WW XXXXI: With a Twist

[the phantom]

There was no question who would die. Rikae made no attempt to defend herself and allowed herself to be bound to a post in the middle of the square.

"Why did you even show up?" asked Isabellkya.

"I am prepared to meet death," answered Rikae. "Plus, I wanted to have a bit of fun."

And fun she had. Throughout the day the debate was interupted by her declarations. Was she telling the truth, lying, or mixing the two together?

"I think we should just ignore her," said SPM.

But at last they could ignore her no longer. It was near sundown, and the deed had to be done.

"Now can I use my sword?" asked Eomer. "I didn't get to yesterday!"

"Sure," said Farael.

"You'll never win!" screamed Rikae. "You're all doomed! DOOMED!!"

*thunk*

The Residents-
Aganzir- hangwoman
Eomer of the Rohirrim- gravedigger
Farael- conspiracy theorist
Isabellkya- hen
Kath- milliner
Legate of Amon Lanc- lamp-maker/fiddler
mormegil- woodsman/carpenter
The Might- shephard
The Saucepan Man- traveling tinker

The Departed-
Nogrod, reticent lumberjack- Day 1 lynch victim (WEREWOLF)
Shastanis Althreduin, herbalist- Night 2 wolf slaughter (VILLAGER)
Valier, basket weaver- Day 2 lynch victim (HUNTER)
Azaelia of Willowbottom, apprentice to Rikae- slain by Hunter on Day 2 (VILLAGER)
Nerwen, miller- found out on Day 3 (WEREWOLF)
Macalaure, jailer- outed on Day 4 (WEREWOLF)
Boromir88, assistant to the apprentice to Rikae- taken by fog on Night 5 (RANGER)
Rikae, midwife/wise-woman- executed on Day 5 (WEREWOLF)

IT IS NOW NIGHT 6. YOU MAY NOT POST

[the phantom]

"Master, why will you not permit me to slay the Seer? We both know-"

"I have told you NO already!" said the fog to the last Werewolf. "The Seer knows it is time. He will come to us."

"But if he doesn't?"

"In that case, I will allow you to seek him out, and have a bit of fun with him."

**********

Farael sat on the edge of his bed, contemplating the past few days. He had been successful- almost too successful to be believed. The village had gained a significant leg-up on the Werewolves, despite there being a total of five of them.

But perhaps things would change now. For he, the last of the gifteds, was about to leave the village behind and force the residents to fend for themselves. But then surely they can catch one Werewolf he thought. And yet he couldn't shake the thought that this final Werewolf would not be easily discovered.

At last Farael stood up and made ready to leave. He packed his most precious belongings, including his books on Seer methods and history, and walked out into the night.

As soon as he left his home, he heard it- the Voice from the outside. It had somehow found a way past the fog to speak to him. "Go not forth!" it whispered desperately into his ear. "The fog awaits you! It cannot touch you within your home! Stay!"

But Farael dismissed the voice and continued on his way, away from the land bridge and towards the middle of the lake. Soon he found himself on the very bank where Nogrod had met his fate. Farael pushed into the water the boat that Nogrod had attempted his escape in, and then lowered himself into the boat and began to paddle.

As the distance between himself and the shore increased, he saw the final Werewolf emerge from the shadows of a shack and pad out onto a rock that jutted into the lake.

"My Master is expecting you!" it snarled.

"I know," answered Farael.

"Soon evil will stand alone in this village! The innocent stand no chance now!" taunted the Werewolf.

And with the gift of sight that was granted to him, Farael answered, "They never did. And yet that is not an evil."

"What madness do you speak?!" yelled the Werewolf, confused and angry.

But Farael did not answer as his boat disappeared into the fog.

The Werewolf heard a muffled splash, and then the fog spoke with a great voice.

"The way is cleared for you now. The village is yours for the taking. Leave none alive!"

As the Werewolf made its way back to its home, the Voice spoke to the Master of the fog. "This is no victory for you, so do not claim one. You have been overly cruel, and your spirit is tainted for it."

"How can one such as you chide another for cruelty," answered the fog. "Is cruelty not an art that you have perfected?"

The Residents-
Aganzir- hangwoman
Eomer of the Rohirrim- gravedigger
Isabellkya- hen
Kath- milliner
Legate of Amon Lanc- lamp-maker/fiddler
mormegil- woodsman/carpenter
The Might- shephard
The Saucepan Man- traveling tinker

The Departed-
Nogrod, reticent lumberjack- Day 1 lynch victim (WEREWOLF)
Shastanis Althreduin, herbalist- Night 2 wolf slaughter (VILLAGER)
Valier, basket weaver- Day 2 lynch victim (HUNTER)
Azaelia of Willowbottom, apprentice to Rikae- slain by Hunter on Day 2 (VILLAGER)
Nerwen, miller- found out on Day 3 (WEREWOLF)
Macalaure, jailer- outed on Day 4 (WEREWOLF)
Boromir88, assistant to the apprentice to Rikae- taken by fog on Night 5 (RANGER)
Rikae, midwife/wise-woman- executed on Day 5 (WEREWOLF)
Farael, conspiracy theorist- surrendered to fog on Night 6 (SEER)

ANNOUNCEMENT: From this point on, Roles will not be revealed upon death.

IT IS NOW DAY 6. YOU MAY POST.

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

Farael was, of course, correct. I was wrong. Thought I had it but...

No time to post much now. Back tomorrow. Currently confused about that weird narrative (not to mention most other things in this game!) No roles will be revealed? For what reason? With no gifteds left and just one werewolf....

... it's all a bit worrisome.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Whoa. This is indeed interesting. Why are not the roles revealed upon death? If we lynch the last Werewolf, we are going to win, right? Unless, unless there is some other Werewolf? Or something Twisted? What if the wolfishness will pass onto yet another person when the original wolf is killed? This is the thing that immediately came to my mind, yet I am not sure whether it isn't too bold assumption, as that will be certainly quite drastic.

There is the thing that tp told us not to put too much into the narrations. Yet all these conversations between fogs and other voices are rather unnerving when one does not exactly know what is supposed to be going on. You know, like "you have not won" "but you are twisted" "and you are as well" and all these talks of Rikae "you will see" (whether we choose to trust her or not) and anyway, we were promised two twists, and this far nothing (actually, now I looked at the rules and tp says there "a couple of individuals will be given..." till this point I had stuck in my mind that there will be two twists, probably stemming from the word "couple", but now it seems it could mean some not precisely defined value).

Anyway, the objective is still the same: to find and lynch a Wolf. I don't know what are we going to do if we lynch him (and we don't know we did so) and the game does not end, but whatever. Then we just keep lynching each other until only one remains. Hey, what if there is a player who is supposed to survive even longer than the innocents? Okay, again, assumptions... It's late here now, but I will be back in several hours and offer something productive for the Wolf-hunt.

[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by Legate

I don't know what are we going to do if we lynch him (and we don't know we did so) and the game does not end, but whatever. Then we just keep lynching each other until only one remains.

That’s not so far fetched, you know. Do you not know your Werewolf lore, man? Have you not heard the tale of the village where both Werewolves present were lynched early on, but the villagers were not told the role of the second? Kept lynching each other they did, even though they were all ordinary innocents, with a death duly occurring each Night, until only one villager was left. I know. Because I was that villager. And one of the last three remaining was none other than the phantom mod himself (and the instigator of such madness his guest narrator).

Are we really surprised about all these mysteries? After all, we came here knowing that all would not be as it seemed. Yet, we have nevertheless slogged away lynching a Werewolf a Day (save for one off Day) with aplomb. Does it not seem mighty strange that we have been so successful? Although we have also the Wolves themselves to thank in part, seeing as how they have been at each other’s throats so much. Two rival packs of Wolves might explain it, as that has been known too, but why then only one death (if any) each Night? Farael speculated that Mac and Rikae may have been Lovers, at odds with their pack-mates, yet Rikae did not die immediately upon Mac's demise.

And then there is the mystery that Farael and Eomer began to unravel even as the sun set yesterDay. Eomer was correct. According to the narrative, the Cursed was turned on Night 4. I had missed it because of the delay in the explanation of the Night’s events (we were, at first, told only that three Wolves remained), and because I later assumed that Farael’s theory that Boro had saved him that Night was correct. And so the Ranger must have been successful on Night 3. Yet Boro told us that he protected Mac that Night, while Farael told us that was the Night that he dreamed of Mac and found him to be a Wolf. Neither (as far as we know) had any reason to lie. How could Mac be both a Wolf and saved by the Ranger on the same Night? Competing Wolf factions might again explain it. Or perhaps Boro did not protect the person that he thought he was protecting, which might point to the presence of some other powerful influence in the village, apart from the Wolves.

And what about the Fog and the Voice? The Fog, it seems, is Master of the Wolves. But the Voice doesn’t seem to be entirely on our side either. Might this too point to two packs of Wolves?

And finally, we are now told that no further roles will be revealed. As has been said, what could be the point of that if only one Wolf and no Gifteds remain? Again, it would suggest that there is another present who, while not necessarily on the side of the Wolves, may not necessarily have the village’s best interests at heart.

I raise these questions not to solve them, for we have little chance of doing that with any certainty until this village has played out its own tale. If I had to settle on an answer, the competing Wolf factions theory (whether rival packs or Lovers) would seem the most likely explanation. But we cannot be sure. It will, I think, be worth bearing in mind that there may well be one (or more even) here present who, while not Wolfish, have their own sinister agenda to pursue.

Still, there is little point in dwelling at length on these questions. The best thing that we can do right now, I guess, is find the one Wolf that we know remains.

One thing that we do know from the facts (as far as we can ever be sure of anything in this village). If the Cursed was turned on Night 4, it cannot have been Nogrod, Nerwen or Mac. The Cursed was either Rikae, in which case she was awakened on the very Night that Farael dreamed of her and found her a Wolf, or it is the remaining Wolf. I find the latter more likely.

[The Might]

Well, it's really late here, 3:15 AM to be exact, but you know, this may well go in the addicted to the BD section. I just needed to check the WW and see what was going on.

Just read SPM's post and I really think that he is right. What if we really had two packs that knew nothing of each other? That would be indeed a twist...

And what about this fog. Why isn't it the Shade or the Flame or whatever name a wolf has...why is it this fog? And this voice? Could it be that each side has an avatar like figure that somehow controls everything? I don't know...

As for the idea about everyone simply lynching each other till the end, I find that quite disturbing... I mean who really wins in the end then? That's somehow not really WW in the end, but just a madness. On the other hand, TP knew that Rikae was going down toDay and so that one Wolf would still be surviving so he might have planned this before and waited until this time.

So...what if the Wolf is killed and nobody knows? Well, hope that won't happen.

Now, I realise that besides talking about these interesting twists I haven't really said anything accusing others in this post, but sorry, the beer has taken its toll and I won't start now.
However, sometime during the Day I will try to post something about those I suspect most.

Sooo...good night till then!

[The Saucepan Man]

Quiet here, innit?!

So, as I said, our best bet is to carry on trying to find the last Wolf.

Legate: Given the circumstances, I am inclined to trust him less than I usually would a known innocent. But, the fact that Farael dreamed of him does not make it any more likely that he has a secret role. If he is truly benign, he will probably die toNight, so there is not much point in speculating further about him at this point.

Aganzir: I am still suspicious of her, for reasons stated previously. What with all the Wolf-on-Wolfs we have had, I still don’t trust her Day 1 vote for Nogrod. But I would like to hear more from her. Given that there is no point in pursuing Legate toDay, Aganzir, what are your thoughts on everyone else?

Eomer: One of my main causes of concern over him was his switch from pursuing Nerwen to voting for The Might on Day 3. But, since it is now clear that the Cursed joined the Wolves on Night 4, that is no longer so relevant. Other than his calm demeanour on Day 5, which is hardly damning in itself, I haven’t seen much else to concern me. Not high on my list of priorities toDay.

Isabellkya: With her, I come back to that vote for Mac when his fate was all but sealed. There is little else to go on though, since she has been relatively quiet, although that in itself may be telling. Wary of her but, again, would like to hear more from her.

Kath: When I thought the Cursed had been turned on Night 3, I thought her concerted vendetta against Nerwen an indicator of likely innocence. That’s no longer the case. The timing of her vote for Mac still speaks in her favour, but it could have been a very clever move for a Wolf looking to make it to the end on her own. Still not high on my list of suspects, but I will nevertheless be keeping my eye on her.

Mormegil: As the Days have worn on, I have found myself trusting morm more and more. He speaks a lot of sense and comes across as genuine. That, of course, is how the last Wolf no doubt wants to come across and it would be dangerous to overlook morm. I have not forgotten the way he voted for Farael and then switched to Mac on Day 5. It looked to suspicious to me at the time although, if he is a Wolf, it did have the effect of preventing him from saving Mac, had the opportunity arisen. On balance, I am still inclined to think him more likely innocent for now.

The Might: Another one from whom I would like to hear more. A whole lot more. His reluctance to engage in trying to find the final Wolf yesterDay looks bad to me, as does his early defence of Nerwen. He tarries high in my suspect list.

Still, we have the best part of a Day to go yet, so I'm hoping that there will be more to go on when I return.

[Isabellkya]

Would the game not end when we lynch the last Wolf?
Unless there is some other thing we need to get rid of, but then that would make it six anti-villagers.

Just a heads up, I'm not feeling very well and so I'm going to head to sleep.. even though it isn't 7pm yet here.. I will try to be back here tomorrow before the deadline.



X'd with SPM.