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This time the villagers were certain they had pinpointed a wolf; everything about Kitanna pointed to a furry secret. Being so confident, the villagers were also eager to give their gallows another shot – after all, werewolves were supposed to be hung. No one knew why, exactly, but that was the way it was supposed to be done.
“Just give me a chance!” pleaded Kitanna. “I’m innocent, honest! I’ll… I’ll even point you in the direction of the real wolves!”
“Wolvish lies, all of it!” retorted the villagers. “You’d probably point out innocents, anyway.” There was nothing Kitanna could say to this, so she remained defiantly quiet.
The villagers had learned from their mistakes in more than one way – they were even willing to let their official executioner oversee the proceedings – so they said. As they drew nearer to the gallows their blood ran the hotter and the more mob-like they became. So while the executioner was allowed up to the gallows, he never actually had a hand in tying the noose, and he certainly did not get to use his axe, which he regretfully left leaning against the base of the gallows.
“I suppose you’ve figured out how to tie a slip-knot by now?” Kitanna asked sweetly.
“Shut your mouth, you wolf,” snapped a villager (the one who was trying and failing at getting a proper slip-knot tied). Finally, though, the rope was tied to everyone’s satisfaction and the noose was slipped around Kitanna’s neck. The shouts and jeers of the mob suddenly grew very quiet: here came the moment of truth.
They were about to pull the lever when with a startling snarl, Kitanna began to transform. Her nose lengthened into a snout, her chest broadened, and thick grey hair sprouted all over her body. Someone shrieked; another shouted, “Hang her! Now!” But the villager in charge of working the gallows was too stunned to move.
One level-headed villager thought quickly. With a stroke of brilliance, he snatched the executioner’s axe (once more, the mob had prevented their unfortunate executioner from reaching it) and, stepping as close to the raging wolf-Kitanna as he dared, took a wild swing at her neck.
In later days, some would debate whether it was luck or skill that guided the hand of the villager (most say luck). The axe did not slice through Kitanna’s neck as intended, but it did lodge between her shoulder blades, effectively severing her spinal column and paralyzing her. She hung limply from the noose, which finally worked though the gallows had never been activated, and soon suffocated.
Victorious at last, the villagers retired to their homes in rejoicing. After several innocents’ deaths, they had killed a werewolf.
~*~*~*~
Living:
Dancing Spawn
Elf-warrior
Encai
Eomer
Kath
Lhuna
LMP
Mormegil
Oromin
Saurreg
TORE
Wilwarin
Dead:
Firefoot – drowned and burned by werewolves on Night 1
Nilpaurion (Ordinary Villager) – beat piñata style and killed by villagers on Day 1
Fea (Ordinary Villager) – gutted and stuffed by werewolves on Night 2
Oddwen (Ranger) – killed by Nilp’s villager-provoked wolves on Day 2
Durelin (Hunter) – Deadheaded by werewolves on Night 3
TGWBS (Ordinary Villager) - Slain by Hunter on Night 3
Kitanna (Werewolf) – Paralyzed and hung by villagers on Day 3
Score:
Werewolves – 2
Villagers – 10
It is now Night 4. I need names from the Wolves and Seer; Shirriffs should stop PM'ing. Night will end in 24 hours.
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