a favor, at last. How much time remains till dawn?" he asked.
"Not much," said Beleg. "Have you slept enough?"
"I will take a nap during the day," said Túrin. "In this company, I think nobody notices."
"Sleep for now," said Beleg. "I will as well. We have nothing more to fear this night."

Somewhere in the darkness of far corridors, the dark shadow took Beleg's bow, and disappeared.

The inhabitants of Amon Rûdh – dead:

Ibun son of Mîm, killed by a Werewolf on Night 1
Shasta alias Saeros, outnumbered and stabbed on Day 1

The inhabitants of Amon Rûdh – living:
Mîm the Petty Dwarf
Rikae
Shastanis Althreduin
Nogrod
Macalaure
Isabellkya
Brinniel
Lhunardawen
xyzzy
Gil-Galad
the guy who be short
Mithalwen

Day 2 has begun. Heroes and villains, stop your talking. Outlaws, awake.

[Mithalwen]

Mithalwen awoke to find they were all safe and in the thall of death's counterfeit, Sleep not Death itself.

"It is well" she said to herself, "some benevolent power has protected us this past night it seems - but perchance may not be able to do so tonight. Let our decisions be wise and we may survive". More I will say later but now I will sleep again."

[Nogrod]

Nogrod woke up with the earliest birds who started singing. In haste he counted all the people around him... Thank the Earth, everyone is safe!

He took what was left of his bread and chewed the piece carefully. Now it must have been Turín or this Beleg-elf... But what has happened? My dreams... what on earth do they mean? It was Beleg who stopped the wolves at Night but there was a hooded someone following him as well? And Turín was asleep when Beleg had done his part? So Turín is a sleeper then? And who is this trailer and is s/he the one who took Beleg's bow? And what does that mean? Have we lost our protector while Turín is a sleeper? Cold chills went all the way in his spine as he took a long draught of wine from his skin.

First Nogrod had thought that these were good news but now he was not so certain any more. There was something wicked in all this...

"Wake up my friends! We need to talk now! We have a reason for joy and a gratitude to pay this elven master but we also need to fear a few things..."

edit: X'd with Mith

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

As the first of the Outlaws awoke, Mîm entered the room. "I heard the Men talk," he said. "It is good to hear no one was harmed tonight, yes, Mîm's old eyes are glad to see everyone here," the Dwarf's eyes turned for a short moment to Nogrod as he spoke. "But yesterday was not much lucky, Mîm and lady Mithalwen brought some meat," he held up a dead pheasant, "but that is not enough, not for the big Men."
"Wait! Do you say we should let you leave the mountain once more?" said Gil-Galad, who just came out of one of the corridors. "No way!"
Mîm blinked. "But he kept his word until now," said Mithalwen, turning to the newcomer. "He did not act any suspicious yesterday."
"Maybe he wanted to confuse us," said Gil-Galad, still glaring suspiciously at Mîm. "To let him go out without any guard today, so he can escape."
"But we have to eat something," said Nogrod. "And it is a fact that whether he lies or not, our supplies are quite small."
"Then I shall go with him," said Gil-Galad.
Mithalwen and Nogrod looked at each other. "Well, go then," they said.
Gil-Galad glared at them, looking upset. "All right!" he said. "Damn it! I hoped to sit - or sleep!"
With these words, he turned and followed the smiling Dwarf out of the cavern.

[Nogrod]

As Mith fell back to sleep Nogrod was left alone with the pheasant on the floor where Mîm left it. Nogrod took the pheasant and started plucking it. What else can I do now?... It's not much of a dinner to ten but making a hearty soup or stew might make it suffice... just some taters or whatever and it would be perfect...

He talked aloud his thoughts while preparing the pheasant...

"Like yesterDay I would say that Rikae and Lhuna are innocents and we should pay heed to what they say as they send a preliminary aura of innocence with them. I may change my view on them as the Day goes by but at least for now I'm withholding any judgement on them...

Macalaure and the short-guy I feel a bit unnerved about. Mac's defensiveness & "outsiderness" and tgwbs's over-friendliness both raise alarms with me. I'm wary about them but not exactly keen on lynching them anyway. ..

And if you ask me about my vote-change at the last minute... well I was trying to keep myself alive as tgwbs was my top suspect of those who had spoken and I tried to grant myself yet another Day alive by openly going against him with my vote.

But now I think there is a high possibility that I was the one the wolves were after last Night - or then it was Rikae or Lhuna - other suggestions I just hold too far-fetched if you look at the general way people were suspected on Day1.

The fact that the wolves tried the same person as Beleg was defending mean that we have no sporty wolves here but bloodthirsty wanna-be winners of the game. That kind of loosens my suspicion on Macalaure and tgwbs.

I mean the wolves tried to kill someone who was generally thought innocent and Beleg did make the same deduction! That means our wolves are more likely to be in panic than in control of the things.

So who does this leave us then?"

Nogrod had finished plucking the pheasant and took his knife.

"I'll tell you what I think before I need to make a nap again... darn cave and the curse it has upon us!"

[Nogrod]

Nogrod lit a fire and brought a pot over it. After he had fried the pieces of the pheasant he added some water and herbs to it and then retreated from the fire.

He took Rikae's staff and punched all in turn leniently.

"Someone should take care of the stew as I need some sleep right now... But before I go to sleep I will wish to voice the following thoughts.

On the basis of what you people said yesterDay I would grant both Rikae and Lhuna a benefit of doubt. Because of the last Night's actions I would be willing to grant the same thing to Mac and tgwbs as well. This is subject to change with further voicing out of ideas but at this moment it is what I think.

So what does this leave me with? Brinn I find hard to catch but as his guts turned him to the same conclusion as I did, I'm ready to not suspect him too much. His vote could be seen as a safe one as he made it after a case had been made on tgwbs but anyhow I'm somewhat ready to release him for the time being.

Mith I'm ready to grant a benefit of doubt as well but am more than eager to hear what she has to say about the things so far as she has only being dropping in this far.

This leaves me with Xyzzy, Gil and Isabell. But as it is Day2 already, I'm not at all so keen to lynch the quiet ones - even if I wish to do it in principle... and if Turín is a sleeper...

I know one of the people I have claimed to get my "benefit of doubt" might be a werewolf... I know that. I'd really like to lynch all those who do not give us anything... and not least because of what happened last Night...

And if Xyzzy is not going to be here toDay either, I'd say we might go for him if we don't have any better candidates in the end of the Day. That would keep our numbers better if we make a misjudgement toDay... (if he will be killed anyway?) But if you have good candidates, please bring them forwards.

This is what I can say at this moment... I hope I have something else to chew as I wake up later..."

With that Nogrod gave a twist to the pot and went to his blanket.

[Isabellkya]

Izzy opened her eyes and sat up, upon her bed. She surveyed the sleeping inhabitants and noticed the numbers were the same. She thanked the good protectors, whoever they might be, for keeping watch through the night while they slumbered.

She rose from her bed and stretched her aching muscles. Such deep and long slumber tends to leave the body cramped and not of its full use. She eyed Nogrod near the fire as he settled down to sleep. She quietly strode over to the blaze, and took a seat nearest the cooking pot. She sniffed the contents and quickly wrinkled her nose as she turned away. Her vegetarian nature was not appreciative of pheasant; none the less she kept watch over the pot as she waited for the others to stir and awake.

[Isabellkya]

As Izzy stirred the contents in the pot, her thoughts stewed inside her head as well.
The flames of the fire flickered off Izzy's face as she thought about Beleg and Turin, and the mysterious shadow which had followed Beleg and thus taken his bow. Were Beleg and Turin protectors, only wanting to hide their identities from the wolves. Or were their intentions slightly more sinister, and thus wanting to hide from everyone?

She recalled the discussion the previous day in regards to the quiet outlaws. She agreed that if there were outlaws amongst them who did not want to contribute, they should be left behind. Izzy smiled to herself as she thought about the group of outlaws which they made; outlaws tended to be a bit rebellious by nature; and like herself preferred to live solitary lives. She thought that maybe a drink of ale would loosen the tongues of the quiet ones.

[xyzzy]

To much fanfare, Xyzzy awakens. With a yawn, he jumps up off of the small patch of ground where he had previously been. "So, what did I miss, guys? Did we lynch a wolf?"

A voice from the crowd speaks up: "How did you know there were Werewolves about? You were asleep all yesterday!"

"Well," says Xyzzy, "It was... uh... third person omniscient, specifically... the third-person omniscient voice of... uh, you know."

"Way to break the fourth wall, Xyzzy," says another highly annoyed voice. "Wouldn't want to break the whole roleplaying element by... oh, I've messed it up too, haven't I?"

"I'm a bit suspicious of Guy, simply because my inability to be woken from day one slumber having absolutely nothing to do with my alignment; After all, everyone has schedules which occasionally don't include fighting for their survival; I don't see how that relates to the possibility of me being an evil force.

"Secondly, I'm suspicious of Mith. It's mostly a personal reason, but I'd love to see what Mith has to say about it. It seems another very not good (if that's a good use of the English language, which I must admit is doubtful) person has been masquerading the world by the name Mith, and I want to know if perhaps there's a connection... and by connection, I mean an evil connection."

The mysterious voice speaks up: "Reasons why what you said was stupid: One, it used bad logic, two, it used bad grammar, and three... wel, okay, there is no third reason, but it was stupid, like you are."

Xyzzy walks over to a corner to cry since no one likes him. No one cares.

[Lhunardawen]

A rustling came from the corner Lhuna had called her own. She had stirred at the sound of a man's crying, and scowled. Such an attitude must not be displayed by an outlaw. She walked over to another corner and nudged the huddled man strongly with her foot.

"Stop that noise, xyzzy, or I'll stop it for you. Dare not forget that yesterDay you were useless, and though we understand your reasons for keeping to bed, you have a duty to protect this house and its inhabitants; and the least you can do to carry it out is offer your opinions on the wolves we seek. Learn from Shasta: do not be idle, or some here might think it better to have you killed. The same goes for you, Izzy," she shouted over to the woman at the pot, who jumped in surprise.

Lhuna took a deep breath, and said in a much lighter tone, "There is a lot to be gleaned from yesterDay's events, as well as yesterNight's. The last-minute scramble before Shasta's death, for one, could reveal a few things. And Nogrod does a good thing in trying to analyse Beleg's successful protection of one of our comrades.

"I need some time alone to think, but for now I leave you with this. Gil-galad," he looked towards the man, and just as she suspected he was fast asleep, "as he gave the first vote for Shasta, said this: 'rest in peace my lad, though for the first couple of days, many innocents will probably be lost.' Was this a slip that he knew he was innocent? I could have misunderstood him, but that's my interpretation of it."

No BDers were intended to be offended personally by this post.

[Rikae]

Rikae reclaimed her walking-stick, shaking her head and muttering about impudent young people, and slowly made her way around the room, looking at each person in turn.

"Isabellkya, I don't think I care for the way you imply that the gifteds are against us, or your emphasis on your "vegetarianism" (vegetarian by day, at least, hmmm?). Such things from someone else would point to innocence, but your grandmother was prone to slipping wolf-hints into her speech, if I recall correctly... "

"Lhuna, you also have said something that doesn't sit right with me. Your claim that Gil-Galad knew Shasta was innocent just doesn't seem supported by the quote - it seems quite clear to me that he's saying, as I did, that the chances are high of lynching an innocent. It looks a bit like an attempt, on your part, to focus attention on an easy target who was suspected yesterday - and your sudden change of tone to an aggressive one is also somewhat suspicious. Why change?"

"Gil-Galad did indeed seem a bit 'off' yesterday; but he isn't here to defend himself, and I would like to hear more from him before passing judgement, if possible".

"Xyzzy's words actually seem innocent enough, and I'm inclined to trust Macalaure, Nogrod and Guy for the time being; although Nogrod's comment about the wolves being "desperate" doesn't really make sense to me, since going for those who seem innocent is pretty much standard wolf strategy, as far as I know, and Mac and Guy are, after all, still asleep."

"Mithalwen has not said enough to judge, yet, and as for Brinn - I think lynching him on this day in particular would not be right."

Rikae sank back to the ground, clutching her staff more tightly than before and casting a sharp glance in Nogrod's direction.

[Isabellkya]

Izzy turned her face away from the pot she had been keeping watch over at the grumblings of the woman with the walking stick and others.

'I don't particularly care for or mind your assumptions about my vegetarianism; we outlaws live how we choose to. I particularly don't see the need to injest meat to survive in this land. Our Ancestors' actions from the past bare no weight here. I do not see them here in this cave, trapped in this predicament. Leave the past in the past.

Are Beleg and Turin our chosen protectors/gifteds? Those who creep in the night and keep to the shadows, are usually up to no good.'

Izzy turned her gaze over the others, some still remained in the world of slumber. Her gaze fell upon Nogrod; she reflected how quickly he was to defend his last minute vote change yesterDay.

'By nature, we outlaws are all about self-preservation; however I don't trust Nogrod. Those who have something to hide, are usually quick to the defense. In our current situation, we need to be thinking about the betterment of the group and discussing as such. Rather than looking out solely for ourselves.'

Izzy turned back to the pot and deemed the stew as almost ready. She continued ministrations and let her thoughts swirl once more.



(ooc, I am a vegetarian and my roleplaying will follow thusly.)

Edit: big spaces between paragraphs.

[Brinniel]

Midday was nearing, and Brinn sat on the ground playing with a stick in the dirt as he listened curiously to the others' words. He glanced over in the direction of Isabellkya and xyzzy relieved to see that they had finally awoken and had caught up on the most recent happenings. xyzzy was currently sniffling, which highly annoyed Brinn. As a pause arose in the ongoing discussion, Brinn took the opportunity to sit up straight and speak:

"Well, so far we know xyzzy is nothing but a big baby among toughened outlaws, Isabellkya is a vegetarian, and Gil-Galad is away for the Day. Last Night we were lucky to have no lives lost, but it does little in helping us figure out who the wolves are, except that they are being careful and playing it safe.

"Anyways, to help make sense out of everything, I've drawn up a record of how yesterDay's voting went."

Brinn pointed at where he had drawn in the dirt:

tgwbs: ++xyzzy (xyzzy: 1)
Gil-Galad: ++Shasta (xyzzy: 1, Shasta: 1)
Lhuna: ++Macalaure (xyzzy: 1, Shasta:1, Macalaure: 1)
Rikae: ++Shasta (xyzzy: 1, Shasta: 2, Macalaure: 1)
Nogrod: ++xyzzy (xyzzy: 2, Shasta: 2, Macalaure: 1)
Brinn: ++tgwbs (xyzzy: 2, Shasta: 2, Macalaure: 1, tgwbs: 1)
Macalaure: ++Shasta (xyzzy: 2, Shasta: 3, Macalaure: 1, tgwbs: 1)
Nogrod: --xyzzy (xyzzy: 1, Shasta: 3, Macalaure: 1, tgwbs: 1)
Nogrod: ++tgwbs (xyzzy: 1, Shasta: 3, Macalaure: 1, tgwbs: 2)

"I'm not sure whether to include Shasta's late vote, but it doesn't really matter anyways.

Of these voters, I find the xyzzy voters to be the most suspicious. tgwbs was so quick to vote him with little reason except that he was silent for the first half of the Day, which is not a good reason to me. tgwbs makes me uneasy and I certainly hope he finds something to say soon, for if he remains silent much longer, then he is nothing more than a hypocrite."

Brinn glared at tgwbs, who seemed to be nodding off.

"Now, as for Nogrod, he wanted to lynch the silent as well, trying to persuade everyone else to do the same. And when his persuasion failed, he voted for tgwbs when it was already quite obvious that Shasta would be the one lynched.

"Alright, I must give this more thought before I say anything else."

Brinn pulled his hood tighter around his head and rocked back and forth on the ground, brooding.

[Lhunardawen]

"I claimed nothing, Rikae," Lhuna said with a glance at the old woman. "Wasn't it apparent from my tone that I was merely asking - suggesting, if you will? I do not quickly make claims, not in these times of doubt and confusion.

"It is normal, I guess, that we understand the same statement differently, for we are two different people. For my part, I sensed an offhandedness in Gil's manner of speaking that I found unsettling. Each to her own. But I will not pay much heed to it for now, for there could be a lot more revealing words from Gil - or anyone, for that matter - later. I would that he consider our situation more seriously toDay."

Lhuna kept momentarily silent, then cleared her throat.

"About those moments leading to the end of the yesterDay - thank you, Brinn, for the summary - Shasta was brought up to the lead with 2 votes by Rikae. And then Nogrod voted for xyzzy, making him tied with Shasta. Rikae chose Shasta with a bit of doubt, but found him most suspicious of those who have spoken. She said she might vote for xyzzy if the sleepers sleep on until the Day ends. Nogrod was adamant nearly the whole time to lynch those who were silent, thus his vote. Why xyzzy, I wonder? What made him chose xyzzy over Izzy, who was another sleeper? Was it because tgwbs had already voted for the former, and Nogrod didn't want to spread the votes too thin?

With Mac's vote Shasta's doom was pronounced, and after this Nogrod changed his vote to tgwbs. It achieved nothing, so far as yesterDay's lynching is concerned. In doing this, I think, he was trying to make it a point that he found tgwbs suspicious. But if he really did, why did he not vote for him at the first, when some argument against tgwbs could still have ensured his lynching? Why wait until it no longer mattered that he voted for him?

"And that's not the only thing: one of Nogrod's primary reasons for suspecting tgwbs, if I understand him right, was that he found the short guy overfriendly. But reminiscing on yesterDay's discussions brings no such thing to mind. The closest I found to an attempt of tgwbs to be friendly with Nogrod was that the former shared a glance with the latter - who had his eyes closed. Where's the "trying to gain a feel-good factor" with himself that Nogrod was saying? And the weirder thing is that right after tgwbs cast his vote, Nogrod expressed his appreciation of it. He even questioned me for disagreeing with tgwbs's vote. That's one big flip-flop, as the move will be called six ages of Arda from now."

A knowing twinkle came into Lhuna's eyes, and it seemed a ghost of a smile came across her lips. But before anyone who saw could dwell on it, it was replaced by a worried frown.

"It's a one-sided 'relationship,' this between Nogrod and the short guy, but all the same it makes me think if there's more to it than meets the eye. There are a few possibilities. One, they are Turin and Beleg, and this is their way of evading the wolves at Night, for their act casts perilous attention on them during the Day. Two, they are the wolves, and Nogrod seeks to have his comrade lynched, as though by sheer chance or cunning, so he can win us over into believing his innocence, or he can prove his worth. Or three, I am, which I am likely to do, reading too much into this."

[Lhunardawen]

"And one last thing," Lhuna added, for she had started to walk outside to think things through, "you asked me, Rikae, about my sudden change of tone. It will be called, I believe, stress."

With a quick, hardly perceptible, wink at the woman, Lhuna turned back the way she was to go.

[the guy who be short]

Guy awoke at his name being uttered. "Forgive me," he said. "I fear that our little group shall be destroyed by sleepiness unless we all make an effort to stay awake. Surely there is an unwholesome curse here..."

He looked at Brinn and said, "You criticise my early vote for xyzzy. I am afraid that there was nothing I could do about its earliness, and today once again I must vote far before the deadline. For this sleeping charm seems to work more strongly upon me, such that I cannot stay awake until the end of Day, but must sleep far earlier. There is nothing I may do to stop this."

"Let me explain my vote for xyzzy in more transparent terms. I held, at such an early time, no suspicion of any person without our group. I feared also lest xyzzy, through sleeping the Day away, should be a wolf seeking to avoid all suspicion. The ever-silent are dangerous folk."

"However, I knew not that, when two days of silence were passed, the sleeper would be killed by a curse upon this place. Now that I know this, verily do I regret my vote: for, at the time, I did think that xyzzy would not appear at all for days, but I knew now that, were this the case, he would be killed automatically. Thus I wished to lynch him."

"And yet," he continued, "I find it interesting that only toDay, when he realises that death awaits the silent, does he choose to speak."

He bowed to Brinn before turning to Nogrod.

"And you, sir, I can no longer trust, for your words make little sense to me. Firstly, may I say that, yesterday, when I talked to you, I did so only because you were the only person awake at that time.

"You wished, Nogrod, to lynch xyzzy, for if he were silent, he would die automatically. While you claim this could aid our numbers, this is not a logical way of looking at things. For we would have wasted a chance to lynch a potential wolf in killing somebody, wolf or no, who would have died anyway. It is foolish to wish to minimize lynching so as to boost innocent numbers, for in this wise would no wolves be killed."

"You say also that you changed vote in an effort to 'keep alive for another Day.' This makes little sense to me, for you were not in danger of lynching that day. I am troubled by you, old man.

EDIT: Crossed with Lhuny

[Macalaure]

Unusually early, Macalaure was roused from his long sleep. The utterance of many a strange word he perceived in the long hours of dreaming and he now had to bring forward his thoughts.

"That elderly fellow over there, Nogrod he calls himself, has troubled my thoughts of late.

Yesterday, he tried to make us lynch Izzy or Xyzzy all day, but then, when Shasta turned to be our candidate, he chose the Guy. Why, I wonder. Yes, Nogrod has been suspicious of him, but given the course of his argument over the day, this really does count as a sudden change of mind, I think.
The question: would an evil Nogrod have done that? The vote is quite outstanding and usually wolves do prefer to hide their votes. Evil Nogrod could have left his vote where it was, or have voted Shasta, and nobody would have taken notice. It is also remarkable that, even though Guy was so suspicious to him, he first followed the Guy's vote for Xyzzy. A person of pure heart would not do such a thing so easily.
His vote explanation today does make some sense, but not much. If he was so suspicious of the Guy all day that he was even afraid to be immediately killed by him, then why didn't he pursue his suspicion more assertively? I cannot read much sense into his vote and its reasoning.

Nogrod, you said you were suspicious of me because of my "outsiderness". What exactly do you mean by that?

Furthermore, I cannot see how Nogrod's assumption on the nature of the wolves follow. Bloodthirsty wanna-be winners? So if Guy or I were wolves, we wouldn't be bloodthirsty and wouldn't want to win? Or do you think the wolf-kill was dilettantish and that Guy or I would have picked somebody Beleg wouldn't have foreseen? How do you know the wolves picked someone who was generally thought innocent? It's quite possible, yes, but after all, all we can assume is that, whatever strategy the wolves pursued, Beleg was able to somehow guess it.

You argue on many unproven premises, Nogrod, which very much puzzles me.

However, I agree with you that the wolves now are more likely to panic than before, with a cobbler(?) dead and their kill rejected.


Isabell, you say that we should think about the betterment of our situation rather than just to look for ourselves.

Indeed, I say, indeed...


It's a curse today. There's no dead body to analyse and there's little to nothing that can be analysed from Shasta. This is the second coming of Day One and I'm yet to become any wiser than yesterday."

[Nogrod]

Nogrod opened his eyes and looked around him approvingly. Finally some discussion... and the smell from the pot... hmmmm. With that he rose and walked to the fire. After smellling the pot with delight he took his spoon and tasted the stew - as that was what it was now after the long hours of simmering.

"Good. You should take your share - all you meat-eaters I mean. This is delicious even if it would get better with some taters or seasoning.

But to bussiness then. I do disagree with you guy on the wisdom of trying to keep our numbers up and I clearly haven't made myself clear about my reason to chnge my vote yesterDay. So I'll give you a short reminder of them.

If you don't have a good idea of someone's guilt your voting is a shot in the dark and that means that on Day1 you're very likely to lynch an innocent and only hit a baddie with a considerable amount of luck, right? It's different if you have good reasons to vote for someone but that sadly is not the case most times on Day1 - like yesterDay.

Now people who don't take part in discussion are dangerous people to us as with them we will need to shoot in the dark everyDay they hang around as they don't give us a chance to look at their speeches and in the worst case not even to their voting - if they don't even vote, that is. The more Days we spend here the more dangerous they become. All of you who are old enough to have heard tales of villages lost in the werewolf-mania should know that.

Now if that kind of non-participator will be killed automatically her or his going away will reduce our numbers and if that one person is an innocent it hurts us considerably if we at the same time lynch other innocents ourselves - it's like giving the wolves an extra-kill voluntarily. So if we have no better candidate, if we have no good case against anyone else, lynching that kind of people is absolutely the wisest thing to do. And a silent person may be a wolf as well. It's not a lynch wasted anymore than lynching someone we don't have a good case against but just lynch for some feeling or whatever as people tend to do on Day1 in general.

And yes part of reason to change my vote was to save my life. And that's perfectly sensible thing to do. You know whom the wolves like to kill during the Night? Firstly known innocents, secondly those that people tend to trust or at least do not suspect. Whom they will not like to kill at Night? Firstly those whom they think can be lynched, secondly those who have suspected them - or one of them - strongly - yes, they can pull out the "that's a set up" -thing and kill the on who suspects them, but in the end that happens quite rarely.

So I thought yesterDay evening that I was pretty high in the list of wolves. As I had my strongest doubts on you guy I decided to give you a vote to show that I was serious about you and thence hoping that were you actually a wolf you would not wish to kill me then as it would point so clearly to you then. There seemed to be no way of changing the result anyway at that point whomever I would have voted.

Happily it seems to have worked to my favour the other way which I then hadn't any idea. It clearly has led some of you to suspect me and that's good for it may just mean that I can sleep my Night in peace without fear of being killed."

With that Nogrod smiled and then gave the stew a stir.

edit: x'd with Mac...

[Nogrod]

"By the way Mac, yes you interpreted my thoughts well enough. I do think our wolves are a bit diletanttish as you formulated it. Wise wolves would not go for the obvious kill on their first Night if there is a protector like Beleg around. Thinking that the wolves were really intelligent and managed to pick a good kill for them and Beleg just happened by chance to be on their way is totally unbelievable the odds being 1:11. But if there was a logic there it's lot easier to understand why they both picked the same person. But a wise wolf in that situation leaves the obvious and kills someone else. Like you Mac or the guy, you both would be cunning enough to pick differently were you the wolves and thence I'm not suspecting either of you very much right now. With the very same reasoning I'm also keeping Rikae, Lhuna and Mith outside my "most suspicious" list for the time being."

[Nogrod]

"Okay. Here's what I think right now before I need to take yet another nap."

Nogrod said as he was walking back to his blanket.

"I could bet quite a large sum of money for there being at least one wolf in the company of Isabell, Xyzzy and Gil. Lynching one of them would also keep the numbers of actual contributors to the discussion maximum and do away with one threat for the Days to come.

My only problem with that is that it looks like Turín is quite a sleepy person as well and if his fate is tied to that of Nienor we might lose them both by accidentally lynching Turín.

The second thing I'd wish to consider is the possibility of both wolves being in the list of three I gave. That I find highly unlikely. But from where do we start searching for the second one?

I think thast firstly I will dismiss from my search those who in no situation would have acted as clumsily as our wolves did last Night. That means I'm not going to go after Rikae, Mac or tgwbs. I have known them long time enough to know something of their capabilities.

That means that I have to reconsider what I said about Lhuna and Mith and also think about Brinn.

If I was ready to bet a large sum on one wolf being in the group of Isabell, Xyzzy and Gil, I'd bet a smaller sum for the other being found from the group of Lhuna, Mith and Brinn as I really can't see them both being found from the first group and as I really can't see Rikae, Mac or tgwbs as the ones wasting their kill last Night.

I know it's not good politics to suspect two thirds of people around you but that's what I have to do now. Four of the six I suspect are innocents. I just need to find out who they are.

But I'll give it some thought while I take my nap. I'm going to wake up before the evening turns into Night."

With that Nogrod laid his head to the ground and pulled his blanket over him.

[the guy who be short]

Guy scowled at Nogrod. "I understand your vote somewhat now. However, as Isabellkya says, we should look out for the interests of the group and not ouuselves as individuals. I find it frightening that your desire for self-preservation seems to override your desire to help the group and lynch somebody who may be a wolf.

Isabellkya's social approach to this lupine threat comforts me, and so I feel she is likely innocent. The others are difficult to judge. I would say Mac seems innocent also, for his reasoning about lynching the silent follows mine. Nothing anybody else has said has attracted my attention - which is, perhaps, the most deadly thing of all."

Guy glared at each of the others in turn. Unfortunately, he was no Galadriel: they could each hold his glance, and he could divine no guilt in this fashion.

[Nogrod]

"I heard that guy. And I must say I'm a bit concerned of your rhetorics here. I think you can hardly criticise me from not trying to do something to get us out of this mess we're in... Also my vote at that time was insignificant anyhow as there was no way to alter the end result.

But why you wish to make that kind of suggestions? That I wonder... that I truly wonder..."

Nogrod turned to his other side and readjusted his blanket.

[the guy who be short]

Guy considered what Nogrod had just said. "I do not know why you are so sure that there is a wolf among those who contribute so little, Nogrod. However, what you say is true: if these people are wolves, their silence means they will likely live a long time, avoiding suspicion. It is dangerous to focus only on those who are loud; indeed, we are more likely to accidentally accuse the loud, for they say much more, which can be misinterpreted and lead to doom."

He paused for thought.

"This being said, I feel quite certain of your wolvery, dear Sir. Your wish to lynch those who will die anyway is wasteful. The upside, higher villager numbers, comes at the expense of not lynching any of our own suspects! The same could be achieved if everybody abstained from voting, so nobody was lynched at all. Village numbers could stay high for as long as possible, but in the end the Wolves would consume us all. Surely you can see that this way of doing things is madness? I feel that you cannot be unaware of this, and so I must conclude that you are a wolf, trying to mislead and gain trust as early as possible. If I am correct, this would lead me to believe that the quiet trio are in fact innocents, who you name in order to lead us astray. Your fellow wolf must, I feel, be in the Rikae-Lhuna-Mith-Brinn group. Of these, Brinn seems unlikely as you voted together yesterday, so the first three are most likely to be your fellow, in my view."

Satisfied, he sat back and waited for the others to air their thoughts.

[Nogrod]

Nogrod frowned and turned towards the guy.

"Do you have wax in your ears or is there something evil in your intentions? You said that:
"The upside, higher villager numbers, comes at the expense of not lynching any of our own suspects!"
Right. I have all the time said - and that is many times - that when there are no better choices, when there are no good cases or strong suspicions. Only then it is reasonable to lynch those we don't know anything or who are facing death anyway. As soon as one has a clue or a case it's surely more resonable to go with that.

These are so basic things that I'm getting more and more uneasy with you. Although I still think you more distracted by this sleeping curse than an actual villain just because of how I interpret the actions of last Night.

Had Saeros not died already I could bet you to be a cobbler of some sort... Maybe you're Androg then?"

[the guy who be short]

Guy scowled at Nogrod once again. "I did not say at any point that you have not tried to get us out of this mess. You have been most active. I said that your priorities seem to lie beyond group preservation and in personal preservation.

Now, though, I have just realised a flaw in my argument. For if you were a wolf, why would you vote for somebody you thought was a wolf in self-preservation. This doesn't make much sense. On the one hand, it points to your innocence, but on the other, you could have fabricated your reason for voting for me.

It is not strictly true that your vote was insignificant, as Mac had not voted yet, and you could have perhaps tried to convince him some more. This would probably not have worked though. There were also retractables; for example, Brinn could have been convinced to cast a useful vote. However, it was quite late at that point and so perhaps it was almost insignificant.

And now your vote is confusing me even more. You said you'd be willing to vote for Shasta, and yet you didn't. I would like this explained, because it seems as if you avoided the Shasta-bandwagon, which would lead to your name being associated with the lynching of an innocent. Why did you not vote for Shasta?

This vote is absolutely bizarre and I cannot claim to fathom it. My suspicion of you has fallen, because, while self-preservation is to be condemned, that does seem to be the only reason I can see for voting for me at such a time, and that would mean you were innocent. But the why-not-Shasta question haunts me, and I am now in a state of confusion.

I must vote in about four hours; I hope you have answered me by then."

Clutching his head, Guy receded.

[the guy who be short]

"But Nogrod!" Guy said heatedly "a random lynch is better than no lynch! A 2 in 11 chance of getting a wolf is better than a 0 chance of getting a wolf. At any point, it is always better to lynch than to not lynch."

He lay down for a nap, and he really meant it this time. He was snoring within seconds.

[Nogrod]

"You're right and you're wrong. Random lynch is better than no lynch as it gives you a chance of 2:11. Correct. But lynching someone who is about to die anyway gives you the very same possibility. Not more, not less. I have never suggested that we do not lynch anyone. That idea was your own fabrication. I have only said that with no better candidates we should try our "random"-lynch (2:11 chances) with someone who might die anyhow and thence not give the wolves a kind of extra kill...

About yesterDay's voting. Mac voted a minute before the deadline and I crossposted with him - and Brinn's vote came three minutes before the deadline while I was writing my own post. So there was basically no time to try and convince anyone over anything.

But why I didn't vote for Shasta? Well, let me ask you, why should I have voted for him? He was a goner one minute before the deadline whatever I did or did not. So basically my vote had no significance whatsoever - and as I had said earlier, I had nothing against lynching Shasta back then so his lynching was okay for me and thence I had no reason to try and change the things in any way (not that I could have done that in the first place). That's why I decided to try to help myself for the Night as I suspected you the most of those who had actually played on Day1.

So that was not personal priorities over the common preservation as I had no chance to make a difference in the lynching at that moment. It was an attempt at personal preservation after there was nothing I could do anymore to influence the voting-result.

But now I finally need my nap..."

[Rikae]

"This is strange. If I recall correctly, Nogrod said:

"About yesterDay's voting. Mac voted a minute before the deadline and I crossposted with him"

but then:

"But why I didn't vote for Shasta? Well, let me ask you, why should I have voted for him? He was a goner one minute before the deadline whatever I did or did not. So basically my vote had no significance whatsoever - and as I had said earlier, "


How did he know his vote had no significance, if he cross-posted with Mac?"

[Rikae]

"A few other things I'd like to mention...
Isabell's response to me doesn't decrease my suspicion of her. In these types of situations, the behavior of one's ancestors can be a very good predictor of one's own behavior - to the point that one might say the ancestors are indeed here. One does not live as long as I have without observing such things.
Besides, you persist in suspecting Beleg and Turin, which is not helpful; and your tone feels quite defensive, though you criticize Nogrod for defending himself. It is not entirely true that we should not be thinking of ourselves; if Nogrod is innocent, losing him would be a worse blow to the village than losing certain others.

Lhuna, perhaps you're stressed about having your kill thwarted last night? I don't think I care for your open speculation about the identities of our protectors. Why would an innocent do such a thing? You are wise enough to know better, I think.

Xyzzy has spoken only enough to remain alive, which annoys me. I doubt a wolf would sleep continuously, to the point of being killed by the curse Guy mentioned; but speaking once, and unhelpfully at that, is more likely wolf behavior. The post itself felt innocent enough, but the pattern of oversleeping does not; or, even if innocent, is shameful.

Now, I wouldn't mind a little of that stew..."

[the guy who be short]

Guy woke unexpectedly from his sleep, hearing the end of Nogrod's oration.

"Nogrod," he said, "voting for somebody who is going to die anyway is the same as voting for nobody, because you're not lynching anybody extra. If you like, view it as such. My way, we vote for somebody with a 2/11 chance of being a wolf, and then somebody else dies automatically with a 2/11 chance of being a wolf. We have a 4/11 chance of lynching a wolf there. However, your way, because only one person is lynched, we have only a 2/11 chance of getting a wolf. In effect, voting for somebody who will die anyway is an abstention.

Rikae - I have looked over the voting record, and Mac did say he would vote for Shasta long before he actually did. So Noggie did know his vote was useless - I checked, and his was the last vote that could have been cast (barring other retractions) aside from Mith and the no-showers xyzzy and Isa.

What you say, Noggie, reassures me very much. It seems I was wrong to say you put self-preservation first, and I apologise. I still disagree with you about lynching somebody who would die, but that is now a moot point as it no longer has relevance to our community.

I must say, I find Nogrod quite innocen now. Which leaves me in a predicament, as I must vote soon, have no time to mull over what everybody else has said again (it being my nap time) and must vote in two hours or not at all.

I will, after all, probably go for a quiet person. They are too dangerous as they give us nothing to go on. At this moment, xyzzy seems likely once again, more so than Izzy, who is nowcontributing something again.

Fare ye well, my fellows. Goodnight for now."

He fell asleep again. Rikae looked at him funny and muttered smething about narcolepsy.

[Rikae]

"Guy said: My way, we vote for somebody with a 2/11 chance of being a wolf, and then somebody else dies automatically with a 2/11 chance of being a wolf. We have a 4/11 chance of lynching a wolf there.

Are you sure? That doesn't sound right to me...

Isabell is contributing, yes, but, if you ask me, she isn't thereby making herself less suspicious - and we can do better than merely voting for the quietest person among us; everyone has spoken, so suspicion can play a role in our decisions.

In fact,
++Isabellkya"

[the guy who be short]

Guy poked Rikae - it was only fair, she kept poking everybody else with that stick of hers. "Yes," he said, "it is right, if every one of us has an equal chance of being a wolf, and we want to maximize wolf-killings, it makes more sense to lynch more people.

However," he continued, "I agree with what you have said concerning the Lhunatic. It is never conducive to ponder the gifteds aloud, and you are right to say she should know better. This gives me reason to worry about her. I must say, Rikae, that your clear manner makes me think you innocent, despite your staff-related violence issues...

However, I am less sure of your suspicion of Izzy. Her confusion about Beleg and Turin may be due to her being a foreigner who does not well know their nature. What does worry me about her is her reticence in suspecting anybody - thus far she has only displayed mild suspicion of Nogrod.

It is indeed vexing that xyzzy has said only one thing, and very little therein. I do not understand his suspicion of Mith and his suspicion of me seems a knee-jerk reaction. I think, once again, he will be most likely to get my vote toDay."

Rikae nodded and poked the sleeping body of xyzzy with her stick. It mumbled a little, but didn't wake up, so she sighed and gave up.

[Macalaure]

"I'm afraid I have to remain on a tangent, but Nogrod's answer to me is not satisfactory and I don't have anything better to add to our cause.

Nogrod said:

Thinking that the wolves were really intelligent and managed to pick a good kill for them and Beleg just happened by chance to be on their way is totally unbelievable the odds being 1:11.

I did not say that. Maybe the wolves did not take the obvious choice and our dear Strongbow expected that and protected the person which looked like the most obvious kill for somebody who didn't want to make an obvious kill? This is far from impossible.
But even if you are right and the wolves picked a bad and obvious kill, then who do you think was this unlucky/lucky person? I mean, there is more than one who was considered innocent by the majority (what you said was the wolves' reasoning). I don't see only one obvious choice, which, obviously, makes the choice rather unobvious.
Not only do you not have the premises to prove your theory, your theory itself is also not very applicable, I'm afraid.
And saying that most probably one "non-dilettant" outlaw is among the wolves additionally undermines it, unless it is Mith, of course.


Right now, I am somewhat suspicious of Nogrod. His vote was strange, I have never experienced any of his fore-fathers to be so defensive about his actions and he seems to enjoy talking about minor subjects very much (f.ex. the theory about whether to lynch silent players or not), which is suspicious even though it is in character for him. I could also easily imagine that the reason he tries to convince us that the wolves are sleepy and inexperienced outlaws is because he himself has just been outsmarted by bow-dropping Beleg. But this doesn't fit into one picture with his pointing out that Turin might be a sleepy one, too. Therefore I remain only "somewhat" suspicious.*

Guy, Lhuna, Brinn and Rikae all seem decently innocentish to me at the moment, which is slightly disturbing. Of Mith I cannot say anything and Gil is away. I can understand Rikae's suspicion of Isabellkya, but I'm not sure whether I share it.

As I already said, I still feel very Day-One-ish today..."


*in another time, ages from now, this little paragraph would have been infested with little yellow faces.


(x-ed with the Guy)

[Rikae]

Rikae shook her head at Guy's reply.
"Everyone also has an equal chance of being innocent, though. A random lynch has a 9/11 chance of killing an innocent.
By your ...innovative... formula, two random deaths have a 18/11 chance of killing an innocent; therefore either your math is wrong, or your intentions are."
With that, Rikae stuck her tongue out at Guy.

[the guy who be short]

"Hmm. You've got me there, Rikae. Let me have a think...

If we kill two people, that chance that both are wolves is (2/11)^2 = 4/121 = 3.3%

The chance that one is a wolf and the other is not is 2(2/11x9/11) = 36/121 = 29.8%

The chance of no wolves is (9/11)^2 = 81/121 = 66.9%

Now, if we only killed one person, the chance of a wolf is 2/11 = 18%, which is far lower than the 33.1% we'd expect if we lynched two people.

The maths may have been slightly off (3.2% overestimation in fact) but the results are still the same.

All of this, as I've said, now being a moot point." Guy stuck his tongue out at Rikae, but she swiftly hit him with her stick and denounced his frivolity.

His brain steaming from the calculation, and his leg from the staff, Guy stepped outside for a drink from the pool before returning quickly..

[Rikae]

"You overestimated the results to promote your plan, AND smuggled in an anachronistic calculator! Shame on you.

With your "4/11", it looked as though you were simply multiplying your wolf-odds heedlessly.

In any event, it's a senseless plan. If we mass-lynched 9 random people, the chance of winning the game is 66.9%. Shall we do it? Or would you rather wait until we have some more evidence to base our decisions on, and improve our odds?"

[the guy who be short]

"Come now!" Guy replied. "An accidental overestimation of 3.3% (I thought it was 4/11 = 36.4% when in reality it was 33.1%) is hardly going to change anybody's mind; it's still obvious that not wasting a lynch is beneficial to the community. And what plan? There is no plan to do this because nobody has been quiet enough to be cursed... You seem intent on focussing discussion on this irrelevant point.

What is this calculator you speak of, eh? Never heard of such a thing...

And the difference is, we can't mass lynch 9 people. We can only lynch one person per Day (for some reason). To forfeit this lynching in the name of preserving numbers would be foolish."

[the guy who be short]

"Alas, I must vote now, for I feel a great weariness taking me," Guy yawned. "I shall not now awake until Tomorrow.

++XYZZY

Because the quiet are deadly, and he has given us very little to work with regarding his innocence or guilt.

As it stands, I shall tell you my thoughts on each member of our village:

Nogrod feels more innocent than guilty, but you can never tell with him. I also feel quite sure that Mac is innocent because of his manner of thinking.

Below them comes Izzy, whose comments about working together and general demeanor make me feel she is innocent. Speak more, dear, or you'll be lynched by the likes of Rikae.

Athough I thought Rikae quite innocent until now, I have doubts. Her insistence to distract us from coming to conclusions by continuing a discussion about a moot point - lynching the silent - makes me wary. I also dislike her jumping on Izzy - her reasoning is based on supposed hints in Izzy's words, her not knowing who Beleg and Turin are. This all seems fabricated to me, an attempt to target an easy lynch. I'll be watching Rikae.

Likewise, I do not trust Lhuna for her debating the gifteds.

Gil-Galad and Mith I cannot decide on, for they too have been very quiet, though with more excuse than xyzzy.

I am also undecided on Brinn. She seems to me to be a bit too defensive. I accused her - obviously in jest - of wolvery based on her looks. She has since been dedicated to lynching me.

That is that. Good night, dear people."

Yawning, Guy retired to bed.

[Lhunardawen]

There were hurried footsteps, and Lhuna rushed in.

"My apologies, I had lost track of the time! But really, you should try stepping outside - it's beautiful out there..."

Lhuna shook her head hard twice, as though to dislodge any distracting thoughts, and said:

"First off, I don't think I was speculating too openly about the gifteds. I was merely trying to think of what could possibly link tgwbs and Nogrod to explain what I noticed of them. It so happened that the gifteds were an option, you certainly couldn't deny that, and presented it. That's it. I neither dwelt on the idea nor pushed it."

She walked around slowly in a large imaginary circle, her eyes on the ground.

"It has been considered a big possibility that at least one wolf is among the silent ones. But don't you think that such a strategy - if you could call it that - could be too obvious? A wolf naturally would fear saying too much at the risk of slipping, and so would rather clam up. But these could be shrewd wolves we're up against. We should remember that these spies of Morgoth could blend well with us in the Day, speaking much sense and misleading us in the process. I'm just trying to say that we shouldn't limit our suspects too much to those who are quiet.

"That said, I wish to express my growing suspicion of Nogrod. Thus far he had been very open to us, what with saying that with his vote last Night he had hoped to preserve himself for another Day. He had made known to us that he thought he would be the first victim, and thus needed to do something to make himself suspicious toDay for the wolves not to kill him. He also speculated on the possible identity of the wolves based on last Nights non-kill, grouping all of us into three in the process.

"I now understand the self-preservation bit of his unusual vote, but it makes me feel really uneasy, how he insists that he would have been killed last Night. It's a rather bold assumption, in my opinion. Granted, his ancestors are known for their wolf-hunting prowess, but all the same...it was to me as though he was parading the fact that he's yet alive, and that's because he managed successfully to use his own life, in a manner of speaking, as bait.

"Another thing that gives me great discomfort is how, in my opinion, he's underestimating the wolves. It's a stupid mistake, he seems to say, that the wolves picked so obvious a victim that Beleg could protect, so the wolves must be so-and-so! But the events of the Night were likely to be more complicated than he's making it.

"What he's doing here, as I see it, is making it so much apparent to us that he's innocent. Of course we who are innocent know we are, and would like to convince the others that we indeed are, but Nogrod's way of doing it, how he's being so blatant yet subtle about the whole thing - it's not sitting right with me."

Lhuna stopped walking, and swayed a moment as though dizzy. She sat down on the ground and closed her eyes.

[Rikae]

"I don't wish to distract; I just became distracted, myself, by your strange estimate. I thought it should be closer to 3/11. Certainly it's irrelevant, and I don't really expect anyone else to pay attention or care, nor was I seriously accusing you of inflating the numbers. It was all meant in a light-hearted way.

As for Isabell, she can find out easily enough who our protecters are; but, more than her words, I distrust her for her defensive tone and the feeling she gives of contributing the bare minimum and attempting more to avoid suspicion than to help.

I could very well change my vote, though, before the day is done, in which case I would consider voting for Lhuna or Xyzzy, or even Nogrod."

EDIT: X'd with Lhuna

[Mithalwen]

Mithalwen spoke again at last. " I will consider all that has been said and will pass comment shortly. All I will say for now is that my unusual silence is not due to guilt but the fact that though our straits be dire there are other demands on me other than giving it consideration. "

The woman sighed and considered the words that had been spoken.

[Lhunardawen]

Lhuna opened her eyes again, but remained where she sat.

"As for the others...

"My suspicion of tgwbs has now diminished, with his explanation for his early vote yesterDay, and the sensible observations he has given toDay. But that thing with all those numbers...it's distracting, whatever it is. I don't know what it is, but if I did, I'm quite sure I would be hating it.

"Same goes for Rikae, who encouraged the numbers discussion. But otherwise I'm inclined to find her quite innocent, as she seems to speak her mind just as it is. Only one thing I wish to point out: We cannot be our own ancestors. It is one thing to consider the past in dealing with the present, but another to wholly rely on it. We who now live can choose to tread different paths from those who came before us.

"Mac hasn't said anything to make me more suspicious of him.

"Now for Brinn, xyzzy, and Izzy...they are complicated. I know I said we shouldn't limit ourselves to suspecting those who are quiet, but I didn't say we should drop all suspicion of them. Izzy had made a point to us about her vegetarianism, cast about some suspicion, but had not followed them up. Of them three, I consider her to have given the most substantial...speech. But even then it is not enough.

"Brinn summarised last Night's votes, and suspected the xyzzy-voters, but said nothing else. To me, she's the most suspicious of the three. I can't explain it. You could call it gut feel, I suppose.

"xyzzy is our Shasta of the Day, if I could put it that way. Could this mean he is likewise innocent? Or is he, now knowing Shasta was innocent, following his footsteps so that we would think he too is innocent?

"The Night draws nigh, and bed calls me. I shall cast my vote in a while, and for now give you all time to speak."

[Nogrod]

Nogrod opened his eyes at last and yawned.

"I've been doing some thinking myself too and would like to share some of my latest thoughts.

Yes, I was pretty convinced in the morning that the wolves had just made a total blunder and therefore considered them to be somewhat short-sighted. Although dear Lhuna it's not a bold assumption from someone of my family to expect to be killed in the first Night though. I'm quite used to been dreamt or killed pretty early so I kind of take it for granted and basically try to fight against that destiny by being controversial enough if I'm innocent or smooth enough if I'm a baddie.

I might add that if my memory serves me right there was basically no suspicions on me on Day1 and and I admittedly was the loudest and all around. So someone whom the wolves would like to get rid of sooner than later. Adding these two things (my family's past exeriences + the Day1 non-suspicion) together made me think I was an obvious choice for both Beleg and the wolves.

But then I started to think back on other possibilities as well as I was getting afraid that I had been too hasty. And sure: if Lhuna or Rikae are both innocents - but neither is Beleg or Turín - then they might have been the choices of the last Night as well. That being the case there was some luck in last Night's protection and consequently our wolves - or at least another one of them is much more cunning I have allowed her/him to be so far.

Yes. I think it is important to see all the possibilities. Although here I think these three people are the ones between whom the choices were made last Night. The wolves have no reason to kill the silents and Beleg has no reason to protect one either - unless he protects a silent Turín but that surely was not last Night. Mac and tgwbs were suspected enough for the wolves to be happy to wait and see whether they could be lynched later.

Beleg knows the answer but he should obviously remain silent about it for the time being. I hope he himself will make the most out of his information."

Nogrod rose up and took a little walk to the pond.

"I'll just have a drink and will be back soon enough."

[Brinniel]

Brinn shook his head in disgust. All those numbers...he couldn't stand it. Finally, he snapped:

"Enough with the math and calculations! They are just confusing me rather than helping. Besides, an argument should be based off of words, not numbers."

Brinn shuddered.

"Now, I still find tgwbs and Nogrod to be suspicious, particularly for their votes yesterday, and I believe it's quite possible that there is a wolf among them. And with the heated debate that has gone on between the two earlier, I think it's most likely one or the other, not both. The question is, which one?

"Rikae seems to me sincere in her words, and gives off an innocentish vibe. However, I do disagree with her vote for Izzy. I find that when it comes to her questioning the Gifteds, Izzy is more confused than actually guilty."

EDIT: X-ed with Nogrod

[Lhunardawen]

Lhuna lightly chuckled. "Maybe you shouldn't have told us your survival strategy...your descendants will not be helped by that.

Just loud enough for Nogrod to hear, she added: "I think the wolves won't necessarily want to kill the loudest first, as they're ones who could quite easily get into trouble. And you still do not comfort me."

[Mithalwen]

"I do not believe that our survival to this day is based on fluke. I believe that our foes are cunning and our protectors astute. I fear that they may be prevented from protecting the same person twice running so that the life saved is but for another day. Given that our ordeal is likely to be of short duration, I think it is likely that the wolves decided to forgo a tactical assault and went for an obvious target. If the fate of the siblings is linked as Nogrod suggests - the possibility of a killing two bird withone stone may have counterbalanced the desire for a certain kill.

Also, if, as I suspect, there is at least one wolf who is an active participant in our discussions it may well suit them to pursue the quiet by day and the vocal by night. This makes sense to me know but despite the sleep I have had the care of our situation has fuddled my mind. While we will learn more by keeping alive the speakers, I think there is a wolf among them but which?

While it would be unjust to attack someone who is absent seeking for food as I did yesterday, the uncommon loquacity of Master Gil disturbs me"

Mithalwen sat back to ponder anew.

[xyzzy]

Now it would seem none of you know anything of basic statistics!

One of the most remarkable truths about our situation is that we have a much greater chance of winning each day if at the start of the day there are an even number of us alive. Plus, since the moment the wolves overtake us in numbers we've lost, the longer it takes us to reach that point, the better off we are.

I'm going to support not lynching anyone.

[Lhunardawen]

With a big yawn, Lhuna walked over to her corner, wrapped herself in a blanket, and shut her eyes. She was immediately poked by someone.

"What? Oh, I forgot:

++NOGROD

Now let me sleep in peace."

[Macalaure]

"The day is nearing its end and soon the time to cast a vote has come.

His last speech has me feeling better about Nogrod, for the moment. I will therefore not vote for him.

Neither will I vote for Lhuna, who I think is innocent.

I'm not that sure yet of the innocence of Rikae, Brinn and the Guy, but I'm not suspicious of one of these either.

Gil was not able to speak today, otherwise Mîm would have been left unguarded, and Mith is still catching up.

This only leaves Isabellkya and Xyzzy, by the rule "if you're not suspicious of anyone, vote the one you're least unsuspicious of". I will now ponder in silence which of the two I will vote."

[Nogrod]

"I'm still all in for lynching those who seem to offer us little or no help as I don't have a better case against anyone more vocal. But of those people I would say just this if I'm not here toMorrow morning. Be careful of those who look good and nice. They're most often the fanged ones.

So Xyzzy, Isabell or Gil? I do indeed believe that this is not only a vote against non-contributors but also a wolf-hunt. We should just nail the right one.

I'm going to delve in my memories of their participation and will come back soon enough with my thoughts on them.

[Mithalwen]

"If I were going to vote on pique I would vote Isabellkya. I did not labour hard all day yesterday for people to get food faddy. " Mithalwen said, "it is possible that she is vegetarian not because she loves animals but because she hates plants, and as the Vala Yavanna said, they need protection more..."

[Brinniel]

Brinn folded his arms, thinking carefully.

"Lynch no one? Well xyzzy, that is certainly an interesting strategy. But I would have to disagree. Even if we don't lynch anyone, the wolves will still take an innocent down each Night and it won't be long before they overcome us. The only way we can take down a wolf is by lynching them, and while there's always a risk that we may lynch an innocent, we must take our chances.

"With that said, xyzzy's weird new strategy he has come up with makes me think he might be a little more on the innocentish side. After all, if the wolves can get innocents lynched and kill them at Night, the faster they will win. Then again, perhaps xyzzy is a wolf and is afraid that either he or his comrade will be lynched toDay...

"Of everyone here, I find Rikae and Izzy to be likely Innocents, and tgwbs and Nogrod to be most suspicious. Of everyone else, I'm still not sure about.

"The sun sets in a half an hour. And I will be voting for either tgwbs or Nogrod."

EDIT: X-ed from Mac down

[Mithalwen]

"I would hold off on Nogrod, Brinn, TGWBS has set off my alarm bells ...." Mithalwen said casting in her memory .." yes his early attack on Xyzzy - seemed remarkable but why" . The tall woman in grey tried hard ot recall why this had stuck in her memory.

[Macalaure]

"Isabellkya's suspicion of our valiant Helm and Bow is probably honest confusion, albeit eye-brow-raising. She was also suspicious of Nogrod for fairer reasons.

Xyzzy was suspicious of Guy and Mith, for retaliatory or non-existant reasons.

Neither of the two has voted so far and Xyzzy even says he would like us to lynch nobody, which is ridiculous.

I'm strongly leaning towards lynching Xyzzy now. What do the others think?"

[Nogrod]

"I'd give Gil the benefit of doubt as he's not here right now.

With the two others I do have a problem. Xyzzy plays less and his style of play annoys me a lot more - and were he a wolf his possible victory would be bad indeed but he looks somewhat sincerish. Isabell contributes a little more but with her I'm much more insecure with.

I'm not sure if I would vote for tgwbs again. That is a possibility. But he might just be Androg whose special mission is to get rid of Beleg - whom he mistook me earlier toDay and then backed off when he realised yhay no bandwaggong was starting. Then he would be counted as an innocent and thence we probably shouldn't kill him. Maybe Shasta wasn't a cobbler but a goodie who wished to kill Turín? That kind of roles could be possible - and looking at things around not totally unbelievable."

[xyzzy]

"Macalaure, what is so ridiculous about suggesting we use our brains rather than our fists? Of course we eventually need to kill a wolf, but my point is, we have a much better chance of doing that if we lynch no one today."

[Rikae]

Rikae, hearing Xyzzy's remark about statistics, shot a cold glance at him.
"I certainly hope you are joking, my boy. Though it has been nearly a decade since I've studied that particular topic, I don't think I've forgotten everything; and I also happen to know that that short fellow over there has studied it quite recently, and the gentleman in the leather cloak knows more about mathematics than all of us put together.
I don't know what exactly you're trying to accomplish with that strange statement you just made, but it can't be good.
Not lynch anyone? I suppose the wolves will also be kind enough not to kill anyone by night, eh?
Even if you do jest, you have shown yourself to be flippant and unhelpful; you disrespect your elders and your name is impossible to pronounce.
I'm afraid you'll have to go, sonny.
--Isabellkya
++Xyzzy"

[Brinniel]

"Well Mithalwen, I am leaning more towards voting tgwbs. I've suspected him from the beginning with his vote for xyzzy. Then toDay he votes him again, which I think is a mistake. He bandwagons against Nogrod, and then suddenly changes his mind and says, 'I find Nogrod quite innocent now.' Something about his tone just doesn't seem right, plus his use of statistics only seemed to cause distraction.

"In comparison, Nogrod has at least seemed more reasonable in some points, and if he is actually innocent, he would be a great loss.

"The only thing I am worried about is that my vote may be a waste. After all, it seems that most are interested in voting someone else."

EDIT: X-ed with multiple posts

[Mithalwen]

"But" said Mithalwen, "you said Xyzzy, that our situation was better if we had an even number at the start of the day. There are 10 of us now... we cannot hope that the wolves will be foiled again - well we can hope but I fear such fortune is less likely .. so to retain the even number tomorrow morning we must lynch tonight "..... shesat back struggling with maths but knowing that the time for a decision was nigh. She had suspected Guy forhis early vot for Xyzzy yesterday but now she wondered if he was right...

[Nogrod]

"I must say this Xyzzy speaks most strangely... is it because he knows he's one of the top candidates to be lynched and thence wishes to make this last minute appeal when he has no better candidatew to bring forwards as a contender?"

[Macalaure]

"++xyzzy" said Macalaure, "for reasons I and others have previously stated."

[Mithalwen]

"Well Brinniel I am in the strange position of finding two peopel suspicious but alas one of them is suspicious for suspecting so quickly someone I now find supicious. "

[Brinniel]

"And xyzzy, it is too late for that...even before you stated this, votes had been placed. However, I do not find you wolvish for this, though you are not completely in the clear. But I think a wolf would be more clever than to put out such an absurd statement...

"I am voting now:

++tgwbs

"And I know some of you have suspected him as well..."

[Nogrod]

"I think I will join this wagon toDay...

++ Xyzzy

From Isabell we can get some readouts anyway and Xyzzy's last comments make him look pretty bad. I'm much more hopeful with this now than I was twenty minutes ago."

[Nogrod]

"Maybe Xyzzy just couldn't make a rivalling case that would have sounded believable enough?"

[Mithalwen]

Time is against me to resolve this logic problem .. but Xyzzy's no lynch plan is ludicrous - and I don't know about TGWBS but his maths is better.

++ Xyzzy

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

The outlaws turned to Xyzzy, who has been sitting quietly in the corner, listening to their talk and looking from one on another like a little animal when a pack of wolves approaches.
The grim faces of the outlaws did not seem at all comfortable.
"You were just waiting for us to kill each other," the guy who be short spoke, "right? Hiding in the shadows, so that no one notices you!"
"But - "
"You are a werewolf! We know it!" yelled Rikae, picking up a stone and throwing it at Xyzzy. The man raised his hands to cover his face, but the stone hit him in cheek. "No!" he shouted with pain, but at that moment also the others were picking up stones from the ground. "Catch this!" shouted Macalaure. Stones were flying from all sides, and slowly, Xyzzy slumped down to the ground and fell asleep.

"He's dead," said Nogrod. "He cannot harm us anymore."
"But could he?" said Lhuna, coming closer to the dead body. No change was to be seen on the face of the dead. "He was innocent!" shouted Isabellkya. "Innocent, and you killed him! Fools! Now there are still two of them wolves around!"
Silence fell on all. "But -" said Brinn. "But – what are we going to do, then?"
Nogrod looked at the young outlaw sideways. "What should we do? Sleep, as always. You don't have to act like a little girl, even though you look like one!"
Surprisingly to everyone, Brinn blushed. "Hey, what is it?" said Nogrod. "What's that, m'boy?"
"I am a girl," said Brinn.
"Whoa!" shouted Macalaure. "A girl?"
Brinn turned on him, looking angered. "Yes! And so what? Heck, forget it! Does it matter? I can fight, I can swear, I can live in the wilderness."
"I always thought him – her – strange," said Rikae. "Oh, you look like a man indeed, my girl."
Mithalwen nodded. "Everyone of us is an outlaw. Our fates are manifold."
"Not everyone is just an outlaw," spoke Nogrod's voice, reminding them of their main concern. "And where is Gil-Galad and the Dwarf, anyway?"
All looked to the entrance as if they expected the two to enter at that very moment. But the entrance was empty, only a sudden cold wind of the incoming night's wind blew inside, stealing heat of their bodies.
"Let's go to sleep," said Lhuna, picking up a blanket that Xyzzy left in the corner. "I am terribly tired. Maybe they will come back later at night."

The inhabitants of Amon Rûdh – dead:

Ibun son of Mîm, killed by a Werewolf on Night 1
Shasta alias Saeros, outnumbered and stabbed on Day 1
Xyzzy the Outlaw, stoned to death on Day 2

The inhabitants of Amon Rûdh – living:
Mîm the Petty Dwarf, outside the hill for an unexpectably prolonged period
Rikae
Nogrod
Macalaure
Isabellkya
Brinniel
Lhunardawen
Gil-Galad, outside the hill for an unexpectably prolonged period
the guy who be short
Mithalwen

Night 3 begins. Outlaws, stay low. Two Captains, you may talk. Wolves, you may plot. Whoever has anything to send to me, please do so as soon as possible.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Sun rose above Doriath in the east and its light goldened the crown of Amon Rûdh. It was a sunny, windy morning and just light clouds were moving swiftly in the skies.
Eight outlaws were sleeping in the halls of stone. Closest to the entrance was lying Mithalwen, curled in a coat of fur. Right on the other side of the main hall there was Nogrod's place, the old man was about to awake, as he was used to in the early hours. Behind a junction in one of the shorter corridors leading out of the room, Brinn's face was hardly seen under a pile of quilts.
In the long corridor leading down to Mîm's hidden smithy, Macalaure slept restlessly. He was muttering something to himself in his sleep, rolling from one side to the other. Even deeper in the mountain, Isabellkya was breathing low near the entrance to the Dwarf's chamber, blocked by a stone now when its occupant was away.
The guy who be short slept alone in one of the smaller halls, a sword lying by his side. But his sleep was a deep one, despite the morning hour, so even if something was happening, he probably won't rise to defend himself. In a nearby room Rikae was lying, holding her staff even in deep sleep.
Lhunardawen rested comfortably on a large pile of sacks full of straw, her tangled black hair spread all over and also full of straw that somehow got out of the sacks.

The only ones who were not present already were Gil-Galad and Mîm. But all the other outlaws were here, alive, some asleep, but first yawnings were already heard as the early risers awoke. Their third day in Amon Rûdh has dawned.

The inhabitants of Amon Rûdh – dead:

Ibun son of Mîm, killed by a Werewolf on Night 1
Shasta alias Saeros, outnumbered and stabbed on Day 1
Xyzzy the Outlaw, stoned to death on Day 2

The inhabitants of Amon Rûdh – living:
Mîm the Petty Dwarf, outside the hill for an unexpectably prolonged period
Rikae
Nogrod
Macalaure
Isabellkya
Brinniel
Lhunardawen
Gil-Galad, outside the hill for an unexpectably prolonged period
the guy who be short
Mithalwen

Day 3 begins. Nightly walkers, stop talking. Everyone, awake!

[Nogrod]

Nogrod woke up and eager to find ot some news he took a swift glance around him... he counted the sleeping outlaws. Everyone's here... the dwarves chamber..., he half ran there only to see everyone deep in sleep. Now where else...

Finally Nogrod came to sit by the pool in the early morning sunshine. No one was dead but Mîm and Gil hadn't returned either.

And everythnig looks so nice and neat, like there was no struggle, no nothing... Maybe our wolves missed this Night by sleeping over it? Or Gil is one and away and the second one missed this Night alone? This needs to be thought... as soon as I can get myself wake well enough...

Nogrod fell into his thoughts which neared half-sleep, but he would wake up in a short time...

[the guy who be short]

Guy was woken earlier than his usual time by nightmares of werewolves. He sat up, bolt upright, and looked around in fear.

Nogrod looked over at him and smiled. "Everybody's alive! They're all still sleeping, but I've counted; nobody's missing save Mim and Gil. Most peculiar..."

Guy didn't entirely trust him and counted himself. So it is true, he thought. We were lucky last night, but this night has been even better! Although... this lack of nightly death does make it difficult to calculate who the wolves may be. We have no records or insight into how they think.

"I think you're right," he said to Nogrod, who was the only other one awake, though one or two others were stirring. "The wolves must have slept through this night, for there is no hint of any struggle. It does indeed seem that we have inexperienced or flippant wolves, taking the night before into account too.

That said, Mr Nogrod, I have a few metaphorical bones to pick with you. But I'll get there soon..."

[Nogrod]

"Ahh, guy... well if you are so sure about the order of the oncominmg lynches then why not. But I'm afraid we need to give a few thoughts to this before we enter the world of metaphors. I mean we still have the two lupine creatures unidentified and sleep seems to haunt us all here. You know..."

Nogrod made a pause while he tried to articulate carefully what he was about to say.

"Have you ever wondered about the spiritual world? I mean the world of pure information and the routes the Valar uses to organise it? I had a dream that there was a disturbance in the spiritworld last Night, in the world of energy and data. I do see funny dreams every once in a while..."

Nogrod shook his head and half-laughed to his own words.

"But just think if our wolves need something like a spiritual support from the master of Angband to break this charm under which we all sleep the Nights - to make their misdeeds? Now if there was actually a disturbance in that field of energy they might have failed not because of their own fault?

I know you may think this an old man talking others the contents of his own age-old imagination... But this I still wonder... whether it's so easy I think you wish to think. I mean I thought the same thought first myself and felt relieved. But that was before I remembered my dream last Night.

And there's always the possibility that we have just forgotten any number of small details we should now hold clearly in front of our minds...

So you see, I'd really like to give this some thought before I trust my first reaction..."

Nogrod fell quiet for a while.

[Brinniel]

Brinn awoke tangled in quilts after an uneasy night of dreaming that every one of the outlaws were being viciously attacked by the wolves. She was unhappy after yesterday, having her gender exposed....now everyone would think her as a wimpy little girl. She sighed and pulled off her hood, running her fingers through her closely cropped hair. Replacing the hood, Brinn wandered over to where tgwbs and Nogrod sat, still half asleep. She looked around at the sleeping others and began a head count...eight of them. Wait, eight? All of them were still alive. And there was no evidence of a struggle.

"So the werewolves did not attack?" Brinn muttered. "But what does this mean? Could it be that our wolves are sleepers....Izzy maybe, and Gil-Galad who is still away? Or perhaps the wolves are more clever and actually chose not to attack in order to fool us all into thinking they are actually sleepers..."

Brinn rubbed her eyes, feeling rather frustrated.

"A death last Night would've almost been welcome. At least then we would have a clue on who the wolves could be. But now, I'm completely stumped."

[the guy who be short]

Guy frowned. "Would a werewolf really decide to kill nobody to trick the village? I do not think it likely, Brinn. It is always in their interests to kill, I think.

And Nogrod, I do sometimes have dreams of a similar nature to yours. A disturbance in the spiritworld would prevent the wolves from awakening at night, as the power of Morgoth would be unable to reach them. However, I had no such dream, no knowledge of such a breach in the spiritworld last night. Did anybody else have such dreams?"

[the guy who be short]

Guy looked at Nogrod once again and voiced his thoughts.

"Something you said yesterday caught my attention as I was mulling over the events of yesterday in my dreams. You said

But [guy] might just be Androg whose special mission is to get rid of Beleg - whom he mistook me earlier toDay and then backed off when he realised yhay no bandwaggong was starting.This caught my attention for two reasons.

Firstly, the claim that I was attempting to create a bandwagon is clearly wrong. Note that, in the time between my feeling you were guilty and changing my mind to feel you were not guilty, you and I and Rikae were the only ones present. It is true to say that no bandwagonning was starting, but only because nobody was there to join a bandwagon! If I had sought to start a bandwagon, surely I would not have changed my mind before most people had had a chance to think about what I'd said. Indeed, Rikae, the only other person awake at the time, did actually start to suspect you, so if anything, you must say that a bandwagon was starting.

The second thing I noticed is your talk of this Androg character, whom you seem to have invented. I do not know why, but the reasons I can think of are: to distract us, or because you know he exists. In the former case, you are a wolf, and in the latter, you are against the interests of the village.

Now, this may sound farfetched to some, but I know you are very cunning, Nogrod. If you were a wolf, I could see you planning your vote for me and the reasoning for it the next day to make you seem innocent - a perfect disguise!

When I awoke this morning, the fact that none had died cast doubt into my mind, for I could not see you forgoing a kill through idleness, Nogrod. However, your claim to have experienced spiritual difficulties in awakening at night fits my thought that you are a wolf.

And now, what do you say in your defence? For often your honeyed tongue convinces me that my thoughts are wrong, and so I wish to hear what you say before I come to any final conclusion."

Satisfied, Guy crossed his arms and settled back onto a wall.

[Nogrod]

"I don't know guy... this is interesting indeed. I've done some calculations as I started fearing exactly the same black plan of Morgoth in here which Brinn suggested. But if the wolves were that cunning that they intentionally skipped one Night to enhance the general mood of lynching the quiets they must have stopped short in their thinking. I mean it is a beautiful plan from the face value of it, it's just pure genius to make us run like madmen to lynch the quiets and run out of lynches. That story would have been told for centuries.

But there is a problem here in this plan and that is that we have already gained one more Day if things go badly and if we get it right toDay the last wolf is in trouble indeed with so many of us around left.

Now my initial thought is the following - and as an intial thought it will be subject to change as I have more time to think and you others voice your points I haven't possibly considered. We might do well to lynch either Gil or Izzy toDay.

But if toDay brings us no gain, we should do well to at least ready ourselves to refocus on the next Day. Happily there should be three Days to get it right at least one time - toDay that's already neatly 1/3 possibility and increasing, and to that hopefully some brain-activity can be added to adjust the ratio.

But there is now the downside I've been a bit worried all the time although it has passed my mind only seldomly. And that is that if Turín's and Nienor's fates are intertwined in the drastic manner I'm afraid they are, then losing one of them loses two of us and then we only have two Days left if we don't catch a wolf before it.

But two Days we have for sure... if anything's sure in this crazy cave..."

Immediately Nogrod realised that he and the short guy had been seaking on top of each other.

"Sorry guy, I'll come to your questions in a short while."

With that Nogrod stood up and went inside to get his pipe trying to awaken the remeberance of what guy had said while he himself had been busy talking...

[Nogrod]

"What have I been talking about? 1/3? My brain seems to be abandoning me... 2/9 I mean... so one from every 4½... not so promising but better than when we started. If that is any joy to anyone in the first place. Odds and security do not walk hand in hand everytime..."

[Nogrod]

Nogrod came back puffing his pipe and sat back down to the boulder he had sat on earlier. Guy looked at him questioningly, waiting for his answer. After puffing a few small smokerings Nogrod took the pipe from his lips and looked at guy.

"Now let's think back a little. You remeber Shasta we lynched the first evening? It turned out he was Saeros - an archenemy of Turín our other protector and helper. But there was nothing about cobblery or something like that in any evidence we have - little though that evidence is. Now we have another helper as well, Beleg. Now I just wonder whether he has a similar kind of archenemy among us... that would be Androg then, wouldn't it?

Now what is their nature and part in this madness we're in? I have no knowledge of that but I would be amazed if they were allied with Morgoth's forces. I can see Saeros hating Turín or Androg hating Beleg but it's a bit farfetched to think them allying with the Dark powers just to get rid of these two honourable men.

So it must be something different and thence I thought - and indeed expressly said it yesterDay - that we should not lynch Androg as I believe he will be counted as an innocent in the end. So your theory about me preparing a vote for you in advance kind of falls down at the same time.

But if you manage to convince me that you are not indeed Androg, the situation is different and then I could vote you for sure. Your hastiness to jump on this "incompetetive wolves"-theory, your very detailed defence of my note about your eagerness to jump on me yesterDay and the sudden change, your pre-emptive defence with your theory that I was preparing a vote for you - which was faulty as I showed you - all speak that you're a bit hasty now. I know you young men are always hurrying to action and to conclusions but I just need to think again whether that's only your recklessness or something more sinister..."

With that Nogrod smiled to the guy and took a deep inhale of smoke resulting in violent coughing.

"Gah... I should quit this smoking... But anyhow. You managed to waste my yesterDay's precious waking hours talking about myself and at the same time you managed to lure many others into that as well. Now I think I have more pressing matters to think than these. I'm sorry lad, but I really think we should concentrate on the wolves. Or is the distraction your plan, so a cobbler then after all even if I'm not yet ready to buy that explanation?"

[OOC: Darn metaphors... But I tried to say it in RPG-style. It seems that I didn't succeed or then tgwbs is trying to make a mountain out of a molehill for whatever reason of his. The reputation system was dismantled and then readjusted during our Night as some of you must have noticed. The Downs were offline during that project. I actually checked the times just now and it actually seems to have lasted only something like 1½ hours but as I hadn't been online in the morning (RL) and then just tried to get in a few times before it actually opened again 4PMGMT - I thought that it might have lasted for god knows how many hours - and thence my suspicions. So now I think the no-kill was either due to mistake or deliberate plan - not the "condition of the 'Downs".

I will delete this OOC answer to guy if Legate wishes after people have seen this. I just don't want to delve into explaining this in RPG-style and using the next half an hour to it - and then the rest of the Day arguing about this metaphore with guy...]

[the guy who be short]

Guy yawned. "I think I need another nap soon, but before I go, I shall reply to you, Nogrod.

I think what you say about Saeros does make sense actually - It would have been nice if you had articulated it earlier. If you did, I missed it. I presumed Saeros was simply a cobbler-type person.

You said: I thought that we should not lynch Androg as I believe he will be counted as an innocent in the end. So your theory about me preparing a vote for you in advance kind of falls down at the same time.I do not see why you thinking we should not lynch Androg on Day 2 disproves my theory that you planned a controversial vote before Day 1 - not necessarily for me, before the Day had begun - to appear to be an innocent trying to save his own skin. The two are sompletely distinct in my eyes; doubtless there is a link you have not explained, but I cannot see it. Please tell us what it is.

The last thing I said before your reply was a test of sorts. You have failed it. I believe that, if you were innocent, you would have accepted that I was not trying to start a bandwagon yesterday given the circumstances and you would probably have apologised. Instead, you have ignored this issue. This makes me feel you misrepresented me on purpose, and your eagerness to ignore the issue today makes me feel even surer about your wolvishness."

He turned to address the rest of the group.

"I must go rest for several hours now. I feel that I shall vote for Nogrod before the end of Day. However, I would like to see what some non-Nogrod people make of last Night's occurences first."

[Nogrod]

"Oh, I do apologise for one thing guy. It is this Androg-thing. I thought you were saying I would use that Androg-stuff to ground my vote-to-come on you toDay, not that I would use it to explain my earlier vote... Sorry. That was a misunderstanding. But then again I see no reason why I should come up with multiple different versions of my reasons to explain my vote on you on Day1 as I had already given my reason. For honest people the actual reason is enough. If it's not understood one may have to explain it a few times but that normally suffices - as I thought it had done in the end. So that kind of interpretation of your point didn't even cross my mind.

But for the subject you raised I see no reason to make apologies for. I still think you were up to no good when you suddenly - and quite heavily jumped on me with phrases like:

I feel quite certain of your wolvery, and:
so I must conclude that you are a wolf, trying to mislead and gain trust as early as possible

Not to mention that the first of these "conclusions" was based on:

I do not know why you are so sure that there is a wolf among those who contribute so little, Nogrod. However, what you say is true: if these people are wolves, their silence means they will likely live a long time, avoiding suspicion.

Which I find especially curious because in the end of that speech you deducted that:

this would lead me to believe that the quiet trio are in fact innocents

And before and after that you have been possibly even louder in calling the lynching of the quiets and also voted for a quiet member both Days... So you used them just as a tool for your argument at that spot when you tried to get me lynched? And as no one took your bait you fell back to the "lynch the quiets" tactics - from which you're coming back to me again, right?


If you would be innocent, why would you tie these two things together? Either I'm innocent and the quiets are not or then vice versa? It sounds very much like a wolf who knows we all are innocents! And that should make me think all this again myself...

So maybe you've read my concerns (or thought about them open yourself) that Turín maybe a quiet one and thence lynching any quiets is good for you, and as you know my innocence I should be dealt with as well as I'm on your trail?

Not the worst theory I've had these past Days.


Oh and the second "I must conclude"... It was based on this discussion whether we should lynch someone who will die anyway by the higher forces if we don't have any good suspicions on anyone else:

The same could be achieved if everybody abstained from voting, so nobody was lynched at all. Village numbers could stay high for as long as possible, but in the end the Wolves would consume us all

And that surely is your own fabrication. Not lynching anyone is stupid - see what happened to Xyzzy when he tried that idea... but still you actually came back to it later and accused me of speaking such nonsense.

Now why, comes the question?

Your stuff on my "self-preservation vs. common good" was just plain ridiculous, your trial - that has succeeded very well indeed, hats off to you for that - to engage my time to solely answering your farfetched and self-fabricated points of "mine" and all these twisted arguments you've used to achieve it... Now why?


I know you're an intelligent person and that bothers me. Were you a wolf you wouldn't probably be this bold or this one-track minded... Trying to focus on actively lynching either me or Turín from amongst the quiet might be a good tactics for one wolf if the other one has slipped under everyone's radar. Or maybe my first idea of Androg was right after all and in that case you should not be lynched - if I'm guessing right the function of that role.

This is a hard one. I can't say I trust you to be a wolf but there is something that is wrong and twisted with your speeches and most probably also behind it. It would be quite fun indeed if almost in a row my family's member would catch a wolf of your family. Almost too good to be true?

But let this be the last from me to guy for a while as I need some sleep soon and to have some energy after I wake up to look at some other things as well. For that surely is the thing I'm going to do.

Even if guy is a wolf - which I really am undecided right now as fex. I think guy would not waste a kill during the Night so easily and thence the question of Gil and Izzy comes to haunt me again - there is anyway two wolves around and we should have some new ideas. Now this discussion has centered within a very small perimeter leaving many people outside any scrutiny.

Like Lhuna and some others said: we need to look at everyone. And at least under my radar there are more people right now as inside."

Nogrod nodded to those awake outside and went to his bed to have a sleep.

[Nogrod]

Nogrod tried to sleep but the sleep didn't come. His head was too full with differnt thoughts that criss-crossed his mind. Eventually he rose to sit and voiced his mind.

"I think we have an easy solution and a hard one to choose from toDay.

The easy one is that Gil and Izzy are the wolves and Turín indeed is no sleeper as we say but the seer who had been thence "sleeping" ie. seeing dreams. So when we were told that Beleg woke Turín up it only meant to hint that he was a seer - as that same story revealed to us that Beleg is a ranger to guard us. I mean we were never told what their roles were but to help us and revealing both roles would be logical. Revealing one role and just hinting at the laziness of another would sound more improbable...

The hard one is that the hint of Turín's sleepiness actually refers to him being not at the level of his duties and that he's failing us, but that neither of the wolves is Gil or Izzy. That would be something cunning wolves could use to their favour, taking even such drastic measures as to intentionally failing a kill as to make us kill a quiet one eg. lynch Turín and possibly with him Nienor. But that would also mean that our wolves - or at least another one of them would feel her/himself quite secure right now. And that would need setting our minds totally a new.

The hard solution would not be too foolhardy for the wolves. That means they could have thought of this and thence this scenario is possible as well.

If Turín and Nienor die as a pair as I think is probable on the grounds of the hints given to us, the wolves have 50% chance of a jackpot of two innocents killed toDay - one of them possibly the seer - if we lynch a quiet one.

And even if we managed to choose the "non-Turín" quiet toDay, the chance the next Day is pretty favourable to them as it would be 2 against 5 or 4, and with two votes they could do a lot in voting as most of us seem to have different views about the possible culprits. And they would have the chance of either lynching by Day or killing by Night two of us if Nienor or Turín is hit with those four trials (toDay, toNight, nextDay, nextNight - so a host of possibilities to hit them and lesser chances of not hitting them).

On the next Day we would probably be lost - if we weren't lost already by then. They could capitulate together any bad vote. One innocent voting another innocent would basically lead to the two wolves securing their win.

So not a bad plan indeed. Why do you guy say the wolves wouldn't skip a kill? In this situation it seems like a very good move.

If the harder solution is right I just hope the wolves have counted this far that Turín is a quiet one and that he actually isn't, as the story we were told on the first Night here could indicate also that he's just a seer dreaming his dream... and not a sleepy-gifted.

And happily even this at least to me newly discovered uncertainty - if the wolves haven't thought of this already - might make also them a bit more worried and tense about their situation.

It's coming more and more down to Turín and Beleg now. Depending on their feeling of security, their knowledge and the direness of our lynching-situation toDay from their perspective they should be really thoughtful as to when to reveal their knowledge. Hopefully not toDay but toMorrow is the last Day for it.

And let's hope Turín's sleep meant he is a seer and not that he is failing us. Indeed I feel more comfortable with this interpretation right now.

But the hard choice is selecting which of these solutions is the right one - or is there a third one...

I'll now try to sleep on it at last."

[Isabellkya]

Izzy opened her eyes and rubbed them to expel the last remnants of her slumber. She headed towards the others and took a seat. She reflected on the events of yesterDay and yesterNight. She shook her head at the ruthless slaughter of the innocent outlaw Xyzzy, as well as thanked good fortune for bringing yet another kill-free evening. She turned her gaze towards the elderly woman and found her sleeping; so she spoke to the air.

'Rikae, it is a bit suspicious that you would want to put my head on the chopping block for my ancestors; however you fail to do the same for the others who have similar ancestors. Whether that is because your eye sight is failing, or you are a fellow wolf and would rather not call attention to them; I have not yet decided. I also find your almost last minute vote switch a bit eyebrow raising. When it comes to the wolves, they typically don't care who gets the chop, as long as it is not one of their own. I find that those with purer hearts than this group of outlaws; tend to stick with their original decisions. I question why you changed, when you had thought me so suspicious and wolfish.
Some of the outlaws in this place are so filled with wind, by the time a person has collected her thoughts; the day is already done''

Izzy turned her gaze towards the old man.

'Nogrod; I get the feeling of jumpiness with you. I can't put my finger on it, but it just seems to me that you jump about in your posts and reasonings for things. I as well raise my eyebrow in your direction for theses tangents which you seem to get wrapped up in frequently. The downside of focusing on the silent ones for the chopping block, is that you forget about the vocal ones who will manipulate you in your decisions. I as well agree with Guy; in that the wolves wasting a kill to trick our group would just be a waste of a kill; and take them longer to try and make lunch meat out of us all'

She continued her circling gaze and came upon Lhuna who was sleeping, and thus spoke to the air once more.

'I agree with your thoughts on the behaviors of wolves. It would be too obvious of a strategy for a wolf to hide amongst the quiet. I think in this particular group, the wolves would be forced to contribute, as it has become a habit to look upon the silent ones, or sleepers first and fore most. I think the wolves would risk too much by trying to hide and be silent.'

'Macalaure, unless I have been mistaken, are you not yourself on the borderline of the 'silent' ones? You have either said very little, or your speeches have been of little substance.'

'Guy, you worry me a bit. Your sudden jump from a heated debate with Nogrod, to being almost chummy with him, it worries me.'


Izzy rose from the rock and stretched. She turned and headed towards the pond.

[Lhunardawen]

Tickled by the straw caught up in her once again tangled hair - it couldn't seem to stay untangled for a long time - Lhuna stirred, but kept her eyes closed and remained lying down. She was quite afraid to find out that another Outlaw had died the Night before, and wanted to delay that knowledge for as long as possible. But she caught from snippets of conversation around her that no one had been killed. No one! She couldn't quite believe it. She decided that she was probably dreaming, and fell promptly back to sleep.

Later she got up, brushed the straw from her hair with her fingers, and looked around. It wasn't a dream! She mused aloud: "But how can this be? Can't the wolves feel frightened that the odds are against them so far as numbers are concerned? There is sense in the theory that this is a strategy to get the quiets lynched...but no one would be this foolhardy a few Days into this situation! Surely the wolves would find their strength in dwindling numbers of foes, although it risks their being exposed more easily...

Think about it. Their choice of kills could be manipulated to pin the blame on the quiets if they are so cunning. It would be a waste of opportunity not to kill someone when they have the chance! That leads me to wonder if we really have inexperienced wolves among us...or something happened last Night that they did not expect, and so prevented them from making a kill."

She sat down, overwhelmed with gratefulness that no one had died, and disbelief for the same reason. She stayed quiet as she let her thoughts organise themselves into words.

[Brinniel]

Brinn listened carefully on what the others had to say. She shivered and wrapped her cloak tightly around her arms, for today was cloudy and chilly.

"We cannot say for sure what the events (or lack of) really mean. It could be a tricksy strategy of some cunning wolves, or it could simply be a mistake on their part...it is difficult to say. But if there is a quiet wolf, I have my doubts that there is more than one. tgwbs says the chances the wolves would strategically do a no-kill is unlikely, but I disagree. Yes, it would be a risky move on their part, but I think some of the reasoning Nogrod has behind this makes sense. We cannot completely eliminate the possibility.

"And guy, I do not think you started a bandwagon with your vote...that came much later after xyzzy made his odd statement. Though, that doesn't make you not suspicious. If anything, as a wolf, you could've voted him thinking he wouldn't be lynched, and try to get away with it using the simple reasoning that he is too silent and under the radar. And while I don't feel nearly as confident of your wolfishness as I did yesterDay, something about what you say makes me uneasy....call it a gut feeling if you may.

"Of Nogrod, I'm not sure what to think. For some time, he's been coming up with so many different theories and solutions. Either he is an innocent who is honestly trying to do what he can to help, or he is wolf attempting to confuse us all..."

Brinn paused to stretch and rub her neck, which remained stiff from the previous night's sleep. After a moment, she continued:

"I know we're thinking of the possibility that a wolf could be among the silent ones, but if we choose to lynch one of them, I will not support the lynching of Gil-Galad. This is the second Day he has been gone, and currently I do not see enough evidence pointing to his guilt. If we were to lynch him, we would find little clues, as he has said so little.

"As for Izzy (who does not seem quite so silent of late), she no longer seems nearly as innocent to me as she did yesterDay. I do not like her defensive jump on Rikae. Plus, she claims Mac is on the borderline of silent when he has spoken twelve times against her five, most of which have more content (and votes) than what she has given."

Then Brinn stopped talking and began to draw in the dirt, this time with her finger. After a few minutes, she looked up.

"Here...I have made up another record of yesterDay's votes. I don't know how much help it will be, but hopefully we can make something out of it...we have little else to go off of:

Rikae: ++Izzy (Izzy: 1)
tgwbs: ++xyzzy (Izzy: 1, xyzzy: 1)
Lhuna: ++Nogrod (Izzy: 1, xyzzy: 1, Nogrod: 1)
Rikae: --Izzy (xyzzy: 1, Nogrod: 1)
Rikae: ++xyzzy (xyzzy: 2, Nogrod: 1)
Mac: ++xyzzy (xyzzy: 3, Nogrod: 1)
Brinn: ++tgwbs (xyzzy: 3, Nogrod: 1, tgwbs: 1)
Nogrod: ++xyzzy (xyzzy: 4, Nogrod: 1, tgwbs: 1)
Mithalwen: ++xyzzy (xyzzy: 5, Nogrod: 1, tgwbs: 1)

Didn't vote: xyzzy, Izzy, Gil-Galad

"Based on votes alone, I would say Nogrod and Mithalwen are most suspicious for safely jumping on the bandwagon at the last minute..."

EDIT: X-ed with Lhuna

[Lhunardawen]

Lhuna read the writings of the newly revealed girl, Brinn, as they came.

"You make a good point," she finally said when the latter was done, "about Nogrod and Mith. This makes Nogrod all the more suspicious to me than he already is. As for Mith...we have to consider that she could not fully participate in our discussions, thus her rather hasty vote. But that does not rid her of its possible consequences."

She stood up and stretched, and, as she was wont to do, started walking around.

"It's been a couple of Days, and Gil's absence is now making me uneasy. I know he has valid reasons for leaving, but all the same...we need him here. Not just to help us discover who the wolves are, but also to scrutinise him and learn if he is or is not one of them. His prolonged absence casts doubt on the possibility that he is a wolf, but he needs not be here if his partner is. I curse him to a swift and dreadful death if he actually is a lycanthrope.

"Another thing that worries me is this spectacle between Nogrod and tgwbs. I am now almost certain that one of them is a wolf - or both of them, I certainly wouldn't put it past them. I had been uneasy of Nogrod yesterDay, and I remain so, and it is strange behaviour that tgwbs should also place himself in the limelight..."

Lhuna scratched her head and frowned.

"It's confusing. They're both being hasty, Nogrod feels furry, but he makes a good point about tgwbs's inconsistency. I can't make a conclusion now, but they're both high on my list, and I'll need to see the rest of this, as well as the others.

"Brinn's now no longer as suspicious to me as before, having heard more from her - in my dreams, it seems - after I fell asleep last Night. As for the rest, not much has changed since yesterDay, but that's probably because I haven't spent enough time recalling their statements. I particularly wish to hear more from Mith toDay."

She strolled again towards the pool outside to be alone with her thoughts, but all the same trying to keep a keen ear on the voices inside the house.

[Macalaure]

Macalaure was puzzled to see everybody alive when he woke up. Has some brave man stopped the wolves another time? he wondered, but then it came to his mind that nobody saw or heard anything and it seemed clear that the wolves have been idle this night. For what reason?, he asked himself.

"It's possible that the wolves forwent their kill out of sleepiness, which would point towards Isabellkya and Gil. However, I cannot imagine that these two are exactly our two wolves. The most probable scenario would, to me, be, that one of the wolves is one of these two and the other is somebody else, whom forces from outside the circles of this world kept from pursuing his gruesome goal.

It's possible that the wolves forwent their kill due to some wicked plan. Who would be so reckless as to solely rely on his ability to mislead everybody into thinking him innocent with no real solid evidence present? This could only be an outlaw who trusts himself to twist everybody else's mind, for which he would have to be a quite vocal and confident one and one who is listened to by most."

After having said this, he gave Nogrod and Guy a suspicious look.

"Theories, theories, theories. Too much of them." he said, while looking at Nogrod, and he sighed audibly.

"This talk of Andróg and Saeros is interesting, though. As we know, Beleg's bow was taken yesterday. Might that thief be Andróg? Was it Saeros' task to steal Túrin's sword (I don't see Túrin as a seer, but very clearly as a hunter)? Might there even be Nellas among us, silently spying on us at night, when we are unaware? And if Andróg owns the mighty Belthronding now, does he know how to put it to a proper use?

(ooc, due to lack of metaphorical skill: )Concerning sleepy Túrin, I think that was purely for narrational purpose. If indeed he had been idle the Gods would not have mentioned it, because it obviously took no effect. I fail to see why the character of Túrin should be a seer."

[Nogrod]

Nogrod was getting back to his senses. Even if he had slept clearly to the afternoon only a few people had spoken. Now this is never going to work if you people imitate Gil this passionately...

"I have a few short comments, then I have to take some more sleep... but after that I'm going to make a real effort with you others.

Some people here have voiced somewhat astonishing ideas about people's voting that I just can't bear listening anymore. And the danger is that if no one corrects those thoughts someone might actually base one's vote on that kind of obviously faulty speculation.

So Izzy, you suspected Rikae because she changed her vote and said:

When it comes to the wolves, they typically don't care who gets the chop, as long as it is not one of their own. I find that those with purer hearts than this group of outlaws; tend to stick with their original decisions.

The first sentence is absolutely right but how can you then deduce the second one from it as it should be the opposite? The wolves can look consistent and stick with their decisions as they know what they're doing unlike us. It is a mark of an innocent villager thinking for the common good to be able to change one's mind when one realises that one is possibly doing a mistake. An innocent should think first and foremost who is s/he helping to lynch in concrete terms and whether it is a good decision or not - not about showing a consistent record of sticking to whatever original decision which may have been done without some knowledge s/he has gained later or which has turned out to look bad after some additional thinking."

Then Nogrod turned to Lhuna and looked at her for a while just wondering about her and what she might be up to. Finally he addressed her.

"No Lhuna, Brinn's last one was not a good point. Indeed she didn't even offer it as a point in a way I interpret you are trying to twist it... and if my memory serves me right this was not the first time you're happy to jump on repeating quite bad points if they further your personal goals, right? I don't know but I will sure check this out later toDay.

Tell me Lhuna, were you an honourable person who would not be sleeping around the deadline, wouldn't you like to hear all before you make your vote? Wouldn't it be your duty to not vote hastily but to see what is going on and try to help things turn out the good way? How would you as innocent have voted during those last minutes yourself? If you had voted for someone else than Xyzzy who was already dead at that point I'm sure there would be a throng of voices to ask you now "why you did you make such a throw-away vote, aren't you lupine then?" Trust me, I got quite enough of that yesterDay... But had you then decided to just join the waggon, there would be your kind of people asking now whether that deepens their suspicions of you because you voted so safe?

So what kind of vote in the end of yesterDay would not be suspicious to your eyes?

Aren't you using double-standards here by first stating myself to be suspicious because I didn't vote for someone who was about to be lynched (Day1 voting) and now (Day2 voting) because I did vote for the one who was getting lynched?"

Before withdrawing to his blanket he glanced at Macalaure and smiled.

"Oh Mac, you can't be serious with that proposal... Just look at me and my old bones and listen to this discussion around us. So you say I might be one who is feeling confident to twist everyone's mind into my favour while in reality everything I say seem to get half the people suspecting me.

Hah..."

Nogrod turned around under his blanket.

"This lack of arguments is killing us..." he mumbled half-sleeping.

[Rikae]

Rikae finally was awakend by the voices of the others. She tended to sleep longer, almost as if some part of her was in a place where morning came later...

"As I see it, there are 3 possibilities:
1. The thief used the bow to protect the wolves' intended victim.
You all claim that this did not hoppen because there is no sign of struggle; but it could be that someone wants us to remain uncertain about the role of the thief..."
Rikae looked at the sky accusingly...
"In that case, the wolves are likely inexperienced, and/or Beleg and the thief quite astute.
2. The wolves killed no one for strategic reasons. If this is the case, it points very strongly toward Nogrod; it's just the sort of scheme he would devise, and, as Macalaure points out, he is probably confident in his ability to control us with words alone.
3. The wolves missed the kill by accident.
This is quite likely, especially considering this; I don't know about you others, but I awoke in the middle of the night to an unnatural silence; followed by a brief but terrible storm that left everything in disarray. It washed away my emerald necklace, that I thought was safe in my bag (it was a gift from my dearest friends, and I'm quite sad to lose it); perhaps this storm also prevented the wolves from making their kill?
Regarding our protectors, I don't know how much help Beleg is to us without his bow, but, at the very least, he knows the identities of Turin and the innocent he successfully protected. If we continue to have no leads, that information could be useful, especially if we still have a ranger of sorts and Turin is a hunter. Three known innocents will give us a 1/3 chance of lynching a wolf today.
In addition, I'd just like to say that something in Lhuna's words feels deceptive; but I will have to think about it further."

[the guy who be short]

"If it's arguments you want, old man," Guy said to Nogrod, "you shall certainly get them!

First and foremost, I find the idea that the wolves could intentionally forgo a kill absurd. You say the wolves may have done this to make us lynch a quiet person, and I find this ridiculous. If they really want to get a quiet person, they can kill them in the night! Your theory is convoluted and... weird, frankly.

Indeed, you seem to spew too many distracting theories - this idea of Turin being a seer, for example. To me, and many others it seems, they are not only distracting, but don't seem to make much sense.

I acknowledge the misunderstanding about your Day 1 vote. You say you have explained it once already, and this is true. To me, however, it still seems like a wolvish plan to make you seem innocent.

Again, you repeat the accusation that I was trying to create a bandwagon against you with my accusations of you, ignoring the fact that I changed my mind about you before anybody else (other than Rikae, who supported my suspicion of you!) had joined us, thus proving that it was not my intent to create a bandwagon.

You accuse me for changing my mind about you. There was nothing suspicious about this: I presented my points which I believed pointed to your guilt. You answered them satisfactorily. I therefore changed my view about you. You youself say "It is a mark of an innocent villager thinking for the common good to be able to change one's mind when one realises that one is possibly doing a mistake" - but apparently, not in my case, eh?

I believed the quiet to be wolvish "before and after" the period of accusing you (before toDay that is), but not during the time when I suspected you, because you tried to put pressure on the quiets. This is perfectly reasonable. I don't see why this would point to my guilt in any way.

You claim that I said that you suggested not to lynch anybody. Anybody going over what I have said will find that I made no such claim, which means that once more you are seeking to misrepresent me. And, it seems, you are trying to distract the whole village again by restarting the whole lynching-somebody-doomed-to-die-anyway debate when it has no relevance. I will say it once more: your view is wrong. It is a complete waste to lynch somebody who would die anyway, which, I said, is essentially the same as lynching nobody! The statistics prove that I am right."

Guy took a deep breath, realising he had been getting ever so slightly heated.

"I feel that last night, you and your ally - who may or may not be quiet - could not kill due to the disturbance you experienced in the spiritual world. Your outlandish claim that the wolves chose to forgo a kill is simply an attempt to confuse us.

You are, dear Nogrod, oh so wolvish, slippery, contradictory and distracting. And so, without further ado,

++NOGROD

And now I shall concentrate on trying to find our second wolf.

Oh, and Brinn, I fear you misunderstood what Nogrod accused me of. He claimed my suspicion of him was an attempt to start a bandwagon against him, Nogrod, and nothing to do with my vote for xyzzy. I have, however, shown this to be a product of his own wolvish mind."

Guy settled back into his seat and took a sip from his flask, satisfied.

[Rikae]

"Guy, you say
"It is a complete waste to lynch somebody who would die anyway, which, I said, is essentially the same as lynching nobody! The statistics prove that I am right."

While I didn't want to reopen the whole statistics discussion,(everyone feel free to ignore this, it's just theory and, I admit, now irrelevant) I have to point out that the difference between two deaths in one day and in two subsequent days IS a significant one. Every day gives us more posts from all of the suspects to analyse and aid our decision. If the posts didn't matter, and every lynch was a shot into the dark relying solely on statistics, talking would be pointless. Getting an extra day means we have more information and, presumably, can vote more intelligently.

I would actually be interested in finding out what the coorelation between the number of times a person speaks and the chance that that person's role will be sucessfully discerned by others; if there is no impact, than we're indeed wasting our time.

But this is a pointless discussion anyway, so I suppose I'll drop it."

[Nogrod]

Guy's heated words woke Nogrod up. He rose up and looked at the guy guestioningly as now he was totally baffled about the young man. After rubbing his beard for a moment he walked to the guy and sat down beside him - looking him straight into the eyes.

"This satisfied smile on your face bothers me a lot, I must say. Otherwise I'm just baffled."

Guy looked at the old man waiting for some further clearance.

"We seem to disagree on some basic points as to what is good for us or what the wolves might think is advantageous to them. There's nothing bad in that and even if I still believe I have the more reasonable approach to this I admit that people may think differently and that's natural. Even though I'd like to say that some ideas are better than the others..."

Nogrod made a pause and pulled his pipe yet again. But while he started filling it he continued as well.

"I think we two have wasted too much time on this stuff already and that's bad for us all as little constructive sharing seems to be going on after everyone else either sleeps or comments our discussion. If we have time at one point or another I will answer all of your questions - by basically repeating what I have already said - but as it feels I've used most of my time to it already I think I can use my hours in a better way right now as I feel fresh and energetic.

But there is one thing I would like to voice out before I start thinking the larger picture in earnest and that is your seeming retaliatoriness and "heatedness" as you yourself described it... That is something that is always so hard to judge.

I mean I know it myself that when I'm innocent I tend to get much more agitated with someone making a case on me because I know it's false and thence this leads me to suspect that the case-maker as an evil person. That's natural and speaks on your behalf my lad.

But you should also remember that some wolves are a bit touchy as well - and I kind of remember that one of your quite recent forefathers was pretty aggressive and arrogant - should I say - when my ancestor had catched him from wolvery... So this satisfaction of yours right here and now, and your confidence. These really make me think.

We innocents don't know about things but we need to think and rethink all the time. So we seldom can be sure or satisfied with our suspicions, not to say of our decisions. Something always nags in one's head: maybe this isn't right? maybe I'm mislead, maybe I think this the wrong way?

So I'm baffled with you as you can see. I'm tending to believe my theory of Androg is right and your half-innocent half-guilty situation makes you act like you do but I'm not forgetting you."

Nogrod rose up and nodded to the guy.

"I'll go out and think now for something else. We need to see our options clearer now. You may dislike me for trying to see all the possibilities..."

With that he glanced at Mac, but smiled in the end.

"But someone needs to think them. If our wolves or just the other one of them is now safely outside any consideration - which consideration seems to involve only Gil, Izzy, the guy and myself - we need to do something about it. And as no one else here seems to be able or willing to even try to help us with bringing in new perspectives then I will try it. I'm old and my lifespan will be short anyhow."

Nogrod left the hall and wandered outside past the pool and settled himself to the crest lighting his pipe.

[Lhunardawen]

Lhuna approached Nogrod and tapped him gently on the shoulder.

"You seem to be quite in demand toDay," she said, when the old man looked around at her. "You asked me how I would have voted yesterDay had I been around nigh sundown. Simple: I would have voted whom I suspected, regardless of numbers. I build a case against someone I find suspicious after considering everyone, and when at the end of it I remain convinced that he is suspicious, I vote for him. Just like I've done the past couple of Days.

"What kind of vote would I not find suspicious? One that is backed up by previous words. Though on recalling yesterDay's events, I notice that at first you seemed to feel more uncertain of Izzy than xyzzy, and after the latter posted you expressed a greater suspicion of him. My mistake, then.

But you tell me that yesterDay I suspected you for not voting for someone who was about to be lynched. That's not true. I cared not that you did not vote for Shasta; what I was wondering about was that you changed your vote to tgwbs when Shasta's death was made certain. You spent that first Day convincing us to lynch the silents, and voted for xyzzy to show perhaps how serious you were, but when no one would listen, you changed your vote. True, you had expressed some doubt regarding tgwbs earlier that Day, but if you really were suspicious of him, I had kind of expected you to convince yourself, and us, that he was worth lynching, instead of going the xyzzy route. I might be being presumptuous in this, seeing that we've only been at this for a few Days, but then it's probably not so bad compared to how much you claim to know me."

She turned around and sought Rikae, and said, "I'm afraid I will not have the chance to hear what makes you feel that my words are deceptive, as a sleepiness that is out of this world, it seems, claims me again."

She bent low to the ground, and wrote with her finger:

++NOGROD

"There must be an end to all your deceit."

And she walked back to her bed of straw and lay down, and was fast asleep.

[Macalaure]

"The more I follow the argument between Nogrod and Guy, the more I cannot believe it's two innocents argueing here. Lynching one of them would be a shame, since they're the ones who contribute the most, but considering our numbers, I think we should be able to afford it. Also, though I can already foresee this point to be used against me: we need a proper dead body to analyse, one which leaves something that we can really analyse! And if the wolves won't supply us with one, we might have to do it ourselves. I'm very much against lynching a quiet one again today.

About Rikae, Lhuna and Brinn I feel relatively well, though I will reconsider this tomorrow. The same holds for Izzy, Gil and Mith.

I'm tempted to do analyses of Nogrod and Guy, but my forefathers laid a curse upon me never again to attempt such a thing, for the sake of their successors' sanity.

Nogrod makes a lot of theories, sometimes of questionable usefulness and sometimes of questionable quality, but always with unquestionable effort. One has to honestly acknowledge that. On many of Nogrod's positions I don't agree, while at the same time, I agree with almost all theoretical statements of Guy. This would clearly point towards a vote for Nogrod, but I've decided to not regard this and instead focus only on the way the two have been accusing one another and look who comes out as honest and who as manipulative.

I'll be back soon."

[Nogrod]

Nogrod had just gotten through with his remembrances when he felt Lhuna approach and address him.

"Sad to say but you're making a mistake here Lhuna - or then you're doing this in purpose which would be evil... I remember one case from my family's archives when all the wolves bandwaggoned my innocent ancestor in a row, in bright daylight they lynched my forefather as the others just stood by... and that was the end of that village then. It feels the same now I must admit and that makes me sad.

Also your obviously one-tracked suspicion of me should make me suspect you a lot and your timing with the guy should make me say that you're two wolves trying to secure a lynch of your liking.

But there are some things in what has been said on earlier Days that demand me to think of it further than my own feelings about you... We need to get wolves after all and I'm not so sure about you two anyhow. I do hold it possible you two are the wolves but a bit more probable is the quiets / non-present wolves scenario... whence you just are too quick to jump into bad conclusions and should learn more about the lore.

But the fact that you both set aside the obvious and easy solution that the wolves just fumbled last Night - and the one before - and were not up to their task kind of worries me in principle. Not the least as it is combined with your happiness to get rid of me... I'm not sure if either of you even mentioned the obvious way for us toDay while you can't claim you're not cognizant of it. I mean how else you explain the no-kills of the two Nights?

And to Mac and Rikae I must say this: You can't be serious when you think that in case the wolves left one kill unexecuted for strategic reasons it was me... just look at my status in this village right now - and yesterDay - and think how wise that would have been! Pure folly I say. But then again to you two it would have been a very good one indeed - or to one of you - as there seems to be no actual suspicion on you right now.

But I'll come back to this thing later as I now must eat.

So go ahead and lynch me if you so wish but I will tell you, you will have a hard Day toMorrow with zero lupines caught... I will promise to help you nonetheless toDay as much as I can. I hope you learn to appreciate it toMorrow if you can't open your eyes toDay."

With that Nogrod frowned and stood up to get his backpack. He felt sorry for himself but also for all the decent people around him. Now what's the problem, didn't I try enough?... how was it what Mother said: the world pays you back with unthankfulness...

WIth that old memory Nogrod smiled yet again. Petty people have petty thoughts... now my man don't be petty but eat up and then do what you can to help these people... You'll see whether it's enough or not and you can't do more than that.

[Mithalwen]

Mithalwen spoke having been roused by the accusations against Nogrod, and this filled her with foreboding.

"Companions, I beg you to rethink your votes for the only thing I feel confident of at this time is that Nogrod is not a wolf.

Is it not possible that who ever guarded the wolves victim two nights ago was contrary to custom able to repeat the feat. I must recall the discussions but I fear only the wolves will rejoice in Nogrod's death. "

[Nogrod]

I fear only the wolves will rejoice in Nogrod's death

"They will be the ones indeed..."

Nogrod uttered in a half-answer to Mith from between the bites of dry meat he was gnawing sitting on his blanket.

"But before this is over for toDay I wish to first remind you all of a few things as I know - and have seen already toDay - that some of you are keen to take your weapons up and make your statements early enough.

Remember. We have two wolves here. Together they may pile up my votes to four if both guy and Lhuna are innocent and that's hard to overcome even if you came back to your senses. So hold it for a while now.

What is this lunacy now that everyone forgets our basic situation? If I'm going to be lynched toDay - or killed during the Night - please be careful to check who keyed this concentration.

And I think the next voter for me - if there is one - should be looked at very closely toMorrow after you've finally learned my innocence for that person surely knows that in this lazy place three votes will secure the wolves their pleasure.

Indeed one of the main reasons for all this is this darn sleepiness here - and I would add, laziness... but it's hard to point that one thing especially to anyone in particular as it seems to pervade this whole cave."

Nogrod took another bite and made one more remark.

"On Night1 Beleg was able to outwit the wolves and on the next the wolves failed to even try. That seems to be quite clear. So what is our first and the most reasonable lynching project?

How can you forget this?

I wished myself to have other discussions toDay as it would be both boring and not contributing to our case if we just discussed whether we lynch Gil, Izzy or Mith."

With that he glanced at Mith apologetically.

"Sorry Mith, I approve of your words but in the name of our common survival I can't rule you out either just because you made a sensible speech...

And if someone wishes to maintain the second option as I myself might be ready as well - that the wolves intentionally gave a kill away, then look at those who were the most secure in the end of Day2 and how they have reacted to things toDay.

That's my short advice right now. I try to have something more detailed on in a while."

Nogrod took the last bit of the meat and fell back to think.

[Isabellkya]

Izzy stood up from where she had been sitting in deep thought. She could hear the voices of the others drift towards her, and had even seen the exchange between Lhuna and Nogrod. She stretched her arms above her head, and gazed around at the others.

'It seems I have arrived at a roadblock in my mind. At this particular time, Nogrod, Rikae, and Guy are foremost in my thoughts. I will have to go over my thoughts again, however it seems to me that both Rikae and Nogrod seem to be slightly ignoring each other. Whether this is because they are comrads in wolfishness, or because they find the other not suspicious; I have not decided upon yet.'

'The ongoing 'heated' discussion between Nogrod and Guy is a bit eyebrow raising. As I said earlier, Nogrod seems to have quite the number of tangents, and it is all well and good; however it is only successful in tying to drive us off course. Guy's heatedness in these discussions, is a bit disarming. One can understand frustration, but when it shows up almost every time; it makes one think that the two of them are cohorts and staging this little production for our benefit.'

'So I have three possible wolves in my foremost thoughts, however we only have two; correct? So I think that Nogrod is definately a wolf, and we must rid him of our group.'

++Nogrod

Izzy walked over to her bed and laid down for a nap.

[Nogrod]

Nogrod frowned...

"What did I say?

Well you can thank these people toMorrow if the worst happens."

[Mithalwen]

"I fear then it is 'Goodnight Tinuviel' if noone changes their mind..." Gah

[Rikae]

"I'm sorry, Mithalwen, but I don't really understand what you mean by that statement. How does a ranger's inability to protect the same person twice in a row prove that Nogrod is not a wolf?
Besides, if I read the narration correctly, a different person had the bow on night 2; in which case, the same person could possibly have been twice protected (if the wolves even went after the same victim twice, which isn't really a given, either).

I'm not so sure about Nogrod's suspiciousness, though, either. Yes, he's involved in a heated debate ; yes, he's jumping all over the place with crackpot theories ; but, after all, isn't that the Nogrod we know?

I am actually quite concerned about Lhuna; who seems to be using her words in a calaculated and manipulative manner to bring about a pre-determined result; and Mithalwen, who has had long enough to catch up but continues to speak in a safe fashion - humorous, non-controversial, and brief; her style seems calculated to generate vague positive feelings toward her and lull others into unthinking trust.

I don't know why Macalaure has set up this choice between Nogrod and Guy; it hardly seems obvious to me that they are the only reasonable choices; nor that one of the two must be a wolf.

The day is drawing to a close, but I have to admit, I am far from reaching a decision."

EDIT: X'd with Izzy, Noggie & Mith.

[Nogrod]

Nogord raised his face to look at Mith.

"Oh don't you worry about that. Nienor is safe if I die. But I think that's the only good news there will be."

Then he tried to make a brave face.

"And anyhow there are still you Mith, Mac, Rikae, Brinn and myself to vote. That makes five. I'm just concerned that if Gil is a wolf and appears from somewhere... Anyhow we should not spread our votes or give them too hastily but discuss them first.

So let's be optimistic about that?"

[Brinniel]

"Guy, you said that I misunderstood Nogrod's accusation, but I was really wasn't trying to relate and respond to it. I commented about your vote because it was more like thinking out loud.

"To me, Lhuna seems sincere with her words, and I find it more likely she is innocent. If she actually does turn out to be a wolf, then a cunning wolf she is indeed.

"As for Nogrod...

"Now threatened, Nogrod is attempting to prove everyone of his claimed innocence, even giving us strategies on how to find the wolves toMorrow. His words are convincing I admit, but I refuse to fall for it. It seems more like a wolf who is making one last desperate attempt to throw us. Of course, if he does turn out innocent we will all have regrets (except for the wolves, of course). But lynching someone who is supicious and noisy like Nogrod will be more useful than voting for someone silent like Gil-Galad, who we have no clue about. Because wolf or not, we will finally have something to analyse. There is always a risk in lynching someone, and I am quite willing to take this one."

EDIT: X-ed with Rikae and Nogrod

[the guy who be short]

Guy looked around, glad that most of the village had finally woken up. "I'm satisfied," he said to Nogrod, "because I'm about 90% certain I've identified a wolf in you, and more or less everything you say strengthens this belief. However, there is still one other wolf to find, and I've been putting my mind thereto.

If I'm correct in my presumption of why there was no wolf kill last Night (i.e. one quiet wolf not saying anything, and Nogrod being unable to convey the decision due to spiritual difficulties), then the other wolf must be quiet.

Unfortunately, the "quiet list" is quite extensive, including Izzy, Gil and Mith. Of these three, I do not think a wolf-Mith would strongly defend Nogrod at such a time, so she seems innocent but misguided. I have felt Izzy to be innocent for a while, so her vote at this time seems to me to point to her innocence. However, she could have decided to vote for him after his urge to look carefully at the third voter for him, sacrificing him to appear innocent. What I find most likely, though, is the absent Gil being Noggy's ally.

Of the others, Mac has seemed innocent for a long time. I do not think wolf-Lhuna would vote for Noggy at such a crucial time. Rikae and Brinn I am both unsure of; parts of their behaviour make me feel they are guilty, and other parts make me feel they are not.

In conclusion, if Noggy is a wolf, I think the second wolf is most likely Gil, then Izzy. There is a small chance it may be Rikae or Brinn, but I find this unlikely. I think Mac, Lhuna and Mith are probably innocent."

[Mithalwen]

"It is not one I am prepared to take though. Rikae those were not linked. I do not belive Nogrod ot be a wolf. I do think it is possible that our guardian may have been able to protect teh same person twice. I think it hightly unlikely that a lill was missed accidentally - there is only one incident in the books of Lore of such a thing happening that I know of, but most guardians may not protect the same person twice. Therefore the wolves were most likely going to go for the same victim and the guardian assumed this and used their unusual power again. That is how I read last nights events. " responded Mithalwen.

[Macalaure]

"The words of Nogrod and the Guy who be short:

The whole thing started with Guy's strange, but excusable, behaviour on Day One. Nogrod appreciates Guy's vote and even defends it from Lhuna.
Then, later, he has mixed feelings about him. His reasoning is fair, but it comes a bit out of the blue. He then lists Guy as one minor suspicious and doesn't mention him anymore before he votes him even though an other of his suspects is in the lead.

The next day, Nogrod is suspicious about Guy's over-friendliness, but the supposed ineptitude of the wolves lessens his suspicion. He defends his vote before anybody was able to accuse him (explicable). Guy doesn't like the way Nogrod treated him the last day (of course) and is suspicious of him in turn. Nogrod explains his vote more. Guy understands then, but takes up Izzy's point and accuses Nogrod about being more busy with self-preservation than the interest of the group, a statement which is not very sustainable. Of course, it makes Nogrod suspicious again immediately.
Guy is now convinced about Nogrod's guilt because of his theoretical statements which he doesn't agree with. Nogrod gets a little bit angry in turn because he feels not listened to and misrepresented. I think both are both wrong and right in this part of their argument.
Guy then goes into mathematics to prove his point, which maybe he shouldn't have done. He also takes back the self-preservation argument and mostly drops his suspicion of Nogrod. This flip-flop has very innocentish-confused feel to me.
Nogrod then forms the theory that Guy was trying to launch a bandwaggon against him and gave up on the attempt. This argument is quite a leap in reasoning. It's also strange because by it he makes Guy appear in a bad light while he avoids the term "wolf".

Today, Guy is suspicious again because of the bandwaggon thing. His stance is quite defensive, but reasonable. He also accuses Nogrod of trying to distract us. Nogrod doesn't really answer to all this because he would rather go after wolves. But then, Nogrod ignoring Guy's points strengthens Guy's opinion. Understandable as an innocent, convenient as a wolf, I'd say. I don't like it that Guy calls it a "test".
Nogrod answers quite furiously, now. He points out flaws in Guy's arguments, which are valid points as far as I can see. There's something fuzzy about his tone here, and I don't mean the furor. He doesn't go as far as to call Guy guilty, which is quite consistent.
In response, Guy re-presents his reasoning and the course of his suspicion. He is not unaggressive, but he's also very straightforward, which gives an innocent feel again.
Nogrod's response is somewhat strange. He claims that Guy is being retaliatory, which I do not see, and points out that somebody who makes a wrong case isn't necessarily evil. There's an appeasing tone which I hold a little suspicious. It's strange that he is so sure about this half-innocent-half-guilty thing.


Quite passionate and enjoyable debate there - a soon-to-be classic maybe. Both have leaps in their reasoning, but mostly argue sound. So, I'm afraid, it comes down to tone, which is naturally a very subjective thing. I think the Guy wins here, because his straightforwardness is far less suspicious than Nogrod's occasional evasiveness and appeasing tone.


So... yeah... because something's fishy in his posts:

++Nogrod."


(crossed with Guy and Mith)

[Nogrod]

"Do you Brinn actually believe that someone of my family would miss a kill while a wolf? I mean honestly? Or to pick up one Beleg protected the first Night for that matter? I'm not sure if I'd need to feel insulted indeed with this... You all can sleep and ignore things as much as you want but at my age we don't need the sleep that much and we still retain our wits not to lose kills if in position to make them...

So your argument is faulty because we know the wolves missed last night - and were clumsy the Night before. That's not me you're looking for.

I would go for Gil or Izzy from whom these slips could be anticipated. Or then Mith as it is possible she missed a thing or two - or to Lhuna the suspicion over whom I share with Rikae as I told you earlier. She seems too happy to trail throwaway points made by others when they serve her purposes.

But anyhow, it's your choice and I know you can't take my word as I say it. But as I said, if I'm dead the wolves will rejoice and those voting me with non-existant reasons hopefully will have very hard times toMorrow.

I'm just afraid no one here will then have the willpower to actually sit down and analyse the outcome and thence the wolves win... but I'm hopeful anyway."

[Mithalwen]

Mithalwen spoke again " You fail to consider, Mac, another possibility of why Nogrod may seem evasive and less straightforward. It is the possibility I have suspected for a while and now believe though I do not know. I may indeed be misguided but I beg you reconsider." The woman fell silent again, biting her lower lip anxiously.

[Mithalwen]

"While it ill behoves me to speak against the absentees, I find it disconcerting that Gil spoke more before in the time before he left thanI have ever heard him speak. If the theory stands that a kill was missed then he I would suspect. " Mithalwen tried desperately to draw attetion to other possibilities.

[Macalaure]

While he was preparing/recovering from his speech, Rikae and Mith addressed Macalaure and he now found the breath to respond to them.

"Rikae, those two, Nogrod and Guy, probably aren't objectively the obvious choices, but to me, right now, they are. I'm not pursueing Izzy, Mith or Gil, because lynching a third silent one in a row will do us no favour, and you, Brinn and Lhuna I really don't feel guilty so far, in contrast to Nogrod and Guy.

Tomorrow, I will reconsider all this, hopefully with more evidence to look at.


I understand where you are coming from, Mith, but I still think Nogrod's guilt to be the more likely reason than other things."

[Mithalwen]

Mithalwen snorted to herself. Whatever the straits she would not have failed in her duty even as a servant of Morgoth. Had it been her duty to kill she would have found a way.

[Nogrod]

"Did I say I'm hopeful? Not so much any more I must say...

But if I need to go let me speak my mind then - and I hope this time you listen. You'll learn the sincerity of this soon enough it seems.

I still think our wolves missed last Night. And unlike guy proposes I was online yesterDay comfortably and would never miss a kill - I would call someone on sms or whatever if I had personal troubles getting there inbto the spiritual world... this I feel a bit insulted about, that you seem to think that I would be that stupid or unresourceful. Sorry but I had to say this. Otherwise everything's fine.

Lhuna, if a wolf is the most cunning one but not unfathomable as her way of manipulating - as Rikae said - can be noticed.

Mac then I'm also very unhappy about right now. He is intelligent man but still refuses to see the point (clumsy wolves) and after looking at his posts I find them pretty odd. He seems to start almost every speech that he has concerning me with "Nogrod is suspicious... but he has a good point". Now what is this? Only now lately he has gotten encouraged to leave the pleasantries aside - even his last post looks quite calculatedly apologetical as one comes to think of it.

I mean Mac please tell me, how come you think the best option toDay is lynching the guy or me, the only ones who have actually tried a bit more and given some effort? Isn't it the best for the wolves if the speakers are taken out?

And if someone should be suspected for the "leaving a kill unmade" during the Night then you fit the description perfectly. To see how you now defend the quiets is just perfect wolf-tactics.

Mark my words toMorrow.

I'll have some more of them after a sjhort break but encourage you to consider thinking about these clumsy wolves whom we clearly seem to have around here."

[Rikae]

"Mithalwen, whatever Nogrod is, I don't think that he is Turin.

His last post has a very desperate feel to it; and the fact that he goes back to his old arguments doesn't look good at all.

I'm not at all confident about this, but the sun is setting; and, at the very least, this way we will know something tomorrow.

++Nogrod"

EDIT: Crossed with Mac, Mith & Nogrod

[Mithalwen]

"I never said I thought he was" said Mithalwen "but my heart tells me this is folly".

[Nogrod]

"Oh my...

Well you innocents can only blame yourselves.

Being lazy comes with a prize.

When you all vote for me just to be comfortable and to fit in the majority - to save your own necks, possibly? - you will have no readout from toDay's voting either.

So you are in the zero position toMorrow.

Fools you are but that's going to be your problem from toMorrow on.

I'll still peep in before I lay to your axe for I hope I can do you a favour still toDay. Although I'm not sure if you deserve that favour..."

Nogrod laughed to himself and looked around emphatically. Oh people, won't you ever learn... He shook his head and thought.

[Brinniel]

"Nogrod, you started the Day agreeing that a no-kill could be a strategic move, and now you have changed your mind? And Rikae, I do not think he is Turin either....or Nienor for that matter. If he were, he would have been kind enough to reveal by now, knowing his fate for some time.

"I am becoming less and less suspicious of tgwbs and more unsure of him. His arguments toDay have made more sense.

"Of Mithalwen, if Nogrod is guilty, she's innocent...but if he is innocent I will take a closer look at her toMorrow.

"And Nogrod, I am still mildly suspicious of Izzy, but as I said before, I didn't want a quiet one to be lynched again. But I will definitely take interest in her toMorrow.

"And now, to finalise this:

++Nogrod

"Honestly, if he is not a wolf, I will be shocked."

[Mithalwen]

"What kind of logic is that" demanded Mithalwen " ...setting up a victim for the lazy tomorrow Brinniel?". If he is innocent why is it that the one who defended him is suspicious.. not those who were so eager for his death. I am spoilt for choice as to where to cast my vote for to me you seem complicit and blind to what seems obvious to me "

[Nogrod]

"Okay.

I'm addressing this to toMorrow for those of you alive still. You need a view from a known innocent toMorrow anyway in this mess.

I'm not Turin. I said it already but as that seems to pop up again I'll restate this. So you're not killing two toDay.

I happen to be an innocent though and well... that was your choice. Blame yourselves toMorrow - but also look closely those who triggered this and those who were too happy to follow. Especially those who hadn't voiced that strong suspicions on me earlier but were now happy to jump for a vote - notwithstanding how reservedly they made they vote.

Unforunately you all went under the same spell and the voting record will give you too many candidates. What's even worse, with your enthusiasm you've left a wolf a chance to not vote me as I'm dead with your innocent votes already.

If the wolves missed last Night and were short-sighted yesterNight then they are from the pack of Gil, Izzy and Mith.

If it was a purposeful tactical move look at Mac and Rikae. Their carefulness earlier and resolve toDay makes them look pretty bad in myh eyes right now.

And see how they went in concerto to wonder that whether that was a deliberate tactical move by the wolves it must have been me who's behind it. But the whole idea behind the trick is that you should do it if no one suspects you! That fits to them but not to me.

And Mac's half-hearted defence of the quiets really bothers me now as it wouldbe the perfect wolf-strategy right now.

Also Rikae's claim that going back to old arguments is somehow suspicious is frivolous when the situation is that everyone seems to have forgotten what our situation is as everyone were so keen to follow any drop-outs from the little discussion between me and the guy. So going back to our real task was good, not bad.

Which brings me back to the guy. If he hadn't popped in at the last hour with those funny ideas I would have said that don't lynch him because he is innocent. Maybe he is Androg, or maybe there isn't such a role. He feels innocentish but then again he started this whole thing in a way and kept it going. If we have a cobbler here, guy is the one. Unfortunately you can't afford to lynch him toMorrow anymore to check it...

Lhuna is either a manipulative wolf or then a short-sighted innocent thinking first and foremosat of her own survival... You have to find out which.

I'm not sure if I mentioned everyone here. But there's little time left.

I'll try to figure out which I think the most probable before the blade."

[Mithalwen]

"From many suspects I cast my pointless vote

++Brinniel

for two very safe votes and a bit of dubious gender bending...."

[Brinniel]

"Mithalwen, if he is indeed innocent, I didn't say it would confirm your guilt. But I would find it possible that a wolf would loudly defend someone they knew was an innocent in order to avoid a lynching toMorrow.

"But you really shouldn't have to worry about that because right now I think Nogrod is guilty and therefore, you innocent (a wolf wouldn't be so foolish to defend a fellow wolf so strongly, in my opinion). "

[Macalaure]

"I've been suspected for defending the quiet outlaws. This is not true. I'm not saying Izzy, Gil or Mith are innocent, it's quite possible that one of these is a wolf. However, having lynched two silents recently, I don't think it's a good idea to do it again. It would be possible that we would find us in the same evidence-less situation tomorrow again!
I also can hardly believe that both wolves come from this group, which makes the idea of sleepy wolves that forgot to kill appear mysterious.

I don't even suspect Nogrod that much, but everyone else looks less suspicious to me. I agree with Nogrod that the vote count is horrible, and it's good that he's providing us with his latest thoughts."

[Nogrod]

"The last words it is then.

I'm still inclined to believe in these clumsy wolves. But the only problem in that is would Morgoth have chosen such a clumsy duo to do his bidding? That you should think toMorrow.

The idea of Mac and Rikae would make much more sense from the standpoint of Morgoth who chose them in the first place. And they would have played skillfully with it. Although I'm not sure if I'd run to compliment them afterwards as I think their win in the end would have been achieved mainly by them being quiet. And that's not sporty behaviour I'd wait from them. And mostly achieved by guy who kept me away from discussing other things than his "points"...

I'll be not saying anything about the possible guilt or innocence of the guy. He was the most entertaining person here by a mile. He tried and argued and that made things fun. Really young man, it was good to talk with you even if you were wrong..."

Nogrod took a step forwards and hugged the younger man.

"I hope you're innocent and will bag the wolves for me after this... promise?"

He looked at the young man into the eyes and nodded to him encouragingly. At the same time he heard Mith voting and turned his head towards her.

"Oh, Brinn... that I'll leave up to you.

By the way this last minute silence is quite telling as well... Check out toMorrow who have been up late and who have now fallen back after a confidence of their succeeding vote. Just a hint..."

Nogrod turned to face the people.

"I'm ready. Do what you wish if you're still awake. It's fair that the old ones go first. Let the Valar bless you innocents even if you make bad decisions. And protect Turín and Nienor, otherwise you won't live for too long."

Suddenly something distracted him. It was Macalaure.

"Oh Mac... your explanations sound hollow at this moment... Save them for toMorrow and let's see what people think of them then. Now let an old man die in peace."

Then he kneeled down and laid his head low.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

"It is settled, then," said Lhuna. "It's you, Nogrod."
The old man's eyebrow rose. "You surely don't know what you are talking about. I am not in any way connected with these hounds of Morgoth!"
"But we chose you," said the guy who be short, picking up a long rope. "Come on, do not prolongate it."
Nogrod gave the short guy a scornful look. "What do you want me to do? Let myself bound up like a dog? There is no way you make me do it."
"But we – we chose you," stammered Isabellkya. The outlaws gave each other uncertain looks. The old man was sitting, almost leaning his back against the wall, but everyone saw his muscles stretching, he was ready to move in a moment. Nogrod was old and short, but stout and strong man, and most of them knew he could defeat one of them in a fight without any trouble.
"We have to move together," said Macalaure. "Let's take the weapons and surround him. He cannot face us all..."
Angered, Nogrod jumped up. "Youngsters!" he shouted. "That's what happens always when they gain power! Young blood, no senses! Look at yourselves!"
He lifted up his hands. "I am unarmed. And there is good seven of you, and still you are afraid of me. I am not a werewolf, damn you! Those you seek are among you!"
"We are not afraid of you," said Rikae. "If you attempt something, I can finish you, even though I am older. You saw it the first day."
"And that's exactly how it's going to end," said Nogrod. "Fools! I am not a werewolf!"
"That's what we shall see," said the guy who be short.
"Enough talk! Let's kill him!" cried Macalaure. To encourage his companions, he picked up a short spear that was laying near the wall.
Nogrod reached to his belt. The drawn blade glinted in the light of lamps hanging from the ceiling. "I am not going to get myself killed! This is the last warning!"
But the outlaws finally decided to move. The guy who be short charged at Nogrod with sword drawn, but the old man parried his blow with such strength that the attacker was hurled backwards. Turning, Nogrod avoided Macalaure's strike and slashing with his sword, he cut the spear in half.
Suddenly, Brinn sprang up in front of the condemned outlaw. There was a glimmer of a blade and then an iron clash.
"You almost surprised me," muttered Nogrod, in the last moment stopping the blow few inches far from his throat. "You are quick, young girl," he said, "but you are also weak," and with force, he pressed Brinn's blade further from himself. But at the same moment Isabellkya leapt to his side and taking advantage of the old man's momentary incautiousness, she stabbed her dagger deep in his back. Voicelessly, Nogrod tumbled to the ground, dropping his sword; and falling on his face between his bag, his tea-cup and the last slice of bread, the old man died.

"Was he a wolf?" was the first question asked.
The outlaws surrounded the dead body. No change was seen.
"Oh, no," came through Lhuna's lips.
"Another night full of fear," muttered Mithalwen.
"Damn it!" said Brinn. "I was sure we were right this time."
"Apparently not," said Rikae. "Gah! But I fear this loss may prove deadly for many of us."
"If there is even hope for us," said Macalaure, turning away.

The inhabitants of Amon Rûdh – dead:

Ibun son of Mîm, killed by a Werewolf on Night 1
Shasta alias Saeros, outnumbered and stabbed on Day 1
Xyzzy the Outlaw, stoned to death on Day 2
Nogrod the old Outlaw, caught off his guard on Day 3

The inhabitants of Amon Rûdh – living:
Mîm the Petty Dwarf, outside the hill for an unexpectably prolonged period
Rikae
Macalaure
Isabellkya
Brinniel
Lhunardawen
Gil-Galad, outside the hill for an unexpectably prolonged period
the guy who be short
Mithalwen

Night 4 begins. Outlaws sleep. Túrin, Beleg and werewolves discuss. Whoever has anything to send, PM me ASAP.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Once again, two dark shadows were creeping in the stony halls. Once again, they trod towards their victim. Penetrating the darkness with their sharp senses, they easily found the place where their prey was hiding.
Once again, they were not the only ones who was awake in the room.

"Step closer and I will change you from the wolf to a hedgehog," said a voice coming from the corner. In the dim light of a suddenly revealed lantern the werewolves saw a dark figure with face covered, holding a long black bow. They have seen that bow before.
"I am not joking," said the person. "And you can bet I can shoot. If that Dwarf didn't force me to break my bow, you will see what is a good bow in the hands of a good bowman. But now you still have the chance. Now, back up! You survived this far, but I can spare you of your victory."
The werewolves hesitated for a moment. There was a possibility that the man bluffed. But the bow they saw was the bow that nearly hit them twice. They did not want to risk anything. Slowly, they retreated back into the dark tunnel.

"Fools," said Andróg, smiling to himself. "What is some Beleg against me?"


When the first rays of sunlight touched the hill, short figure of Mîm appeared in the cave entrance. He was carrying a heavy sack. "Mîm found some roots," he said, dropping it on the ground.
"And that's everything you brought?" asked Rikae. "Where is the one who accompanied you?"
"I am here," said Gil-Galad as he entered the cave. The other outlaws looked at him with surprise: He was bruised, dirty and appeared exhausted. He more fell than sat to the ground. "We did not find much, there were no animals nearby and we were afraid to wander too far into the woods. So the Dwarf decided to bring some roots, he says they are edible."
"Yes, good," nodded Mîm. "The Men may prepare their food now, the sun has risen..."
"What did you do out there so long?" asked Brinn suspiciously.
Gil-Galad looked at her with weary eyes. "Damn wilderness," he said. "The day before I was hunting some deer or what it was – and I hurt my leg. We had to camp outside, because we couldn't return till sunset. And in the morning, I realized that little creature just disappeared!"
"Mîm was searching for some herbs to help the Man," explained the Dwarf.
"Yes," said Gil-Galad. "But I thought the scoundrel left me there to die and..."
"...and so you went home alone with hurt leg, and when Mîm returned, he didn't find you," assumed Macalaure.
"Well, yes," said Gil-Galad.
"So it's just your own fault, then," said Mithalwen. "You should have believed him."
"Mîm spent half the day searching for the Man," said the Dwarf. "His leg is better now, but still it took us long to reach Amon Rûdh. We had to camp out for one more night before we could climb up here."
Gil-Galad only muttered something to himself and laid on the stony floor, completely exhausted.

The inhabitants of Amon Rûdh – dead:

Ibun son of Mîm, killed by a Werewolf on Night 1
Shasta alias Saeros, outnumbered and stabbed on Day 1
Xyzzy the Outlaw, stoned to death on Day 2
Nogrod the old Outlaw, caught off his guard on Day 3

The inhabitants of Amon Rûdh – living:
Mîm the Petty Dwarf
Rikae
Macalaure
Isabellkya
Brinniel
Lhunardawen
Gil-Galad
the guy who be short
Mithalwen

Day 4 begins. Night is over, no more talks in shadow. A new day has risen, start to talk, everyone who is alive in these halls!

[Brinniel]

Brinn looked around at the others, and when no one spoke, she started:

"Well, it seems that Nogrod was right after all and Androg really is among us; once again, someone was protected. It is already Day 4, and there is yet to be a wolf kill...these wolves really are clumsy, yet at the same time, they remain so well hidden.

"The events of yesterDay turned out to be a complete disaster, and we know that at least one, possibly two wolves were in on the bandwagon. The only good that has come out of this is at least we now have someone's thoughts to analyse, and while we cannot know anything about his suspicions for sure, Nogrod was correct on something, so hopefully his death will give us some clue onto who may be our wolves.

"It is essential we catch a wolf toDay in order to maintain our survival. Right now I want to take a closer look at Izzy and Gil-Galad as I think it is most likely at least one wolf is among them. Hopefully Gil isn't too exhausted to place some input toDay because we really need to hear from him.

"For the time being, I need to take a closer look at what Nogrod had to say, and everyone else, for that matter. I want to think things over before I speak anymore."

[Isabellkya]

Izzy gazed around at the sleeping group of outlaws and noticed that Gil had returned, and that Brinniel was awake. She counted the numbers, and thanked good fortune that once again everyone had escaped the night unscathed.

'I as well find it a bit odd, yet fortunate that the wolves have failed to kill one of our numbers for the fourth night in a row. I wonder what could be behind this. I will sit here and marinate upon my thoughts for the moment.'

[Gil-Galad]

Gil looked around after hearing from the remainder about the comments on himself earlier

"So our fellow Shasta was one of them eh? what surprises me is that after i voted out shasta as a werewolf, i was immediately attacked the next day for being one myself... do i really have to point out the idiocy of that now? why would a werewolf root out his fellow one in the first day? that would lower the chances of them wolves surviving greatly... and my dear Brinniel has been adamant in reminding everyone about me... i'm sorry but that sounds like your a wolf trying top sway everyone to get rid of my hunches of other wolves... you, my dear brinniel, are my prime suspect for being a dirty wolf!"

Gil's voiced rasied as he sat back in a corner and ate some of the roots he gathers

"++Brinniel!!! out with her, if you don't beleive me and then decide to kill me off, you will all know anyways, so either kill brinn today or kill her next day after i'm dead, your choices!! but let my last wish be that wolf be killed after me...or i will come back from the dead and stuff..."

[Brinniel]

Hearing Gil-Galad's words, Brinn folded her arms, raising an eyebrow.

"Gil, you obviously have some catching up to do. We do not know whether Shasta as Saeros was on the wolf side. In fact with Androg among us, it's looking more likely Saeros was simply here to steal Turin's role as Androg has stolen Beleg's. Unless you have a reason to know otherwise...

"I have never seriously suspected you alone, Gil. Frankly, I had no clue what to think with you away and all. I mentioned you in my speeches, as have many others, simply so we would not overlook your silence and the possibility you might be furry.

"And your hunches of other wolves? But you have said practically nothing thus far...I do not understand what you mean. What makes you so confident I'm a wolf, anyways? I do not like this quick and aggressive attack you've placed on me, and it has poor reasoning behind it. I seriously hope this isn't all you have to say toDay because if it is, things will not be looking good for you..."

[Gil-Galad]

"And your hunches of other wolves? But you have said practically nothing thus far...I do not understand what you mean. What makes you so confident I'm a wolf, anyways? I do not like this quick and aggressive attack you've placed on me, and it has poor reasoning behind it. I seriously hope this isn't all you have to say toDay because if it is, things will not be looking good for you..."

Gil quickly looked over

"of course not, if i get voted out then my role as innocent will be determined and your role as my chief prosecutor will be in question and it will be your funeral too... so you can either give up this continus adamant againest me and work together if you are indeed an innocent amongst us or continue this..." Gil looked around for words "crusade of yours againest me and spell your own doom, this will either end up into two innocents dying or one innocent sacrificing themselves for a wolf to be rooted out, i would perfer that one shall stand and one shall fall but now is not the time to point fingers at lesser people in this cave! If you are indeed ready to put aside your attack on me then i will do all in my power to hope that our other brethern do not band wagon on you to take you down as an innocent, but if you defend againest this statement, a statement that has offered you a way to live, then i call upon my brothers to make you reveal yourself to who you are and be rid of us!"

Gil, with eyes afired, continued to stare at brinn

"i admit that i am not sure if you are indeed for certain wolf or innocent, but i must defend myself, as you and others have said i have lacked in, and i will not take these threats of death lightly! i will indeed fight to my death and see a sunrise again! so here is my defense my dear brinniel, and now you must make your choice and spare me anymore talks of me being unresponsive, you know well enough of my absence and now that i am back i will not go quietly into the night!"

Gil sat back down and draped a blanket over himself

[Lhunardawen]

Roused by Gil's outbursts, Lhuna sat up in her straw bed with a jerk, and panic washed over her as it does over a student who oversleeps. But she soon saw that everyone was yet alive, and again she felt relieved and wary at the same time.

"Has this even happened in the villages of old?" she asked no one in particular. "I am quite confident the wolves are making history on this hill. Never before has any creature of Morgoth failed so greatly in his task! In this I am more fully convinced that inexperienced wolves are among us.

"YesterDay was certainly a disaster, and alas that Nogrod spoke the truth! But if his death gains us anything, it's that I'm sure a wolf or both of them could be revealed by intense recollection of yesterDay's proceedings.

"The first to vote for him was tgwbs, and we need not be reminded of the misunderstanding they had. But tgwbs seemed sincere, and I doubt he would be so reckless as to be so noisy, and to start the whole thing, so to speak, if he was a wolf. This makes me believe him innocent.

Izzy

[the guy who be short]

Guy awoke and looked around once more, counting heads, before being told that the wolves had been thwarted once again. He sighed.

"While it is indeed good news that the Wolves were defeated once again, this means we have had no wolf kills for three nights. This is terrible for the village, because we have nothing to analyze from the wolves.

The voting record also is quite dismal; yesterday, the lynching of Noggy was almost unanimous. The day before, xyzzy was killed with an overwhelming majority. Not only do we have few clues from the Night, we also have very little to work on from the Day.

I have to say, I am disappointed with my part in the lynching of Nogrod. I was so certain he was a wolf. Although he wished me to 'bag the wolves' for him, I'm not sure how useful looking at his final words will be. In his final two posts he expressed suspicion of Mac, Rikae, Lhuna, Gil, Izzy and Mith, and also me earlier in the day. This is hardly promising.

Instead, it may be worth looking at what other people said about him at the time. And the voting record. Nogrod said 'Blame yourselves toMorrow - but also look closely those who triggered this and those who were too happy to follow. Especially those who hadn't voiced that strong suspicions on me earlier but were now happy to jump for a vote - notwithstanding how reservedly they made they vote.' In this, I think he is right, and I shall be following that up."

Guy almost receded to think a little, but one last thought came to him.

"Half the day is gone and we have said dismally little. I beseech every member of our band of outlaws to say as much as possible."

[Macalaure]

Macalaure took a deep breath for the many things he was about to say:


"Firstly: Of Nogrod's suspicions on the last day:

Throughout the game, he wanted us to lynch the quiet ones, Gil and Izzy in particular, Mith to a much lesser degree.

Despite their quarrel, he wasn't really suspicious of Guy. At the end of the day he raises his suspicions a bit again, but not to a serious extent.

He makes a good point about Lhuna (too willing to take up other's points) which might be worth to be considered. I'll have to take one more look at her.

He's suspicious of Rikae and me, for saying that he might skip a kill and try to lead us astray. (In my case, this was just a thought that crossed my mind. If you look at my speeches, you will see that I never pursued this idea.)

He's suspicious of me in speech #168, and I can see where he comes from.

If the wolves forwent their kill for tactic reasons, he thinks it's Rikae and me.
However, I cannot see any such tactics anymore. Why not kill at one night and (try to) kill in the others? Makes no sense. I'm still not so eager to agree on the "clumsy wolves"-thing. Even the most clumsy wolf gets a kill right sometimes. I'd rather think that Beleg and Androg have been very apt (and, undebatably, rather lucky as well).


Secondly: Of the voting order:

1. the guy who be short (been suspicious of Nogrod almost all day. If he's a wolf, he's a gutsy one not afraid to commit)
2. Lhunardawen (there's been a lot of suspicion against Nogrod around when she made this pivotal vote. I'll have a look at her reasoning later. Taken by itself, this vote looks bad)
3. Isabellkya (this important vote gave Nogrod the clear lead and is suspicious therefore. It certainly doesn't make Izzy look better)
4. Macalaure (destroyed all hope left. It's less suspicious than Lhuna's and Izzy's vote, I think, but suspicious nonetheless)
5. Rikae (not the best reasoning behind it. Could be the vote of a wolf going with the flow. But she could easily have made a more well-reasoned vote for somebody else (esp. as a wolf, I mean), which makes her vote look better)
6. Brinniel (again, could be a wolf going with the flow)

Mithalwen's defensiveness of Nogrod could be wolvish in theory, but I get an extremely innocentish feel from it.


Thirdly: Of the things that have been said today:

Brinniel mainly states the obvious and Izzy states precisely nothing.

Gil obviously hasn't caught up on the game yet (Shasta is no werewolf and Brinniel hasn't been the most adamant to lynch him). Nevertheless he gives a vote, which raises my eyebrow, too. Brinn's reaction seems honest to me.

Now, in all the werewolf-plagued villages that my ancestors have been through, they have never encountered the offer "I'm not suspicious of you if you're not suspicious of me"!
You're not sure if Brinniel is a wolf or not. You see the need to defend yourself (of course) and you do that by voting her. Then you say you won't go after her if she doesn't go after you. That's the most horrible case of self-preservation I have ever come across."

After he ended his speech, he sat back to let Lhuna continue her's.


(crossed with the Guy)

[Lhunardawen]

"Izzy had suspected both tgwbs and Nogrod throughout the Day, and voted for Nogrod in the end. She also suspected Rikae, but it feels to me like a retaliation for the suspicion the latter also casted upon her. Definitely suspicious behaviour.

"Rikae, from being unsure of Nogrod's suspiciousness, saying that he's the Nogrod we all known, ended up voting for him because he appeared desperate ere the end and looked bad for reusing his arguments. That's quite a jump, if you ask me. Risky move for a werewolf, though, because it reeks of jumping into a bandwagon, and the old woman should have enough wisdom to avoid that. I find her a tad less suspicious than Izzy, and it's doubtful they are wolves together.

"Mac has me admiring him for this risky but honest remark, on the possibility of lynching tgwbs or Nogrod: We need a proper dead body to analyse, one which leaves something that we can really analyse! And if the wolves won't supply us with one, we might have to do it ourselves. He spoke true, and shows that he is serious in hunting down our wolves. From the start he had suspected Nogrod more than tgwbs, following their arguments to the point of practically abandoning all thought of the others. In the end he basically used subjectivity as the basis of his vote, which was for Nogrod. The effort he exerted in analysing their exchange, and his relative steadfastness now puts him in my innocent list.

"Mith makes me worry about her adamant stand that Nogrod is innocent. It's perfect because it was her against all of us, practically, and now she has all the right to say I told you so. But there are only a few people who could know for certain his innocence. One would make us trust her, but the other would make us lynch her. Another thing to consider is her amount of contribution, apart from the issue concerning tgwbs and Nogrod, and that for me tips the scale towards the suspicious side. She voted for Brinn, for reasons I do not completely understand, and the way she attacked Brinn after she cast her vote for Nogrod makes me all the more wary of her.

"Brinn stood her ground in her suspicion of Nogrod, and voted accordingly. I'm feeling rather neutral towards her.

"Mind that these are mostly based on yesterDay's votes and could change if other factors are also considered. My suspects are Mith and Izzy or Rikae.

"Now, Gil, I haven't forgotten you. Your long disappearance casts doubt on your lycanthropy, but again the killing could be done even in your absence, I believe, but I don't think that would be the case. I advise you not to be too jumpy, though, or I for one might forgo my previous assumption and contemplate on having you lynched."

Out of breath, she lay down on her straw bed again and shut her eyes, and breathed deeply.

[Brinniel]

Brinn shook her head, finding this young man's words to be rather ridiculous.

"How could you say that I would be the chief prosecutor of your lynching, Gil, when no one has even considered you a prime suspect yet? I don't know where you're getting the idea that I'm pulling this 'crusade' against you....I have never before specially targeted you as a possible lynchee.

"Yes, as one of the silent ones you have been a suspect, I won't deny that. But this mostly comes from the fact that there have been no wolf-kills and I think that it's due to clumsy wolves, and I feel pretty sure at least one of those are silent. But honestly, due to some of her posts from the past Days (which I will go over later), I thought Izzy to be the more suspicious one. And now with this sudden outburst of yours, I must reconsider this. It is even possible both of you are wolves...

"This entire argument of yours is folly, boy. Either you indeed are a wolf panicking after another Night of no kills, or you are very, very blind."

EDIT: X-ed with tgwbs, Mac, and Lhuna

[Lhunardawen]

From where she lay, her eyes still closed, Lhuna let out a silent chuckle.

"Too willing to take up others' points? I, Mac? If this is concerning my agreeing with an observation made by Brinn, of which Nogrod took note, I had already explained myself. I had overlooked, and apologised."

[the guy who be short]

Guy took up a stick and walked over to the voting record for Days 1 & 2. Underneath, he wrote the record of Day 3.

Day 1:
tgwbs: ++xyzzy (xyzzy: 1)
Gil-Galad: ++Shasta (xyzzy: 1, Shasta: 1)
Lhuna: ++Macalaure (xyzzy: 1, Shasta:1, Macalaure: 1)
Rikae: ++Shasta (xyzzy: 1, Shasta: 2, Macalaure: 1)
Nogrod: ++xyzzy (xyzzy: 2, Shasta: 2, Macalaure: 1)
Brinn: ++tgwbs (xyzzy: 2, Shasta: 2, Macalaure: 1, tgwbs: 1)
Macalaure: ++Shasta (xyzzy: 2, Shasta: 3, Macalaure: 1, tgwbs: 1)
Nogrod: --xyzzy (xyzzy: 1, Shasta: 3, Macalaure: 1, tgwbs: 1)
Nogrod: ++tgwbs (xyzzy: 1, Shasta: 3, Macalaure: 1, tgwbs: 2)

Day 2:
Rikae: ++Izzy (Izzy: 1)
tgwbs: ++xyzzy (Izzy: 1, xyzzy: 1)
Lhuna: ++Nogrod (Izzy: 1, xyzzy: 1, Nogrod: 1)
Rikae: --Izzy (xyzzy: 1, Nogrod: 1)
Rikae: ++xyzzy (xyzzy: 2, Nogrod: 1)
Mac: ++xyzzy (xyzzy: 3, Nogrod: 1)
Brinn: ++tgwbs (xyzzy: 3, Nogrod: 1, tgwbs: 1)
Nogrod: ++xyzzy (xyzzy: 4, Nogrod: 1, tgwbs: 1)
Mithalwen: ++xyzzy (xyzzy: 5, Nogrod: 1, tgwbs: 1)

Day 3:
Guy: ++Nogrod (Nogrod 1)
Lhuna: ++Nogrod (Nogrod 2)
Izzy: ++Nogrod (Nogrod 3)
Mac: ++Nogrod (Nogrod 4)
Rikae: ++Nogrod (Nogrod 5)
Brinniel: ++Nogrod (Nogrod 6)
Mith: ++Brinniel (Nogrod 6, Brinniel 1)

He looked around. "I shall refer to this later. Feel free to use it yourselves, too."

[the guy who be short]

Guy spoke again. "I have to admit, I am quite worried about Mith, for several reasons.

First off, there was here huge show yesterday while Nogrod was being lynched. When first thinking about this, I thought this pointed to her innocence. However, she really did overdo it.

Mith obviously thought Noggy was gifted. I think she was hoping that, upon being lynched, this would be the case; this would point to her being his fellow gifted.

What bothers me most about yesterday is that she was present since Izzy's vote for Nogrod, the third vote, but she did not vote until the end. Why? If she was truly concerned about Nogrod being a gifted, and truly wanted to save him, why not vote early, with good reasons, and attempt to create an alternative bandwagon? It really seems contradictory that she was worried Nogrod would be lynched and end up gifted, but didn't commit herself to saving him. It seems that ultimately, she wanted him lynched, thus getting rid of what she thought was a gifted, with the added bonus of making her appear innocent and gifted toDay. I bet it really annoyed her that he wasn't gifted.

There are other things that bother me about Mith. She seemed intent on making it seem that the wolves had been defeated by gifteds on Night 3, rather than sleeping through it, despite evidence to the contrary.

Then there is her sudden jump on Brinn merely for saying that an innocent Nogrod would make Mith look bad...

There's also the way that Mith has kept up a presence, but not actualy said much. Going over the last couple of Days, I've found that she's expressed no opinions at all about Rikae, Mac or Lhuna - a third of the village, and a significant third at that.

So, I await her reasons and also some input about the people she has, perhaps conveniently, avoided mentioning at all. I will now look for other suspects."

He walked off and started looking at the voting records he had drawn earlier, mumbling to himself.

[Brinniel]

"Okay, so here are my thoughts one everyone:

"tgwbs is one I had been extremly suspicious of for sometime. But as I mentioned previously, I grow less and less suspicious as time goes on. His apologies for misjudging Nogrod seem sincere, and I still think he did give some good reasoning behind his vote yesterDay, even though he was wrong. I'm not sure guy would be so bold with this vote if he were a wolf.

"Lhuna was suspicious of Nogrod since she voted him on Day 2. Because of this, I don't think she simply voted him yesterDay to jump the bandwagon. All her posts so far have a sincere tone, and still don't find her suspicious. Still, I would not disagree that we need to keep an eye on her, because for all I know, she could be fooling us all.

"Of Mithalwen it's hard to say. I agree with Lhuna that it could go either way. But I'm more inclined to think her leaning towards innocent. After all, I think a wolfish Mith would anticipate that her defense could backfire, plus I doubt she would fail a wolf-kill three nights in a row...

"Mac remained consistent with his arguments against Nogrod and everything else throughout yesterDay. For the time being, I just don't see a good enough reason to seriously suspect him.

"Of Rikae, I'm not sure about. Looking at voting alone, she was unsure of Nogrod's guilt throughout most of the day, but in the end she jumped in and voted him anyways, which could make her suspicious. But then again, like I said with Mith, I imagine a wolf Rikae would manage to make a wolf-kill at least once out of three Nights.

"Gil-Galad is questionable. Even with his return, we have still heard little from him. His silence and recent behaviour makes me feel suspicious for reasons I have previously stated.

"And Izzy...I did not like her vote yesterDay. If any vote seems most suspicious, it is her's. After all, Nogrod said to watch out for the third voter, and I have a feeling she may have cross-posted and not seen that comment when she voted...which would make her a clumsy wolf indeed. And I don't like how little content most of her thoughts have. And has anyone noticed her first sentences of each Day she has spoken:

Day 2: "Izzy opened her eyes and sat up, upon her bed. She surveyed the sleeping inhabitants and noticed the numbers were the same. She thanked the good protectors, whoever they might be, for keeping watch through the night while they slumbered."

Day 3: "Izzy opened her eyes and rubbed them to expel the last remnants of her slumber. She headed towards the others and took a seat. She reflected on the events of yesterDay and yesterNight. She shook her head at the ruthless slaughter of the innocent outlaw Xyzzy, as well as thanked good fortune for bringing yet another kill-free evening."

Day 4: "Izzy gazed around at the sleeping group of outlaws and noticed that Gil had returned, and that Brinniel was awake. She counted the numbers, and thanked good fortune that once again everyone had escaped the night unscathed."

All of these first sentences are very similar. Now while each Night has ended in a similar way, by now she shouldn't be thanking 'good fortune,' for we all know that at this point a wolf-kill would be better than a no-kill for the sake of finding something to analyse. Something about her words seems very fake and planned to me...

"Okay, I really need to rest my eyes for now. I will be back later to put in some more thoughts."

Brinn leaned backed against the rocks and closed her eyes.

EDIT: X-ed with tgwbs

[Mithalwen]

Mithalwen spoke, "I have not been quiet from act of will rather because I have been constrained. This style of debate is hard for me. Certainly if I were a wolf I would not have missed ANY kill.. I would have found a way. ... but I am not. Yes I thought Nogrod gifted. I did not KNOW... I prefer not to explain my reasons at this time.

I am afraid having believed Nogrod gifted my readings of the discussions have been coloured by this and it must wait my return in a few hours for greater analysis. I am beginning to think that no ranger could be so blessed and this lack of kill is a cunning ploy. Bizarre as it may seem. Leads me to suspect the mathmagicians though..." Mithalwen fell silent and returned to her work.

[the guy who be short]

Guy replied to Mithalwen quickly before going off to look at others' behaviour.

"Mith,

Firstly, it is quite clear that the wolves slept through a kill on Night 3. And no Ranger has been this lucky; we have a different Ranger today, Androg, than Night 2, Beleg.

And, of course, it would not be in the wolves' interest to refrain from killing, as it would then take them longer to deplete the village's population and achieve victory."

[Macalaure]

"As of now, I don't feel anything particularly wrong about Brinniel and I would want Rikae to talk and explain her vote of yesterday before I judge her today.

I took another look at Lhuna and didn't find any solid evidence against her in her words. But there remained a strange feeling. Due to Nogrod's suspicion, I will keep her in slight suspicion myself. I'll be interested what Rikae will have to say about her, who was suspicious of Lhuna yesterday but didn't vote her.

The likeliness of having sleepy wolves make Mith, Izzy and Gil good suspects. As I said, I do not suspect Mith (see beneath). I somehow can't put Izzy into any box and Gil is even more mysterious as usual.


I thought the Guy to be on the innocent side, but his recent words about Mith have me in doubt.

As she has just said (and elsewhere), Mith's behaviour is partly due to events that lie beyond us here. If she was a wolf, wouldn't it be foolish to spend almost her whole effort on declaring Nogrod innocent/gifted? Wouldn't there have been better things to do in the little time she had? Obviously, she didn't vote earlier, let alone build a case with good reason, because she had no clear suspect and no time to build that case that Guy demands. In the end she voted Brinn - without good reason - because she happened to catch her eye in that moment, it seems to me. Yes, she has not presented us any great opinions yet, but this points neither to wolf nor to innocent, but merely to an extensive and acute need for sleep.

Guy's case looks, I'm afraid, like a case built by a wolf against his own better knowledge. My eye is on him again."

[Rikae]

Rikae had been sitting quietly for most of the day, listening to the others. Now she spoke.
"I've been uneasy about Isabellkya from the beginning, and I'm glad to see that others are finally beginning to suspect her also. Her words do feel very calculated; there is even a hint of smugness in them, and she not only says nothing in today's post, but has really done little in the past three days but defend herself and cook. Furthermore, we can't ignore the fact that she fits the profile of an inexperienced wolf.
Mithalwen's defense of innocent Nogrod could be a wolf's attempt to look innocent or gifted, but as such would be too obvious for her, I think.
Gil-Galad's extreme defensiveness is certainly strange, and I don't know what to make of it.
Macalaure tends to look innocent because went after Nogrod so determinedly yesterday, however, his wolf father was similarly single-minded and bold, as I recall, so in his case, it doesn't entirely absolve him.
Guy speaks good sense and is helpful; this in itself doesn't prove him innocent, but I simply can't imagine wolf-Guy missing a kill (or skipping one for tactical reasons, for that matter.)
Lhuna, on the other hand, I could see doing such a thing. She feels very ...crafty... lately. This thing she said grabbed my attention:

"I am quite confident the wolves are making history on this hill. Never before has any creature of Morgoth failed so greatly in his task! In this I am more fully convinced that inexperienced wolves are among us."

I have a feeling, though I can't put my finger on why, that an innocent person would word this differently. It seems like just the thing a frustrated wolf might say, thinking she was throwing us off the trail.
She also expresses suspicion of Izzy, but that doesn't mean they aren't co-conspirators, especially at this juncture. And why she would pause so long after Izzy's name, I can't fathom.

Brinniel seemed quite odd in the past, but lately her words feel sincere and genuinely intended to be helpful. Maybe she is hitting her stride as a wolf; though I think it more likely she is relieved that the curse of her ancestors seems to have been broken.

My top suspects are, quite emphatically, Isabellkya, Lhuna and Gil-Galad. I'm almost certain a wolf - or two - can be found in that trio."

EDIT: X'd with Guy & Mac

[the guy who be short]

Guy walked off outside the cave, and read once again the voting record of the past few days.

"I am quite certain," he said, "that we have at least one, and perhaps two quiet wolves. The no-kill on Night 3 shows that the wolves somehow slept through the Night, which implies quiet wolves with poor communication to me, perhaps the absent Gil, as well as Izzy and Mith.

The behaviour of Gil recently has been quite bizarre. It seems he feels under pressure, a possible sign of wolvery. Mith tried half-heartedly to divert Nogrod's lynching onto Gil yesterday, so I think if Gil is a wolf, Mith probably wont be and vice versa.

Brinn makes a couple of good points about Izzy. However, I'm not really sure Izzy's vote is suspicious simply because Nogrod said to look out for the third voter: I don't understand what is meant to be suspicious about the third vote in particular. I suspect it was just an attempt to discourage people from voting for him... What worries me more about Izzy is that, like Mith, she fails to mention many people at all.

So, among the quiet, I am most in favour of lynching Mith, then Gil, then Izzy.

Oh, and about Mith, in response to Mac: I stand by my reasoning. It would not be foolish to spend the whole time campaigning against lynching Nogrod - if he had turned out to be gifted, it would have made Mith look very good indeed. I feel that she did have time to build a case if she wished: she certainly had more than an hour. I appreciate that there may be factors outside of our community that affect her behaviour, but I still find that behaviour suspicious, in relation to the Save Nogrod Campaign, and bizarre in reference to the "Our Wolves Didn't Sleep Through The Night, Despite The Evidence" thing, which she is still continuing.

I wish I had more time to analyze the Nogrod voters. Alas, I must go for a while, and return only to vote thereafter. Good luck, Outlaws."

[Rikae]

"On second thought, I'm not so sure Guy is helpful, so much as he appears helpful. Still, while I don't agree with his conclusions about Mith, his reasoning looks sensible and honest enough, not fabricated as Mac seems to find it. I'll have to look at him more closely, though."

EDIT: X'd with Guy

[the guy who be short]

"Well, I've mentioned wha I've thought of the three most quiet people. Now I have the much more difficult task of trying to sort out my feelings towards the unsuspicious-foursome: Brinn-Lhuna-Mac-Rikae.

Of these, I have thus far been least suspicious of Mac, whose reasoning always seemed to follow mine until very recently. I think Noggie also felt somewhat unhappy about Mac around the end of yesterDay, but I don't have time to find out why or whether I support these reasons.

Brinn I felt uneasy with earlier in the week because her initial suspicion of me seemed retaliatory and she didn't voice much opinion of other people. Over the lst few days, though, she has been far more vocal, and I've generally agreed with her conclusions. Of these four, she is the only one who I feel quiet confident is innocent.

This leaves Lhuna and Rikae, the confusing couple. I don't really know what to think of them and I don't think I've given them enough consideration thus far, overlooking them in my pursuit of others. Neither rings alarm bells but neither inspires confidence.

Which leaves me with a nice little table which I shall draw out in the sand for you." He took Rikae's stick, and inscribed the following:

Feels innocent: Brinn.
Unsure: Lhuna, Rikae
Will look at tomorrow if possible: Mac
Wolfy: Izzy
Wolfier: Gil
Wolfiest: Mith.

"I must leave now. Farewell, and vote wisely.

++MITHALWEN"

[Mithalwen]

Mithalwen said " I must make a confession, I did not hear Legate's words before I spoke about our protector ... having little time I caught only that noone had died not the clues... and if I am cautious about making accusations well time is a factor but not the only consideration. I finish work now and shortly should be able to discuss with you to the end. I beg you not to follow Guy's example.... he may be misguided but as soon as I can I will review his speech and see if it is wolvish rather. I suspected him on before but foolishly was swayed to Xyzzy."

[Rikae]

"I fear the sleepiness which afflicts this village will soon overcome me, and I may not wake in time to vote later, so I think I should do so now. In any event, I am fairly confident of this vote."
Rikae stood, and wrote with her staff in the dust:
"++ Isabellkya"

[Macalaure]

"I'm still thinking about the missed kill from two nights ago.

Everybody here would claim of himself that it would never have happened to him (except Gil, who has been away, and Isabell, who missed the whole first day) and it would be believable. But those who know a bit of the ways of our Black Foe know that he will probably not send out two wolves about both of which he would have to fear such a thing. This is very unlikely. I therefore cannot believe that these two are our two wolves.

On the other hand, it is also unlikely that both do not come from this small set of outlaws, because it is unbelievable that two of those would have made such a mistake. I conclude that exactly one out of Gil and Izzy is a wolf, and one out of the rest, where by rest I mean especially Guy and Lhuna, though I'm not yet completely disregarding Rikae and Brinn (and Mith)."

(crossed with Rikae)

[Isabellkya]

Izzy continued to listen to the speeches and discussion amongst the others. She periodically gazed over to see when they were finished, as to allow her to get a word in edgewise.

'Each day I hear Rikae, adds on to the unease which I feel. Her actions remind me of the wolf ancestors among us, when they would pick out parts of speeches which would benefit them the most; and use those to scapegoat another villager. Lhuna and Brinniel bring unease to me as well for similar reasons.'

'Gil is unsettling to me, in regards to his speeches today. They contain more dramatics than actual content which we can use in our discussion.'

'Lhuna, has gone farther up on my suspect list, with the appearance of her anger driven defensiveness.'

'I no longer feel uneasy about Guy; if he were a wolf, he would no doubtedly be scapegoating as well.'

'I must leave you now, as it is becoming harder to keep my eyes open.'

++Rikae

'For reasons spoken earlier, I must go with my gut feeling. I know that one of you has mentioned that I was only suspicious of her for retaliation purposes only. Yet I must remind you, that I am not as blind as others here.'

When the last of her words were spoken, Izzy stood from where she had been sitting, and headed over to her bed. She laid down and was quickly asleep.

[Brinniel]

Brinn had been awake for awhile, listening to others and thinking deeply about what they had to say.

"Okay, it seems the majority of us (me, Mac, Rikae, tgwbs, Lhuna) are fairly sure there's at least one wolf among Izzy and Gil. I suggest we lynch one of them toDay, and hopefully we will have picked the right one.

"It's the best solution in my opinion. And I agree with Mac...it is more likely the wolves are one quiet, one active. But honestly, I have no idea on who to look at among our louder outlaws. Innocent or wolf (hopefully the latter), by eliminating one of these two, we should have a much better clue on who to suspect come toMorrow."

[Macalaure]

"Being sure that there is one wolf among Guy and Lhuna and one among Gil and Izzy, I went to look for possible connections between the four possible pairings. Here are my findings.


Lhuna and Gil

Very little to say. Lhuna says Gil is as usual on Day One, she attacks him in his absence on Day Two. Today she said: "I advise you not to be too jumpy, though, or I for one might forgo my previous assumption and contemplate on having you lynched."

This is nothing


Lhuna and Izzy

Not much more than before. On Day Two, Lhuna said that Izzy was more substantial than Brinn (no offense, but: eh?). One Day Three, Izzy takes a point from Lhuna that there are probably no wolves among the silent ones. Today Lhuna said that Izzy's behaviour was definitely suspicious and then Izzy made Lhuna rise on her suspicioun list

This is nothing, too.


Guy and Gil

Almost nothing at all. Yesterday Guy said that the absent Gil might be Nogrod's ally and today Gil is second on his list.

I highly doubt this is something.


Guy and Izzy

On Day One, Guy doesn't mention Izzy, which is interesting, because of his vote for xyzzy. The next Day Guy calls her likely innocent (while continuing to pursue xyzzy) and takes up a point of hers to accuse Nogrod (the self-preservation). He is happy Izzy contributes now, but doesn't look at what she contributes critically. He defends Izzy from Rikae and suspects Rikae for her accusation. My favourite (because very telling) line of Guy (towards Izzy): "Speak more, dear, or you'll be lynched by the likes of Rikae." Izzy says that Guy worries her a bit, but there's nothing substantial. Later, Guy is among her vote candidates, but then she voices a kind of understanding for Guy's situation and votes Nogrod. Guy says that her vote points towards her innocence. Today, Guy said that he doesn't understand the suspicion about Izzy's vote and that it isn't automatically suspicious just because Nogrod said so. He concedes that there is a wolf among the quiet ones, but Izzy is only the third on his list.

Izzy's behaviour towards Guy is very fishy. Guy doesn't look at her critically even one time, instead he defends her more than once."

Macalaure stood up and pointed at Guy and Izzy with his open hand.

"Outlaws and outlawesses, I don't think I'm being too bold when I say:


Here are your wolves!"

[Mithalwen]

"That seems plausible. Issy seems to suggest she is gifted ...... but I can't say I have seen any evidence in her words before...." said Mithalwen...

[Brinniel]

"An interesting theory, Mac. I suspected tgwbs for sometime, and now I've been second guessing myself. I don't know. Perhaps I should reconsider and take a closer look at him.

But we can only lynch one at a time, so I think we should still focus on Gil and Izzy toDay. Here's an analysis on each one:

"For Gil:

"His first post on Day 1 is nothing but jokes and name calling. And that is followed by more joking and bantering with Shasta. His last post is the only one with content. He thinks tgwbs's vote strange (I agree), defends himself from my statements, and then votes Shasta saying, 'rest in peace my lad, though for the first couple of days, many innocents will probably be lost' He doesn't speak again until toDay.

"ToDay he stars off claiming Shasta to be on the wolves' side and accuses me of suspecting him. He votes for me. His second statement he warns me I'll be proven guilty when he's proven innocent. Accuses me of pulling a 'crusade' against him. Says he'll hope for my survival and back off him I no longer suspect him.

"For Izzy:

"On Day 1, she speaks after the deadline...her post has no content.

"On the second Day, she's thankful that there was no kill, then questions the intentions of Beleg and Turin. In her last comments, she defends her vegetarianism, but doesn't give any suspects. Doesn't vote.

"Day 3, she is once again happy to see everyone still alive. She suspects Rikae for suspecting her and a vote switch. She suspect Nogrod of jumpiness and is worried about tgwbs. She doesn't think the wolves are among the silent and then accuses Mac of being silent. Later, she's worried about Nogrod, tgwbs, and Rikae and notes that Rikae and Nogrod ignore each other. Finds Nogrod and tgwbs's debate 'eyebrow raising.' Votes Nogrod.

"ToDay, she again is thankful for a no-kill, her first post has no content. Then she suspects Rikae for her words and also based off gut feeling. Is uneasy of me and Lhuna. She doesn't like Gil's speeches and is no longer suspicious of tgwbs. Votes Rikae."

[Macalaure]

"The night is drawing near, but nobody is saying anything." Macalaure observed sadly.

"Well, I shall give you my vote now anyway:

++Isabellkya,

since she seems more likely to receive the majority today. If she is evil, I strongly think Guy shall be lynched tomorrow. If I shall be killed tonight, you now know what I would advice you to do tomorrow.

However, I have some... slight... vaaague... feeling that Guy, if he is a wolf, might decide it to be favourable not to attack me tonight."

With these words, Macalaure laid himself to sleep - with a smile on his face.


(crossed with Brinn)

[Lhunardawen]

For the second time that Day, Lhuna awoke with a jerk.

"My apologies! I fell asleep, and I know I shouldn't have."

She looked around at the other Outlaws; some of them too had fallen asleep. But they had already cast their votes.

"Before my accidental slumber, I had expressed suspicion of Izzy, Rikae, and Mith, from which I believe come our two wolves.

"Izzy remains highly suspect. I know I probably can't blame her, but at these crucial Days one would expect to hear more from her, if not in number of speeches then at least in substance.

"Rikae now seems much more innocent, and not just because she and Izzy cannot be wolves together. Like Days before she again exudes a confidence in speaking her mind because she has nothing to lose, it seems. But your point about me concerning Izzy is ridiculous. There are some things over which the hand has no control.

"Mith is suspicious, but maybe for things she cannot control. I can certainly forgo having her lynched, but with the hope that in the coming Days she'll say more. I also need to start looking towards other possible wolves who might be hiding in innocent-ish words...Mac stands out for example.

Unfortunately, there is now no time for that."

++ISABELLKYA

[Brinniel]

"Okay, both of our silents are looking pretty suspicious. I would say Gil is almost furry, but I recall that he has seemed quite outrageous and suspicious in the past and turned out innocent.

"Izzy is looking more and more suspicious to me. Her words have little content and seem forced, and I don't think her votes have very good reasoning behind them. I also think Mac has a very plausible theory with some good evidence. If she is a wolf, we need to take a good look at tgwbs toMorrow.

++Izzy

"And if she is not a wolf, then Gil-Galad must be. I will not believe for a second that neither of our quiets are guilty."

EDIT: X-ed with Mac and Lhuna

[Mithalwen]

"I am not a wolf". said Mithalwen " Look elsewhere. I feel uneasy about TGWBS, fairly confident of Mac. Izzy and Gil... Gil.. the loquacity is disarming - trying ot make up for lost time..... would an ordinary Gil bother ....? And now so little time.. I think though if Izzy were gifted she might have spoken openly trusting that she could be protected as well as saving her neck"

[Mithalwen]

" So much of the speech these past days has been Nogrods who was innocent but without special power.... but I have reread ..and though Gil and Guy worry me still

++Isabellkya
"

[Volo]

Rikae looked at Isabellkya. "Looks like it's you today," she said.

"Me? What?" Isabellkya was completely shaken. "I – "

The outlaws formed a circle around him and were closing.

"No!" shouted Isabellkya. "No, wait! I am not a – "
But these were her last words. Rikae, coming closer with a handaxe in her hand, stroke at her – and in the next moment, Isabellkya's figure fell to the ground, covered with blood.

Mîm turned away from the sight with tears in his eyes. "Hey," said Macalaure. "Don't be too soft, Dwarf. He was a nasty Werewolf, one of those who killed your son..."

"No he wasn't," said Mithalwen, looking at the body.

The guy who be short turned at the rest of the outlaws. His face was red with anger. "That was the last drop!" he shouted. "I am not letting this continue! You hear? I am not! Everything goes wrong from the first day!" It was clear his anger reached critical point. It took the combined effort of both Lhuna and Brinn to calm him down.

The short outlaw sat on the ground, breathing heavily. "Okay, I guess the best for all of us will be to go to sleep," said Gil-Galad. "We have lots of things to ponder. Just let's relax and... well, it's best to sleep on it." With these words he first followed these words, and before the other outlaws disperded, he was already asleep.



The inhabitants of Amon Rûdh – dead:

Ibun son of Mîm, killed by a Werewolf on Night 1
Shasta alias Saeros, outnumbered and stabbed on Day 1
Xyzzy the Outlaw, stoned to death on Day 2
Nogrod the old Outlaw, caught off his guard on Day 3
Isabellkya the Outlaw, cut off her words on Day 4

The inhabitants of Amon Rûdh – living:
Mîm the Petty Dwarf
Rikae
Macalaure
Brinniel
Lhunardawen
Gil-Galad
the guy who be short
Mithalwen

Night 5 begins.

[Volo]

Three times they attacked. Three times they were defied. The fourth attack took place. The two werewolves creapt quietly towards their victim, looking around in fear of the mysterious archer.
But tonight nobody came.
Mithalwen saw horrible nightmares. A great host of Orcs raided little villages. People screamed and fell. Houses burned and fell. The sky was filled with smoke. Mithalwen opened her eyes.

Morning dawned above Amon Rûdh and the Outlaws gathered around in high spirit. They didn't notice that one of them was not present until Mîm walked out with a grave face.
"Won't you see that one of you is missing", the old Dwarf said.
And then Mithalwen's name was cried. The Outlaws ran to her room to see a sight unworthy existance. Mithalwen was impaled to her bed with an iron bar.
Brinniel gasped, for Mithalwen's bloodstained hair was golden. "Nienor my beloved sister. Why did you come here seeking for our doom?" Brinniel was no woman, she was Túrin in disguise. He let hold of Nienor's cold hand and drew his sword.

"I know it is all your work, Lhuna! But I am not going to let you go away just easily!"
Lhuna yelled. "Disarm him-"
Swiftly, Túrin swung his blade and blood covered Lhuna's. Lhuna, staring in astonishment on her open wound, gave out a cry of pain, but didn't fall. She backed a bit and roared at Tùrin. "So we meet at your doom."
Lhuna grew in size and hair, but Túrin's rage was cold. Soon the Outlaws saw a dead Wolf before them.

Túrin wept for Nienor. Then he drew forth his sword, and said: "Hail Gurthang, iron of death, thou alone now remainest! But what lord or loyalty dost thou know, save the hand that wieldeth thee? From no blood wilt thou shrink! Wilt thou take Túrin? Wilt thou slay me swiftly?"
And from the blade rang a cold voice in answer: "Yea, I will drink thy blood, that I may forget the blood of Xyzzy, and the blood of Nogrod slain unjustly. I will slay thee swiftly."
Then Túrin set the hilts upon the ground, and cast himself upon the point of Gurthang, and the black blade took his life.

The remaining outlaws stood on the top of the hill, silent. In the skies above, white stars started to fade. Some of the outlaws trembled, but it was not just for the cold of morning. "Let us go inside," someone spoke at least, and the men and women one by one slowly walked into the cave. But Mîm remained on the brink of the hill a long time, alone, and as the red sun rose in the east, his silhouette was to be seen against the lightened sky.

Thus ended the tale of the Children of Húrin, the most sorrowful tale among all the lays of ancient days. But the tale of the Outlaws of Amon Rűdh was not at the end yet.



The inhabitants of Amon Rűdh – dead:

Ibun son of Mîm, killed by a Werewolf on Night 1
Shasta alias Saeros, outnumbered and stabbed on Day 1
Xyzzy the Outlaw, stoned to death on Day 2
Nogrod the old Outlaw, caught off his guard on Day 3
Isabellkya the Outlaw, cut off her words on Day 4
Mithalwen alias Nienor, imaled to her bed by the Wolves on Night 5
Lhunardawen the Werewolf, slayed by Túrin on Night 5
Brinniel alias Túrin, let Gurthang drink his blood on Night 5

The inhabitants of Amon Rűdh – living:
Mîm the Petty Dwarf
Rikae
Macalaure
Gil-Galad
the guy who be short

Day 5 begins.

[Macalaure]

"Oh, what woes did this night bring with it. Three of us lie dead, but at least one of them in death now is revealed as one of our enemies.

But, o gruesome fate, here now lies Túrin, son of Húrin, mastered by grief over his sister. Túrin, dear, like a son you were to me and like a brother also."

With these words, Macalaure cast away his cloak and stood before the outlaws revealed in his true shape. But no longer was it Macalaure the outlaw, but Beleg Strongbow, once Captain of the Marchwardens of Doriath, now Captain of Dor Cúarthol, wise, strong and beautiful, but also aweful to behold in this hour of his grief and wrath.

"One of these foul creatures still is among us and we shall lynch it today or we shall likely meet our doom as well."

He looked deep into the eyes of everybody, but only one was able to return his sharp glance.

"Of this elderly lady alone I know that she truly is on our side, for I protected her in the same night that some Andróg wickedly stole my bow. Stand up, Rikae, and let us judge what is to be done. The Guy who be short and Gil-Galad will now surely vote for each other, unless they be foolish and cannot tell apart an Elf from a Wolf. But we now must counsel each other and exchange wise words to uncover the truth about these two outlaws, for one of them is not what he claims he is.

Unfortunately, even the Fair Folk is restrained by the need for sleep and Lórien's gardens now call for me to wander within them in my dreams."

[Rikae]

Rikae stood up, and the others noticed that she seemed no longer bent with age; in fact, she appeared surprisingly tall for an old woman. She answered the elf in a husky voice.
"Phfff!
I know who you are, Beleg, though I don't know what you are doing awake so early! But I suppose it's easier to get a good night's rest when you're not busy fending off wolves -"
at these words, Rikae pulled Beleg's bow from under her cloak. The androgenously attired Androg gave a hearty laugh. He contined...
"the way I see it, we have a 75% probability of survival now. We must choose to lynch either Gil or Guy, of course - I suggest Gil, because I can't stand the thought of being defeated by someone who acted so blatently wolfish - but if we choose wrong, we still have a chance. I can protect either of us tonght - I'll flip a coin to decide - and if the remaining wolf misses the kill...again...we can lynch him tomorrow."

Androg rubbed his hands together in wicked glee.

"What do you think of those odds, Guy?"

[the guy who be short]

Guy awoke and looked around. He was at first depressed by the bloodshed, but this quickly changed into happiness when he realised that not only was one wolf dead; but two innocents had also revealed themselves.

"Well, I think the Night brings more good news than bad; with two gifteds and one wolf I think the odds are, in fact, brilliant. You're right, Rikae, there's a 75% chance of victory now, from an objective point of view. It's 100% from mine.

However, as one of the two suspects, I think it would hardly be fitting for me to analyse everything Lhuna, Gil-Galad and I have said. I leave this to Mac, who enjoys that kinda thing, and wonder why I have woken up so early this morning."

He yawned.

"Obviously, as you say, I shall vote for Gil-Galad, who was my second suspect last night and whose behaviour I find very odd and befitting a wolf.

++GIL-GALAD

And the village is now in your hands, Mac & Rikae. Vote well."

He bowed and lay down to have a nap.

[Macalaure]

"Turin spent the night rather productive before he was taken from us, for which I am glad. It eases my work today greatly. Our main suspects were Lhuna and the Guy. We picked Lhuna over the Guy because we thought he might be Nienor. Guy was also Turin's hunt on the first two nights.

The two never seriously suspected the other, except when Lhuna said she thought one wolf among Guy and Nogrod, but that might have been just to justify her vote for Noggie.

But how could Guy and Lhuna miss that one kill? I don't know. You could as well ask how Lhuna could miss the kill on her own (with Gil being absent). They shall tell us once they're dead.

It speaks against Lhuna and Gil that Lhuna was slightly trying to further the lynching of Gil on Day Two, while her "I advise you not to be too jumpy, though, or I for one might forgo my previous assumption and contemplate on having you lynched." yesterday speaks for it.

And that is really all that can be said about the two.

Rikae, you said:
"I suggest Gil, because I can't stand the thought of being defeated by someone who acted so blatently wolfish"
I do not see him soo blatantly wolvish. In fact, I couldn't stand the idea of being defeated by the Wolf who be short just because of Gil's little participation (no offense, Gil. I know it's not entirely your fault).

Just why do I not get the impression that Guy's happiness of late is honest? Indeed, it would be 100% from your point of view - unless Rikae and I do something stupid and lynch you! Did you not wish to say something to avert that? Did you not wish to tell us why Gil is far more wolvish than you are and more likely to be a couple with Lhuna?

Vote well? I'm inclined not to - from your point of view."

[the guy who be short]

Guy awoke as Mac asked him questions and poked him with Rikae's stick.

"I'm awake, I'm awake...

You want to know why I think Gil is wolvish. This has already been said several times, and so I will simply reiterate the points.

1) The uncommon talkativeness which seems to imply an extra effort to stay alive.

2) The no-kill on Night 3 fits Gil's profile as he was away.

3) The odd behaviour with Brinniel yesterday.

You say I never seriously suspected Lhuna, but the same can be said of my attitude towards Brinn, Rikae, and you (Mac). I think this is hardly suspicious when I had what I felt were much more suspicious targets around and limited time.

I also don't get your maths. Knowing I'm innocent, I know 100% that Gil is a wolf. If I were a wolf and you voted for Gil, though, I would only have a 50% chance of success as Rikae would protect one of you.

Obviously I'd prefer you to vote for Gil and end everything today for certain. However, if you lynch me, you still have a 50% chance of success, so all is not completely lost. Therefore, if you do choose to do that, I'll grudgingly accept it.

Depending on how sedated I am afterwards, I think that's it from me. Goodbye."

[Rikae]

"Beleg, while being killed by Guy because of Gil's nonparticipation would be bad, wouldn't it be worse to let Gil win through nothing but jokes and defensiveness?
Guy, you'll note that Beleg is no longer a gifted; he's been downgraded"... Androg winked and held the bow aloft ... "yes, Beleg; if you had only spoken more cautiously that first day, I might not have seen through you.
You have been wrong in all your suspicions thus far; why should I listen now? I did before, for fear of lynching Turin, but now I will think for myself.

I think it would be wise to recall the things Lhuna said about each of these men, and they about her. Good thing I have a photographic memory...so, the first two days, then:

Lhuna on Gil:

-"But as of yet, there is nothing to scrutinise - unless we make a big deal out of Gil's glibness."

This seems odd to me, because it simutaneously sounds as though she is acknowledgning Gil's oddness, while making it appear insignificant.

-No mention in her second speech.

-"Gil - again, he's too glib to be in this serious situation we are now in. But a voice in my head says that this is how he normally is, and it would be foolish to kill him for this reason alone. He bears close watching in the next Days, though."

More excuses.

-"I need some time alone to think, but for now I leave you with this. Gil-galad," he looked towards the man, and just as she suspected he was fast asleep, "as he gave the first vote for Shasta, said this: 'rest in peace my lad, though for the first couple of days, many innocents will probably be lost.' Was this a slip that he knew he was innocent? I could have misunderstood him, but that's my interpretation of it."

This, however, looks like unnecessary and ill-founded scapegoating.

-(To me)"It is normal, I guess, that we understand the same statement differently, for we are two different people. For my part, I sensed an offhandedness in Gil's manner of speaking that I found unsettling. Each to her own. But I will not pay much heed to it for now, for there could be a lot more revealing words from Gil - or anyone, for that matter - later. I would that he consider our situation more seriously toDay."

Letting Gil off the hook, but then, she's been questioned.

-No mention in next two speeches.

Lhuna on Guy:

-No mention of him in her first speech.

-"I feel rather uncomfortable with tgwbs's vote - I would rather he chose one among those who have already spoken. Rather hasty, it seems to me, and safe, for in the event that xyzzy is killed and found innocent, he could hardly be blamed for playing a crucial role in it."

This looks to me like something a wolf would say about an innocent, considering that said vote was clearly not a searious one - Guy based it on Xyzzy's 'sleepiness'.

-No mention in third speech.

"And that's not the only thing: one of Nogrod's primary reasons for suspecting tgwbs, if I understand him right, was that he found the short guy overfriendly. But reminiscing on yesterDay's discussions brings no such thing to mind. The closest I found to an attempt of tgwbs to be friendly with Nogrod was that the former shared a glance with the latter - who had his eyes closed."
and
"It's a one-sided 'relationship,' this between Nogrod and the short guy, but all the same it makes me think if there's more to it than meets the eye. There are a few possibilities. One, they are Turin and Beleg, and this is their way of evading the wolves at Night, for their act casts perilous attention on them during the Day. Two, they are the wolves, and Nogrod seeks to have his comrade lynched, as though by sheer chance or cunning, so he can win us over into believing his innocence, or he can prove his worth. Or three, I am, which I am likely to do, reading too much into this."

-"My suspicion of tgwbs has now diminished, with his explanation for his early vote yesterDay, and the sensible observations he has given toDay. But that thing with all those numbers...it's distracting, whatever it is. I don't know what it is, but if I did, I'm quite sure I would be hating it."

-No mention in next speech.


Gil on Lhuna:

No mention in first three speeches.

Guy on Lhuna:

-No mention of her in his first four speeches.

-(to Nogrod) "Your fellow wolf must, I feel, be in the Rikae-Lhuna-Mith-Brinn group. Of these, Brinn seems unlikely as you voted together yesterday, so the first three are most likely to be your fellow, in my view."

Putting a wolf in a group of not only innocents, but gifteds...? The fact that all four had special roles actually makes this look more sincere, to me -gifteds give off a "strange" vibe similar to that of wolves.

-No mention in next three speeches.

-"However," he continued, "I agree with what you have said concerning the Lhunatic. It is never conducive to ponder the gifteds aloud, and you are right to say she should know better. This gives me reason to worry about her"

-Likewise, I do not trust Lhuna for her debating the gifteds.

These feel like very low-grade suspicion, more of a going-with-the-flow.




Now I need to catch my breath, but I'll be back shortly to finish this list."

[Macalaure]

"Unfortunately, sleep seems to have an unnatural hold over me today. I do not think I can keep myself awake any longer, nor that I will wake again before the night comes. I shall therefore give my vote right now.

Gil has not been awake today and there is little hope he will. Personally, I think the Guy is more suspicious than Gil. But, if I am wrong and Gil is indeed evil, there might be a chance that he, unlike the Guy, will also sleep all through the night, which gives us a slightly higher chance to survive.

Since I do not count on Gil waking up again today, I think I can vote the Guy without too much of a risk, and thus leave the final decision to you, Rikae, whom I trust.

++the guy who be short"

[Rikae]

Androg poked Beleg with the staff yet again. "Stop calling me Rikae!

It's a pity you can't stay awake and discuss this further, but if you must sleep, so be it, and may your dreams be entertaining...

I see little point in arguing with myself, so I will think about the options and give my vote ere sunset."

With this, Androg sat down on a stump, resting his elbow on his knee and his chin on his fist, and frowned pensively.

[Gil-Galad]

Gil yawned as he woke up

"so the two that accused me most are both dead now... and now yo udon't expect me to vote my dear Beleg, but let me assure you that the kill of Guy will win the game for us, so let this nightmare be over and we may continue our lives

++TGWBS

i have been an outlaw this whole time, and i have gathered enough suspicion to let the wolves pass me by, the finalizing vote decides on Rikae, who may vote for me to be safe but like i said, i wish to survive this one time, i don't know how much i can say for my innocence but i was being specualated for not defending, then i went on the super defensive and i got specualted for being too defensive... this, game if you will, has taken alot out of me, let us kill TGWBS and let us be rid of this scourge"

Gil sat back down hoping that he will indeed see the day again... then he sat up

[Rikae]

"Well, I suppose at this point, this is merely a formality. I could see either Gil or Guy as a wolf; but why break a perfect record of voting together, eh, Beleg? Though we lynched an innocent every other time..."

Androg trailed off...then once again addressed the slumbering elf.

"Let's hope you've chosen right for once; or, barring that, the wolf once again chooses wrong."

With that, the redundant Rikae retrieved his staff, and resignedly wrote:

++ The Guy who be Short

[Rikae]

Androg sat down next to the unconscious Beleg, and took a chunk of bread from the satchel he carried and ate it in silence, watching the sky turn orange and deep blue as the sun sank into the west.
He looked at Guy and Gil.
"Which of you is it, then?" he asked casually.

[Nogrod]

As the tension rose, the guy who be short started to breathe heavily and his face turned red. "There is no way you are getting me to the wall!"

"But we are," said Gil-Galad, drawing his sword. "Surrender, beast, or we are going to stone you like a dog."

"No one can withstand the power of the King of North," said the guy who be short. "No one of you is getting out of this place alive. You think you have won? Think again! I will feast on your meat tonight!"

"Get him!" Gil-Galad yelled, as the short guy's body started to change.

Andróg and Beleg prepared to fight. The guy who be short was not short anymore: he morphed into a gigantic black wolf with burning red eyes. He howled and the sound was like thunder. With tremendous roar, he charged at the outlaws.

Gil-Galad charged to stab the wolf but was disarmed: the sword flew away from his hand and broke. Beleg's sword left but a scratch on the beast's skin. But suddenly, Andróg reached for Belthronding, the great bow he hid behind his back.

"It is you who should fear us, wolf. I may have needed the staff to walk in my guise, but I'm no old woman. I may have been wrong about Gil so now I take it upon myself to avenge my friend Túrin and his dear sister." With these words Andróg shot an arrow that flew into the wolf's shoulder.

The guy who be short roared in pain but struggled to send a claw flying at the archer. The attack would have been fatal, if Beleg hadn't recovered in time and tossed himself at the beast. They both fell on the ground and the wolf was soon upon Beleg slashing at the valiant man's arms. Beleg grabbed at the arrow still sticking from the wolf's arm and pulled it out tearing the wound. He then pushed the arrow deep into the monster's chest.

Meanwhile Andróg let out another arrow. It run straight into the wolf's neck so deep that only the feathers were seen. Beleg crawled from under the dying wolf covered in blood himself. As if it wasn't enough, Gil-Galad took the broken hilt of his sword and drove it like a dagger into tgwbs's heart. With one loud bark, the wolf died.


The outlaws win!

Andróg wins!

The werewolves lose!


~*~

The ending narration coming with The Legate's return.

[Volo]

Or, as Legate suggested, the living players could continue roleplaying if they want.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

After such a long time, there was silence, peace and quiet on Amon Rûdh. As calm night fell down outside and the waning moon rose high upon clear skies of Beleriand, only the burning torches on the walls and lamps hanging from the ceiling lit the faces of the three survivors: Andróg, Beleg and Gil-Galad.

All were lost in their thoughts. Beleg, looking at the dead corpse of the terrible beast lying in front of them, remembered with pain Túrin his friend and his last words. "I knew there was something evil going to happen," he muttered to himself. "Alas! But what shall I say to Thingol the King? How could I face Húrin the Steadfast if he ever returns from the shadows? And what will I say to Morwen, mother of Nienor - that both of her children are lost?"
The joy of victory disappeared. Just sorrow remained.

Gil-Galad observed the dead body with disgust. What a terrible creature has lived alongside them all these days! He should have run during the days they were outside with the Dwarf, leaving this terrible place behind. He shuddered. But at least he is now alive and safe - unless he has anything to worry about from these two? He looked sideways on those he knew before as Macalaure and Rikae.

Andróg mourned only a little. Yes, he was sad of loss of his captain, with whom he wanted to continue the life of an outlaw. And even he was shocked by the terrible fate that befell the children of Húrin. But now he was holding the precious bow of Beleg, and the knowledge of it for a moment smoothed away all the thoughts of evil and danger of previous days and nights. He palmed the black wood of Belthronding and a smile appeared on his face.

Unnoticed by the remaining Outlaws, Mîm walked into the place. With fear, he looked at the carcass that once was the guy who be short and then looked at the faces of the standing. He noticed the smile on Andróg's face and frowned. Old hatred woke inside him again, now intensified by the recent events. How comes poor Túrin and Nienor and other good men and women are dead, and this wretched one still lives! With no less hatred he looked at Beleg. Serves him right, being robbed of what he cared the most, he thought to himself. But at that moment Beleg looked at him and their eyes met.

"Mîm!" he said. "Look, the last beast is dead: the hill is clear again."
"Mîm's heart cannot rejoice," said the Dwarf. "Both his sons lie in deep sleep now, and the friend of his chose to end his life."
Beleg came near to him. "I know how you feel: I, too, lost those whom I beloved. But you are now free of your debt, and we will no longer trouble you. I have to leave soon, to bring, alas, bad tidings to those of my kin. And the rest will probably leave you soon as well."
"The Elf is right," spoke Gil-Galad. "There is nothing for us here. At least I don't want to stay in this place, and if possible, do not want to see it again. I may join some outlaws to continue the battle against the Enemy, but - I will avoid Amon Rûdh on long distance."
"That said -" Beleg turned to Andróg. But the outlaw raised his hand. "I know what are you going to say, Elf. But there will be time. Let us sleep now. I am terribly tired."
Beleg nodded. "All right, then. We will burn the beast's body tomorrow and then speak. Go to sleep if you want. But I will spend the last night beside the entrance, remembering my friend." With these words he headed in that direction; and Andróg's sight followed him.

* * *

It was deep night still and Mîm the Dwarf was sneaking through the corridors of Amon Rûdh. Treading lightly, he at last came to the place he was seeking. First, he just took a peek in the room, but when nothing was to be seen, quietly he entered. Only a few steps in front of him he knew was the place, where his enemy slept. Soundlessly, he raised the bow he was holding. "If he does, he shall die by it," sounded in his ears. "That curse I lay on him -"
But before he could prepare the arrow to shoot, something pulled him, a hand gagged his mouth and he was picked up. The bow fell to the ground. Mîm kicked his legs, but he couldn't make a sound. He felt as something took a dart from his quiver and put it to his throat.
"Shh," said Andróg. "You don't want to wake up Gil-Galad, don't you." The Petty Dwarf was tossing himself, but to no effect. He felt as the arrowhead is pressing harder on his neck.
"Stop it," spoke the Outlaw once again, "or I will have to fulfil my curse myself. You surely don't want that. Or do you? I need only a little service from you. I know there is a hidden way out of the hill. Now where is it?"
Mîm felt that the hand holding his mouth loosened its grip. "I won't tell you anything," he chuckled. "You killer, murderer! My sons are dead, now I care not of my life anymore! You can do whatever you want to me, but I am not going to help you -"
"Indeed?" said Andróg with soft voice. "Then sorry." Suddenly Mîm felt a pain and warm blood began to flow on his neck. "I will tell! I will tell!" he breathed. Behind him, in the darkness, Andróg smiled. "So you are still afraid of death," he said. "Now tell me."

* * *

It was morning and Gil-Galad awoke sooner that day. "Hey, Elf!" he shouted, coming out of the cave. "Are you awake? I want to leave this place as soon as possible."
Beleg was still sitting on the edge of the cliff. "I burned that carrion as sun rose," he said. "We can leave now. Only I need to have a word with Andróg. Is he awoke yet?"
"I have not seen him," said Gil-Galad. "Maybe he sleeps still."
"Let us see, then," Beleg said, stood up and went to the cave, followed by Gil-Galad. But when they reached Andróg's room, the only thing they found was old Mîm lying on the floor in bonds. There was blood on his clothes. "What happened here?" asked Beleg when he released the Dwarf. "He put bonds on me!" he cried.
"We saw that," muttered Gil-Galad.
"He put bonds on me! AGAIN!" cried Mîm. "I will never, never, never forget him! Curse him, curse him forever! And all who offer aid or show mercy to him shall be cursed too!"
"Stop that," said Beleg. "Don't you have enough curses? How did he flee?"
"He forced me to show him the hidden stair," said the Dwarf, angered. "I will kill him, I swear I will kill him if I see him - !"
"I think we should leave," said Gil-Galad. "That little man is clearly out of his mind."
Beleg rose. "You are right. Fare thee well, Mîm, with all joy that can remain in your life!"
"Joy?" said the Dwarf. "There is no joy left for Mîm. Only revenge! Yes, revenge..."
The two Outlaws walked away, leaving the old Dwarf to himself.

* * *

Sun shone brightly that day and western wind blew. Beleg and Gil-Galad looked from the top of the hill upon the plains, forests and in the far north the shadowy heights of Dor-Lómin.
"I think I may go home," said Gil-Galad. "What about you?"
"Me, too," said Beleg. "I have some news to tell..."
"All right then," the young Outlaw reached his arm. "Fare thee well. Hopefully we may see each other again, in a better place. And - hey, your bow! You are leaving it to the old scoundrel?"
But Beleg did not answer. So Gil-Galad just shrugged and turned to climb down the hill, as Beleg's high stature still remained standing silently above him; until he descended among the piled rocks and then he saw the Elf no more.