Tol-in-Gaurhoth (Isle of Werewolves)

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

Oddwen. It has to be Oddwen. Who on earth comes up with such random and pointless evidence as "three people all used the word 'odd'"?

But then again, Kuru, the phantom suspected you, and I trust his judgement (except against me).

But then again, it could be me.

[Kuruharan]

But then again, Kuru, the phantom suspected you, and I trust his judgement (except against me).

This is a difficult statement. If the phantom was wrong about you, then upon what basis do you have such absolute confidence in him? On the other hand, if you have such great confidence in his ability...he suspected you before me. Shouldn't I then place such confidence in him and so believe the culprit is you?

However, before we rush to judgment, one thing...

As we know from The Barrow-Wight's post # 43, we were selected "randomly." I presume this means he drew our names out of a hat or something. Anyway, the point is that there is an equal opportunity for all of us to be the werewolf. The only thing we have to go on is our behavior up to this point.

As far as charges against me are concerned, I've always tried to give everyone a fair hearing. I've never argued for a rush to judgment. This is hardly the behavior of a werewolf who'd want to get the DAYs over with as quickly as possible. I wanted to give bilbo_baggins a chance to defend himself yesterday (would that he had done a slightly better job ) and, in spite of the fact that Mithalwen was clearly suspicious of me, I wanted to hear what she had to say. I'm not sure there is much more that I could say to convince everyone I'm not a werewolf except to point to my restraint throughout.

However, I'm having an extension of my thought of yesterday. Wouldn't it be a regular werewolfish trick to continue to hide in the tall grass and let the other two tear each other to pieces and then come in and cast the deciding vote? Just a thought.

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

Yes, Kuru, yes it would. But before I vote, I would like to hear Oddwen defend herself. I've already decided, but the two of you don't really need to know who I want to die just now.

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

Come on, Oddwen. Save yourself from the gallows. I need to see a proper defense from you before I vote, and I've got to go to work at 3:00.

[Oddwen]

It seems as though you've already formed a judgement of me, Fea.

I am no werewolf. Random, yes, werewolf, no. My erraticism and pointlessness are from a fear of the game, rather than any master plan...

My vote for Firefoot was a completely random choice - It was a choice between her and anyone else who hadn't posted.
My retraction of that vote was a chagrined one, as I realized then that being hasty could be fatal to the wrong people.
As to the "odd" part of that post...that was as tp called it "a spot of fun".

Any lack of vote after that was because Sunday was a family day and I didn't get any real time online.

And on Monday and Tuesday...by the time I could get online, the voting was done and there was no need for me to say anything...nor indeed anything I could think of to say.

My hasty vote for Bilbo on Wednesday I regret, for I believe now it was another random wild shot on my part, only this time gone wrong.

Wouldn't it be a regular werewolfish trick to continue to hide in the tall grass and let the other two tear each other to pieces and then come in and cast the deciding vote? (Kuru)

This does seem like a very werewolfish thing to do. If you know anything about me however, you'd know that I loathe decisions and make them as soon as humanly possible, if at all.

It has to be Oddwen. (Fea)

Why? I've been my usual random self. Though I don't know much of you two, Kuru is the one acting closest to what I know of his behavior.

I think mormegil is the seer. I say this because of what I've already said... he's the only one to put forth that he thinks I'm innocent. That's a danger to him, but if he knows that I'm innocent, he would try to keep me alive any how.

Why would you reveal your suspicions on the seer when others feared losing him too much to say anything? Seems to me villagers, in addition to defending ourselves, would have a duty to hide the seer if he was the only one who could KNOW about a werewolf.


These are very disjointed thoughts, I'll try again tonight.

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

No need to try again, Oddwen, since I don't think you are guilty. I think it is Kuruharan who has been playing us as fools.

Frankly, I was afraid that you wouldn't post in time and that you would then be considered to be voting for yourself. I assumed that Kuru would then proceed to kill you off and win the game.

Of the last three players, I know that I am innocent, and I've long since decided that you are. My vote is for ++Kuruharan, and has been for awhile now.

[Kuruharan]

Actually, I’m the one who has been played for a fool. However, I’ve probably deserved it. From DAY ONE I thought Feanor was a werewolf. Her behavior that day and sometimes subsequently has been puzzling, as I noted before. She attacked both Saucepan Man and bilbo_baggins on the first day and was supported in her assertions by Anguirel. Now, we know all too well that Saucepan Man and bilbo_baggins were innocent and Anguirel was the werewolf. Feanor never did retract her vote from Saucepan Man that day, even though she had plenty of time to do so.

On DAY TWO Feanor looked like she was going up the steps. I thought this was a perfectly rational thing to do. However, mormegil was the seer and convinced us (more or less) to hang Firefoot. This turned out to be correct. However, notice on that DAY Feanor couldn't resist returning to beat on poor bilbo_baggins...again. However, she did not actually make a vote for some time, almost as if she’s taken a hint from something. She finally did cast her vote against the phantom, who we now know to be innocent. Is anyone else seeing a pattern here? Notice how after Mithalwen voted for Firefoot, Feanor changed her vote as if she saw a way out of her little mess by hopping on the bandwagon.

Now, lets take a look at the pattern of the last couple of victims. On DAY FOUR, we awoke to find that the phantom had absconded. On DAY THREE, even though he voted for Primrose, the phantom actually built a case against Feanor which at least seemed plausible. (Would that I had listened at the time.) The summary of his remarks on the subject is that mormegil may not have dreamed about Feanor. He may have just assumed Feanor was innocent or, as the phantom suggested, he was trying to let us know that he did not know about Feanor. Low and behold, the next morning the phantom is dead.

On DAY FIVE, what happens but Feanor’s favorite old whipping boy bilbo_baggins turns up in the dock. While, I must admit that it seems a little suspicious that Oddwen put him up, Feanor’s contribution to the situation piles onto a mountain of suspicion much greater than Oddwen’s. Feanor certainly acted with the utmost alacrity to add her vote to one who we now know to be innocent. Then we had Mithalwen, the dissenting voice (forgive me Mithalwen, for I have yet again done something incredibly stooopid) who returned with a reinforced argument that contained bits and pieces of my original arguments. I’m beginning to think that the reason why I’ve lasted this long is because I’m so obviously stone deaf that I can’t hear a thing that is said to me. Well, I’m listening now and I hope it is not too late.

Then we have this lulu of an exchange…

Mithalwen-

If one of them is guilty then I salute you for playing a blinder

To which Feanor responded-

I'm not sure what a blinder is (presumably someone or something that intentionally messes with how people see things?), but I will gracefully accept that salute.

Now I wonder if Feanor is really so very ignorant of what Mithalwen said. On the face of it, Feanor just confessed to being the werewolf we’ve all been looking for. Now, she may really not have known what “blinder” means. (In case anyone does not know, it means doing a really good job and such like). In this context, Mithalwen was referring to the werewolf. I begin to think it is possible that Feanor said that sarcastically, attempting to cover it, but still sarcastically believing that Mithalwen was in bed and would not be up again until too late.

Then, what do we find on DAY SIX? Mithalwen is unceremoniously (and I do mean unceremoniously) slain, who had been so dangerously persuasive on DAY FIVE. Someone apparently did not want Mithalwen’s brain to be working on this problem any farther. And, what does she do but accuse me who has done nothing but attempt to exercise patience throughout. She's probably mad at me because I failed to seal bilbo_baggins' fate hours before Mithalwen could have intervened and tried to direct us onto the true course. Also notice that there is no explanation as to why I am guilty. Just an implicit demand to go along.

Well, here at last, on the shore of the…uhhh…town pond, I come again to the same puzzlement that has beset me from the beginning. Why would Feanor go charging off at anybody and everybody without any knowledge of the situation? The obvious answer is that she is the last werewolf. No other explanation makes nearly the sense that this one does. And here we are, three of us left and one of us is a werewolf. One of the three is the one we’ve suspected from the very beginning. She's been incessantly howling her innocence to anybody and everybody. As Shakespeare said "I think she doth protest too much." I should have never abandoned my belief in the simplest answer always being the best. I think we should have done this a lot sooner.

++ FEANOR OF THE PEREDHIL