Tol-in-Gaurhoth XXI: Dueling Wizards Werewolf

[Glirdan]

Kath! I can't believe you would attack my sibling like that! I'm astonished!!

Anyway, I have little time so I must vote and it shall be for

++Oddwen

Like I said, her no vote is rather worrying and not like Oddwen. I am off. Good night.

[Celuien]

Limited to Loki, Nogrod and Lommy, as analysis seemed urgent for them.

Loki: 8: Implies that he was chosen and transformed by both the good and evil wizards. An “I told you so” about rules.

12: Irritable comments to Nogrod about cafes, rules, silly games and dinner.

23: More irritability. Says he will get insufferable and retaliatory. Says that he has insight, evidence for not being a wolf, and that being new does little to condemn him.

Impression: Irritability irritates me. I still don’t think that he was the one transformed and retransformed, though I am puzzled as to why he would lie. That is where my theory of his being deliberately confusing comes from. But, to play the opposite viewpoint, it is possible that he was chosen by the EW because he was a newcomer. It is less likely, however, that the GW would have chosen a controversial unknown to become a gifted. For that reason, I will continue to disbelieve his claim for the present, and file it under possibilities for later consideration. I’ve already explained why I’m unlikely to vote for him today. I will be watching him.

Nogrod: 9: Questions Loki for grumbling about wolves before poor Elempi’s death was discovered (read: posting before day officially started) and for his statements about scrying.

20: More with Loki regarding manners and the “I told so you” remark. 24 is more of the same.

99: Agrees with Phantom, says prominent players are risky EW picks early, but assets later, is scared those who haven’t posted or haven’t post significantly.

122: Asks Lommy if her wolvishness is so hard to bear.

160: Frustration at being at the top of suspicion for so many. Points out non-posters. Seems troubled by Morm, Loki and Nilp. Says Valier and Kath are being careful. Vote tally.

162: Vote tally.

163: Suggests looking at Lommy and Eomer for their eagerness to vote for him.

Impression: I don’t find any reason to suspect him, really, and it seems like most of the votes for him are based on the idea that he might be a good EW pick rather than what he’s done…

Lommy: 67: Reminder that the wizards choose their allies, lists Roa, Gurthang, Diamond, Nogrod, Kath, Lhuna, Kitanna, Caílin and Lalaith as potential EW selections. Wants to find the EW, but suggests not focusing all efforts on that endeavor. Says wolves will be hard to find because they don’t know each other.

75: Says not to vote preventively to eliminate likely EW picks, says we should look at actions instead – wizard strategy is hard to predict and we might be misled by attempts to figure it out.

82: Response to Fea, where she says she doesn’t discard looking for the EW, but prefers looking at people’s actions. Fears the EW is laughing at village confusion, wonders who wouldn’t be nervous in this game.

91: Says to Glirdan that it’s dangerous to go by personalities and that werewolf is always dangerous, sticks by earlier comments, asks Fea if she’s has any EW theories.

102: Says phantom and Nogrod make sense, but that they aren’t excused from suspicion.

112: Doesn’t like non-voters. Thinks Oddwen is suspicious.

121: Thinks Nogrod is overheated about time zone confusion (omitted from above analysis as not relevant to wolf identification).

125: Wonders where Sleepy and Roa are.

129: Thinks Lhuna, Loki and Alcarillo look suspicious. Is beginning to be concerned about her daddy and momma.

131: Doesn’t recommend voting for someone because s/he already has a vote. Still advocates Loki, Oddwen, Lhuna or Alca.

136: Wants to hear more from Loki.

140: Now wants to watch Nogrod based on points from Naria.

148: Agrees with Eomer that Nogrod would be a good first scry for the EW.

153: Says Nogrod isn’t himself.

158: Votes Nogrod, saying Lhuna makes sense and there isn’t enough against Alca. (What happened to suspicion of Loki/Oddwen???) Hopes we won’t lynch SPM.

161: Says it’s normal for Valier and Kath to be careful.

Impression: Well, I agree that SPM should not be lynched. Shame on you, sister Jenny! Some of what she says makes sense, but her sudden switch to voting for Nogrod is sending off red flags when she still had at least two other suspects that she seemed to have more doubts about than him. She would also be a good EW pick as someon who is clever, but seeming able to hide from suspicion.

And I’m afraid that’s all I can fit in before running out of time.

++ LOMMY

For reasons cited above.

EDIT: crossed with a lot of people.

[Nogrod]

Just a point. See on what grounds different people have been voting....

Nilp for me: out of the hat - you all know this
Naria: she's worried about me and wants to check it. So easy to say wanting to check other people...
Eomer: just 4 minutes after Naria, with no reason at all!
Thinlomien; voting for me twice, with no better reasons- but seeing that I was getting killed.
Loki: taking his chances - I won't blame him for that: reasonable vote - for a newbie...

EDIT: X-posted with lots of stuff...

[Celuien]

Originally Posted by The Great Phantomness

Who knows? There's no need to take a risk when the EW can just create another wolf at night, but then again- if the EW makes a strong defense of a wolf and then it is found out that the person was indeed a wolf through lynching, many people might think- "Um, I don't think the EW would've been defending that wolf so heavily, it's not worth the risk, therefore so-and-so probably isn't the EW."

That's true, but I think that there are less suspicion raising and simpler ways to make a good defense against wizardry. Unless the EW is a very bold, very brash sort, of course.

[dancing spawn of ungoliant]

I need to go to sleep, but I find choosing the receiver of my vote quite problematic. ToDay's voting seems to be culminating around Loki, Lommy and Nogrod, but since I haven't been suspecting any of them very seriously, I feel disqualified deciding who of them should die, especially since I don't have time (nor can stay awake) for analysing them myself.

If this looks like a cop-out vote, it most likely is one, too, but I'm sticking with my first suspect of toDay.

++Lhuna

Good Night!


edit: cross-posted a lot.

[Celuien]

1. Nilp --> Nogrod (Nogrod 1)
2. Lhuna --> Eomer (Nogrod 1, Eomer 1)
3. Gurthang --> Lommy (Nogrod 1, Eomer 1, Lommy 1)
4. Diamond --> Loki (Nogrod 1, Eomer 1, Lommy 1, Loki 1)
5. Eonwe --> Nilp (Nogrod 1, Eomer 1, Lommy 1, Loki 1, Nilp 1)
6. Cailín --> Oddwen (Nogrod 1, Eomer 1, Lommy 1, Loki 1, Nilp 1, Oddwen 1)
7. Caran --> Loki (Nogrod 1, Eomer 1, Lommy 1, Loki 2, Nilp 1, Oddwen 1)
8. Jenny --> SPM (Nogrod 1, Eomer 1, Lommy 1, Loki 2, Nilp 1, Oddwen 1, SPM 1)
9. Morm --> Kath (Nogrod 1, Eomer 1, Lommy 1, Loki 2, Nilp 1, Oddwen 1, SPM 1, Kath 1)
10. Naria --> Nogrod (Nogrod 2, Eomer 1, Lommy 1, Loki 2, Nilp 1, Oddwen 1, SPM 1, Kath 1)
11. Eomer --> Nogrod (Nogrod 3, Eomer 1, Lommy 1, Loki 2, Nilp 1, Oddwen 1, SPM 1, Kath 1)
12. Lommy --> Nogrod (Nogrod 4, Eomer 1, Lommy 1, Loki 2, Nilp 1, Oddwen 1, SPM 1, Kath 1)
13. Alcarillo --> SPM (Nogrod 4, Eomer 1, Lommy 1, Loki 2, Nilp 1, Oddwen 1, SPM 2, Kath 1)
14. Kath --> Lommy (Nogrod 4, Eomer 1, Lommy 2, Loki 2, Nilp 1, Oddwen 1, SPM 2, Kath 1)
15. Fea --> Loki (Nogrod 4, Eomer 1, Lommy 2, Loki 3, Nilp 1, Oddwen 1, SPM 2, Kath 1)
16. Loki --> Nogrod (Nogrod 5, Eomer 1, Lommy 2, Loki 2, Nilp 1, Oddwen 1, SPM 2, Kath 1)
17. Nogrod --> Loki (Nogrod 5, Eomer 1, Lommy 2, Loki 4, Nilp 1, Oddwen 1, SPM 2, Kath 1)
18. Glirdan --> Oddwen (Nogrod 5, Eomer 1, Lommy 2, Loki 4, Nilp 1, Oddwen 1, SPM 2, Kath 1, Oddwen 1)
19. Lalaith --> Loki (Nogrod 5, Eomer 1, Lommy 2, Loki 5, Nilp 1, Oddwen 1, SPM 2, Kath 1)
20. Celuien --> Lommy (Nogrod 5, Eomer 1, Lommy 3, Loki 4, Nilp 1, Oddwen 1, SPM 2, Kath 1)
21. Firefoot --> Lommy (Nogrod 5, Eomer 1, Lommy 4, Loki 4, Nilp 1, Oddwen 1, SPM 2, Kath 1)
22. SPM --> Alcarillo (Nogrod 5, Eomer 1, Lommy 4, Loki 4, Nilp 1, Oddwen 1, SPM 2, Kath 1, Alcarillo 1)
23. Valier --> Loki (Nogrod 5, Eomer 1, Lommy 4, Loki 6, Nilp 1, Oddwen 1, SPM 2, Kath 1, Alcarillo 1)
24. Kitanna --> Loki (Nogrod 5, Eomer 1, Lommy 4, Loki 7, Nilp 1, Oddwen 1, SPM 2, Kath 1, Alcarillo 1)
25. Azaelia --> Loki (Nogrod 5, Eomer 1, Lommy 4, Loki 8, Nilp 1, Oddwen 1, SPM 2, Kath 1, Alcarillo 1)
26. Spawn --> Lhuna (Nogrod 5, Eomer 1, Lommy 4, Loki 8, Nilp 1, Oddwen 1, SPM 2, Kath 1, Alcarillo 1, Lhuna 1)
27. Roa --> Nogrod (Nogrod 6, Eomer 1, Lommy 4, Loki 8, Nilp 1, Oddwen 1, SPM 2, Kath 1, Alcarillo 1, Lhuna 1)

[Loki]

Well, that's a buzz-kill. Celuien just posted the list I was going to put up.

It's obvious to me now that I'm going to be lynched. Good job, everyone. Way to screw up from the start. Figures that the evil team is going to get a head start just because you all didn't like my attitude. Should've listened to the logical voices. I had no reason to lie about anything.

Ah, well, nothing I can say matters now. Don't hurt too bad when you're kicking yourselves for this.

Because I don't have the time to finish my full post of reasoning and insight...
My list of suspicion:

Nogrod seems devilishly evil. Chances are good that he's something on the bad side. I don't trust him one bit.

Diamond, while simply following exactly what she had said, still grates on my mind.

Roa, a key player, made precious little voice here. Unusual to my ears. Eyes. Whatever.

The other voices simply echoed what had already been said in a failing analysis of the plot. Little can be judged of them further from the way that they vote. Most of the people who voted for me were simply jumping on the bandwagon. Look to the ringleaders if you want to find your source of malice.

All that remains now is for the truth to be revealed...

[Celuien]

I'll be sorry to see you go so soon, Loki. While I still have my doubts about your GW pick story, I don't think you're a wolf.

If you are a wolf, then good riddance, but I have a feeling this isn't going to be the case.

[the phantom]

It's been an interesting day. Maybe tomorrow we won't have to fly so blind.

I'll go ahead and cast a throw away vote.

+ + Roa

...because Roa is a Wizard, of course.

Azaelia, you can sleep easy tonight, for I will be sitting up all night looking out my window towards your house. If any wolves try and assault it, I'll know, and my brother Eomer and I will slice them to bits!

Alca and Cai, I'll keep an eye out for you, too. My dear Mum and Dad mean a lot to me.

[littlemanpoet]

Loki the leech collector, it turned out, received less than half of the votes of the village. Nevertheless, eight was enough. He was a relatively unknown soul, having been away for years on journeys, the destinations of which, he kept to himself. Why he was named so, none knew. There was no such creature as a 'Loki' in any of the lorebooks: no werewolf, no wizard, no Ainur, no servant of Morgoth. Maybe, some supposed, the name was derived from the Common Speech, and meant a key that was not high up. Others scoffed at this notion as being too commonplace. Loki disabused neither opinion of its illusions. After all, he kept most things to himself, save his opinions of the other villagers. They did not take kindly to his airing of them. Especially one such aired that very morning.

"By Eru, both of those wizards must have been vying for the collection of my soul this night. Visions of fur and claw and tooth dominated my mind; I couldn't catch a wink. The wizarding pair of which the Watchers spoke must have lost nearly as much sleep as I in fighting over the reclaimation of my soul." He kicked a nearby puppy that had dared cross his path in the early morning. "Thankfully, perhaps, I neither lost my life in the scrap nor transformed into one of those foul lycanthropes."

"So you say, Loki," Nogrod grated. "So you say."

Celuien and her father mormegil pointed their fingers at Eomer. "You're wolfish toward our Kitanna!"

"But we're in love!" he countered. "Just ask her!"

"She can't think straight," Celuien returned, eyeing Eomer narrowly.

More recriminations passed between family units, but finally and mercifully lost venom and bite, for some of the villagers began to turn their minds and the talk to strategy. Gurthang started it.

"It's those blasted wizards, I tell you! That's the core of this problem. Those Watchers told us this would happen, and here it is. And what's worse? We can't even get rid of this Evil fellow ourselves! The Good Wizard has to do it for us. And until that time, we won't have any clue what's happening. Until the wizards are gone."

"To figure the wizards out," said the phantom, gathering in the attention of the others with quick glances to each in turn, "all you have to do is think about what the two wizards fear."

"Each other?" asked Naria.

"It's all about balance," the phantom intoned sagely.

"That's all well and good, phantom," momma Diamond said, "but I've consulted my Werewolf lorebooks, and they say: When a red fox and a brown cow frolic in the ocean, you will know who the Wizards are." Diamond screwed up her face in confusion and frowned crossly. "Bloody lot of help the lorebooks turned out to be." She threw her lorebook into the fire and the whole village watched it burn, most of them wishing it was the evil wizard.

Diamond's eldest daughter Lhuna was the first to break the silence. "Well, the wizards are standing with us. Why doesn't the good wizard just come forward and help us out?"

"Not so hasty!" the aged Cailín cried. "The young! Ack! Always ready to jump into the frying pan before the fire's been cooled!"

Nilpaurion stepped forward. "I'm a wizard."

"Which one! Which one!" the villagers cried.

"Of apathy. You know you're going to lynch me."

They stared at him for one pregnant moment.

"Ah, he's just faking," said Celuien.

At this point, the village debaters got hungry and thirsty, and they retired to the Salty Seal to refresh their minds and put an end to their famishing. Saucy held forth under his own roof, declaring whom he thought the evil wizard would pick as werewolves, but did not find much support. The villagers did, however, support his brewer's reputation by quaffing a healthy amount of his beers and ales, even little Lommy, who did agree with Saucy, though the others wrote this off to her inability to hold her ale well.

The votes began to pile up. Six suspects quickly received one vote each, which meant nothing and they all knew it. There was a gentle murmur as suddenly Loki received a second vote. Two more suspects were added to the list before Nogrod joined Loki with multiple votes. The crowed murmured. Diamond was heard to complain that she was not too keen on losing both her father and her husband in one day. Apparently, she was not heeded as her husband quickly garnered a small lead in the votes. The beerhall owner himself gained another vote, as well as his young little supporter Lommy, which drew the wrath of Roa, who insisted that her husband Sleepy would agree with her had he been in town, but he was wandering for the day for old time's sake. After a few more votes, Loki and Nogrod were again tied. Lommy received two more votes, then Loki a few more, with late votes for Lhuna and Roa, and a final for Nogrod. The result was decisive but not overly so.

"Loki," mormegil said, "today is your last day to leech. Speak your peace to whatever Vala you hold sacred."

"That would be not a Vala but Eru. I have done so."

As the sun was setting, the villagers led Loki, now bound, to the tallest tree, a beech, that spread its branches both high and wide. One branch extended like a giant's muscular arm, ten feet above the ground. A rope was slung over the branch and tied tight, then knotted and placed around Loki's neck. They stood him on a makeshift stool.

"Any last words?" mormegil asked.

"Yes. You'll be sorry."

"Zali," said mormegil, "you cast the final vote. Remove the stool."

She grimaced. "Do I have to?"

"I'll do it!" cried the phantom. Without a moment's hesitation, he saved his dearest from having to do the ugly deed, and kicked the stool out from under their victim. He dropped. His neck broke. All watched to see if he would change. He did not.

The villagers filed to their homes, leaving the unfortunate Loki to hang, and the late Elempi sprawled, still, at the base of the Watcher rock.

~ The Dead ~

Elempi, father of Diamond of the Battledore
Loki the leech collector

~ The Living ~

Diamond of the Battledore
Celuien the Healer and Cupper
Caranlondien the Sled-Team Driver
Roa Aoife the weaver
Nogrod the retired jester
Dancing Spawn of Ungoliant the Baker
Kath the minstrel
Lommy the little girl who steals other children's candy
Lhunardawen the jeweler
Glirdan with the giant crush on Kath
Valier the gardener
Sleepy Ranger the former wanderer
Kitanna the beloved of Eomer
Firefoot the artist
Alcarillo the old retired sea captain
Cailín the match maker
Oddwen the filthy, insane street urchin who steals chickens
mormegil the retired mariner and current mayor
Feanor the shepherdess with a love of alliteration
Zali the seamstress and beloved of the phantom
the phantom the loud, unpredictable, adventurer
Naria the servant who empties and cleans chamber pots
Jenny Hallu the unmarried maiden & aunt
The Saucepan Man the barkeep
Lalaith the frivolous aunt and guardian of Oddwen
Eonwe the freeloading husband of Lhunardawen
Eomer the adventurer & lover of Kitanna
Nilpaurion the ne'er do well hubby of Dancing Spawn
Gurthang the stable-hand

[littlemanpoet]

The evil wizard sucked in breath in anticipation of the second kill. From this one's life also the evil wizard would get strength for spells. The evil wizard spoke to the werewolves and commanded them to choose one villager to eat, bringing back one thing only from the kill.

They went out into the darkness and were silent in their hunting, coming at an hour past midnight to the house of the one whom they would devour.

The good wizard gave serious thought to whom to scry. It took a few hours to come to a conclusion. The scry was made. The villager scried was ordinary. The good wizard gifted the villager to be the seer. The only problem was that by the time this occurred, it was mere minutes before dawn. The seer didn't dream.

The Saucepan Man's given name had been long forgotten. In the days of his youth he had left the village, as many were wont to do, and wandered in foreign parts to see what new lore he could discover regarding the prophesied curse upon Sealville. He was gone for two years.

When he returned, there were not a few who decided that he'd gotten 'tetched' in the noggin, as they called it. He had arrived back in Sealville carrying a half dozen saucepans, and told everyone that he would not respond to any other name than The Saucepan Man, or derivatives thereof. "What are you wanting with so many saucepans?" they asked. "Never you mind," he answered. "But there's another reason for my name," he added mysteriously with a smirk.

It was not long before the villagers understood what he meant. He set himself up as the local barkeep, and created many a fine drink, be they beers, ales, or more exotic delectables. He called them all his "sauce". So they took to calling him Saucy. He seemed to like it well enough, and grinned when named so.

The Healer and Cupper in town, Celuien, turned her head in his direction, for his business was solid and he was not half bad looking a fellow for all his saucey talk. Mormegil, her father, wasn't sure he liked the fellow so much as being a barkeep was not as good in his eye as being a mariner, but Celuien was determined, and finally Mormegil gave his blessing. The two were married with great celebration, and in another couple years, the sisters Naria and Kitanna graced the home and hearth and filled it with laughter.

Saucy considered himself a happy man, blessed with a healer for a wife and two daughters that took their looks more from their mother than their father, which was a good thing. Naria and Kitanna flowered into beautiful young ladies, bringing into the lives of their parents the complications in the case of Kitanna the attentions of Eomer the young rapscallion; in the case of Naria a job so smelly that the men stayed far away. "Maybe she wants it that way," Celuien was overheard to tell her husband. "Well and good, I say," Saucy responded. "until she's found the right man." "If she finds one," her mother worried.

So it was a sad morning for Celuien, Naria, and Kitanna, when the villagers filed just after dawn to the Watcher rock and found sprawled there the body of Saucy. Celuien wailed. Naria and Kitanna wept into their kerchiefs. Not only had his face been clawed and his limbs reduced to rags of flesh; his chest had been opened and his heart removed.

"Villains!" cried Celuien. "Murderers!" wailed Naria. "Monsters!" shouted Kitanna, raising her fist.

Eomer put his arm around his love and she wept upon his shoulder. "Come, Celuien, Naria, I cannot replace your husband and father, but I will do what I can."

EDIT: Only then did the villagers notice that the body of Elempi no longer lay in front of the Watchers, who seemed as sad, and watchful, and unmoving, as ever. Then they noticed that where there had been an open commons of grass, there were now two headstones and brown earth heaped before them. The villagers noticed that there was much room left in this new graveyard for more bodies. Many of them shuddered. Two headstones. As they filed back from the shoreline toward the village, they noticed with no surprise that Loki no longer hung from the beech tree limb. They knew where he was. And they believed that they knew who had buried them.

~ The Tally ~
One Evil Wizard
One Good Wizard
Three Werewolves
One Gifted
Zero Known Innocents
Three Dead
Twenty-Eight Living

~ The Dead ~

Elempi, father of Diamond of the Battledore: killed on Night One
Loki the leech collector: lynched on Day One with 8 votes
The Saucepan Man the barkeep: killed on Night Two

~ The Living ~

Diamond of the Battledore
Celuien the Healer and Cupper
Caranlondien the Sled-Team Driver
Roa Aoife the weaver
Nogrod the retired jester
Dancing Spawn of Ungoliant the Baker
Kath the minstrel
Lommy the little girl who steals other children's candy
Lhunardawen the jeweler
Glirdan with the giant crush on Kath
Valier the gardener
Sleepy Ranger the former wanderer
Kitanna the beloved of Eomer
Firefoot the artist
Alcarillo the old retired sea captain
Cailín the match maker
Oddwen the filthy, insane street urchin who steals chickens
mormegil the retired mariner and current mayor
Feanor the shepherdess with a love of alliteration
Zali the seamstress and beloved of the phantom
the phantom the loud, unpredictable, adventurer
Naria the servant who empties and cleans chamber pots
Jenny Hallu the unmarried maiden & aunt
Lalaith the frivolous aunt and guardian of Oddwen
Eonwe the freeloading husband of Lhunardawen
Eomer the adventurer & lover of Kitanna
Nilpaurion the ne'er do well hubby of Dancing Spawn
Gurthang the stable-hand

[Diamond18]

NOTICE: I wrote this without knowing who would die, so my responses to SpM will look odd. But I thought I’d leave them in there because they include some of my opinions on Wizards.

Oh, and poor SpM. My condolences to his family. Though I’m sure Morm is doing a little jig.


Since I was away for much of the peak discussion time (four pages, people!!!!) I have some belated comments and replies from yesterDay.

Originally Posted by Spawn

Now, phantom makes the situation sound pretty bright for us, but that's what the Evil Wizard would like to do; to make the Villagers believe that we don't have much to be scared of.

I don’t quite follow this logic. I didn’t find tp’s posts to be particularly EWish yesterDay, especially since he advocated revealing the Wizards. I think the EW is aiming for the most discretion. So I’m not sure why you would want to cast EW suspicions his way for doing pretty much the opposite of what I’d suspect the EW to be saying.

Originally Posted by SpM

Yet it is not village affairs that have guided the Evil Wizard’s hand, I am sure, but cold, hard logic.

Or not. You can’t know that for sure. The EW might make some wild moves to keep away from the scent of those looking for logic.

Originally Posted by Spm

Were I the Evil Wizard, I would have chosen from the following villagers:

Cailín, Lalaith, Caranlondien, Celuien, Valier, Kitanna, Azaelia or Naria, Oddwen, Alcarillo, Roa, Firefoot, Diamond and Gurthang.

I do think this is a sensible list. From a logical standpoint. But it might also be a good idea, if the EW manages to get a good sized pack of wolves, to throw some high profile players into the mix to use them, essentially, as meat puppets. Also, to prevent them from being Gifteds.

Originally Posted by Spm

Gurthang was, I think, the first to bring up the idea of looking for the Wizards. My initial reaction was to suspect him for it. I still do, slightly, since he was talking about finding both Wizards. I think we should, as far as we can, try to avoid identifying the Good Wizard, at this stage at least. With no Gifteds and two Wolves to hide among a great number of villagers, the Evil Wizard might fancy his/her chances at this point and call the Good Wizard out. Even if s/he does not, identifying the GW would still allow the EW to pick his/her time, provided s/he remains hidden. For this reason, I am also wary of Lhuna’s suggestion that the GW might want to declare today.

This, I find strange. As I said to Fea above, I think the EW will be advocating discretion, since keeping people away from looking for and talking about wizardly behavior. I find it unlikely that you would be made the Evil Wizard, however, since you are the most Evil person here to begin with. So I’m not sure what to make of this reluctance.

Originally Posted by Glirdan

And why, may I ask, are you attacking my siblings? What has my family ever done to yours to deserve this kind of treatment?

Ah, if I’m allowed a bit of frivolity on Day 2 -- it’s only natural, Glirdan, that our families should be at odds. We’re the two largest units, ergo there must be a fight for supremacy. Or at least, there would have been if everyone had not been so agreeable about my list and refuse to engage in family feuding. But now we’re kind of past the Day 1 fun of family voting blocks, so it doesn’t much matter anymore.

Originally Posted by Fea

I also agree with whomever it was that mentioned searching out the wizards. It gives us a legitimate project for day one. It will put them off guard. Sure, it would mean sacrificing the good wizard in all probability, but since the good wizard lives to die in such a way, I won't feel too badly about it. Consider: who would expect that an entire village would gang up on their wizards? Surely we would want to keep our good wizard around. Blah blah pros and cons blah blah. With the pressure of an entire village actively seeking, the evil wizard will have to be REALLY good to avoid screwing up.

Not much more to say except that I agree with this and am of basically the same mind. The GW lives to be martyred in order to cease the creation of Wolves. Nuff said.

Originally Posted by tp

Phantom=EW would lead to a resounding villager victory, I assure you.

I tend to agree with this, in the sense that tp is one of the ones more likely to be found out by the GW or Seer pretty quickly. Which is why I doubt that he would have been selected for this role. However, just so we’re not disregarding every possibility, we have to remember that in this village there are many players with equally or more prominent reputations than tp, so with all these illustrious veterans for wizard and seer to choose from, you can’t automatically assume that tp couldn’t get by.

Still, I think it unlikely that the Mod God would choose him to be the EW. However, I think it highly likely that he’d be chosen to be the GW. Make of that what you will.

Originally Posted by Fea

The evil wizard (okay... speaking plainly now...) volunteered for the job. The evil wizard, ergo, is somebody with a bit of time on his or her hands at the moment. The evil wizard is probably not going to be one of the students playing with finals coming up. The evil wizard is probably not going to be somebody that can't guarantee specific hours during the day in which to take care of wizarding business. The evil wizard (and the good, yes, the good) are going to be players with a bit of time to spare.

I’m not sure this is the best way to go about figuring out the Wizards. Really, everyone has a life to attend to. Maybe we can rule out those really strapped for time, but how many is that, anyway? Judging from the massive amount of posting, I’d say the number of people with time enough for wizarding is enough that paying too much attention to this criteria might not be as helpful as you think. Especially since no one really has the best handle on other people’s schedules.

Originally Posted by SpM

By deleting from my previous list those who I think the GW might pick as a choice of Gifted, I can narrow it down further, as follows:

Azaelia, Oddwen, Alcarillo, Roa, Diamond or Gurthang

So, you don’t think we’re good enough for the Good Wizard? Meh.

Originally Posted by Eomer

Celuien, Caranlondien, Roa, Nogrod, Alcarillo, Cailín, Oddwen, Jenny, Lalaith or Gurthang.

Others are more likely to be lynched early on, or dreamed about by a Seer, or scried by the GW.

Out of curiosity, since I’m not on your list, which of those three alternatives do I fall under? (Narcissist much, Diamond?)

Originally Posted by Loki

Breezed through the posts real quick, much suprised by everyone's reactions. Mostly that no one had considered that, in fact, I was telling the truth. No one had considered that my defensiveness is a matter of a far more personal nature, and I came into the game dead-set of simply playing to my personality. No one considered that I was operating solely on instinct.

Strange replying to a dead man, but since this applies somewhat to reasons I and others had for voting him (which will no doubt come under scrutiny toDay) I wanted to point out that this is completely false. People did consider it. I thought it quite possible that he was being truthful. I just said we shouldn’t rush to believe him automatically. So, as I said when I voted, that wasn’t even my main motivation for voting. My main reason was because, in lieu of any serious suspicions of anyone else, I felt most comfortable for voting off a person I felt endangered the focus and sanity of the village. No matter what his motivations were.

Originally Posted by Roa

So, assuming Loki's innocense, I look to those most eager to lynch him.

Well, I figured you’d say that. I’ve been kind of thinking that you’re the friend who invited him -- I found the unwillingness to share that info somewhat strange and overly mysterious and I have more to say on this later -- but anyway, I’ve said why I was eager to lynch him and it stands, for better or worse. His last post just reinforced my “good riddance” attitude. Innocent or not, in a situation where it was pretty likely an innocent would be lynched (with 26 innocents to 2 werewolves and 2 wizards, the chances of losing an innocent were extremely, ridiculously high) I was quite comfortable with losing him as opposed to anyone else. You won’t see me kicking myself over it.

Originally Posted by tp

Your picks are similar to mine. If I was the EW, I would've picked Diamond, Celuien, and Azaelia to be my wolves, and two of those three are on your short list.

Which confirms my thought that you are not, in fact, the Evil Wizard.

Originally Posted by tp

...because Roa is a Wizard, of course.

At the risk of sounding too eager to agree with tp all the time, I have to say I was thinking this, too. I figured, if Loki was picked by both Wizards the first Night like he said, one of the Wizards might be the friend who invited him to join our village -- because despite the possibilities expressed, I personally think him an odd choice for the Wizards, logically speaking. So, I feel that if he was indeed picked, it was not entirely logical on the part of one Wizard, hence friendship could be involved. That’s the only reason I could think of for concealing that matter. If this “friend” had aspirations to be a Wizard, they wouldn’t want people having a chance of making this connection. But since I was making the connection, I really wanted to figure out who that friend might be, and I decided on either Roa or Gurthang, the only two who seemed to feel the need to defend Loki’s behavior before and after the event of Elempi’s murder.

So anyway, that’s my crackpot theory.

[Firefoot]

I am slowly rereading the posts for toDay and have finished with the sixth page. Reactions:

Diamond - seems to be innocent. She seems to pretty much be saying whatever she is thinking, and if that is so, that would speak for her innocence. Wolves tend to have to be more careful. Of course, being that the wolves don't know each other, I suppose they don't have to be as careful, but... we'll go with gut-level feeling that she's currently innocent.

Fea - is pretty much acting normally. Even though she's one of those that can act normally as a wolf, I'm going to say probably innocent right now.

Gurthang seems to be genuinely trying to be helpful.

Alcarillo seems to be getting pretty defensive.

I'm uneasy with Caran, although I'm not entirely sure why. Probably not uneasy enough for a vote, though.

On to page 7...

But first, one thing:

Oh, like they did yesterDay when you got them to lynch Loki? Interesting that you expect them to follow foolish reasoning to lynch someone who wasn't even there to defend himself (which you yourself pointed out was an ungentlemanly tactic) but expect to ignore sound reasoning when you are the one in danger.

Roa, I'm not following this. I don't think that Nogrod was trying to get people to lynch Loki unquestioningly. Maybe some of them were voting for him without reason, but that's not Nogrod's fault. It is frustrating when you're getting bandwaggoned on and a lot of people don't seem to have sound reasoning.

[Firefoot]

Page 7 Reactions:

Eomer is talking sense.

I have been liking Cailin's posts/opinions for a while now. She seems to be talking sensibly and I agree with a lot of what she says.

Celuien seems pretty innocent and honest. Her analyses look sound to me.

As I read Nogrod's posts, I am becoming more confident, not less, that he is innocent. Maybe I should look more at his Day 1 posts as well, but no time before the Day is over...

Roa is extremely eager to jump all over Nogrod; seems like a "guilty until proven innocent" mindset.

About Oddwen:

Just hit me - the Wolves don't know who each other are, this means they aren't certain who's innocent either.

Would a wolf say this? I doubt it. She surely would have realized this before, and why would she bother commenting about it?

I am more comfortable with Lommy today, but still not completely.

I find it somewhat odd that Lalaith is getting so much attention. I'm going to have to go back to that post 176 that people keep citing... (citing post numbers is good, people... yeah, I know, I'm not doing it right now.)

And I'm finding the result of this is that I'm not really suspicious of anybody. And I'm not sure I have enough time to do Page 8 justice. Here we go, I guess...

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

Nogrod, like I said: To my mind, you would be a good pick for the EW. I voted for you out of everyone on my list because you had a vote already, and I wanted to narrow the suspect list down (like Firefoot suggested). In that case, it was you or Oddwen; and because Lommy (a close friend of yours, I believe) had been voicing concerns about you I thought it might be a decent hunch.

I don't see why, if you are innocent, the village should spend their time slaying those who voted for you. Pretty much every single voter is going to be mistaken on Day One!

You fit my criteria; I am not at all eager to see you die. I must vote for someone.