[The Saucepan Man]

Once again, apologies for my relative inactivity yesterDay, but my grip on events in this village was intermittent throughout the Day. I fear that age may be taking its toll on this world-weary traveller. I am still blacking out every so often, but I shall do what I can.

Hmm, why Shasta indeed? I can’t see any reason why the Wolves might have thought him a gifted and I would have thought that they would want to keep around anyone who had garnered as much suspicion as him. As I said yesterDay, he looked like a typical Day 1 scapegoat, and it seems likely that he would have been in the mix toDay, had he survived the Night. It’s not even as if his death doesn’t leave any trail. While his own accusations were pretty random and his votes more calculated to save his neck from the noose than anything else, he attracted a fair number of votes. Given that he was veering towards being s scapegoat, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if there wasn’t at least one Wolf in his bandwaggon.

And as to the voting, like all of us here, I have encountered Werewolves before in my meanderings across Middle-earth, and I always like to look at the voting record in its entirety, including the timing of each vote. So, as is my wont, here it is:

Boro: ++Kath (Kath 1)
Mac: ++Nogrod (Kath 1, Nogrod 1)
SpM: ++Nogrod (Kath 1, Nogrod 2)
Kath: ++Nerwen (Kath 1, Nogrod 2, Nerwen 1)
Farael: ++Shasta (Kath 1, Nogrod 2, Nerwen 1, Shasta 1)
Boro: --Kath (Nogrod 2, Nerwen 1, Shasta 1)
Valier: ++Nerwen (Nogrod 2, Nerwen 2, Shasta 1)
Rikae: ++Shasta (Nogrod 2, Nerwen 2, Shasta 2)
Shasta: ++Nerwen (Nogrod 2, Nerwen 3, Shasta 2)
Morm: ++Boro (Nogrod 2, Nerwen 3, Shasta 2, Boro 1)
Nerwen: ++Shasta (Nogrod 2, Nerwen 3, Shasta 3, Boro 1)
Isabellkya: ++Nerwen (Nogrod 2, Nerwen 4, Shasta 3, Boro 1)
Aganzir: ++Nogrod (Nogrod 3, Nerwen 4, Shasta 3, Boro 1)
Nogrod: ++Rikae (Nogrod 3, Nerwen 4, Shasta 3, Boro 1, Rikae 1)
Legate: ++Boro (Nogrod 3, Nerwen 4, Shasta 3, Boro 2, Rikae 1)
Shasta: --Nerwen, ++Nogrod (Nogrod 4, Nerwen 3, Shasta 3, Boro 1, Rikae 1)
Legate: --Boro, ++Nogrod (Nogrod 5, Nerwen 3, Shasta 3, Boro 1, Rikae 1)
Eomer: ++Nerwen (Nogrod 5, Nerwen 4, Shasta 3, Boro 1, Rikae 1)
Boro: ++Shasta (Nogrod 5, Nerwen 4, Shasta 4, Boro 1, Rikae 1)

Looking at this, I am quite puzzled as to why Nogrod didn’t do more to save himself. Why did he vote for Rikae when she wasn’t likely to be in the running for lynchification? And why didn’t he switch his vote at the last minute to either Shasta or Nerwen? My initial thought was that they too are Wolves and it would have done his pack little good, but Shasta’s proven innocence rather puts paid to that idea.