WW XXXXI: With a Twist

[the phantom]

The Werewolf padded silently towards the house of one of the two remaining villagers. The beast could barely keep from laughing. His brothers and sisters had been lynched early on. He couldn't recall ever seeing a village so incredibly adept at killing Werewolves. And so it was that when he was converted on Night 4 he did not like his chances for survival much.

But he had triumphed!

Before he entered the house, the Voice spoke to him. "Enter not into the house! Do not slay the occupant!"

The Werewolf laughed, and said aloud, "Why do you continue to speak, o Voice? I have won! You have lost!"

"You do not understand!" said the Voice. "I cannot speak more plainly! The power of the Master of the fog filters my words! Just trust me!"

The Werewolf paused in confusion. Surely the Voice was attempting to ruin his victory. But then why did his heart warn him to trust the Voice?

But the fog interrupted his thoughts. "Go! Kill!!" The Werewolf covered his ears, so loud was the fog. "The Voice seeks to delay you long enough to claim victory! Hurry!!"

The Werewolf leaped through a window into the house. The Saucepan Man was standing there in the middle of his bedroom.

"Wait!" cried SPM. "Don't kill me! I only wish-"

But the Werewolf leaped upon him and sunk his teeth into the tinker's throat.

The Residents-
Kath- milliner
mormegil- woodsman/carpenter

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)
The Might, shepherd– went missing upon execution Day 6 (?)
Eomer of the Rohirrim, gravedigger- dug his own grave, yet was not in it Night 7 (?)
Isabellkya, hen- swallowed by lake on Day 7 (?)
Legate of Amon Lanc, lamp-maker/fiddler- eaten on Night 8 (?)
Aganzir, hangwoman- happy to be lynched on Day 8 (?)
The Saucepan Man, traveling tinker- slain on Night 9 (?)

IT IS STILL NIGHT 9. YOU MAY NOT POST

Ending narrative coming soon...

[the phantom]

Kath heard mormegil's victory howl and knew that the village was at an end. At last she could reveal herself. At last she could proclaim her true affiliation.

She ran out into the night, crying with a loud voice. "Werewolf! Werewolf! I wish to speak to you! I mean you no harm!"

mormegil heard and ran to meet her. He found her in the center of the village, and quickly she bowed to him. "I aim only to serve you, Master Werewolf!"

But mormegil laughed and kicked her in the stomach, driving the wind from her. "Serve me?! You must be joking. You have not helped me! Just yesterday you tried to kill me! But now that your death is at hand you try and switch sides?! Ha!"

Kath lifted her head and looked mormegil in the eye. "Please.... believe me... I did not know that you were the Werewolf..."

"Even if that is true, I owe you!" growled morm. "Your ancestors were most unkind to mine! It's payback time!"

Kath screamed as mormegil grabbed her and carried her over to a half filled rain barrel. Mormegil laughed maniacally as he forced her headfirst into the barrel and held her beneath the water. Kath's legs twisted violently and her arms thrashed, but all for naught. The strength of the Werewolf was too great.

(to be continued)

[the phantom]

Mormegil walked slowly towards the land bridge. When he reached it, he spoke to the fog.

"I have completed my task, Master."

"Yes, you have. You have done exactly as I asked."

"Then will we be moving on to another village?"

"No, I think not," answered the fog. "I wish for you to remain here."

"But, there is no one left here, Lord."

The fog laughed, and the Werewolf shivered at the sound of it. "You are different, Master- changed from previous villages, in which I played the part of Cobbler. And this fog you now wrap yourself with... I like it not. Why do you act so, and speak in riddles? And why did you divide the Werewolves in the village at the beginning? It is strange."

The fog laughed even louder. At last, it spoke. "Who do you think I am, Werewolf?"

Even as mormegil answered, he began to doubt the answer. "You are Sauron, Lord of Werewolves."

"Nay!" boomed the fog. "I am Ulmo."

"Ulmo?!" cried morm in shock. "But then... how... why would you order Werewolves to kill innocent-"

"There were no innocents in this village! Only Werewolves, Cobblers, and my three Gifteds. I have masqueraded as Sauron for the purpose of eradicating a great many evil men and women in one fell swoop."

"But then- the Voice!" said morm. "HE is Sauron! He's been telling us all along to unite. But we didn't listen!"

Ulmo laughed at the anguish of the Werewolf. But then mormegil began laughing.

"But I defeated you! Your three precious gifteds are dead, and I have emerged victorious!"

"My Hunter is dead, certainly. But did you see my Seer or Ranger die?" asked Ulmo. As he spoke, the mist on the land bridge cleared, and Farael and Boromir stepped forward with weapons drawn.

But even as they advanced on mormegil, another figure appeared. "Stop!" he cried, and mormegil recognized his true Master's voice- the voice of Sauron.

"You cannot slay this Wolf!" said Sauron. "You have broken the rules of Werewolf, allowing these two to live! They were selected by my Werewolves for death during the night, and you have unlawfully spared them! Mormegil won! You cannot rob him of his victory!"

"I can do as I please!" shouted the voice of Ulmo.

(to be continued)

[the phantom]

But then a third voice spoke. It did not shout, and yet it completely filled the ears of all those present.

"Speak no more. The Werewolf will be allowed to leave, as he did truly and lawfully survive the village. If any resident is to be awarded victory, surely he is deserving. The Seer and Ranger- though by law they should die, I will spare them. Their skill and bravery should be rewarded. However, they cannot claim victory. That much is clear. They should be but thankful for their survival."

"There is much that can be learned from this village. Let it serve as an example to other villages, for it shows forth the dangers of division as well as the power of secrets. Ulmo, and Sauron- go, and take your minions with you. I am the phantom, supreme Mod-God of Middle-Earth, and I have spoken."

The Winner
mormegil, woodsman/carpenter- (WEREWOLF, originally COBBLER)

The Departed-
Nogrod, reticent lumberjack- Day 1 lynch victim (WEREWOLF)
Shastanis Althreduin, herbalist- Night 2 wolf slaughter (COBBLER)
Valier, basket weaver- Day 2 lynch victim (HUNTER)
Azaelia of Willowbottom, apprentice to Rikae- slain by Hunter on Day 2 (COBBLER)
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)
The Might, shepherd– went missing upon execution Day 6 (COBBLER)
Eomer of the Rohirrim, gravedigger- dug his own grave, yet was not in it Night 7 (COBBLER)
Isabellkya, hen- swallowed by lake on Day 7 (COBBLER)
Legate of Amon Lanc, lamp-maker/fiddler- eaten on Night 8 (COBBLER)
Aganzir, hangwoman- happy to be lynched on Day 8 (COBBLER)
The Saucepan Man, traveling tinker- slain on Night 9 (COBBLER)
Kath, milliner- revenge-killed by morm in endgame (COBBLER)

THE GAME IS OVER. YOU MAY SPEAK.

[Farael]

*sneakily sneaks up on Morm and stabs him visciously*

What? everyone else was bad, why couldn't I be bad as well?

/end_sillyness.

Ok, in all fairness, a huge kudos to Morm but then, the "good" villagers (meaning only us three gifteds =S) had absolutely no chance of winning! I mean, after I was dead, there was no-one with any good reason what so ever to lynch a wolf

Still, a very interesting game and I'd have to give some major kudos to my fellow Gifteds... I think we did a pretty darn good job with the odds stacked against us as they were

[the phantom]

For the couple of you who weren't Cobblers, I figured I'd clarify something...

Cobblers were under strict orders not to reveal. Also, they could not self-vote, nor could they vote obviously wrong (if the Seer was known they could not go against him, etc). So technically they were "Secret Cobblers" and not "Cobblers".

[The Saucepan Man]

Hehe. Did anyone mention that the phantom is a megalo-maniac?

You know, I suspected that something was up in the final two Days. Everyone was acting so - well - strangely. I thought that all of the remaining villagers, after the roles were no longer revealed, had some secret role, but I little guessed that we all had the same one (morm excepted).

Cogratulations morm . Although you were lucky there that my internet connection (which has been dodgy throughout the game) died on me at the last minute. I was planning on retracting and voting for you in the last minute (albeit for the wrong reason - I thought you the most likely innocent out of the three ). Had the timing been right, who knows what would have happened. In fact, phantom, what would have happened if there had been three Cobblers remaining at the end?

Originally Posted by Farael

I think we did a pretty darn good job with the odds stacked against us as they were.

Yes, you did a good job, although the odds were not stacked against you. Everyone else was pretty much out for themselves, as it turned out.

A few questions, though.

Were there two Wolf teams?
If so:
- who were they - Nog and Nerwen, Mac and Rikae?
- did they know from the start that they were against each other?
- did they know who each other were?
- how come there was only one kill per Night?
- and which team picked the Cursed (Mac and RIkae, I guess, if they were a team)?

Oh and what on earth happened on Night 3, when Boro protected Mac? Was he attacked by the other Wolf team.

Hmm, I need to digest this some more ...

[The Saucepan Man]

Oh, and it is most amusing how, in a village full of Cobblers (all of whom were presumably trying to vote for the most innocent looking villagers), we managed to accumulate so many votes for Wolves and lynch two of them in the first three Days ...!

The again, I suppose that the Wolves themselves helped out in that regard.

[The Saucepan Man]

One more thought.

I think that we Cobblers should collectively claim a share in morm's victory. After all, it was our objective to see a Wolf survive until the end and we succeeded in that.

[Volo]

Originally Posted by The Saucepan Man

Oh, and it is most amusing how, in a village full of Cobblers (all of whom were presumably trying to vote for the most innocent looking villagers), we managed to accumulate so many votes for Wolves and lynch two of them in the first three Days ...!

The again, I suppose that the Wolves themselves helped out in that regard.

Indeed! And I find this a bit depressing...

SPM, you really haven't changed since Rikae's game.

An interesting game, but it was a pity that the players weren't allowed to reveal their roles to outsiders...

[the phantom]

In fact, phantom, what would have happened if there had been three Cobblers remaining at the end?

You would be allowed to live, but would not be declared victors.

Who would have been declared the victor?

Me.

Hehe. Did anyone mention that the phantom is a megalo-maniac?

Ha ha ha!

Were there two Wolf teams?

Yes.

Nog and Nerwen
Mac and Rikae

They knew there was another team, but did not know who the other team was.

Each night both teams selected a kill and I rolled dice to see which team would be granted their kill.

On Night 3, Nog and Nerwen attacked Mac, an opposing Werewolf. But he was saved by the Ranger, who of course assumed Mac was innocent after that. But then on the same night the Seer dreamed of Mac and knew him to be guilty.

And the Seer had already dreamed of the Ranger, and thus knew to trust him. And the Ranger had been told the identity of the Seer from the outset of the game, and so he knew to trust the Seer as well.

So what we were left with was a Seer and Ranger completely opposed about Mac and yet knowing they should trust one another. It was an amazing turn of events.

[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by The phanto-maniac

You would be allowed to live, but would not be declared victors.

So, the Cobblers could never have won then ...

[the phantom]

I just thought I'd mention that watching this game was FUN!! It looks so different when you know all the roles.

The narration was great fun as well. I tried to write everything to give one impression while at the same time keeping things muddy enough to go back and read after the fact and come across completely different.