Tol-in-Gaurhoth LXIII: The Cottage of Lost Play

[Rikae]

Who are you, really?

[autume98]

*Hiccup* According to the bottle in my hand *hiccup* I'm Jack Daniels. *Hiccup*

[Lalaith]

This house is getting stranger and stranger. *points up*
Rikae, are you feeling ok? Maybe mint doesn't agree with you...

Well, it seems so early to be making decisions but needs must....

Nerwen is I think unlikely to be a wolf because of her vote yesterday.
Eonwe made a mess yesterday but I don't think it was a wolf-mess, if you see what I mean.
Nogrod I have felt to be trustworthy through his behaviour - I could be wrong, but as I said before, this is one to wait on.
Rikae - I gave my reasons earlier, that wolf-Rikae would not be so quiet.
Nessa - well, one interpretation of her day one vote leaves her looking quite good, although I'm not convinced.
autume As we have all said, there is so little to go on. But I have thought about this and I have found grounds to suspect her, partly based on her failure to vote yesterday.
Let us say our last transformed guest is a quiet person, a newcomer. Nervous perhaps, and ill at ease. This guest sees, after day one, that votes leave trails, and are picked over by the other guests, interpreted this way and that...but that those who did not vote are not actually being overly criticised or picked on by the others. Perhaps better not to vote at all...better to lie low and stay quiet....
Well, it makes as much sense as anything else.
++autume98

[autume98]

After drinking some coffee and sobering up a bit, I decide to go over the vote count for those of us who have been fortunate enough to survive so far.

On Day 1
Nessa votes for Fea.
Eonwe votes for McCaber.
Autume votes for Eonwe.
Lalaith votes for Shasta.
Nogrod votes for Fea.
Those that didn't vote: Nerwen and Rikae

On Day 2
Lalaith votes for Pitchwife.
Nessa votes for Pitchwife.
Nogrod votes for Shasta.
Nerwen votes for Inzil.
Those that didn't vote: Eonwe, Autume, and Rikae

After looking at these lists this is what I've come up with. Those that I believe to be innocent at this time and why:
1. Nogrod because he had no reason to vote for Fea. Yet he did thus getting rid of the first werewolf.
2. Nerwen voted for Inzil yesterDay which helped get rid of the second werewolf.

That leaves Lalaith, Nessa, Eonwe, and Rikae on my list of people of whom I'm suspicious.

I look down at my coffee mug and realize I'm out of coffee. So I get up and head to the kitchen to get more coffee.

[Nerwen]

Nerwen walked in, looking pleased with herself, and holding a notebook covered in scribble.

"What I didn't see fit to mention earlier," she said, "was that whatever evil spell has put my camera out of action hasn't affected my field recorder." She showed the company the small electronic device. "I've recorded everything that's been said from the first day. This morning I've been hard at work transcribing Inzilawolf's statements."

After waiting to see that she had everyone's attention, she cleared her thoat and began, a little self-consciously,

"Inziladun, Day One.

Well, the first three cmments are just banter,

Then, replying to Eönwë, who said of Shasta that his going upstairs might be a sign of guilt, he says,

Originally Posted by Eönwë

Maybe he's running away because he's afraid of the blood. Or maybe he's afraid of getting caught. Or maybe he's trying to cover up his Night bloodlust with the feigned fear of blood. Either way, he seemed in a hurry to go, wouldn't you say? Mighty suspicious if you ask me.

Originally Posted by Inziladun

I'd say either of the above could be correct. A wolf faking a fear of blood would be a cunning tactic this early on.

And that's where the suspicion on Shasta started.

Then more banter; then he replies to Nogrod's charge of making empty, obvious statements,

Originally Posted by Inziladun

It's rather hard to 'get involved' when others won't.

Nerwen cleared her throat again and flipped over the page.

"That apparently goaded him into trying to seem more helpful. He makes a list:

Originally Posted by Inziladun

If anyone's listening, I'll offer a few preliminary thoughts about the situation.
Our hostess brought us all here for what we believed to be a fun, innocent gathering where we could all discuss one of our favourite subjects in a comfortable atmosphere. She then revealed a more sinister motive for it all, claimed to have made three of us into killers, and was apparently killed herself in an unpleasant manner. I say 'apparently' because she obviously intended to sit back and watch the mayhem she'd created. With the amount of planning she'd put into this, I find it most difficult to believe that her 'death' is as it appears. But what is really going on?
Fea and Pitchwife immediately got to work on cleaning the crime scene. Did anyone look for any clues? autume98 said she would help, but did not follow up. Lalaith suggested taking photos, and Fea says she did.
Boro mentioned an aversion to the blood of others, but not his own.
Shasta disappeared and explained himself by saying he went upstairs in the hope of catching one of the wolves in the midst of transformation. I found that statement rather odd.
Eönwë was giving suggestions of body disposal, and said Shasta could be afraid of the blood when he left, or was pretending to be.
McCaber has said only that we must discuss the matter. I agree, but no one seems inclined to do so at the moment.
Nogrod has been offering some quiet, carefully considered remarks while smoking a pipe. Interesting tobacco blend. Had a bit of a Turkish aroma.
It would be nice to have some more information before we have to make our decision. Perhaps some others will speak up soon.

More banter, then he replies to Shasta:

Originally Posted by Inziladun

I wasn't necessarily accusing you of anything. It appeared you had said you were hoping to surprise them in the act of transforming, and I failed to see the logic there.

Replying to Boro, who didn't like his theory about Shasta:

Originally Posted by Inziladun

If you'll recall, my friend, that was no theory of mine. Eönwë had brought it up, and I was responding to him.

By the way, a little before this Boro made a gesture of pointing out Inzi to Fea. Seems he'd picked Inzi as a likely wolf and didn't suspect Fea herself, but that's odd– she seemed a lot more evil, if you ask me." Nerwen sighed, "Ah well, I guess we'll never know quite what was in his mind now...

Anyway, then Boro said that Inzi's comments on Shasta were the only thing he'd really said all day, the rest being "chatter".

To which Inzi replied,

Originally Posted by Inziladun

Well, what more do you want? There doesn't seem to be a great deal to work with just yet. Would it be more comfort to you if I remained silent?

At Boro's urging he gave his thoughts on McCaber, Shasta, Fea and Nogrod:

Originally Posted by Inziladun

As to whether or not he is definitely a wolf, I have no idea. He has been guilty of popping in and out of things with few words other than 'something must be done', and I do find that a bit unnerving.
Other than that, the only one who has really jumped out at me thus far is Shasta. He seemed a bit defensive when I made a remark that I found his behaviour odd, and gave a explanation for it that didn't agree with what I remembered of his original statement.
Fea seems a tad too eager to please, and I have a tendancy to be suspicious of such people as a rule.
Nogrod is back into things now, and it will be interesting to hear his thoughts.

Then... let's see.. he protests about Boro's vote for him, then:

Originally Posted by Inziladun

Boro was either not paying attention, or was deliberately ignoring what I said, for his own reasons.
Of the two, I find the first option so unlikely I am forced to accept the second.
I am loathe to vote for him at this point, though. I hope he's simply in need of sleep and not going to murder me in mine.
And Nessa? That had the look of a knee-jerk punch back at Fea, which I could understand. Nessa denied that was her motive, though. It's odd that she didn't voice any particular suspicion of Fea before the latter's vote for her.
Nogrod has made a list with observations that appear perfectly valid. Seems a calm voice of reason, at least for now.
I think I'm leaning toward Shasta at the moment, or maybe McCaber.
Now Eönwë's gone for McCaber.
Hmm.

And then, of course, he votes McCaber.

Originally Posted by Inziladun

++ McCaber

Because he's been so unobtrusive and is now backing up Nessa's strange vote, for unknown reasons. A railroad begun by one wolf and continued by their fellow?

Hmmn... he didn't actually say much about any of the living. The things that stand out are: he's rather careful to be non-commital about Nogrod, at times appears to be working in tandem with Eönwë (but could be taking advantage of him instead), and somewhat "suspects" Nessa.

What is clear is that the Shasta-suspicion was started by Eönwë but Zil was the one fanning the flames. However, the following day, as far I recall, it was mostly Nogrod carrying it on... might be interesting to check out his relations with Zil that day.

...Anything to drink? My throat's parched."

EDIT: fixed quotes and bolding.
EDIT2: words left out.